After the little thing with Jeong and Tzu, our boys get really busy, they are approaching the holidays and the workload is getting heavier and heavier. All concentrating on what they have to do for entrance exams, nobody will really have the time after christmas and chuseok is already booked for extra classes for everyone. Dahyun would take those days to finish his pieces for the third rounds, as the themes should be out by then, and his girls were pissed but understanding about it. Sana had to go to japan for some family business, so did Mina, but their boyfriends couldn’t, so the two japanese decided to take the trip together.

Chaeyoung and Seungwan had some event their grandfather was hosting, Jihyo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon would be helping out in a chemistry club workshop for extra credit that they didn’t need but the event would buff up their applications. Joohyun was asked by Sooyoung to help out at this college festival thing (along with Seulgi) and was very thankful he wouldn’t have to attend grandpa’s Son event, he loved his boyfriend but hated those events. Chaeyoung heard from Minnie, who heard from Yeri, who was told by Seulgi that there was this crash course for math during chuseok, he decided to drag his friend there and demand he take it.

Lord knows Chaeyoung loves Yerim, but that idiot needs to start taking things seriously, especially now that everyone skipped a grade and he wasn’t even invited to try. Tzuyu, however, didn’t take more shifts, he actually got less of those and had been attending extra classes at the beginning of the year. Now that he was unwavering in his decision about college and about Jeongyeon, he decided it would be much better to make sure he gets in and cram as much as he could earlier on. 

The families were, well pleased, that their boys were so certain and so invested in something they wanted. Seungyeon had kept her word and had been pampering her little brother as much as she could, he had to put a stop to her at some point because he wasn’t running anymore and the weight was starting to accumulate. Tzuyu did argue he liked love handles and Jeong could afford a bit more meat on his bones, but the older boy wasn’t wavering so they gave up. Things were alright for that time.

When the tests got closer, Dahyun had to take a trip none of the boys, but Joohyun and Seungwan, really knew the reason, and the couple had been sworn to secrecy and never budged, they also knew it would be better if nobody knew the real reason behind it and telling anyone else wouldn’t really do anyone any good at all. The real reason was that Dahyun had been trying for universities in Europe, two in France and two in Italy, he worked out with the schools to have the tests close to each other so he could take a single trip for both. It was a quick but rather nice trip for mother and son, mrs Bae had a few extra hours she had to spend and managed to get a week and a half off.

Italy was first, they arrived two days before the test to adjust to the time zone, they spent another three days visiting Napoles and headed off to Milan, where the boy would take his second exam, then spent another two days around. After that they headed down to Marselle, up to Paris and then back home. It was great, they managed to do some tourism between the tests, Dahyun said he didn’t intend to study while he was there, it would only add unnecessary stress and there wasn’t anything he could learn at the last minute anyways. Mrs Bae was glad she took the trip with her youngest, he had been through some tough times and it felt good to see him so free and unworried.

One thing only the Baes and the Parks knew was that Jihyo had been trying to make amends ((great story, give it a read if you haven’t)) ever since the breakup, the boys were back to talking terms and the older one had enough time to reflect on himself and accept his mistakes. It still hurt when Kim and Choerry were around, but he understood that he blew his chance and had to work around that, the throuple had been going well and he wasn’t about to stoop as low as to try and sabotage them. It wouldn’t do anyone any favors and Jihyo definitely didn’t want things to get bad again.

Apart from the Baes and Saeungwan, Lip and Choerry also knew where Dahyun was going and why, they were dating and he had already talked to the girls about that, they liked him a lot and would prefer if he stayed close, but both girls also knew it was something the boy wanted and would also be great for his future if he went, so they spent a lot of time talking and working through the issue, also preparing themselves if Dahyun did get in and went away. It was decided between the three that if the time came, the boy wouldn’t want to tie the girls down, so they would break up with him. All agreed long distance at such a young age would be difficult and too taxing for them, plus, they also didn’t want anyone to be barred from experiencing college life to the fullest because of a relationship that was so uncertain. For now, they were together, though.

While that trip was happening, the other boys were very curious, but even Sooyoung couldn’t find out the reason for the younger Bae’s absence. If the student council didn’t provide the information, that meant things had been settled with the faculty directly and the president knew something she wasn’t saying. That brought our favorite group’s curiosity to even higher levels, but before they could think too deeply into it, Dahyun was back with gifts and not a single word about where he had been. They were just chocolates he got at the free shop, precisely to not give away anything. 

It would be another while before any of them actually had to move on from their highschool lives, but, for now, the kids are trying to enjoy themselves to their fullest. It was a chill afternoon, when the next event happened, Seungwan would be celebrating his birthday and wanted a last good party before they parted ways, the slight problem was that mrs Son wanted something casual, a barbecue party on their backyard with close friends and family, mr Son and grandma Son, however, wanted a pompous event, all the high class whatnots and important presences. It was a slightly tense atmosphere for a while but the boy said he just wanted to have fun with his friends and the backyard, very private, party it was.

Things went as well as they could, most of the students he had invited showed up the house had been locked, there was a pathway to the backyard that didn’t go through it and Chaeyoung gave the idea to just place a sign on the front door with arrows indicating the way to the back. It did save a lot of trouble not having to keep tabs on the doorbell, it also saved a lot of cleaning up after as nobody was really allowed inside. It was the talk of the school for the next few weeks, sure, it had been an invitation to the seniors only, save for those who were plus ones or close friends, but everyone was talking about it regardless.

Trully, that was the last hurrah before finals week and entrance exams, Seungwan became somewhat of a hero for his party and the slight popularity annoyed him for the few days before everyone was too busy to do anything other than worry about themselves. It was nice, things seemed to have found their ways, our boys were content, if not satisfied about how their lives were shaping up, each had their own worries, but they were managing and that was what counted.