“I don’t know why you’re complaining so much.”

Sehun glanced up from the large bag of garbage he was filling to give his friend and pledge brother a fairly piercing glare before reaching for yet another empty chip bag that had been thrown on the floor of the bedroom.

Zitao rolled his eyes as he leaned against the door frame and continued, “It’s not like Yifan and Yixing keep their room that dirty. You should have seen the stuff Jungkook found in Yoongi and Jongdae’s room when he was cleaning it out. I personally don’t think it was worth the signatures, but he still did it.”

“I really don’t think it could’ve been worse than this,” Sehun replied moodily as he held up a Taco Bell wrapper that had to have been growing a green moldy-looking substance for weeks. “I feel like I’m going to catch some sort of disease touching all of this stuff.

As he added the wrapper to his bag of undesirables, Zitao merely shook his head. “Jungkook said the same thing. But I think he was talking about a different kind of disease.”

Sehun stopped suddenly, his work gone from his mind as he realized what his friend was talking about. Staring at Zitao, he silently urged him to go on.

“Oh, of course that would get your attention.” Zitao glanced over his shoulder into the hallway before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Apparently there were opened, used condoms all over the place, mostly around Yoongi’s loft. Jungkook also swore that there were at least three completely empty bottles of lube. And-“

“How’s the room coming?”

Zitao nearly jumped out of his skin as Chanyeol suddenly appeared behind him, his voice cutting off the pledge’s next statement. Sehun, on the other hand, was completely at ease as he nonchalantly bent over to snatch up the last piece of trash that he could see.

“I think I got all of the garbage here, Brother Chanyeol. And Zitao was just telling me about an assignment we have due for our biology class.”

“Ah, well make sure you check under their couch. They have a habit of stuffing bags and food wrappers under there.” At that point, Chanyeol turned to leave, but he added one thing before he did. “Oh, and remember, it’s Brother Yoongi to you.”

-

“How do you keep them in line all the time, Chan?”

Baekhyun threw the question toward the pledge ed casually as he waited for him at the bottom of the staircase.

Chanyeol smirked a bit at his boyfriend’s question, knowing it only seemed organized to people on the outside. Between him and Yifan, they barely had a handle on keeping the pledges where they needed to be and when, and even if they accomplished that, they were having a hard time enforcing just how important the nightly quizzes were. Of course, the two brothers tried not to let that seem apparent in front of the rest of the fraternity; they had a reputation to uphold, after all.

“Unlike you, I wasn’t trying to be their best friend during rush,” the pledge ed responded as he casually put his arm over his boyfriend’s shoulders.

Baekhyun visibly cringed as he asked, “Was it that obvious?”

“Sometimes I thought you had stepped in as rush chair,” Kyungsoo teased as he entered the front room from the back hallway. “You didn’t leave too much for Jongin and Namjoon to do some nights.”

Baekhyun scoffed at that. “Don’t act like you didn’t help Jongin with the rushees at all.”

Kyungsoo’s face suddenly flushed a deep red at Baekhyun’s words, and he dropped his gaze and hurried into the chapter room before any of them could say anything else.

“I think that might’ve been a little much,” Chanyeol whispered, dropping his arm. Baekhyun nodded in acknowledgement of his words but said nothing else, obviously embarrassed that he had possibly upset his fraternity brother.

-

“This might be one of the most unproductive governing meetings we’ve had in a while.”

Seokjin turned his gaze toward the chapter’s president, a little surprised by his bluntness. The academic chair wasn’t of the mind that they hadn’t gotten anything done; they had already discussed the plans for several of the events that were coming up. And Junmyeon wasn’t usually one to be so negative.

“I agree with Junmyeon.”

Seokjin’s head turned again, this time toward Minseok who was apparently in a similarly negative mindset as the president. It seemed like everyone else at the table was as much at a loss for words as Seokjin was, so there was an awkward silence for several moments.

“Well…” Luhan started, tiptoeing around breaking the stifling quiet that had fallen over the table. “I’ve been crunching some numbers, and it looks like there are some extra funds in the budget this fall. And I talked to Chanyeol and Yifan, and we think we’ve come up with a pretty decent idea.”

All eyes were now trained on the treasurer, including Seokjin’s. He couldn’t imagine what else they could plan for the semester since they were already set up with several socials, as well as a large Christmas party in December. But he had a hunch, if it also involved Chanyeol and Yifan.

“They were hoping to do a pledge retreat this year.”

Seokjin was immediately nodding his head vigorously, albeit unconsciously because he didn’t notice it until Baekhyun gave him a bewildered look from across the table. He settled his head motions, more aware of himself now, and turned his attention back to Luhan.

Minseok looked unsure as he responded, “I don’t know if that’s such a-“

“Yes,” Seokjin cut in firmly, not allowing the vice president to finish his statement. “I think it’s a great idea.”

He caught the death glare that Minseok threw at him, but he didn’t care; there was a reason he was immediately agreeing with this.

“Seokjin, it seems like you really want this to happen,” Junmyeon pointed out, somewhat formally. “Want to tell us about that?”

“Yeah, sure. I want this to happen because we need to do it. End of story.” Seokjin sat all the way back in his seat then, assuming that there was no need for further discussion.

Minseok, on the other hand, leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and asked, “And how do we know Chanyeol or Yifan didn’t put you up to this?”

“Seriously?”

The comment came from Baekhyun, and he immediately put his hand over his mouth, quickly realizing that the thought had come out of his mouth instead of staying inside his head. He looked like he was about to apologize for it, but Seokjin didn’t give him a chance to.

“Seriously is right. I can’t believe you would think that they would put me up to something like this or that I would actually do it without having a good reason.” He then leaned forward to match Minseok’s position, not the slightest bit intimidated that he was speaking to the vice president. “You seem to forget that my little’s pledge class was the one that missed out on having a pledge retreat, unlike every person sitting at this table.”

When he paused, he knew everyone else was paying attention because no one tried to cut in or make some snide remark. Because of that, he allowed himself to plow forward in his small speech.

“First of all, a pledge retreat is extremely important for a pledge class to get that bonding experience. While everyone in the fraternity is your brother, it’s your pledge brothers that you become closest with. If my little, Namjoon, doesn’t lie to me – and I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t – his pledge class definitely missed out on that bonding.

“The other important part is that we have some really, really good pledges this semester. They finish pretty much everything they’re asked to do around here, and on top of that, they’re keeping up with their classes exceptionally well. We need to give them a little something for all the hard work they’ve been putting in.”

When Seokjin finally sat back again, signaling that he was finished speaking, there was a lengthy pause when it seemed like everyone was really considering what he had said. And he could see it on their faces that the majority of them knew what he was saying and agreed.

“Well,” Junmyeon cued, drawing the attention back to himself, “I think those are all extremely good points. And if there’s money for it in the budget, then I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t have one.” He glanced to his right after he’d said this and realized that not everyone agreed with him – specifically Minseok. “Of course, I suppose we should vote on it, just as a formality.”

-

“Did you really find used condoms all around Yoongi’s loft?”

Jungkook was a little startled by the sudden question, but he felt obligated to answer the orange-haired boy sitting across from him, especially since it was just the four of them in what was designated as the war room and no one would hear over the governing meeting. Not to mention, Sehun and Zitao already knew because he had felt the need to warn them when they had mentioned cleaning Yifan and Yixing’s room.

“Um, yeah,” he replied, a little hesitant. “Of course, it was nothing compared to what my roommate leaves lying around our room. It’s like that guy has zero boundaries.”

“Didn’t you say he’s in another fraternity?” Zitao asked.

Jungkook nodded. “Yeah, Yugyeom. I think he’s a Delt or something. It’s weird though because they don’t let them drink either, but he brings someone home with him almost every other night. If I wanted to study in the room at night, I don’t think I could do it.”

“You can always come study with me,” Taehyung offered. “Either in my room or in the library, whatever works.”

“We usually go to the third floor of the library during the week,” Zitao added. “It’s pretty much silent up there so it’s a good place to actually get stuff done.”

“Alright, so, back to Yoongi,” Sehun cut in, apparently not interested in the current line of conversation. “You found all this around his loft, but he hasn’t taken any girls up there. However,” and here he held up his finger for emphasis, “there is someone who fails to come out of that room several nights a week, and we’ve all noticed it.”

The other three pledges stared at him, and Jungkook was afraid that he knew exactly what Sehun was implying. He didn’t really want it to be true, seeing what he had of Yoongi, but it was too likely, considering all the circumstances.

“Yes, I know we’re all thinking the same thing,” Sehun confirmed. “I don’t want it to be the truth any more than you guys. But I think everything adds up to one possible truth, as painful as it is.”

“Please don’t say it out loud,” Zitao pleaded, trying to get Sehun to shut up rather than say what they were all thinking.

“What? Why not? We’re all thinking it,” Sehun retorted. And before someone else could cut him off again, he blurted, “Yoongi’s sleeping with Jimin.”