Yixing stands rooted to the floor with his eyes shut, completely bewildered as to how he even arrived at this current moment in time, in the middle of the school hallway, covered from head to toe in citrus scented soap bubbles. He concentrates on his breathing, backtracking through all the events that had led up to the current situation he finds himself in.

Yixing thinks back to this morning, which had started off like any normal day. He wakes up to the discomfort of having his lungs forced to dispel its oxygen as Minseok hyung belly flops onto his stomach. Rude awakening, but he’s had worse. Breakfast is the usual affair of noise and flurry of movement as Daddy Junmyeon untangles Baekhyun and Jongdae out of their blankets and forces them up, while daddy Kris flips pancakes at the stove, spatula in his right hand and bouncing a crying Sehun in his left arm.

After much shouting and struggling and threatening Luhan hyung that he will not be getting the Hot Wheels R/C twister vehicle for his birthday if he does not stop trying to stick pieces of gum into Chanyeol hyung’s hair, breakfast is fed, everyone is properly dressed, and buckled into their carseats in Kris’ Nissan NV 3500. Daddy Kris drops them off at school, having to wake up Jongin, again, who had fallen asleep as soon as he had been buckled in. They kiss their daddy goodbye and head off inside, Kris waiting until all nine of them are safely inside the building.

Yixing goes to class, meets up with his friend Kibum, does a couple math problems, goes over a few spelling words, draws a picture of a unicorn. All in all, a very average, very typical Wednesday morning.

After Miss Sunny goes through roll call, Yixing is elected to take the attendance sheet down to the office. He happily accepts the task and heads out the door. Yixing enjoys the quiet stillness, listening to the soft sound of his footfalls echoing through the hallway. He is almost at the attendance office, just two more turns down the hall. But before he can turn the last corner of hallway, he spots two little figures creeping out of the janitor’s closet.

Close your eyes. Ignore. Ignore! Just keep walking.

He tries to pass the figures as inconspicuously as possible, sticking to the opposite wall, treading slowly and carefully. But one of the boys, startled by Yixing’s presence, drops his half of the object that they are currently hauling together, snapping his head in Yixing’s direction.

Yixing and Kyungsoo connect eyes, and nobody moves, each boy completely frozen in whatever position he was last in. Seconds pass by. All is utterly still, as if time had broken and every past, present, and future ceases to exist. Youngjae blinks. Then movement returns as the world, once again, begins to turn and time resumes as if nothing had happened. Yixing loses his breath for the second time that day as he is tackled to the floor.

--

With their combined strength, Kyungsoo and Youngjae manage to shove Yixing inside the broom closet and lock the door. Youngjae bites his lower lip and glances at Kyungsoo nervously. They hadn’t meant to take Yixing hyung down like that. They had reacted on impulse, self-preservation forcing them into action before they could even properly register what had just happened.

“I dunno, we shouldn’t have done that.”

Kyungsoo stares at the locked door, feeling a sense of foreboding.

They hear Yixing pounding on the door, thump, thump, thump, “let me out! You are in big trouble!”

Kyungsoo is this close to opening the door and letting him out. He feels guilty because Yixing hyung has always been so nice to him. Unlike Luhan hyung who’s always teasing him or Chanyeol hyung who’s always poking and pinching his cheeks. Kyungsoo thinks about all the times Yixing hyung had let him have the last cookie, or given up the most comfortable spot on the couch for him. But they are on a mission. They must finish. He gives his head a shake and strengthens his resolve. They have already come this far.

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo breathes, “no turning back now.”

“You be quiet,” Kyungsoo faces the door and frowns, “you stay in there until we say so.” He then turns away from the door, away from his always kind, always loving brother. He shoves the guilt back down his throat, ignoring the banging and the shouting, and waves Youngjae over to the item that had been dropped on the floor, an industrial size bucket of dishwash soap. Youngjae helps Kyungsoo uncap the lid and together, grunting and huffing, they push over the container and spill its contents onto the floor.

--

Yixing is momentarily at a loss. What had just happened? Why is he standing inside a dark closet, by himself, still holding onto the attendance sheet? He drops the sheaf of paper, not his first priority at this moment, and starts banging his fists on the door, “let me out!”

Yixing hears his brother shush him from outside, “you stay in there until we say so!”

Disrespect!

Yixing huffs. What had he done to deserve this? He continues to bang and shout for a few minutes, but hears no response. Everything has gone completely silent. Yixing stops and presses his ear against the door. Nothing. Yixing straightens into an upright position, puzzled. Where did they go? Yixing sighs and bends over to pick up the attendance sheet he had dropped on the floor when

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNGGGGGGG!!!

Yixing jumps, startled by the loud noise echoing inside the small, confined space. Yixing hears doors bang open and shouting ensues as teachers and students run out to see what is going on. He looks down at his feet and sees water seeping in through the crack between the door and the floor. Oh God. He’s going to drown!

He resumes banging on the door even harder than before, panic settling into his stomach. He continues to scream for help until someone, Miss Yoona, finally, finally, releases him from his captivity. Yixing scrabbles through the door, eyes wild with anxiety. Confused, Miss Yoona asks him what happened, but before he can even start to explain, she begs Yixing to please stay put so that she can go help the other teachers, and then takes off. Yixing calms down on his own and takes a moment to reassess the situation. What? There are bubbles everywhere. Everywhere! What is going on?

Yixing learns from Kibum that, apparently, Kyungsoo and Youngjae had spread soap all over the linoleum floors and set off the fire alarms and sprinklers because bubble party is so, so fun and sharing the joy is even better!

--

And so Yixing finishes his circuit through his memories, coming full circle, and returns back to the present. He had done no wrong, hadn’t done anything to seriously aggrieve or offend anybody. He just happened to be in the wrong place, at the most horribly wrong time, which is not his fault at all. Yixing keeps his eyes screwed shut and mentally shakes his fist at whatever entity it is that keeps trolling his life. Around him, Yixing hears the shouts of his peers as they slip and slide down the hall, and teachers scramble after them, trying to restore order and calm in SM Valley Elementary.

a/n: omg zhang yixing ㅠㅜ wow so regret very dribble much apology <3 i love you so so much.. this happened because yixing just always looks so sincere it makes me cry and sometimes just looks so bewildered by life itself and his stupid dimple makes me want to yank all my hair out