Like most things, it starts with an idea.

More of a joke, actually.

It’s that time of year again. That time when exams have finished, when teachers and students alike are burnt out, when there’s nothing left to do but wait out the remaining days of school doing nothing even vaguely productive. Somewhere during that time, the topic is randomly thrown into the conversation, randomly interjected into the stream of words.

No one thinks much of it, brushing it away as yet another meaningless tangent. But there’s one. One who clutches the idea, nurtures the thought, and, in time, regurgitates it back to the group in a more finalized manner.

And they think it’s stupid. Of course they do. Nothing intelligible could possibly come from the mouth of Lu Han. That would be against the laws of the universe.

But the laws of the universe be damned.

It’s only when they see Lu Han’s features pull into a determined purse do they realize that, for once, Lu Han is not joking.

But just because it’s not a joke doesn’t mean that they don’t laugh at it.

Minseok laughs.

(But that doesn’t stop him from helping Lu Han fill out the proper paperwork, earning himself the position of Vice-President.)

Junmyeon laughs.

(But he still agrees to be the treasurer and is helpful enough to propose a name for the club.)

Kyungsoo laughs.

(But he accepts his stance as secretary regardless.)

Wufan laughs.

(But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t hurriedly scrawl his name onto the list of potential members.)

Chanyeol almost goes into cardiac arrest.

(But even when he’s on the brink of asphyxiation, he decides to join, even managing to weasel his way into gaining a title: recruiter.)

Even the principal laughs when Lu Han presents the necessary forms needed to create a club, complete with a list of six names -- one above the necessary number of people needed to make a club. But unlike the laughs of his peers, it isn’t condescending. It isn’t mocking, nor is it even sarcastic. Only a good-natured chuckle rumbles in the elderly man’s chest as he looks over the application. More specifically, as he looks over the question “What is your reason for starting this club?” to which Lu Han had answered in his nearly illegible chicken scratch, “Because I want to have fun.”

A small tug of the lips is accompanied with a laugh and the man scribbles his signature of approval.

School ends before they know it and the club isn’t able to officially meet even once. Soon enough, the six go their separate ways, only to meet again when the school year repeats once more.

Thoughts of the club are not on anyone’s mind during the two and a half months of freedom.

With the exception of one.

New ideas of events and activities constantly ping-pong around in his head, haunting his every waking hour until he’s actually excited to return to school.

Unfortunately for him, his passion is not reflected in his peers and he soon realizes this when school comes back into session. Only when he reminds them do his friends even vaguely remember the concept of the club.

Their lack of enthusiasm matters not because Lu Han has more than enough excitement for them all. His fervor is a virus and the others find themselves equally as antsy for the club meeting within minutes of being exposed to the pathogen.

The minute class is dismissed, Lu Han bounds out of his chair and races off to the club’s designated meeting place. He wanders the halls he has come to memorize over the course of the last two years, searching for the correct room. It takes longer than he’d like to admit to get to the there and by the time he reaches the correct hallway, he’s almost late and he hates that; he’s the founder and President of this club, for ’s sake.

His pace hastens as he rushes through the hallway with determined steps, his gaze flickering through the various placards that are affixed to the wall next to the doorframes. There is one that has the numbers 207 painted on it and his eyes lock onto it; he all but sprints to the room.

Before bursting into the room, he tries to compose himself. When he finally does go in, he hurriedly makes his way to the front of the room, pointedly ignoring his friend’s jabs at his slightly out of breath state.

He busies himself with surveying the room. The usual five are there with the addition of some droopy-eyed brunette he’s sure he’s never seen before. The new person is a pleasant surprise seeing as he didn’t actually expect anyone else to come -- it’s obvious that he’s been proved wrong. It seems that employing Chanyeol as the recruiter wasn’t an entirely useless gesture after all.

Lu Han takes a deep breath and clears his throat. Everyone focuses on him.

“Welcome,” he pauses for dramatic effect, “To the first meeting of the EXO club.”