#im going to ask that u ignore the wrong thumb placement im not going back for that

[xenibenbb]

TW: VIOLENCE

and then they f*cked.

Original post

[just-pig]

Super Seventeen || Chapter Four

word count: [1942]

featuring: [some meanie]

published: [august 25, 2017]

i’ve been so ignorant of this fic recently :”) you guys are more than welcome to yell at me to update lmao

That evening, Wonwoo could hardly sleep.

Not because there was a lot on his mind (although he definitely was thinking at about a million thoughts per minute), but because he had been researching the glyphs decorating the NCT arrow that Jisoo had trusted him with for the night.

He had this feeling that he should know about them. At the same time, he had no idea why he should even have a clue about what they are.

He started his frenzy with random google searches: wooden symbols, arrow decorations, symbolic arrows, etc., hoping to find something useful. (He didn’t, but along the way he obtained the fact that people used arrows way too often for tattoos).

It wasn’t until his phone lit up with a notification that Wonwoo realized he’d been sitting in front of his computer, left hand death-gripping the wooden shaft of the arrow, right hand fiddling with the trackpad for at least an hour and a half. Exhausted, his eyes did an automatic scan of who the sender was.

gyu > wonwoo hyung!!!!! > jisoo hyung wanted me to transfr some info for u

me > you’re w/ jisoo hyung right now?

gyu > we went to the coffee shopp togther after we left hq > and then i wennt to his house bc i accidentally spilt coffee on him > oops

me > … > what does jisoo hyung want

gyu > idk > he said something about herogliphs??? > and the arrow that u guys showed me > ??? im hoping u understnd him

Wonwoo’s eyes immediately flitted towards the arrow. Hieroglyphs…. Of course!

me > they’re called hieroglyphs

gyu > so you do understand!!! > okok my job is odne > gn hyung!!!!! sleep well :D

me > gn

Wonwoo now understood why the symbols had seemed so familiar. Hieroglyphs. He hadn’t delved very deep into the subject before - as he was more into science and math as opposed to ancient culture and mythology - but he had definitely stumbled upon the term more than once. He didn’t know much, but what he was aware of that it seemed to be an Ancient Egyptian form of communication. Similar to Korean, it used symbols and characters for certain sounds.

He frowned. But why would NCT deal with Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs? And did they actually take the time to learn the meaning behind the symbols, or were they completely bluffing? (Knowing NCT, they were definitely the kind of people who could pull that off).

Wonwoo sighed. Glancing over at his clock, he was greeted by the numbers 12:32 in big, red block lettering. Reflecting on the fact that he had school the next day, he decided to call it a night.

~~~

As a temporary replacement for their blown-up building, the entire school had transferred to a different school’s building. It was a newer school that had just opened a few weeks ago so no one was really there yet, letting Wonwoo’s school have plenty of space to conduct their classes.

“Has anyone heard of the Ancient Egyptian communication technique referred to as hieroglyphs?”

Up until this point in his history class, Wonwoo hadn’t really paid attention to what his teacher had been saying. But that sentence definitely caught his attention. Immediately sitting up straight, he raised his hand, and was surprised to find that only a handful of the students in the classroom were doing the same. This is an Advanced Placement class, for goodness sake. How can you have not heard about hieroglyphs?

“Interesting. Well, hieroglyphs are essentially the Ancient Egyptian language, expressed in symbols.” The teacher stuck a picture of an bird on the board. “Much like our Korean culture, each symbol represents a sound. This hieroglyph, for example, produces the sound of ‘a’.” She continued sticking up pictures. “Keep adding more hieroglyphs, and you get a word. The word I’ve spelled out is arbitrary, an English word for random.”

There were some sniggers upon hearing the definition of the chosen word. Wonwoo, on the other hand, found this all somewhat intriguing - he would have to look into the topic later on.

“There are a few hieroglyphs that are just words. You don’t need to combine smaller fragments.” Posting another picture, she said, “This is the word ankh -” She wrote this on the board in English letters for better understanding “- and it’s commonly perceived as the Ancient Egyptian symbol for life.”

Wonwoo’s eyes hyperfocused. That symbol...  wasn’t it one of the hieroglyphs decorating the arrow?

He had brought the arrow with him to school today (he wasn’t sure if that was the best idea, considering it was a pretty lethal weapon), and his hand itched to reach into his bag and pull it out. But pulling out an arrow in the middle of class was not the best choice.

The symbol for life. Wonwoo never thought that NCT could be this deep. He’d have to tell Jisoo later.

~~~ (why are the page breaks happening so often this is such a pet peeve of mine loiwendlks)

Lunch. One of Jeonghan’s favourite times of the day. Apart from sleeping, of course. Sleeping is always a priority.

Sitting at their usual table, chatting with his friend Taehyung, Jeonghan was surprised to see Wonwoo beelining for their table out of the corner of his eye. As he got closer, he realized that Wonwoo seemed to be headed for Jisoo. Not his problem then. He continued talking with Taehyung.

He didn’t think it would be anything too concerning. He certainly hoped it wasn’t. If there was something that Jeonghan hated the most, it would be having to deal with his superhero persona during school hours. He wasn’t quite sure why - it just bothered him, having to mix his secret identity with his social life while maintaining equal balance on both sides.

So it definitely irked him when he noticed Jisoo walk hurriedly out of the lunchroom with Wonwoo. What happened this time?

He glanced over at Seungcheol, who hadn’t seemed to notice. Slightly panicking now, Jeonghan nearly dropped his sandwich (Taehyung snickered at this, earning a glare from Jeonghan).  

“Can you…” Jeonghan hesitated, unsure of how to propose a proper statement for a quick departure. “Um… hold on. I need to go to the washroom.”

“Now? You just -”

“I drank a lot of water, okay? Fluids.” With a final cheesy thumbs-up, Jeonghan quickly slipped out of the cafeteria, at the same time muttering to himself, ‘Fluids? What the hell was I thinking?’

He also hadn’t planned this out very well in his head because when he finally was aware of where he was he glanced around to find no sign of Jisoo or Wonwoo. The hallway also went both ways horizontally, taking a turn in different directions at the end of the corridor, leaving Jeonghan incredibly stressed - should he turn the wrong way, he would be heading in exactly the opposite direction that his friends had gone.

He supposed he could’ve just gone to the washroom and went back into the cafeteria, but he didn’t bluff his way through Taehyung’s suspicions for nothing. Jeonghan was going to find his friends. He just had to hope that they didn’t leave for the stupidest purpose.

Or maybe…

Jeonghan shuddered. This would be one of the stupidest ideas he ever made.

As superheroes, identity was a crucial thing. To this day, Jeonghan remembered the chills that ran down his spine when Pledis was laying down the regulations: Number one - Keep your identity a secret, no matter what. (Being the rebel he was, Jeonghan had then chosen his given name as his alias - in the process, dragging Wonwoo, Mingyu and Seungkwan with him. Pledis would’ve forced them to change but by then they’d already signed the contract, so they couldn’t exactly do anything).

So at one point, they had wondered what would happen if they used their powers in everyday life - subtly, of course.

After experimentation, they discovered that their powers were only at full boost if they had their suits on. Appearing as a normal civilian, Wonwoo had estimated that their powers were only an eighth of their full capability - roughly enough to not look completely insane.

Smiling slightly to himself, Jeonghan inspected his hands before dodging into a secluded corner by the lockers in the hallway, followed by a brilliant ribbon of light hovering around his hands as he was rewarded with a device falling in his hands - an LG G5 [a/n: there are so many kpop idols promoting this I had to].

He frowned at this. His mind had imagined a rose-gold iPhone 6 and he was surprised of the result, although he assumed this was what he got for using his powers when he wasn’t supposed to. Whatever, it would do.

All he really needed to do was track the location of his friends. He could’ve done it with his own phone, but that wouldn’t be fun, would it?

In other words, Jeonghan was already planning an elaborate hidden camera in his head.

He apparently was not aware of how bad of an idea that would be.

~~~

“Well you fucked up.”

“I didn’t mean to knock him unconscious! What did you expect me to do? First he sends us creepy messages from an unknown number and then tells us to turn around! Wonwoo and I just did what we thought was the best plan for self-defense!”

Blinking to adjust his eyes to the blinding light, Jeonghan realized that he was in the school nursery, and surrounded by half of the team.

“HE’S AWAKE! Oh thank God,” Jisoo said. Turning to Jeonghan, voice slightly guilty, he added, “I’m sorry about… um… punching you, although truthfully you pretty much asked for it considering what you did.”

Jeonghan hesitated as he tried to remember what had happened up until that point. The hidden camera… and then making Wonwoo and Jisoo turn around, only to be greeted by Jisoo’s fist. He guessed that explained the subtle ache in his nose. “Oh. Sorry about that,” he chuckled.

Wonwoo awkwardly stepped in. “Oh, and one more thing before I head to class - can you… not mention this to Seungcheol hyung? He’d kill us otherwise.”

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow. “I guess. Although if he asks about any bruises, you guys are the ones coming up with a solution.”

Jisoo scoffed. “We already had to when we brought you here.”

“Okay, bye hyung!” Wonwoo then departed with Jihoon, Soonyoung and Jun, leaving Jisoo and Jeonghan alone (Jisoo had study period currently, so he wasn’t particularly worried about going anywhere).

“Why’d you follow us anyway?” Jisoo asked. “Wonwoo and I purposely went all the way to the far boot room just in case someone would find us.”

Jeonghan shrugged. “When Wonwoo came to get you, he seemed so nervous, so I just assumed something was up. Seungcheol didn’t notice so I went - keep in mind, after rudely  dismissing Taehyung.”

Jisoo grinned. “Sorry about that, then. Wonwoo was only nervous about being discovered by anyone else but overall there’s good news - he deciphered one of the hieroglyphs on the arrow.”

Jeonghan frowned. “Hieroglyphs? Were those the symbols on the arrow?”

Jisoo nodded. “And one of them is the symbol for life. Considering how out of place it is from the other ones, Wonwoo’s guess is that it’s some kind of watermark, whereas the other hieroglyphs are some kind of message. We’re going to have to have a session just to figure out what the message is though.”

Knitting his eyebrows, Jeonghan said, “You guys have to be careful, okay? I don’t know much about Ancient Egyptian mythology, but I do know that hieroglyphs are commonly used for spells and whatnot, so just… be wary.”

Jisoo smiled. “Of course.”