Today was club election day. All students were busy preparing for their respective organizations' welcoming assembly for this school term. Jongin and Baekhyun weaved through the bustling crowd in the main campus hallway, trying to get to Glee Club’s assigned room as fast as their feet could take them.

They had a new addition to them today. His name was Kim Minseok, a high school freshman Baekhyun met on the way to school. The latter learned that they shared the same clubs, which was why he's pulling the older along, together with his best friend. Jongin wasn't really a member of the Glee Club but with the knowledge that it would take a while before his club members gathered in their designated clubroom, Baekhyun thought it would be a bright idea for him to tag along.

It didn’t take them long to find their destination. It was total chaos the moment Baekhyun arrived, bellowing as means of greeting his fellow club members and them bellowing back and crowding around the new member Minseok.

The whole time he's inside, Jongin was quietly observing everyone sing to their hearts’ content. It was unorthodox for them to practice several songs right away since seeing that it was just the first meeting, but it was necessary since roughly two months from now and the sports festival would begin. They were required to perform on the first day of the opening ceremony and the following days after which was why they needed to rehearse early because they didn’t have a lot of time left in their bank.

Eventually, Jongin decided to leave as it’s time for him to attend his own club assembly. He bid Baekhyun a cheerful goodbye, who as of current was belting out a verse that sent Jongin goosebumps. His best friend was intimidatingly good at singing, he almost felt so untalented.

“Hi, Jongin!” Jongin was greeted in an instant by his fellow team members once he reached the track and field's designated room. He greeted back, smiling, roaming his eyes around to see how many members were there. In the process, he spotted someone new and unfamiliar sitting on his usual seat. But that's okay, I can just pick another one.

Jongin was unaware of all eyes watching his every step toward the new guy. He merely staked a claim on the seat beside him, rearranging his bag. Most of his teammates were looking at him as if he just grew two more heads. Clearly, they didn’t understand why Jongin was willing to sit beside a school delinquent like Huang Zitao.

Zitao was just thrown into their club as a repercussion of his rebellious attitude and thoughtless actions. He had basically subjected himself into serving his entire sophomore year with the track team as an act of disciplinary measure. They didn’t even have the guts to approach him earlier because they were too daunted by his presence. He was quite infamous for being violent and such; in addition, he was the headmaster's son which made it all the more difficult to initiate small talk with him.

Finally, when Jongin felt the weight of the stares, he looked up, the movements of his hands faltering. Up close, Zitao was actually a bit too intimidating for him. He had sharp eyes like that of a feline's and the few piercings he was donning on both ears made Jongin gulp inwardly. Nonetheless, he stammered out an awkward, “H-Hello…I’m Kim Jongin, nice to meet you.”

Zitao stared him down with such a prying look that Jongin was starting to feel highly uncomfortable. Despite that, he didn’t let his unease show. He could only release his breath once Zitao was done scrutinizing his very soul.

Great. So he gave Zitao a wide smile as a greeting because he hadn’t seen him before, and all the guy ever did was to give him a stare so impassive it would throw even the most confident people off balance. He looked away, trying to busy himself with the view of the football team outside the window.

It's not even a minute in when Zitao suddenly broke the ice surrounding them. “You. Aren't you that kid’s best friend that Kyungsoo hyung is close with?”

He’s talking about Baekhyun…The younger stiffened upon hearing the other’s raspy voice. Without looking, he gave the other male a meek nod as an answer. Zitao roamed his eyes elsewhere. “You know, your friend's real in' clingy it's annoying.”

Jongin's head whipped towards his direction at that, eyebrows rising. Although he greatly agreed with that, he didn’t think it was in the stranger’s place to just say that to him.

“He is not…” Jongin responded with the slightest of frowns.

“Oh he's not? Then do tell me what’s he doing every time he tags along with our band?” Jongin bit his bottom lip. Band? He's an EXO member?

Being friends with Kyungsoo for years didn't mean Jongin knew everything there was to him, and that included the identity of his band members. It must be since he wasn't particularly curious to know, unlike Baekhyun who made it a goal to find out every living and breathing human associated with the love of his life. Today's the first time he actually got to meet someone from Kyungsoo's inner circle of friends. “Well, he’s just a…um…just a bit excited, is all! He’s always been like that.”

“Sure. When Kyungsoo hyung is around.” Zitao trained his eyes back at Jongin. “He kept going to our band practices, always the meddlesome and noisy one. He annoys the ing out of me. Your friend lost a couple of screws in the head, huh?”

At the end of the sentence, Jongin couldn't help but bristle. The fact that Zitao could see his ears turning pink was a huge testament. Jongin had always been protective of his best friend because Baekhyun was the only person who had stuck by him through his ups and downs. He practically considered Baekhyun his brother and so hearing others speak ill about him in front of him was intolerable.

Turning red in pent up frustration, Jongin huffed. “Don’t be rude! You don’t know him!”

Jongin’s sudden outburst left his team members gaping incredulously at him. Their expressions were purely gobsmacked because they just witnessed their youngest club member, a paradigm of an angel Kim Jongin, talk back to a notorious sophomore delinquent. Zitao arched an eyebrow, realizing that Jongin must be unaware of his reputation since nobody dared cross paths with him unless they’re asking for a relentless beating.

What an ignorant little mouse. As Zitao's lips pulled up to a smirk, Jongin felt a whole sense of foreboding. That small smile seemed to carry a lot of untold things behind it.

“You know what,” Zitao leaned. He strongly smelled of cigars and the familiar scent nearly made Jongin double over in disgust. “Why don’t you tag along with your friend tonight at practice? See for yourself.”

Zitao leaned away again with a casual look on his features as if he didn't just taunt a thirteen-year-old kid. Jongin pursed his lips shut, contemplating on a retort when their coach arrived, asking the other members to go to their own seats. Whatever he was about to say became forgotten.

Would it really be a good idea to do what this guy told him to? It wasn't like he had important things to do after school. In fact, Jongin could very well tag along with Baekhyun to wherever his best friend liked to go since he didn’t have much to do at home. But for some reason, he felt like Zitao was the kind of guy someone like him shouldn’t trust.

Right?

He practically called your best friend crazy. A voice prodded in his mind. Jongin frowned, upset. Zitao was so tall next to him that he couldn't help but feel so puny. Just go and prove this guy wrong. No one calls Baekkie annoying except me.

Jongin inwardly huffed in determination, sitting back down on his seat while their coach began with the roll call. He had decided; he would go with Baekhyun later. After all, he'd been meaning to come with Baekhyun to watch their Kyungsoo hyung rehearse. He just couldn't do so the past few weeks because of the dilemmas he faced regarding his sudden engagement. Now that the opportunity was presenting itself, he should grab it.

How bad could this decision be anyway?

***

At the signal of the final bell, a huge crowd of students came streaming out of the campus, crowding the gates and the parking lot. Sehun watched in absolute boredom as countless heads passed him by, their greetings merely returned with a simple nod. He leaned against the hood of his Jaguar, talking with a few of his friends and waiting for Chanyeol's , obviously.

His friends were recounting an embarrassing spectacle during Luna's birthday bash last night (they got so drunk some of them fell on the pool) when Sehun spotted a black pick-up slowing down to a stop near them. He immediately recognized it as Kyungsoo’s car. There were Kyungsoo’s other bandmates Zhang Yixing and Kim Jongdae at the back, talking boisterously. Sehun held no interest in watching them seeing as they were nothing but eyesores to him, however, something had reeled his attention in.

Huang Zitao, the fourth band member of Exo, came sauntering to the truck with two unlikely companions—a bouncy, beaming Baekhyun and an ill at ease Jongin.

Sehun's brow rose. Baekhyun happily climbed up the truck, as usual latching himself onto an amused looking Kyungsoo who's in the driver’s seat. A more noticeably discomfited Jongin fidgeted near the door, playing with the straps of his bag with a clueless look on his face. Zitao bent down to his level and muttered something that looked amiss to Sehun. Jongin frowned a little and clumsily clambered into the car, with Zitao banging the door shut. Afterward, he climbed up at the back of the truck, greeting his bandmates with low fives before the truck backed up the lot and sped away.

Sehun’s gut stirred with annoyance. At first, he assumed Jongin was befriending those motherers to obviously piss him off, considering there had always been bad blood between him and Kyungsoo. Finding out the truth didn't make him less suspicious of Jongin at all though- in fact, the younger boy's choices just peeved him a lot more than before. It's inappropriate for kids like him to associate himself with people like Kyungsoo and his friends.

But then again, it's not like he gave two s about what Kim Jongin did with his life. As long as he stayed out of the way.

***

It had been approximately a week since the non-curricular club meetings commenced. Now, it’s time for the curricular ones to take place. Jongin had been a regular member of the social studies club since he was ten, and he preferred to keep it that way until he finished high school. He had always dreamt of starting his own business if he ever made it someday, which was why he'd been told he was particularly good with economics.