The door slams open dramatically, revealing a tall boy with longish dyed blonde hair and a wicked grin. “Good morrow, peasants!” he says loudly, turning the heads of everyone in the room.

                “It’s the afternoon, Kris, quit pretending to be an English major.”

                Kris ignores this as he strolls to the back of the room and moves around his desk to stand behind it, leaning against the surface and taking everyone in. “Eleven left, huh? No matter, we can do some more scouting later. Is there any food left?”

                Tao tosses a burger onto Kris’ desk while muttering something under his breath.

                “Good, now we can begin.” Kris begins unwrapping the burger ceremoniously as he speaks. “As you know, many of the previous members have graduated from the school, so we need to make sure we pull their weight and get done to keep the group going.”

                “Your words of wisdom baffle me, oh Great One.”

                Kris ignores Tao again. “For starters, does anybody have any problems with the current pecking order?”

                “I nominate Kyungsoo head of food crew,” Chanyeol says through his mouthful.

                “Kyungsoo’s the only one left from food crew,” Minseok adds under his breath.

                “Done. Anyone else?”

                “I nominate Yixing for President,” Jongdae says, and Luhan snickers.

                “Shut up Jongdae, Hyoyeon left me President and that’s that. Would you prefer if I had Yixing replace you as Vice Prez?”

                Jongdae gapes, “You wouldn’t.”

                “Oh, but I would. He’s a fourth year.”

                “But—”

                “But?”

                Jongdae grumbles.

                “What’s that? I couldn’t hear you,” Kris said sweetly.

                “Hyoyeon left me as Vice President.”

                “There you go. Now shut the up and let me do my job.” Kris looks over at Jongin. “New face. Name.”

                Jongin chokes a bit on the drink Kyungsoo had offered him. “Jongin, first year journalism,” he responds, as if being addressed by an army general.

                “Journalism? No kidding? Huh. Didn’t expect that. So what can you do?”

                “He can dance,” Tao says, kicking his feet up on his desk and grinning. “It’s no joke. He totally pwned the seniors in my media studies class.”

                “Really? Let’s see what you’ve got.”

                “What, now?” Jongin asks, surprised.

                “Yes, now. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, you guys are the techies. Throw down a beat.”

                “You mean you want us to play a song or to literally start beat boxing?” Chanyeol asks.

                “If you guys beat box I’d rather not know. Just play a song.”

                “Um, guys?” Jongin says uncertainly.

                “Got it.” Chanyeol turns towards his computer and starts clicking rapidly. “What song should I play?”

                “Do R&B or something,” Baekhyun suggests.

                “R&B’s been done too many times, throw me something else.”

                “Guys?” Jongin tries again.

                “But R&B’s the . You can’t go wrong with that,” Luhan says.

                “Yeah, it’s like, the national fricking anthem of bad-assery,” Tao agrees.

                “Wait! I’ve got it!” Jongdae yells. “You should definitely play ‘As Long As You Love Me’.”

                “The hell? We are not playing Justin Bieber in here!” Kris snaps, pointing a finger at Jongdae.

                “Don’t be a prejudiced , it’s got a good dance beat. And he dances in the music video, for your information, so I think I made a pretty valid suggestion just now.”

                “And why exactly do you know that? Should I assume you’ve watched all of the Justin Bieber music videos?”

                Jongin gives up and looks over at Kyungsoo. “Sehun’s still not back yet. Shouldn’t we wait?” he asks.

                “I don’t think they’ll wait for Sehun, but I definitely think they’ll stall long enough for him to get here,” Kyungsoo replies, sighing at the state of the group.

                “Look, I saw it on Just Dance, okay, I’ve played the game ten million times, and I can definitely tell you—”

                “God forbid, Chanyeol, if you say ‘Call Me Maybe,’ I’ll cut you.”

                “Why don’t you just play ‘Teach Me How To Dougie,’ if that’s what was playing when you scouted him?” Luhan asks, swerving in his chair to look over at Tao.

                “Nah, we should throw a new one at him,” Kris says, crossing his arms and shifting his weight onto one hip. “Got anything non-mainstream?”

                “Wow, Kris, you actually stand like that?”

                “Shut up already, Tao, you can kiss my—”

                “I’ve got something,” Yixing says suddenly, causing everyone to look over with stunned interest. “I was messing around with some base composition leaked on the internet and tweaked it a bit. I made Kyungsoo sing over the demo, too. Want to try it out?”

                “I didn’t know you composed,” Kris says, narrowing his eyes at Yixing.

                “I don’t. I said I tweaked it a bit. I just threw some sound effects in here and there.”

                “And then edited Kyungsoo’s singing over the demo?”

                “If anything, bragging rights should go to Kyungsoo, he’s the one who made up the lyrics. Look, do you wanna use it or not?”

                “Sounds good to me,” Baekhyun says, with Chanyeol nodding next to him. “I’m kind of interested to see how it sounds.”

                “How is he supposed to dance to it if he doesn’t know the song?” Jongdae asks.

                “Improvise. If he’s as good as I’ve heard then I’m sure he can make something up on the spot.”

                And then all eyes swung on Jongin.

                Jongin gulps. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

                “Alright, Baekhyun, help me set up the speakers here,” Yixing says, fumbling with the multiple cords tangled to the monitor.

                “Stop messing with it, I’m coming. Did you guys name the song?”

                “The track was titled ‘My Lady’ when I downloaded it. Kyungsoo kind of worked with it from there.”

                “It’s not overly fantastic or anything…” Kyungsoo says shyly, and Jongin kind of smiles dopily down at him and involuntarily thinks Cute.

                “I’d tell you whether that was the truth or not, but of course Kyungsoo got all secretive on me and sang the lyrics in Korean—”

                “SCORE!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol yell at the same time, high-fiving. “Nice try, Kyungsoo, but your lyrics are now at the mercy of our bilingual ears.”

                “Nice try, Chanyeol, but I know you’re the most white-washed Asian here. Your grasp of the Korean language is like a five year-old’s,” Minseok snorts.

                “Actually, Jongin here doesn’t speak a word, so I think he might out Chanyeol for that specific title.”

                Everyone turns to stare at Sehun, who seems to have magically materialized next to Jongin—no one saw or heard him come in—munching on a tuna melt. Especially Kris, who takes him in for a few seconds before promptly asking, “Who the are you?”

                “He’s new-face number two, Sehun,” Tao explains.

                Kris studies Sehun’s face for a moment. “You look familiar.”

                Sehun frowns. “I do?”

                “Yeah. Didn’t you win some national internet competition for best ulzzang face?”

                “You what?!” several voices exclaim, turning on Sehun dumbfounded.

                “Oh, that,” Sehun says, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Yeah, I think that was me.”

                “You think? What do you mean you think?”

                “I didn’t actually enter the contest. My friends thought it'd be funnier than signing me up for an online dating site, but the photo they uploaded of me got a lot of attention and I ended up winning.”

                “Holy , he’s not kidding,” Minseok says with wide eyes.

                Kris pursed his lips and nodded approvingly. “Alright, you’re in. Take a seat, newbie, we’ve got tryouts going on here.”

                “You’re not making him dance?” Jongin asks incredulously, pointing at Sehun.

                “Nah, he’s good. You, on the other hand, better get ready because I think they’re finally done with the speakers.” Kris turns on Baekhyun and Yixing. “Some techie you are, that took way too long.”

                “Hey, let’s see you try to hook anything up before untangling this snake garden.” Baekhyun gives one final tug on the cords and straightens up. “Done.”

                “Alright, let’s do this.”

                Sehun smirks through his mouthful and claps Jongin’s shoulder. “Knock ‘em dead, brother,” he says before flopping down on one of the beanbag chairs.

                “Playing the music in three, two, one.”

                A bass guitar resounded loudly in the background as a strong, clear voice filled the room, and Jongin nearly gasped out loud because holy , Kyungsoo was good. Not just your average star-student choir voice, but something infinitely better, the kind of talent that only a handful of people would be blessed with possessing in the real world. The angelic voice seeped past Jongin’s skin and coursed through his veins like liquid honey, and before long his limbs began to move of their own accord, swept away by the rich, enticing sound that filled his ears. His breath became lost in the beat, his body moulding itself into the melody as if guided by strings. He forgot everything else—the other people in the room, the fact that he was being tested and graded with sharp eyes, everything. Dancing had always helped him forget the world, but never like this. Getting lost in the soothing power of the voice that inflated in his chest—this kind of lost, this kind of forgetting, he could get used to.

                The song was only a minute long, but apparently that’s all he needed. Jongin stops, breathing a little faster than usual, blinking as he re-took in his surroundings, and notices the multiple sets of wide eyes and jaws hanging open for the first time.

                The silence drew out for a little longer, until Tao blurts out abruptly, “Can I nominate Jongin for President?”

                “I don’t want it,” Jongin says quickly, especially since this time Kris actually seemed to take this statement into consideration.

                “,” Jongdae says in a great whoosh of air, letting out a breath he’d been holding. “Now I’m starting to wish I’d advocated for Justin Bieber a little harder.”

                “What training have you had?” Kris demands.

                “I used to take ballet and jazz,” Jongin says, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt because he was still standing at the front of the room and he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to move or sit down or what.

                “Used to? Why did you stop?”

                Jongin shrugs, the kind that fended off the question rather than answered it, something which doesn’t escape Kris’ notice. He doesn’t press for details though, just stares at Jongin a little longer before turning to Yixing.

                “Yixing, I’m pulling you out from event coordinating. From now on you’re head of the Freedom Funker’s dance crew and choreographer, and these two—” He motions at Jongin and Sehun, “are going to be your new subordinates.”

                “What?” Yixing looks over, stunned.

                “What?” Jongin and Sehun echo with equal surprise.

                “WHAT!” Minseok and Tao yelp.

                “Will you all stop playing deaf, I said it perfectly clearly!”

                “I’m pretty sure that’s not why they asked—” Luhan starts.

                “Sorry, what do you mean you’re pulling him from event coordinating? Were you going to put him in event coordinating? Are you telling me you were gonna upgrade Yixing to event coordinating? Are you telling me we would’ve had to do only a third of the work? Are you telling me you’re just gonna rip him right out from under our noses now?!” Minseok rambles at record speed.

                “Stop complaining, there’s no way in hell we’re wasting that.” Kris jerks his head towards Jongin. “This kid is going to be the mother of all trump cards. I can just taste the freebies now.”

                “Freebies?” Minseok frowns in confusion.

                “You lost me,” Jongdae says.

                “I think he just lost everyone on that one,” Joonmyun agrees, although Kris ignores all of this.

                “Kyungsoo!” Kris barks, and Kyungsoo jumps so violently that he ends up startling Jongin too. “You’re on triple duty now. Besides being newly-appointed head of food crew, the second thing I need you to do is try to find some extra hands who would be willing to dish out food in a hairnet. Tell them it’s community service or some .”

                “I’m not sure if that counts as—”

                “And thirdly,” Kris continues without listening, pointing at Jongin, “you’re his official new babysitter.”

                “Me?” Kyungsoo exclaims.

                “Do I look like a kindergartener to you?” Jongin asks, insulted.

                “That’s not the point, idiot. The last thing I need is to have you dragged off by the likes of the hip-hop instructors. Or worse, the sports teams.” Kris shudders. “Kyungsoo, keep an eye out over this one at all times. Do not let him out of your sights. Do not let him interact with anyone who looks remotely like a dancer or an athlete. Do not leave him alone in between classes so long as that kid’s got so much as a hair on campus grounds.”

                “You gonna tell him to watch Jongin’s diet too?” Tao says sarcastically.

                Kris’ eyebrows shoot up. “Actually—”

                “I WAS JOKING, YOU IDIOT!”

                Kyungsoo just stands there with his mouth opening and closing uselessly like a fish out of water, and Jongin doesn’t know whether to argue further on the matter because in all honesty he wasn’t necessarily hating the idea of having Kyungsoo as a babysitter.

                “Question,” Sehun interrupts, raising his hand in the air from his beanbag chair, the only one who wasn’t remotely fazed by Jongin’s display. “Can we change the name of the group? Freedom Funkers sounds lame. Like really lame. Like it sounds like it could be the name of another one of those stupid Kidz Bop groups.”

                The shudder that rippled through the people inside the room at the mention of Kidz Bop was utterly and entirely unanimous.

                “, I cannot unhear,” Chanyeol groaned, rubbing his eyes. “Rookie number two’s right, we gotta change the name.”

                “Speaking of which, I have a name too,” Sehun mumbles.

                “So, what then? Any suggestions?” Kris asks.

                “We gotta make it something original,” Jongdae says. “And like super badass.”

                “No , nobody wants another name like one that sounds like a Kidz Bop group,” Luhan scoffs.

                “Not just badass. We should completely revamp our image,” Yixing says, staring past his computer screen in thought. “We need a way to present ourselves that separates us from any other group of music and dance junkies.”

                “We should pretend to be like this secret cult,” Baekhyun says, using the desk to spin his chair around in circles. “Like we should all have our own personalized symbols and . And for club meetings we should totally dress up in hooded robes and do a club opera chant.”

                “What the hell would we do that for? And stop spinning you’re making me dizzy,” Minseok says, wincing at the sight of Baekhyun picking up speed.

                “Leave me alone, it helps me think.”

                “Maybe we could do superpowers instead,” Chanyeol suggests, looking up at the ceiling.

                Kris frowns. “That makes us sound like—”

                “I CALL AIR BENDING!” Sehun hollers.

                “I call telekinesis!” Luhan practically falls out of his chair as he throws his hand into the air.

                “What the—come on!” Baekhyun whines, planting his feet on the ground mid-spin in protest.

                “No, seriously, it sounds like—”

                “Time control!” Tao adds on quickly. “Beat that, motherers.”

                “Wait wait, we still didn’t split up the rest of the elements yet!” Sehun interrupts.

                “Can I get fire-bending?” Baekhyun asks hopefully.

                “I think fire-bending rights should go to Chanyeol since fire-bending is the mother of all awesomeness and it was his idea in the first place,” Sehun replies thoughtfully.

                “Seriously, listen, we don’t—”

                “Why do you get air bending?” Jongin interrupts, scowling at Sehun. “That makes you, like, the Avatar.”

                “Cause I’m the youngest, duh. Aang was like 12 while Katara was 14 and Sokka was 15.”

                “Guys, I’m not kidding around anymore, everyone’s gonna think—”

                “The , Katara’s two years older than Aang?” Minseok interrupts. “That’s soooo weird.”

                “Not as weird as Pokémon. Do you know how old Jesse and James are?” Luhan asks seriously, spinning around to face the others. “They’re only seventeen.”

                “WHAT!”

                “Bull,” Jongdae spat.

                “No no no no, listen, listen, listen. Brock’s fifteen and Misty’s like ten.”

                “Are you ing kidding me?!” Tao explodes. “I thought Jessie and James were like in their twenties and that Brock was older than them!”

                “Speaking of Brock, did he ever actually open his eyes?”

                “Guys, we’re getting off topic, we still haven’t assigned everyone a superpower yet—”

                Kris slams both of his hands on the desk loudly. “WE ARE NOT THE ING COMIC BOOK CLUB OR THE ANIME CLUB,” he yells. “Y’ALL NEED TO CHILL THE OUT, WE ARE NOT ASSIGNING SUPERPOWERS.”

                “Okay, okay,” Tao says, raising his hands. “Maybe you need to chill the out.”

                “Shut the up, Tao, or I will break your face.”

                “Maybe we can do aliens instead,” Jongdae suggests. “You know, cause we’re out of this world?”

                “Oh my god, I never thought I’d hear anything that would make me shudder worse than the mention of Kidz Bop,” Luhan shakes his head. “That was brutal, Jongdae. I expected better out of you.”

                “No, wait, maybe he’s onto something,” Kyungsoo says suddenly.

                “I sincerely hope you’re not talking about the pun he used—”

                “I’m not. Well, sort of. Have you guys ever heard of exoplanets?”

                A chorus of “nope” and head shakes followed.

                “They’re like planets from outside our solar system. This is gonna sound kind of corny, but if we came from an exoplanet, wouldn’t that, like, put us way out of everyone’s league?”

                Everyone was silent as the idea sunk in. “Huh,” Kris mulls. “That’s not bad.”

                “It would help separate us from the dance teams, too, sort of,” Kyungsoo continues. “Since we’re from outside the solar system. We’d be, like, completely different.”

                “That’s what I was saying! How come you guys only liked my idea when he said it?” Jongdae asks sourly.

                “Because he didn’t make it sound so ing lame, Jongdae.”

                “So should we change the group name to Exoplanets, then?” Baekhyun asks.

                “Or maybe we can scrap the ‘planet’ part and just go with Exo,” Joonmyun says. “So that it’ll help save the explaining we’ll have to do when people ask what an exoplanet is.”

                “We should do it in all caps too to make it look legit,” Luhan adds.

                “Yeah, that works!” Chanyeol said excitedly, eyes brightening.

                “All in favour?” Kris asks.

                Twelve hands rise into the air unanimously.

                “It’s settled, then. We are now officially EXO.”

                “It’s got a good ring to it,” Minseok says, satisfied. “Nice work, Kyungsoo.”

                “Thanks,” Kyungsoo grins sheepishly.

                “It does have a nice ring, doesn’t it? Now.” Kris points at Sehun. “You. You technically haven’t done yet except sit there and look pretty, so you get to be the one that hands in the application and changes the registration for the club listings.”

                “What do you mean? I was the one who suggested the name change in the first place!” Sehun protests.

                “Yeah, and then you proceeded to wreak havoc by calling on air-bending. Now fly like the wind, young Avatar.”

A/N

WTF I ACTUALLY HAVE SUBSCRIBERS??!?!?!?!

I DON'T UNDERSTAND I DIDN'T THINK ANYONE WOULD ACTUALLY WANT TO READ MY STUFF??!! *grossnasty sobbing* You guys are amazing and I virtually send each and every one of you a hug and a Hershey's Kiss (unless you want a real one OH HO)

And because you guys are just that fantastic here is one of my favourite gifs of Kyungsoo being super hot (feat background Kai and his smirk)

Mmm aw yeah mesoo is in da house

Updated the foreword because wow what a mess that was ew