A/N: Thanks for all the comments and subscribe, guys. I tried to make the chapter longer as a thank you. Sorry for the heavy name dropping though. lol I will introduce everyone in time. 

Predictably, Jungkook laughed his arse off. Right on Jin’s face. While pointing at his red bracelet. It’s all very respectful of elderly, coming from Jungkook – the brat would have just snickered and ed off to play with his PS4 if it were anyone else. Jin could practically feel the love.

Jin glared at the brat, lifting the pot of curry over his head to indicate that if the little rascal did not stop right that second Jin would revoke his eating rights. And Jin was the only one who was willing to cook for Jungkook’s bottomless stomach, to the point of forgetting to change out of his uniform, so the threat did carry some weight.

- Okay okay, got it, no laughing. – Jungkook said, waving his laugh away. The face splitting grin he put on was even more annoying though. Jin glared harder, but put down the pot anyway. Jungkook immediately poked at the chicken with his chopstick, seemingly satisfied with Jin’s cooking.

On the other hand, Taehyung looked contemplative. It was strange to see his baby brother not jumping on his dishes immediately. Jin titled his head at Taehyung.

- Taetae?

- Hyung, do you think I should be a fortune teller?

Jin blinked at the question. Ah, so his brother was in 4D land again.

- Why?

- I have been correct so far with the whole princess thing. I’m psychic, obviously.

- Okay, you predict every match this coming World Cup for me, and I’ll help you set up a shop.

- Call!

Taehyung had his cute wide grin on, then happily digged into the food. Seokjin patted himself on the back for dealing with Taehyung’s 4D-ness perfectly.

Later in the evening, when they were all full and lounging around the living room with an action movie playing in the background, Taehyung asked Seokjin:

- What do you intend to do with the candidacy though?

- I don’t know, actually. Ren insisted on coming over tomorrow though. He mentioned campaign strategy and faculty. – replied Jin, shrugging.

- Oh yeah, we are definitely on your Faculty right? – Jungkook said, eyes not leaving his phone.

- I don’t even know what that is. Explain.

- So, each Princess candidate has a support committee called a ‘Faculty’. I heard those are people who will plan for that candidate’s campaign, organizing activities, gaining popularity votes – which, by the way, is the deciding factor of the Princess election. How exactly a Faculty is formed, I’m not sure. You should ask Ren about that. But one famous tactic is getting a reputable Faculty behind you so not only are the students voting for the candidate, they would also be voting for that Faculty. Because a Faculty follows the candidate if he becomes a Princess, and then Faculty members usually get elected into the Student Council. It’s basically politics, and Princess Candidacy is just the tip of the ice berg. - Taehyung elaborated.

Jin could feel his head spinning. He forgot how fixated Koreans were on status, being away for so long. Of course, there was a social hierarchy in US high school, but it was nothing compared to Korea’s obsession with being of the upper class.

- Don’t worry hyung. It sounded much more serious than it is. The whole programme was put on because activities like this are sanctioned as club activities and you basically get play time out of it. I heard the Princesses even have class skipping privileges out of the programme. – said Jungkook.

- So that’s why you two are on my Faculty or whatever? Because you will get to cut class? – Jin raised an eyebrow.

- Yup.

- Okay, you’re in. But you must be here tomorrow for Ren’s supposed lecture on Princessy stuff.

- Hyunggggg. I have a date! – whined Jungkook.

- No you don’t.

Jin smiled evilly. Jungkook’s sigh of deafeat was a sweet sweet sign of victory for him.

---

Saturday morning, instead of lounging around in boxers or lurking the shopping district with his friends, Seokjin was housing a grand total of five in his house: Jungkook, Taehyung, Taehyung’s friend Jimin, Ren and himself.

They all sat around Jin’s dinner table, and the atmostphere was a bit awkward. Ren was the same age as Taehyung and Jimin, but they didn’t run in the same social circle and it was hard to imagine them doing so. Jungkook was a year younger and even more awkward with the ex-candidate. Jin knew Ren, but only until now did he realise he didn’t know the blonde-haired boy that well. They talked in class, but only on an acquaintance level.

- Oh, I brought these. – said Ren as he put down his tea.

The boy pulled out from his backpack an A3 sketchbook.

- So, how much do you know about the Princess programme, Seokjin hyung?

- We told him the general stuff, like election and popularity votes and Faculty. But, well, none of us has got first-hand experience with the stuff. – said Jungkook.

- Which made me curious, actually. Taehyung-ssi, I heard Himchan sunbaenim mention you in passing, how come you’ve never been given a candidacy?

Taehyung smiled at Ren before he answered.

- They did approach me once to ‘replace a candidate with ethical issues’, which I think is code word for someone being a giant . But I refuse, and nobody mentioned it again. They can force a candidacy, but not a replacement.

- Oh.

Ren blinked repeatedly as if trying to absorb the information. Jin was reminded strongly of a deer again. This boy was too pretty for his own good.

- Anyway, back to topic. – Ren flipped open the book. The first page was filled with words. Ren’s handwriting was hurried but nice and consistent. – I had a few basic things here which you might already know. Princess programme, cross dressing, popularity votes etc. – He quickly turned the sketchbook until he reached the middle, upon which photos were added onto each page. – Then I got information on the Princesses and their Faculty, then the Princess candidates of this election whom I know of, then the Student Council.

- Why the Student Council? – asked Jimin.

- Good question. Actually, it’s just good information to know. The candidates planned their own campaign and activities during election period, but all activities must be approved by the Student Council. Getting familiar with them might be advantageous if we need something in the future.

- I’m roommate with Min Yoongi though. – said Jin offhandedly.

- Wait, that roommate of yours I met the other day is one of the vice presidents? – asked Taehyung.

- Wait, you’re roommate with drop dead gorgeous, genius music producer, on legs and rap like he’s going down on you VP Min Suga? Why am I only informed of this now? – asked Jimin.

The other four all turned to look at Jimin with various levels of judging stares.

- What? – the black-haired boy said defensively.

- I don’t want the details, god please no. – Jungkook said, half disgusted half horrified.

Jimin gave him the stink eyes. Ren laughed.

- Wow, you guys are fun.

- Thanks. – grinned Jin crookedly.

Ren just nodded in return and gave Jin the sketchbook, telling him to read it over later. Jungkook just snatched it away and was going to run off when Ren stopped him.

- Wait. We haven’t talked about Seokjin hyung’s Faculty yet. You guys are all in it right? I already have a plan for after Monday’s announcement. We go in screaming or people won’t even register Seokjin hyung as one of the candidates.

- Wait, you don’t plan to win, do you? – Jin asked sceptically.

- Of course we’re running to win. I’m putting you in that Princess dress, hyung. – said Taehyung.

He and Ren highfived as Jin hung his head in defeat. Only now did he realise he had gotten into a terrible mess and even his brother wasn’t helping.

- Come on hyung, it’s fun. – said Jimin, shaking his hands excitedly.

- So, what’s the plan? – asked Jungkook.

- During my run last year, I found this thing called a ‘Pledging Ceremony’. It’s super cheesy, really corny, and perfect for us.

---

Seokjin had hoped Ren’s plan would be something less embarrassing or less fitting for him, but it was kind of just right, so they all agreed to go with it. Ren hurriedly excused himself, citing prior engagement, and the other three ran off right after to do whatever they do here.

Jin resigned to doing his Princess homework on a Saturday afternoon (Aaron was freaking out about something in the study group’s group chat, which was amusing. But Jin dealt with classmates enough during the week, so he decided to save it for later.) Flipping through the sketchbook, he could see Ren’s effort at making it. The thing contained of all kind of information, from the mundane to crucial.

Apparently, there were three Princess reigning in the school, representing the three residence hall. The first one was Emerald Hall, current Princess Kim Minseok. Emerald Hall’s reputation of being messy as hell was unexpectedly true, as it turned out. The residents consisted of the richest and elites of the school, full of second or third generation chaebols, celebrity kids, entertainment companies’ trainees, the handsome ones and so on. They even have a clique called ‘Royal clan’, which was the most cliché thing ever. Kim Minseok was from that group of socialites, but Ren had noted him as ‘being a Princess only due to his association, nice, quiet’.

The Princess of Sapphire Hall was Lee Sungjong, the one who beat out Ren and other candidates only last year for the position. Ren seemed bewildered as to why Sungjong won (Jin thought Sungjong suited the role of Princess from the photos placed in) , but noted likely reasons and main contribution of the success to Sungjong’s Faculty. Two members of the Faculty, Sungjong’s boyfriend Kim Myungsoo and his brother Kim Sunggyu were the student body’s favourite to be voted into the Student Council as President and VP next year, among other things.

Finally, the Princess of Jin’s current residence, Diamond Hall was Kim Jaejoong. Jin had seen the guy in passing, and if any Princess was voted in purely because he would look good cross dressing, it was Kim Jaejoong. Ren noted the same in his sketchbook, but there was something even more interesting.

According the official regulation, the Student Council was supposedly a neutral party towards the Princess election. But during Grade 1 as a candidate, it was found out that Kim Jaejoong was dating the then-President, leading to being disqualified from the programme. But the following year he had a messy public break with his boyfriend, said boyfriend switched school, and he got voted into the Princess position aggressively by people who hated his boyfriend. It was all proper scandalous. Jin laughed out loud at that part, such a dramatic school.

Less ignorant toward the Student Council (who actually held power over school activities and stuff compared to what Jin was used to in the states), Jin knew some of the people on the list. President Lee Jinki, Vice President Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon, Woo Jiho and Bang Yongguk, Treasurer Jung Daehyun, Secretary Park Kyung, a whole host of other people on the Council, and the guy he met the other day, Head Organizer of the Princess Programme Kim Himchan. Apparently, Kim Himchan also broke the neutral rule last year by dating VP Bang Yongguk, but he willingly withdrew and got promoted into the organizing position.

The kids all said it was fun and game, the whole thing. But Jin could clearly see the hidden politics behind all the classification, social hierarchy, rules and regulations. The fact that this was an all-male school with hormones running rampant and male egos being the motivating factors of most teenage boys in the school, it seemed inevitable that something like this would happen. This would even explained the good reputation of the school – gangs or violent fights didn’t occur because the students were busy playing at election games. Ren seemed a-okay with going along with status-quo, but Jin was new and not that suitable to jumping into conflicts between established groups of people. And jumping right in would Jin, judging by what his ‘Faculty’ decided to do on Monday.

Throwing the sketchbook aside, Jin came to a conclusion. the politics. This was high school. If he just got good grades, had a good time and maybe found a boyfriend before his two years here was over, then he would call it a success.

His phone vibrated, signalling a new text.

From: Hoseok
Jin hyung, you free? I need help on Chinese. Now.

its saturday night, live a little hoseok-ah.

Mock test on Monday, hyung, don’t tell me you won’t study this weekend.

…city library?

See you in half an hour.

‘kay.

---

The school was abuzz since the Princesses made the special announcement during Monday assembly – it was the first time for the school to have a Princess election outside of the annuals. Jin didn’t even remember there were Princesses present at the assembly until he heard Chanhee gushing over Kim Minseok in a female school uniform.

The mock test took up the first period, and the sunsaeng had them going over the test during the second period, so Jin was still speaking Chinese in his head when the break between 2nd and 3rd came. He passed, thankfully and hoped to pull his grade up a bit by midterm.

He was scrolling through Naver when a text came.

From: Ren
Hyung, I’m arriving in 5 minutes.

He winced internally. Jin’s attention was all on the Chinese test (, why didn’t he just take English, he accumulated enough English in the US to pass high school English with little efforts, he just had to take Chinese. Damn Eomma and her persuasion skill, a trip to Hong Kong was definitely not worth it) so he barely remembered he had plans for the candidacy thing.

He definitely wasn’t prepared when Ren appeared at the window near his seat, peering in. Thankfully, Hyosang was not around (sick or skipping school, Jin suspected) and no one was paying attention enough to see Jin shaking his head at Ren. It only made Ren grin, then Seokjin received another text:

Just do as I said, hyung, I’m the sunbae here. It will be great.

What Ren said?

**Pledging Ceremony is an abandoned tradition only adopted by Princesses of Hyunnam in the early 2000s. A Faculty member would pledge their loyalty to the Princess by taking off their uniform tie and placing it into the Princess’ hands, signifying that they would willingly tie their school identity with the Princess. The Princess then would show acceptance by tying back the item around the Faculty member’s neck, signifying his trust in his Faculty and him taking responsibility as a leader.

The whole point of doing the ceremony is to grab attention. We will have your current confirmed member do this pledging to you on Monday, once between every period. I’m the most well-known member in your Faculty and I was the one who passed you the Candidacy so I’ll do it first. Before the tie, I will pass you the red bracelet, which is this year’s Candidacy Token, to publicly show that you’re a candidate. Then we will have Taehyung do it, since he’s your brother so by default he has the closest relation to you among Faculty members. Then Jungkook, then Jimin. **

Jin led an awkward life, sure, but this was beyong awkward and leaning into embarrassing territory, now that he was sitting among classmates and couldn’t afford not to care.

Ren had stepped through the door , making Jin stand up rigidly, flustered. Some students had already noted Ren’s presence.

The younger strided into the sunbae’s classroom confidently.

As he came to face Jin, he had on a smile, something a bit artificially compared to what Jin had seen previously of Ren. He still smiled in return though.

- Seokjin hyung.

- Ren, hello.

- I have something for you.

Ren took out the red bracelet. Suddenly, the class turned very quiet. Jin wordlessly showed his left hand, letting Ren put the bracelet around his wrist. Then, the younger quickly took off his tie so Jin could tie it back on. He could hear gasps coming from somewhere out in the hall, but Seokjin instead focused on folding the tie into a neat Windsor knot in order to not mess up Ren’s nice uniform.

- Thanks, hyung nim.

- You’re welcome, now get back to class.

Jin ruffled his hair affectionately before pushing him out the door. They made it just in time so that the teacher arrived as Jin sat down.

Someone tapped Jin’s shoulder discreetly, so he turned back to find Hoseok looking absolutely confused:

- What was that?

- A stupid thing. – said Seokjin as he refocused his energy on algebra.

---

Between 3rd and 4th, Taehyung came with carrying as much normalcy as he did 4D-ness, performing the ceremony and then asking Jin about school and afterschool plan.

Jungkook came with much more flair, kneeling on one knee while presenting Jin with the tie. His excuse was that he was the knight, so he naturally had to kneel. Jin called bull, but helped Jungkook with his tie anyway (nobody noticed the tightness of the knot, and if Jungkook felt it, he was smart enough not to voice anything.) By then, he had the attention of maybe all of his class and even some students from next door’s class. Nobody actually came up to ask Jin what it was about, the irony.

When Jimin arrived before the last period, Jin did not expect to see the Head Organizer, Kim Himchan at the door.

- This is the first time ever I’m seeing a Pledging Ceremony, to a candidate no less.

Seokjin couldn’t determine whether Himchan said the statement with any malicious intent, but the Council member got the attention of everyone. Jimin ignored any and all thing, presenting Jin the tie with the enthusiasm equivalent of a puppy bringing a ball back to its owner. The elder laughed, then happily done up Jimin’s tie.

Himchan left quickly after, seemingly satisfied with what he had seen. Him leaving was a trigger, sending all of Seokjin’s classmates toward him, asking all kind of questions. Jin’s answer to them was basically “yes, I’m a Princess candidate now, I got it from Ren of class 2B, now please off” but with more polite words.

A surprise came up at the end of class. As Jin left for extra Chinese classes with Hoseok, he sensed the guy’s much quieter aura. They were descending the stair when Hoseok spoke up for the first time.

- Jin hyung?

- Yeah?

- Were Ren and your brother and his friends doing that ceremony thing because they are on your Faculty?

- Basically.

- You need help with the whole Princess election thingy?

Hoseok had suddenly taken off his tie and holding it in front of Jin.

Seokjin couldn’t help showing a shocked impression. Hoseok was a famous guy, member of the dance club, seemed to be able to make friends with most people and was well like by everyone. But more importantly, his easy going attitude had made Jin felt much more welcoming compared to having to keep up with the rowdier group of classmates.

- I need all the help I can get. It’s no joke, by the way. Half of my Faculty want to win.

- I like a challenge. - smiled Hoseok.

Kim Seokjin felt he made a new friend for a long time to come as he tied the uniform accessory around Hoseok’s neck.