I feel like a foreigner stepping into a new country.

I have grown accustomed to clean floors, bright overhead lights, and the smell of bleach meant to drown out the odor of blood. Everything in Seventeen's dorms are the complete opposite.

"It's not much," Sungcheol says as he leads us through a long corridor, "but it's—"

"Don't start with that cheesy shit." Jihoon mutters and ducks underneath a light bulb. "You do this every damn time we get somebody new."

"Home," Jisoo finishes for him, ignoring the smaller one. "It's not much but it's home."

Even though all I've seen is a simple hallway that stinks of sweat, I feel like I'm walking through a palace.

"Perfect." I say. "It's perfect."

Our feet squish against a navy carpeted floor covered in stains, some of them still damp. A row of six light bulbs hang dangerously low from the ceiling and illuminate the dust bunnies left over from a failed attempt at vacuuming. I can easily duck underneath because of my short height, but still have to place my hands on the cracked walls to balance myself.

The Facility was a dungeon; this is what's at the glorious surface. The cracks in the walls are the fancy two million dollar paintings, the stains on the floor are the patterned marble tiles, and the swinging light bulbs are the crystal chandeliers.

Each door we pass is painted a different bright color and has to be opened using a rusty knob. Little pieces of paper are taped onto each one, indicating who stays in there. A tiny design is scribbled next to some names. I think that these are the names of the other members.

"This is where we sleep." Jisoo confirms my quiet suspicions. "We normally share a room according to our units."

"Units?" I ask. "Like...teams?"

He nods ecstatically. "Exactly. There's three units in Seventeen. Sungcheol's going to explain all that after we're all gathered."

The closer we get to the end of the corridor, the laughter, idle conversations, and music becomes louder. My heart climbs its way up my throat in excitement and anticipation. I wasn't too excited in the car, but now that I am here, I am suddenly eager to meet the others. There's a slight skip in my step and the ghost of a grin blossoming on my dry lips.

"Stop here." Sungcheol says, motioning for me to stop. The feeling of elation pops like a balloon. He turns around and his eyes scan me up and down intensely. "Wait here. Jisoo, Jihoon, stay with her please. I feel like she's about to go wandering the second we turn our backs."

I furrow my eyebrows, slightly offended at his accusation that is true, but I still deny it anyways. "That is not tr—"

Before I can finish, he turns on his heels and swiftly marches down the rest of the corridor and into the room at the end.

"Units assemble!" Sungcheol shouts.

As soon as he jumps down a pair of stairs and enters the room, everything becomes immediately quiet. The only thing left in the wake of the boyish chaos are eerie echoes that dance down the corridor. I am able to catch only a second's glimpse of the other members scrambling to line up. It is a blizzard of multi-colored hair and bright clothes.

Jisoo steps around to stand in front of me, blocking me off from the other members.

"What?" I hiss in frustration. I try to peer around his shoulders and even jump, but I'm too short. "Come on! Let me see!"

Fuck this. Why couldn't the doctors have made me taller?

"Jesus Christ." Jihoon says. "Calm down. You're going to meet the others in a minute, just give Sungcheol some time to give them a heads up that you're here. You can't just waltz in there as you please. It's not everyday that a Rogue Soldier moves in with you."

He's right. We are never let out of the facility, meaning that we never have the chance to meet other people in society. We don't have the chance to adapt to any of their ways or the education to understand the customs and politics. Plus, every surgery they do on us makes us less human each time. Nobody sane would want someone like us around because after all, we're only wild animals.

Just as the corners of my mouth begin to droop and dreadful thoughts of becoming an outcast in Seventeen fills my head, Sungcheol comes back. He motions Jisoo to let me through.

"Okay," he says. "They're ready for you."

I inhale a deep breath of musty air and smooth out my wrinkled track suit. Damn, I wish Sungcheol would have let me live in my illusion of excitement. I feel like my chest is about to burst from the nervousness.

They let me walk the rest of the way first, but they still trail closely behind.

The four members standing in the vicinity of the door frame keep their eyes glued on me. Those four soon become six, which becomes a total of nine as I walk in. I jump down the stairs like Sungcheol did and look at my surroundings with a gaping mouth.

I think that this is the living room. Or the strategists room. Or the closet. There are so many objects scattered about that my eyes don't know where to go, let alone what to believe.

On each different colored wall, there is a massive planning board with hundreds of papers tacked carelessly onto them. The untacked parts flap ungracefully from cold wind being generated by three quickly moving fans that are installed into a turquoise wall.

A beat up navy couch is right beside the fans, loose threads from its torn cushions also doing a little dance. In front of the couch is a coffee table wobbling on four slender legs because of the dozens of books piled up on its wooden surface. The more I look, there are more books scattered all over the place. There's some even hiding in the pots of exotic plants and underneath the couch.

What catches my eye the most though are the dozens of clothing racks pushed up against the walls. They house everything from shiny bomber jackets to striped turtle neck sweaters to dress pants.

The royalty of the corridor is nothing compared to this. I think I'm going to like it here.

A deep voice pulls me out of my amazement and back into reality. "Is that the Rogue Soldier?"

The voice belongs to a man with a statue-like face and circular wire frame glasses. Just like the other members, he stands with crossed arms and distrust in his eyes.

My heart plummets to the pits of my depleted stomach. Their stone-hard gazes make me want to cave in on myself—to curl up into a pathetic ball and lie on the wooden floor. Them being ridiculously taller than me doesn't help either.

I try mimic their stoic expressions instead and even stand up straighter to seem bigger.

Sungcheol nods. "It is. That's our Rogue Soldier."

"I thought we were getting a guy," the one standing beside Statue Face says. He has straw-blonde hair that shimmers under the bright lights and has chubby cheeks. The sassy way he says it makes my blood boil slightly.

First they look at me like I'm some sort of freak, and now they're sexist?

"Is there something wrong with getting a girl?" I ask, my voice becoming dangerously low.

Jisoo comes up from behind and places a cautious hand on my shoulder—a gentle reminder of the brutal collar wrapped tight around my neck.

"Of course not," he reassures me. "We just didn't know what gender you were. We aren't prepared for a girl."

"And how the hell did that happen?" I spin around to face him. "Didn't the doctors tell you before you went to pick me up?"

"Okay, that's enough." Sungcheol says and motions for me to turn back towards the members. "Believe me, it's a really long and really weird story. So just don't concern yourself with it for now. Just start introducing yourselves."

And just like that, we're back to staring at each other with distrust shining in our eyes.

"Fuck's sake." Sungcheol mutters and slaps a hand to his forehead. "I'll do it, you lazy pigs. Stop looking at each other like that. We're in a dorm not a fucking war zone. Right then, newbie. I'm going to start with the basics of Seventeen. Like Jisoo explained before, there's three units. The Offense Unit, Defense Unit, and the Savant Unit. You with me so far?"

I nod.

"Great. So, each unit has a different job to do. The Savant unit is in charge of making new technology for us. Fixing the cars, making drones, doing the overall physics and math of things, you get the idea. The Defense Unit are our hackers, strategists and caretakers of the dorm while the Offense Unit is out doing the physical mission."

"That's all the Offense Unit does by the way." Jisoo adds. "They just go out and do the mission."

"Pretty much." Sungcheol agrees. "Each unit also has their own leader. I'm the leader of the Offense Unit, Jihoon is the leader of the Defense Unit, and Soonyoung over there is the leader of the Savants."

Soonyoung nods stiffly my way, but if Sungcheol wasn't forcing them to be sort-of-nice to me, he probably would have given me the finger.

"Right. I'll introduce the members of each unit. Defensive goes first." Sungcheol moves to stand behind a member with light brown, nape length hair. "This here is Junghan. He's basically the mother of Seventeen. You need help with something clothing-related or just want to vent about something, he's your guy. That's Seokmin and Seungkwan. They're super loud and obnoxious—especially at night—so we hand out ear plugs to everyone before bed."

I cock my head to the side and give him a look of confusion.

"You've already met Jisoo and Jihoon, so there's no introductions needed there. Alright, next up is my unit."

The members of the Offense Unit shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other as Sungcheol goes up behind them and places his hands on Statue Face's shoulders.

"Newbie, meet Hansol, Mingyu, and," his long fingers tap against Statue Face's arms like a piano, "Wonwoo."

So that's his name.

"They're really good on the field." Jisoo whispers to me as Sungcheol pauses to walk towards the final unit. "They don't look like much at first, but you'd be surprised."

Sungcheol wraps an arm around Soonyoung's shoulders and heaves a dramatic sigh. "Damn, I'm getting tired of doing this every time. Anyways, newbie, the Savant Unit. Minghao, Chan, and Junh—where the hell is Junhui?"

"Right here," comes a voice from behind us. I jump a little at the sudden arrival of their last member. All I see is a shadow snaking around Jisoo and Jihoon until he's standing in front of me. Only then do I see that it's not a shadow, but a human.

"Sorry. I was out getting those parts Minghao wanted for the new drones."

He is dressed in all black: black combat boots, black T-shirt, black leather jacket, and even has hair darker than night. As he stands only half an arm's length away from me, his hungry eyes scan me up and down. They are so dark that they look like bullet holes with no more blood left to bleed.

"Oooh," he says and flashes me a sly grin. "What have we got here? Who's girlfriend is this?"

"This is our Rogue Soldier." Jisoo says, a subtle coldness coating his words.

Junhui's grin disappears. It is replaced by a look of disgust. "Rogue soldier, eh? Damn, that's a shame. She doesn't look it."

I narrow my eyes and feel my heart beat quicken as I open my mouth to ask, "You're apart of the Savant Unit?"

"Yeah."

"You don't look very smart."

Snickers and muffled giggles bounce from person to person. The mood seems lighter but only for a brief second before Junhui ruins it.

"Really. And who are you?"

He's got me there. I clamp my mouth shut.

"Ah, you don't know? Let's give you a name then."

"Junhui," Jihoon warns, "Don—"

"How about 'Bug'? Or 'Lab Rat?'" His eyes shimmer with mischievousness as he taps a fingernail against my collar. "Or 'Dog'?"

I growl in response to his final name choice.

Junhui chuckles and gestures to his other members to cast their attention onto me as if it already wasn't.

"The Government's mutt. A fitting name, am I ri—?"

I don't know what comes over me. Under the judging gazes of Seventeen and now Junhui's teasing, I think it is my breaking point.

While he's too busy turned around and boasting, I lunge towards him with nails outstretched and teeth bared. Before I can inflict any sort of damage, strong arms wrap around my waist to hold me back. They lift me up and put me down so I'm facing the corridor.

My collar is going off like crazy. It delivers shock after shock after shock. As I'm consumed by anger at first it feels like nothing more than a minor irritant. But the more violent I am, the stronger the shocks become.

"Call me that again you piece of sh—!" I end my sentence in a piercing scream of pain. My muscles sting for only a second before they are paralyzed. I fall to the ground on my knees, panting and trying to dispel the aggressive thoughts in my head to make the collar stop.

The rest of Seventeen is in a frenzy. Even though I am on the ground and virtually useless, they still form a barrier between Junhui and I.

"Crazy bitch!" I hear him shout through the ringing of my ears. I also hear something else.

"That's enough. Come on. Get up." Jisoo says. He tugs at my arms and my torso area for a few seconds before I manage to stand on wobbly legs. Jihoon is there to help me too.

They wrap steady arms around my shoulders and lead me back down the hallway; away from a cursing Junhui, furious Sungcheol, and piercing gazes.

They lead me away from the chaos I have caused.