"Warning: Violence (in the form of a chocolate-covered Xiumin strangling Chanyeol) and naughty, naughty teachers." says Vi 

with Kaity violently snickering in the background cuz teachers be throwin shade n omfg

Sehun glanced anxiously around him as he paused at the doorway. Seeing everyone at the sound-booth preoccupied with preparing for the show, he slowly pushed it open and took a step outside.

"Oh Sehun! Get back in here! Go help everyone backstage if you're bored!"

The freshmen cursed as he turned to face the reprimanding look in Minwoo's eyes as the Tech director nodded his head in the direction of the stage. The said director didn't look amused as he stared down up at Sehun. The teen jutted his lips out in a pout as he glumly made his way to the stage, shooting daggers towards a snickering Kibum.

After running away from the SGA members earlier that day, Sehun had managed to escape towards the front of the school building. He had been in the middle of debating between taking the bus or a taxi home when Minwoo snatched him up right there and then, muttering something along the lines of, "Since Joonmyeon took Kibum, I'll take you."

To say he was thrilled was an understatement. An extreme understatement. Extreme.

Sehun thought he was thrown into the fiery pits of hell the moment Minwoo harshly pushed him forward, giving him instructions of, "Go help Sooyoung and everyone else. We're short on techies today so we need all the extra hands we can get."

Of course, he was bossed around by the upperclassmen and treated like a worthless servant (at least in his mind he was) the second he stepped backstage. Completely overwhelmed by the bustling activities, Sehun was more of a hindrance than help and was ordered to stay in the sound booth.

Sooyoung had rolled her eyes when Sehun had asked where it was.

"Se-brat, why did you switch majors?" the senior asked as she led him towards the back of the theater. "You obviously don't know a single thing about being a Techie."

"Noona," Sehun whined, "stop calling me 'Se-brat'."

"No can do, Se-brat."

"Nooooonaaaaaaaa."

Sooyoung rolled her eyes again as they reached the end of the theater. "Alright, here you go Se-brat, the sound booth. Now," she looked sideways to where Sehun stood, "do. Not. Touch. Anything. Got it?" The freshmen gulped and nodded his head at the dangerous glint in her eyes. "Good." She patted his head just to annoy him before leaving the freshmen to himself.

Sehun's orginial plan of sulking  went out the window the moment he saw the buttons and switches all gloriously placed for him to touch. His eyes glittered in curiosity as he subconsciously sunk into one of the three chairs in the booth. Hands itching to push a button or two (or... all of them-), he swiftly scanned the area to make sure the coast was clear before raising a hand. Just before he could press anything though, Sehun's hand was slapped away.

"Didn't Sooyoung tell you not to touch anything, brat?"

A sweaty, red-faced Kibum raised his eyebrow questioningly at the hissing Sehun. He absentmindedly ruffled his blonde hair as he started taking off his T-shirt. The Tech President carelessly tossed aside the tux previously draped over his arm on the seat closest to him before making himself comfortable in the middle seat.

"Why does everyone call me a brat?!" wailed the indignant freshmen.

"Because you are one," replied Kibum monotonously as he reached to adjust a few settings.

Satisfied when he was done, Kibum half expected to see Sehun sulking pathetically but was pleasantly surprised to find him looking on with a subtle eagerness. I can't tell if you're interested in pressing buttons or interested in actually being a techie the elder thought as he reached out in what seemed like an apologetic embrace but was actually a decoy for a headlock. He grinned wickedly as he started to noogie Sehun with his unoccupied hand.

"Eww! Hyung! You're all sweaty! Let me go!"

"Never! Consider this payback."

"For what?!"

"For having a diabolical father."

"Joonmyeon hyung's not even my real dad!"

"Who cares?"

"Hyung!" screeched Sehun. This is definitely hell. Hell I say!

Kibum leaned down to whisper in the younger's ear, "I could go back out there and tell Jongin you're in here." The elder mentally snickered upon glancing at Sehun's horror-stricken face. He smirked as he released the frozen freshmen from his grasp. "I dunno what the hell you did this time, but Jongin's pretty pissed."

Sehun gulped in fright as he imagined a fire-breathing Jongin stomping around with devil horns and a tail but the sly look Kibum gave him slightly scared him more.

"Holy , hyung! What the hell did you do to Sehun?" Wonshik freaked as he took a seat in the remaining chair. He experimentally waved a hand in front of the petrified new tech major and freaked out even more when he got no reaction. "Hyung!"

Kibum merely rolled his eyes. "Worry about the show, Wonnie."

Just as he finished the sentence, Minwoo's voice crackled through the booth. "Show's starting in about 20 minutes. Get ready for stand-by."

Get ready for the best Gala yet.

Minseok looked at his reflection in the mirror in the Green Room as he attempted to tie a tie. Over, under. Over under. Loop. Over. Or was it over, over, under, over, under, loop? He grew frustrated after fumbling with it for a few minutes and grumbled incoherently. His eyebrows creased in utter concentration, determined to tie his tie, he failed to notice the male dancer watching him from the doorway.

"Here, let me help you."

The drama major whirled around only to find himself uncomfortably close with his best friend. He gulped at the proximity and looked away as Luhan reached out with his deft fingers and untangled his sad attempt of "tying". For once, a silence fell over the duo, but it was filled with high tension; something Minseok thought they had long left behind them.

'I guess not' mused Minseok as a bitter smile graced his lips. Unconsciously, he found his gaze drawn to the person in front of him. His eyes trailed over the angelic features he knew more than his own: the flawless curve in his cupid's bow that adorned his charming smile, the soft shine in his doe-like eyes that could light up any room he entered, the adorable button nose that wrinkled in concentration as he focused on any task, big or small, such as tying a tie.

Minseok could go on for hours.

Could.

"All done. Good as fake," the elder spoke with a singsong undertone in his voice as he patted the freshly tied tie. His eyes creased in the corners as an amused hum escaped his throat, but not through parted lips, as it was too small to be considered a chuckle, and Minseok inwardly prayed his smile was as good as fake as well.

Zitao felt like he had stumbled upon Wonderland, or Neverland, or some other magical place, when he arrived at the Gala.

His mother had been unable to accompany him to the event, initially putting a damper on his mood. However, his spirits were soon lifted upon entering the school campus.

Though there was nothing particularly special about the campus to take note of, Zitao swore he felt something magical about it.

Maybe it was the dim-lighting to illuminate the intricate murals painted upon the school walls by students and alumni, or perhaps the hundreds of multicolored flowers that still managed to bloom in the slighlty chilly autumn breeze. 

Or maybe it was the sight of a red-faced supposed student on the ground trying to beg for mercy while being quite successfully strangled to death by another supposed student covered in chocolate.

"Wait what?"

Zitao blinked as he watched the duo flip back and forth on the concrete. It was almost comical. He'd thought people only fought this way in movies, but apparently people really do hold other people by the neck and willingly roll around on ground til death do them part. 

As much as he tried not to stare, he couldn't bring himself to move. He simply stared on, and while being from another country did provide a slight language barrier for him, he was able to figure out that Minseok was the guy on top, and he seemed to wanna "castrate [Chanyeol] and shove that small piece of so far up his nose that he goes brain dead." His eyes widened a little at the many colorful words that streamed from the boy's mouth afterwards, but then he decided to start wondering why Minseok had been covered in chocolate. As if on cue, Zitao watched another boy hesitantly approach. His eyes seemed abnormally large. 

"Hyung, I'm sure Chanyeol didn't mean to push you into the fountain... Just calm down.. hyung—" 

"DO NOT ING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR ME TO LOOK AS PERFECT AS I DO EVERY TIME I LEAVE MY HOUSE AND NOW IT IS RUINED BY THIS -STAINED PIECE OF HORSERADISH!"

Anyone who knew Kim Minseok would have known that when he starts forgetting how to make sens