"Come out."

Poke. Poke.

"Come out. Come out!"

Poke. Poke.

"Come. The. . Out!" Tao eventually yelled in frustation as he banged his hand repeatedly on the surface of the table. "Or so help me, I'm going to chop off your into pieces, and throw it into the Pacific Ocean, and feed it to the stray dogs, and—"

"Alright, alright!" Kris shuddered as he peered his head out slightly from where he was hiding under the table. This kind of matter was definitely a sensitive case for most males. "Just promise me first that you won't tear my head off or something, and definitely nothing related to throwing anything to the stray dogs."

"Come out first, you good for nothing idiot."

"Promise me first!" 

"Yes, yes, I do."

"That sounds more like a marriage vow, you equally dumb idiot."

"Just come out!"

Kris quickly raised his hands in defeat, and cautiously crawled out of his save haven. Not without much trouble though considering his tall figure, his loud yelping as a sole proof. Tao tapped his fingers impatiently against the table, unbothered by the other's trouble.

"They ought to build a much bigger table than this!" Kris whined, directing his anger towards the poor table as he bumped into it yet again. 

Tao rolled his eyes. "It's not exactly designed for someone to crawl under it and hide their coward . Nobody is as stupid as you are to do that."

"In my defense, this is the closest I can get to when you were chasing the out of me with that murderous glint in your eyes—" He quickly halted when he noticed Tao's raised brow. "W-Who said I'm hiding from you anyway? I was just looking.. looking for my cat!"

Tao raised his brows even higher if that was even possible. "You brought a cat to school?"

"Did I say cat? No, I said pen!"

"You clearly did."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"You look like a panda." Kris blurted out randomly.

Tao's brows ceased into a deep frown. "That came out of nowhere." He shrugged. "You look a lot like angry bird though."

"Am not!"

"Am too."

"Am not!"

"Are we seriously doing this all over again?" Tao narrowed his eyes accusingly. "You're diverting me on purpose!"

Kris blinked profusely.

"Gosh, I knew it!" Tao promptly jumped out of his seat before pulling the other by his ear. "You're so coming with me this instant, you slimy snake!"

"Ouch! Ouch! Careful with the earrings!"

As they headed out of the classroom, they failed to notice Joonmyeon, Luhan and Kyungsoo walking from the opposite side, causing him to walk past them without a single glance. Two of them instantly raised an amused brow.

"Excuse me, but did Huang Zitao just ignored my glorious present?" said Luhan dramatically with one hand raised in the air while the other was placed across his heart. (Ever seen a melodramatic actress performing on stage? If yes, then you got the picture.)

"They're heading to somewhere." Joonmyeon observed, ignoring Luhan's dramatic monologue.

Kyungsoo snorted. "Probably off to their first date."

Luhan halted almost immediately, a smirk suddenly blooming on his pretty face. "Do Kyungsoo, you just gave me a brilliant idea!"

Alright, maybe Kyungsoo shouldn't had open his mouth at all in the first place. He regretted it as soon as the words left Luhan's mouth, already dreading the latter's supposedly brilliant idea. About half an hour later, he regretted it even more if it was even possible as they crouched behind a badly trimmed bushes with Jongin constantly whining about literally everything in sight.

"Look at this." The sun-kissed male complained, displaying his shivering hands. "It's so cold!"

"Why are you even here in the first place?" Kyungsoo questioned rheoterically while rolling his eyes.

"Well, to start with—"

"Stop pushing me, you prick!"

"I did not!"

"Shut it, you dysfunctional bickering lunatics! They might hear us!"

Now, while they were fighting themselves to death, let me recount the story of how a bunch of prince charmings idiots came into the current situation. Long story short, we should start banning Luhan from ever making plans ever again. You see, his so-called brilliant idea apparently involved tailing after their tall friend and his victim. That victim apparently had friends, who was quick to notice the weird sight and became suspicious enough to make them decided to trail after Luhan and friends, who was trailing after their tall friend, who was dragging another giant male by the ear. When said tall friend namely Tao finally came into a halt in front of an old building that used to be the science lab, they quickly mirrored his action just in time to witness Kris dropping to his knees with a pleading look. 

It was at the same moment Luhan finally took notice of their new company, standing a few feets away without even bothering to hide due to the sudden shock of witnessing the unfolded scene. Luhan barely managed to warn his fellow partners in crime before the gawking males suddenly attempted to rush forward, apparently intended on saving their friend that they were convinced about to get killed in the most gruesome way possible. They were obviously unsuccessful since they were immediately held back by Luhan & co. instead while getting their heads bashed repeatedly, and forced to hide behind the bushes, which brought us back to where Luhan was currently slapping a hand across Sehun's mouth to forcefully shut him up.

"Why can't we just tie them up, and stuff their mouth with preferably dirty rags?" Kyungsoo groused lowly as he poked Jongin using his feet a few times out of spite. "It'll do everyone good really."

"Because we're just nice that way." Luhan chirped in. "Duh."

"Is he dead?" Joonmyeon interrupted with a worried expression plastered across his face. He had an unconscious Yixing at his feets with the lad's face facing the ground.

Kyungsoo looked over his shoulder. "Good." He commented monotously.

Sehun also turned to look before waving his hands dismissively. "Don't worry about him. He just probably tripped over his own feets. He either became too lazy or too sleepy to get up."

Joonmyeon blinked once, twice before looking down at the unconscious lad. "That's a weird conclusion."

"It's Yixing." Sehun deadpanned as if that explained everything.

"Oh, oh, look!" Luhan suddenly exclaimed with excitement while pointing wildly in Tao's direction. 

"Are they seriously going to.. kiss?" said Sehun with disgust.

"I can't watch it!" said Joonmyeon while covering his eyes.

"Go for it, Kris!"

"Yeah, get that !"

"Aren't you supposed to be dead on the ground?"

"Oh, right. Maybe later."

 ~~X~~

"This is quite awesome." Jongdae mused while shoveling a spoonful of cereals into his waiting mouth. He nodded a few times as if in acknowledgement before tilting his head to the side in wonder as he stared at his reflection on the back of a spoon in his other hand.

Minseok, who was raiding the fridge in search for something to eat, instantly straightened up, and peered over the fridge door. He stared weirdly at the latter with an unmistakable glint of judging in his eyes. Surely, nobody sane enough would be that happy that someone drew on their face, right? Oh wait, this is Kim Jongdae we're talking about. Go figure.

"Oh, it's nothing." Minseok finally said, voice thick with dripping sarcasm. "My pleasure actually." He had a giant leer on his face as he made a move as if performing a slight curtsy.

Jongdae quickly wagged his finger at the other, and pointed his spoon accusingly. "You, mister, is a great prankster in the making. Say, would you like to join the club?"

"What club?" Minseok raised a quizzical brow.

"Why, my oh great, almighty talent club for advanced prankster of course!" Jongdae grinned. "I will give you a great discount. We usually charge 50 000 won as the entrance fee to new member, but you can get 20% discount. It will be such a shame not to have you as part of our happy family."

"More like talent club for scammers." Minseok deadpanned. He rolled his eyes, and grabbed a banana from the table before making his way out of the kitchen.

"Wait! Take that back, you little scoundrel!" Jongdae quickly scrambled out of his seat, not forgetting to bring his bowl of cereal along. "Oh, alright. How about 50%?" 

"No." Minseok replied flatly without looking.

Jongdae groaned while he struggled to juggle the bowl in his arms, trying hard to make sure the milk won't spill out. He stretched out his free hand as if gesturing for Minseok to wait for him.

"55% then!"

"Nope."

"70%!"

"Not even close."

"Fine, free! I'll take you in for free!" 

Minseok continously ignored the latter, not even looking back once. He headed straight to the living room, where he plopped himself onto the couch. He paid no heed as Jongdae joined him on the couch, though he did let out a soft huff. He reached out for the remote control of the television instead. However, another hand suddenly beat him to it, and as he trailed the hand to its body, he stared in dismay at the grinning face of none other than Kim Jongdae.

"What do you want?" He spat in distaste.

"Why, join my club of course." Jongdae waved the device in his hold, his grin morphed into a victorious smirk.

"Get rid of that stupid smirk on your face before I slap it out for you, you slimy dip."

"Oh, a feisty one." Jongdae cried out shrilly, looking as if he might passed out due to overload excitement. "I like it!"

"Damn, this kid is more ed up in the head than I thought." Minseok mumbled under his breath while leaning back against the couch, staring at the latter with a mix of disbelief and amusement.

Jongdae wiped the imaginary tears out of his eyes with his sleeve, and clapped eagerly. "You would be such a wonderful addition. We can start training you using the basic 101, and I'll personally—"

"Woah, hold your horses there, Mr. Tyrannosaurus." Minseok held up his hands in a defensive manner. "Nobody is training anybody here. I sure as hell won't allow that."

"But, you are destined for greatness, my sweet." Jongdae insisted. 

"Bull."

"You—"

But, Minseok was far from being concerned as his eyes narrowed down on Jongdae's loose hold around the remote control instead. He glanced once at the unaware male before he quickly snatched the device away in a flash. Holding up the sole proof of his victory in his hand, he grinned in satisfaction at the stunned look on Jongdae's face.

"Oops, I think—"

"ARGHHH! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

~~X~~

"It's so quiet." Baekhyun remarked while straining his ears to catch any noise downstairs. He shifted slightly without meaning to, which resulted in a certain tall boy shifting along as well.

Baekhyun promptly rolled his eyes. He looked down to his feets, where Chanyeol was literally wounded around his legs. "Would you ever going to let me go?" He questioned sarcastically.

"Hmph." was all that he got in reply.

Baekhyun sighed for the nth times. He closed his eyes, and placed his fingers on his temples in his attempt to reduce his impending headache. After calming himself enough not to burst into an open flame, he opened his eyes only to be greeted with a loud shriek from Chanyeol, and also the absolute darkness obscuring his vision.

"What the—" Baekhyun gasped and blinked profusely, squinting around at the dark walls. "Park Chanyeol, let go of my legs, you bloody moron." He scolded, an edge of panic in his voice as he bent down and tried to pry Chanyeol off his legs. He could almost felt his legs losing its sense due to Chanyeol's now death grip around his legs.

"Scared.. dark.. g-ghosts.." Chanyeol mumbled incoherently, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Baekhyun threw his head back, and huffed with exasperation.

"Ghost.. ghost.."

Looking down at the rambling male, Baekhyun suddenly came up with a spontaneous brilliant idea. He had a giant leer on his face as he began putting it into action. Deliberately, he reached out to run his fingers through the other's brown locks before abruptly pulling it as harsh as he can.

"My scalp!" Chanyeol yelped. "Oh God, you're killing it!" His hands instinctively flew to his head, forcefully swatting Baekhyun's fingers away. The latter obviously couldn't care less though as he smirked in victory the moment Chanyeol unconsciously released his grasp around his legs in order to save his poor scalp from his assault.

"Should've done this way earlier." Baekhyun mused before shrugging. "Toodles, byuntae!" He quickly took the chance to sprint out of the room, leaving Chanyeol scrambling to get to his feets.

"Oh hell no, you're not leaving me alone here!" 

"I think I just did!"

"Not for long." 

Unfortunately for Baekhyun, every three steps of his feets equal to one huge step for the much taller lad. He let out a loud yelp as he felt Chanyeol suddenly grabbing his arm from behind, appearing next to him just second after. 

"Curse you and your goddamn long legs." He grumbled moodily under his breath. "Why can't you leave me alone?" He relented nevertheless, allowing Chanyeol to latch onto his arm as he began feeling around in the dark. It was no easy feat to get even to the stairs considering the vast space around the house.

"Baek," Chanyeol suddenly called out, surprising the living daylight out of the said male. "Do you perhaps know any prayer?"

".. what?" Baekhyun instinctively looked over his shoulder, and shot a judging look at the latter despite the dark surrounding.

"It's too dark." Chanyeol tightened his grip. "And I swear there's something behind me just now."

Of course, Baekhyun simply rolled his eyes and forged ahead. If anything, it made him purposely walked even slower than a herd of turtles. That is until Chanyeol growled lowly, and smacked his . That certainly got the boy going faster than Tao being offered to shower together.

"Minseok?" They reached the living room, where it was just equally dark. "Are you there?"

A loud gasp broke the silence, followed by the loud noise of someone with ragged breathing.

Chanyeol's eyes widened comically. "Is that.. what I think it is?"

".. I think so." Baekhyun answered hesitantly, equally in disbelief.

They spontaneously looked at each other, jaw literally dropped to the floor. (Not like they were able to see each other quite clearly anyway.)

"Not even in his wildest dream, you head of meatballs." A voice suddenly drawled from somewhere probably around the couch. From the sound of it, it sounded very much like the person was having a hard time getting up from the floor, in contrary to his statement.

"Oh, come on. You know you want this." Another voice interjected, and to their surprise, sounded very much like he was on top of the other. "I can't exactly blame you though. I mean, look at this. How could anybody possibly reject this? Even I want me if I can marry myself."

"Jongdae." "Idiot troll." Chanyeol and Baekhyun simultaneously deadpanned.

"Stop completing each other's word and come get this uneducated goose off me, would you?"

"Hey!"

"Are you sure?" Chanyeol questioned. "We don't want to interrupt, and end up of getting Jongdae's in my face."

"I won't slap my in your face even with a ten-foot pole, you giant creep."

"So, you do admit you're and so banging the cute, little hamster you've been drooling over since last year?"

A sudden silence fell over the room.

"Damn." Baekhyun was the one who broke the silence. "Awkward."

".. ."

"I'm not even sure if I should be offended or flattered by that." came Minseok's eventual reply. "But, first, piss off!"

Thud. Thud.

"That must hurt big time." said Baekhyun, but not exactly with a hint of sympathy. "Any idea about this sudden candlelight dinner suggestion?"

"Nope." Minseok replied offhandedly as he got to his feets, and dusted his clothes.

"We're having a candlelight dinner?" Chanyeol interrupted, genuinely confused. 

"It's sarcasm, you idiot." Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about the lack of electricity in this house."

".. what does it has to do with candlelight dinner?"

The other three instantly facepalmed. Dealing with a confused Park Chanyeol should definitely be listed in everyone's bucket list. It's such a wonderful experience.

"What do you do when you're having a candlelight dinner?"

"Cook the dinner.. beforehand?"

"What else?"

".. light up the candles?"

"Before that, what do you do?"

"Umm.." His brows scrunched up in concentration. "Aha! Turn off the lights!"

"Exactly." Baekhyun replied in a monotone.

However, Chanyeol's furrowed brows is yet to cease. "But still, what does that has anything to do.. with the lack of electricity in this house?"

"......"

"You know what," Jongdae spoke first. "I've long given up."

Meanwhile, Baekhyun and Minseok exchanged a look with each other.

"I'll get the matches."

"I'll throw him into the fireplace."

Still greatly in confusion, Chanyeol missed the apparent attempt of burning him alive. He stood there with rapidly blinking eyes instead, watching as the two made a move to put him to his eternal sleep.

"Woah, woah." Jongdae exclaimed while raising both hands up in the air. "As much as I would love a front-seat live broadcast of you guys roasting that giant creep over there, I'd rather you help me find some goddamn light first here. It's much too dark for my liking right now."

Chanyeol's ears perked up, and he eagerly nodded in agreement, finally aware of the danger they brought to his life.

"That's what we're trying to do." Minseok countered with a raised brow.

Baekhyun smiled wickedly. "Yeah. We'll give you enough light for a lifetime."

"We can simply chop him off into pieces, and use it as our ready-made firewoods. Whenever you get caught in this kind of situation ever again, just whisk out some of his bones and set the fire ablaze."

"You should really use it sparingly though." Baekhyun advised innocently. "This is going to take a whole lot of our precious effort to get it done."

Jongdae almost gagged in response, scrunching up his face with a revolted expression. "Yeah, no thanks."

Chanyeol's eyes immediately sparkled with hopes, possibly overhelmed with gratitude and touched by the other's loyalty. That is until Jongdae opened his big mouth.

"It's going to get quite smelly after a while. Could you perhaps do something with his flesh? Maybe skin him alive or something instead?" Jongdae inquired hopefully.

"Oi!"

"Alright, alright, no need to get your in a twist." Minseok said with a slight smirk. "We should start scouring around the house for candles or flashflights or whatever we can find. Come, Baek."

"Stop right there, young man." Jongdae instructed before Baekhyun was able to take even a step forward. "Who said anything about you going with him? And leaving us on our own accord here? You better be kidding me and take that back, young pup." He pointed an accusing finger while narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not a bloody hamster!" Minseok hissed with annoyance. "Your dumb, gigantic friend is coming with me then! Happy now?"

Jongdae narrowed his eyes even harder.

"Fine! Then, come with me, you overgrown baby!" Minseok snapped.

"I'm not a baby."

"Yeah, right." Minseok replied skeptically as they began making their way to the kitchen. "You were screaming like a scared little girl back then. Something about we're dying from the alien invasion?"

Meanwhile, Baekhyun instantly sighed as he looked up to his grinning partner. "Why is it always me?" He let out one last huff before stomping all the way to the stairs.

"Wait for me!"