Kyungsoo is making his slow way to P.E., thankful that it is the last period of the day. He has been exhausted since he woke up with a start earlier that morning, the last vesitges of sleep draining away from him and leaving him just as tired as he had been before going to bed in the first place.

He can't remember for the life of him what he had been dreaming about, but whatever it was, it must have been awful to have left him so groggy today.  He's made his way through his classes with minimal focus, thankful that not only is he a naturally good student, even with minimal effort, but that his teachers all like him enough to forgive him for nodding off several times throughout their lectures. It doesn't make him feel any less guilty, however.

Kyungsoo may be thankful that he is reaching his last class of the day, but he is not eagerly anticipating it. Gym class is bad enough when he's fully alert; suffering through in his half-asleep state is going to be misery. 

It's not that he's particularly bad at sports, but playing with and against a bunch of testosterone-driven, overly competitive teenage boys is not something he imagines anyone could blame him for dreading.

He has barely stepped foot in the locker room by the time he's pelted with noise and smells no one can stomach. 

"Hey, Kyungsoo, m'man!" Kyungsoo looks up from where he had his eyes trained on the floor just in time to see an overly enthusiastic Jongdae fall on the floor while trying to remove his jeans without taking his sneakers off first.

"Jongdae, you wad. How many times do you have to do that before you learn that you're not saving yourself any time by leaving your shoes on?" And despite his general state of exhaustion, Kyungsoo feels himself cheered by engaging in his favorite pastime of ragging on his friend.

"Look, it'll work! I just haven't perfected it yet..." He trails off as he tries desperately to pull his remaining leg out of his pants.

"Anyway, Soo, rumor has it we're playing dogeball today. Hope we're on opposite teams!" Kyungsoo is nearly finished changing by the time Jongdae has managed to extricate himself from his pants and pull his basketball shorts on.

"Why are you so determined to abuse me, Jongdae?"

"Cuz I love ya'" Jongdae slings his arm around Kyungsoo's shoulders as they make their way out of the locker room and into the gym. Most of their classmates are there already, and Kyungsoo is surprised to notice that New Kid is in their gym class. He hopes they aren't both on the opposite team from him. He would like to remain physically intact.

"Jongdae," Kyungsoo starts, tearing his thoughts away from New Kid. "You are a toxic friend and I think that it is high time I cut you out of my life."

"But then what would you live for?"

"I'm sure I could figure it out," he grumbles as he lines up in his unit to begin stretching before the gym teacher comes in.

He notices that New Kid has all his jewelry still on, and he wonders if their teacher will be able to find the balls to reprimand him.  Standing in line in front of him is Jongin who is happily doing his warm ups while joking around with his friends. Kyungsoo hopes that he did enough good in his prior life that he won't have all three of them on the opposite team. He knows he's an easy and much sought after target, and he is way too exhausted for that nonsense today.

"Alright ladies!" their teacher calls as he at last strolls lazily into the gym. "Dodgeball today. Line up and I'll count you off to form your teams."

"Jongdae, come stand next to me!" Kyungsoo doesn't beg, but if he did, he would be doing so now.

"No way in hell, Soo. You're going down!" Jondgae smiles at him maniacally as he situates himself so that there is a person between them.

Kyungsoo tries to stealthily insinuate himself on the other side of his classmate so that he is next to Jongdae after all, but the little just shifts down the line again.

"Jongdae~" And Kyungsoo doesn't even care that he's whining.

"Are you quite finished?" The teacher pins him into place with an annoyed stare.  Kyungsoo freezes and sees Jondae stick his tongue out at him from the corner of his eye.

I will kill you Kyungsoo mouths at his supposed friend, images of the violence he wishes to inflict on him flashing through his mind.

"Who are you!?" The teacher's booming voice cuts through all the chatter and shifting of overly eager boys.

Kyungsoo had forgotten all about New Kid until he opens his mouth. "M'name's Kris," he mumbles in response to the teacher's inquiry.

"Uh huh." The teacher seems wholly unimpressed, and Kyungsoo is surprised at how soft-spoken New Ki-Kris is. He expected him to have a much stronger, slightly abrasive voice to match his incredibly intimidating appearance. Even in gym shorts and a baggy grey t-shirt, he appears quite frightening.

They have at last been counted off and have been separated into two halves, each group at one end of the room. Jongdae of course is on the opposite team, as is Kris, but Jongin is on his team, and he is thankful that he doesn't have all the athletic/terrifying boys opposing him.

The game begins with the gym teacher's whistle, and everybody is sprinting headlong at each other to try to grab the balls before the other team can to gain initial advantage. Kyungsoo takes this opportunity to slip into the back of the gym to give himself the best chance of not being slammed in the face by a well-aimed ball from Jongdae.

Within seconds, balls are flying across the room and students are running around trying to avoid or catch them. Kris is already out, having tripped over his own feet in a surprising display of ungainly inelegance, and he slinks over to the bleachers and takes a seat, shoulders hunched and dark eyes watching the ensuing game with disinterest.

"Kyungsoo, watch out!" Kyungsoo snaps his head forward to see a ball whizzing rapidly towards his face, and just beyond it, the Cheshire Cat grin of the evil Jongdae.

He tries to dodge out of the way of the ball, but he knows it is no use. Shutting his eyes and waiting for impact, he's surprised when he doesn't feel the foamy ball smash into his nose. Cracking one eye, he is surprised to see Jongin beaming at him, the ball clutched tightly in one fist.

"Look alive, Kyungsoo. Don't want to get hurt, do ya?" And before Kyungsoo can say anything back - a thank you, a I didn't know you knew my name - Jongin has already launched himself back into the game.  With the uniform of basketball shorts, his prosthetic leg is on full display.

After years of being his classmate, Kyungsoo is pretty much desensitized to the sight of the gleaming metal, but he does agree with the girls that swarm the soccer player; the sight of him moving nimbly around the gym, throwing balls and changing directions on the turn of a dime, is really quite mesmerizing. Enchanting.

Which is probably why Kyungsoo didn't notice the next ball Jongdae launches at his head with frightening accuracy. At least not until it is slamming into him, foam hurting more than one would imagine possible.

"Got you, head!" Jongdae yells out with way too much joy.

"Language!" their teacher yells half-heartedly. Jongdae apologizes equally as insincerely and grins an evil grin at his friend before once more engaging himself in the game.

Kyungsoo shuffles over to the bleachers and sits a little awkwardly a few feet away from Kris who is slouched with his face resting in his palms and his elbows propped on his thighs as he glowers sullenly at their classmates who still continue to play.

He debates the wisdom of trying to engage the frightening new student in small talk, but instead chooses to also watch the rest of the class. Pulling his legs up and sitting cross-legged on the cold metal bench, Kyungsoo's eyes seek out Jongdae.  A small smile quirks his lips as he watches his idiot friend getting much too overly enthusiastic in the pelting of balls.  He imagines he could make a joke about that, but with no audience for his wit - with the exception of his scary new classmate - Kyungsoo just decides to keep his comments to himself. Even if they are funny.

As time passes, more and more students get tagged out of the game and join him on the bleachers.  The endorphins from his brief stint of exercise are fast fading and Kyungsoo is once more feeling how tired he is.  Leaning back, he has just decided he might try to doze a little bit before the end of class when he is drawn once more into full consciousness from the sudden onslaught of cheering from his classmates on the bleachers.

Cracking his eyes to see what the fuss is, he is amused to see that, to nobody's surprise, Jongdae and Jongin are the last two on the court, viciously throwing balls towards each other.  Nobody is landing a hit, and Kyungsoo is wondering if they ever will.

Bets are being placed as everyone looks on in eager anticipation to see the victor of the game.

Kyungsoo suspects he should probably be cheering for Jongdae; he is, after all, his best friend. But he is enthralled by the seemingly effortless grace that Jongin has in avoiding the projectiles whizzing past him.  His leg doesn't hinder him at all, and instead looks exactly like what it is: an extension of his body.  He spins and twists with the grace of a ballerina, and Kyungsoo is sure that Jongin would probably punch him if he heard Kyungsoo say that. Or, maybe not. He's too nice.

It is because Kyungsoo is too busy admiring the grace of Jongin as he moves about the gym that he completely misses the reason his classmates on the bleachers burst into sudden uproarious cheers. 

Pulling his eyes away from Jongin, Kyungsoo takes in the scene before him. Jongin is standing laughing and panting on his half of the gym, a charming smile on his face.  On the other side of the gym is an overly dramatic Jongdae.  He is kneeling in the middle of the floor, hands covering his face and body slumped almost cartoonishly in defeat. 

Realizing that his overly competitive friend has in fact lost the game, Kyungsoo lets out a loud bark of laughter that has Jongdae whipping his head towards him and glaring daggers at him.

Shrugging noncomitally, Kyungsoo stands and is the first to exit the gym and return to the locker rooms, eager to change and finally go home.  He suspects that as soon as his head hits the pillow tonight, he will be fast asleep.

A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry that this update is so late in coming. I had a miserable cold for quite a while that was hanging on longer than it should have because of the fluctuating weather. Is it cold? Is it hot? Who knows; Mother Nature is a finicky right now.