Looking For Trouble
November 27th

ChanYeol held his chest in fright and looked at the shorter man beside him for answers. JunMyeon had none.

"What are you waiting around for?" Smiling even more, Lu Han held his hand out, gesturing towards the bar. "Get yourselves drinks." Pointing over to the overly decorated table in an alcove the past the bar, the senior nodded. "That's your table." At that, the majority of the JeonSang students shuffled towards their designated spot, not quite sure of what was going on. The men took the drink orders and the women went and sat down.

Scratching the inner part of her left brow, OkCha inspected the expensive looking silver and black decorations on the table. "What is all of this?" She whispered as she elongated her neck to check out the champagne bucket and the glass of sparklers beside it.

"Beats me, but it looks nice." Ria nodded in approvement.

"I have a bad feeling about this." JangMi spoke what was on her mind but KiSe just waved her off before it could turn into a full-on debate.

"You'll feel better after you've had a couple of drinks," told the redhead as she picked up a strip of the metallic tinsel from in front of her.

Feeling queasy just by thinking about the amount she'd drunk last night, JangMi rubbed her temples. "I don't think I should." She spoke more to herself as a form of self-warning; it was a damn cert that she wasn’t going to get any leeway from the taller female.

Over by the bar, a specific guy was just as suspicious as JangMi. JunMyeon was swearing blind that the whole thing was a trap but nobody seemed to be listening. BaekHyun and MinSeok were already lining up their third shooters for ChanYeol and themselves, SeHun and JongIn were inquiring about just about every cocktail and then humming and 'ahing' over what drink they should try while YiXing was stood next to the leader, nodding with a blank expression. It was unclear whether he didn't understand what was being said, or whether he was just messing with the easily flustered business major. Either way, it only added to the leader's problems.

In the midst of being completely ignored by his friends, JunMyeon had noticed a slightly modified JongDae flounce over with a bunch of stuff in his hands. The singer wearing a spandangled party hat grinned just like he did whenever things were about to go -up. And just like that, a pink glittered party hat was shoved on top of the sleekly quaffed hair JunMyeon had spent a whole twenty five minutes perfecting.

"Smile, Hyung." JongDae slapped his senior on the chest playfully and cackled. "It's supposed to be a party." He turned to the others in order to make them join in. "All of you have to wear one," faded off as JunMyeon faced away to check his phone.

There was nothing. Of course there wouldn't be. The last time his sister had called him was last night but before that, he couldn't remember the last time she'd got in touch to say she was going to be home late and not dead in a ditch, or for anything important for that matter. They used to be so close but around the time they started high school, they began to grow apart. Unlike one would think, it wasn't their friends or studying that got in the way, but something much more unexpected. Something serious, something personal that couldn't ever be undone.

"Hyung, we've got the drinks." JongIn tapped the business major on the shoulder and jutted his head towards where the women were before making his way back with some of the others in tow. Heaving a breath, JunMyeon put his phone back in his trouser pocket and turned around ready to follow.

"Where's that fiery blonde at?" The same rough tone that had caused him a problem earlier that day felt like a punch to the gut. And worse still was that the owner of said voice was so close without him even realising it until it was too late.

Halting and spinning around, JunMyeon realised that YiFan had been just beside him at the bar. Swallowing back the anxiety, the business major answered. "I don't know, but she should be here soon." He tried to walk away again but didn't have much luck.

Smirking at the three Temps who were stood a couple of feet away, YiFan hummed into his glass facetiously. Dowsed in designer black jeans and a crimson button down shirt, the man with a blond quiff bared his teeth in a grin without so much as looking to the Temp he was tormenting. "Maybe we should go and find her." He almost sung as he patted the shoulder of the silent brunet now leaning on the wooden worktop. Chuckling at the reactions he'd got, the blond downed the remainder of his drink and sniffled sharply.

Scrunching his face, YiXing intervened in his native language. It was unclear what he had said, but the shorter transfer did not look impressed. However, YiFan lightly coughed a surprised chuckle at the revelation and the brunet beside him leaned to the side to see the Temps as if he was looking at trash.

"Let's go, Hyung." Scowl between his brows, YiXing pulled JunMyeon away from the scene before things could get any worse.

MinSeok, who had just returned to the bar spared the pair a final look and in doing so, he saw that the taller man's lip appeared to be unaffected. Something wasn't right. Not only that, but earlier, he had noticed something that he didn't think anyone else had; InHyeon had been easily overpowered. From personal experience, he knew his junior was strong enough to put up a fight against him – a Nationally ranked competitor - so YiFan was definitely something else. MinSeok was wary about the whole situation. Things were going to go horribly if left unchecked. He’d known guys like YiFan all his life. They would never just roll over and count their losses; they couldn’t stop themselves from seeking revenge after their pride was scuffed. However, that wasn’t MinSeok’s immediate problem. No matter how dangerous YiFan had the potential to be, InHyeon would still go out of her way to irk the man after what had happened. He had known her long, and thoroughly enough to know that she was likely already setting up some kind of scheme to lead the Gangwon student into a trap. It would undoubtedly give him no room but to retaliate and give her a solid reason to plant an unadulterated beating on him. This in turn would obviously give all of them a bad reputation and lead to nothing but continuous troubles for both sides. He had a terrible feeling that one wrong move from his junior and things would end in catastrophe.

"MinSeokie Hyung~" BaekHyun called out above the hyper pop song that was currently blearing. Flapping his hand, the music major beckoned his senior over to where his group of friends were sat.  

Taking JunMyeon by the arm, MinSeok turned the man around with one hand as the other directed YiXing via his back.

Once all of the JeonSang students were out of earshot, the brooding student whom hadn’t said a word straightened up some. "Kris-Ge..." The lazy tone of the brunet stood beside YiFan caused the taller of the pair to pay attention. "I think we should listen to Lu Han Gege..."

Irritated, the blond turned back to bar and gestured for a stronger drink. "I was just messing with him; it's not like I'd do anything." The tone he'd used made ZiTao think twice about whether what his friend had said was true or not.

Huang ZiTao had been YiFan's friend for as long as he could remember. The pair certainly had a lot in common, especially when it came to their personal circumstances, but that wasn't what made him want to be close with the older man. His friend, who preferred to be called Kris by everyone he deemed worthy enough, was somebody unusual in personality - He was clearly cold and abrasive to people he didn't know or wasn't sure of, but he was hardly ever outright aggressive. He didn’t know what it was about the woman with bleached hair and watermelons for s that got him so irate, but he didn’t like it. That tramp aside, he held little opinion for the rest of the group: they all seemed normal enough. He didn’t get the feeling that any of them of them were out to purposely hurt them or spy on them, so he didn’t really care about them. Then again, he didn’t research people like Lu Han did.

But even without a care for disliking them, there was still the fact Kris was now embroiled in an issue that could lead to an upheaval of the comfortable life they’d worked so hard for. Towards Lu Han and himself, Kris was as good of a friend as they come and he would always go out on a limb if either of them needed him to. But for ZiTao, he wished his friend would not become so caught up in trying to out-do those who challenged him. He'd never seen it end well. Of course, that meant for the other person, not Kris.

20:10

The night was barely beginning. People were dancing and drinks were flowing fast. Over in the JeonSang corner, the group were in the middle of playing the game 'Who Am I?'.  YiXing was trying to guess his, which was Edgar Allen Poe (Thanks to KiSe), but kept asking things like was he a famous warrior and if he was Korean over and over again.

"I don't understand!" The exchange student grumbled and threw himself back into the cushioned seat in frustration.

Chocking back the mouthful of beer that was in his mouth, JongDae pointed accusingly. "I wish you would have said that last night rather than flipping the table."

"I need to pee real bad." KiSe vibrated from doing a sped up, sat down version of the bathroom dance. "Is she a designer?" She asked about her 'person'.

"Yes!" Ria exclaimed as she slapped the table in excitement.

"Does the brand have..." KiSe thought about for a second. "A perfume?" Her eyes squinted and she bit her lip.

"Yes."

"Coco Chanel?" The redhead asked, unsure.

Throwing his hands up, JongIn suddenly became the announcer. "KiSe Ssi wins!"

Pushing her chair out in a rush, the KiSe huffed. "You'll have to put my celebratory drinks on hold." Not caring about looking like an idiot, the psychology major ran around the other students merrymaking and enjoying the night out as fast as she could in her attempt to make it to the bathroom.

“Now she can run quickly…” Tearing his eyes away from the redhead flailing around their new peers, ChanYeol spoke to the others. "Let's continue."

SeHun took a sip of his drink and narrowed his brows. "How am I thupposed to gueth when all I have to go off ith a Korean movie thar with abth?"

JangMi laughed. "You can give up if you want, but you have to take three shots." You see, Shin JangMi had once again been conned into drinking alcohol. But she still had her wits about her - Some of them at least, and she decided she wasn't going down alone this time.

Pinching the corners of his lips, the blond steeled himself. "I'll take opthion B."

All too happily, MinSeok reached across the table and began to fill up the empty glasses before the youngest had barely finished his sentence. Pouring out three Tequila shots, the eldest smiled cheekily and pushed them in front of the incredulous blond.

Rolling up the sleeves of his hot pink shirt, SeHun took a deep breath and picked up the first tiny glass. He looked at his companions and they stifled their laughter, knowing the boy’s lack of drinking capacity. Before anyone could even think of making a comment about telling him to hurry up, the bleach blond downed the drink despite knowing his low tolerance. And there went the second, and then the third. Contorting his face, the Maknae stuck his tongue out to show his distaste for the drink.

A change in song prompted JunMyeon to shoot up out of seat. "Let's dance." He pulled at the men either side of him only to receive a chortled rejection. Eyes unsteadily travelling over those present, the leader locked on his target. "EunAh Ssi, will you dance with me?" His speech was beginning to slur.

JongIn turned to MinSeok and whispered. "I think Hyung is drinking too much."

The eldest wrinkled his nose, understanding why his friend was acting the way he was and waved off the younger boy next to him. "Let him off - It's Sistar."

Not wanting to deny her year-mate after he'd already been rejected by two of his supposed friends, EunAh bit her lip in confliction. "Okay, but-"

"Great; let's go." He leaned over while scooping his hand at the woman slowly standing up.

Meanwhile...

KiSe had finished using the restroom and was on her way out only to be caught by the very man who had invited them. With his lilac dress shirt immaculately pressed (he probably had it sent away to be done), Lu Han had locked his line of sight with the redhead's as she was walking past. He had given that apparently innocent grin and KiSe being KiSe, couldn’t stop her feet from making a b-line for him.

Flicking a stray lock of the waist length mane over her shoulder, the tall woman strut towards the bar with an award winning smile. Not quite drawn in by what could potentially be an ambush, the psychology major got ready to dumb herself down. Upon meeting the taller male where he stood, the woman tilted her head slightly. "So, you can be trusted?" She played cute.

"I'm glad you came over." Smile brightening his face, Lu Han mirrored the female's body language. "I wanted to speak to you."

"Why?"

Twirling the mini paper umbrella hanging on the rim of his cocktail glass, Lu Han continued. "I wanted you to tell your friend to be careful."

"That's all?" KiSe sounded disappointed but quickly reigned herself in. "Why should she?" She leaned against the bar and appeared to be utterly interested.

Peering up, the male half of the pair answered. "She's being watched."

Unintentionally recoiling, KiSe contorted her face. "That's not creepy at all."

The man's eyes closed as he laughed and the outer corners wrinkled in doing so. "I know, right?"

The redhead was so distracted by the man's charming eye-smile that she almost missed that he covered his mouth with the back of his hand to mask his feminine giggle. Remembering that she'd already finished her drink back at the table, KiSe took her wallet from her purse. "What are you drinking?" She turned away to rethink her plan of out-cute'ing her senior.

"KiSe Ssi," Her company paused and brushed a strand of the pillar-box red hair off the female's face like it was nothing to him. "are you single?"

Not only the words, but the action caused the redhead to retract her hand from calling over the bartender. Body still pressed against the bar, the female turned her head to look at the man whom had moved into her personal space. "Kind of..." A brief glimpse of her boyfriend back home flashed through her memory.

"Kind of?" Raising his brows, a sombre expression found itself of Lu Han's face. “He’s clearly not treating you right if you have to say it like that." Another student pushed his way into the queue behind the him, squeezing the senior and the redhead close enough to feel each other's body heat. Leaning in even further, the older male locked his eyes with KiSe's. "Maybe you should rethink being with him."

"I think..." She opened to speak but seeing his pretty features at such close proximity distracted her. The bare skin of his forearm brushed the top of her as he reached over to call the bartender, and scent of his cologne made her dizzy when he leaned over her. Being served immediately, the mousy blond placed one of the drinks in the redhead’s hand.

"Yes?" He cupped her chin in his free hand and something unreadable altered his expression.

"I need to use the restroom again." Downing the cocktail, she shook some sense into herself. Putting her wallet back into her purse blindly, she tore herself from Lu Han's touch. Breaking out of the constricted space, the woman weaved around the club goers as she heaved for a decent breath.

Lowering his eyes in contentment, the Senior poked the tip of his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in thought. Fixing the sides of his hair, Lu Han followed the redhead that had rushed away.

Updated: 4th January 2019 - 21:02