“Alright maggots,” Junmyeon shouted, “Line up!”

 

Sehun snorted, Kyungsoo glared, and no one moved.

 

Junmyeon ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

 

“Line up before I pop a vein,” he growled, looking like he wasn’t going to take anyone’s . His anger from the smoothie incident hadn’t simmered down yet (Chanyeol later found out that the smoothie was meant for Sehun from Kai).

 

Kai guiltily pulled Kyungsoo and Chanyeol ushered Baekhyun and Sehun to form a queue. Sehun shrugged Chanyeol off him, but got in a line nonetheless, a bit scared of the eldest at the moment, whereas Baekhyun murmured, “I’m a ing butterfly, get it right you snob,” passively glowering at the ground.

 

They had finally reached their destination after a long awkward car ride. Kai was moody and was still uncomfortable with Chanyeol. Chanyeol was trying to quietly strangle himself with the seatbelt, diagnosed with embarrassment (he wished death would come quicker). When Baekhyun looked like he was falling asleep at the wheel, Chanyeol the radio to drown out his regrets and to make sure none of them died because the driver lost consciousness. When they got to the location, Junmyeon had angrily told them to get their asses out of the car and to head to the field. No one knew the reason for the abrupt group trip still, so they just followed the angry man’s orders.

 

Junmyeon surveyed the “line” and nodded his head in satisfaction.

 

“What’s the most important thing in one’s life?” he began.

 

“Money,” Sehun answered.

 

“Women,” Baekhyun supplied.

 

“Power,” Kyungsoo added.

 

“Love?” Kai guessed.

 

“Actually, I think it-”

 

“It was a rhetorical question you ballsacks,” Junmyeon interrupted Chanyeol. “It’s family.”

 

“I was going to say that.”

 

“And what are we all? That’s right, a family.”

 

“I’m so confused,”

 

“Shh, Sehun, he’s going to yell at us again,” Chanyeol whispered.

 

“I consider us a family,” Junmyeon continued, ignoring the muttering around him. “Being a family is a wonderful thing. You get a whole bunch of people who understand and love you, no matter what. And I, naive little Junmyeon, thought that we all had the same sentiments. However,” cue dramatic pause, “this, I found, was not the case! You are all ungrateful towards the opportunity life has given you: people who are willing to love you, a family.” The wind blew, the people in the line shivered. Whether it was from the cold, or because of the speech, they did not know. What they did know was that Junmyeon’s accent was beginning to sound more British with every word.

 

“What do you guys do instead? Fight. Is this how family acts?”

 

“My bro’s pretty mean to me though,” Baekhyun argued.

 

“We’re supposed to be behind each other, all the time. What happened to the tight knit relationship we built during the course of the years we have lived together? How do you think our new member perceives us? He probably regrets choosing to live with us after seeing all the drama in this household.”

 

“Actually, I’m quite alright with everything, it’s pretty normal.”

 

“Jongin and Sehun are fighting like elementary kids. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol aren’t getting along together. Baekhyun keeps just keeps adding fuel to the fire that’s destroying our family-”

 

“What? I haven’t even done anything. I feel so attacked right now,” Baekhyun huffed.

 

“- And none of you come to talk to me about your problems anymore. I just want us to all get along, and be each other’s pillars.” His voice cracked. He took a second to compose himself.

 

In the moment of silence, Chanyeol heard sniffles behind him. He thought it was probably Sehun mocking Junmyeon, but when he turned around to tell the kid to shut up, he was not expecting Kyungsoo with fat tears racing down his chubby cheeks. He stood behind Kai, lips pursed in a pout and hands over his chest.

 

“That...was beautiful,” he whispered to no one in particular.

 

The speech hadn’t been all that emotional, but Chanyeol was shocked that Kyungsoo was capable of feeling. And he looked pretty darn cute crying, with that pout of his.

 

I’m going to hell for thinking that, Chanyeol thought to himself.

 

But the moment was broken when Kai took out something that looked like a vial from his sleeve and showed it to Kyungsoo.

 

“Yes,” Kyungsoo studied the container, “this will do.” Kai nodded and then placed it at the Kyungsoo’s jaw line, along the path of his tear tracks.

 

“Keep crying,” Kai instructed, impatiently running the vial up and down Kyungsoo’s cheeks.

 

“That’s right, scoop it all up. There needs to be at least two centimeters in there.”

 

Kai brought out another vial from somewhere else in his sleeve and repeated his previous method on the other cheek.

 

“What the ?” Chanyeol silently screamed. What are these people?

 

Baekhyun chuckled in front of him, but provided no explanation about the bizarre event.  Chanyeol turned away from the scene unfolding behind him, but he couldn’t ignore the voices.

 

“Hurry up, princess! I’m almost at my limit!” Kyungsoo snarled.

 

“Think of something sad!” Kai hissed back. “How about that anime you cried at? What was it again? Tennis prince or somethin- ow hyung!”

 

“Don’t you ever bring that up again.”

 

Kai whimpered and the sniffling continued. Chanyeol moved further away from them. Guess everyone around Kyungsoo is a little strange.

 

“Maggots!” Junmyeon seized their attention again. The broken line formed itself into a queue again. His voice was as firm as when he began his speech. He was back to meaning business. “This trip is for us to reconstruct our bond as a family and also to create new bonds with the addition of a new member.”

 

Chanyeol awkwardly waved, after being called out. The eldest waved back, a short, professional movement of the hand.

 

“I have organized several activities for the day. And throughout this trip, you will do as I say so we can complete all of them.”

 

“And if we don’t do as you say?” Kyungsoo challenged. His eyes were dry once more. Kai was back to his own business, holding the two vials in one hand.

 

Junmyeon walked towards the group. He stopped before Baekhyun. “Hand behind your head, maggot!” he ordered.

 

Baekhyun jumped at the sudden command and absently did as he was told. Junmyeon patted him down and pulled something out of his jeans pocket. He returned to his original spot and dangled the object for everyone to see.

 

“I am in possession of both car keys. We are not leaving until we are done all the activities. Well, you’re not leaving. I’ll head back on my own and leave you guys here to work things out,” he smirked, directing it at everyone.

 

Kyungsoo reached around Chanyeol to slap Baekhyun upside his head and whispered, “Idiot.”

 

Baekhyun rubbed the back of his head, but did not complain. Probably knew he deserved it.

 

“Since we understand each other now, how about we make our way to our first activity?” Junmyeon hid the car key in the inside pocket of his coat with a mocking smile. Without waiting for anyone to answer, he led them into the direction of a building.

 

In that moment, Chanyeol learned that something evil resided behind the angelic mask that Junmyeon wore.

 

 

Once inside the building, Junmyeon instructed Kai and Sehun to stay on the first floor while the rest climbed up to the second. The group of elders got themselves comfortable on the railing while looking over to watch the younger pair plop down on a cushioned bench. Between them was a cup with two straws. Kai and Sehun stared at it in confusion, not sure if they could take a sip of it.  They looked up for further instructions.

 

A megaphone appeared in Junmyeon’s hand. Where were these people getting these things from? Chanyeol thought. Kai brought out vials from his sleeve (which had now disappeared) and Junmyeon somehow managed to get his hands on a megaphone.

 

“As you can see,” Junmyeon commenced, voice amplified for everyone to hear loud and clear, “there is a drink between you with two straws. Your task at the moment is to share the drink with each other.”

 

“That’s it?” Baekhyun whined.

 

“Yea,” Kyungsoo joined, “I thought it would be a bit more interesting. I guess I was expecting too much from dominant-Junmyeon.”

 

“Did I ask for your opinions?” Junmyeon turned to the two. They both shook their heads ‘no’. “I thought so.”

 

When Junmyeon’s attention left the two boys, they both let out a sigh of relief. Dominant Junmyeon was a scary Junmyeon.

 

Down on the first floor, Kai and Sehun debated to themselves whether they should obey Junmyeon’s instructions or not. For the years that they had known him, the male had always been a pushover. Neither wanted to be near the other at the moment, considering that they were ‘fighting’.

 

“We haven’t got all day here!” Junmyeon shrilled through his megaphone.

 

Kai jumped in his seat, startled while Sehun hastily took the drink in his hand.

 

“Let’s just get this over with so we can go home,” Sehun mumbled, avoiding looking directly at Kai. “Just don’t touch my straw,” he warned.

 

“As if I would want to,” Kai took a hold of the cup and snatched his straw. He took it in his mouth without waiting for a signal. Sehun followed.

 

“It’s coke!” Kai spoke around his straw.

 

Sehun released his straw, face masked in disgust. “Um, I’m on a diet,” he yelled out, “You know how much sugar there is in this?”

 

“No one cares, Sehun,” Baekhyun replied.

 

“65 g!” Sehun informed them anyway. “That’s like 50% more of the daily recommended sugar intake, are you trying to give me diabetes?”

 

“You had McDonald's for dinner last night Sehun, don’t give me that diet crap,” Junmyeon hissed.

 

“That’s ‘cause none of you cooked for me!“ He accused them.

 

“We are not your nanny, learn how to cook,” the eldest screamed back, his British accent strong. He ran a frustrated hand roughly through his hair. They had barely taken a sip and one of the kids was already creating a scene.

 

“I thought we were family,” Sehun mocked under his breath. Kai had had enough of his whining, and relieved his irritation by flicking Sehun’s forehead.

 

“Just finish drinking this, the cup is really cold,” he shoved the drink towards him. Sehun blew a raspberry but returned his hold on the cup and his straw.

 

Junmyeon watched the boys drink silently for a bit with a smug smile. Chanyeol was trying hard to see how drinking from the same cup helped with bonding. Maybe it was the idea of being in each other’s presence without arguing, which could help ebb away the anger? If that was the case, Chanyeol concluded, then it was just bull.

 

“Can you move your head?” Sehun snapped.

 

“What the hell is your problem now?” Kai shouted.

 

“Your stupid, sweaty nose keeps touching mine. It’s disgusting so turn your head the other way.” He pushed Kai’s head with two fingers.

 

“You’re such a kid! All you have to do is finish the drink. You can’t even do that without throwing tantrums about the most stupid things!” Kai exploded.

 

“The kids are fighting again,” Baekhyun offered his observation.

 

Junmyeon just ruffled Baekhyun’s hair. “Guess you guys aren’t going home today,” he taunted them.

 

Kyungsoo shook a fist in his direction, Baekhyun fixed his hair with a heavy sigh and Chanyeol was seriously agreeing with Junmyeon.

 

“Ow!” a shriek broke out. When they turned their attention to the younger pair, Sehun was nursing his forehead and Kai was finishing up the drink by himself.

 

“I hope you guys aren’t picky about bedding because the only place to sleep here is the floor.” Junmyeon gestured to the gray concrete floors. “Sweet dreams, I guess?”

 

Junmyeon moved them out of the building after Kai and Sehun more or less finished their task. They ended up at the barren field where the guys were given Junmyeon’s ‘family’ speech. Junmyeon made Kai and Sehun retrieve something that was vaguely described from their trunk (Junmyeon unlocked it from the field.)  

“So, what’s next colonel Kim?” Chanyeol asked, hands shielding his eyes from the sun. It’s too sunny to spend the day outside, Chanyeol groaned. And to top it all off, he hadn’t had time to put sunscreen on in the morning because the trip was so abrupt.

 

“Another activity for dumb and dumber,” Junmyeon answered just as the pair in question returned carrying a large black bag. They heaved over to where the rest of the group was and dropped it on the ground and stood with their hands on their knees. The two boys panted while Junmyeon ped the bag.

 

“For your next mission, you are to build a tent together. The rest of the instructions will be given once the tent is finished,” Junmyeon informed, megaphone pointed towards Kai and Sehun.

 

“Can you give us like 5 minutes,” Kai begged between breaths. Sehun held out five fingers in agreement.

 

Junmyeon just chuckled at their request. “If you guys had been more compromising during your first task, I would have had more sympathy towards you.” He walked between them and nudged them to the tent. “Get to work Maggots!”

 

When Sehun aimed a glare at him, Junmyeon simply pulled out the car keys and dangled it with a teasing smile.  

 

They pulled the tent out together and began working on its assembly. Chanyeol thought back to movies, where there is always a pair who doesn’t know how to put up tents. And if this were a camping movie, Chanyeol would have pegged those two to be the idiots. But surprisingly, they were working together well, efficiently really.

 

The tent was finished without any quarrelling. Kai and Sehun stepped aside to proudly present it to the group, but it did not incite any reactions from them. Chanyeol wondered if he should clap for them, but it seemed too awkward at the moment.

 

So without any applause or praises regarding a job well done, Junmyeon pulled out his megaphone again. “Your next task is….a game of tag!”

 

“These are all so lame,” Baekhyun complained, stretching out his last syllables. Kyungsoo tsked in in agreement. Following the pattern they’d fallen into, Junmyeon’s glare shut them up.

 

“Not just any game of tag,” he explained over the groaning, “A game where you try to hug the other person while they run away from you.”

 

“You know,” Kai interrupted, “it’d be nice if you explained how all of this is supposed to help us ‘bond’.” Sehun nodded, realizing that the specific purpose of these activities hadn’t been clarified.

 

“Me not telling you is part of our bonding,” Junmyeon deflected. “You have to trust me when I say that it works. If I tell you why it works, you guys might become too aware of it and become immune to any changes. So, let’s strengthen your trust in me and carry along with my requests with the belief that in the end, it will help you.”

“What if it doesn’t work anyway?” Kai inquired. Really, to everyone there except for Junmyeon, these activities seemed silly. They just wanted to go home or go on a real trip.

 

“Oh, it’ll work,” Junmyeon replied smugly, with a smile that inferred that he knew things they didn’t. “So start chasing each other when I say start, Kai is ‘it’.” He waited for a “yes sir” that never came. “Okay, start!”

 

Kai and Sehun looked at each other, waiting for the other to initiate the game. Kai took a step forward, Sehun took a step back, but displayed no signs of chasing or running away.

 

Beside Chanyeol, Baekhyun was fidgeting while watching the two do nothing. He seemed like he was going to add another one of his unwanted comments- when Kai bolted straight towards Sehun and tackled him into ground.

 

A shocked Junmyeon blew a whistle (where did he get it from?), flailing his arms. “No! No!” he objected. “What are you doing? You’re not hugging him!”

 

Kai looked up from the ground and then wrapped his arms around Sehun’s waist and embraced him. “Hugging, see?” he pulled Sehun off the ground to prove himself.

 

“I said a loving game of tag, not a game of American football,” while Junmyeon was nagged, Sehun pushed Kai off him and got up to pat the dirt off his clothes.

 

“Well, how can we play tag of he doesn’t run away?” Kai pointed out. “Maybe we should’ve brought Luhan hyung out with us. Oh wait, Sehun would probably run towards him instead of away,” he mocked.

 

“Not this again,” Junmyeon moaned, “You know the main reason of this trip is because of this issue? Now stop being kids, follow my instructions and play a hearty game of tag okay? Sehun, you’re “it”.”

 

“You’re going to chase me properly now?”

 

“Oh, I’ll chase you alright,” Sehun replied through his teeth, glaring at Kai. “So you better run, er.” Without missing a beat, he ran full speed towards Kai, who almost tripped as he ran away.

 

Sehun chased him out into the field, instead of around the tent as they were originally supposed to do.

 

“Too far, come back!” Junmyeon directed. “Around the tent.”

 

Kai sprinted towards his voice, kicking up dirt with every step. Sehun followed closely behind, cheeks flapping with the wind.

 

Kai skidded as he made to turn around the tent, but he got right back up and ran inside the tent to come out through the other opening. Seeing as he had increased the distance between them, Kai began mocking the younger.

 

“Oh, look at me. I’m pretty and Chinese,” he flipped his hair, “Don’t you want a piece of this?”

 

Sehun increased his speed and Kai screeched as Sehun almost got a grip on his sweater.

 

“Come and catch me,” he sang.

 

“Oh, I will,” Sehun sang back.

 

The ones in the sideline watched the two with much interest. Would Kai get caught? Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were sharing a zip lock bag full of popcorn, eyes not leaving the (battle) field.

 

“Where’d the popcorn come from?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“Shhhhh,” was the reply he got from both of them. They didn’t even spare him a glance.

 

When Chanyeol turned his attention back onto the game of tag, Sehun leaped into the air and wrestled Kai onto the ground. Kai went down with an “oof”. Sehun began slapping him everywhere he could get access to.

 

“Pretty my ,” he panted between slaps. “U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi.”

 

“YOU UGLY! YOU! YOU!” Baekhyun joined.

 

“YOU UGLY!” Chanyeol finished off for him. Baekhyun high-fived him and Chanyeol felt that his presence was finally acknowledged.

 

“Loving game!” Junmyeon reminded them.

 

Sehun substituted the slapping with tickling, causing Kai to roll around trying to avoid Sehun’s hands.

 

“Stop - you - noodle,” he begged between giggling.

 

“Not until you admit defeat!” Sehun declared theatrically.

 

“You - already - caught - me!” Kai exclaimed. Sehun didn’t let up on his tickling.

“Shouldn’t you stop him?” Chanyeol asked Junmyeon.

 

“Just let them be for a bit,” the eldest replied with a fond smile. Chanyeol didn’t see what was so lovely about Sehun torturing his mancrush Kai till he was red in the face, but he shrugged it off and hoped that Junmyeon knew what he was doing.

 

“Stop!” Kai screamed. He’d wiggled out of Sehun’s grasp and was now hitting his thigh when he could.

 

“Stop being stupid about Luhan then,” Sehun retorted.

 

“Stop following him around like a puppy,” Kai argued.

 

“We’re doing a project you ballsack. I have to spend time with him. And if anyone’s a puppy it’s you. You follow Kyungsoo hyung everywhere.”

 

Chanyeol spared a quick glance at the man in question. Why would Kai be close with the vessel of the devil?

 

“That’s completely different.” Sehun had stopped tickling Kai without even realizing he had and Kai was sitting up now. “He’s like my brother from another mother, my bromate, our roommate. That’s like me saying you spend too much time with Junmyeon hyung.”

 

“I take offence to that statement,” Kyungsoo commented, loud enough for all of them to hear. Kai just sent a dazzling smile his way.

 

“I guess that’s kind of true. Then, how about Taemin? You hang out with him all the time,” Sehun rebutted.

 

“Dude, you hang out with us too,” Kai reminded him. He wiped his hands on Sehun’s jeans and the other flicked him away.

 

“Oh yea.”

 

Kai raised his eyebrow at him. “See, I don’t ditch you like that.

 

“Well, if that’s the problem, why don’t you hang out with me and Luhan? Bro, this is so simple.”

 

“Are they making up right now?” Baekhyun whispered. “Does this mean we can go home?”

 

“Nope,” Junmyeon deadpanned.

 

“Every party needs a pooper, that’s why we invited you. Party pooper, party pooper.” Kyungsoo sang with much emotions. Baekhyun fist pumped him and Junmyeon shook his head at them.

 

“I can hang out with you guys? Luhan won’t mind?” Kai looked at Sehun with hope-filled eyes.

 

“Yea, why would he? Just come with me tomorrow. We’re going to meet up at the park,” he offered.

 

“Okay then.”

 

“Okay.”

 

They stared at each other for a bit, until the silence started to become a bit awkward.

 

“Should we hug?” Kai suggested, holding out his arms.

 

“I think?” Sehun scratched his head.

 

Kai waved his hands impatiently, motioning for Sehun to come into his arms. Sehun sighed and pushed himself off and into Kai’s arms. They wrapped themselves around each other.

 

“Love you, bro,” Kai patted Sehun’s head.

 

“Love you too brother,” Sehun rubbed his back.

 

“Bravo!” Baekhyun applauded. Kyungsoo followed. Junmyeon joined along with a proud smile and a confused Chanyeol jumped onto the bandwagon, clapping loudly, almost hitting little Kyungsoo in the head with his elbow. Good thing the shorter didn’t notice. .

 

Kai and Sehun got up and dusted themselves off. They each earned a hug from Junmyeon once they were cleaned up.

 

“Sorry about the smoothie, hyung,” Kai apologized. “That was very immature of me.”

 

“As long as you realize your mistakes, all is forgiven.” Junmyeon squeezed his arms and hugged him again.

 

The others patted them on the head too, all of them sharing the relief of resolving a conflict. Once everyone had calmed down, Junmyeon brought out his microphone again.

 

“On to the next task soldiers!” He hollered.

 

“Wait-what?” Sehun cried. The others began to groan and complain.

 

“You didn’t think we were done did you?” Dominant/Evil Junmyeon had returned. And this time, he was looking straight at Chanyeol with a malicious smirk playing on his lips.

 

Chanyeol gulped under his stare, and hoped for the best.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for reading!

Comments, subscriptions and votes are apprecitated 

Part 2 will be up on Tuesday.

Have a great day!