Colleagues
Company, These Guys, Troupe
People you want to take along to the middle of somewhere are probably people you know pretty well. They're your colleagues, they keep you company. These guys, am I right?
れんちゅう
れんぢゅう
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れんじゅう
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. As long as you know the readings for these kanji, you should be able to read this word just fine.
うちの息子は、最近悪い連中と付き合っているみたいで、少し心配です。
It seems my son has been keeping bad company, so I'm a bit worried.
よっぱらい連中には近づかない方がいいぜ。
You shouldn't get close to a group of drunks.
あの連中はいつもくだらない話ばかりしている。
Those guys always have nothing but stupid conversations.