Maxime High 「 CHAPTER 02 」
Maxime High 「 REMORA 」
CHAPTER 02
Enjoy your night
The problem with being instructed to find numerous survival items on their school grounds was one, the grounds of Maxime were incredibly vast and there hadn’t been any specifications as to where to look exactly. The second problem being the person who had hidden said survival items. Students after arriving at Maxime in their first year have usually grasped by the second month just how ludicrous their Principle is. Three years ago when a group of students discovered a dishevelled looking cat in the grounds and tried to keep it in their dorm rooms as a secret, it was a week later that their Principle arrived unannounced and collected the cat to keep for himself.
With a Principle so eccentric, surely there must be some way back into the school he’d secretly leave open. That was Kanghyun’s thought process anyway. He’d rather that than waste his time trekking through the forest looking for a tent that he’d ultimately have to spend the night in. He’d sooner stay awake the entire night waiting for morning and the time he could go back indoors and take a hot shower whilst pretending none of this had ever happened. So far, however, has was having no such luck.
Whilst checking the side entrance to the kitchen (the door of which was of course locked), the lithe boy was given quite the fright upon discovering someone else stooped down beneath the window surrounded in a puff of smoke. Kanghyun rolled his eyes- something he found himself doing often.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Jiho shrugged. “But to be fair to you, I got bored watching those idiots try to assemble a tent, it’s been 40 minutes and all they’ve done is argue.” He chuckled to himself before taking another drag on his contraband cigarette. “Idiots.”
“Well at least they’re trying.” Kanghyun found himself actually dignifying him with an answer as he peered around the corner, in between plant pots. “The same can’t be said for you I see.” Usually, Woo Jiho wouldn’t find himself getting bothered by comments such as those but knowing Kanghyun had next to no friends, he was a little taken aback.
“This is why you have no friends.” He muttered, waiting, hoping for a rise out of the Versutia boy but instead, he’d been completely ignored in favour for the large black box Kanghyun was now pulling along the floor. It had been nestled in between a pair of terracotta plant pots, barely visible under the overhang of … Whatever plant that was, he was no expert.
“I hope you choke.” Kanghyun muttered in his general direction as he tried to hold back a grin. The black box was full of food supplies, what looked to be just water and rice, but he’d succeeded in finding something pretty important all the same. He left the egotistical blonde mumbling to himself by the kitchen window as he began to drag the large box across the field, ignoring the bemused glaze from Kris who was walking in the opposite direction.
Back at what everyone was now referring to as “camp”, there was indeed a struggle going on with one tent. One tent, because so far in the 90 odd minutes they’d been allegedly searching, one tent was all that had been recovered. And currently, it wasn’t much closer to looking like a tent. At this rate, they’d all be huddled around the dilapidated tent and the six sleeping bags that had been found.
“I’m pretty sure that pole isn’t supposed to go there.” Haeyul muttered as she watched Joohyuk attempt to threat the tent fabric over it. “Like, didn’t you already make that mistake?” She mumbled quietly. She and Joohyuk were in the same house and they always greeted one another but right now she felt like no matter what she said, it wasn’t going to be appreciated. He was a little competitive and good at everything, the last thing he needed was for a girl to be getting in the way. Before she could awkwardly excuse herself from the situation and help Sunhwa organise the poles that were still being unused, Jonghyun trotted over with an armful of firewood like he was carrying thin air.
“Need a hand?” Jonghyun dumped the firewood by the stones and wandered over to the mess of fabric. “Oh, I had one of these as a kid.” He pointed out, pushing his almost white blonde hair out of his face and surveying the mess they’d made. “Haeyul, pass me that would you?” He glanced over at the brunette who was standing still, Jonghyun waved a hand in front of her face. “Haeyul?”
“Oh, right, sorry!” She grinned sheepishly, bending town to grab the things he’d asked for.
In almost no time at all, between the two of them, Jonghyun and Joohyuk and successfully arranged all of the tent poles in the correct way and were just going about putting the tent up itself. Joohyuk thought back to a couple of hours previous where he’d mumbled something to himself about Superbia guys being jerks. He’d make an exception for Jonghyun on this occasion. As the two of them were joking around, pushing in the tent pegs they felt a shadow cast over them.
“We just found three more tents in the forest.” Minho announced, holding one of the tent bags whilst he waited for the others to come over with the other two. Dongwoo and Jaeyeol soon appeared with another tent and began pulling out the contents to begin building theirs.
“Great!” Sunhwa gushed, getting up from where she’d been sorting the rice with Sojin, who’d come to help after she found a first aid kit a few moments earlier. “Jonghyun and Joohyuk just finished putting this one up, they really know what they’re doing.” She complimented. Minho frowned.
“I’m sure it won’t take me long either.” He shrugged. Haeyul side eyed Sunhwa and they both silently agreed not to intervene. They both knew exactly how competitive Minho was and neither was going to get in the way any time soon.
“I brought you some water.” Joohyuk nearly jumped out of his skin and the sudden appearance of Seulgi by his side. She was beaming up at him with her famously bright smile, waving a bottle of water in his face. “Since you did so well at building the tent.” She added, poking him in the bicep lightly.
“It was no big deal.” He shrugged, flashing a small grin as he took the water from her.
“Just remember to keep drinking.” She lectured, “I know you forget when you get preoccupied and I don’t want you to…” She stopped herself abruptly and winced a little. She looked at Joohyuk whose smile had disappeared and she instantly felt a little bad. “Well, you know, water is important. So be careful.” She coughed a little to ease the tension and forced a smile.
“I know.” Joohyuk returned her grin and reached out the brush lint from her shoulder. “You too.” He’d probably have gotten really mad if anyone else almost brought up embarrassing situations like this, but he couldn’t possibly be mad at her, even if he tried. Pleased she’d not accidentally put her foot in it, Seulgi glanced around and then wandered over towards Haeyul to see how she could help.
Making their way back from the forest, Darim glanced back at Jinyoung and Youngjae who for some reason had taken half of the tent out of the tent bag before taking it back to camp. She, as a result was dragging most of it back in its bag whilst shaking her head- apparently using the tent poles as swords and duelling was necessary instead of the task they were assigned.
Darim dumped the bag down next to the others and was brushing down her skirt to sort the leaves and dirt from the forest when she heard a thunk and Jinyoungs scream of pain. Spinning round she found herself double taking as the first thing she saw was blood.
“What the hell happened!” She yelled, never being one to raise her voice but she was frozen in shock at the site of Jinyoung clutching his head, blood escaping through his fingers. Youngjae had since dropped the pole and was apologising profusely by his side.
“We need the first aid kit,” Krystal, who had just returned from the other side of the field with Chinsoo, was remaining remarkably calm. “Pass it here!” She called, immediately passing it over to Chinsoo who she knew was more than competent with first aid.
The sudden raised voices and panic around the camp had caused quite a flurry of people, hurrying over from wherever they’d been sitting or searching. Minhyuk, being one of the first people to get there, ushered Youngjae and Darim out the way.
“Sit down, Jinyoung.” He pushed the younger boy’s shoulders down and glanced around for anything he could use as a compress until Chinsoo could find what she needed in the first aid box. “Hyera, pass me that would you?” He gestured to the material the tent poles had been wrapped up in- not entirely sanitary but they didn’t have much to work with. Hyera, who had been sitting by the fire (albeit currently non-existing fire), trying to arrange the fire wood, glanced over at the scene before her. Her blood ran entirely cold.
“I…” She managed to spit out, leaning over to grab the material but the moment she took a few steps towards them, her eyes were drawn to the blood, the way it trickled down Jinyoung’s eyebrow and down his face, dripping onto his shirt and hands, and it was too much. She bolted in the other direction as far as she could before bending over a geranium bush and emptying the contents of her stomach.
“I’ll take it from here,” Chinsoo had found the antiseptic wipes and nudged Minhyuk out the way. She coaxed his hand away from his wound, which was on his eyebrow bone and warned him that this was going to sting.
Darim felt extremely uncomfortable watching his face contort in pain as Chinsoo began to clean his wound up and get rid of the blood around his eye. She felt Youngjae by her side, overcome with guilt and bit her lip, trying to think of something positive to say when she was filled with such worry about her friend.
“He’ll be okay.” It almost came out in a whisper, she turned to look at Youngjae whose face was pretty white. “It was an accident.” She linked her arm through his, like he had done when her hamster died two summers ago and she was beside herself with grief. Jinyoung had sent her a mouse emoji and a sad face because “there wasn’t a hamster, sorry.” And she smiled inside, still not taking her eyes off of the blood on his face and the pain in his eyes.
“You’re lucky, I think you’ll get away without stitches.” Chinsoo smiled as she began fastening a gauze to Jinyoung’s brow. She glanced down and realised she’d gotten blood all over her hands. “Hey, Darim?” She called over to the younger girl. Being in the same house and only being a year apart, she was quite fond of her. “Will you watch over him? I’ll need you to keep a cold compress to his head for the next 15 to 20 minutes.” She ushered her over and handed her the compress.
“Thanks.” Darim mumbled, feeling a little useless and partially guilty from not stopping her two friends from being so stupid earlier. “Sorry!” She grimaced as Jinyoung yelped in pain as she pressed the pack to his head. “Trust you to manage this.” Was all she could manage to say. Jinyoung flashed her a sheepish smile and shrugged.
“Well, I guess this makes me more attractive now with a battle wound.” He grinned, which only resulted in more pain, and flinched. “It hurts to move my face.” He groaned. “I hope this means you like me more than Youngjae now, I mean, he is the vicious attacker in this.” Darim felt a smile creep over her lips as she tried not to stare at him as he babbled on and on. Even in this situation, she couldn’t get him to shut up.
Now that the severity of the situation had died down and the majority of the equipment had been recovered and almost entirely set up, Minhyuk glanced over towards the side of the school where Hyera sat with her legs crossed, slumped forward a little. Her trade mark red hair was falling over her eyes as she rubbed her temples, barely noticing Minhyuk approach her.
“Hey,” He started, trying to take a look at her face to check she was okay, after all, she’d almost passed out at the sight of blood not thirty minutes ago. Hyera glanced up at him and her expression darkened.
“I’m fine, don’t bother.” She groaned, unfolding her legs and trying to pull herself upright. “I said I’m fine.” She shrugged Minhyuk’s hands off of her as he tried to help and began walking back to the others. She’d needed to sit down and calm herself down after vomiting into the geranium bush but she wasn’t going to take pity from anyone.
“I didn’t ask how you were,” Minhyuk ignored the fact she was trying to shake him off, “I just thought you’d want some water.” He held out a water bottle. “Vomit tastes kind of disgusting.” Hyera stopped to take the bottle from him and looked up for just a second.
“Thanks.” She instantly felt bad for shrugging him off but it was too late to take it back now. “I just wish it were coffee.” She sighed, feeling herself and her body become more and more laboured with every step. Feeling unsure of what to do or say so not to make her more uncomfortable, Minhyuk glanced over at where two of the girls were struggling to light the fire.
“Hey, I could do with a hand if you’d like to help me light the fire. Those girls from Fortis don’t know what they’re doing.” He grinned which, to his delight, seemed to draw the smallest of smiles out of Hyera’s lips.
The fire, to nobody’s surprise, was lit in not time once Hyera and Minhyuk went about it the most logical way instead of throwing themselves into it and just hoping it worked. The sun had almost set completely and the last of the tents was just having its pegs hammered into the ground. It was safe to say that despite having not had too much strenuous activity almost everyone was exhausted. With the fire lit, and the estimated time being around 8 or 9, some were beginning to wonder just how well they’d sleep.
Inna could feel her eyes closing, she could probably fall asleep just as she was as she felt Jay’s hand run through her hair softly. His arm was wrapped tightly and securely around her as she burrowed her face into his chest as they say a little further away from everyone else. It was times like these that she felt safe, because she knows Jay would never let anyone hurt her, she can feel how much he loves her, especially when he’s calm - when he’s himself.
“Ridiculous.” Jooyeon sat herself down beside Sunggyu and Hoya and let out a sigh. She sent a glare in Inna’s direction and folded her arms.
“Jooyeon, really, she’s a big girl, you have to let her make her own mistakes.” Sunggyu sighed, trying to speak quietly. The last thing he wanted was Jay to hear him and pummel his face to the ground.
“She’s already made a mistake though, don’t pretend like you didn’t hear him yelling at her in the woods earlier, Kim Sunggyu.” She hissed, her voice getting a little too loud for Sunggyu’s liking but fortunately, Hoya was fast to react.
“Here,” He pushed his bowl of rice into her hands. “You’ve had a hard afternoon, you need to eat something.” He pressed the handle of the spoon into her hand and closed her fingers around it, trying to smile.
“I’m not so hungry.” Jooyeon mumbled, still looking over at Inna and Jay as he peppered kisses on the top of her head. “The next thing we know he’s going to be dissolving her body in acid and-“ Hoya grimaced, pleased that Sunggyu had already picked up the spoon of rice and forced it into before she could continue.
“Jooyeon, for once, just think about yourself and not Inna.” Sunggyu murmured at her, annoyance laced in his voice. He’d had to deal with her nonsense worrying all afternoon and he was reaching the end of his tether.
“If you finish your rice, you’ll have more energy to worry about her some more later.” Hoya assured her, flicking a grain of rice from her chin. Sunggyu leaned back to glare at him.
“Don’t encourage her!” He seethed, contemplating lying down and going to sleep right then and there. Hoya shrugged it off, but couldn’t help making sure Jooyeon finished all of the rice.
Jooyeon wasn’t the only person bothered by Inna and Jay’s relationship. Jaeyeol found himself getting more and more uncomfortable sitting right opposite the couple who had no regard for everyone else around them. He began coughing, horrendously coughing, entirely out of habit just to try and ease the cringeworthy feeling he felt when around couples and over the top PDA. This rarely works, and today wasn’t one of the occasions where it did. Instead, Dongwoo pushed a bottle of water into his hands and slapped him hard on the back.
“Learn to chew!” Dongwoo began laughing, and patted him on the back a few more times until the coughing died down.
“I thought cows were supposed to be great at chewing- there are cows in Jeolla, right?” Jiho sneered from across the fire. If Jaeyeol had it his way he’d push him into the fire. Dongwoo glanced at Jaeyeol’s face which was a lot sterner looking than usual.
“Excuse me?” Jiho’s attention was caught by the red head in Ipsum. “Wash your mouth out or I’ll push your face into the lake and do it for you.” Hyera spat. Everyone stopped at looked at her. That was not like her. “I’m sorry, do you need me to spell it out for you? Can your brain comprehend my words or would you like to blame it on my dialect?” She added. She was sick of his derogatory remarks regarding Jeolla-do, being from there herself. Jaeyeol glanced over at Hyera who had gone back to pushing her rice around the bowl.
“How’s it feel to need a girl to come to your rescue?” Jiho grinned. Jaeyeol couldn’t take it anymore. He launched himself onto his feet and attempted to throw his body in Jiho’s direction, hands balled up into fists already. Like always, though, Dongwoo was quick to react. Though he was a little shorter than Jaeyeol he pushed his shoulder against his and kept pushing, forcing him backwards and further away from everyone until Jaeyeol could breathe.
“You have got to stop biting the bait. Everytime, Jaeyeol, you’re making it too easy for him.” He sighed, leaning back from pushing him in the shoulders. “Just let it go, for today at least.” For someone who was always cheerful and ready to laugh and have fun, Dongwoo was a pretty serious guy when he had to be, which for Jaeyeol was fortunate as he was there to anchor him down when he got too hot headed. Tonight was definitely one of those nights.
Past what everyone guessed to be 11pm, everyone had crawled into one of the tents around the camp area and into their sleeping bags which they noted “smelled like moth balls.” For the students, they noted that it was the longest and most uncomfortable seven hours of their lives if you wanted to get dramatic.
The last to go to bed was Jihyun. She was still sitting with her legs folded, eyes fixated on the dwindling flames of what was left of the campfire long after everyone else had gone to bed. She’d told Minwoo, who besides Joy was her nearest and dearest friend and probably the only boy in Maxime to trust her, she’d be fine, but he wouldn’t leave her side.
“Something bothering you?” He asked for the millionth time. “And don’t say no!” He cut in quickly. Jihyun groaned.
“No.” She laughed a little as he pushed her jokingly. “I just… Feel like… I don’t know.” She sighed. It was true, she was feeling a lot more vulnerable than usual and it was a feeling she really didn’t like. Minwoo felt a little concerned- he was used to Jihyun being her normal, independent and strong self. He wasn’t used to seeing this side of her.
“Well when you do know, I’m here, you know that.” He assured her, followed by a yawn. “We really should get some sleep. Or at least try to.” He urged. “I’m sure tomorrow isn’t going to be a walk in the park.” Jihyun nodded her head in agreement. She was sure tomorrow they would be in for a shock… She wasn’t sure quite what… But she had that feeling.
When day broke, at what he contemplated to be around 6am, Joohyuk couldn’t comprehend the relief he felt. Having spent the last seven hours staring straight ahead, wide awake had been torture. He hadn’t even attempted sleep, without the aid of his sleeping pills sleep was near impossible for him, especially in these conditions. And when he heard faint conversation outside of his tent, he nearly tripped over Jonghyun trying to get up so fast.
“Good Morning.”
Joohyuk rubbed his eyes. He had to make sure he was fully conscious because as far as he was concerned the person in front of him was not a classmate of his- and he was positive he’d never seen him before.
“…Good morning?” He grumbled inquisitively, staring the taller man down in serious, sleep deprived confusion.
He was remarkably good looking, and notably older than a high school student, Joohyuk noted that for sure. He had perfectly chiselled features and a distant, coldness to his eyes that put Joohyuk a little on edge, he had a certain aura about him, and he couldn’t really work out what was going on. He didn’t say anything else, either, he just stood there clad in his effortless Dr Martens, layered shirts and khaki jacket, like he’d been plucked from a magazine spread.
“You woke up too?” Jonghyun grumbled as he pulled back the tent flap and then frowned. “Who’s this guy?” He enquired, blonde hair sticking up in all directions.
“The Principle has asked that we gather you.” The dark haired guy spoke again.
“We?” Jonghyun raised an eyebrow, “What are you, an army?”
“Sorry about that.” The taller intruder had turned to face who had just joined him, jogging over and pushing his phone into his pocket. He looked a lot less serious than the first guy, with dirty blonde hair styled messily with an effortless, rugged kind of look and a bolder jaw, and big puppy dog eyes. He was dressed similarly, with Dr Martens and a dark hooded jacket pulled over a denim shirt. He glanced over at Jonghyun and Joohyuk.
“Oh you started getting them up.” He patted the other on the back with a lazy, lopsided grin. “Good.” Completely oblivious to the dark, irritated glare directed at him.
“Be professional.” The darker haired one hissed.
“I am.” His partner shrugged and clapped his hands loudly. “EVERYBODY UP! RISE AND SHINE!” He bellowed causing the other to visibly sigh regretfully.
With continuous yelling and clapping, everyone slowly but surely began dragging their tired and exhausted bodies out of their warm sleeping bags out of the tents, groggy and highly disoriented.
“What in God’s name is going on?” Jooyeon mumbled as she sat up, hair falling over her disgruntled face. Inna was sitting up in her sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes and glancing around to gather her bearings with an expression that read absolutely no clue. The two girls were amongst the last to scramble from their “beds” (term used loosely) and struggle out of the tents to join the others.
There was a universal confusion humming around the group as they all gathered together, particularly thrown off by the sudden arrival of two mysterious, and exceptionally attractive, young men. One of which whom looked a lot more serious than the other.
“Oh, I’ll have the one on the right.” Jooyeon’s eyes fell on the stockier one with the tussled blonde hair. She wasn’t the only one eyeing up the strange new visitors, though the majority of the guys seemed less than impressed by their presence.
“As previously mentioned,” The taller, dark haired one spoke up, addressing everyone. Inna felt a strong arm grip her waist suddenly and she forced a smile as she felt Jay tense up beside her. She wished he would just loosen his grip a little but kept her smile all the same. “Principle Cha has asked us to gather you,” He was shortly interrupted by the sudden blast of Lee Hyori’s “U Go Girl”
Girl! Hey you go girl! Dadadadadat Girl! Girl! Hey you go-
“Sorry.” The blonde one grinned sheepishly, desperately clawing at his pocket to silence his phone. His comrade was shooting daggers at him all the while. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Principle Cha will see you now.” And with that, he began ushering them all towards the main building. Inna looked at Jooyeon with a raised eyebrow,
“Well, you wanted the one on the right.” She rolled her eyes.
“Shut up.” She mumbled in return.
Everyone was more than confused at this point. Who were these people? Why were they following them? Were they being led to their death? Who knew.
Sure enough, though, as they all traipsed into the main common room on the ground floor, Principle Cha was indeed waiting for them. It was as if Seungwon had flicked to page one of the grand clichés encyclopaedia. He’d situated himself nicely on the middle of the couch, finely pressed suit and a leg resting on the other, a delicate china tea cup and saucer in hands. Lest not forget the dishevelled and significantly offended looking feline perched on his lap. Indeed the same cat that he had claimed as his own three years prior, that always looked extremely repulsed by something or other in particular. His name?
Egg.
No, really, his name is Egg.
Egg the cat.
“Ah, so glad you’ve all joined me.” Seungwon took a last sip of his tea and placed the cup and saucer down on the coffee table in front of him. “Some of you do look a little worse for wear,” He commented, absentmindedly running his hand over Egg’s white and ratted fur. “I see you’ve all met my assistants!” He flourished a hand lazily, gesturing towards the two mystery men. “May I introduce Soohyuk,” He motioned towards the taller, more serious of the two, “and Simon. They’ve agreed to assist and support me throughout these coming weeks. You’ll be seeing a lot more of them so do get accustomed.
“But I have to say I’m rather pleased with the way most of you have given almost 80% in doing what was asked. Well done.” He glanced at the clock. “Now, I am aware that you all must be feeling very drained and perhaps in need of hot showers and a decent breakfast.”
Everyone instantly felt like a catch was coming. A classic, this is what you want, but you’re not going to have it kind of situation.
“There’s hot breakfasts in the Cafeteria waiting for you all, I even splurged on some hot chocolate to warm you all up, your belongings have all been returned to you, save for any contraband or inappropriate possessions such as game consoles, music players and the like, and are in your new dorms.” He breezed over like it was nothing, “So feel free to do as you all like for the next few hours. Lunch will be served as normal, at 12, on the gong, and anything further will be announced through the intercom as per the norm.” He sighed, stretching his arms and pulling himself up from the couch.
“Come, Egg,” He brushed his suit down, “let us take a morning stroll, you can tell me what you think of the new Geranium bushes we had planted last week.”
Exhausted, confused and slightly delusional at this point, the students didn’t really move for a moment as their Principle just got up and left. But, as if an internal switch was flicked in all of them, there was a sudden movement towards the cafeteria. Hot breakfasts and a shower and a short snooze in an actual bed before lunch sounded… Perfect.
As the students began filtering out of the room, Soohyuk approached Simon with a certain intent.
“What the hell was that?” He asked, exasperation in his voice.
“What was what?” Simon blinked, shrugging it off as he took out his phone.
“That!” Soohyuk slapped at his phone, “Why was it even on in the first place? And really? That’s your ring tone?” Simon’s sheepish puppy dog smile returned as he shrugged again. “And honestly, you need to have some professionalism, we were called here to do a job, we’re not here to be everyone’s friend, we’re here to- Are you even listening to me?”
“Why is it even called Egg?” Simon queried, to nobody in particular, his brow furrowed deep in thought.
“What?” Soohyuk retorted, getting more and more frustrated.
“The cat.” Simon added. “Why is it even called Egg?”
Soohyuk let out a deep sigh and turned around and headed for the door. He was really beginning to regret agreeing to this, and he had only been here an hour.
With a Principle so eccentric, surely there must be some way back into the school he’d secretly leave open. That was Kanghyun’s thought process anyway. He’d rather that than waste his time trekking through the forest looking for a tent that he’d ultimately have to spend the night in. He’d sooner stay awake the entire night waiting for morning and the time he could go back indoors and take a hot shower whilst pretending none of this had ever happened. So far, however, has was having no such luck.
Whilst checking the side entrance to the kitchen (the door of which was of course locked), the lithe boy was given quite the fright upon discovering someone else stooped down beneath the window surrounded in a puff of smoke. Kanghyun rolled his eyes- something he found himself doing often.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Jiho shrugged. “But to be fair to you, I got bored watching those idiots try to assemble a tent, it’s been 40 minutes and all they’ve done is argue.” He chuckled to himself before taking another drag on his contraband cigarette. “Idiots.”
“Well at least they’re trying.” Kanghyun found himself actually dignifying him with an answer as he peered around the corner, in between plant pots. “The same can’t be said for you I see.” Usually, Woo Jiho wouldn’t find himself getting bothered by comments such as those but knowing Kanghyun had next to no friends, he was a little taken aback.
“This is why you have no friends.” He muttered, waiting, hoping for a rise out of the Versutia boy but instead, he’d been completely ignored in favour for the large black box Kanghyun was now pulling along the floor. It had been nestled in between a pair of terracotta plant pots, barely visible under the overhang of … Whatever plant that was, he was no expert.
“I hope you choke.” Kanghyun muttered in his general direction as he tried to hold back a grin. The black box was full of food supplies, what looked to be just water and rice, but he’d succeeded in finding something pretty important all the same. He left the egotistical blonde mumbling to himself by the kitchen window as he began to drag the large box across the field, ignoring the bemused glaze from Kris who was walking in the opposite direction.
Back at what everyone was now referring to as “camp”, there was indeed a struggle going on with one tent. One tent, because so far in the 90 odd minutes they’d been allegedly searching, one tent was all that had been recovered. And currently, it wasn’t much closer to looking like a tent. At this rate, they’d all be huddled around the dilapidated tent and the six sleeping bags that had been found.
“I’m pretty sure that pole isn’t supposed to go there.” Haeyul muttered as she watched Joohyuk attempt to threat the tent fabric over it. “Like, didn’t you already make that mistake?” She mumbled quietly. She and Joohyuk were in the same house and they always greeted one another but right now she felt like no matter what she said, it wasn’t going to be appreciated. He was a little competitive and good at everything, the last thing he needed was for a girl to be getting in the way. Before she could awkwardly excuse herself from the situation and help Sunhwa organise the poles that were still being unused, Jonghyun trotted over with an armful of firewood like he was carrying thin air.
“Need a hand?” Jonghyun dumped the firewood by the stones and wandered over to the mess of fabric. “Oh, I had one of these as a kid.” He pointed out, pushing his almost white blonde hair out of his face and surveying the mess they’d made. “Haeyul, pass me that would you?” He glanced over at the brunette who was standing still, Jonghyun waved a hand in front of her face. “Haeyul?”
“Oh, right, sorry!” She grinned sheepishly, bending town to grab the things he’d asked for.
In almost no time at all, between the two of them, Jonghyun and Joohyuk and successfully arranged all of the tent poles in the correct way and were just going about putting the tent up itself. Joohyuk thought back to a couple of hours previous where he’d mumbled something to himself about Superbia guys being jerks. He’d make an exception for Jonghyun on this occasion. As the two of them were joking around, pushing in the tent pegs they felt a shadow cast over them.
“We just found three more tents in the forest.” Minho announced, holding one of the tent bags whilst he waited for the others to come over with the other two. Dongwoo and Jaeyeol soon appeared with another tent and began pulling out the contents to begin building theirs.
“Great!” Sunhwa gushed, getting up from where she’d been sorting the rice with Sojin, who’d come to help after she found a first aid kit a few moments earlier. “Jonghyun and Joohyuk just finished putting this one up, they really know what they’re doing.” She complimented. Minho frowned.
“I’m sure it won’t take me long either.” He shrugged. Haeyul side eyed Sunhwa and they both silently agreed not to intervene. They both knew exactly how competitive Minho was and neither was going to get in the way any time soon.
“I brought you some water.” Joohyuk nearly jumped out of his skin and the sudden appearance of Seulgi by his side. She was beaming up at him with her famously bright smile, waving a bottle of water in his face. “Since you did so well at building the tent.” She added, poking him in the bicep lightly.
“It was no big deal.” He shrugged, flashing a small grin as he took the water from her.
“Just remember to keep drinking.” She lectured, “I know you forget when you get preoccupied and I don’t want you to…” She stopped herself abruptly and winced a little. She looked at Joohyuk whose smile had disappeared and she instantly felt a little bad. “Well, you know, water is important. So be careful.” She coughed a little to ease the tension and forced a smile.
“I know.” Joohyuk returned her grin and reached out the brush lint from her shoulder. “You too.” He’d probably have gotten really mad if anyone else almost brought up embarrassing situations like this, but he couldn’t possibly be mad at her, even if he tried. Pleased she’d not accidentally put her foot in it, Seulgi glanced around and then wandered over towards Haeyul to see how she could help.
Making their way back from the forest, Darim glanced back at Jinyoung and Youngjae who for some reason had taken half of the tent out of the tent bag before taking it back to camp. She, as a result was dragging most of it back in its bag whilst shaking her head- apparently using the tent poles as swords and duelling was necessary instead of the task they were assigned.
Darim dumped the bag down next to the others and was brushing down her skirt to sort the leaves and dirt from the forest when she heard a thunk and Jinyoungs scream of pain. Spinning round she found herself double taking as the first thing she saw was blood.
“What the hell happened!” She yelled, never being one to raise her voice but she was frozen in shock at the site of Jinyoung clutching his head, blood escaping through his fingers. Youngjae had since dropped the pole and was apologising profusely by his side.
“We need the first aid kit,” Krystal, who had just returned from the other side of the field with Chinsoo, was remaining remarkably calm. “Pass it here!” She called, immediately passing it over to Chinsoo who she knew was more than competent with first aid.
The sudden raised voices and panic around the camp had caused quite a flurry of people, hurrying over from wherever they’d been sitting or searching. Minhyuk, being one of the first people to get there, ushered Youngjae and Darim out the way.
“Sit down, Jinyoung.” He pushed the younger boy’s shoulders down and glanced around for anything he could use as a compress until Chinsoo could find what she needed in the first aid box. “Hyera, pass me that would you?” He gestured to the material the tent poles had been wrapped up in- not entirely sanitary but they didn’t have much to work with. Hyera, who had been sitting by the fire (albeit currently non-existing fire), trying to arrange the fire wood, glanced over at the scene before her. Her blood ran entirely cold.
“I…” She managed to spit out, leaning over to grab the material but the moment she took a few steps towards them, her eyes were drawn to the blood, the way it trickled down Jinyoung’s eyebrow and down his face, dripping onto his shirt and hands, and it was too much. She bolted in the other direction as far as she could before bending over a geranium bush and emptying the contents of her stomach.
“I’ll take it from here,” Chinsoo had found the antiseptic wipes and nudged Minhyuk out the way. She coaxed his hand away from his wound, which was on his eyebrow bone and warned him that this was going to sting.
Darim felt extremely uncomfortable watching his face contort in pain as Chinsoo began to clean his wound up and get rid of the blood around his eye. She felt Youngjae by her side, overcome with guilt and bit her lip, trying to think of something positive to say when she was filled with such worry about her friend.
“He’ll be okay.” It almost came out in a whisper, she turned to look at Youngjae whose face was pretty white. “It was an accident.” She linked her arm through his, like he had done when her hamster died two summers ago and she was beside herself with grief. Jinyoung had sent her a mouse emoji and a sad face because “there wasn’t a hamster, sorry.” And she smiled inside, still not taking her eyes off of the blood on his face and the pain in his eyes.
“You’re lucky, I think you’ll get away without stitches.” Chinsoo smiled as she began fastening a gauze to Jinyoung’s brow. She glanced down and realised she’d gotten blood all over her hands. “Hey, Darim?” She called over to the younger girl. Being in the same house and only being a year apart, she was quite fond of her. “Will you watch over him? I’ll need you to keep a cold compress to his head for the next 15 to 20 minutes.” She ushered her over and handed her the compress.
“Thanks.” Darim mumbled, feeling a little useless and partially guilty from not stopping her two friends from being so stupid earlier. “Sorry!” She grimaced as Jinyoung yelped in pain as she pressed the pack to his head. “Trust you to manage this.” Was all she could manage to say. Jinyoung flashed her a sheepish smile and shrugged.
“Well, I guess this makes me more attractive now with a battle wound.” He grinned, which only resulted in more pain, and flinched. “It hurts to move my face.” He groaned. “I hope this means you like me more than Youngjae now, I mean, he is the vicious attacker in this.” Darim felt a smile creep over her lips as she tried not to stare at him as he babbled on and on. Even in this situation, she couldn’t get him to shut up.
Now that the severity of the situation had died down and the majority of the equipment had been recovered and almost entirely set up, Minhyuk glanced over towards the side of the school where Hyera sat with her legs crossed, slumped forward a little. Her trade mark red hair was falling over her eyes as she rubbed her temples, barely noticing Minhyuk approach her.
“Hey,” He started, trying to take a look at her face to check she was okay, after all, she’d almost passed out at the sight of blood not thirty minutes ago. Hyera glanced up at him and her expression darkened.
“I’m fine, don’t bother.” She groaned, unfolding her legs and trying to pull herself upright. “I said I’m fine.” She shrugged Minhyuk’s hands off of her as he tried to help and began walking back to the others. She’d needed to sit down and calm herself down after vomiting into the geranium bush but she wasn’t going to take pity from anyone.
“I didn’t ask how you were,” Minhyuk ignored the fact she was trying to shake him off, “I just thought you’d want some water.” He held out a water bottle. “Vomit tastes kind of disgusting.” Hyera stopped to take the bottle from him and looked up for just a second.
“Thanks.” She instantly felt bad for shrugging him off but it was too late to take it back now. “I just wish it were coffee.” She sighed, feeling herself and her body become more and more laboured with every step. Feeling unsure of what to do or say so not to make her more uncomfortable, Minhyuk glanced over at where two of the girls were struggling to light the fire.
“Hey, I could do with a hand if you’d like to help me light the fire. Those girls from Fortis don’t know what they’re doing.” He grinned which, to his delight, seemed to draw the smallest of smiles out of Hyera’s lips.
The fire, to nobody’s surprise, was lit in not time once Hyera and Minhyuk went about it the most logical way instead of throwing themselves into it and just hoping it worked. The sun had almost set completely and the last of the tents was just having its pegs hammered into the ground. It was safe to say that despite having not had too much strenuous activity almost everyone was exhausted. With the fire lit, and the estimated time being around 8 or 9, some were beginning to wonder just how well they’d sleep.
Inna could feel her eyes closing, she could probably fall asleep just as she was as she felt Jay’s hand run through her hair softly. His arm was wrapped tightly and securely around her as she burrowed her face into his chest as they say a little further away from everyone else. It was times like these that she felt safe, because she knows Jay would never let anyone hurt her, she can feel how much he loves her, especially when he’s calm - when he’s himself.
“Ridiculous.” Jooyeon sat herself down beside Sunggyu and Hoya and let out a sigh. She sent a glare in Inna’s direction and folded her arms.
“Jooyeon, really, she’s a big girl, you have to let her make her own mistakes.” Sunggyu sighed, trying to speak quietly. The last thing he wanted was Jay to hear him and pummel his face to the ground.
“She’s already made a mistake though, don’t pretend like you didn’t hear him yelling at her in the woods earlier, Kim Sunggyu.” She hissed, her voice getting a little too loud for Sunggyu’s liking but fortunately, Hoya was fast to react.
“Here,” He pushed his bowl of rice into her hands. “You’ve had a hard afternoon, you need to eat something.” He pressed the handle of the spoon into her hand and closed her fingers around it, trying to smile.
“I’m not so hungry.” Jooyeon mumbled, still looking over at Inna and Jay as he peppered kisses on the top of her head. “The next thing we know he’s going to be dissolving her body in acid and-“ Hoya grimaced, pleased that Sunggyu had already picked up the spoon of rice and forced it into before she could continue.
“Jooyeon, for once, just think about yourself and not Inna.” Sunggyu murmured at her, annoyance laced in his voice. He’d had to deal with her nonsense worrying all afternoon and he was reaching the end of his tether.
“If you finish your rice, you’ll have more energy to worry about her some more later.” Hoya assured her, flicking a grain of rice from her chin. Sunggyu leaned back to glare at him.
“Don’t encourage her!” He seethed, contemplating lying down and going to sleep right then and there. Hoya shrugged it off, but couldn’t help making sure Jooyeon finished all of the rice.
Jooyeon wasn’t the only person bothered by Inna and Jay’s relationship. Jaeyeol found himself getting more and more uncomfortable sitting right opposite the couple who had no regard for everyone else around them. He began coughing, horrendously coughing, entirely out of habit just to try and ease the cringeworthy feeling he felt when around couples and over the top PDA. This rarely works, and today wasn’t one of the occasions where it did. Instead, Dongwoo pushed a bottle of water into his hands and slapped him hard on the back.
“Learn to chew!” Dongwoo began laughing, and patted him on the back a few more times until the coughing died down.
“I thought cows were supposed to be great at chewing- there are cows in Jeolla, right?” Jiho sneered from across the fire. If Jaeyeol had it his way he’d push him into the fire. Dongwoo glanced at Jaeyeol’s face which was a lot sterner looking than usual.
“Excuse me?” Jiho’s attention was caught by the red head in Ipsum. “Wash your mouth out or I’ll push your face into the lake and do it for you.” Hyera spat. Everyone stopped at looked at her. That was not like her. “I’m sorry, do you need me to spell it out for you? Can your brain comprehend my words or would you like to blame it on my dialect?” She added. She was sick of his derogatory remarks regarding Jeolla-do, being from there herself. Jaeyeol glanced over at Hyera who had gone back to pushing her rice around the bowl.
“How’s it feel to need a girl to come to your rescue?” Jiho grinned. Jaeyeol couldn’t take it anymore. He launched himself onto his feet and attempted to throw his body in Jiho’s direction, hands balled up into fists already. Like always, though, Dongwoo was quick to react. Though he was a little shorter than Jaeyeol he pushed his shoulder against his and kept pushing, forcing him backwards and further away from everyone until Jaeyeol could breathe.
“You have got to stop biting the bait. Everytime, Jaeyeol, you’re making it too easy for him.” He sighed, leaning back from pushing him in the shoulders. “Just let it go, for today at least.” For someone who was always cheerful and ready to laugh and have fun, Dongwoo was a pretty serious guy when he had to be, which for Jaeyeol was fortunate as he was there to anchor him down when he got too hot headed. Tonight was definitely one of those nights.
Past what everyone guessed to be 11pm, everyone had crawled into one of the tents around the camp area and into their sleeping bags which they noted “smelled like moth balls.” For the students, they noted that it was the longest and most uncomfortable seven hours of their lives if you wanted to get dramatic.
The last to go to bed was Jihyun. She was still sitting with her legs folded, eyes fixated on the dwindling flames of what was left of the campfire long after everyone else had gone to bed. She’d told Minwoo, who besides Joy was her nearest and dearest friend and probably the only boy in Maxime to trust her, she’d be fine, but he wouldn’t leave her side.
“Something bothering you?” He asked for the millionth time. “And don’t say no!” He cut in quickly. Jihyun groaned.
“No.” She laughed a little as he pushed her jokingly. “I just… Feel like… I don’t know.” She sighed. It was true, she was feeling a lot more vulnerable than usual and it was a feeling she really didn’t like. Minwoo felt a little concerned- he was used to Jihyun being her normal, independent and strong self. He wasn’t used to seeing this side of her.
“Well when you do know, I’m here, you know that.” He assured her, followed by a yawn. “We really should get some sleep. Or at least try to.” He urged. “I’m sure tomorrow isn’t going to be a walk in the park.” Jihyun nodded her head in agreement. She was sure tomorrow they would be in for a shock… She wasn’t sure quite what… But she had that feeling.
When day broke, at what he contemplated to be around 6am, Joohyuk couldn’t comprehend the relief he felt. Having spent the last seven hours staring straight ahead, wide awake had been torture. He hadn’t even attempted sleep, without the aid of his sleeping pills sleep was near impossible for him, especially in these conditions. And when he heard faint conversation outside of his tent, he nearly tripped over Jonghyun trying to get up so fast.
“Good Morning.”
Joohyuk rubbed his eyes. He had to make sure he was fully conscious because as far as he was concerned the person in front of him was not a classmate of his- and he was positive he’d never seen him before.
“…Good morning?” He grumbled inquisitively, staring the taller man down in serious, sleep deprived confusion.
He was remarkably good looking, and notably older than a high school student, Joohyuk noted that for sure. He had perfectly chiselled features and a distant, coldness to his eyes that put Joohyuk a little on edge, he had a certain aura about him, and he couldn’t really work out what was going on. He didn’t say anything else, either, he just stood there clad in his effortless Dr Martens, layered shirts and khaki jacket, like he’d been plucked from a magazine spread.
“You woke up too?” Jonghyun grumbled as he pulled back the tent flap and then frowned. “Who’s this guy?” He enquired, blonde hair sticking up in all directions.
“The Principle has asked that we gather you.” The dark haired guy spoke again.
“We?” Jonghyun raised an eyebrow, “What are you, an army?”
“Sorry about that.” The taller intruder had turned to face who had just joined him, jogging over and pushing his phone into his pocket. He looked a lot less serious than the first guy, with dirty blonde hair styled messily with an effortless, rugged kind of look and a bolder jaw, and big puppy dog eyes. He was dressed similarly, with Dr Martens and a dark hooded jacket pulled over a denim shirt. He glanced over at Jonghyun and Joohyuk.
“Oh you started getting them up.” He patted the other on the back with a lazy, lopsided grin. “Good.” Completely oblivious to the dark, irritated glare directed at him.
“Be professional.” The darker haired one hissed.
“I am.” His partner shrugged and clapped his hands loudly. “EVERYBODY UP! RISE AND SHINE!” He bellowed causing the other to visibly sigh regretfully.
With continuous yelling and clapping, everyone slowly but surely began dragging their tired and exhausted bodies out of their warm sleeping bags out of the tents, groggy and highly disoriented.
“What in God’s name is going on?” Jooyeon mumbled as she sat up, hair falling over her disgruntled face. Inna was sitting up in her sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes and glancing around to gather her bearings with an expression that read absolutely no clue. The two girls were amongst the last to scramble from their “beds” (term used loosely) and struggle out of the tents to join the others.
There was a universal confusion humming around the group as they all gathered together, particularly thrown off by the sudden arrival of two mysterious, and exceptionally attractive, young men. One of which whom looked a lot more serious than the other.
“Oh, I’ll have the one on the right.” Jooyeon’s eyes fell on the stockier one with the tussled blonde hair. She wasn’t the only one eyeing up the strange new visitors, though the majority of the guys seemed less than impressed by their presence.
“As previously mentioned,” The taller, dark haired one spoke up, addressing everyone. Inna felt a strong arm grip her waist suddenly and she forced a smile as she felt Jay tense up beside her. She wished he would just loosen his grip a little but kept her smile all the same. “Principle Cha has asked us to gather you,” He was shortly interrupted by the sudden blast of Lee Hyori’s “U Go Girl”
Girl! Hey you go girl! Dadadadadat Girl! Girl! Hey you go-
“Sorry.” The blonde one grinned sheepishly, desperately clawing at his pocket to silence his phone. His comrade was shooting daggers at him all the while. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, Principle Cha will see you now.” And with that, he began ushering them all towards the main building. Inna looked at Jooyeon with a raised eyebrow,
“Well, you wanted the one on the right.” She rolled her eyes.
“Shut up.” She mumbled in return.
Everyone was more than confused at this point. Who were these people? Why were they following them? Were they being led to their death? Who knew.
Sure enough, though, as they all traipsed into the main common room on the ground floor, Principle Cha was indeed waiting for them. It was as if Seungwon had flicked to page one of the grand clichés encyclopaedia. He’d situated himself nicely on the middle of the couch, finely pressed suit and a leg resting on the other, a delicate china tea cup and saucer in hands. Lest not forget the dishevelled and significantly offended looking feline perched on his lap. Indeed the same cat that he had claimed as his own three years prior, that always looked extremely repulsed by something or other in particular. His name?
Egg.
No, really, his name is Egg.
Egg the cat.
“Ah, so glad you’ve all joined me.” Seungwon took a last sip of his tea and placed the cup and saucer down on the coffee table in front of him. “Some of you do look a little worse for wear,” He commented, absentmindedly running his hand over Egg’s white and ratted fur. “I see you’ve all met my assistants!” He flourished a hand lazily, gesturing towards the two mystery men. “May I introduce Soohyuk,” He motioned towards the taller, more serious of the two, “and Simon. They’ve agreed to assist and support me throughout these coming weeks. You’ll be seeing a lot more of them so do get accustomed.
“But I have to say I’m rather pleased with the way most of you have given almost 80% in doing what was asked. Well done.” He glanced at the clock. “Now, I am aware that you all must be feeling very drained and perhaps in need of hot showers and a decent breakfast.”
Everyone instantly felt like a catch was coming. A classic, this is what you want, but you’re not going to have it kind of situation.
“There’s hot breakfasts in the Cafeteria waiting for you all, I even splurged on some hot chocolate to warm you all up, your belongings have all been returned to you, save for any contraband or inappropriate possessions such as game consoles, music players and the like, and are in your new dorms.” He breezed over like it was nothing, “So feel free to do as you all like for the next few hours. Lunch will be served as normal, at 12, on the gong, and anything further will be announced through the intercom as per the norm.” He sighed, stretching his arms and pulling himself up from the couch.
“Come, Egg,” He brushed his suit down, “let us take a morning stroll, you can tell me what you think of the new Geranium bushes we had planted last week.”
Exhausted, confused and slightly delusional at this point, the students didn’t really move for a moment as their Principle just got up and left. But, as if an internal switch was flicked in all of them, there was a sudden movement towards the cafeteria. Hot breakfasts and a shower and a short snooze in an actual bed before lunch sounded… Perfect.
As the students began filtering out of the room, Soohyuk approached Simon with a certain intent.
“What the hell was that?” He asked, exasperation in his voice.
“What was what?” Simon blinked, shrugging it off as he took out his phone.
“That!” Soohyuk slapped at his phone, “Why was it even on in the first place? And really? That’s your ring tone?” Simon’s sheepish puppy dog smile returned as he shrugged again. “And honestly, you need to have some professionalism, we were called here to do a job, we’re not here to be everyone’s friend, we’re here to- Are you even listening to me?”
“Why is it even called Egg?” Simon queried, to nobody in particular, his brow furrowed deep in thought.
“What?” Soohyuk retorted, getting more and more frustrated.
“The cat.” Simon added. “Why is it even called Egg?”
Soohyuk let out a deep sigh and turned around and headed for the door. He was really beginning to regret agreeing to this, and he had only been here an hour.
word count 5040 - to be continued
「 Author's Note 」
[CHOONGJAE] THIS CHAPTER IS LITERALLY 5000 WORDS LONG. I seriously and genuinely hope you all enjoy it because I did lose the will to live at some points lmaaaoo. BUT, I hope you are all adjusting to the style of the story and can see how it's going to be flowing. We are super glad to have finally got SImon and Soohyuk introduced (Simon from DMTN and Lee Soohyuk the model/actor in case anyone was wondering! I hope you all like the chapter layouts that Alex makes, the character chart is going to be totally boss! Anyways, let us all know what you think, WE ARE DYING TO KNOW!
[-KINGG] OMG THIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG, HOLY COW. I don't know how lolly does it but omg, here it is. We've finally introduced ALL the characters now so thats a plus. Seriously you guys, this chapter is so long, its ridiculous. Also, before you guys had even started asking for one, ive been making a character chart BUT its gonna take a while because it's just a lot of work to do haha. I'd say that im about halfway done maybe? Before or during the second chapter it should be complete so keep your eyes out for that as well. I hope you guys like this long chapter, leave a comment down below to let us know what you guys thought about it!
CHAPTEr written by choongjae | theme coded by lynnryan at nefelibata themes © all rights reserved
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MH 「 REMORA 」- chapter one has been posted! the story has officially begun, let us know what you think!
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