5th 6th prince Lucius joined forces with Dreichel's army in 949 952-

Sitting in the last row of a chatter-filled classroom, Chanyeol looked down at his notes with a frown. He really had been careless when writing these down. Having Jongdae, of all people, see these mistakes was embarrassing.

"Chanyeol?"

He slammed his notebook close.

"Yeah?" he asked, putting his history book on top of it for good measure.

Yifan shot him a fleeting, judgemental look, but didn't address his suspicious behaviour.

"I just wanted to let you know that I won't make it to the engineering club today," he explained. "Practice was moved because of tomorrow's field trip."

He looked quite relaxed, considering that they were sharing a classroom with plenty of nobles. Granted, none of them even looked their way, too preoccupied with either studying or gossiping and not-so-subtly trying to impress each other.

Classrooms were still somewhat segregated with the nobles occupying the front rows, so obviously, Chanyeol had snatched a seat right behind them, just because he could. As soon as the teacher had declared the class over, however, he had made his way to the back to sit between Yifan and Jongin - who was currently getting a quiet history lesson by none other than Jongdae. He and Yixing were the only specks of white in the back of the classroom. This morning, too, he had joined Jongin in his morning stretches, and Chanyeol wondered when another orb lesson would be worth a try-

"You could at least nod, you know?"

"Hm?"

Yifan sighed.

"I know you consider glaring at Jongdae a fulltime obligation, but a little confirmation would be nice."

Chanyeol nodded, mentally rewinding the last seconds.

"You won't come to the club today," he eventually echoed. "Yeah. I'll let Minseok know."

"Cool. You're more distracted than usual, by the way. Everything okay?" Yifan asked slowly, seeking eye contact if only to make sure Chanyeol didn't space out on him again. With a dramatic sigh, Chanyeol leaned over his desk.

"I don't know. I guess I'm a little worried about the test next week," he admitted. "It's kinda hard to gauge the difficulty."

"Yeah, I get that," Yifan muttered, frowning at his own notes. "This isn't one of the most infamous academies for nothing. Feels like no amount of preparation is sufficient."

"I know, right?" Chanyeol whined. "Like, sure, we all passed the entrance exams, but maybe those were easy in comparison?"

"I see you're studying?" a nasal voice piped up, and Chanyeol reflexively looked up, only to tense up at the sight of Zitao - the second most glare-worthy person at the school.

He was about to open his mouth when he realized that Zitao - who had pranced over to them, surprisingly void of his usual posse of what Chanyeol could only assume to be spineless nobles - had in fact, been talking to Jongdae.

The very same Jongdae who didn't even bat an eye and had obviously not heard him over whatever time period he was trying to explain to Jongin, pen tapping against the paper.

Under regular circumstances, Chanyeol would feel sorry for him. Considering how much of a jerk he had been to Yixing (and him) though, all he did was snort.

Zitao's embarrassment was obvious from the way his cheeks darkened, but not from his arrogant expression as he took another step towards Jongdae, going as far as to place his palm on the table.

"I'm not sure if it's been brought to your attention before, but there's plenty of handy resources at the upper class dorm, seeing as we have a private library," he added, undeterred, still wearing this stiff, all-too punchable smirk.

Jongdae didn't even look up from Jongin's notes.

"I'll have to decline - although I appreciate the offer."

Chanyeol couldn't help the grin spreading on his lips. Only Jongdae could be so damn rude while using all these flowery phrases.

Zitao deserved it all and then some, but Chanyeol would be a liar to say it wasn't satisfying to see Jongdae's catty attitude directed at someone that wasn't him for a change.

He could see Zitao's hand clench by his side, but it still didn't reach his expression.

"Certainly we'll be able to make an exception for your- acquaintance," he added, clearly condescending. "Maybe it'll speed up his progress."

Jongin looked awkward at best, but Jongdae only made a noncommittal sound, eyes still on whatever line he was currently commenting in his chicken scratch excuse for noble handwriting.

Unlike him, however, Chanyeol refused to stand by and let Jongin be humiliated.

"Why do you make it sound like Jongin is an idiot?" he asked, straightening up to properly glare at Zitao, who responded in kind.

"I don't recall talking to you," he drawled out.

At this point, however, Chanyeol considered himself completely immune to noble arrogance, and he only raised his brows in mock surprise.

"Ooh, my bad! I guess since you were talking about Jongin - who is sitting right here - I assumed this was some sort of open discussion?"

"Unless invited, you can always assume that you're not part of whatever discussion people of our ranks are having," Zitao responded in thinly veiled exasperation. "It would do you some good to learn this lesson before you graduate."

Something about Zitao wasn't just rubbing Chanyeol the wrong way, it straight up set him on fire. This guy got under his skin almost as much as Jongdae did, but in a very different way.

"You really think you're in a position to act like this?" he asked, feeling his anger gradually take over in an all-too familiar way. "We're all students here, in case you missed the memo. What do you gain from walking all over people you assume to be beneath you? You don't even know a single thing about Jongin. He isn't even from here-"

"Like I said," Zitao began, but Chanyeol wasn't one to get interrupted by voices that had never had to rise in volume to be heard.

"And if I told you that Jongin's actually considered royalty in the Highlands - what would you do then?" he demanded, gaining immense gratification from the way a shadow of insecurity flickered over Zitao's expression at last, eyes quickly darting towards Jongin.

"I wasn't aware that the Highlands had royals," he said, slow and hesitant.

Chanyeol huffed.

"See? An instant 180. Don't you realize how-"

"Shut up, Park," Jongdae groaned, finally looking up from his notes to send Chanyeol an annoyed look. "If you wanna brawl like a street dog, do it outside. I am trying to study here."

"Oooh, our highness is studying," Chanyeol dramatically commented, immediately turning towards him instead. "Pardon for wasting air in your vicinity-"

"I'm glad to see that you opened your mind to four-syllable words at last, but I'd appreciate it even more if you practiced them at room volume," Jongdae retorted, wearing this infuriating mask of nonchalance that was more irritating than a mosquito bite on the underside of one's foot, and Chanyeol really wanted to punch him.

"And I'd appreciate you minding your own business, yet here we are-"

"You're really sitting in a glass house regarding that one."

Chanyeol went into a rant on how to properly appreciate people voluntarily spending time with him, with Jongdae having an appropriate retort to every single thing he said, both of them blatantly ignoring Zitao. At this point, the attention of the classroom had long dissipated - they had soon realized that the commoner boy picking a fight with the son of the Kims never led to anything but faint headaches.

By the time Jongin carefully broke them up by suggesting to buy snacks with Chanyeol, Zitao was nowhere to be seen anymore.
 

Did Chanyeol regret what he'd said to Zitao? No.

Would he do it again? ...probably.

Did that make his timing any better though? Well. No.

When the teacher had separated them into groups after a short 30 minute march into a nearby forest, Chanyeol had initially cheered. Exploring the forest in search for edibles and plant samples had sounded somewhat exciting but doing so with Jongin and Luhan would be even better.

Then Zitao was added to their group, and the atmosphere had turned pretty sour since.

At the announcement, Zitao had grimaced, but hadn't spoken up against the instructor. Seeing him voluntarily duck his head for once was nice, but it was hard to appreciate the sight when the other was standing with them like he was their team leader, receiving instructions and radiating arrogance.

Chanyeol couldn't help but notice how he was clumsier than Jongdae in that regard though. Zitao's rigid posture and refusal to look their way screamed of purpose, lacking every sense of the bored, blasé attitude Jongdae had mastered as if his highest goal in life was to piss Chanyeol off. Yes, in comparison, Zitao came across as more hot-headed and unrefined. Childish even.

Part of him wondered whether that was the reason why Jongdae had so many nobles fawning over him, but entertaining this thought would somehow acknowledge that this concept of a noble attitude was valid in any way.

The instructor clapped once, shooing them all off into different directions, leaving Chanyeol ample time to bemoan his terrible luck. It was just like him to be rid of Jongdae, but stuck with Zitao instead.

It didn't even take the pesky noble longer than two minutes to turn into a little tyrant.

"Alright, so you keep an eye open for medical herbs," he began as soon as they were out of ear-shot, really, interrupting the muted, friendly conversation they'd had about Luhan's upcoming basketball game.

At first, Chanyeol didn't even understand what he was referring to.

"And you look for edible plants and fruits," Zitao then said to him, somehow managing to convey that this was the easiest task, and that Chanyeol shouldn't be entrusted with anything more difficult than that.

...or so Chanyeol thought, because next, Zitao looked at Jongin and hesitated.

"And you... can document the animal species one could hunt."

Jongin didn't seem like he minded at all, like the connotation of Zitao's prejudices against people of the Nord was completely lost on him, but both Luhan and Chanyeol shot him shrewd looks.

"Oh, and you supervise us while doing so?" Luhan eventually asked, deceivingly casual.

Zitao had the guts to look exasperated.

"Of course not. You're responsible for your own results."

Luhan nodded in faux understanding.

"I see," he breathed out slowly. "And what are you doing? Just asking."

Zitao didn't even have to look down at his small notepad.

"I'll be in charge of localizing and categorizing potential shelters," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So you're saying we'll crouch in the dirt while you stare at landscapes," Chanyeol commented blankly. He had to hand it to Zitao though - the pitiful look he received in return was almost on Jongdae levels of infuriating.

"Yes," he dragged out slowly. "And this is why you should stick to finding berries."

"Identifying edible food - and processing it - is not an easy thing to do," Jongin began seriously, but Chanyeol stopped in his tracks, holding up his hand.

"Okay, but I don't remember asking you to play instructor for us."

"Yeap," Luhan agreed, crossing his arms. He looked quite unimpressed. "As far as I'm concerned this is supposed to be a group assignment."

Zitao stopped as well.

"Obviously," he stated, mildly annoyed. "Which is why splitting the tasks would be the most effective way to yield results-"

"You don't get it, don't you?" Chanyeol asked, wondering how he still had any disbelief left in him. "You're not the boss of us."

Zitao looked like his patience was wearing thin, but the feeling was mutual.

"I was simply" he began, but Luhan cut him off with the same nonchalance he had for Jongdae's and Chanyeol's eternal quarreling.

"You were simply thinking that being the only noble in this group, you're entitled to take the lead," he finished the sentence. "Cute, but you can forget about that real quick. We do this together or not at all."

Zitao narrowed his eyes at him, clearly not expecting a pushback this hard but for once, Chanyeol was perfectly sure that sitting back and watching was all he needed to do. Because if there was one person who wasn't having people throwing a fit, it would be Luhan.

"Oh? You want to refuse the task?" Zitao asked, already slipping out of his overly formal attitude.

"We refuse to work under you," Luhan corrected him. "And seeing as it's three of us and one of you, you better adapt or report your lack of results to the instructor by yourself."

He hadn't even said it in an overly aggressive manner, just making it very clear that any further petty arguments would be useless.

Zitao looked equal parts furious and speechless, and for a moment, Chanyeol expected him to keep arguing. But eventually, reason seemed to win out; after all, if there was anything nobles defined themselves by, aside from their family name, it would be educational success. Failing an assignment was as shameful to him as it would be to anyone else.

So ultimately, Zitao relented - not without an exasperated sigh, of course.

"And what do you propose we do?" he demanded. Luhan shrugged.

"Well, separating the tasks is a good idea. What do you guys wanna do?" he asked into the round.

Chanyeol could only shrug as well.

"Well, I don't exactly bring any qualifications to the table, so whichever task is left over is good enough for me," he admitted. They looked towards Jongin, who still seemed pretty unperturbed by the drama.

"Anything's fine, really," he assured them, still wearing a sunny smile.

Zitao snorted, clearly ready to tear apart the commoner's useless fight for independence, but Luhan was on top of things as per usual.

"Well, obviously, Jongin is our ace. So if you don't mind, you should take on the most difficult task. Which are the shelters."

Zitao spluttered.

"He's a foreigner-"

"Who grew up in tune with nature in the Northern Highlands," Luhan cut him off, rolling his eyes. "Unlike city boy Chanyeol and me. And don't even get me started on you. Jongin is closer to our surroundings than any of us. Anyway, I'd like to do the edible plants and fruits stuff, if that's cool."

"Sure," Chanyeol shrugged. "That leaves hunting and herbs. I'm no good at either but I did bring the book on plants, so I guess I'll be doing-"

"I am not going to hunt," Zitao intervened, sounding surprisingly  firm.

Chanyeol suppressed a groan.

"It's not like you'd be hunting," he began, "just documenting and categorizing animal species-"

"I am not going to do this," Zitao insisted slowly.

Chanyeol stared at him, contemplating his own reaction. Long and hard.

He had mentioned that he didn't mind either task, but Zitao's attitude was really pissing him off. He could make things hard for him.

He could.

In the end, however, he sighed and handed over his book.

"There," he huffed, pushing it against his chest, where Zitao held it out of instinct more than anything. "But be careful with my book. Unlike you, I can't afford only using things once."

Zitao looked very much like he wanted to protest, and Chanyeol - who had a pair of functioning eyes and could tell the other hadn't brought his own book - mentally dared him to. Indeed Zitao parted his lips but thought better of it and just stalked ahead, muttering something about how he'd never damage a book.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, and Luhan patted his shoulder, shooting him a nonchalant shrug, the unspoken message clear. Good enough. At least they could get to work now. Because Luhan was certainly right about one thing: aside from Jongin, all of them were absolutely lost in the wild. Though they had to do a better job than, say, Jongdae. Yes, Chanyeol was determined not to be outdone by the other, more nobility-heavy teams.

They stalked through the forest, occasionally stopping if any of them saw something noteworthy. It was mostly Jongin asking them to pause as he tested the properties of places he claimed to be really effective spots to either rest or lay traps. It gave them time to also scour the environment - Chanyeol in particular had to distance himself from the others most of the time, trying to get an overview of the animals common to this forest. With so many groups of people marching through the forest, most animals had understandably retreated, but Chanyeol could be pretty observant if he wanted to be (and he generally loved animals). Near a clearing, he got lucky and managed to spot a hare in between the bushes. Having grown up around domesticated bunnies, Chanyeol couldn't help but marvel at the sheer size of it. The hare seemed to have noticed them, teetering on the verge of fleeing, but Chanyeol simply kept watching it, not moving an inch-

A shrill shriek had him drop his notebook as the hare jumped, fleeing into the depths of the forest.

Chanyeol flew around, a curse on his lips, as Zitao flew past him.

"It's huge-" Zitao yelped, high-pitched and panicky, all noblesse forgotten.

"W-what is?!" Chanyeol asked nervously, looking around but not seeing anything.

Not until a large, shiny bug landed on a nearby tree trunk.

He blinked.

"What's wrong?" Luhan asked, already jogging over to them, with Jongin in tow.

"Uhm..." Chanyeol trailed off, unsure on how to answer that.

He pointed at the thing sitting innocently on the tree.

Luhan stared at it.

"That's a bug."

Before anyone could comment on it, said bug flew off and right towards Zitao again - potentially lured in by his flowery perfume - prompting him to screech in an entirely undignified way.

"Make it go away-"

For a moment, they all stood there in dumbstruck silence, watching Zitao run around like a headless chicken.

"Don't just stand there-" he whined, freaking out more with every passing second, "it's following me!"

Jongin shuddered, looking thoroughly disgusted and even taking a step away from Zitao, for good measure.

"Sorry, but, uhm. I'm not good with bugs," he admitted, shifting his weight back and forth.

Chanyeol shared his sentiment with a helpless shrug. That was a pretty gross bug, and he had no idea how to even begin getting rid of it. He didn't exactly have anything on him to catch it with-

Luhan looked very close to a headache.

"Really now?"

When none of them reacted, he swiftly retrieved one of his gathering containers.

Both Chanyeol and Jongin simply stood there, watching him chase after Zitao, who refused to calm down.

"Stop running around so much-"

"Make it go away!"

"How am I supposed to catch it like this? Mid-air?"

"Just do it- oh my god it touched me!"

"So... did you notice any animal I could write down?" Chanyeol asked blankly. "Cause I think they're all gone for good after this."

Jongin grimaced sympathetically.

"This was worse than yesterday's combat training," Luhan panted, leaning against a tree before slowly slipping down and flopping into the grass.

Wordlessly, Jongin handed him a water bottle.

After Luhan had freed the dreaded bug, they had quickly made their way into the forest again, resting at a small pond.

"It definitely looked more stressful," Chanyeol commented, sitting down next to him. This part of the forest was quite picturesque, even if the pond water was murky and still, smelling strongly of algae. It was apparently still good enough for Zitao to fix his hair in the water reflection. He hadn't said a word since the dreaded bug had been caught, hadn't looked anyone in the eye, really.

Chanyeol was a little too exhausted to wring a 'Thank You' out of him and Luhan didn't seem to expect one, so instead, he spread out his notes and compared their findings.

Jongin's notes were plentiful and detailed enough for Chanyeol to consider copying them to use them for his own studies.

"I thought the Highlands consist mostly of mountains and meadows? I didn't know you were so accustomed to forests."

Jongin smiled, lighting up like he always did when someone brought up his home.

"We have forests, too," he explained. "They may be very different in both flora and fauna, but that only makes this trip all the more interesting."

Chanyeol hummed.

The Highlands were a vast country, largely uninhibited and only fully explored by the native tribes living there. The academy's history books were actually rather lacking when it came to their neighbour in the north-east, so listening to Jongin speak of his home was fascinating to Chanyeol. And Jongin always spoke so animatedly about his background and upbringing, about how he had assisted his mother in herding cattle or how learning to ride a horse was an important step to become part of their community.

Chanyeol had never taken himself to be a prejudiced person but knowing Jongin, seeing how he was not only diligent and benevolent, but also wise in a way none of them were, had truly solidified his respect for the Highlanders.

Sometimes, Chanyeol felt like they should be the ones learning from him.

"Glad you found this encounter interesting," Luhan only grumbled, but it was all in good fun. "I can't believe such a child of nature is scared of bugs."

"Our bugs aren't nearly this large," Jongin pouted. "Besides, I was once bitten by a huge moth as a child-"

Chanyeol shuddered.

"Ugh, please don't elaborate."

Jongin chuckled.

"We're all hopeless, I guess. Thanks for saving us, Luhan," he said airily, only to be waved off.

"Don't mention it."

"You know, you called Jongin our ace, but we'd be in trouble without you," Chanyeol commented. "You're actually making for a pretty good leader."

Luhan snorted, but Chanyeol wasn't having it.

"For real," he insisted. "I noticed it back during our pseudo combat tournament. You're pretty good at delegating people and stuff."

Luhan shook his head, biting back a grin.

"It's nothing. Just something I kinda grew up doing. I don't wanna be obnoxious or anything."

"Don't worry about it," Chanyeol assured him while Jongin tilted his head in curiosity.

"Got a lot of siblings?"

Luhan made a negating sound in the back of his throat.

"I'm a single child. But my parents own a pretty big dye mill."

Luhan had mentioned coming from a town called Celdic, famous for its market, flowers and fabrics, but this was new to them. He seemed nothing if not nonchalant though.

"We have a lot of people helping out over the summer, so distributing tasks with people's strengths in mind and keeping an overview is kinda important."

A small, derogatory snort had them look up to find Zitao standing nearby, looking down at them with a fresh wave of disdain.

"An aspiring little businessman," he drawled out, one hand on his hips. "I keep wondering how the likes of you even make it through the entrance exam. If this school wasn't so prestigious, one would assume that commoners get a different set of questions."

Chanyeol probably looked like an idiot with how his jaw dropped at the sheer audacity.

He must have hit a nerve because before Chanyeol could even think of delivering the punch the other was so clearly begging for, Luhan - level-headed, mature Luhan - slowly got to his feet, gaze hard and voice confrontational.

"I worked hard to get where I am now," he began slowly, clearly enunciating every word, stringing together tense syllables. "I worked my off in ways your privileged self will never be able to emphasize with."

Jongin shared a helpless look with Chanyeol, who could only shrug. Sure, they should be doing something, but while he was always ready to face off a noble, he was not dumb enough to get in Luhan's line of sight now.

"And my parents' business is an honourable place where we value our employees and the craft that's been handed down for generations," he added, leaving no room for argument. "In fact, I am positive that your private wardrobe would not look the same without our handiwork."

"If it's such a substantial business, then maybe you should hurry back home and focus on that instead," Zitao quipped, head tilted and arms crossed.

At last, Luhan snapped, voice rising as he took a step towards him.

"What's your problem with me? I just ing helped you out when you were screaming like a little baby over some bug! And I didn't even expect you to thank me, but this? What's this?"

Zitao huffed, but it was clear that he, too, was growing more aggravated by the second.

"Ever considered that this is what your place is meant to be, anyway-"

"You're acting like a ridiculous, petulant child - you're not saving face, you're making yourself look even more pathetic-" Luhan spat, but whatever he was going to say next got stuck in his throat when Zitao shoved him - straight into the pond.

He crashed into the water with a shocked yelp, and both Jongin and Chanyeol jumped to their feet.

"What the hell?!" Chanyeol demanded, stepping towards the pond, where Luhan was splashing around... frantically.

It only took a split-second for both of them to realize that he couldn't swim.

Anger turned to alarm immediately. They moved simultaneously, but Chanyeol was faster.

"I got it," he said curtly, shrugging off shoes and jacket within seconds, jumping in with no hesitation.

It was actually much deeper than he'd anticipated, and even more disgusting. Luhan was still splashing around blindly, and for once, Chanyeol was grateful for his advantage in height since getting a hold of him wasn't too hard. Meanwhile Jongin kept calling out to him from the sidelines, instructing him to stay calm, and to trust Chanyeol.

He also held out a hand when Chanyeol managed to pull him towards the wet, slimy tree roots framing the pool. With combined strength, they managed to pull Luhan out. Under normal circumstances, he would have certainly been able to pull himself up easily but right now, he was shaking. Violently so.

"It's much deeper than it looks like," Chanyeol panted as he landed in the grass next to Luhan, dripping wet and reeking. Jongin only hummed, rubbing Luhan's shoulders while a string of calming reassurances left his lips. He was quick to wrap his own, dry jacket around Luhan's shoulders. Who was still heaving and shaking, and didn't utter a single word.

With the immediate danger gone, Chanyeol whirled around to glare at Zitao... who was standing a few feet away, looking shell-shocked.

"Are you out of your mind?!" he barked, spurred on by the sudden rush of adrenaline.

Zitao was just standing there, shoulders drawing up ever so slightly.

"How was I supposed to know-"

"Shut up!" Chanyeol cut him off, getting to his feet to face the perfect example of everything he despised about nobles. "Considering your constant mockery, you obviously knew none of us grew up with fitness programs and fencing lessons and whatever the hell else you noble kids get. If you'd stopped to think about anything but yourself for just a second, you wouldn't have done it-"

His voice was growing in volume, but he didn't care and for once, Zitao didn't even attempt to interrupt him as Chanyeol poured out all the bottled up emotions of the day.

"-but no, everything the great Huang Zitao does only serves himself! You think you're worth more than us but in reality, none of us could crouch down low enough to see eye to eye with you, and you know what? People know that. Nobility or not, people see through this . Actually, the only noble thing about you is your selfish arrogance, and that's why Kim doesn’t look your way even if you're begging him to!"

There, he'd said it. All he'd been thinking and then some.

Zitao looked like he'd genuinely slice his head off if he had access to a sword, but not a single word left his lips.

For once, Huang Zitao was truly speechless.

"What's going on here?"

He saw the mildly concerned face of a noble student whose name he didn't know as another group entered the clearing, clearly drawn in by all the shouting. Upon seeing Luhan, they immediately rushed to see if he needed anything, and Zitao used the chance to whirl around and stomp off.

Chanyeol himself was heaving, still too riled up to function, so he walked around the pond, intending to get away and calm down when he almost bumped into the last member of the fellow group. Jongdae.

Because of course.

Following the startled little sound in the back of his throat, he gave him a judgemental once over, voice nasal as ever.

"Took a dog bath?"

Chanyeol briefly closed his eyes, ignoring the way his wet shirt clung to the back of his neck. And arms. And everything.

He took a deep breath.

"Jongdae?" he finally asked, as calm as he could muster.

His name sounded weird on his tongue, and maybe the other agreed, because he looked somewhat taken aback.

"Yes?" he asked slowly, suspiciously. Carefully.

"Can you swim?"

Now he huffed, features relaxing again.

"Of course I can swim, who do you-"

With one, decisive push, Chanyeol shoved him into the pond.

He'd probably have to pay for the dry-cleaner, but that was worth it.