Where should he start, Yixing wondered. Maybe he should tell them about the countless times he had been scolded by his teachers because he could never seem to get any of his homework done. It’s not like he didn’t want to do them, he just didn’t remember that he was supposed to.

 

Speaking of homework, didn’t he have an important assignment due soon?

 

Trying to get used to uni life was a bit more difficult for him, especially since there was nobody screeching at him to finish his homework anymore, effectively reminding him that he had any. His parents told him to write things down in the planner they gave him.

 

What happened to that planner? He liked the unicorns on the cover. Maybe he left it in the library that one time he went there to study with his classmate.

 

That classmate was nice. He thought Yixing was funny. They haven’t kept in touch because Yixing kept forgetting that they were supposed to meet up and hang out. How was he supposed to remember if the details were told to him in passing after class?

 

Wasn’t there a question he was supposed to answer?

 

“I think he’s spacing out again,” Luhan pointed out.

 

 “Yixing?” Suho called.

 

Oh right. The research. $300. He should really say something. He turned to look at Suho, ready to start telling his story.

 

Yixing noticed that the researcher’s business shirt was slightly pinkish. Was it supposed to be that colour or did he put it in the wash with something red?

 

Yixing remembered doing that once. His mother never made him do the laundry again. He was going to cook her favourite dish to compensate for ruining her favourite shirt, but then the postman came and he went to pick up the mail and forgot that he had the stove on.

 

That reminded him that he was supposed to take her out to dinner to compensate for almost burning the house down. . No wonder she was upset with him.

 

“Get a move on, will you?” Sehun said exasperatedly.

 

Yixing felt somebody poking his shoulder, and turned to look at the person to his left.

 

“Problem,” Luhan said simply.

 

Oh. “I have trouble concentrating,” Yixing said.

 

“Way to state the obvious!” Sehun said, throwing his arms up.

 

“Okay,” Suho nodded, scribbling ‘ADHD (predominantly inattentive)’ on his pad.

 

“What about high functioning autism?” Kris whispered.

 

Suho scribbled that down as well. “When did it start becoming a problem?” he asked Yixing.

 

Yixing stopped to think. He remembered his mother telling him how she had to move him from one preschool to another because the teachers thought he was rebelling (‘and at such a young age too!’), all because he didn’t want to play Simon Says. That game was so difficult he was sure he couldn’t play it even at his current age. Speaking of games-

 

He felt another poke to his shoulder. He looked at Luhan, confused.

 

“When?” Luhan said.

 

Right. “When was it not a problem?” he stated slowly.

 

“Are you working now?” Suho asked.

 

“No, I’m a student.”

 

“How do you cope with lectures?”

 

“I don’t go to lectures.”

 

“Why not?”

 

Yixing sighed. “I can’t concentrate.”

 

“Have you been to one?”

 

“Once, back in first year.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I didn’t learn anything.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I don’t know,” Yixing fidgeted in his seat. “The lights were distracting.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Stop asking me questions,” he said, frustration and irritation apparent on his face.

 

“He had feelings?” Sehun asked.

 

Suho unconsciously chewed on the back of his pen. “We’ll move on then,” he decided. He turned to the person next to Yixing, scribbled ‘narcissistic personality disorder’ on his pad, and asked, “What wrong with you, Luhan?”

 

“Finally it’s my turn,” Luhan exclaimed. “My problem is that I’m severely underappreciated.”

 

Sehun snorted with a mixture of disgust and derision.

 

Suho shot him a warning glance. “Why do you think so?” he asked Luhan.

 

“Look at me, I’m just your average uni student when I definitely deserve to be more than that.”

 

“You can be a star with me!” Chanyeol said.

 

Luhan ignored him and continued. “I wasn’t accepted into the course that I applied for even though I was way overqualified for it.”

 

“What did you apply for?” Suho asked.

 

“Medicine.”

 

“Thank god you didn’t get in,” Sehun mumbled.

 

“Why do you think you were overqualified?”

 

“Everybody knew I was a genius,” he rolled his eyes. “I got straight As, I won a lot of academic awards, and it was obvious that I deserved the ones that I didn’t win, a lot more than the inferior idiots who did.”

 

“Did you do well on the admission test?”

 

“Why would I take that test? I was a shoe-in based on my grades alone,” Luhan said, appalled at what he perceived as Suho’s apparent lack of judgement.

 

“Good grief, how stupid can you get?” Jongdae said, finally bothered enough to be more than a silent listener.

 

“Well, excuse you, you ignorant imbecile,” Luhan said angrily. “Can you maintain an A average while juggling two uni courses and afterschool activities and maintain your ethereal good looks even with all that stress? I think not!”

 

Jongdae frowned. “That’s not even all that impressive.”

 

“How dare you belittle me?” Luhan screeched. “You’re so blatantly jealous of my success that I don’t even know why I’m wasting my time talking to you.”

 

“What success?” Jongdae asked cheekily.

 

Luhan stood up, glaring at Jongdae with pure hatred.

 

“And he said I had anger management issues,” Sehun said.

 

Minseok tugged Luhan back into his seat as Kris gestured for him to do so.

 

“This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about,” Luhan said once he had calmed down. “Having to associate with people like all of you here,“ he looked at them, nose crinkled in disgust. “You can’t understand me even if you tried.” He shook his head and said sadly, “It’s difficult being misunderstood.”

 

“You insult us, and then expect us to feel sorry for you?” Sehun asked, too baffled by the absurdity to be angry.

 

“Okay, I think I’ve heard enough,” Suho cut in. “We’ve gone through half of you today, we’ll continue with the rest tomorrow.”

 

Practically everybody in the room let out a collective sigh.

 

“Go ahead and mingle,” Suho waved his hand dismissively. “Dinner will probably be delivered soon.”

 

Jongin watched as Chanyeol walked over to Luhan, apparently determined to get him to join his group again. Kris and Suho were looking at Suho’s notes, quietly discussing.

 

“Who do you think is the real deal?” Jongin whispered to Kyungsoo.

 

“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo answered truthfully.

 

Jongin turned to see Chanyeol walking over to him excitedly. “Kai, he said yes!”

 

“What?” Jongin gaped at Luhan. “You did what?”

 

“He said I could be the center.” Luhan shrugged.

 

“What are we talking about?” Jongdae asked.

 

“You’re not included,” Luhan said sulkily.

 

“Chanyeol’s group,” Jongin answered.

 

“That’s messed up,” Sehun said.

 

“You’re a part of it too,” Luhan told him.

 

Sehun gawked at him.

 

“Hey guys, what if we made a big group with all of us? That would definitely push me and Kai back up to the top of the industry where we used to be,” Chanyeol said excitedly.

 

“A group of 10 people?” Jongdae asked, laughing.

 

“No, 12,” Chanyeol said, gesturing to the researchers.

 

Jongdae’s laughter was cut short. “He’s weirder than I thought he was.”

 

“No, we’re good. Thanks though,” Suho said airily, returning to his notes.

 

“What’s our concept?” Baekhyun piped up.

 

Everybody turned to look at him incredulously.

 

“A space concept, because we’re all space cadets?” Jongin suggested, chuckling.

 

“A galaxy concept, I like that,” Kris said, earning him a disapproving frown from Suho.

 

“I thought you were supposed to be one of the sane ones,” Jongdae pointed out.

 

“Hey, it’s all in fun,” Kris said. “We’re stuck with each other for three days, we might as well try to get used to each other’s quirks.”

 

Suho sighed, seriously rethinking his life choices.

 

 

 

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a/n: *points at subscriber count, points at upvote count, points at view count, points at comments, runs screaming into a closet*

(That meant I love you if you didn't get it <3)
I tried to fit everybody into this chapter, but Tao didn't appear again T.T