“What do you mean 127 is a weird name?” Johnny huffed. “It’s the coordinates of Seoul, and this team is supposed to be the defender of the city! It makes perfect sense!”

Yuta scratched his head, looking to the side as he tried to avoid Johnny’s eyes. Tae Yong remained focused on his 3DS, paying little attention to the tall guy who stood above them, and continued watering his plants in Animal Crossing. And Jae Hyun sighed, flipping through the channels on the television mindlessly.

“Are you still on about this?” Tae Yong spoke up, barely drawing his attention away from his game. “I thought we told you already, we’re okay with the name either way.”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing,” Johnny said as he took a seat. With the emphasis he was putting into every syllable, they could all tell what they were about to hear for the fifth time in the last two days. “You’re just ‘okay’ with it! You should think it’s genius!”

“Would you look at the time, I should head to class now,” Yuta said, getting up and grabbing his bag.

“It’s Saturday.” Johnny deadpanned, watching the guy head out.

“Yeah, I should go train downstairs,” Jae Hyun said, turning off the tv and heading down.

“With your phone?” Johnny asked, watching the guy disappear when he walked down the stairs.

“I would come up with an excuse, but it wouldn’t be believable,” Tae Yong said, standing up while still holding on to his 3DS and walking away, not once looking away from the screen.

Johnny sighed, looking around the empty room. Maybe he needed to take a day off.

And that's how Johnny ended up sitting outside a small coffee shop at eleven a.m. on a Saturday morning, taking small sips from his ice americano as he looked around the small and peaceful neighborhood he had found himself in.

“This is nice,” Johnny mumbled with a pleased sigh before taking another sip and closing his eyes, taking in the warm summer breeze.

He gently set down the cup and glanced to his side , taking in the sight; The cars driving by here and there, the kids crossing the street, the couples walking down the sidewalk, and the mailman using telekinesis to place the mail in the mailboxes- Wait. Johnny did a double-take, not believing what he was seeing. But it was clear as day. The mailman was sitting right there, in his mail truck, his hand barely extended as if he was trying to push the floating letters into the open mailbox. And he extended his hand a bit further and finally some went in.

Johnny sat there with a blank expression on his face as he continued to stare at the mailman who used telekinesis in broad daylight and out in the open. Many questions flooded his head but they eventually stopped when he heard a grunt come from the truck. He abruptly got up from the small table and cautiously walked over to the shady truck. The man there was crying over his scraped knee, preventing him he from noticing Johnny.

“Sh*tty powers! What’s the point if I end up having to move?! I did not go to nursing school for th-” The man that was shouting curses just a minute ago was now dead silent, noticing the presence of Johnny.

“Here,” Johnny said, taking a handkerchief out from his pocket and handing it to the bleeding man.

“T-thank you.” The man mumbled with flustered cheeks and covered his small wound. “Did you see that?” He asked, obviously referring to his telekinesis powers.

“Do you still have work to do?” Johnny asked the smaller male, ignoring the question. The short man looked past Johnny and at the mess he had created while trying to stay in his truck. “I assume you do,” Johnny said after seeing what the other had his eyes on. “Allow me to help...” Johnny slightly tilted his head as a hint for the other to introduce himself.

“T-Taeil, Moon Taeil.” Well, Taeil couldn’t be anymore embarrassed than he already was but wait.

“Let’s talk,” Johnny said and picked up every single envelope Taeil had failed to get in their respective places, which totaled up to seventeen. Johnny walked back to the man and handed them to him. Taeil hesitantly took them. He glanced at the other’s face. He wasn’t bad looking which made things worse. “Thank you,” he mumbled and placed them in his satchel.

“You’re not going to try again?” Johnny asked, leaning on the truck.

“No, what’s the point?” Taeil responded and placed his satchel in the truck.

“You sound pessimistic,” Johnny thought out loud.

“And you sound nosy.” Taeil rolled his eyes and climbed into his truck.

“Aren’t you going to finish your job?” Johnny asked.

“I will, when you leave!” He slammed the door shut and drove away, leaving Johnny stumbling. Johnny had a smirk on his face as he walked back to the small table.

Taeil stopped at the red light with a heavy sigh. He checked his satchel for the letters and surely enough they were al- Wait-

“Seo Enterprises? Taeil asked, staring at the laminated card in his hand. “That flirty bastard.”

Tae Il groaned, walking into his shared apartment and throwing himself onto the couch face down.

“What happened now?” Do Young, his roommate, asked without even glancing up from the monitor as he continued typing at the kitchen table. “Did your telekinesis powers fail you again, forcing you to get out of the car and walk up to the mailboxes? Because that is truly tragic.” He was monotone.

Tae Il shook his head as he sat up on the couch. “Worse. All of that happened, and then I fell out of the truck trying to use up my powers and scraped my knee and. . . A cute guy saw.”

Tae Il was now staring at the wall blankly, and Do Young could only roll his eyes. “You really do have the worst luck, huh?”

“Yeah. But you know what's funny?” The older asked as he turned around. “He left his card in my satchel.”

Do You raised an eyebrow, amused at the new piece of information. “Why would he do that?”

“Obviously he found my quirky charms cute.” Tae Il bragged, making Do Young roll his eyes. “He is such a flirt. Should I call him now, or should I follow the two day rule?”

Do Young looked up from his laptop once again, giving Tae Il another judging look. “Are you sure he was flirting with you?”

Tae Il sat up, a blank look on his face as he glanced down at the card. A look of realization hit his face and he turned to Do Young with panicked eyes. “Oh no,” He mumbled, making his roommate sigh and ask what was wrong. “I think he saw me use my powers. I didn’t really think about it because it all happened so fast and afterwards I was thinking about how he tried flirting with me, but-”

“Tae Il,” Do Young groaned, tossing his head back as his hands went up to his face. “You know how important it is to keep ourselves undercover.”

“I know!” Tae Il defended, tossing his arms up in the air. “I know, but I got distracted. I’m going to call him.”

And then he whipped out his phone, dialing the number. The two waited patiently, hearing the ring four times before a low, “Hello?”

Tae Il almost threw the phone, not really expecting the other to answer. He cleared his throat and answered. “Hello? Uh, I’m the mailman from earlier.”

“Oh, yeah! I honestly didn’t think you would call so quick,” The other answered. “I also don’t think I introduced myself earlier. I’m Johnny Seo.”

‘Johnny Seo?’ Do Young mouthed, recognizing the name before he began typing into his laptop. He quickly turned the screen so Tae Il could see it, showing a very nice picture of the guy he had met earlier in a fancy suit at some press conference.

“You’re the rich owner of Seo Enterprises?” Tae Il asked as he scanned the screen. “Fancy. So, why are you talking to a low government worker like me?”

“Well, earlier when I was sitting outside the coffee shop, enjoying my day of peace, I saw the strangest thing ever,” Johnny spoke, leading up to what Tae Il was dreading.

“So you did see, huh?” Tae Il asked, shutting his eyes tight.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you have very weak telekinesis powers,” Johnny said. Tae Il almost sighed in relief, but the other spoke once more. “If you have a meeting with me.”

“Are you asking me on a date? I’m flattered but-”

“No,” Johnny interrupted the other. “I want to discuss your powers with you.”

Tae Il looked at Do Young who nodded. “Okay. Then in that case I’m free everyday during the afternoon.”

“Good. I’m free this afternoon.”

“Then it’s a date- business meeting.”

“Should we stay in the room or would it be better for us to go?” Jae Hyun asked, turning his phone off and setting it down.

Johnny looked up from his seat at his desk, eyes shifting between Tae Yong who was back to playing video games, Yuta who was sleeping on the couch, and Jae Hyun. “Tae Yong always stays during my meetings so he’s good, but maybe you and Yuta should go downstairs for the meantime. You’re a hero with a hidden identity so people seeing you here is risky. Yuta also turned an entire building to ashes the other day. I’ll see how this guy feels and do more background research on him before I decide whether I want you two meeting him or not.”

Jae Hyun nodded just as the doorbell rang. Tae Yong paused his game and Yuta fell down from the couch with a thud, suddenly waking up. Johnny got up from his seat, telling Yuta and Jae Hyun to head downstairs, before opening the door.

“Moon Tae Il, welcome,” Johnny said. He moved to the side so the other could step inside and closed the door behind him.

“Wow, you’re rich,” Tae Il mumbled as he walked down the hall, looking around in awe.

“You should see his camera collection room,” Tae Yong spoke from the office/living room before the two walked in. There they saw him sitting in the swivel chair besides the desk, rolling around with his head tossed back.

“Take a seat,” Johnny said as he gestured at the chair in front of his desk before he walked over to his own chair.

When everyone was situated, Johnny wasted no time and went straight to the point. “You are not the first person with powers that we have come across, you know.”

“Uh,” Tae Il froze, glancing around as he thought about Do Young and what he told him. “I’m not?”

“No.” Johnny shook his head. “Tae Yong,” He paused, gesturing at the other who waved, “And I have our own sort of association with others like you.”

“Like the avengers? Or the x-men?”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“Anyways, we were wondering if-”

“Wait,” Tae Il interrupted. “Are you trying to recruit me right now? Because if you are, you must know my powers are like next level weak. I can barely even move the mail with my telekinesis powers.”

Johnny and Tae Yong exchanged a look. The one in the red hoodie only shrugged. “Must have been a low hit for his powers to be so weak. Though, with training, they can be improved.”

“Oh see, I don’t like things that involve too much movement like exercise,” Tae Il spoke up at the mention of training.

Johnny snorted. “You can’t be that lazy. We can really help you develop your powers, you know. It comes in handy in the long run.”

Tae Il pursed his lips, giving the idea some thought. He then remembered what Do Young had told him before and shook his head. “I really don’t think I’m interested.”

Johnny’s face dropped. “Really? Please, we have Captain J in our team right and now and we have another in training-”

Tae Il shook his head, thinking he heard wrong. “Wait, did you say Captain J? As in, The Captain J? The one who fights Doctor Death? And gets his whooped every time?”

Johnny frowned. “Yes? He doesn’t really get his whooped, I mean I don’t think I would say that, but-”

“I’ll join,” Tae Il said with no hesitation, taking the other two by susprise. “So, when do I start?”

“So we have been sharing the same living space for a few days already but I still don’t know anything about you besides your name,” Jae Hyun said as he walked over to Yuta who scrolled through his phone while he laid on to top one of the bench presses. Yuta immediately turned off his phone and turned around to face the other when he sat besides him. “And then we’re also probably going to be putting our lives in each others hands in the future, so maybe we should get to know each other.”

“Well,” Yuta hummed, “Let’s start with the basics then. What do you do for a living and what are your superpowers?”

“I am a twenty-two-year-old college student at SMU, majoring in criminology. My superpowers include enhanced agility, super speed, super strength, and enhanced reflexes. Just things of that sort,” Jae Hyun explained. “Oh, and I also have a black belt in Taekwondo.”

Yuta nodded with a smile. “That’s pretty cool. I am also a student, though a grad student actually. I double majored in philosophy and business and now I am studying law. I don’t really know what I want to do, but I’m interning at one of the SM enterprises branches since my dad is a director of the foreign board. Though right now he is in Japan and-” He cut himself off when he realized how much he was saying. “Sorry. I’m ranting.”

Jae Hyun shook his head, a soft smile on his face. “No, it’s fine. I find your academic achievements quite interesting.”

Yuta shrugged, feeling shy all of a sudden. He had a tendency of getting flustered when attention was given to him. “I just like to constantly learn things and educate myself on as much as I can.”

“So, you didn’t tell me your powers.” Jae Hyun said.

Yuta looked down at his metal bracelets. He still hadn’t taken them off and with every passing day, he just grew more and more scared. “I don’t really know what they are. I just know they’re very chaotic and cause a lot of damage. They’re too hard for me to control.”

Jae Hyun tilted his head and Yuta took it as sign of him wanting to know more. “I destroyed an entire building when I first discovered them. I was upset and- it just happened. It was an old, abandoned and empty factory so no one got hurt, but-”

Taking notice of Yuta’s breath getting uneven, Jae Hyun reached out to hold his hand. “It’s okay. When I first discovered my powers I destroyed the entire track field, so you’re not alone,” He reassured.

Yuta looked up at Jae Hyun, a small smile crossing his face. No one had told him they could relate. He didn’t think it was even possible for anyone to relate to his situation. His powers and everything that came with them were so scary and he had no one to talk to about them with Han Sol gone, but looking at Jae Hyun who smiled back at him, maybe he wasn’t alone.

“Do you think we should actually use all this equipment that Johnny set up for us?” Jae Hyun asked, standing up and looking around the room. “He does want us to use this place to train and develop our skills, after all.”

“I mean, it would be a waste not too,” Yuta responded as he also stood up and looked around. “Maybe start with the easy stuff, though,” He said as he glanced at some of the big equipment on the other side of the room. “Like weights and punching dummies.”

Jae Hyun laughed. “Yeah, I don’t want to get myself killed with whatever that thing with the sharp needles is. I don’t think Johnny would like that.”

So Yuta and Jae Hyun spent the rest of their time lifting dumbbells while talking about their favorite sports, running on the treadmills while discussing their favorite music genres and groups, and some light sparring while they talked about relationships. In the end, Yuta learned Jae Hyun’s ears turned red when he was flustered, Jae Hyun learned Yuta had a love for soccer and wanted to play it professionally but decided against it, and they bother learned neither of them had ever been in any real relationship.

“I’ve just always been too busy with school, you know,” Yuta said in between pants as he wiped the sweat off his forehead after their final match.

“Yeah, I get it,” Jae Hyun said, also in between pants. “I mean I’ve received plenty of love notes before, but no one has ever caught my attention enough. Well, the other day I saw this cute guy, but I was running late for class so I couldn’t really talk to him.”

Yuta shook his head, leaning against the wall and sliding down. “School really ruins your love life, huh? I also saw this cute guy the other day but I had to go to class. Maybe if I met someone in one of my classes-” He stopped and frowned, feeling like there was something wrong with that sentence. He couldn’t recognize what it was, but something just felt odd. And the more he thought about it, the more frustrating he found it. He was only able to snap out of it when Jae Hyun tossed him a water bottle and sat down besides him.

“And then this whole superhero thing really has me thinking maybe having no love life is for the best. I mean, you ever watch the spider-man movies? Peter Parker and MJ were constantly having relationship problems because he had to keep his identity a secret and could never be honest with her because he didn’t want to put her in danger,” Jae Hyun ranted before he sighed. “I’m glad my family isn’t in the city. I don’t know how I could lie to them about my life. And if I had a lover that would be worse.”

Yuta nodded in agreement, for once being grateful that his family were so far away from him. Far away from his danger. And then he thought about Han Sol once again, feeling all sorts of emotions building up inside of him. “Yeah,” He mumbled, not really sure what he was going on about. “I’m glad I don’t have a lover.”

“A superhero organization?” Do Young asked when Tae Il came back home that night and told him the story. He then scoffed and rolled his eyes. “What babies. They have one supervillain running around the city causing the slightest bit of trouble and decide they need to organize a whole team against him.”

“Yeah, so then I was of course going to reject the offer because of what you have told me but-”

“You joined?” Do Young asked, raising an eyebrow. “Please tell me you didn’t join.”

Tae Il gave a sheepish smile. “Yeah, well, I promise I wasn’t going to at first but, uhm, then they said Captain J was part of the team.”

Do Young spat his coffee, wiping his mouth as he turned to Tae Il with wide eyes. “What?! They recruited Captain J?! The Captain J?!”

“That’s what I said!” Tae Il exclaimed.

Do young leaned back in his seat, an amused smile appearing on his face. “No wonder he got a suit upgrade. And a whole new board that was certainly made for him by the owner of Seo Enterprises himself: Johnny Seo. Interesting. I wonder what Doctor Death is going to do now.”

--

*After chapter 7*

Nae: Everyone is thinking Doctor Death is Doyoung, should we make him less suspicious?

Me, groaning: But we already have the entire chapter 9 prepared in drafts. Do we delete it?

Nae: Hmm... Nah.

:]