It was a regular afternoon at the Suh household -- Johnny was doing paperwork at his desk, Tae Yong was watering his virtual plants on Animal Crossing, Jae Hyun was on his phone scrolling mindlessly through social media, and Yuta was sitting with a bored expression as he looked through every channel on the television in hopes for something to entertain him -- when Yuta flipped to the news channel.

“I am Kim Jung Woo here reporting on Doctor Death’s latest attack in the city here at the National Bank of-”

Yuta turned to Jae Hyun who turned to Tae Yong who turned to Johnny who was standing up from his desk.

“It looks like Doctor Death has changed his strategy. Not only is he attacking on a day that is not Monday or Friday, but he isn’t just terrorizing the streets.” Johnny began to gather some things before he turned to the others. “Jae Hyun, go now and make sure he doesn’t cause too much trouble at that bank.”

“Got it,” Jae Hyun nodded just when some explosions began to be heard from the television making everyone in the room jump. “Why is he doing this? He’s never been this destructive.”

“I don’t know, but hurry up and go now. Wear this,” Johnny said as he tossed Jae Hyun an earpiece which the younger quickly put it on, “If you need backup just tell me and Tae Yong and I will be on standby.”

And with no more words spoken, Jae Hyun ran off -- quite literally with his super speed powers.

“Why would Doctor Death change up his strategy now?” Yuta asked Johnny who was pacing around frantically.

“I don’t know,” Johnny muttered, though it seemed like he was talking more to himself than to Yuta. “I don’t know. . . He was just terrorizing the town at first -- teasing and taunting like a bored child. He wasn’t an actual threat. But if he’s doing break-ins and actual destruction -- Oh no.”

“He has actual motivations now,” Tae Yong thought out loud, eyes trained on the coffee table. “He’s not going to go so easy on Jae Hyun now if he tries to stand in the way of something he wants.”

Jae Hyun was struggling. He was really struggling. He didn’t think he had ever had a match with Doctor Death like this one.

“I told you I wouldn’t go so easy on you any more,” Doctor Death spoke as he continued to launch random objects that appeared out of nowhere at Jae Hyun.

“Yeah you weren’t kidding,” Jae Hyun said as he continued to jump around before attempting some moves of his own and failing miserably. “I know to take you seriously now. But seriously, a bank? That’s very unoriginal of you.”

Doctor Death let out a laugh, moving closer to the back of the bank where the people who hadn’t managed to escape were hiding; Seeing the instant panic on Captain J’s face, he smiled.

“Tell me, J -- is it okay if I call you J? -- do you think I’m capable of hurting people?” Doctor Death asked as he sat at the counter and glanced back at the cowering people behind him before looking back at the superhero.

“I don’t know,” Jae Hyun responded, eyes trickling over to the people that were hiding with fear in his look. He was trying to be tactful, slowly walking up to the villain, scared that if he made any sudden movements or said anything wrong that he would explode and hurt someone. “But if you want to refer to me that way then I should be allowed to call you Dr. D.”

Doctor Death smiled once more. “Hmm. Alright, J. But you really must think I am capable of hurting people seeing how you’re trying to approach me as if I’m a ticking bomb.”

“That’s not true,” Jae Hyun quickly said, scared of what the other might do. But to his surprise, Doctor Death only stood up on the counter and began to walk atop of it as he brought his hands up and a mix of a green and a purple foggy substance appeared around his hands like flames.

“I’m kind of hurt, J,” Doctor Death feigned a wounded tone, “I thought after all this time as fighting partners you would see I’m really not that evil.”

The villain turned to the hero during his last words to see the look on his face. But the hero remained blank.

“You should see by now,” Doctor Death spoke again, “I don’t do things without reason.”

“Oh really?” Jae Hyun spoke up, crossing his arms. “Then why are you doing this? Why have you been terrorizing the city for the past month?”

Doctor Death scoffed in disbelief. “You don’t believe me? I don’t blame you. People like you -- your only focus is the safety of the people on the surface. But you don’t dig deep enough into the issues under the surface. Underground. Tell me, why do you think I picked this bank in particular to corrupt?”

Jae Hyun froze trying to process everything that the villain was saying. He did things with reason, and claimed Captain J only cared for the people on the surface but not deeper, and said he picked this bank for a reason-- Nothing made any sense. What did he mean dig deep? What surface? Was he saying he only cared about keeping them safe from dangers like a super-villain? But then what was deeper than that? The bank?

Doctor Death scoffed once again, hopping off the counter and landing besides the people who were backed up against the wall as far as they possibly could in fear. He looked at them. And then he turned to the hero. “You’re working with a team of superheroes; I’m sure if you put all those brains together you can figure it out.”

And then the villain walked into a portal and disappeared.

And Jae Hyun was left behind feeling stupid.

“Where are Johnny and Tae Yong?” Was the first thing that came out of Jae Hyun’s mouth as soon as he walked back into their home after his earlier fight.

“No idea,” Yuta said, barely looking up from his book. “I think they either went grocery shopping or on some top secret mission. I didn’t really listen when they said they were leaving.”

Jae Hyun nodded as he trudged all the way over to the couch before sighing and letting himself drop down. His face landed on the pillows and his body was cushioned.

“Was it that bad?” Yuta asked as he finally set down his book.

Jae Hyun the couch. He was pouting. “Not to sound whiny, but yes. Why did Doctor Death decide to change up the schedule all of a sudden? And his whole strategy is wack now. What kind of a villain breaks into a bank, terrorizes it a bit, and doesn’t steal any money?”

“Sounds suspicious,” Yuta hummed. “Didn’t you say you’re a criminology major?”

“My brain won’t work,” Jae Hyun said, quite seriously, “I feel like I have the solution to a problem I don’t even know. He said he does everything for a reason and that I focus on the safety of the people on the surface, but I don’t dig deep.”

Yuta nodded, pursing his lips as he began to think to himself. “Simple. Just dig deep. You’re a criminology major, you can figure this out.”

“I don’t think I can,” Jae Hyun shook his head. “Fighting him physically was hard enough. Bringing my brain into this? I’m pooped.”

“Do you want to do something fun then? You know, to get your mind off things.”

Jae Hyun’s head perked up at the older’s suggestion. “What kind of fun?”

And that’s how they found themselves walking around the city, going from store to store while not buying anything in the middle of the night. It was rather soothing, really. There was something about going from store to store, looking at things you knew you wouldn’t buy, while talking to a friend, that was rather therapeutic. After all the stress Jae Hyun had been under lately with the whole assignment with Do Young and the fights against Doctor Death, he didn’t realize how much he needed to wind down, talking to a friend while doing nothing all.

And Yuta was the friend for this.

Jae Hyun hadn’t known him for long, but sharing the same living space for even a few days was quite enough for the two to grow close. There was something about Yuta that gave such a sense of comfort; He was slightly intimidating at first, and Jae Hyun would admit he seemed like a bit of a downer when he had first met him, but after their first real conversation it was so easy for them to fall into a comfortable area. That one area where you knew the person and you would grow close without really knowing how.

And Jae Hyun felt like he could trust Yuta. Like they were both at a time where they needed a friend to trust, and they were there to fill that spot in for each other.

“Hey Jae Hyun, look at this,” Yuta called out just as Jae Hyun was going through the clothing section in a thrift store they had entered.

A smile immediately grew on the younger’s face when he saw Yuta standing a few feet away wearing a cowboy hat with rhinestones on it. “Dude, why would someone even own something like that?”

“I don’t know, but I kind of want to buy it and put it in Johnny’s office,” Yuta laughed. It was so nice to see the older laugh.

If Jae Hyun was being honest, he had been worried at first that Yuta would be hard to crack because he always seemed so down when they first met. He had heard from Tae Yong that it was because he was in mourning, but he didn’t know further than that. But lately it seemed like Yuta was smiling more and more the longer he stayed. It usually came like the wind. A small breeze in the middle of the summer heat. It was quick and left faster than it came, but you could feel it so strongly and it was amazing. He just wished he could do it more, because it would seem that as soon as Yuta realized he was smiling he felt guilty for it.

So, when they were walking back aimlessly through the streets, Jae Hyun had to ask, “What happened?”

Yuta looked up at the taller guy, a confused look on his face.

“I mean, when we first met you were always so-” Jae Hyun didn’t know how to word his thoughts properly without sounding like a nosy .

“Down?” Yuta asked. Jae Hyun didn’t respond, but his silence was very much of an answer in itself. “It's okay. I know I was very down when I agreed to Johnny’s contract. I also know Tae Yong told you it was because I was in mourning. Which, I guess I still am.”

“I’m sorry,” Jae Hyun spoke softly.

Yuta shook his head, flashing the taller a quick smile. “Don’t be sorry. I would be curious too.” Yuta went silent, staring down at the ground as they continued to walk down the street. And then he spoke up, startling Jae Hyun the slightest. “He was a close friend. My only friend, really. We interned together at the SM Scientific Developing building, and usually we worked till very late at night. One of those nights we went out during our break and ended up on the other side of Han river. Everything is very foggy in my mind-- But I guess there was an accident and his body was never found, though it is sure that he’s dead. I barely survived. At least that’s what they say, but when they found me I didn’t have many big injuries. I don’t even understand completely.”

Jae Hyun remained silent as he slowly nodded. It was a lot too take in.

“That is awful,” He slowly spoke up as he began to shake his head, “I am so sorry.”

“Yeah, I just wish I had a clearer understanding of what happened that day.” Yuta sighed. “It’s so weird because nothing of that night makes sense to me; Even when I feel sad, I’m not completely comfortable being sad without feeling confused too. I hate it. I can barely even go back to work without feeling all suffocated and lost.”

“The SM Scientific Developing building. . . SMSD. . .” Jae Hyun mumbled under his breath. Yes, Yuta was a business major, he remembered. He frowned, looking back at the other who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. “I thought SM was your university?”

“It is,” Yuta nodded. “SM enterprises targets many markets. They have multiple branches and I interned at the Scientific Development building. To be honest, I don’t even know most of what goes on down there, but it’s a lot to do with the manufacturing process I believe. My dad is on the foreign board of the main branch-- was. He’s back home right now.”

“So, they have many branches…” Jae Hyun trailed off. Something was not clicking inside his head. What was it? “Oh. SM enterprises is Johnny’s competition, right?”

“In many marketing targets, yes. Mostly with the department I work in because of the manufacturing of similar products to those that Suh Enterprises produces.”

“Wow. No wonder Johnny trash talks them all the time.”

“I thought you said you weren’t coming today,” Do Young said as he walked back into the living room with Jung Woo following behind.

“I wasn’t, but after the response we got earlier I thought I might come thank you personally,” Jung Woo spoke up as he sat down on the couch across from the older. “Doctor Death at the bank? The viewers loved it. Our ratings really went up.”

“Glad to see how much you enjoy watching a supervillain destructing and terrorizing the city.” Do Young spoke with obvious sarcasm.

“Hey, my job is to cover news like this. If it weren’t for you I’d have no news, be jobless, and be living here with you and Tae Il.”

“There’s no more space here,” Tae Il said as he walked into the scene.

“Tae Il, haven’t seen you in a while.” Jung Woo smiled.

“It’s been a week.” Tae Il deadpanned.

“Has it?” Jung Woo asked. “Huh, I guess it has. Anyway, when does Doctor Death plan on attacking again? Because if I know him well enough - and I do - I know he’s going to want to shoot for SMU.”

“Well then you don’t know him well enough,” Do Young smiled. “There’s another place that sounds more reasonable than SMU at the moment.”

Jung Woo seemed to think for a moment, a sly smile appearing on his face. “What games are you playing now, Do Young?”

“No games.” Do Young said before taking a sip from his cup of tea. “There is a strategy this time.”

“I can’t figure you out,” Jung Woo spoke, this time more serious. His eyes were scanning Do Young's face and searching for some sort of answer -- it was a look that the older only saw on him when he was truly trying to figure him out.

“Ironic coming from same who is literally two-faced.” Do Young said, eyes going back down to his book to avoid the look Jung Woo was giving him. “Anyways, if you really want to know, then watch closely. You know I do things with purpose.”

“Why do you always use my powers against me?” Jung Woo asked. “I don’t see you attacking Tae Il for having the weakest telekinesis powers ever.”

“He does,” The oldest spoke, though his presence was hardly noticed.

“First, I make fun of Tae Il too. Second, Jung Woo, when we first met I didn’t even know what you actually looked like because every single time I saw you for five months straight you looked like someone different.”

Jung Woo went tight-lipped. He began to tilt his head from side to side as he weighed the thought as if debating whether it was real or not. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Did you seriously have to think about it?” Do Young asked.

Jung Woo shrugged. “Moving on, Tae Il told me you’re seeing someone new.” He changed the topic.

Do Young looked over at the older who shook his head in strong denial. The younger raised an eyebrow and,finally, the older shrugged, silently admitting he might have let something slip on accident. He sighed, turning back to the younger.

“So, this Jae Hyun guy, who is he? A detective? A cop? A lawyer? Wait, don’t tell me, a str-”

“He’s a student.” Do Young spoke, closing his book and crossing a leg over the other. “I’m working with him on a project for class.”

Jung Woo’s faced dropped into a frown. He was rather confused. “A stu...dent? Oh, I get it, who is he the son of? I know you always date with purpose.”

“No one important.” Do Young said, voice unwavering. “I’m not dating him. We’re literally just working on a project together.”

“Well that is rather boring. I guess I should take my leave then,” Jung Woo spoke up, setting down the cup he had been holding. Though someone might say he was just pleased with the answer. “You know, I have research and stuff to do.”

And with that, Jung Woo showed his way out the door, a few goodbyes here and there, leaving only Do Young and Tae Il behind.

“He sure is something,” The oldest spoke up with a shake of his head. “But, I have to ask, do you trust him?”

“If I have learned anything from Jung Woo since we met,” Do Young spoke up, “Is to never trust a shape-shifter unless you have something they want.”

Jae Hyun wasn’t the most observant, but he was not blind. Which was why he was able to notice the way Yuta fiddled around with his metal bracelets the entire day; and even then when they were sitting in the workout room after some weight-lifting and the object clung to his sweaty body.

“Why don’t you try taking them off once to try them out? One time wouldn’t hurt, right?” Jae Hyun asked.

Yuta looked up startled. His hands retreated instinctively and he quickly stood up, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat off his forehead. “Uh, I-” He sighed, seeing the look on the younger’s face. “I did try. It didn’t go so well. My powers are quite unpredictable, I fear.”

“Which is why you should keep trying,” Jae Hyun said. “Wouldn’t it be more soothing to know if they were ever too out of control, you still had a hold of the reins?”

“That didn’t make so much sense, but I get your point. I just don’t want to destroy anything,” Yuta spoke as he glanced around.

“I’m sure Johnny superpower-proofed the house.”

“He didn’t. Don’t ask how I know.”

Jae Hyun didn’t question. Instead, he began to look around the room. His eyes landed on the special weights that Johnny had set out for his super strength. “If Johnny has special things set out for my superpowers, do you think there’s something in here that could help train yours?”

Yuta bit his lip as he rolled the thought around in his mind. “Perhaps? When they first found me they made a scan on my powers. Maybe Johnny used that to formulate a training system for me? He is rather smart.”

Jae Hyun got up, setting down his water bottle. He walked over to the front of the room where the holographic screen that controlled the entire room was. He began to scroll through the many training sets that Johnny had set up - which was rather hard because the only times the two had gone down there was for weights and sparring - and he finally found it. “Your powers are psionic, right?”

“Yeah,” Yuta responded as he walked over to Jae Hyun’s side to get a good look of what was on the screen.

“There’s different sets,” Jae Hyun spoke once he clicked on the psionic powers option. He began to flip through to till he hit the lowest option: Telekinesis. The two skimmed through the brief description of the course before clicking on the initiate button.

Almost instantly, the smaller individual training room inside the bigger room began to transform. And then there were only a few small objects lying around like building blocks and pencils and paper.

Yuta looked back at Jae Hyun before he walked over to the door that led to the smaller training room, and walked in. The door locked behind him and he glanced back at Jae Hyun through the glass windows with a slightly frightened look.

“Hello, Yuta. I am initiating telekinesis training: Lowest level,” A robotic voice came through as a screen popped up in front of Yuta. “To begin we must run a test on your skills so we can set up a training set for you.”

“Uh,” Yuta glanced back at Jae Hyun, “Okay. What do I do then?”

What came next was pretty fast. The computer thing scanned Yuta and ran a couple of tests telling him a bunch of information he didn’t really understand. Then he was instructed to take off his metal bracelets and to pick up one of the wooden blocks with his powers. Yuta was hesitant, but he complied anyway. He took of both bracelets and with one, began to lift the block; Instantly his hands began to release more of the dark blue substance, a small wave oozing out as he began to lift the block.

“Good job, Yuta,” The robotic voice complimented. “Now, try using both of your hands to toss the block around.”

Yuta nodded, lifting up his other hand. He was slow at first, only pushing the block back and forth between the two forces he was releasing. And then he began to make it bounce, balancing the block between his hands with ease without actually touching it. It was fascinating.

Until one of his wrists flicked too hard and the block went flying across the room, hitting the glass in front of where Jae Hyun was standing. The younger’s eyes went wide as he took a few steps back in reflex and Yuta was sure glad the glass was superpower proof. “Sorry!”

“That is okay, Yuta,” The voice spoke again. “Why don’t you try picking up two separate blocks at once now?”

Yuta frowned, looking down at the pile of blocks in front of him. He took a deep breath, and slowly brought both hands up, putting his focus on two specific blocks. But it didn’t work out the way he planned it to. One blocked lifted all the way up to the ceiling while the other smacked against the wall.

“Why don’t you take a deep breath, Yuta?” The voice spoke.

Honestly, at this point he was just fascinated at how well this whole computer worked. Johnny truly was good with technology.

“Okay, Yuta, close your eyes and envision yourself lifting both blocks,” The voice spoke, and Yuta did as told.

He closed his eyes and envisioned himself lifting both blocks. And then he did.

It was quite spectacular, really. Using his powers had always seemed so scary, but in this environment were he was learning how to work them and knew that nothing wrong could happen, he was quite fascinated with them.

So, when he walked out of the room only to find that Johnny and Tae Yong were both back and standing next to Jae Hyun, he was able to tell them he was ready for more training.

Johnny smiled, uncrossing his arms as he walked up to him to pat his back. “Good. I knew you would come around eventually. You have a lot of potential, you know?”

“You boys did good training today,” Tae Yong said with a clap. “Who wants ice cream?”

It was another long day of work for Ten at Baskin Robbins. Customers were annoying. Kids were snotty. And that group of teenagers had come in once again.

But, fortunately, it was almost closing time and there was nothing Ten wanted more than to go home and take a nice, long, warm shower. Perhaps watch the kids play video games. Maybe even join them. It had been a while since he played with the kids.

Truthfully, even though he wasn’t always the nicest to them, he really liked the youngest ones. Though he hadn’t known Yang Yang, Xiao Jun, and Hendery before this crazy incident that had them all stranded far from home, he had really gotten closer to them in the past year. It was awkward at first though. Kun, he had known for years already because they were the same age and same grade. Winwin was his best friend of ages. And Lucas, well, everyone knew Lucas.

But Yang Yang was the first he got close to when they arrived. He was just a funny and easygoing kid. Xiao Jun was a cool guy. Odd, but cool. So, the two got along pretty well from the start too. But Hendery-- he was different.

Hendery was awkward and Ten wasn’t stupid. Contradicting to popular belief, Ten did know the younger used to be his fan back home. He knew that was why he was so awkward around him, and he understood that. Still, he had wished the two could talk more. And one night, when Hendery couldn’t sleep and he walked into the living room to find Ten wide awake-- that was when they got close. He told him about his sleeping troubles and Hendery told him about his love for pink.

And as it turned out, Hendery wasn’t so hard to get along with. The two were actually very similar in different ways. And-

The bell dinged.

Ten groaned, looking up at the clock. Just thirty more minutes of this.

“Hello welcome to-” He froze as soon as his eyes landed on the customer who had just walked in, looking down at his phone as he typed something.

“Tae Yong?”

--

Guess what? It's my birthday! So you guys get an update to celebrate with me ^^

Anyways Taeyong and Ten know each other and I don't know what else to say.

-J

Y'all she's old! She's turning [redacted], Happy Birthday old lady! <3

~Nae

Extra:

It was late at night when Yuta and Jae Hyun were chilling in the living room as usual, doing nothing but remaining quiet as they scrolled through their phones, and Tae Yong and Johnny both walked in at the same time.

"Where's the ice cream?" Jae Hyun asked.

Tae Yong barely glanced up, shaking his head before he mumbled a small, "I'm tired," and disappearing off into his room.

"I don't know either," Johnny said, "I met him at the entrance. Anyways, if you guys need me I'm going to be in my office doing some late night work."

Jae Hyun and Yuta nodded as they watched the tall guy walk into his home office before they turned to each other holding the same sly looks on their faces.

It should have only been a matter of seconds before--

"Who put a rhinestone cowboy hat in my office?" They heard Johnny's voice call out.

Yuta and Jae Hyun began to snicker like two middle schoolers who just pulled on a prank on their teacher.

Until Johnny walked wearing the hat with a grin on his face. "This is awesome!"

And their jaws dropped.