The sunlight was lovely and warm as it filtered through the curtains. But not for our poor Minho. With a loud thump! He had turned over on his back, slapping a pillow over his head in a ridiculous attempt to block the infiltrating light that dared to disturb his sleep.

               No sooner had loud yells began to penetrate his precious eardrums. “Minho! Get up!”

               A low growl sounded deep in his throat, as his blanket was whipped away mercilessly. He opened his eyes a narrowed slit to stare at Jonghyun, his teeth gritting and bared slightly in hostility.

               “Awww, don’t give me that look, Minho. It looks like I just offended a cat and he’s about to scratch me.”

               Minho hissed and raked his nails in the air, just as Jonghyun leapt back, his eyes filled with laughter. “All right, keep your claws to yourself. But the apprentices are already here; they’ve joined us for breakfast. I think you better get up and join Taemin. After all, none of us really know how to talk to him.

               You and me both. Minho thought mutinously, rubbing his eyes with his clenched fists as Jonghyun scampered out, yelling something to Key about messy beds and frogs.

               Letting out a soft sigh, Minho sat up, raking a hand through his messy hair in a futile attempt to tame the rat’s nest. With half-closed eyes, he washed up briefly, before dragging himself out.

               “Morning guys…” He mumbled. The apprentices waved cheerily, while Jonghyun back-hugged Key, the diva trying to get Jonghyun out of the way. Seeing them squabbling, Minho sighed.

               “Love is in the air…no wait, or is that bacon?” Instantly awake, Minho swatted Jonghyun aside to take a deep breath of the fried strips of meat. Jonghyun groaned, glaring at his best friend for a few seconds before deciding to help himself to a carton of milk nearby.

               “Glad to know you have manners…And a lovely appetite.” Jonghyun groaned, blowing bubbles in the milk while Key rolled his eyes at the childish actions.

               “And besides, there is only carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen in the air. Oh, and don’t forget the others, like the noble gases.” Chunji came walking in, a massive book in hand, a pair of black spectacles pushed up on his nose bridge. Key seemed slightly surprised by how much more mature the boy seemed to be; initially he had thought of Chunji as an immature, irresponsible kid who was a bit of a nutcase.

               “Who would’ve thought you’d turn out to be such an egghead?” Jonghyun snickered, while Minho glared at Jonghyun for that remark. Chunji simply shrugged.

               “I am not what I am.”

               Niel recited from behind, a wide smile on his face. He seemed pretty comfortable with the many pages of the book, flipping them quickly as he scanned through every page.

               “And who would’ve thought such playful food fighters could be such nerds after one night?” Key sighed. Niel raised an eyebrow at the elder.

               “Yesterday was still somewhat a part of summer holiday. Starting today is actual school, and we are perfectly serious when it comes to that. Besides, we were dragged in yesterday; we were victims too when we got hit by tortillas.”

               “The cafeteria sells tortillas?” Ignoring a salivating Jonghyun everyone rolled their eyes; he should’ve known that two years ago.

               “Hey, where’s Taemin?”

               Everyone rolled their eyes, rendering Minho to seem like a complete idiot.

               “If you would kindly look behind you.” Niel mumbled, leaving a chagrinned Minho to turn around and scratch his head awkwardly at the sight of his apprentice.

               “Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t hear you there.” He chuckled, while Taemin simply fixed his large orbs upon Minho, studying him for a moment before moving on to stare out the window.

               “As much as I want to spend the whole day dilly-dallying out here, I’d love to at least enjoy my breakfast before I get locked up in that sugar-coated hell of a math class. So will you guys hurry up?” Key snapped, passing out platters of flapjacks, bacon and eggs.

               “Bad luck, Key. We’ve got physical education in the morning. Nothing like breaking out in a good sweat up early.” Minho stretched, listening to his joints pop as he did. There was a heavy thump as Key calmly hit his head on the table, Jonghyun rolling his eyes at the drama queen.

               “Thank the Lord, it’s free period first for us today.” Niel had a wide triumphant smile upon his face as he slung his arms over Chunji and Taemin’s shoulders. Chunji slapped the offending boy away, while Taemin didn’t react, simply staring at the ground blankly.

               Minho could only throw a concerned look at Taemin before he was dragged out by Key. In the midst of getting pelted by socks, sneakers and hoodies, he could only feel worry for his apprentice.

               Why did he never speak?

*********

               Jonghyun gasped as he skidded across the grass and landed on his side on the muddy grass. His shirt was stuck to his skin, a very uncomfortable sensation. And the mud clung to the material firmly. But in the heat of battle, he had forgotten about all that.

               “You’re going down, Choi Minho.”

               The tall boy just rolled his eyes and took another shot. The soccer ball went flying past at high speed, slamming into the goal swiftly.

               “You know, when you’re playing soccer, you have to stop your opponent’s ball, not watch it go straight in!” Key snorted, twirling the string of the lanyard around his neck. Chosen to be referee, he had once again oh so conveniently avoided the muck.

               “You try stopping it!” Jonghyun snapped, before another student passed a ball to him, making him much too busy to continue arguing with Key. He made an attempt to shoot, only to let Minho steal the ball swiftly, dodging past and running straight for their goal.

               Jonghyun sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stared at how stupendously they had lost to Minho’s team.

               6 – 0. Darn.

               “Great job, man.” A boy with fawn, curly hair high-fived Minho, his smile wide and eyes sparkling with excitement.

               “Thanks Luhan. You weren’t so bad yourself.”

               “If you’re quite done flattering each other,” Key put in drily, “You all have to take a bath. I’m not sharing class with a bunch of stallions just because someone couldn’t shower in time again.”

               Minho rolled his eyes, swiping away bead of sweat roughly with his hand. “You do realize I could care less, Mother?”

               Jonghyun snorted at that comment, before running off towards the lockers, Minho and Luhan at his tail. Hey, as much as they loved making sharp retorts to Key, none dared to defy him. Nobody messed with Key; especially when he threatened to blackmail you on the school intercom system.

               …He’s resourceful that way.

*******

               It seemed that hours had turned to liquid, dripping swiftly away and disappearing without a trace down the earth, absorbed by plants hungrily to leave everyone starving for more.

               Literally, everyone was famished when the clock struck 12 at noon.

               The mad dash to the cafeteria was another war ground on its own as people jostled one another, struggling to get to the front, fighting for food before the best was taken. Of course, Key chose to bring his own, claiming the lunches at school to be gross, moldy and not at the quality of his taste. Used to Key’s complaints, the diva was sent instantly to grab a table on his own while Minho and Jonghyun skillfully slipped into the crowd, grabbing the few left of burgers before tumbling back out the crowd.

               “Who’d have thought the battle could be this fierce on the first day?” Jonghyun laughed, staring at Minho’s hair that was completely messed up when he was ducking the grabbing hands of massive jocks. Though Jonghyun himself was no better with a completely crumpled shirt and his hoodie that now looked like a poor piece of limp seaweed.

               “I’m glad I’m not in there.” A slightly higher-pitched voice snuck its way into the boys’ conversation. Chunji smiled down at them, offering a hand to an exhausted Minho. Chunji looked barely ruffled, his glasses dangling in the front of his shirt and in his left arm was a book, tucked safely and away from grasping arms of lunch warriors.

               “Where’s your lunch?”

               At Jonghyun’s question, Chunji pointed in Key’s direction. Following his finger, the two older boys jumped slightly in surprise to notice Taemin standing next to Key, his slim body and clothing making him look more like a ghost under the light, a bare will-o’wisp who seemed to flicker in and out of existence. His eyes reflected the clouded skies like luminescent, small moons, yawning at the skies with nothing but blankness.

               “Taemin managed to get some. We were about to wade in when he just gave us ours as well. Seemed he was able to snatch ours too. I’m totally grateful; he’s probably so small nobody noticed when he went in and came out with three lunches.”

               Chunji’s voice jerked Minho from his intent thinking. Niel had joined them sometime during Chunji’s babbling, his eyes glimmering with amusement.

               Lunch was quite the odd scene. The silence that fell over them was heavy, easy to lift, but no one dared to touch. But it took no time for a couple of seemingly made-of-rubber wieners to bounce their way through that awkwardness, bringing a soft laughter through the boys. Pretty soon they were arguing on whether cafeteria food was edible, the possibilities of that wiener being digested by their poor stomachs, and of course, what kind of chemical that was put in to ever make it that tough.

               In between bites, of course. No one ever forgot the platters of grub, however unappetizing they looked. It managed to keep them going anyways.

               And that was just how a grueling day of school passed for the pitiful boys. By the time the school bell had rung, the youngest ones excitedly threw open doors and ran off with all the energy of a cheetah drinking red bull. As if. Most of them seemed rather thrown apart and overwhelmed by the new life they were having; a much more busy and hectic one.

               Of course, the teachers just had to come up with some kind of pea-brained idea that they thought would make the students feel better.

              “So…you guys up for it?” After Jonghyun’s long explaining of the upcoming event, there was a long silence, except for the soft flipping of a book as Niel gently turned a page, his metal bookmark clamped in his mouth as he read intently on. Chunji didn’t seem all that concentrated on the conversation either, his eyes fixed on a burette as he watched the acid run down into a flask. The mixture in the flask turned slowly from deep orange to a lighter shade with his mixing; Jonghyun’s words seemed to have went in through his left ear and out his right.

                “Is anyone listening to me here?” Jonghyun growled. Minho gave him a raised eyebrow, “Let’s say that even if we weren’t up for the damn camping up the mountain we’d still have to go. And besides, there isn’t much to say. I mean, other than the fact you better not be late and get on the wrong side of the teachers in the morning. Sometimes they seem like they’re out for blood. Literally.”

                 Minho shuddered, while Jonghyun snorted slightly.

                 “I’d much rather stay in the lab…” Chunji mumbled. Niel’s only answer was the continuing flip of pages as he skimmed quickly through his beloved Wuthering Heights. Taemin, on the other hand, sat opposite to Chunji, his eyes fixated on each drop of acid that fell into the flask, silent and completely blank of thoughts.

                 “I don’t like it any more than you do…” Key finally spoke up, his eyes twitching with disgust at the thought of a muddy terrain they had to trek through.

                  Indeed, they all greatly looked forward to this lovely walk through the mountains.