Twist part 1
You're being watchedA/N= Honestly I have the biggest writer's block for this story since I do have a somewhat plan for what to make happen during their remaining time in the mansion but I have a more broad and clear plan for after the mansion stuff, when they get out to the public, so I'll just fastforward things here and just write what I want happening in their remaining time in the mansion! I do want some continuation of what happens after Paris in the mansion however I'm going to only write a few chapters of it!
I was half way on the process of writing this chapter when a very unfortunate news came to the world that our lovely and adorable Sulli has sadly passed away. It is a very adverse and sad news for everyone, including myself who is a fan of her and F(x) and still will be. With all my heart, I wish that Sulli rest in peace and finally finds her peace in heaven and is happy up there. For all the cruel and disgusting netizens, who sent her hate comments and abused her on the internet and whoever still does, you are all part of the reason why she commit suicide so I hope karma comes back to you and serves you hell for making Sulli's life so unbearable that she had to take such a drastic step. All of you people, who sent her hate comments for years and years, are her murderers!
All of the F(x) members, except Krystal, have left S.M. Entertainment and F(x) is pretty much disbanded as a group but I ain't even surprised since they were inactive for years....it's sad but like I said during the duration of grieving for Jonghyun's death and now for Sulli's death, the story must continue and I will always ship these two groups together!
Here is another chapter for you all!
Taemin yawned and stretched his arms as he got out of his bedroom and saw the gang all around the living room. They were back in the old mansion that they had spent the majority of the year here and things felt so familiar yet different. Everything felt the same regarding the place they all spent most of their time together and how every morning, people would be scattering around the whole area but the whole dynamics had changed between every pairing but not every one was aware of that.
Speaking of changes, Taemin's eyes immediately looked away once he noticed Sulli, was around the dining table, carrying a plate of food but then he started noticing something similiar. Why was everyone wearing the school uniform? What was going on?
''Good Morning, Taemin!'' Key waved as he sat down on the sofa, next to Amber, who was just relaxing.
''Why are you two in school uniforms?'' Taemin wondered.
''We're going back to classes today!'' Onew informed him with excitement. ''Back to learning and getting the education we need!''
''Oh my god, I totally forgot!'' Taemin immediately ran back to his room to change and get ready.
Sulli observed Taemin gasping before running back to the room like a headless chicken, earning some giggles from the group but from her as well. She remembered how he was during the airport, running away and not speaking much with her. She wasn't going to lie when she said that she initally wanted that from him when he wouldn't stop flirting with her nonstop but now, it felt really weird and really different like she didn't like this change from him. She sighed as hopes for her to become in speaking terms with him became more apparent in her feelings.
''How's the breakfast cooking going, Victoria?'' Minho questioned as he walked towards the kitchen.
''It's almost done!'' Victoria yelled, from the kitchen. ''Just make sure that everyone is all ready for breakfast!''
''Is everyone here?'' Onew asked, looking around the living room to see if all the gang members were here.
Onew's attention went towards Luna, who was gently knocking on Jonghyun's bedroom door, telling Jonghyun to wake up for school in a manner that seemed quite the opposite of what was expected from her. The old Luna would have been knocking aggressively and banging her fists non-stop on that door as she screamed and yelled for the guy to get up for a few seconds before she stormed right inside the bedroom and beat the guy up so he would be up but this Luna, she was rather polite and considerate of Jonghyun's privacy and was trying to wake the guy up from the door but Onew knew that Jonghyun wouldn't even have flickered from the mild noise. Onew knew that all these changes from Luna were the effects of love, pretty surprising to see that it can even be as powerful as changing someone completely.
''Luna, is Jonghyun awake?'' Onew asked, already knowing the answer to his question.
''I'm trying to wake him up but I don't think he's up.'' Luna answered, scratching her head with her finger.
''Luna, this method will not wake him up!'' Onew shook his head, going inside the kitchen.
Victoria noticed Onew getting his hands on two frying pans, causing her to wonder what her partner was trying to do with the pans but before she could question him, he walked out of the kitchen. She feared that Onew might use the pans to scare or hurt any of the boys as a way of punishing them for annoying him but if that was the case then she wouldn't have even be surprised since throughout her time with the gang, she has seen a lot of different reactions from everyone, who all react differently from one another.
''Hey, where are you going with the pans?!'' Victoria loudly asked as she saw Onew walk away.
''I need them for something important.'' Onew responded as he walked towards Luna, whose eyes went wide.
''Are you sure we need to go down this route?'' Luna was getting a little scared.
''Don't worry, it's necessary.'' Onew assured Luna before he stood in front of Jonghyun's door.
''Don't tell me you're going to hurt Jonghyun? Is he hiding inside the bedroom cause of you?'' Victoria questioned, holding Onew's arm so she can hold him back.
''I don't think this is the right way, you will hurt him if you use the pans!'' Luna was worried that Onew might hurt Jonghyun and she clearly didn't want Jonghyun to be hurt even though she was always hitting him before the whole Paris trip.
''Hurt him?'' Onew raised his eyebrow at Luna, confused with where she had gotten the idea that he was going to hurt Jonghyun.
''Don't be crazy, Onew! Even if the guy has pissed you off, there is no need to hurt him with the pans!'' Victoria agreed.
''What are you girls talking about?'' Onew was definitely very confused with what the girls were thinking about him.
''Aren't you going to hurt Jonghyun with the pans cause he's pissed you off?'' Victoria asked, assuming that was the case.
''No I thought he was going to hurt him with the pans to wake him up?'' Luna looked at Victoria with confusion, wondering where she had gotten that assumption.
''Both of you are wrong, I'm not planning on doing any of that!'' Onew replied, shaking his head at the girls' assumptions.
''Then what are you doing with the pans?'' Both Luna and Victoria questioned him simultaneously with their heads tilted at the side.
''Watch and you'll find your answer.'' Onew held the door knob and opened the bedroom door.
Victoria and Luna saw Jonghyun was still peacefully sleeping in his bed, happily snoring, with all his things scattered around like the last time they saw his bedroom. This boy clearly doesn't clean his room nor is he that bothered by the mess his room has whereas Onew shook his head, disapproving of all the mess as he was the opposite but Onew wasn't here to observe Jonghyun's room nor did he wanted to spend much time in a place where things were messy, disorganised and just plain chaotic looking. Onew grabbed hold of the two pans, his grip firmly grabbing the pan handles, before he kept slamming the two pans against one another continously whereas Luna and Victoria covered their ears, watching the drama unfold while the other gang members came running towards the room to see what was going on.
''What's happening here?'' Minho wondered.
''What's with all the noise?'' Key looked around the room.
Jonghyun immediately rolled around the bed, grabbing the pillow and placing it against his ear to block out the noise yet it just kept going and going as if it was never going to end. He immediately jolted up from his bed, glaring at Onew for making such noise and disturbing his sleep in his bedroom, that he invited himself in without Jonghyun's permission, before his frustrated eyes went to the door where he saw Luna and Victoria covering their ears and the other members standing behind them, doing the same.
''What the hell are you doing?'' Jonghyun frowned, wanting to know why Onew had woken him up.
''Glad to see you are finally up!'' Onew stopped, seeing that his plan had worked. ''Get ready, breakfast is almost ready and you need to eat.''
''Why wake me up?! I could have eaten that later, I was having a good dream!'' Jonghyun whined, he was clearly not ready to wake up right now.
''Well we have to reach school in twenty minutes so get up now, don't be late!'' Onew got out of Jonghyun's room.
''School?!'' Jonghyun raised his eyebrow before he gasped when he noticed the other members all dressed in school uniforms. ''We have school?! I'm going to be late, I completly forgot we have to go to school!''
''Jonghyun, get ready. We'll wait for you!'' Luna giggled at the guy getting out of his bed immediately, after the realisation hit him, before closing his bedroom door.
Victoria, Amber, Krystal and Sulli all gave each other a look and a small smirk as Luna's feelings were becoming even more apparent even though she tries her hardest to deny it, they all knew it was time for another female only meeting to do a little catch up with the focus being on the shortest member of the group but was the focus really only going to be on Luna? Sure she would be the start of the conversation but Victoria clearly remembered how different each member was after the club incident, she was certainly discreet about her observations with only her partner knowing but she wanted to hear the girls say what they felt themselves yet that was the challenge since not all of them were obvious like Luna but all of them would deny at the first chance they would get. Victoria could only scoff at the typical behaviour, even though she did the same, but she was not one to give up just yet.
Taemin got out of his bedroom once he was finished getting ready for school, making him to walk towards the dining table so he could eat some food but Jonghyun immediately ran past him, almost pushing him out of the way, to the dining table and immediately sat down, grabbing a plate of food and devouring it as fast as he could as if he had never eaten food before.
''Jesus, you're acting like you haven't eaten in weeks.'' Minho shook his head, disapproving the way Jonghyun was eating.
''Slow down or else you're going to choke, you idiot.'' Key agreed, frowning at the sight.
''Taemin, hurry up and eat or else this pig will eat everything.'' Onew took a sip of his coffee.
Taemin couldn't really have cared less about Jonghyun eating majority of the food, as long as he could eat some of the food prepared for everyone then Jonghyun was free to eat the remaining. He just walked towards the table in a non-chalant manner however he felt like his brain immediately froze once he realised something, the only seat that was free for him to sit was the one in between Sulli and Key. He sighed at the coincidence that the more he tries to get away from Sulli, the more he finds the oppourtunities to be with the girl but he had to get rid of this coincidence as the more he's with her, the more it reminded him of the bet and the more his guilt increases.
Taemin clearly had never really felt the emotion of guilt but now that he has, he didn't like how uncomfortable it made him feel and how much of a reality check it had given him about himself. Was he really that foolish about the emotions of other people? Was he really this inconsiderate of their emotions and their lives? If someone had done that to him then would he have liked it? Was he really filled with so much ego? It was like he was fighting an internal battle with the morality finally hitting in and showing him that his pride and ego had made him into an immature person that now didn't seem like that was what he wanted to be as a person.
''Taemin, aren't you going to eat?'' Victoria spoke loudly from her seat, causing Taemin to stop thinking.
''I just remembered that I forgot to pack something so I'll just fix that but I'll take the breakfast with me.'' Taemin grabbed hold of the plate with some food before walking away to his room. ''Thanks for the breakfast, Vic!''
''We are supposed to only eat at the dining table!'' Onew reminded, frowning at Taemin walking away with the plate of food.
''Times change so do the norms, get with the programme old man!'' Taemin smiled and gave the frowning Onew a wink before he walked inside his bedroom and closed the door.
Sulli softly sighed, she had a hint that Taemin had gone inside his bedroom to avoid her since the only free seat was next to her and he had chosen not to take it. It was getting more obvious that Taemin was doing the most he could to avoid her, it's like he doesn't even speak to her anymore but she wanted to know what she could have possibly done for him to be like this yet how can she get her answers if he does not say anything to her? Both Krystal and Victoria secretly watched Sulli's reaction when Taemin walked away to his bedroom, they could see that she clearly felt dejected over it.
Victoria now had two focuses on the catch up meeting she planned to have the girls later on to find out what exactly they were now feeling about their opposite partners. Luna was an obvious case that she was in love with Jonghyun. Amber seemed like she had nothing more than a friendly relationship with Key but was Victoria right or wrong? Sulli was somewhat becoming more suspicious with how she has been reacting when Taemin goes away from her, could she be feeling something for her partner Taemin? Victoria observed the youngest member and yes the fighting had completely gone by now but she wasn't too sure whether Krystal was being nice with Minho or was there more? Victoria took a sip of her green tea as she took the decision to observe more on her members, other than Luna, especially Krystal as she was the one Victoria had no clue of what she could be feeling.
Onew eagerly fixed his blazer to look neat and tidy for the first day back at school, he was obviously excited to go back and to be educated on more things he could learn and study so he could succeed on maintaning his title of the smartest student of the college. He turned around to look at the other members standing in the living room area, clearly not as excited or enthusiastic like he was, but they were all ready to go to class.
''Good Morning, Rank A*'' The same voice echoed in the room, surprising and making everyone jolt.
''Good Morning, Mr.Kim!'' They all replied, paying attention to what he had to say.
''How are we all feeling today? Excited for school?'' Mr.Kim questioned.
''You bet! I can't wait for homework!'' Onew excitedly answered.
''Clearly someone is.....'' Taemin rolled his eyes, he was obviously disinterested in school.
''Why don't everyone take a seat, I have something for you all to do.'' Mr.Kim requested.
Onew watched all of s all go near a seat in the living room, whether it was on the sofa, a chair or just on the floor, but he was not really liking this disturbance as he was eager to be in the classroom and read about formulas, past history events or solve any mathematical problems. Normally he would have said something about the disturbance but he just let out a breath as he, too, joined his fellow members in the living room and impatiently waited for what Mr.Kim had to say.
''Move.'' Onew nudged Key to move a bit so he could sit down on the sofa.
Key nudged Amber to move towards the end of the sofa, causing him to follow before Onew sat down and looked up, wanting Mr.Kim to hurry up since Onew did not like being late for school and they were getting closer to the time they are expected to be at school.
''What's going on, Mr.Kim?'' Jonghyun's voice interrupted Onew's thinking. ''What do you want us to do?''
''Is it another challenge?'' Minho questioned.
''We haven't done any of it in a while.'' Sulli realised.
''Yes, I have another challenge for you all to do but I have some news as well.'' Mr.Kim informed the group, making them all to be interested in what he had to say. ''What would you like to hear first?''
''The news!'' Onew quickly spoke.
Everyone's eyes went to the leader speaking on their behalf but they all knew by now, he was the type to take authority and be more alarmed in important details and crucial news that could affect the group rather than spend time first on fun activities. Mr.Kim smirked, he had expected the class president to be outspoken and be interested in what the news could be rather than know what challenge they could take part in besides he was never the type to be that interested in present joy, he would rather prepare himself for what was going to come and be organised for the future as much as he could.
''Alright if it's the news you all want first then I have two to inform you all with. The first one is that your exams are coming up and you all will be taking them next week!'' Mr.Kim announced, causing everyone to be shocked and alarmed. ''Good Luck!''
''You tell us now?!'' Onew angrily spoke back. ''Why were we sent to that France holiday when we could have had all that time to prepare ourselves?! We can not have it this early! I haven't prepared a single note to study!''
''Exams? Is it already exam season?!'' Key wondered, feeling surprised with the news.
''Mr.Kim, we can not have the exams this early!'' Onew demanded. ''It is not possible, I won't be able to secure the top grades like I need to!''
''I understand what you feel about this, Onew but this is my final decision!'' Mr.Kim announced. ''Today is your last day of school where you will all be informed about what topics will come up in the exams so all I can suggest is that you take good notes of what the teacher says and get to studying as soon as possible.''
''Argh exams and studying?!'' Jonghyun groaned, he hated it all. ''Can't you just pass us or something for being in the highest rank?''
''I can't deal with a just pass, that's inadequate for my standards and not on par with my previous grades!'' Onew boasted angrily. ''I must ace the exams like I always do and should!''
''Alright alright we get it, Mr. Class President!'' Taemin replied back.
''I ensure you, Onew that the exams will not be like all the other ranks will have to do! I understand that you all have less classes and modules to do and so it will be fit according to what has been taught to you.'' Mr.Kim assured. ''It is expected for every student to get back to studying and revise what is taught to them after school times so if you are all slacking and not doing so then you have no one to blame except yourselves.''
Onew's eyes went wide open when he heard what Mr.Kim said at that last sentence as he thought about how he had now became as a student compared to how he normally was. He had not been studying and revising what was taught to him after school period, he had been slacking off and spent more of his time socialising with the other members in the mansion and now to know that he had unknowingly sabotage himself in all this, he felt scared and fearful for his future grades. What if he couldn't ace the exams like he normally could? What if his grades this year was lower than what was considered the standards in rank A, the top rank he was previously in before he moved here? All his years of hard work and dedication could be ruined and over looked by just this one year's grades, which he believes isn't up to par in terms of work ethics and efforts when comparing it to the previous years. If Onew's fears came true that he had gotten significantly lower grades and was not the student with the top grades for the first time in his whole education duratiob then he could not even begin to think of the embarrassment his whole family would face but also the taunts and mockery his elite society would speak of to his family about his low grades and how he was not a suitable and elite hier, whose intelligence was not considered superior as it was thought to be.
''We have time to study, that isn't an issue.'' Amber smiled. ''I mean the exams are next week so that's better than nothing.''
''Yeah come to think of it, next week is a bit early but for the whole of this week if we all try to study and do our best then we can be happy with it.'' Krystal figured, nodding her head in agreement. ''I think we'll be fine.''
''Yeah I think it is a bit of a challenge but we'll be fine.'' Minho smiled at Krystal.
''How many exams have we got to do, Mr.Kim?'' Victoria wondered.
''One exam but all of the modules and topics are in the exam.'' Mr.Kim answered. ''The exam is no longer than an hour and you all do have an advantage that you have less classes and less modules and topics than the other students in the ranks below however you will have to study everything that has been taught to you in all of the classes as what will come up is unpredictable. This class you are going to will help you as to what can come up however to secure good grades, it is recommended you learn everything. As you all will be graduating from the college this year, this year's grades are very important so I wish you all good luck and to do well in this exam.''
Onew's eyes went wider as he heard what was informed to him since he had forgotten that after this year, there was no more college and now to make up for this year's slacking, he knew he had to do double the work. He couldn't let his title of Class President and his streak of always getting the top grades ever since kindergarten to go to waste all because of this one year, sure he had fun and enjoyed himself with the others but when he thought about everything that was going to be affected due to this one year, he knew he had to do more and discipline himself more so he can ace this exam. He had one exam so that didn't stress him as much since he was never the type to fear them like the others however all the modules and topics were in this exam so he had to go through everything for sure, he was not going to take a single risk nor let himself slack off anymore especially after knowing that he was going to be the next hier to the company his father was a current CEO of. He had to be a leader and be skilled and superior in everything, espeically knowledge, that he will utilise to secure the company competes and does well in national and international levels so Onew knew he had to ace that exam and he was going to ace it once and for all.
''Uhm....what's the challenge?'' Taemin asked, his attention wasn't really focused much on the news of the exams.
''That isn't important right now!'' Onew snapped, glaring at him for bringing up something so futile.
''Just asking!'' Taemin had his hands up in a surrender pose.
''Is that everything we need to know, Mr.Kim?'' Victoria questioned.
''No we must know more!'' Onew interrupted. ''What else do we need to know? Come on, you can't just give us such basic information about the exams!''
''Your next class will be more helpful in exam related questions and help however that is all I can advise and say to you! Good luck, rank A*.'' Mr.Kim informed. ''But in other notes, there is another challenge for you all to do!''
Taemin glanced at Sulli then started to be hesistant on the upcoming challenge, he mentally groaned at the news of the challenge and wondered how the hell could he avoid this considering it was just going to bring him closer to the one girl he had been trying to run away from. He had to think of something to make Mr.Kim think that a challenge was a bad idea but what could he say? He mentally yelled at himself to think of a good reason.
''We can't have a challenge, we have an exam to worry about!'' Onew refused at the idea. ''That is more important than a stupid challenge that won't help me with my future.''
Taemin's eyes went wide for a second when he heard Onew rant once again about the exams and he couldn't have felt more happy to hear Onew brag and moan about the exams than he could right now since that was the perfect thing he could utilise to persuade Mr.Kim not host a challenge, that was it he thought.
''Yeah Onew is right, why do we need a challenge when we could just spend the rest of the time preparing for our exams!'' Taemin spoke along, causing everyone to look at him.
Taemin saw everyone looking at him with their eyes wide open, making him to stare at each of their shocked faces before everyone bursted out laughing, even Onew was laughing for a while, which made Taemin frown at the others for laughing at him. What the hell was so funny about what he had said?
''What? Why are you all laughing?'' Taemin raised his eyebrow.
''I'm sorry but are you serious?'' Amber chuckled.
''You and be worried about exams?'' Jonghyun laughed even more.
''This is the funniest you have ever been, Taemin.'' Onew tried to control himself yet he couldn't stop chuckling. ''Well done!''
''If you were doing that to mock Onew then you did better than just mocking him!'' Victoria giggled, causing Onew to stop laughing and glare at her.
''I'm being serious, this exam is important for us!'' Taemin stomped his foot. ''You all heard Mr.Kim about how important it is!''
''Yeah but since when did you care about how important exams are?'' Luna raised her eyebrow at him.
''I understand why Onew or Sulli would worry but you?'' Minho shook his head, chuckling at Taemin.
''Mr.Playboy never cared about a single exam so why now?'' Key asked with curiosity. ''Could this be a cover up?''
Sulli knew this was a cover up, it was obvious that he was trying to get the challenge to not happen so he would not have a way to interact with her and to think that he really would start to make up excuses as to why he did not want to do the challenge even though they were as obvious and bad as this one, yes it did hurt her indeed. She laughed at him like the rest of the others did but she felt pain to know that he did not want to be near her nor interact with her yet she did not know the reason what could have caused him to be like this with her.
Victoria was more focused on Sulli than seeing everyone tease Taemin and seeing how Sulli became dejected, after laughing at him once again, gave Victoria a more stronger proof that Victoria suspecting Sulli to harbour romantic feelings for Taemin was not a mistake. There just had to be something, majority of the people in the group had changed after Paris and even in the van, she suspected something after observing her and Taemin.
''Alright you all should be going to your classes in a while so let me announce the challenge you all will have to do for the day before you all go to class.'' Mr.Kim interrupted the chitter chatter. ''Key, please go to the kitchen and get the red box for everyone to see.''
''What red box was in there?'' Victoria lifted her head as she was curious. ''I just cleaned the place and I saw no red box.''
The gang all saw Key walk back to the living room with the red box in his hand, curious to see and know what contained in the red box for them and how it related to their challenge of the day. The box didn't look that big so what exactly could be inside for them? Could it be a joke where there was nothing at all in the box? Key held the medium size of the box with both of his hands, making them think that there must be something inside for sure.
Key opened the box but immediately raised his eyebrow as he held what was inside. ''What are we going to do with these blindfold or are these ribbon-like garments?''
''Is it like last time where we were required to be attached with each other?'' Minho remembered one of their challenges in Paris they had to do.
''I don't think we would do the same challenge twice.'' Luna shook her head, this had to be something else.
''It's something similiar but everyone will have to do this challenge with their pairs again!'' Mr.Kim informed. ''Everyone get in your pairs before we can carry on to the next details!''
Onew and Victoria didn't move at all, they were already sat next to each other. Victoria glanced over at Onew looking a bit stressed and frustrated and she sighed, she knew her partner was a hard working individual who would rather be in the classroom and focus on preparing the notes he needed for the next week's exam. She had always admired something about the way he was full of dedication on important matters and always seeked to further grow his intelligence. Onew sighed to himself, wishing that this all could be over and done with as his future was at stakes right now and he had to do the most he could to benefit himself and hold the precious title he always had.
Key and Amber were also sat next to each other and they were excited for the challenge as it would add more fun and amusement in their relationship plus this was going to be their first challenge together as boyfriend and girlfriend. Key glanced towards the others, seeing that they were all busy moving or interacting with their partners, before he moved his hand closer to Amber's and stretched his pinky finger so it would touch Amber's pinky finger. Amber looked at everyone appearing to be busy before she smiled at her boyfriend for his sweet gesture, it seemed like they were ever so in love.
Luna walked towards Jonghyun, who was sitting down on a chair, and sat down next to him on the chair that was free. Her heart was beating in a very fast rate and even doing backflips as she was next to her beloved. It was hard to appear calm but she tried to be as she mentally told herself to not look too obvious even though for everyone else, it was always apparent that she had feelings for her partner, who was the only one who did not know. Jonghyun moved his body to the right, looking at Luna before smiling at her which caused Luna to quickly look the other way as she tried to hide her panicked look, her nervous eyes and her red cheeks.
Krystal giggled to herself after observing Luna and Jonghyun's recent interaction, she was always entertained whenever she saw how Luna had become after the realisation of her feelings but she suddenly felt the weight of the sofa become more heavy, looking to her left to see her partner had sat next to her and by the looks of it, sat quite literally next to her as if there was no distance left in between their bodies. She looked up to his face to see him look ahead before looking to his right when he felt like he was being stared at, making Krystal to look straight ahead as she had been caught whereas Minho looked ahead afterwards but with a smirk on his face as he felt happy to catch her out.
Taemin was dreading this exact interaction with his partner, another reason for him to speak to her, be near her and look at her. All of the things he did not wanted to do, he could feel that nasty horrid feeling growing inside him when he saw her walking towards him with hesistation. It was obvious that Sulli was feeling awkward to be near him especially after the recent times where he had been walking away from her and showing her that he did not want much to do with her. He forced himself to have the most straight faced facial expression he could ever have when he saw her near him, sitting a few inches away on a chair whereas he was on the sofa, next to Minho and Krystal. He could only be thankful for the coincidence that he had sat next to them so Sulli could not sit next to him as there was no more space on the sofa.
''Okay now what's the challenge?'' Onew impatiently demanded, glaring upwards to hear Mr.Kim's voice.
''Patience Onew, good things come to those who wait.'' Mr.Kim smirked, he knew this was pushing Onew's buttons and well he was lying if he said he wasn't enjoying what he was doing.
"What are we going to do with these things?" Minho raised his eyebrow, staring at the ribbons.
''As you can see there are five silk ribbons that are on the table and each of them have something written on it but to know what you and your partner will have, first I ask the girls to all pick one of the ribbons.'' Mr.Kim spoke.
''How will we decide who picks first?'' Victoria looked at the other females.
''Just make it quick.'' Onew demanded, earning a glare from his partner for his impatience.
''Fine, let's just do it age order from oldest to youngest.'' Amber suggested, shrugging her shoulders.
''Alright if that's the case then I'll pick first.'' Victoria looked at all of the ribbons, wondering which one should she pick and she didn't know why but she grabbed the one nearest to her.
''Why that one?'' Onew asked.
''You're the one that wanted me to hurry up so I picked the one closest.'' Victoria replied, rolling her eyes. ''Amber, your turn!''
''Choose a good one, Amber!'' Key cheered, watching her to stand in front of the ribbons as she looked closely at them.
Amber wasn't exactly sure which one to choose as they all looked the same but she felt like the middle one might be a good pick. ''Alright, I've made my pick! Luna, you're next!''
Luna's eyes popped up once she heard that she was next, causing her to look at the ribbons very clearly to see which one would be a good pick.
''You've got this, Luna!'' Jonghyun winked at her as he showed her a thumbs up, causing her heart to race faster and her cheeks to get hotter.
''I pick this one!'' Luna grabbed hold of the third one that was left before looking at Sulli. ''Sulli, your turn to choose one!''
Sulli glanced at Taemin hoping that he would cheer her on or at least, look interested like the rest of the boys were with their partners but she saw that he had no emotion on his face at all. She softly sighed when she saw him like this and stood up to the table before turning around to look at Krystal.
''Since it's only us two left, I'll let you pick first.'' Sulli smiled at Krystal.
''Are you sure?'' Krystal questioned, surprised to see Sulli letting her pick instead of being stick with the default choice as she was the youngest.
''I have no problem with having either so it's fine.'' Sulli eye-smiled, nodding her head.
''Thank you!'' Krystal smiled at the genorousity before turning around to face Minho. ''Since it's a challenge we're going to face together so which one do you think I should pick? Left or right?''
Minho stayed silent for a few seconds, thinking really hard and hoping that the one he had decided to pick doesn't cause much hassle for either him, Krystal or even the both of them. What if both of the two ribbons would turn out bad for them? What if they were the unlucky ones while the elder pairs had already gotten the ribbons that would be ideal to have? Well no one knows that right now so he decided to go with what his gut feeling had been telling him to choose.
''Left!'' Minho spoke, causing Krystal to grab the left ribbon.
Taemin would have objected to let Krystal pick first just in case that the one Krystal and Minho would end up with were better than what he and Sulli would have but then again he had to show her that he was not that involved in this challenge, making him to keep quiet and just remain stone-faced.
''Now that every pair has a ribbon, you all can turn it around to see what it says.'' Mr.Kim announced. ''You will see what it says at one of the ends of the ribbon.''
All of the pairs turned their ribbons around and looked at the end of the ribbon to see what it was written but they were all confused as to why body parts were written. Each pair looked at each other with confusion and was perplex as to what they had to do with the written body part they had gotten.
''I see everyone is curious to know what the challenge is.'' Mr.Kim saw all of them looking upwards, waiting to hear him state what they had to do in the challenge. ''Why don't we start by asking what each pair got in their chosen ribbon?''
''We got ears.'' Krystal and Minho spoke simultaneously, raising their eyebrows right after.
''We got hands.'' Victoria and Onew blinked their eyes, confusion as to what hands could be in correlation to in their challenge.
''We got eyes.'' Sulli tilted her head whereas Taemin looked at the floor from right to left a few times, trying to think what eyes could mean for them.
''We got lips.'' Jonghyun waved the ribbon in his hands whereas Luna gulped her saliva, blushing even harder at the idea of lips hinting some lip action between the two of them.
''Well we got a very weird one since ours is very different compared to all of you.'' Key looked at all of the other pairs.
''We got the body.'' Amber agreed with her partner. ''Why is ours the only one that is not a singular body part area?''
''Now that we know what everyone has, this is the body part that you are not allowed to use for the whole day.'' Mr.Kim announced, causing everyone to be surprised as their eyes went wide open.
''How does that make any sense for us?'' Amber asked immediately after Mr.Kim stopped talking. ''Key and I would just do nothing and that doesn't make any sense as to how we wouldn't be able to use the body?''
''Yeah we need to use it to function throughout the day!'' Key argued along, he couldn't even think as to how this would work.
''I'm definitely not going to NOT use my hands!'' Onew angrily stated, crossing his arms at the idea. ''I need to use them for the class we have in a few minutes! How will I be able to make use of the class and take as much notes of what the teacher says?''
''Mr.Kim, why don't you let only one of us in each pair to do the challenge?'' Victoria really knew how badly Onew wanted to utilise the class, she would rather be the one to do the challenge. ''It's only fair isn't it especially if we need one of us to write the notes for the exams?''
''That was what I was about to go into.'' Mr.Kim replied. ''Only one of you will do the challenge in each pair and as the girls have chosen the ribbons, the boys will be the ones doing the challenge!''
''What?! You know that I can't be doing this stupid challenge!'' Onew glared, feeling furious at this information. ''Why didn't you tell us in advance? I would have agreed to choose the ribbon instead!''
''What's done is done, I ask all the girls to now tie the ribbon around the body part they are assigned.'' Mr.Kim said.
"Is this really necessary, Mr.Kim?" Victoria questioned, wanting to do something so that Onew could avoid this challenge. "Why can't you let us continue the challenge after this class? We only have this last one left anyway.''
''That isn't a possibility! The challenge must be done once it's announced.'' Mr.Kim informed.
''Then why can't I do the challenge? Why is it a must that the guys must be the ones to be tied!'' Victoria argued, causing everyone to look at her defend her boyfriend like this. ''You know you weren't exactly playing fair when you told us to pick when you could have let the boys to pick while we could get tied instead! You knew the rules yet you clearly decided to play unfairly.''
''What's done is done, there is nothing else we can do other than moving forward.'' Mr.Kim knew he played dirty yet he wanted to move on from this argument the two leaders were having with him.
''And what if we refuse to do the challenge?'' Onew asked daringly, he couldn't care less about this challenge.
''Then you lose something valuable!'' Mr.Kim smirked, tilting his head at the valuable things he was refering to that he could see. ''Something that you guys really want.''
''And what could that be?'' Victoria raised her eyebrow, intrigued to know what Mr.Kim had.
''Letters from friends and family.'' Mr.Kim announced, causing everyone to be alarmed. ''I have letters for all ten of you but unfortunately only the winners of the game can have their letters so if you're willing to afford losing these letters and not play then I'm sure a few letters isn't too much to miss, isn't it?''
Victoria glared at the speakers, Mr.Kim was playing very unfairly and now she was in a dilemma regarding this issue of whether she should play according to the rules and make Onew play along so she can have her letters that her parents and friends must have written quite thoughtfully and lovingly considering it's been months and months since she last saw them but then this one class could determine Onew's future and if he did badly in this one exam then all his years of hardwork could go downhill and affect him for the rest of his life. Was it reasonable to be selfish for a bunch of letters that were written with love and care yet be the reason why someone's hardwork and dedication to their studies was affected and the outcome of the studies not be the best of the best?
Onew glanced over to look at Victoria and the way she was frowning whilst appearing to be deep into her thoughts, Mr.Kim had definitely affected her decision with the temptation of the letters since she was defending him and his future at first and now he knew she wasn't so sure on what to do but he wanted to persuade her to not be swayed by little temptations for the price of something so important that could have the biggest impact on his life. Studies may not be important to her or the majority of the people in the room but for him, it was more than just grades, he actually did enjoy learning and becoming more educated. The status of being the top student at a young age, starting from his kindergarten, was just a bonus at first but he started to get into it and became more passionated about it. For him, it was more than just a status, it was an achievement that he has been achieving ever since the start of his schooling which was impressive for everyone, especially extremely competitive and highly selective universities where he had plans to go to as those places were going to secure him the brightest future.
''Victoria....'' Onew called her name out to speak to her but before he could say anything else, she stopped him by putting her hand out in front.
''Do you trust me?'' Victoria questioned, looking on the floor rather than at him.
''What?'' Onew was unsure about this question as it came out of nowhere.
''I said do you trust me?'' Victoria asked once again but this time she stared into his eyes. ''Yes or no?''
''Of course I---'' Onew was about to speak more but Victoria cut him short.
''Then do the challenge.'' Victoria demanded, causing everyone to be surprised.
Onew couldn't believe that Victoria was more concerned and focused on getting those letters rather than his future and the huge impact this one exam could do on his whole life. Was some letters really that important besides it wasn't like they were going to be here for the rest of their life, they've been here for months and it must be time to get out of here sooner or later. Was she really that impatient to read a few lines of her friends and family longing for her and sending love to her? Surely Onew must have not mattered much to her if she was easily persuaded to a bunch of letters than his future, if he didn't have gotten the hint before than this had definitely showed him how much he meant to her and in this case, he could see it was very little, which caused him to keep quiet as he was now hurt.
Like everyone else in the room, Amber could see what was going on yet she was disappointed and quite taken back that Victoria was forcing Onew to do the challenge rather than defending him and making him not to, like the way she was before. She could understand the way Onew had gone into silence, not cause of him agreeing but because he was now betrayed and backstabbed by the woman he loved. She perfectly understood that feeling and wanted to defend Onew as it reminded her of the times she was betrayed and backstabbed by people around her, causing her to seek her own company rather than others'.
''Are you really going to just agree to this, Victoria?'' Hints of anger could be heard in Amber's voice. ''What about Onew's future? What about all his hard work? You're just going to be selfish and waste it all for a few pieces of paper?!''
Onew raised his head up and looked at Amber with a small smile, he was glad that someone else in the room, if not his own partner and supposed girlfriend, had felt his frustration and could really see where he was coming from and he couldn't have felt more grateful to Amber than he could have now. Key moved his head to his right and looked at his girlfriend, feeling quite proud that she was willing to speak up from any injustice happening but he couldn't have felt more pitiful to Onew, whose girlfriend had betrayed him in the brick of a temptation and while this may sound like he's rubbing salt to Onew's injuries, he was grateful that his girlfriend wasn't like Onew's.
''Stop!'' Victoria looked over at Amber and placed her hand in front, Onew doing nothing but just watching the scene. ''You are neither me nor Onew hence why you do not have any say in this!''
Krystal could sense the tense atmopshere was happening between the two eldest ladies and before things could get any more serious than it already is, she decided to interfere in the matter. ''Alright let's just get this challenge over and done with, we have a class to attend very soon now.''
''I agree, let's not waste any more time!'' Minho knew what Krystal was trying to do, this was the only way to distract them from getting even more heated in this and while they may not agree with Victoria, there was nothing much anyone could do about it.
''Alright the boys will sit on the five chairs placed ahead whereas the girls all will stand behind each of their partner.'' Mr.Kim knew he was playing dirty and because of his rules, feelings of anger, frustration and awkwardness was around the room but this had caused drama to happen, which was always something useful to use for the show. ''Then please proceed to tie the ribbon around the area they are supposed to be tied up.''
''What about us? How will we tie the ribbon around our body?'' Key raised his eyebrow. ''I still don't see how we will be able to do this challenge.''
''There is a way and in order to find out what that way is, Amber can go into the garden and get what is placed outside as that is what will help you with the challenge.'' Mr.Kim replied, causing Amber to go to see what was outside for her.
Onew was detached from his surroundings and hurt with the betrayal yet he saw that his main support of a partner and supposed girlfriend had no interest in being on his side and not even the principal was willing to change his rules for his top student so he was left with no option but to go along with what was happening. He sighed heavily under his breath as he walked over to the nearest chair and sat down on it, frustrated that there was nothing he could do about any of this but he had a motive behind this. If Victoria herself was going to be selfish enough and not care about his concerns for his grades and future then he isn't going to care about the letters the two of them might have a chance of receiving if they win the challenge.
Victoria could see her partner was angry with her and rightfully so he did have a very good reason as to why, she saw him crossing his arms and sitting down with frustration written all over his face. She just quietly proceeded to walk towards him and stand behind him, holding onto the ribbon in her hands. She knew everyone was judging her on this, it was quite obvious that they were all thinking negatively about her even her supposed boyfriend was disappointed in her but there was nothing she could do for now other than play along to this challenge Mr.Kim wanted them to all do. She cleared to get rid of any awkward as she stood in front of her supposed boyfriend, staring at his face whereas she saw him look away in anger.
''Hands.'' She demanded, making him to place his two hands in front of her before she proceeded to tie them.
Taemin sighed heavily, finding it irritating that it was impossible for him to run away from the one girl he didn't want to be near. Was it really this hard to not be around her? How much more did he have to be around her and be reminded of her presence? His acknowledge that one day they will all get out of the house and be away from each other did sadden him but it did give him relief that he will not be around her nor be reminded of the guilt he was feeling everytime he saw her. For now, all he had to do was bear with the awkwardness tension that was going on between them but it was never easy especially since it was practically impossible not to be reminded of it literally every second of his life. He mentally scolded himself for not stopping Sulli from letting Krystal pick first as the results of their challenge might have differed if he had said something back then.
Sulli tried to make herself seem more confident and unaware of what Taemin was doing by trying to be away from her and trying to show people that she wasn't affected by it at all. If he didn't care then she didn't have to care either right? If he can make things awkward between them and chose not to interact with her then so can she! But was it really that easy as it seemed? Not saying a word to each other when you have to do a challenge together and trying not to look at each other when you live with each other? Not only that but it might be easy for Taemin to do all this but it wasn't easy for Sulli plus after all that happened between them in Paris, how can she find it so easy? In fact how can he find it so easy to do? She didn't understand and this hurted her more than she thought it would have but then she gulped her saliva before she forced herself to be stronger and stood in front of Taemin.
She stared at him straight in the eyes whereas he saw that she was looking at him in the eyes and immediately looked away. She proceeded to take the ribbon and carefully place it around his eyes, making sure it covered them before she tied the ends at the back of his head before walking back to her original spot and standing behind him. This challenge was making them even more closer than Taemin wanted as he had to rely on her for support and help, making him internally groan even more as he needed her and had to be around her once again. While Taemin chose to make things awkward, Sulli knew that he needed her help in this joint challenge and she wasn't going to back down from helping him even though he might have done so if the roles were reverse.
Luna was quite nervous but not as nervous as she was going to be once she was in front of her crush. She inhaled oxygen, tried to cheer herself on internally for what she was about to do and let out her breath. It was such a simple thing to do so why was she even getting nervous over it? It's just Jonghyun, someone who is a stupid, oblivious, food-loving idiot isn't it? Yet it's the same idiot, who she is in love with but so what? So what if she's in love with him?
*Come on, Luna! Don't be stupid!* Luna groaned at how she was struggling to just stand in front of Jonghyun.
Jonghyun patiently sat down on his chair and watched the other pairs tie their partners in the area they were chosen to do, except for Key who just sat down on the sofa and watched them proceed in their challenge. Jonghyun started to realise something was up, why was Luna even taking such a long time? Was she struggling with something? He noticed everyone was nearly done with their initial part yet his partner wasn't even in front of him so what was the hold up for? He turned around, seeing Luna was looking quite nervous before she jumped as she was surprised that Jonghyun had suddenly turned around to look at her.
''What's the matter? Don't you want to do the challenge?'' Jonghyun asked, curious to know why she was taking so long.
''N-No no.'' Luna shook her head and immediately stood in front of him.
All she had to do was to tie this ribbon around his head and make sure it covered his lips isn't it? This was something so simple that Luna could definitely do yet why the hell was she unable to do this? Her focus went towards his lips, causing her to wonder how a simple body part could look so perfect and pretty? For Luna, even Jonghyun's lips was enough to make her fascinated but then her brain started to play a scene where her lips could finally interact with his, causing her to blush as she continued to imagined it.
''Luna!'' Jonghyun shook her, causing her to come back to reality. ''Are you okay?''
''O-Oh? I'm fine!'' Luna immediately placed the ribbon around his lips and tied it behind his head before standing behind him.
Krystal shook her head at the obvious behaviour before she looked at the soft red silky ribbon and felt them against her hands, it sure did feel nice. She non-chalantly walked and stood in front of her partner before she looked at him in the eyes, making their eyes to meet. She definitely admired her partner's eyes, so fierce looking and charming to look at. She wouldn't lie if she admitted to herself that she could stare at them for days, of course she wouldn't admit it to anyone else. She gave him a small smile before she tilted her head and focused her attention on to her partner's ears, making sure to tie it all around his head so it would cover both ears. She giggled at the sight of him looking a little silly after tying the ends at the bottom of his chin.
Minho looked at Krystal, staring into his eyes which caused him to stare back at hers, it was as if the oppournity was there for him to take and of course he was going to take it. He watched her brown orbs deliate once he stared at her back but before he could look at them even more, he saw her focus went back to his ears. He watched part of Krystal's locks fall down beside her face as she tilted her head and tied the ribbon around his head, causing him to find her even more beautiful and a little amazed that she could do nothing yet he would still be struck by her beauty. He heard her giggle, which caused him to be happy but the realisation that he could still hear struck him.
''I can still hear! This isn't effective!'' Minho complained.
''I didn't say that it was all you had.'' Mr.Kim retorded back. ''Krystal, go into the kitchen and get the small blue box.''
Krystal walked into the kitchen and came back into the living room with the small blue box, she opened it to see there was a blindfold and a headgear inside. She held the two items as she looked up for Mr.Kim's explanation.
''As the ribbon might not be effective, the blindfold will do the trick so Sulli, you have to put it around Taemin's head.'' Mr.Kim explained. ''Whereas Minho will wear the headgear to ensure he can't hear.''
Krystal handed over the headgear to Minho, who immediately wore it, then she gave the blindfold to Sulli to wrap around Taemin's eyes to ensure that he wouldn't be able to see a thing.
*Damn it, if it wasn't for Minho's mouth!* Taemin internally growled as he was still able to see before but since Minho had blabbered and he had to wear the blindfold, he couldn't see a single thing and now he really has to rely on Sulli for help and guidance.
''Okay everyone is done but now what about us?!'' Key asked, raising his eyebrow.
Amber came back into the room with a wheelchair she pushed ahead of her, causing Key to look at it and start to see where Mr.Kim was going with their part of the challenge.
''So all I have to do is sit on it right?'' Key smiled, finding it easier.
''True but you can't move your body at all either, not a single body part unless it's for washroom reasons.'' Mr.Kim spoke. ''If I see you going to the washroom too many times then there might be a limit on how many times you can go.''
''I'll take the challenge and commit to it to the best of my ability.'' Key sat down on the wheelchair, kinda feeling glad as he assumed his part was easier.
''Okay now can we go to the classroom for our final lesson?'' Onew angrily glared up, wanting to go to class.
''As the challenge arrangements are done, yes you may all do so!'' Mr.Kim announced. ''Good Luck rank A* and make sure you get all the notes you need for the exam!''
Whilst all the females were starting to get up to help their partners and some required more help than the others, Onew immediately lifted himself up and walked towards Sulli, who wasn't helping Taemin yet was about to do so.
''Sulli, I need a huge favour of you please!'' Onew pleaded a little.
''What is it?'' Sulli asked.
''Please take as much notes as you can! Every point made, I need all the notes as I can't write any of my own so yours is the best bet I can rely on!'' Onew explained. ''Please, can you do that for me?''
''That's fine, I will do it!'' Sulli smiled.
''Thank you so much!'' Onew smiled back with relief.
Victoria watched the scene, feeling a little hurt that her partner was relying more on someone else than herself even though Sulli was more capable of academics help than she was and to be honest, why would he have taken her help when she did betray him by making him do the challenge?
Sulli's attention went back to Taemin, who stood up with the help of holding on to the sofa's arms before trying to take tiny steps to walk. She knew he probably wouldn't take his help if she tried to help him but this was a challenge and she couldn't let him struggle and she definitely had to do her part and try even if he made things awkward. If he tried to make her stop helping him then she had to be strong and assertive! She couldn't abandon him when he clearly needed her help.
Taemin could feel his eyes, which were covered, grow wider when he felt a hand gripping his hand and he knew it was Sulli's, he had held it before when they were running out of the club in Paris. The soft and warm texture of her hand was not something he could forget even though he might have held a lot of girls' hands before, hers was unforgettable for him which made it easy for him to identify but then the stingy feeling of guilt started to grow inside him once again as it reminded himself of how he joked about with playing with her feelings.
''Before you stop me and tell me not to help you, this is a pair challenge and we have to do as much as we can.'' Sulli spoke, making him to listen. ''Right now you're the one who can't see so if we can do this challenge and you let me help you then that's all I require and ask of you!''
Taemin sighed, choosing not to reply anything and he wasn't exactly sure what convinced him to listen to what she had to say to him. Was it the way she spoke with such sincerity? Sulli wasn't known to say much but whenever she did say something, it always held some kind of value or depth so could that be the reason? Was it that it was going to be really hard for him to survive the day without Sulli's help? Taemin didn't really know but he found himself to nod his head at her request as he proceeded to grip her hand back, making it the first time the two had some kind of contact after their return into the mansion.
Sulli glanced at her hand holding his hand and she could feel her heart beating faster at the realisation that she was holding his hand and the strong grip of his warm hand was against hers. It felt good to be with him rather than to see him run away from her like he always does. She sighed since she knew this wasn't going to last forever even though internally she was hoping that it would. Although she wasn't as oblivious as people would expect her to be when regarding the topic of love as she's never had a crush before, she was quite emotionally intelligent. She knew she was falling for her partner just by the way she longed to be around him even though he doesn't want the same, she just wished he could tell her what she had done for him to be like this with her.
''Amber!'' Key cleared his throat very loudly.
''I can't believe this is what I have to do for the whole day.'' Amber groaned, pushing Key's wheelchair.
''Don't worry, babe! We still get to be together.'' Key whispered before he winked at Amber, who giggled as she shook her head.
For Minho, Jonghyun and Onew, it wasn't that hard to rely onto their partners until they needed it hence why they walked by their own self to the classroom with their partners nearby. This was going to be their last class and this was a very important one, making some of them more nervous than others for what was coming up in the upcoming exam next week.
Author-Nim= Thank you all very much for reading chapter 61 and do let me know how you found the chapter.
I would also like to thank these amazing subscribers that subscribed to this story!
I would also like to thank these 2 amazing voters that upvoted this story!
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