The end of the day had Youngjae tiredly slamming his locker shut and gazing toward the opposite end of the hallway, where Jung Daehyun was laughing at something his friend said. He had his shirt untucked, his tie loosened, a pair of sleek headphones around his neck; he was the perfect image of a student whose weekend had just begun.

“Youngjae.”

He turned at the sound of his name, loosening his own tie. “Oh hey, Kyungsoo.”

“Are you ever going to talk to that guy, or are you just going to continue to stare at him intensely and copy his fashion habits?” Kyungsoo asked, leaning against the row of lockers in front of them.

Youngjae tapped his index finger to his chin, pretending to think for a moment. “Probably the second option,” he told Kyungsoo.

“Well. I have some information that may interest you. I’m now official photographer for the student newspaper.”

“That’s great!” Youngjae congratulated him. “I knew you’d get the position, though.”

“It’s not like anyone else really wanted it,” Kyungsoo laughed.

“Still. You’re very talented,” Youngjae assured him.

“Well thank you but anyway, I’m not only telling you this to brag,” Kyungsoo went on.  “I actually--”

“Hey, Kyungsoo. Did you get those photos?”

Youngjae blinked harder than would be necessary in any normal situation, but he was having some issues processing the sight that was Jung Daehyun suddenly standing in front of him, talking to his best friend like they were old pals.

“I did,” Kyungsoo answered brightly, fishing his camera out of his backpack.  “Oh, also...this is my friend, Youngjae. He’s interested in joining the paper, too.”

“Really?” Daehyun’s dark eyes locked onto Youngjae with something like hope and effectively suspended his ability to think or speak. “You want to?”

Youngjae nodded numbly, although he couldn’t remember mentioning anything of the sort.

“Great! We’ve been looking for a new writer all semester! I guess I’ll see both of you at the meeting then. Give me just a minute-I’ll be right there.”

Youngjae stared after him as he disappeared down the hallway again. “Kyungsoo...maybe you can explain to me...did I just tell Daehyun I would write for the newspaper?”

“I believe you did,” Kyungsoo said, smiling hard. “He’s editor in chief. I found out when I went to apply to be photographer.”

“But Kyungsoo--”

“This is perfect.”

“Kyungsoo, no--”

“Now you have a reason to talk to him all you want.”

“But wait a minute, I can’t write for the paper!” Youngjae insisted, starting to panic a bit.

Kyungsoo blinked his eyes open wider. “Why not?”

“I don’t...I’m not good at that sort of thing.”

“Oh come on, you’ll do fine. We’re gonna be late for the meeting.” Kyungsoo dragged him down the hall and up the stairs to a small computer lab near the library.

“I really don’t think I can do this,” Youngjae said as Kyungsoo pulled open the door.

“Youngjae, all you have to do is write an article once in a while, not an 18th century English novel.”

“I know, but I’m really not prepared for this.”

Youngjae stopped talking as they stepped into the room, occupied by just a few students using computers, who didn’t seem to notice them come in.

Youngjae dropped his voice close to a whisper and continued, “You didn’t even warn me you were gonna--”

“I know, I’m sorry, I just saw the opportunity and I ran with it,” Kyungsoo said, and he truly did look a bit sorry. Youngjae sighed.

The door opened again to admit Daehyun. “Hey! So Kyungsoo, if you want to get to a computer and start uploading the photos you took, that’d be great...I’m just gonna debrief Youngjae here.”

“You got it,” Kyungsoo said, darting off to a corner.

“So Youngjae, why didn’t you approach someone sooner about joining the paper?” Daehyun asked. The question wasn’t accusatory, but Youngjae still struggled to swallow before he answered, especially considering he never actually wanted to join in the first place.

“Um, well...I just...wasn’t sure about it, I guess,” he invented, hoping there wouldn’t be some kind of long interviewing process. His eyes dropped a little to where Daehyun had ed his shirt at the top. It was very distracting.

“Ah, well, it doesn’t matter,” Daehyun continued, and Youngjae snapped his eyes back up to Daehyun’s face. “We’re just glad to have you. Like I said, we’ve been looking for another writer. We really need someone else writing for the entertainment section, so are you good with that?”

Youngjae nodded, trying to stop noticing the way Daehyun  his lips in between every few sentences or at least to stop being so affected by it.

“Okay cool. Now, let me give you the spiel. You’ll be responsible for writing one story every week.  Chanyeol will be your section editor.” Daehyun gestured to a boy with wild, curly hair sitting at a computer a couple chairs away. He smiled brightly and waved. “He’ll email you the assigned topic for your story every Monday and you’ll send it in to him before midnight on the following Sunday. If you have any other questions, just ask him. Welcome to the paper.”

Youngjae nodded again. “Thanks,” he managed to get out as Daehyun rushed over to collect Kyungsoo’s photos.

“So,” Chaneyol said, and Youngjae turned to look at him. “I guess that’s all we need from you right now...One other thing I guess you should know is that, technically, all stories need to be 500 words. So always try to write at least 500 words, unless you can’t.”

“Oh, okay,” Youngjae said agreeably. Five hundred words didn’t seem like much. Maybe this wouldn’t be too hard.

“Ok great. And now!” Chanyeol jumped up from his chair suddenly. He was very tall, Youngjae noticed.  “I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team here.”

Chanyeol took two strides to traverse the distance across the room to the cluster of students by another row of computers, some of them seated, others standing. One was perched on top of the desk, kicking the legs of another student’s chair with the scuffed toes of his Converse.

“Hey, Jongin, did you start your story I gave you for this week yet?” asked one of the chair dwellers. He didn’t take his eyes off the computer screen where he was typing.

“Yes, Sehun. As a matter of fact I did,” replied a boy who Youngjae guessed must be Jongin. “I’m almost done with it, actually,” he finished with an air of pride.

“Oh,” Sehun said, pausing for just a second in his typing before continuing lightly, “Well, can I switch you to something else?”

“What?” Jongin exclaimed, voice rising considerably.  “WHY?”

“I found something more important that really needs to be covered,” Sehun answered easily, looking over at Jongin for a moment before going back to his typing. “Sorry,” he added, like an afterthought.

“Hey, Minho, can you switch me to something else?  I don’t want to write about soccer for the 800th time this month,” the boy sitting on top of the desk said.

A handsome boy with glossy black hair lifted his head from his computer screen. “Hmmm...no.”

“What the hell. I hate sports.”

“Jonghyun, you write for the sports section. There’s not a whole lot I can do about that,” Minho answered, on the verge of laughing.

Jongin was still staring viciously at Sehun’s side profile, looking like he wanted to protest but couldn’t find the words. “Why are you my editor? I’m older than you!” he said finally.

Sehun clicked the mouse with a flourish and shrugged as he stood up. “The hierarchy here is based on years of experience, not age. But I think you knew that.” His smile carved its way up one cheek. “Check your email, Jongin. I’ll see you all next week.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder as he nodded to the scattered ‘byes that came from the others.

Chanyeol caught him by the elbow. He cleared his throat and addressed the room at large in his loud, booming voice, “Hey, no one leaves yet. There’s someone you all have to meet first.”

Everyone looked over to Chanyeol, who tugged Youngjae a little closer, shifting everyone’s eyes to him and Youngjae smiled awkwardly, feeling small under the weight of the sudden attention.

“Ah, this is Minseok’s replacement, then?” asked the only other boy sitting at a computer, one eyebrow raised threatening above his round framed glasses as he gave Youngjae a judging once-over.

“This is Youngjae, my new writer!” Chanyeol proclaimed. “He’s gonna be a great addition to our paper, so everyone give him a warm welcome please.”

Youngjae bowed quickly as he received scattered applause.

“Right then...”  Chanyeol continued. “So...starting from the youngest, we have the general news section editor, Sehun, and these are his writers next to him, Jongin and Tao. I’m the entertainment section editor, obviously...” He pointed to round framed glasses boy next. “This is Jongdae, editor for the opinions section. This is Minho, the sports editor and his reluctant writer, Jonghyun. You already know who Daehyun and Kyungsoo are. The only ones who aren’t here are Baekhyun, Jongdae’s writer; my other writer, Yixing; Minho’s other writer, Dongwoon; and Joonmyun, the other editor in chief.” He surveyed them all one more time. “Okay, NOW you’re free to go,” he said to Sehun.

Youngjae followed Chanyeol back to the other desk where he began packing up his things. “So, any questions?”

Youngjae pressed his lips together before he spoke. “Just one....Who’s Minseok? And why am I his replacement? Did Jongdae kill him?” 

He realized that was actually three questions, not one, but Chanyeol certainly didn’t seem to notice or care as he doubled over laughing, clutching desperately at Youngjae’s shoulder. He finally caught his breath nearly a minute later. “Oh god, I can tell you’re going to fit right in, you don’t have anything to worry about. Oh wow. Jongdae’s not that bad, I promise. The only one you really have to be scared of is Baekhyun. But he does everything I say, so just stick with me, and you’ll be fine.” He smiled at Youngjae who returned it weakly. “Oh, right, you wanted to know about Minseok!” Chanyeol exclaimed again, suddenly remembering the original question. “He graduated. He used to be the other writer in my section. I do miss him. I think he was the only one out of all of us with an actual brain.” Chanyeol scrunched his eyebrows together for a moment. “I have faith in you, though!” he finished, smiling again.

“Thanks,” Youngjae said, suddenly glad that he had at least been assigned to the most openly friendly editor.

“I’ll be sending the topic for your first story your way tonight, so look out for it. Remember--500 words to me by Sunday at midnight! We’re counting on you, Youngjae. You must not fail!” He ran out the door dramatically and Youngjae flopped into a chair to wait for Kyungsoo to finish up, wondering what the hell he had just gotten himself into.