Doyoung couldn't get his attention away from Jeno, and Jaemin and Renjun were still turning themselves in front of the boy. Jaemin woke up in the commotion, and by instinct, he immediately saw the grown man staring adoringly at his best friend, and immediately went into defense mode.
Now the pair sat, having a defensive seat in front of Jeno, glaring at the older man, as Jeno looked fondly at the two.
Taeyong groaned, pulling Doyoung onto the couch set across from the one that the younger ones sat on.
"Doyoung, they don't even know you, don't freak them out now," Jaehyun said casually, sitting next to the older and wrapping an arm over his shoulder.
Doyoung smiled lightly at the younger boy, before more people made their way down the steps.
The younger boys turned their heads at the loud steps that echoed off of the walls, the metallic ringing of each simple touch.
They were shocked at the amount, watching the small interactions between each member. They were definity loud, voices echoing in the building, but no actual words could be deciphered by the boys, making them think that they were actually speaking a different language.
They all eventually made themselves onto the various furniture in the little area, making Renjun realize just how big the compound actually was.
Then Jungwoo and Lucas made their appearance, Lucas talking playfully with Jungwoo, who couldn't stop blushing at whatever the taller had been talking to him about.
Jeno was definitely overwhelmed, even though they were told how many people there would be, but the mere sight of that many people in one space was a bit intimidating.
They are all like me.
That sent a pang to Jeno's heart. He had never had contact with other Defects, only ever surrounded by humans, and he felt like he needed to protect his friends, still not trusting the sudden tension of others like him.
Taeyong managed to gather everyone's attention, shushing the overlapping voices of curiosity of the others.
He heard their questions, and managed to push their intruding questions out from his head, and get the gathering started.
"O.K. guys, this is Dream."
Mark looked at Taeyong in confusion.
"For Project Dream, that's how we'll refer to you guys to save time," Taeyong quickly said, trying to keep the upcoming conversation vulnerable to confusion.
Mark nodded, and watched as the other boys nodded as well, feeling small at the older boys.
"Now," Taeyong sighed, "the introductions."
Renjun prepared himself, and stared quietly at the ceiling and still in Jaemin's and Jeno's arms.
The boys on the other couch looked at the boy in confusion, one of them speaking up.
"What's he doing?" his voice young and strong.
Taeyong smiled, knowing exactly what Renjun was doing. Because if Renjun was ready to imput, then he knew that the younger saw this as important, and may reveal who he truly was.
"He's getting ready to imput," he said, still smiling.
"What do you mean?" a motherly tone of voice rang out, voicing everyone's thought.
"He's had an M.C.M. A Maximum Capacity Memory," he said, looking at the boy proudly when Renjun looked back at the group, gaze strong and percise.
"Holy shit."
"Indeed. Renjun," the younger looked at Taeyong, "would you like to start?"
Renjun simply nodded, not wanting to break his concentration.
"My name is Renjun. I have a Maximum Capacity Memory, and I speak Chinese and Korean," he said, voice plain.
"Now for the harder part, Renjun tell them a more sensitive thing about yourself," Taeyong said.
Renjun now understood, that he had to connect with these other boys, because they were about to each say their power, and that they wouldn't do it without something from the Dream.
It's all about trust.
Taeyong smiled at the younger's thoughts.
"I have attacks if I don't get enough information each day, and when they happen, I become paralyzed, but still open to pain. That's my weakness."
The older boys looked at the boy with sympathy, but nodded. It was enough, Renjun laying himself out for vulnerability, which made themselves feel better in sharing their powers.
Jaemin spoke up next, wanting this meeting to go just a little faster.
"Hi, I'm Jaemin, and I can only speak Korean," he says, trying out Renjun's example, and looking for something vulnerable about himself.
"And I'm highly protective over Renjun and Jeno. So don't come too close," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly at Taeyong, who simply looked at the boy in amusement.
Chenle took the next silence as his turn.
"Hi! I'm Chenle, and I speak Chinese but I'm not too great at Korean, but I'm trying my best. I think my weakness would just have to be Korean," he said, smiling brightly at the end. Jisung smiled at the older, patting his head slightly.
"Good job," he whispered, while Chenle smiled at him back.
"I'm Jisung, and I'm the youngest in between us, and I don't think I have a weakness," the older boys either lifted an eyebrow or gave him a questioning glance.
"But I'm not particularly strong. I'm neutral I guess," he finished, shrugging.
They seemed to accept it.
"I'm Mark, and I can speak Korean and English. I'm the leader of us, and I'd have to say that they are my weakness," Mark said, smiling at the boys that sat with him.
"Oh my goodness, can he be my child?" a taller boy said quietly to the others, kind of breaking the slight tension.
Donghyuck looked at the boy with a look.
"I'm Donghyuck, and Mark is mine," he declared, making the older look at him with wide eyes as he glared at the one boy who seemed to chuckle at the Donghyuck.
"Noted," Taeyong said, "and you, Jeno?"
Jeno tensed, and Jaemin quickly took his hand, looking at the older in the eyes, urging him to continue.
"I'm Jeno, and," he hesitated, looking at Jaemin again, who squeezed his hand in reassurance, "I'm a Defect."
The others gasped, sudden curiosity exploding in their gazes.
"A Defect in the Inside? And you weren't used as a lab rat?"
The questions took Jeno off-guard, and that made Renjun speak up.
"Fortunately, the lab rat was me, not Jeno."
The boys gave a saddened look at Renjun once more, but Renjun wasn't having it.
"Been there, done that. It's done and over with."
Taeyong smiled, silently commending his bravery.
"Well, I'm Taeyong, as you all know, and I'm a Defect. I have the power of insight, specifically telepathy."
A smaller boy spoke up, sitting up in his seat, movements lithe and cat-like.
"I'm Ten, a Defect, with the power of capacity, specifically flexibility. Nice to meet you," he said, voice quick and enunciated.
The taller boy with harder lines in facial structure that was sitting next to him spoke up.
"I'm Johnny, a Defect, with the power of insight, specifically emotions. As in I can read them," he said, smile on his face the whole time.
Doyoung spoke up next, smile bright and it looked like it wasn't going to leave any time soon.
"I'm Doyoung, Defect, with the power of shift, my specialty being emulation of animal power."
A shorter man sitting on a chair spoke next, voice soft contradicting his sharper appearance.
"I'm Taeil, the oldest here, and my power is of insight, to sum it up, I basically have a third eye, as in I can see the future," he smiled, "and no, I don't actually have a third eye. It's more of a metaphor."
Jisung and Chenle slumped into the couch, disappointed.
Jaehyun spoke up from beside Doyoung, "I have the power of capacity, mainly strength."
That made sense, since he climbed the fallen mountain so easily.
The softer looking male called Jungwoo spoke up, eyes full softness.
"I'm Jungwoo, and I have the power of shift, where I can influence water," he said, voice seemingly fluid.
It fit because he seemed like he had a cool head.
But not earlier when they had first came in, Donghyuck thought, eyeing the older.
Then Lucas spoke up, voice loud and strong.
"I'm Lucas, and I have the power of capacity and shift, where I can shift into any material, especially rock, where the strength comes from."
"Hi! I'm YangYang and I have the power of shift, where I can influence the element earth," another boy said.
He looks around our age, Mark thought, looking at the bright boy.
"I'm Hendery, and I have the power of capacity, where I can heal, or harm," that made Jeno shudder.
Who knows what he could do.
"Hi, I'm Kun, and I have the power of shift, specifically fire," he said.
He looks like he's more calm than someone who is basically a pyromaniac.
"Hi, I'm Xiao Jun, and I have the power of manipulation, my inclination to vision, and specifically invisibility."
Woah.
His face-
"I'm Sicheng, but these guys call me Winwin, so you can take your pick. I have the power of shift, where I can influence wind," a beautiful boy said, a little bit of a lisp coming through his Korean pronunciation.
Another boy was holding onto him, smiling brightly.
"Hi! I'm Yuta, and I have the power of manipulation, but unlike Xiao Jun, I just create illusions or hallucinations."
Seems....clingy.
"O.K., so that's everyone."
Renjun broke out of his daze, letting all the information process and going through the information one more time before making eye contact with every single person one more time, eyes focussed.
Then he broke out into a big smile.
Then all chaos broke out.
. . .
Ten: capacity (lithe/flexible)
Johnny: insight (emotion reader)
Doyoung: shift (animalistic power shifter)
Taeil: insight (third eye)
Taeyong: insight (telepathy)
Jaehyun: capacity (strength)
Jungwoo: shift (water influence)
Lucas: capacity/shift (strength/materialistic shift)
Mark: human
Jisung: human
Jeno: capacity (unknown)
Renjun: capacity (memory; photographic)
Jaemin: human
Chenle: human
Donghyuck: human
YangYang: shift (earth influence)
Hendery: capacity (health)
Kun: shift (fire influence)
Xiao Jun: manipulation (sight/invisibility)
Yuta: manipulation (illusionist)
Sicheng: shift (wind influence)