It was a typical (and perhaps boring) high school where the students were divided into 3 classifications: the kingka’s and Queenka’s, the normal bunch and the brainy nerds and geeks. Nothing too unusual about the scene, where bullying has been very normal and the kids were probably too used to it to even complain. 

A student’s status was usually dictated upon stepping foot in the campus; where the popular kids decide if you belong to either one of the classification. For some, to be part of the normal bunch would be good, to be part of the popular kids would be nice and to be part of the nerdy bunch would be cruel. 

The line that demarcated high school has been there since the beginning of time, dating back to the Sung Kyung Kwan era that only the best can enter the best; only the rich can mingle with the rich. True to its sense, any high school was just like that, demarcated and classified. But just like in any typical story, somehow, the lines bend and break.

For a kid who grew up with a step father and two step brothers, he learned to keep himself invincible. Not that his stepfather was cruel or anything, he’s just not into his siblings. Sure the taller brother would be sweet and all, but the maknae was sure a pain in . 

His name was Kim Sunggyu, and he was one of the nerds at school (but a nerd girls drool at). His father died when he was a year old, died fighting for his mother land, and forced his mother to remarry to keep him alive. He had two half brothers, a tall choding looking lad by the name Lee Sungyeol and a brat named Lee Sungjong. He loved his brothers, and it was a genuine brotherly kind but Sungjong wasn’t the ecstatic type. He looked at Sunggyu with disgust but loved their mom with all his heart. Sunggyu just sighed as he took in the younger’s words: ‘You are not my brother, we are not even related.’

In their own home, the demarcation was visible: Sungjong was a Kingka, Sungyeol belongs to the normal group while Sunggyu just associated himself with the nerds. He was okay with it (not that he wanted it), because he had a less stressful life all in all with this set up.

….

Seated on one of the school benches, Sunggyu was reading his notes when a boy his age sat beside him. He did not spare him a glance because he knew who the person was. “Hey Gyu, anything new?” the lad spoke and he shook his head.

“So Onew what’s the news then?” Sunggyu replied and the boy adjusted his spectacles and smiled at him.

“Christmas Theater, everyone’s excited to watch the popular kids perform.” Onew said, taking out his text book and read away.

“Yeah everyone but me.” Sunggyu replied as he returned to his notes. “… And me.” Onew added. 

A Christmas theater? 

Typical right?

It’s an annual event given by the glee and music club to showcase their members’ talents. It’s actually fun to watch if you remove the loud screaming fangirls. Year after year, the presentation gets bigger and better, adding in vocalists, dancers and actors that were just as good as their claims. 

Myungsoo was one of those members whose talent in acting was to be showcased. A kingka for his looks and piercing stare, Myungsoo had always been popular with the ladies. He walked inside the school auditorium and smiled at their director before sitting next to the other casts. 

A head count was made; the four Kingka’s were present for the rehearsal. Aside from the actor Myungsoo, the balladeer Woohyun, dancer Howon and the self proclaimed Diva Sungjong was present. The director called out a member of the audience and introduced him as Jonghyun, a talented lyricist from class 2, same class as Woohyun. “Jonghyun’s made the lyrics for our Christmas Theater and it’s just fantastic.” The director exclaimed which made the four Kingka’s roll their eyes. It’s true though, Woohyun loved Jonghyun’s lyrics and wished he could also write something decent; and he did ended up writing a lyric but it was cheesy and greasy unlike Jonghyun’s passionate and heartfelt ones.

The director then introduced Key, their stylist. His hair was dyed blonde with streaks of pink and blue; he stared at the four kingka’s then sighed. “They’re boring.” Key dismissed, earning a scowl from Sungjong.

“How dare you call me boring?” Sungjong shouted and Key glared at him.

“Well, why don’t you look at the mirror so you can answer your own question?” Key replied then walked away, gathering a handful of the Art Society to start their planning. Sungjong was ready to sock the stylists but Howon stopped him.

The last person the director introduced was a guy name Minho, who would be working on the promotions for the said event. The Minho guy was tall and very handsome. With a camera at hand and a smile on his face, he was a picture of perfection. Myungsoo eyed the boy, checking his posture and how he carried himself. He smiled approvingly then let his mouth fall into a thin line; he shouldn’t be jealous right?

They had their work cut out for them, something that kept them pre-occupied for the rest of their afternoons. The performers were rehearsing, the costume designers continuously sewing while the props department was painting cardboard and wood endlessly. By the end of the first month, the first write up was posted and everyone got so excited for the upcoming show.

--- 

“You coming hyung?” Sungyeol asked as he walked beside his older brother.

“Nope, Sungjong would kill me if he saw me there.” Sunggyu replied and Sungyeol sighed heavily.

“Why do you tolerate that brat?” Sungyeol asked and Sunggyu looked at him with a serious face.

“Because I’m a thorn in his perfect family.” Sunggyu replied bitterly and Sungyeol has to hug him tight.

“Don’t regard yourself as that hyung, you are my brother and am very happy to have you.” Sungyeol uttered as he tightened his arm around the older.

“Thanks Yeol.” Sunggyu muttered as he embraced the younger back.

It was another typical day at school (and all the kids were excitedly waiting for the bell to ring) when two heads popped in front of the seniors’ room. The girls squealed and screamed at the sight of their school’s singing heartthrobs Jonghyun and Woohyun (also fondly called as JongWoo by their fan girls) stepping inside and singing for them. “We would like to invite everyone to the Music Club’s Pre-Christmas song fest.” Jonghyun said with a bright puppy grin. “It’s a free for all concert this coming Friday so we hope to see everyone!” Woohyun continued then threw hearts for everyone.

“Hey you coming?” Onew asked Sunggyu who looked at the friend then shook his head.

“Not into socializing Onew and I’d rather not go with you and humiliate myself when your sangtae attacks.” Sunggyu replied and Onew gave him a bright smile.

“Yeah you’re probably right. I have plans for Friday anyway.” Onew replied, going back to his text book without glancing at the two males in front. Sunggyu too returned to his notebook and wrote something, disregarding the two younger males that were burning holes on their heads like a sniper’s red dot.

“Those two…” Jonghyun started “..Didn’t even spare us a glance.” Woohyun continued. “Nerds... No social life at all. They’re boring as hell.” Jonghyun said then walked a bit faster towards the next room.

So Friday came and Onew found himself seated on the bench he usually hangs out only to find the place loud and wild; apparently the music club wanted a mini concert outside rather than inside the cramp auditorium. Onew sighed just in time for Sunggyu to sit beside him. “And I thought you had plans.” Sunggyu asked and Onew nodded.

“I was planning on enjoying a quiet afternoon alone.” Onew answered him and Sunggyu smiled a small and apologetic smile.

“Well shall we ditch this place then?” Sunggyu asked and Onew nodded, grabbing his bag and joining the friend to where the only sound they could hear was the deafening silence. Just as they stood to leave, they bumped into someone and they both landed on their behinds and then hands were extended to help them up. As soon as they were face to face, both Onew and Sunggyu gasped. ‘Oh how nice to see you both here.” Woohyun chirped, grease spilling from his mouth.

“We were about to leave.” Onew replied as he grabbed Sunggyu’s wrist to pull him away.

“Please stay, it’s about to start.” Jonghyun insisted, grabbing Onew’s wrist instead and dragging him near the stage. Woohyun gave Sunggyu a greasy grin then asked him to follow the two.

The mini concert was actually enjoyable by Sunggyu and Onew’s standards; the members were really talented so to speak. Then it came to one of the highlights of the concert, Jonghyun and Woohyun’s performance. The duo informed the crowd that they wrote a song and they both gave the title Beautiful. The girls screamed crazily and both Sunggyu and Onew covered their ears. As the music played, both Jonghyun and Woohyun walked towards Sunggyu and Onew, took them to the stage as they sang their mash up of Beautiful. 

It was really awkward though, Sunggyu wasn’t sure if he’d like this or not while Onew was just going with the flow and letting Jonghyun serenade him like a desperate lover. As Jonghyun was singing, Woohyun leaned towards Sunggyu and whispered into his ears. “You’re beautiful, you know that?” He then smiled wide before singing his lines. Sunggyu was blushing mad, him beautiful? Maybe Woohyun was just playing with him. He wanted to kick the singer off the stage and pound him with the microphone but Sunggyu decided against it, he’s not the violent type anyway. 

When the song was done, Onew and Sunggyu were about to get off of the stage just as Onew’s Sangtae kicked in. He tripped on thin air and landed on Jonghyun while the younger fell backwards toppling Woohyun and ended in Woohyun falling on top of Sunggyu, and their lips were touching.

Sunggyu’s eyes widened to its maximum size as he pushed the singer off of him. He was blushing mad, more on raging with anger. “Yah what was that?” Sunggyu wiped his lips with the back of his hand and quickly stormed off the stage. Onew apologized to the two and ran after the friend, almost falling off the short flight of stage steps and effectively making Jonghyun experience a mild heart attack. 

The two then continued with the concert like nothing happened. Typical performers.


Another typical rehearsal but this time Woohyun was in the center of a flabbergasted Sungjong, a confused Myungsoo, a grinning Howon, a bored Key and an apologetic Jonghyun. “Of all the people in our campus, you have to freaking kiss a nerd.” Sungjong exclaimed and Woohyun didn’t like the sound of it. “Look Woohyun, I Know you tend to hit on almost everyone but doing it for the show is freaking low.” Key said and Woohyun was about to speak when Jonghyun apologized to him. “It was an accident people, Jonghyun fell into me and it’s like a domino effect!” Woohyun exaggerated a bit. “But you liked it.” Howon teased and Woohyun was flustered. “What the hell Lee Howon.” Woohyun chased the kingka around the stage.

“excuse me, I’m looking for my brother.” A voice echoed inside the auditorium and the Kingkas saw an innocent face with a bright smile talked to their director. Jonghyun gulped nervously as he stared at the man. He then walked towards the stage and smiled at the Kingkas. “I’m looking for my brother Lee Taemin.” He asked and at the mention of his name, the bubbly kid came rushing towards the older brother. “I need to bring him home earlier; we have a family event to attend to. And oh, I’m very sorry Woohyun-ssi.” He bowed a perfect 90 degrees and left with Taemin. “I’ll finish the backdrop tomorrow Key hyung!” Taemin waved and Key was beaming when he waved back. “Good Kid, unlike these rascals” Key said then returned to his group to supervise them.

“Hey hyung, frozen?” Myungsoo poked Jonghyun’s arms but the older was in fact frozen as statue, with mouth wide open. Minho took a photograph of this; the flashing lights brought the life back into Jonghyun.

“Yeah, derp shot.” Minho commented and realizing the embarrassment the photo can garner, Jonghyun chased after the photographer.

---- 

Late into the night, Howon was frustrated with his solo dance. The choreography and song was dead on but there seemed to be something lacking. He sat on the theater stage and took in deep breaths to even out his breathing. He was listening to the playing music when he heard shuffling sounds backstage. He got up from his spot and walked backstage, his eyes scanning the empty room. Then a lad with headphones on came into view, busting a few moves here and there. He analyzed the teen, from his casual shirt to the tattered pants and his equally dirty rubber shoes. One of his hands was holding a paint brush while a small paint can on the other, as he twirled before painting one of the snowflakes with pristine white paint. The lad continued to move his legs and arms and Howon realized what the boy was dancing too. 

With a smile on his face, Howon approached the lad and tapped on his shoulder. The boy got a shock and spilled the small can of paint onto Howon’s purple shirt, the lad apologized immediately. “uhm, what’s your name?” Howon asked and the boy introduced himself as Dongwoo. He then took out a shirt and handed it to Howon. “I’m really sorry, but you frightened me.” Dongwoo confessed as he cleaned up the spilt paint on the floor (thank God he lined it with newspaper beforehand).

“Why are you still here?” Howon asked.

“Key wanted the paint dry by tomorrow.” Dongwoo said as he finished taking the paper from the floor and throwing it inside the huge bin.

“Just wondering, you like to dance?” Howon asked which surprised Dongwoo.

“Why’d you ask?” Dongwoo returned the question.

“I have this sick idea of maybe having a dance duet.” Howon asked and Dongwoo looked at him questioningly, brows furrowed and lips pursed. It took a good minute before Dongwoo smiled and said yes, Howon was beaming with gladness. Cue music and their feet started to move on their own. Howon was sparing his newly found partner a glance when a smile crept on to his face; this was much better even though the choreography never changed. 

--- 

Myungsoo was an actor, that was a given but not a lot knew of his passion for photography. “Well, glad to see you back.” Minho greeted him, camera at hand and a wide smile on his face.

“I figured I need to sharpen my skills a bit.” Myungsoo said, adjusting the lens of his DSLR and taking a test shot of the vast school garden in front of him.

“Well, I won’t bother you. Have fun Myungsoo.” Minho bade him farewell and Myungsoo courteously nodded.

He did a few more adjustments and test shots before he got the settings done. He then wandered around, taking stills of nature and other interesting stuff; of people and serious face, of natural beauties without the thick layer of makeup. He walked towards one of the empty rooms where he decided to take an aerial point of view of the school grounds.

As he cautiously entered the room, a student was busy practicing his lines for a class role play. He listened as the student delivered the lines stiffly, how the face was emotionless and how the poor boy whined when he forgot a line or two. Myungsoo took the opportunity to take pictures of the boy, a very genuine face registered in every shot. 

“Internalize the scene and keep that in your mind.” Myungsoo said out loud as he walked closer to where the boy was practicing.

“Excuse me?” The boy asked.

“I’m helping you out because you are a pathetic actor. Just breathe and internalize the scene.” Myungsoo said as he reached the place and grabbed the short script from the boy. He read it in haste and faced the boy with dark expression.

“You thought I like you? You thought I could leave everything for you?” Myungsoo said, eyeing Sungyeol with those dark orbs. “You thought it wrong. I would never like you…” Myungsoo moved closer towards the boy. “Because I…” He inched a bit closer for comfort, lips near the boy’s neck. “I love you.” Myungsoo said then quickly went away from the boy, smiling at him sweetly. “That’s how you deliver these lines.” Myungsoo said and the boy nodded, trying to calm his beating heart and control the redness of his cheeks. “I’m Myungsoo by the way.” Myungsoo extended a hand and the boy shook it.

“Sungyeol.” he responded.

“Aren’t you Sungjong’s brother?” Myungsoo asked and the taller nodded. “Why aren’t you a kingka?” He asked and Sungyeol shrugged his shoulders.

“Not my cup of tea. I’d rather be normal and be trouble free. Thanks for the tip by the way.” Sungyeol said and smiled. “Sure, why don’t you try acting it out?’ Myungsoo suggested and the two ended up practicing the short skit to perfection.

--- 

D-day was almost there, the actors, singers and dancers were nervous, to the point that Jonghyun got injured and Woohyun has to find a quick replacement one week before the presentation. He was frustrated but can he blame a stupid puppy for saving his accident prone boyfriend?

Woohyun ruffled his hair out of frustration and kicked the table in front of him, damn his life is over. He decided to just give jonghyun his rest permanently when he heard a beautiful melody from the piano room. He took a peek and a beautiful face with a soulful voice was playing a song he’s quite familiar with. He silently went inside and listened to the man singing with passion; when it ended, he applauded which startled the man.

“Hey, you have a great voice Sunggyu-ssi.” Woohyun said and Sunggyu blushed, from the compliment and from the person who gave it. “It’s not something I brag about.” Sunggyu said as he gathered his things and tried to go out of the room immediately. “Please sing with me.” Woohyun said, almost pleading desperately. Sunggyu bit his lip and sighed before nodding, can he pass a teary eyed grease ball?

Sunggyu found himself face to face with Sungjong who was utterly displeased with the addition of his secret brother. “He can’t sing.” Sungjong deadpanned but Woohyun shook his head and convinced the rest that he could definitely sing. Woohyun urged the older to sing a few notes but Sunggyu became stiff. Woohyun intertwined his fingers with the older and smiled sweetly. He then started to sing and with a cue from Woohyun, joined in to showcase his vocal strength. The song they sang gave everyone a bubbly and light feeling; smiles were permanently plastered on their faces. 

Onew managed to hug the friend after the performance, tagging along his injured boyfriend. “Sunggyu, you were absolutely fantastic.” Onew remarked and they heard a cough from the puppy in an arm sling. “Sunggyu’s a friend, you’re my boyfriend. Why are you jealous?” Onew asked and Jonghyun shut his mouth and just smiled.

“Okay, this is grossing me out. Myungsoo is dating Sungyeol hyung, Howon hyung is dancing his way to Dongwoo hyung’s heart, Jonghyun hyung is Onew hyung’s knight in shining armor while Woohyun hyung is hitting on my half brother, who else?” Sungjong blurted out and gasps were heard. “What?” Sungjong shouted and upon realizing what he said, he covered his mouth.

Sunggyu let go of Woohyun’s hand and walked to Sungjong, placing his arms around the younger and embracing him tightly. “It’s the first time you acknowledged me as your half brother.” Sunggyu was almost in tears. Sungjong loosened a bit, wrapping his arm around the older.

“I’m jealous okay; you don’t know how much I envied you for being perfect.” Sungjong muttered as he buried his face on Sunggyu’s chest. Sungjong then laughed as he wiped the tears away. “You better kick Woohyun’s when he cheats on you or else I’ll do it.” Sungjong told Sunggyu who nodded.

“You bet I will.” Sunggyu replied. 

And that’s a typical high school story with a typical storyline and equally typical ending. 
 

A/N: It was a very broad topic and I had hard time writing about it. Anyway I added SHINee here just to make the feel more high school-esque (and the fact that I adore ShinFinite). I hope my santee would like this, if not then I apologize~ (I really am an angst writer more than anything else).

[Comment from organizer]

StarlightSpirit:

Even if you're an angst writer, this was cute and fluffy and I love that it was romantic but not overly cheesy (I love cheese, but subtle is good too!) Great job, author :3

Comment from the prompter: mayazero

"Oh May Gawd! I love it! It was soo cliche (I secretly love that XD) although the pacing was a little bit fast but still *^^* I loved it! Thanks to my Secret Santa! XD"