Lee Taemin

Taemin headed off to wash up after they woke up Sulli. He had a lunch appointment to attend to, at twelve that afternoon. Due to the tiredness and the heavy sleep he managed to attain, he was running slightly out of time. It was already eleven thirty and he had to rush off to attend his meeting.

“Ya Taemin ah, don’t rush, you’ll get there on time.” Min Hyuk advised him but the lad didn’t heed it and went on washing up quickly.

“I can’t-“ Taemin said as he splashed his face with water. “I’m gonna-“ Splash again. “Be-“ Another splash. “Late.” He finished and wiped his face clean with his towel hanging off at the side.

Min Hyuk sighed and smirked as he walked off. Everyone knew that Chansung had asked Taemin out for lunch, to discuss about something to do with the House games that were occurring next week. What they were actually gonna discuss, no one knew.

Taemin quickly dressed himself properly and ran out of the house. He couldn’t be late, that would be a wrong impression entirely. It wasn’t like everyone got a chance to dine with the Head of the Tribe.

So far only Yong Hwa had, but even that was with Woo Young. This, was to be done alone.

Taemin ran as fast as he could to the school café, where they agreed to meet. He half sprinted, half ran, almost bumping into fellow students on the way.

The pathway he used led him past the gym, and as he looked up at the transparent second floor of the humongous and well furnished gym, he halted in his tracks.

What is Yong Hwa doing there? Taemin wondered, his mouth gaping open slightly.

And, and… He’s with Jia! Taemin saw two prominent figures at the treadmills area, catching sight of the unmistakable flash of red of Yong Hwa’s jacket and the jet black hair of Jia.

He furrowed his brows in confusion. Wasn’t Yong Hwa finding Amber? How did he end up with Jia? Questions flooded his mind that instant and Taemin stood at the sidewalk, lost in thought.

A loud ringing startled him out of his daydream. The Academy’s big clock struck twelve and the bell rang twelve times, indicating noon. Taemin looked up shocked and panicked for a second before running at full speed to the café.

Just as he got there, he saw Chansung arriving as well, strolling to the door as if nothing was wrong. Taemin heaved a sigh of relief.

Thankfully Chansung was kind of late as well.

He greeted the leader and they entered the café together, sitting down at a table for two at the corner of the café. Taemin politely asked for Chansung’s orders and hurriedly went to order them before settling down in front of Chansung properly.

“Now, you must be wondering why I called you personally out right?” Chansung began and Taemin nodded vigorously in reply.

“Well, the games are coming up next week and we have a lot of things to settle, the flags, the identities, everything’s getting a little over the top for us.” Chansung went on, and Taemin nodded, urging him to continue.

“So, for the games, we would like you to be our secret weapon.”

Taemin let it sink in for a little while before his brows furrowed in confusion and he asked, “Why?”

Chansung smiled, his teammates didn’t nickname him the Blur Kid for nothing.
“You have skills kid, and we have heard about the games, or well, the theme of the games. So we think that you’d be perfect to fit the role of our secret weapon for this.” Chansung explained and Taemin nodded his head slowly.

“So, the games have to do with people being very sly. Unnoticeable, fading into the background. You have earned yourself the nickname of The Next Troll, after Jong Dae, but we need you to be sneaky in the games. Basically, whatever the instructions are, figure out loopholes, ways to win, and when they do call for some game where you’re suppose to sneak into some place or another and attain something, volunteer.”

Taemin taking it all in, nodded his head once more. Their drinks arrived and Taemin sipped his banana milk in silence. This was no small role. If he was to fail, his whole group could put him to blame.

Chansgung saw the lad’s expression and comforted him.

“It’ll be fine laddie. You did it once, you‘ll do it again.” He said, referring to the Pirates’ first PT lesson, where he twisted his ankle. Taemin smiled at the fond memory. He had come far.

He could do this.

He really could.

With a glint in his eye, he looked at Chansung and exclaimed, “I can do it.”

Kim Jong Dae

“Ya, Jong Dae ah, help me with this!” A yell from Kyung Soo called out and Jong Dae ran over from his rather empty room into Kyung Soo’s which was bustling with life. Yi Xing and Chanyeol were setting up DIY chairs and Kyung Soo was doing the makeshift hammock to put in their extended room; their balcony.

Kyung Soo and Yi Xing’s room was the only one that had an extra balcony, but the members decided to put it for their own use, so their room was invaded pretty much all the time.

Being nice lads, the duo decided to set up chairs and a hammock to accompany the Pirates in the balcony, so they needn’t stand whenever they went out.

It accommodated their house very nicely, the white washed wooden frames and the small flower carvings, Sulli helped them choose the designs, and the part Jong Dae like the most, the sturdiness of the materials.

One thing Jong Dae really liked was stability, whether in things he had, or in the friendships he cherished. He had always liked stability. It made him feel safe and warm, like he needn’t worry about anything when things were stable.

But the move to The Academy was something completely out of his comfort zone, something he never expected.

Yet, six months had passed and he was doing fine. Thanks to both the medicine and the good company, he was actually having a swell time.

“Pass me the screwdriver please!” Chanyeol called out to Jong Dae and he smiled and passed it over quickly. Chanyeol was handy at these kind of things. Back with the rest, he would always make small things like chairs and benches for them as presents. Whenever they needed something to be fixed, he would be the first to be called.

Jong Dae settled down beside Kyung Soo who was panting away, trying his hardest to get the screw in. Jong Dae took a tissue near him and dabbed his friend’s forehead gently. Kyung Soo went on, groaning at the frustrating screw.

“UGH, why is this so hard?” He exclaimed and dropped the screw and screwdriver on the floor in exhaustion. Unlike Chanyeol, Kyung Soo hated doing makeshift items. He’d always be cooking, not caring about these “idiotic things” so he would call it.

Jong Dae chuckled at his friend’s outrage and picked up the dropped screw and screwdriver. He easily placed it in and helped Kyung Soo finished the final portion of the hammock.

Kyung Soo gave a bright smile and cheered for Jong Dae once he’d finish and the duo grabbed each others hands and did a happy dance just for the heck of it.

Both Yi Xing and Chanyeol looked up form their nearly finished chair and smiled. The two were always high when they achieved something.

Soon enough, all the chairs were done and the four brought out the chairs and the hammock one by one. The lifting didn’t take long, and within ten minutes, a whole bunch of the Pirates joined them up there and sat on the available chairs, exclaiming at their sturdiness and how quick they made it.

Sulli was fawning over the design like she had when she helped them pick it out and Jong In was laughing away at her. Soo Hyun and Jae Hyun were patting the four on their backs, only to get their hands drenched with sweat. Disgusted, they rubbed it on Ji Yong who yelled out when they did so and whacked them hard on their butts.

Jong Dae laughed heartily, “Seems like I have new students for Trolling 101.” And Soo Hyun and Jae Hyun high-fived him. The day seemed fairly well sofar, but little did they know what was to happen.

It soon reached three in the afternoon and their tranquil afternoon was disrupted by a pissed off Yong Hwa storming into the house and into his room. He was followed by a flustered Amber who kept crying out, “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.” Jong Dae frowned in confusion and ran up into his room, only to find his roommate in a frustrated position.

“Hyung…” Jong Dae began, but Yong Hwa stopped him from continuing.

“Don’t. Please. Just don’t say anything.” Yong Hwa muttered through his hands covering his face and Jong Dae replied by complying with silence.

He sat down beside his roommate and leader, placed his hand onto his back and within five minutes, Yong Hwa began to sob uncontrollably.

Jong Dae looked at him worriedly. Yong Hwa hand’t cried since the first day after talking about his dongsaeng’s death but now, he was crying again.

Something happened. Something terrible and bad. Jong Dae thought, his brain whirring into possibilities of what could have led him to this.

A loud cry of anguish from the roof gave him his answer.

Amber.

NOTE:

EH Y'ALL, chapter thirty already! Hope you guys are enjoying this. ^^