Afternoon sunlight streamed in through drawn curtains, illuminating the faces of the two students in the classroom. Their uniform jackets were thrown on the backs of chairs, ties loosened, and button-ups buttoned down for a more comfortable aura. Club activities was no time for school regulations, they needed to be in their best mindset. The older boy was sitting at his usual seat, the desk and chair turned to face the second boy. He was a handsome and serious person, and he scrawled away at this year’s club funds, biting his lip with each deduction. The younger boy had a more boyish charm as he sat, legs crossed and relaxed, on the desk opposite the first.

“How can you be so sure he’ll come?” Junmyeon looked over his calculations to stare at Jongdae, who was once again flipping through the earlier pages in his notebook. The poor battered thing had worn over the years, cover torn and bent, pages almost ripping at the seams.

“Just wait,” Jongdae turned the page. “Do you remember this?” He smiled nostalgically and showed the sketch to the upperclassman, uncrossing his legs as he did so.

“Of course I do. Another one of your ridiculous theories,” Junmyeon shook his head at the memory, but secretly he wanted to laugh. It was a “wheel of ghostly movement”, something of Jongdae’s earlier years of his strange obsession. His idea was that ghosts always stayed in places with the most emotional concentration or attachment. That these spiritual beings feed on those lingering feelings. Once those feelings were consumed, they would supposedly move on to the next point with the most emotion. "You were so full of those," he reminisced.

“Yes, well, that one turned out to be--” He stopped himself and returned to his usual stoic expression. “Quiet, hyung.”

Junmyeon sealed his lips, not that he had been saying anything that moment anyways. The door handle to their relatively small clubroom (only small because there was so much stuff cluttered up against the walls) started to turn. In walked two tall, skinny boys, presumably freshman.

Jongdae smiled at the first boy, a blond, stood to greet them, and said, “I thought you’d come.”

“This is him?” A voice said behind Junmyeon. The blond boy looked over and jumped at the sight.

“One second, Lu Han,” Jongdae raised a finger to his lips. “Introduce yourselves first, please. We’re rather formal here.”

The blond boy cleared his throat. “Alright. My name’s Oh Sehun. I’m a freshman. Homeroom 1-4.”

The boy behind him gave him a weird look and jerked his head to a side to move the stray brown hair from in front of his eyes. “I’m Kim Jongin, freshman, also homeroom 1-4.” He leaned towards Sehun’s ear and whispered, “Who was he talking to?”

Sehun shushed him and replied, “Wait, Jongin.”

Jongin furrowed his brows, confused, but he was already used to Sehun’s odd reactions to everything.

“Welcome to Club EXOrcist,” Jongdae spread his arms out dramatically, a corner of his lips upturned. “You can join after answering one simple question.”

“Question?” Jongin asked. “Sehun, you didn’t say anything about a quest-”

“Jongin!” Sehun whispered through closed teeth.

“Sorry…” Jongin looked back at the other boy.

“The question is, do you believe in supernatural beings? Ghosts, spirits, demons, maybe even animal gods?”

The two freshmen looked at each other before turning back, nodding, and answering in sync, “Yeah.”

“Perfect. You’re in.”

“That’s it?” Jongin asked. “You’re not going to, I dunno, make us try to spot some dead spirit? Or, like, cleanse our souls or something?”

Junmyeon stood up from his seat and crossed his arms. “What do you take us for?”

Jongdae sat back down on the desk behind him. “There are some things you need to agree to once you join this club. One, things that happen in Club EXOrcist, stay in Club EXOrcist unless stated otherwise. Two, you are not to go around freely speaking about this club to just anyone. Three, if anyone asks, you’re in the mythology club. It’s close enough, and we have our secrets. You two have access for special reasons,” Here, he gave a knowing look at Sehun before continuing, “therefore, I’m trusting you two with these secrets." He hadn't been expecting two, rather he'd expected just Sehun to come. But he could deal with two new club members. "Anyway, I’m your club-president, Kim Jongdae. Sophomore. 2-2.” He gestured towards Junmyeon. “This is Kim Junmyeon. No, he’s not my brother. Junior. 3-4.”

“Wait,” Sehun raised a hand to pause him. “You’ve been a club with only two members this whole time? Don’t you need at least four?”

“True,” Jongdae nodded coolly. “But technically, we had three.” He pointed towards the chair behind Junmyeon where a figure slowly started to appear. It began as a wispy outline of a person, like someone had erased the air and left a white silhouette. Then features started to show up. Doe-eyes, pink lips, small nose, and wavy reddish hair made the distinctions on his face and head. He had a thin frame, small hands, and skinny legs, and he smiled easily at the two newcomers. Jongin gasped beside Sehun.

“Hi!” He waved at the shocked boys. “My name is Lu Han. Welcome to the club.” He tilted his head innocently, making the silver earring dangling on his left ear sparkle in the light pouring in from the windows.

Jongin raised a shaky finger and pointed at Lu Han. “What… what just…?” His eyes were wide with shock.

Sehun, on the other hand, simply raised an eyebrow. "He can make himself appear?"

Jongdae smirked at them. "I'm surprised you didn't know that already, Sehun. See, Lu Han can choose whether or not he wants to Appear to someone. If he deems them trustworthy, or he's in a dire situation, he'll show himself. That is why you two are now bound to keep this secret. That Lu Han isn't actually a student at this school, but really just our club ghost."

"He's kidding, right, Sehun? That's some elaborate...prank, right? Lighting or something...right?" Jongin tugged on Sehun's sleeve.

"I told you you shouldn't get involved with me," Sehun muttered, too fixated on Lu Han to even glance at Jongin. 

"Right," he stretched the word, still staring boggle-eyed at Sehun. "So, um, what do you even do at this club?"

"Junmyeon, please?" Jongdae turned towards his hyung.

"Yes, of course," Junmyeon said. "We basically study up odd findings in the school and around the neighborhood, though mostly here. Any strange stories, rumors, et cetera, that might involve the occult. Legends and myths are all relevant. Anything dating back from the land that this school was built on to the disappearance of some kid's violin last week. Anything. If there's something weird about it, we'll dig into it. And if we get a request from some distressed student, then we go help them if we think it's worth it."

"What do you mean, 'worth it'?" Jongin folded his arms across his chest.

"Hauntings," Junmyeon answered. "Real hauntings. The unexplainable circumstances, the stuff that doesn't happen on your regular ol' average day here. We can't just accept hokum or idiotic tricks. That would spoil the club reputation."

"Thank you, Junmyeon." Jongdae nodded with approval. "It's not always about club rep, but we want to keep it clean."

"Hauntings? Like, real ones?" Jongin leaned back against the wall. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Real ghosts? In their school? He shuddered at the thought.

"Yes," Jongdae turned to Sehun. "Do you two need another day?"

Sehun looked over at his shaken friend and nodded. "Yeah. Maybe another day would be good."

"That's fine. As long as you don't go talking about what I just spoke to you about." Jongdae gave a stern look.

"Sure," Sehun replied. "We'll be going now. Thank you." He patted Jongin's shoulder as a cue to leave and the latter followed behind quietly. 

The door closed behind them with a loud bang.

"I don't think that was a good idea, Jongdae." Junmyeon gave him a worried look.

Lu Han looked down at the ground. "Was it me?"

Junmyeon began frantically waving his hands. "No, no! Of course it wasn't you! It was probably a bit of a surprise for them to realize that you're...real." He winced at his own word choice. Not the best, but it was the truth. "I'm sorry, Lu Han. You know what I mean." 

Lu Han peeked up from behind his bangs. "Don't worry, Jun. I know what you mean."

Junmyeon relaxed a bit. Lu Han only called him Jun when he was in a good mood, which he rarely wasn't in. He turned to Jongdae, who was standing there with a hand over his mouth. "You alright, Jongdae? It wasn't a bad intro at all. You don't think we gave too much at once, do you?"

Jongdae shook his head slowly. "Not at all. But he'll come back." He moved his hand away and went back to his notebook, taking out a pencil and scrawling down a note. The sound of the scratching pencil echoed across the room. "He needs to be back, hyung. He'll be a vital part of this club."

"The Sehun kid, right?" Junmyeon asked. "What about the other one?"

"He could be useful too. You know we're low on funds, hyung." 

"Yeah, I do. But what does that have to do with him?"

Jongdae coughed into his sleeve. "You'll know when they come back." 

Junmyeon didn't further question it, but he did get up to look at Jongdae's newest notebook note. He'd flipped to a new page, and in the very center in all caps, he'd written:

WHERE THE REAL STUFF BEGINS

"Sehun, do you know what the hell they were going on about?" Jongin struggled to keep up with Sehun's fast pace walking. They were headed home together, back to their side-by-side apartments. (A pure coincidence which occurred when Sehun moved into the city by himself, having bought the apartment next to Jongin's for the fact that it was the only place he could afford with the sole part-time job he had in the city on weekends. Being a cafe waiter did not pay much.)

"Yeah, I do." Sehun noticed Jongin's efforts and slowed down. "Sorry, but Jongin I did warn you that you didn't have to come with me." 

It was true and Jongin knew it. He'd seen Sehun walk back to the classroom after the lunch break with that flyer in his hand. He asked what it was, to which Sehun grumpily replied, "Nothing." Jongin had ripped the sheet out of his hands and read it as quickly as he could. 

"Are you going?" Jongin had asked.

"Yeah. I am."

"Then I'll come with you."

"Jongin, you really don't need to do that."

Jongin had punched him on the arm. "What are you talking about? That's what best friends are for."

He slung an arm around Sehun's shoulders, sighing to himself at the memory. It had only been two days ago. "What can I say? That's what friends are for," He repeated.

"I bet," Sehun said, only half meaning to say that sarcastically. "It's spirits, Jongin. Dead people's souls. You know, like in that movie we watched last week except a lot less dramatic." 

It had been a ridiculously staged film. "Okay, I guess. But why weren't you surprised at all?"

Sehun had been delaying this conversation for the past three months. "Because I can see them."

Jongin stopped in his tracks. "Come again?"

"I see them. Like over there," he pointed at the stop sign up ahead. "Someone died there. Her ghost is sitting on the sidewalk. And there," he moved his finger to point at the pothole down the road, "someone fell in once upon a time. A little boy."

"Stop!" Jongin yelled. "I get it! But why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Sehun regarded the boy curiously. "You don't think I'm crazy? A lunatic? Mentally-retarded or something?"

"Why would I?" Jongin frowned at him. "I'm kinda sad you didn't say anything sooner. I mean, it's a bit... creepy. But nah, I don't think you're a nut-case at all. It's cool."

Sehun fell silent for a couple seconds, then he threw his arm around Jongin's shoulders like he had a minute ago. It was a strangely friendly thing for Sehun to do, and Jongin felt it was right to savor the moment. "You're a weird kid, you know that?" Sehun said. "Freaking weird."

"Hey, I'm not the one who sees dead people."

"Shut up. So, you wanna go back tomorrow?" Sehun pulled the club flyer out of his pocket.

"Are they even open tomorrow? Says Tuesdays and Thursdays here."

"Yeah, but we can go to Jongdae's homeroom and tell him, or Junmyeon's. Or even find Lu Han if we can." 

"Alright," Jongin said as they reached their apartment doors. "Let's find Jongdae. Tomorrow. See you later." 

"Bye." Sehun walked into his desolate place and threw his school bag into a corner. He flicked on a light after locking the door and, taking off his shoes, sat down at the kitchen counter. Unfolding the wrinkled paper, he went over his options in his head.

He could Oh Sehun, the quiet student who didn't want to get involved in anything. Who was studious and a bit anti-social. Who didn't interact much with others, but got along fine with his one best friend, Kim Jongin. Discreet. Somewhat-wallflower.

Or he could be Oh Sehun, the crazy kid with the power to see dead people. The guy who was in that tiny club with four other psychos who thought the school was full of ghosts. He could be someone who was somewhat accepted, even if it meant being accepted for his "skill". He could risk his every day normal for something that had the potential to be amazing.

It wasn't a hard choice. 

"Junmyeon, what a lovely surprise." Jongdae didn't even need to look up from his notebook to know it was the ever prince-like hyung standing in front of him. He heard some whispers from the girls in the room and that was all it took. 

"Don't kid me, Jongdae, I come here every morning." He stood in front of Jongdae's homeroom desk, rolling his eyes at the ceiling.

"Do you? I never noticed." Jongdae curled his cat lips up at the older boy.

"Are you expecting them?" He glanced at the clock. "There's only a couple minutes left until the bell rings."

Jongdae went back to his notebook and turned to the page after the cover title he'd made yesterday. "Give it a second."

"Um, Jongdae-hyung?" They heard someone call from the doorway. A dozen pairs of eyes turned to face the the blond boy, who squirmed under the scrutinizing gazes of his upperclassmen. He hated being in the spotlight, especially like this. Though he was unfortunately oblivious to the one girl who whispered much too loudly to her friend, "Is that a freshman? Isn't he cute?"

Jongdae stood and took his time joining Sehun at the doorway. "Yes, Sehun?" He said once they reached the hall.

Jongin was there as well. He'd stayed behind Sehun, hidden by the wall from anyone's view. "Good morning, hyung." He greeted him quickly. Jongdae smiled in acknowledgement. Jongin shivered; the club president reminded him awfully of a mischievous cat.

"We'd like to join the club," Sehun said in one breath. Jongdae's eyes sparked at the words.

"Wonderful." His smile seemed to grow wider. "We'll be meeting next Tuesday at three. I'll be expecting you."

With that, he left the two boys, went back to his seat and took out his notebook. Junmyeon made sure to watch him write his new note. He was fascinated by the boy's habit of scribbling down everything he considered vital to his projects.

Two new recruits. Club is complete. New Beginnings. 

A/N: Hi everyone! >w< I have three chapters prepared beforehand because I /coughs awkwardly/ had initially wanted to release this after Metal was finished, but seeing as Metal is over half way done and I am over my writer's block, I'm giving y'all a short intro to the story OuO I haven't read this over in a couple weeks hahaha so if there are any typos, please don't be afraid to tell me right away! :3 Thank you for subcribing and voting even though I haven't done anything yet lol 

P.S. It'd be nice if I could find someone to make a poster for me! @u@ heheh that'd be fun

P.P.S. omg yes this is going to slowly evolve into humor...i swear...right now it's a little solemn but heheh i promise i'll try to inject some of my stupid comedy into this