"Okay," you sigh. "I'll help you out."

"REALLY???" Hyukjae jumps up and lunges forward to give you a big hug. "THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOO MUUUCHHH!!!" 

Because Lee Hyukjae is skinny with a lean muscle build, you are not able to avoid his hug attack. You cautiously keep your chest as far away from his as possible, remembering that one time when he was a scary drunk who almost found you out and tore your arm off. 

Now that you think about it, how can he be that strong when he's thinner than Youngwoon? 

Ah, well. Maybe alcohol is the modern day Popeye spinach supplement. 

"Oh, Haneul," says a voice that fills you with mixed emotions-- excitement and dread shaken, not stirred. 

Surprised at his appearance, you quickly push Hyukjae away. "P-presiden-- I mean, Siwon! Hey!" 

Hyukjae sees Siwon and doesn't resist being pushed. He hastily bows very low and says, "Hey, President-nim, what's up? This is an awesome night yo." 

Siwon slings his white face towel around his neck and rolls his shoulders forward and back. "I'm going to do my daily workout." 

"Isn't it a bit early for your workout?" you point out. You know that Siwon has a fixed schedule that he never strays from. 

"Tonight is going to be a busy one for me," he explains. "So I decided to exercise early." 

"Oh okay," you say as you slowly creep farther away from him. "Well, enjoy your exercise, Siwon!" You turn away from him and wave him goodbye.

"Kim Haneul," he says in a firm voice.

Gulp. 

This is the reason why you never lingered in the dorm lobby and hallways from 10-11pm. It's usually the time for Siwon's exercise routine and every time he sees you, he always ALWAYS calls you out. 

After 15 minutes of nonstop jogging: SEOUL HIGH TRACK & FIELD OVAL

Pant, pant, pant!

If only Hyukjae hadn't been sulking in the lobby, this would never have happened. =_=

Now I'm stuck with Siwon again. 

Well, it's not like it's a bad thing. I mean, he's nice and is really handsome and has a nice bod and all.

Pant, pant!

Buuuut he's just too strict on people! O_O Seriously! It's a good thing this time, he dragged Hyukjae along with us too. I don't need to suffer alone. 

You glance at Hyukjae beside you. You are surprised to see that he is focused and seems to not be exerting any effort at all. You are jealous.

Your mind goes back to the time when Donghae had told you...

"Yeah, Hyukjae and I exercise in our room every single day without fail~!"

=_=

Korean teenagers aren't supposed to have chistled bodies like that. They're destroying our culture. TT TT

IF I KEEP THIS UP, DOES THIS MEAN THAT I'LL ALSO TURN INTO A MACHO KOREAN TEENAGER??? That's gonna ruin our culture even more 'coz I'm a girl!! TAT

Why...

Your knees give way and you fall to the ground. Your head is throbbing and you feel very light-headed. Thinking of all those things made you forget to breathe properly and it also took your mind off the fact that your legs were burning painfully to the point that they have gone numb.

You are panting very hard and can only think of one thing. 

I hate Siwon. Dx

As if on cue, Siwon and Hyukjae stop and start running towards you instead.

"Haneul!" Hyukjae gasps. "Are you okay??"

"That was a good run, Haneul," Siwon says as he and Hyukjae help you up.

Your legs almost give way again.

"Now, I know your limit," Siwon smiles.

You look up at him and notice that his face has turned red, but you dismiss it as a normal sweaty-workout red.

"You are NOT making me do that again," you mutter, still trying to catch your breath.

Siwon nods in response. "Okay, I won't. I promise. Now let's get you to the bath area."

Wew, I could use that right about now...

WAIT. BATH??? WITH THESE GUYS???

"UHHH, NO NO NO! I'M FINE!!" you suddenly shout, trying to release your arms from their strong supportive grip.

"No, Haneul, I'm serious," Siwon says, tightening his hold on you. "You need to have a bath immediately." Hyukjae doesn't seem to be weakening his grip either. With them on either side of you, all you can say is:

"BUT-- BUT-- BUT--!!!"

POOL AREA, JUST OUTSIDE THE LOCKER ROOMS

You have your fingers wrapped around the door frame of the men's locker room. Siwon tries to pull your legs into the locker room.

"YOU WON'T TAKE ME ALIVE!!!!" your shriek echoes throughout the entire pool area.

I'm sure to other people who might be watchng us right now, we might seem funny but in reality this is one of the most terrifying moments of my life.

From all the way outside the covered pool area, your shouts of anguish and pleading could be heard.

"I DON'T LIKE TAKING A BATH!!!"

"PLEASE PLEASE NO NO NO!!!!!"

"I PROMISE I'LL TAKE A BATH LATER BUT NOT NOW!!!"

"I'M ALLERGIC TO WATER!!!!"

Then out of the imposing darkness of the world, a ray of light shines forth (figuratively) and from that figurative light you hear:

"What the hell."

Siwon, Hyukjae and you turn to see a drenched Cho Kyuhyun standing before you, and dressed in his swimming trunks with a pair of goggles hanging around his neck. In his hand is a green gym bag.

"Can you stop blocking the shower room?" he asks, annoyed. "Geez, and I thought the President was here to bring order into this school."

Siwon immediately lets go of you. "I--uh..." he stammers for a split second. "I was doing what was best for my fellow student Kim Haneul."

"Yeah, we were just gonna bathe him," Hyukjae adds. "No big deal."

"Haneul can do what he wants," Kyuhyun says. "You can't force students to do things they don't wanna do."

Siwon and Hyukjae look at each other surprised. You see a glint of suspicion in the school president's eyes.

Uh oh.

"Get out of my face, Kyuhyun, this isn't your problem," you pretend to snap.

Kyuhyun looks taken aback but he quickly realizes your reasons. He rolls his eyes. "Whatever, shrimp." He pushes past you and the guys and enters the men's locker room.

Siwon shakes his head and sighs, "That student is a real problem child."

"I'll say," Hyukjae whistles. "Ah well, don't mind, don't mind."

You cross your fingers and hope that since Kyuhyun is inside, they won't force you to go into the bath anymore. Just then, you hear someone else approaching.

"President-nim," Kibum bows.

"Officer Kim Kibum," Siwon bows back. "What brings you here?"

"I've received word from the Principal about the final results of the student council interviews," Kibum explains. "He wants you to go over them quickly. What were you doing here, if I may ask?"

"Ahem," Siwon says, clearing his throat. "I was encouraging Haneul-- Kim Haneul-- to take a bath after he jogged nonstop with us earlier. He doesn't want to listen to my advice."

"Oh," Kibum says flatly. "You should follow the student council President, Kim Haneul. It's just an ice bath he's referring to. You don't even have to take your clothes off."

You blink.

"I-I don't?"

Kibum sighs and walks away. "President-nim, please come to the council office after you've given your pet a bath."

"Yes, I shall," Siwon says, still maintaining his composure.

Hyukjae knits his eyebrows in confusion. "Is it me or did it seem like there was a switch in authority just now?"

"Stop being stupid, Hyukjae," you smack him on the head, worried that he might insult the school president. But then you think again at what he said and somehow you know that Hyukjae made a very strong point. "I'm sorry for making you lose face in front of a student council member, Siwon," you apologize.

"That's okay, Haneul," Siwon smiles, albeit in a tight-lipped manner. "Just... Don't do it again. It could ruin my reputation." 

"Okay, I understand..."

"To be honest, Cho Kyuhyun had a bit of a point there as well," he continues. "I shouldn't be forcing you to do things without your consensual agreement."

Aww... But to be honest, I just really didn't want to have to do anything that involves taking my clothes off in front of YOU GUYS~ Sorry if I made a fuss and misunderstood you, Siwon-ahh~

"Does that mean we're not gonna give him a bath anymore?" Hyukjae asks.

Siwon shakes his head, "No, let's just him back to the dorms. His whole body will hurt for the next 2-3 days but I'll try just letting him do what he thinks is best."

You blink at them. "Huh? Wait, no bath? But I--"

"It's okay, Haneul, you don't need to explain yourself any further," Siwon pats your head. "Let's just go back to the dorms." 

"Wait, but how much will my body hurt tomo--"

"It's okay, Haneul, come on. Today we all learned the valuable lesson of teamwork when we helped Haneul up from his fall. Always help a friend in need..."

DORM LOBBY

Siwon goes on and on about his lesson until you return back to the dorm. You still regret not going for that ice bath while you had the chance. You are afraid of what lies in store when you wake up tomorrow.

"Good night, Siwon. Good night, Hyukjae," you wave.

"Good night, Haneul," Siwon bows in his usual manner. He takes a deep breath and sighs first though before entering his room. 

"Haneul!" Hyukjae calls out from in front of his dorm room. "Thanks a lot for being willing to help me. I know my face looks like I'm joking all the time but I'm serious about this. Thank you. I'll work hard so as to not disappoint you!"

You smile back and nod with conviction. "FIGHTING!" you say. 

"FIGHTING!" he says back. 

You both enter your rooms. 

DORM ROOM

Heechul is still awake when you get in. To your surprise, he is sprawled on his bed with his pink unicorn table lamp and a bunch of textbooks and photocopied handouts all around. 

"Hyung, you're studying for the finals this early?" you ask.

He looks up after a 3 second delay. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I had a lot of alone time when you were outso I thought about my life and realized that I was slacking off a bit more than I wanted to." 

"Oh, well then I guess I should do the same then," you reply, taking Heechul's comment to heart. 

You plop down on your bed. 

But tonight I'm just too tiiiiireeeeddddd....