A/N: the song above is Marionette by Antonia- I was listening to it on repeat as I wrote this chapter ;)

Saeran fixed Yoosung with a wide-eyed gaze. They quickly walked out of the laundry room, Saeran holding Yoosung by his elbow, dragging him down two hallways before finally arriving in a jumbled office.

The room was square, with bookshelves on both the left and right walls, books upon books stacked and squeezed together. There was a large desk by the back, papers and more books piled upon that as well. There was a chair on either side of the desk.

Saeran quickly walked behind the desk and left Yoosung to stand in front. "Show me," he demanded in a deep, commanding voice. Yoosung shuddered but was not unaccustomed to being ordered around. 

He frowned at the harsh tone, he was, in fact, helping Saeran, but laid out the documents. The first was a map that he had composed on his night walks around the kingdom. He had been working on it for years, and it was nearly complete, save the Northern District, which was heavily guarded, as many criminally charged citizens lived there and Yoosung couldn't even get close.

"The four districts: North, East, South, West." He pointed to each respectively. "North is where most punishments are held. Mortem Ave. goes right down the middle. East and West districts hold residential houses and all of our shops. The door is in the middle of the wall in the Western district. The castle and all other high-caste members' are in the Southern district."

The next document was a list of names and house numbers. "These are our allies. They're for the rebellion." Saeran scanned the list. His eyes caught on a name, "Saeyong Choi - 14W." 

"Who's he?" Saeran asked nonchalantly.

"He's the- or, was the Emperor's Joker. I actually saw the case that he was fired in, but that was when I spoke out, so he actually got off the hook. I've met him a few times; he's pretty cool. Why?"

"No reason." Saeran's heart throbbed. "What's the third one?"

"Different routes of attack."

The parchment listed at least 20 different ways of getting into the castle, from the sewer system to brute force. 

Saeran sat back in his chair, motioning for Yoosung to sit too. 

"I'm impressed. This helps a lot. However... you're very gullible."

Yoosung's eyes widened. Oh no. 

"Don't worry, we're genuine. But be careful about what you say to strangers, m'kay?" Saeran smiled like he was talking to a child, explaining why they can't go near the Northern district. This irked Yoosung slightly; he was an adult. But he simply nodded in reply.

"So now that you're here, you can't just slack off. You're gonna need a job to do. We all have one. What are you interested in?" 

"Well, earlier, Vanderwood said something about needing new recruits in the infirmary?" Saeran nodded. "I can sew stitches, and I know quite a lot of medical information... I would be happy to work there, if you want."

"Yeah, okay. We'll see how you do. Now, for your physicality..."

"What about it?" Yoosung looked down uneasily; he knew he wasn't the strongest or the fastest, and it stung that Saeran had pointed it out.

"You'll have training every day for a few hours. Since you're new, I'll train you myself for now, but you'll be doing some group work when you get used to the routines and you develop some muscle. The Cold is very centered on teamwork: we don't work alone. Everyone who's come here has learned that. You need to be able to trust every single one of us with your life, and people need to be able to trust you too. That's the only way this works. Throwing shade is gonna land you outside the fortress on your ass with no shelter."

" You may encounter a situation one day when your life depends on us, or vice versa, and you'll have to know how to act in various situations. I'm not gonna just be testing your body either," Yoosung perked up; he was actually quite smart, "You're brain training is just as important as your body. We don't want a bunch of idiots who don't even know addition to be throwing punches, eh?"

Saeran grinned, "Don't worry, you'll be fine." 

Yoosung nodded again, absorbing all the information. It was a lot to take in, and he was a bit overwhelmed, but he was already feeling lighter than he ever felt in Aithne before V was taken away.

"I'm gonna study these for a bit longer, if that's okay. You can go explore, meet people, whatever. Don't get into too much trouble," Saeran teased as he pulled out the map again. 

"Yeah. Oh, and... thank you, for rescuing me and all." 

Saeran let a genuine smile cross his lips, "No problem." 

Yoosung smiled back, then exited the office, closing the door behind him. He sighed and kept the smile on his face as he walked back to the cafeteria.

There were a couple loud hoots and some applause as Yoosung reentered and the woman from before, Jaehee, was immediately next to Yoosung, her arm around his shoulder, handing him a cup of water. 

She smiled happily, "Hey, newbie!"

He grinned back and went to sip the water, but nearly choked when it touched his tongue.

COLD.

"Oops, forgot that you've never tasted cold water before," Jaehee said sheepishly, but almost as if drinking warm water was unheard of. A few people chuckled as they watched the interaction.

The cold water slid down Yoosung's throat and he giggled quietly. It was refreshing, unlike the taste of warm water that just made him drowsy. His small smile turned into a grin, and then he chugged the rest of the water, chucking it at one of the men when he was done, everyone else laughing and clapping him on the back. 

The smiles were abundant, something that had never really existed in Aithne. 

Yoosung knew this feeling.

He was happy.

...

Yoosung spent the next few hours meeting people, telling his life story dozens of times (leaving out V and Rika), explaining what was happening in Aithne to the previous citizens, and then getting a tour from Jaehee. 

The layout of the fortress was easy enough to remember. The middle of the building was the cafeteria, or what some called the Main Hall. From there, five sections branched out from hallways. They had all the necessities, each in their separate gigantic rooms. This included a workshop, blacksmith shop and workplace, and a library, as well as many others. 

People were housed in dorm rooms, one on each hallway: 2 for women, 2 for men, and 1 for families and children. Each dorm held 30 bunkbeds, in rows of five, with stacks of pillows and blankets on each mattress. 

"We've been slowly accumulating supplies from Aithne for years now. We have friends in the kingdom that send us supplies with we need it. About 75% of our resources come from Aithne." Jaehee told Yoosung when he asked about it.

"How long have you been here?"

"Oh, I'd say about 5 years now."

"And you guys still haven't made an attack? How long has Saeran been here, in charge?" He didn't mean to make it sound so accusatory. 

"Hey now!" Jaehee yelped indignantly, "Boss has been here longer than me, maybe 8 years, but we're building up strength!"

Yoosung decided it would be best to just leave the subject alone.

Later that night, Yoosung ate dinner with Saeran again. They talked more about The Cold and Yoosung's plans. "They're extremely helpful. This means a lot." 

Yoosung flushed in embarrassment and nodded silently. 

 When finished, Saeran stood, then held out his hand to Yoosung. "Welcome to The Cold. Your first day starts tomorrow," he said proudly as Yoosung shook his hand. 

"Thank you as well."

"Do you know how to get to your dorm room from here?" 

"Yes, Jaehee showed me. Thank you."

"No need for thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night," Yoosung said quietly. As soon as the door closed behind him, Yoosung sighed, then smiled slightly. His hand tingled from were Saeran had touched it...

What the hell was he thinking? Jesus, at 21 and still acting like he was going through puberty and he'd never seen an attractive man before. 

"Get your freaking hormones under control."

Yoosung shook his head, then walked off to his dorm room.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter was so boring, next chapter will have a lot more action: get ready for some one-on-one training ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)