As soon as I open my eyes and sit up, strong arms wrap around me.

"Angel!" Jisoo cries.

I am surprised by his sudden actions. I almost fall back onto the bed until I hug him to keep myself upright. Every muscle in my body aches and the embrace is borderline painful, but it's still comforting.

"That's enough, hyung," Jihoon says. "You're going to suffocate her."

Jisoo pulls away and it gives me the opportunity to rub the blurriness out of my eyes. I find that we are in Jihoon's messy office with me on his bed. The dirty clothes and misplaced books that were previously on it have now been dumped onto the ground. Also, the whole office itself is strangely quiet, almost as if all of the life has been sucked out of it. Every monitor, computer, and television has a black screen. If it weren't for the dimly lit lamp on top of the shelf, we would have no light.

"You alright?" Jihoon hesitantly asks. "Your neck looks a bit...fucked up."

Flashing him a dramatically sarcastic smile, I say, "I'm feeling fantastic. Y'know, despite the fact that I almost had a grand mal seizure.

Jihoon and Jisoo exchange concerned glances.

"Explain," Jisoo says.

I recount the whole event to them. I tell them how Mingyu triggered a hidden alarm, how the enemies flooded the building, and how I got them out using the traps, making sure to emphasize how the collar shocked me harshly every time I typed a command.

A strange expression paints Jihoon's face—it's like a cross between guilt and fear. I ignore it since I am too exhausted and drained to even care.

He starts to say something but is cut off as the door to the dorm is slammed shut.

"We're back, boys!" Sungcheol roars.

Obnoxious whoops and loud cheers fill the dorm.

"The Offense Unit," Jihoon mutters. "They're back. I'm going to see them. You guys coming?"

Jisoo eagerly stands up while I shake my head.

I don't want to go see them. I know for a fact that if I do, the anger and frustration I'm feeling will rush out of me like a violent waterfall. Even though the Offense Unit was doing the physical mission, I still ended up having to go through the most pain. I don't know why I let myself believe that I wouldn't have to go through pain like that anymore just because I'm with Seventeen.

I'm an idiot; an idiot that now knows to never help with hacking again.

As Jihoon leaves, Jisoo lingers in the doorway for a couple of seconds.

"Are you sure you're not coming out to see them?" Jisoo asks.

I sigh and fall back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I'll come and get you when dinner's ready then. If you're not feeling well enough by then, maybe Sungcheol will let you skip."

Scoffing, I turn over on my side to face the cracked wall. "Doubt it."

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'*'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

It takes about two hours for dinner to be ready. 

The first hour consisted of the boys celebrating a successful mission with what I guess was alcohol, since I heard corks popping and Chan whining about not being able to drink any. There was constant cheering and thundering laughter. Although excitement hung heavy in the air, I still wasn't able to get as hyped up as everyone else.

By the time Jisoo comes to get me, everything has died down and I've dozed off to sleep at least twice. He pokes his head through the door and says, "Dinner's ready."

I rise to my feet, groaning softly at the stiffness in my muscles. I follow him out of Jihoon's office and all the way to the noisy kitchen, taking a seat between Seokmin and Minghao. Seokmin grins and nudges me playfully with his shoulder.

"Where were you?" he asks. "You missed the celebration."

"I wasn't in the mood," I reply.

"Did hacking tire you out?" Seokmin places a hand on my arm. "I know how tiring it can be. It's no wonder why Jihoon's always so grumpy and tired! You know, when I first helped out with hacking, I..."

I push his voice all the way to the back of my tired mind, and focus on the food instead.

It's quite impressive how Mingyu managed to make this much in an hour, and especially when he came fresh from a stressful mission. Tonight he cooked us rice, kimbap, and four massive plates of various bulgogi.

As usual, Sungcheol is sitting at his end of the table and shouts his, "Quiet! All of you!" once everyone is gathered.

"I'm going to keep this short and simple," he says, "since we've all had an eventful day. So, it's clearly no secret between us that we had quite the successful mission."

That earns chuckles from the members, some of who wiggle their eyebrows at each other.

"The president of the GSIC is very impressed with us. But, we owe most of our success to the hacking team. Or more specifically, Angel."

The attention is suddenly focused on me.

"Angel," Sungcheol continues. "Jihoon told the group about what you did today. On behalf on all of Seventeen, I want to say thank you. Without you, my team and I probably would have died. And that loss would have ruined Seventeen for good. So, to repay what you did, we've decided to get your collar removed."

My eyes widen in surprise.

"You've proven yourself to be a promising member for Seventeen," Soonyoung adds. "With the selflessness and bravery that you displayed today, you deserve to be one of us. A real, official member of Seventeen."

Everyone starts to cheer. I even receive smiles
from Seungkwan, Minghao, and Junhui.

"We've also got some news!" Wonwoo suddenly announces, standing up to get everybody's attention. "Angel's chosen a name for herself."

It is suddenly silent as the others wait to hear. Their gazes are focused on me, curious and excited looks painting their faces.

"It's Cressida," I say quietly.

My choice of name is met with a chorus of 'wow's, and 'beautiful name's. Even the smile on Junhui's face grows until there's a sparkle in his eyes.

After the excitement has died down about my name, Jihoon takes the opportunity to deliver the news about removing my collar with his fellow leaders. "Cressida, I called the Facility and asked when the soonest time is that we can get that collar off, and they said any time tomorrow. Since most of us have errands to run tomorrow, Junhui is going to take you."

The smile on his face immediately vanishes as he turns towards his leaders.

"What?" Junhui asks. "Why me? I have errands to do as well!"

Sungcheol shakes his head. "No, you don't. The only thing you've got to do is fix the car we use for missions, but you take forever to do that."

"Then let me fix the car!" he exclaims. "I'll do it. I promi—"

The leader of Seventeen isn't having it, though. A sly grin paints his face as he interrupts Junhui, pretending as if he wasn't talking at all.

"After you get her collar removed, you'll have to take her clothing shopping," Sungcheol says. "I'll give you the money in the morning. She can buy whatever she wants, but the only thing she really needs is a semi-formal dress for more serious occasions."

Junhui opens his mouth to argue, but Sungcheol puts up a hand to stop him from even taking a breath.

"Understood?"

"But I—"

"I said: understood?"

Soonyoung, Junghan, and Jihoon stare pointedly at Junhui, daring him to disagree and see what his punishment would be.

"Understood," he finally mutters.

All of the boys look happy except for Junhui as they are allowed to eat. He shoots me a scowl from across the table, silver chopsticks being crushed in his hand.

Oh shit.

How am I going to deal with him tomorrow?