Xiumin woke with a start at a sound he soon recognized as his ringtone. Groaning in annoyance he turned over on the bed to reach for it, but as he couldn’t find it anywhere within reach he forced his eyes open to look around the room. It was bright though, too bright for his poor, tired eyes to stand, so he squeezed them shut again and hid under the covers. Let it ring, he thought grouchily – it wasn’t like anyone else was there to give a damn.

It took roughly two minutes for him to come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep – despite how badly he needed it after the night’s irritating disturbance – but he kept the covers over his head as he sat up; determined to not let the sunlight hurt him again. With some difficulty he managed to stumble over to the next bed, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity – of course he’d climbed into the wrong bed when he came back. His phone was waiting for him on the white sheets and he fumbled with the thin fabric that protected him from the light for a few seconds, cursing as his hand kept getting tangled in it, before finally snatching the device off the bed to find out who’d roused him from his sleep a few minutes prior, more than ready to swear revenge on them if it happened to be the same vile creature that had woken him earlier. When Chen’s name appeared on the screen however he couldn’t help but smile a bit. They’d already managed to go back to how they were before Kris interfered, but this acted as an extra confirmation of that fact.

“Hey hyung, just letting you know that I’ll be coming early today and I’m tired, and my family’s a bunch of mean asses and if you throw a book at my head I will never speak to you again. Uh… right, okay, that’s it. Why aren’t you picking up by the way? Did you go and pass out in a ditch somewhere or-“ He cocked a brow at the abrupt end of the message before shaking his head with a deep sigh – he apparently wasn’t the only one who’d had a bad night.

He allowed himself to yawn widely before shrugging out of the covers and leaving them a crinkled mess on the floor, after which he cast a sweeping glance over the rest of the infirmary. It was quite amusing that no one had found him there in the morning, ever, but he did know it was just a matter of time. Not that anyone would have much to say about it though – the infirmary was one of the few places that couldn’t be claimed after all, so he really wasn’t doing anything wrong by borrowing it.

The school grounds looked as crappy as ever, and he kicked a bit at the dry grass as he walked. It would be nice if they fixed it up sometime – preferably before he graduated. Out of habit he let his eyes fly over the empty sports’ field and the area around it, and upon reaching the gym he listened closely to make sure no one was near. Soundlessly he brought a key out of his back pocket, opening the main door of the building before slipping inside and locking it again behind him. Next was the locker room – funny thing how the key seemed to open every part of the gym building; even the back door and the tiny broadcasting center. To him it was convenient anyhow, and he was pleased to know that the locker room was virtually impossible to get into without it what with the metal door and durable lock. Not that it was the most popular location in the first place what with the lingering scent of sweat and mildew – yes, both nasty scents were still somewhat present despite the room not having been used for at least ten years, and even after having been cleaned up several times during that long period due to complains from the health inspection. Now that he thought about it they should be coming around before the end of the year unless they’d changed their routine.

Shaking the thought of the suited men out of his head he strode over to the broken locker in the far corner, opening it fully to grab his shower gel, shampoo and a clean towel before making his way to the shower room. It always felt nice to get washed up, especially after sleeping in the infirmary beds – you never knew who could’ve been there before… or how often the sheets were cleaned overall. He shuddered at the thought as he got out of the shower to dry off and slip into his school uniform, really not wanting to know of the state of the only true neutral zone they had; it might be off-putting enough to drive even him away.

As he made his way back to the main building and through the corridors quite a few students were already around, and most of them shied away from him when they passed, their expressions clearly displaying their surprise at him being anywhere but the library. At least they still knew better than to get in his way. From the looks of them however, and judging by the time, they were most likely the small percentage of students who actually bothered to study anymore; those who had other reasons than criminal or generally disturbing actions to have come to the jailhouse. And now they were stuck in the cage like the rest of them, poor kids. He almost pitied them. Almost almost anyhow. Maybe.

He hummed to himself as he reached the wonderfully familiar first floor corridor, and opened the door to the library without thinking. A hard block of bound paper hit him on the shoulder the second he stepped inside, making him yelp in shock.

“What the-“ He started, but shut up when he heard a mischievous laugh.

“Oh my god, you should’ve seen your face hyung! You looked like a scared chipmunk!” He scoffed at Chen’s ridiculous comparison as the younger doubled over in laughter, rubbing his shoulder lightly to get rid of the slight numbness where the book had hit it – like he’d thought it was hardly enough to complain about for long, but the element of surprise hadn’t been good on him. His heart was still racing from being caught off guard, and he couldn’t say he liked the feeling.

“If it was anyone else…” He grumbled to himself and dropped onto one of the tables. A few seconds after closing his eyes he felt ready to fall asleep even on the hard surface beneath him, and probably would’ve if it wasn’t for the proximity of his company.

”Xiumin-hyung.” He opened his eyes and blinked a few times but didn’t respond to the call of the younger, who had just joined him on the table and was at the moment nonchalantly using his lap as some sort of headrest. Not that he really minded. “Hyung.” He furrowed his brows and pursed his lips, determined to drag things out a bit just for the hell of it. “For the love of- you were fine yesterday, what did I do wrong this time? Was it the book? Because let’s face it I’ve been hit way more times than-” With a click of his tongue he propped himself on his elbows to stare down at the other, who stopped his ranting for a few seconds. “What?” When he let his back drop onto the cool table again the second-year let out a loud groan, poking him in the ribs in a very harsh way that made his eyes tear up.

“What the hell Chen?!” He spluttered, almost knocking the kid off the table with a violent shove, and was only barely able to grab a hold of his arm to keep him in place as he realized he’d used a bit too much force. Chen glared at him for a second before scoffing.

“Did something happen to make you all… you know, touchy, edgy and generally pissed at the world?” Xiumin sighed and rolled his eyes at the clear and uncalled for exaggerations – he was not being touchy, edgy and pissed at anyone… except possibly Kris, but that hadn’t been any different from the day before. In fact the religious turd was most definitely the primary reason he’d been somewhat stingy since he woke up.

“Junmyeon called me at two in the morning; Kris had locked him and Lay up in the Haunted Hallway’s storage room and left them there.” He grumbled acidly, ready to flip tables just by remembering how he’d had to drag himself to the creepy corridor with all the freaky sounds and shadows in the middle of the night, cold and half-asleep. Not to mention the two left the second he let them out with nothing more than a ‘we owe you one dude’. He should’ve just ignored his conscience and left them there.

“…What were you doing in school at two in the morning?” The younger asked with a bewildered expression, to which Xiumin responded by poking the boy’s cheek teasingly and decided to ignore the fact that Chen had somewhat missed the point and move on, although he was sure the grin he put on looked just as forced as it was.

“Sleeping of course.” He did bother lying since the second-year would probably be the first to find out either way. For a moment he wondered how it was that the hacker didn’t know about it already – he was fully aware that not all of the school’s cameras had been taken out, and that Chen should have no problem whatsoever getting into them, so it wouldn’t be strange if he was caught on one or the other.

“… But why?” He met the other’s questioning gaze for a few seconds, but then just lay back down with a chuckle, not quite comfortable enough to continue with the topic.

“Don’t you know enough about me already? Let me have that bit of privacy at least.” He snickered, letting out a big puff of air as the kid dropped down onto his stomach without any regard for the fact that he had been trying to breathe like a proper human being. Again, not that he really had a problem with the action but he appreciated the ability to inhale air and through that get the oxygen needed to survive – but at least Chen was there with him instead of off somewhere to do the Almighty Kris’ bidding. The younger let out a loud huff from his position, playing with his own fingers lazily for a few seconds before becoming bored and moving on to inspect Xiumin’s. “Having fun?” He teased with a roll of his eyes.

“Shut up hyung.” He scoffed at the rude snap, tugging playfully at a lock of dark hair. “And I do not know ‘enough’ about you, so to speak – you’re one of the people I have the least info on.” He had to actually put a hand over his mouth to not laugh out loud at that screamingly false statement. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and find his voice.

“Are you kidding me?” It came out as a squeak more than anything and he cleared his throat. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were keeping me under constant surveillance or some-… thing…” He stopped himself as he noticed the other stopped messing with his hand. Bingo? “Well now.” He smirked, peering down at the boy who now seemed desperate to avoid any sort of eye-contact and was already making to get off the table. “Oh no you don’t.” Xiumin chuckled, taking a secure hold of the second-year’s shoulders and forcing him to sit down on the edge of the table.

“Let me go.” Chen squirmed a bit and tried to pry off his hands, but when it didn’t work he simply turned to glare at him fiercely. “How long have you known?” He growled, and Xiumin bit back another laugh.

“What?”

“How long have you known about the camera?” He stared blankly at the kid for a few seconds. There really was one of those things in the library? He frowned, having only considered the ones in the hallways and such. If there was one shouldn’t he know about it? When he tried to think back he could somewhat remember reminding himself of always being careful with what he did, but it was extremely vague and he really couldn’t make any sense of it. Time to change tactics; just wing it.

“Since they were first put up – did you really think I’d miss something important like that?” Xiumin grinned; he was lying through his teeth, but at least his smile was genuine. Chen huffed and tried to shrug off his hands again, but he just slid his arm around the guy’s shoulder and he gave up, slouching tiredly with a glum expression.

“And the phone?” Despite the unexpected revelation he didn’t let himself show any sort of surprise or amusement, but just shrugged before answering with another reproachful lie.

“Quite some time now. You know Chen, you’re a genius when it comes to all of this tech stuff, but you should really stop underestimating your seniors.”

“…Does that mean Luhan-hyung knows as well?” A couple of seconds passed as the message sunk in before Xiumin finally gave a hearty laugh – at least he wasn’t the only one who’d been under watchful eyes. He ruffled the younger’s hair teasingly before letting him go, earning an annoyed pout as he did. “Come on hyung, it’s my neck that’s on the line here!” He snickered at Chen’s slightly whiny tone, but then cocked his head arrogantly to one side.

“Don’t worry, not all your hyungs are as sharp as me – just let me in on what Luhan’s up to and I won’t give anything away.”  He sang. He was happy. Hell, he’d just found out that not only does Chen care enough to actually keep him under surveillance, but he’s gone so far as to bug phones – doesn’t this mean he’ll never have to be in the dark about what bull Luhan is up to anymore? Xiumin snickered as he mussed up the younger’s hair again, hoping that it would be enough to let the kid know he wasn’t in a bad mood about things. For a second it seemed to work, since he received a small smile, but then Chen frowned thoughtfully.

“Actually hyung… there’s one thing that’s been bugging me.” He started, and Xiumin cocked a brow at the serious tone before taking his seat on a chair for once, waving his hand for the second-year to continue. “What you said about Junmyeon and Lay reminded me of something…” Chen paused again to bite his bottom lip before continuing. “You know how Luhan-hyung spends a lot of time with Lay, almost to the point of annoying him?” He nodded despite his thin knowledge of the structure of the mentioned relationship, and the younger went on. “Lay called Luhan-hyung yesterday evening, several times. I thought it was weird since Lay never calls – it’s always outgoing on Luhan-hyung’s part-” Xiumin knew he should be listening seriously, but he couldn’t suppress a bored yawn at the subject, and Chen glowered at him before kicking his shin lightly. “I’m getting to the point hyung so pay some attention!”

“Alright, fine! Sorry…” He grumbled. Chen just stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds, then huffed and fished his phone out of his pocket, typing in what Xiumin could only guess was a password or something like that.

“Okay, here.” The bright screen was suddenly in front of his face and he leaned back in surprise before he even thought of looking at the display. When he did however, he finally found out what had been so strange. “Five calls in ten minutes, from Lay, and he ignored all of them.”

“How do you know he ignored them?” Chen scrolled down a bit.

“Three hours later he got another call, which he answered. They talked for about two minutes and that was it. I don’t have the call saved – I haven’t gotten that far with the program yet – but if you actually had to go get them out at two in the morning Luhan has to be up to something.” Xiumin narrowed his eyes as he took it all in. He had no idea what Kris could’ve put the guy up to, but in all honesty he could only guess that Luhan had acted without instructions. And that left pretty much one thing as far as he could figure.

“Is his phone on now?” He asked slowly, and Chen shook his head ‘no’. “Then… can you check where he was last before he turned it off?” The younger didn’t even blink before doing as he asked – this was a bit strange, but he felt like whatever the reason for that was he’d be able to handle it later.

“Uh… somewhere in Seongbuk-dong.” Chen muttered after half a minute.

“Seongbuk? What the hell was that moron doing all the way over there?” He asked, and the second-year pursed his lips as he simply walked over to his laptop, bringing out his laptop and starting it up. Xiumin got a bad feeling from the look on the kid’s face.

When the door slid open a minute later he found he wasn’t in the mood to throw any books, but glared at the boy nonetheless, Chen grimacing in obvious disapproval before going back to his abusing of the keyboard. Baekhyun was on the phone with someone, and Xiumin look at him expectantly for an explanation.

“It’s Chanyeol.” The guy told them finally, to which Chen cocked a brow but didn’t say a word, and the bad feeling he had grew. “Sehun went missing last night and they can’t get in touch with him. I didn’t know who else I could possibly ask.” Well, there they had it. “Do you two-“

“Luhan.” They answered in unison, the hacker clearing his throat before explaining. “Luhan was up to something last night around eight or nine, and his phone’s GPS showed Seongbuk-dong as his last location, just a few streets from Sehun’s house. That’s all I can find until he turns his phone back on.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun breathed, seemingly dampened by the news, after which furrowed his brows and seemed to flinch at the sudden up in volume from the other end – even Xiumin could make out pieces of words when he listened properly. “Look, Chen and Xiumin-hyung say that Luhan’s done something to him, and they can’t figure out where he’s gone- hey-… then tell your childhood sweetheart to get his over here and knock Kris around a bit or some- damn it Chanyeol, shut the up or I’m letting Krissy know what you’re up to! Yes I do… alright, fine, just- ugh, figure something out on your own and be glad I even helped out.” Xiumin raised a brow at the way the kid pouted and stomped the floor when the other apparently wouldn’t listen, and out of the corner of his eye saw Chen scrunching his nose at the scene. Those two didn’t get along?

“So…” Chen started after the other second-year bowed in thanks and left the room, looking up to him with a blank face. “How long have you been in league with our cute little rebels?”

////////////////////////////////////////

Junmyeon’s eye twitched slightly as he glared at the guy in front of him, who was leisurely playing some game on his phone. When he’d tried to speak before the other had simply held up one hand in a casual gesture for him to be quiet, after which he’d muttered ‘one minute’. It’d been five. Frustrated and tired of waiting as he was, Junmyeon reached out and swiftly snatched the phone out of the boy’s hands, ending the game without batting an eyelash before handing it back.

“There, can we talk now?” He asked with a straight face as his supposed new-found friend simply gaped at him and huffed before crossing his arms stubbornly.

“You ruined my high score.” The younger grumbled, and Junmyeon rolled his eyes.

“And you called me out for a chat, remember?” There were a few moments of silence before Lay threw his hands up in resignation, sliding down a bit in the chair. This made the kid look like a sulking kindergartner, but he decided to keep that opinion to himself. “If you’d stop pouting we might actually be able to get somewhere before they close.” He said instead and took a sip of his black coffee, genuinely enjoying the uplifting result of his caffeine intake. After going to bed around two in the morning he’d slept until Lay’s text message brought him out of his sweet dreams at roughly five in the afternoon, at which point he found that he was already developing a headache from sleeping too long, and he’d forced himself to get up and head downtown to meet up with the kid at a bustling café. There was still quite a bit of chatter going on around them, but now that he was starting to think clearly again he was able to tune it out and focus on what was supposed to be a conversation.

“You live with Kris, don’t you?” Well, that was straightforward. Junmyeon chuckled at the simple question, shrugging and taking another sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, sure. If you’d call it living together – he stays in his room whenever he’s in anyways so I can’t tell you his hobbies if that’s what you want to know about. I suspect it has to do with praying though.” He answered casually with a glance out the window to his left. It was starting to darken outside already, and he found himself somewhat concerned about the things he might have missed – like the first-years running amok and sending everyone to the hospital. It was a possibility.

“Don’t you feel like getting back at him? I mean that mean- childhood friend of yours locked us up in a small room for half a day without food or water, not to mention toilet.” Lay grunted, tasting his own drink and humming in approval after the first swallow. Junmyeon cocked a brow at the thought of revenge, somewhat curious of whatever the kid could have planned. Judging from what he’d learned about the guy so far this sort of thing should be right up his alley. “I take it you’re interested?” Lay smirked, and he joined in with a devilish grin of his own, crossing one leg over the other and placing his arms on the armrests, his fingers locking together in a businesslike manner.

“What do you have in mind?” The younger propped himself up in the chair and leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees. The look in the boy’s eyes was straight out devious.

“I have one fancy little idea that would drive him up the wall.” The boy snickered, Junmyeon listening attentively as he started explaining the plan. The corners of his lips curved up further with every curt nod he gave the younger, and mentally he was slapping his knees and laughing at the expression on Kris’ face when he realized what had happened. It was undeniably a good plan – a more extreme one than he would even think of himself, but that, he supposed, was what made it so exciting. They’d need cameras for this one.

They stayed at the café for another half hour, perfecting the plan and laughing like evil masterminds at the expected reaction of their victim, as well as planning a means of escape from the site if things should go wrong. Not that they were counting on it. They parted ways for a while after that; Lay went back to his place to get some of the things they needed and Junmyeon started on the shopping. Apart from a camera he picked up some snacks and other supplies they’d surely find some use for.

It was already around nine when they met up again, and Junmyeon had to assure the younger several times that his roommate would definitely be in his own room and not running around their apartment like a buffalo on crack – how Lay had even managed to imagine something of the kind was a mystery; Kris wasn’t that strange in the head and certainly didn’t take drugs. He was dumb, sure, but not a complete half-wit. Probably.

“Just shut up and don’t stumble over anything and we’ll be fine.” He mumbled after unlocking the door and walking inside, Lay following behind quietly. It was a bit creepy how Junmyeon couldn’t even hear his footsteps. Then again wasn’t this what the kid and Luhan were used to doing?

“Didn’t you say you two lived alone?” The second-year asked in a whisper as he explored the kitchen area with a curious expression, and Junmyeon replied with a nod as he stacked some of the snacks in a cupboard, putting the rest into a couple of bowls. “Then who the hell got you this?” He had to swallow a laugh as Lay poked the crystal fruit bowl with a disgusted expression, wrinkling his nose at the clear glass with flower and vine shapes along the sides of it.

“Who do you think?” He sneered, casting a quick glance down the hall to make perfectly sure that they weren’t in danger of being discovered. “Kris’ taste is so bad he should get arrested for it.” He added with a grin, then nodded his head towards the living area. “As soon as the TV’s on we can stop whispering.” Turning the thing on however they both jumped at the extreme volume, and he fumbled with the remote, managing to change channels instead of lowering the sound – the sitcom he’d swapped to was louder than the news channel if that was possible. Why the hell did Kris have to pump up the volume to listen to the news anyways?!

“Damnit Suho!” They froze at the roar that came from down the hall, Lay shuffling over to crouch behind the couch. “Turn the ing volume down, I can’t even hear myself think!” A door slammed shut, and Junmyeon practically killed the button on the remote the way he was pressing down on it.

“That was too close…” Lay breathed as the volume was back to normal, clutching the front of his shirt as though he’d had a heart attack – a plausible scenario considering the shock they’d experienced.

“Yeah, well… at least we should be good for now.” Junmyeon muttered in turn, slumping down on the plush couch. His appetite was gone, and he was starting to suspect this plan of theirs might not be as good as he’d thought at first. His partner in crime seemed pretty rattled as well, but he was sure neither of them actually wanted to give up on it now. At least that was what he’d assume until proven otherwise.

The two hours they had to wait for the clock to turn eleven were spent in tense silence, the two of them nibbling on chips and sipping pepsi as they watched a series of game and music shows. Since Kris always went to sleep around ten they’d decided to wait a bit longer to make sure he was out before getting started.

“Let’s go.” Junmyeon murmured after a quick glance at the clock, walking over to the hall to rummage through his bag for his purchases and smirking at the last item he pulled out of it. They snuck down the hall almost soundlessly, and he opened the last door ever so carefully, peeking inside. As he heard light snores he pushed the door open a bit more to let his accomplice join him inside, shutting it after them to avoid getting the light in. After making sure their victim was fast asleep they started working methodically.

“Earplugs.”

“Check.”

“Eyemask.”

“Check.”

“…” Junmyeon squinted at the object in his hand to try and make out the text, but finally groaned in frustration and pulled the curtains open – they’d need the light either way. It was impossible for him to hide his amusement as he held the container up. “You got one of these as well?” He chuckled, the younger nodding along with an evil grin. “Genius.”

“Glad you realized.” He ignored the clever remark and instead focused on their task at hand.

“This light enough for you?” Lay nodded confidently as he got ready to do his handiwork, and Junmyeon settled for standing to the side, pointing out small mistakes or misses and commenting with an entertained smirk on how he thought the work of art might be improved, after which they both moved on to the final stage of their scheme – the one they hadn’t actually planned. Half-way through they hit a slight snag, and threw themselves to the floor as Kris shifted in a way that made them believe he was seconds from waking up. When they heard his snores again Junmyeon became painfully aware of the awkward, not to mention really uncomfortable position they were in, and pushed the younger off him with a frown and slight cough. Lay just smirked and held up his hands defensively as if saying it wasn’t his fault, and got back to the project right away. He stared at the younger with slight suspicion for a few seconds, and then tried to forget the incident ever took place by cursing Kris for moving so suddenly. It took a while longer than they’d originally scheduled for, but they got done before one.

“He’s so beautiful.” Junmyeon sighed when they finally finished, faking the emotional state of a mother on their child’s prom day, even letting a sob slip. Lay chuckled from his side, before staring at the breathtaking – literally – result of their hard work. “Well,” He cleared his throat and patted the younger’s shoulder lightly. “Let’s clean up?”

“I’ll do that; you set up the camera hyung – I want to get out of here as soon as possible.” Junmyeon paused for a bit before scoffing, not without a slight sense of achievement though, at the honorific he’d finally been awarded with. He’d have to remind the younger about it if they survived the aftermath of their heinous crime against Krisus Almighty.

After making sure that the spy cam was ready and hidden well enough – and crying a bit about the damn cost of the thing – Junmyeon ushered the second-year outside, not bothering to remove the eyemask and earplugs from his roommate, and pulled the door closed behind them. Breathing out in relief over not having been caught red-handed he shot the kid a pleased grin.

“That was pretty epic.” He admitted, and Lay raised a brow before smiling cockily.

“Of course – I came up with it.” Junmyeon rolled his eyes and flicked the other’s forehead.

“Then come up with a better hideout plan than the school infirmary.” He teased as they walked down the hall. The second-year did look like he was thinking real hard about it, but at the low muttering he was doing Junmyeon figured it wasn’t likely to be a good idea. “So?” He pressed as he turned the TV off. Lay was looking mighty indecisive as he furrowed his brows and pursed his lips, and he sat down whilst the younger tried to make up his mind about whatever the idea was. Junmyeon was caught completely off-guard as the guy finally spoke.

“You can stay at my place until it’s blown over.”

“Say what now?” He asked, dumbfounded. Lay glowered at him, ignoring the question, and crossed his arms.

“On one condition,” He found himself nodding. “If Luhan comes to drag me off on one of his ridiculous adventures you’ll volunteer instead – that has been getting on my nerves lately.”

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A/N: Alright, I finally finished~! Gosh, I don't even know what took me so long but I'll blame it on the whole if you don't write for a while it'll take longer to get back to it theory. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it well enough~ I kept giggling to myself at some parts when writing, thinking about upcoming chapters... *sigh* so distracting.

For anyone who wants to know Seongbuk-dong = One of the wealthy areas in northern Seoul. Yeah. Please don't hate me if I got it wrong. *hides behind couch*

Thank you all for being so patient - I know what I'll be doing the upcoming couple of chapters at least so I shouldn't be getting stuck for another month trying to figure things out. *stares off into space with a dazed expression* Hopefully.

Lots of love to all of you lovelies~!<3 Subscribes warm my heart and comments make my day~!<3<3<3 *throws rose petals all over* I'm totally up to you guys so I can get some more feedback. Everyone does it. *awkward cough*

Alright, thanks for reading guys~! Bye now~

~Fi