A week later, it was a bright and sunny day. Birds were chirping, students were laughing, and the entire school seemed upbeat.

“I hate this day.”

Jamie, Doojoon, and Yoseob turned around towards Jinhong, confusion written all over their faces. Jinhong’s face looked incredibly sour, and a bad aura was flowing from her in waves.

“Erm, why?” Doojoon asked bravely, flinching when Jinhong turned and glared at him.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS TODAY?!” Jinhong yelled at her best guy friend, pointing to a conveniently placed poster on the wall that read: ‘WRESTLING TRYOUTS: TODAY!!! COME AND TRY OUT!!!’

“IT’S THE DAY THAT DONGWOON IS MURDERED.”

Yoseob and Doojoon stared at the poster, while Jamie patted Jinny on the back comfortingly, trying to calm her down.

“It’ll be alright, Jinny,” Jamie said soothingly. “Dongwoon’s training had been going really well --”

“HE CRIED ON THE FIRST DAY.”

“--after the first day,” Jamie finished. Jinhong looked at her, still unconvinced. Jamie sighed. “I know you’re worried, Jinny. But it’ll be alright. Okay?”

Jinhong looked at Jamie’s smile, and sighed. “He better not die on me yet.” She murmured, and Jamie stifled a giggle.

“Isn’t it so weird that that poster was there when Jinny pointed?” Doojoon asked, looking over at Yoseob. Then, he sighed and rolled his eyes at the boy beside him.

“DUDE! CUT IT OUT WITH THE AEGYO ALREADY! IT’S ANNOYING!”

Yoseob just pouted cutely, index fingers coming up and poking his puffed out cheeks.

“But aren’t I just so adorable?” He asked cutely.

“NO! YOU’RE NOT! YOU MAKE ME FEEL WEIRD INSIDE AND --”

“Oh. My. GOD!” Doojoon was interrupted by a female squealing from somewhere behind him. “Unnie! Gina-unnie, come here!”

‘Isn’t Gina in... OH MY GOD.’ Doojoon whirled around, and found himself standing just a few feet away from Kim Hyuna, who was smiling in his direction.

Doojoon smiled, ego rising. “Hey, Hyuna! What’s up?”

“Who’re you?” Hyuna’s smile disappeared, only to reappear when Yoseob peeked out from behind Doojoon, eyes wide with confusion.

“Oh, my god!” She yelled again, reaching out and grabbing Yoseob’s arm, pulling him out from behind Doojoon. “It’s you! I’ve been looking for you everywhere, you adorable little cutie-pie! What’s your name?”

“Yang Yoseob!” Yoseob replied immediately, aegyo in overdrive. He gave her one of the cutest looks he had in his arsenal. “Remember it, please!”

Hyuna squealed. “YOU’RE SO CUTE. Gina-unnie! Gayoon-unnie! I know his name! It's Yang Yoseob!”

“Oh! That cute boy in Science! His name is Yang Yoseob?” Gina, who had finally come over, said with a smile. Gayoon, who was beside her, waved at Yoseob, who waved back cutely. “Aw, you’re so adorable!”

“Thank you, Gina-noona ~ !” Yoseob chirped, blinking adorably.

“Wow, he’s really going all out,” Jinhong whispered to Jamie, who nodded. The both of them, along with Doojoon, who was moping by a locker, had been forgotten.

“But they know his name!” Jamie mumbled. “Yoseob-oppa’s plan really did work!”

“I don’t exist...” Doojoon wailed, banging his head on the locker door. Jamie hurried over to stop him, while Jinhong tried in vain to stifle laughs.

"So we'll see you around, Yoseob." Gina winked before heading off inside the school.

"See you in our science class, Yang Yoseob!" Gayoon bid him goodbye before following Gina.

Hyuna, who was last to leave him alone, flashed him a toothy smile. "Bye cutie!" She said with a wave.

"Hyuna-sshi, my name's not cutie…" Yoseob pouted, his aegyo still going strong, "I'll be sad if you don't remember my name…"

"This cutie's name is Yoseob! Yang Yoseob, okay." Hyuna winked, doing an 'ok' sign with her fingers. "See! Hyuna remembers."

Yoseob gave Hyuna the cutest and most appreciative smile he could muster.

"Aigoo! I have to go you cutie pie! But like my unnies said, we'll see you around!" And with that, Hyuna turned around and jogged towards Gayoon and Gina, who were waiting for her further inside the school.

When Yoseob approached his 3 friends, he had gone back to normal. Still cute, but boyish and cool in attitude again.

"Wow, Yoseob oppa. I'm impressed! It really worked! They noticed you!" Jamie complimented from her spot on the floor beside Doojoon.

Doojoon pouted at her. “I thought you were supposed to be comforting me!”

“I am!”

Jinhong, on the other hand, was standing beside Jamie who was kneeling beside the moping Doojoon on the floor. She was leaning against the locker Doojoon had retreated to.

"Well that was a turn of events!" Jinhong commented. "You're in the lead now." She said, smiling over at Yoseob, who grinned back.

Then, Yoseob's facial expression turned into an uncomfortable one.

"What's up?" Jinhong asked him.

"Well…it's just that…" He started unsurely.

"Go on…" Jamie urged, who was still trying to soothe Doojoon.

"The rules," Yoseob began. "They state that the members of the It Crowd have to be alone when they acknowledge us or else they'll copy from each other…that's exactly what happened." Yoseob said sadly. "So does it count?"

Doojoon's ears perked up at this, and, as if he wasn't just banging his head on the lockers less than a minute ago, he shoots up, startling Jamie and standing upright.

"That's right!" DooJoo said excitedly. "It doesn't count! It shouldn't count!"

"Yah, control your jealousy!" Jinhong snapped at Doojoon. "They still know his name. He has the upper hand."

Doojoon sank back down.

"But does it count?" Jamie asked, looking up at Jinhong.

Yoseob and Doojoon look in her direction as well.

"Okay, we’ll do it like this: if you come across them again, and they remember your name, we'll count 3 votes." Jinhong decided after a short pause. "Right now, you have 1 vote from the It Crowd."

Yoseob's smile seemed to reach his ears. "Yes! That's farther than anyone else has gotten!" He proclaimed happily. "Yah! YooDoo! How's it going with your new clubs?" Yoseob asked mockingly, staring down at Doojoon.

If possible, Doojoon sunk lower to the floor. "I got kicked out of 2…" He mumbled.

"What was that?" Jinhong looked over at her sulking friend, smirking.

"I got kicked out of two!" He said, raising his voice.

Yoseob and Jinhong burst out laughing. "Aigoo, our poor YooDoo!" Jinhong said, sarcasm evident in her tone.

Doojoon mumbled something inaudible under his breath as Jamie just continued to try and calm him.

When Jinhong and Yoseob had calmed down, Jinhong spoke again. "There's something a bit hard about that specific rule…" She told Yoseob, speaking loud enough for Doojoon to hear as well. "Most of the time, especially for the girls, they aren't really seen alone around school, now are they?" She said. "I mean, they're usually always together. Same goes for all the other groups. I mean, look at us. We're usually seen hanging around each other."

"Jinny makes a good point." Jamie said. "Maybe if something like that happens again, the rule can include the 'if-we-meet-again' exception…"

"I think that's fair!" Yoseob agreed happily, knowing full well that he was bound to bump into those 3 again some time.

“But remember, Yoseob,” Jinhong said, “one of us has to be with you!”


"Yes, yes, Jinny." Yoseob said with a smile. “I know the rules. Yah! YooDoo!” He asks the still-moping boy. “Are you okay with the altered rule?"

Although reluctantly, Doojoon nodded his head, showing that he was okay with the new addition to the rules.



"We have to tell the others, though…" Jamie said.



"Of course!" Yoseob and Jinhong both grinned.



"Hey," Jamie started, averting her attention from Yoseob and Jinhong to Doojoon. YooDooJoo looked at Jamie. "Which clubs were you kicked out of?" She asked, genuinely curious.



Doojoon's face fell. He had thought that Jamie was gonna say something important to him.



"Yeah, YooDoo…" Jinhong said. "Which clubs kicked you out?"



"The Essay Writing and AV club…" Doojoon answered grimly.



Jinhong shook her head. "Just as well!" She said, attempting to cheer Doojoon up.

"Those clubs won’t get you popular anyway!"

Doojoon’s face lit up, and he remembered once again why Jinhong was one of his best friends.



"Aren't you still part of one more club, though, Doojoon-ah?" Yoseob asked him. "Didn't you say you signed up for 3?"



Doojoon nodded. "Yeah, I'm still part of the Ecology Club."

“That’s not gonna get you popular either, smart one,” Jinhong smirked.

“Yeah, Doojoo! You may as well give up this competition!” Yoseob said, grinning. “I’m gonna with my cuteness anyway!”

“YAH! ANYONE CAN DO WHAT YOU’RE DOING!” Doojoon shouted, glaring at Jinny and Yoseob. “I CAN USE AEGYO!”

“No, you can’t.”

Doojoon, Yoseob, and even Jinhong stared at Jamie at disbelief. In response, Jamie just shrugged.

It was silent for a moment, and then Jinhong and Yoseob burst into hysterics.

“DOOJOO... AEGYO...!”

“OH GOD, I CAN’T!”

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

“Jamie! I THOUGHT YOU WERE ON MY SIDE!” Doojoon whined, resuming his head-banging on the locker. Jamie started fretting immediately, just as the bell rang.

“Oppa! Doojoon oppa! Stop it! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

“That relationship is doomed,” Jinhong mumbled to Yoseob as they walked away from YooDoo and Jamie, going to their classes.

“You said it!” Yoseob replied through his laughter.

“Doojoon oppa! Please, stop! Someone is trying to get to their locker, and you’re blocking the way!”

Loud laughter could be heard even through the rumble of the students getting to their classes.




- - - - -

“New rule?”

Yoseob looked over at Junhyung with a smile, popping the last bit of his cookie into his mouth. “Yeah! Isn’t that what I just said?”

Junhyung stared blankly at the fake-maknae of the group. “Yes, Yoseob, I know. But what is the new rule?”

“The girls can explain!” Yoseob replied, taking another cookie from the plate he had bought from the cafeteria.

“The girls can explain what?” Jinhong, who had appeared from nowhere, asked. Jamie was right behind her, looking curiously at the group. Both were holding lunch trays.

“Yoseob over here just told us that there was a new rule,” Hyunseung explained as Jinhong and Jamie sat down.

Jamie opened her can of orange juice. “It’s not a new rule; just an alteration.”

“Well, Jamie, explain! Explain!” Gikwang said impatiently, jabbing at a chicken strip with his fork.

Jamie just stared at Gikwang, sighing. “Gikwang-oppa, what are you wearing...”

Gikwang grinned brightly, dropping his fork and proceeding to flex. The white, tight-fit shirt he was wearing accentuated his body nicely, and Gikwang looked proud. “Oh, this? I just--”

“Nevermind, I don’t want to hear it.” Jamie cut him off, sighing again and drinking her juice.

“The rule?” Dongwoon pressed.

“Oh, right!” Jinhong snapped her fingers. “If the ‘It Crowd‘ learns your name as a group, you still have a chance to get votes if they remember you individually.”

She informed the table.

“Which means,” Yoseob began excitedly, “that if Gina-noona and Gayoon-sshi remember my name, I’ll have three votes! My plan is awesome!”

“EH? Yoseob is in the lead? But WHY?!” Gikwang whined, pouting. “I thought my plan was the best!”

“Ah, the ‘I’m going to get votes by making people sick‘ plan. That’s genius,” Hyunseung commented dryly, sniffling. Gikwang’s constant sneezing had made him sick as well.

“It’s better than YooDoo’s plan of joining stupid clubs!” Gikwang retorted, making everyone laugh.

“Gikwang, you better be wearing a jacket the next time I see you,” Jamie said to the tight-fit shirt-wearing boy.

“Fine, fine,” Gikwang mumbled, put off.

“Hey guys...” A hoarse, depressing voice sounded from behind them, startling even Junhyung.

“YOODOO! What the heck is wrong with you, sneaking up on us like that!” Jinhong yelled at her best guy friend, who was slowly making his way towards his seat.

“Yeah, hyung, that was creepy,” Dongwoon said, twirling pasta around his fork. Jamie, who wasn’t good with anything remotely horror-related, was taking deep shaky breaths to try to calm herself.

Doojoon didn’t say anything in reply. He just slumped down in his chair and laid his head on the table.

Jinhong stared over at him. “Doojoo? What happened?”

“I GOT KICKED OUT OF THE ECOLOGY CLUB!” Doojoon yelled in reply.

The table was silent for a moment, and then everyone burst into hysterics.

“IT’S NOT FUNNY, YOU GUYS!” Doojoon whined loudly, trying to glare at every single one of them at once.

“YES... IT... IS!” Jinhong replied through her laughter.

It was a couple minutes before everyone had calmed down somewhat.

“But why though?” Yoseob asked, looking over at YooDooJoo curiously. “What could you have done that was so bad you had to be kicked out after such a short time?”

“Well...” Doojoon grumbled, looking through his backpack, and then pulling something out. “There’s this!”

Everyone stared at the pot that Doojoon had placed on the table. In the pot was something that looked like the remains of a plant.

“What is it?” Dongwoon queried.

“It was supposed to be a rose...” Doojoon snapped.

The table burst into laughter again.

“That’s not helping!” Doojoon whined dramatically. “You’re discouraging me!”

“That’s a rose?!” Gikwang asked, disbelieving.

“What in the world did you do to the poor thing?!” Jinhong said, touching what looked like one of the dead rose’s leaves.

“I DON’T KNOW! I WATERED IT--well, sometimes, sometimes I forgot and just gave it juice or just put it under running water--AND I GAVE IT SUNLIGHT--when it wasn’t in my backpack--AND I DID EVERYTHING ELSE!” Doojoon yelled, flailing his arms around.

“There are. So many. Things wrong. With that sentence.” Junhyung deadpanned. “So many.”

“Shut up!” Doojoon snapped.

“That can’t be all it took to get you kicked off, can it?” Hyunseung said.

Everyone stared at Doojoon, who had suddenly started squirming and avoiding  everyone’s gazes.

“What else did you do wrong?” Jinhong pressed.

“I...” Doojoon trailed off.

“You...” Dongwoon urged him.

“They said I... used to much hair products...”

The table was laughing again.

“WHOA! LOOK! IT’S SO POINTY!” Yoseob exclaimed, touching the top of Doojoon’s hair. “OW! IT PRICKED ME!”

“HEY! WATCH IT! I WORKED HARD ON IT!”

“You’re right, hyung!” Dongwoon said, touching Doojoon’s hair as well. “It’s as prickly as a rose!”

“YAH! YOU WANNA DIE?!” 

The table erupted into laughter once again.

- - - - - -

Finally, the last school bell rang, signaling that it was the end of the day and that only meant one thing: it was the start of Wrestling Tryouts.

"Oh no…It's time." Jinhong sighed dramatically. "Well…Let's do this." She said in a resigned fashion.

"It's not like you're trying out!" Dongwoon said, nervousness evident in his voice.

"We'll all be here rooting for you, Dongwoon-ah!" Jamie told him cheerfully.

"Err, thanks, Jamie."

"We believe in you maknae!" Yoseob encouraged.

"You'll do well, Dongwoon-ah! Make us proud!" Gikwang, who had already put on a jacket, cheered him on.

"Just remember what you learned during practice!" Hyunseung said happily, patting Dongwoon on the back.

Dongwoon was appreciative of all the support he was getting and start talking to his hyungs, trying to calm his nerves down.

While the rest of their group was giving him words of support and encouragement, Jinhong was not. In fact, she was the total opposite of encouraging.

This time, it was Jinhong who was moping and Doojoon played the role of the locker. But this is why they were best friends. Doojoon wrapped his arm protectively around Jinhong, holding her securely by her shoulders, while Jinny rest her head on Doojoon's shoulder.

"They're all cheering him on," She whispered to him, "but I don't want him to make the team…" She admitted. "I want him to fail the tryout but not get beat up too bad."

Doojoon gave her a one-armed hug and told her not to be so worried. "I haven't seen you this stressed over something in such a long time," he tells his girl best friend. "And over Dongwoon? Really?" He tried to lighten the mood.

Jinhong pouted. "He's our maknae!" She whined. "It's like sending our baby off to boot camp."

"Aigoo, Jinny!" Doojoon said, chuckling. "You do realize that you're our maknae."

"It doesn't feel that way." She mumbled. "James and I feel like we're raising 6 kids."

Doojoon laughed again. "Dongwoon will be fine. Our maknae will be fine." He reassured her. "They won't kill him. Try to be amused when you watch the tryouts."

She chuckled. "Yah, it's all about entertainment value with you guys, isn't it…"

"That's why I let you call me YooDoo." Doojoon said with a smile.

"Thanks," Jinhong smiles genuinely at Doojoon. "Oppa." She used the word after a long time.

Doojoon flashed her a bright smile and ushered for her to get a move on. All their friends were waiting for them.

"Come on guys! Dongwoon will be late!" Gikwang called over to the pair of them.

Doojoon and Jinhong reunited with the group and Jinhong gave Dongwoon a big smile and 2 thumbs up.

"Faster! I wanna see the rest of the kids get beat up!" Junhyung said, growing impatient.

Dongwoon froze the moment he entered the gym. There was now a wrestling mat in the middle of their gym and on the opposite side from where he was standing, across the mat, stood 9 beefy looking boys, who looked like they could go in a roid rage any second. They looked like they were in their mid-twenties, though in reality were only a year higher or in the same year as he was.

"Holy. ." Dongwoon cursed, eyes bugging out.

"Dude, you're dead meat." Junhyung said, patting him on the shoulder before he followed the rest of his friends to the bleachers.

Dongwoon gulped as he filed in with more students who were hoping to get accepted by the team. He stood there awkwardly and waited for more people to arrive. Even the coaches weren't complete yet.

And then more students who came to try out arrived as well as more members of the wrestling team.

Then something odd caught the eyes of the group sitting over at the bleachers.

These students. They were part of the wrestling team, but they looked like Steve Rogers prior to his infusion with the Super-Soldier Serum.

"Are they part of the team?" Yoseob whispered to Hyunseung, who shrugged. "They came out from the locker rooms…"

Then it was silent as they thought about it. It was so weird, they were…kind of lanky. The group didn't know. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that these boys were lean. Skinny compared to the muscle-covered members who had been there since their arrival at the gym.

"They are!" Gikwang exclaimed in realization. "They're part of the team!" He told his friends.

Like it was planned, Jinhong, Jamie, Doojoon, Yoseob and Hyunseung cocked their heads to the side.

"They are?"

Gikwang nodded hastily.

"Oh yeah!" Doojoon snapped his fingers in realization as well. Then he turns to his worried best friend.

It seemed that Jamie understood what was happening as well because her face lit up.

"The weight classes!" Doojoon exclaimed.

Jamie nodded happily. "We forgot about the weight classes in wrestling, Jinny!" She told her best friend.

Unconciously, Jinhong's face formed a huge smile. "Like heavyweights and featherweights and lightweights?" She asked.

"Something like that." Hyunseung said. "But that's for boxing…you get the picture, though." He tells Jinhong.

"They're probably the schoolboys and cadet ranks." Junhyung said, looking over to the less-intimidating looking boys. Then diverts his eyes to the muscle-men across the wrestling mat. "They're probably the Juniors and Seniors in rank."

"Oh my god! So Dongwoon has a chance of survival!" Jinhong said exasperatedly.

"Yes, but to my knowledge, they're classified by age…" Hyunseung said. "So he falls under the Junior category with those guys." Hyunseung looks over to the beefy guys.

Junhyung shook his head. "I don't think they do the age thing here, though."

"Really? So who do you think Dongwoon will be up against?" Yoseob asked.

"He could easily be pit against the freshmen and sophomores." Gikwang told Yoseob.

Jinhong smirked and turned her head towards Doojoon. "You're right, YooDoo…I could watch this amusedly…"

They waited patiently for Dongwoon's turn to try out. Much to everyone's entertainment, especially Junhyung's, they saw the Senior and Junior classes of the wrestling team beat on a couple of big and muscly guys who thought they were all that. They sniggered and laughed at those they felt deserved to feel the pain, and felt pity for those who looked like they were scared out of their wits--probably forced by their wrestling-backgrounded fathers to try out for the school team.

Finally, it was Dongwoon's turn and it was announced he'd be going up against one of the members of the Cadets class.

The group burst out laughing.

That meant he'd be fighting someone who was only about 15 or 16 years old, someone from either the Freshmen or Sophomores. Dongwoon, being 17 years old, would be the only Junior to go against someone a level younger than him, was embarrassed.

The match ended in 10 minutes, Dongwoon being pinned down by a 15-year old Sophomore.

Sure he got a few moves in and blocked most of the time, but man was he beat down.

"That was pathetic." Junhyung drawled.

The comment earned him laughs from his friends.

"Yah, you think he got hurt though?" Jamie asked Jinhong, sounding concerned.

Jinhong just shrugged. "Probably did. But hopefully just enough to finally knock some sense into him."

"Do you think he passed?" Gikwang wondered out loud.

"Uh no." Hyunseung snapped his head towards Gikwang. "How is it even possible, in your mind, that he'd get into the team with a such a sad defeat?"

"Who knows," Gikwang shrugged. "Maybe they see potential."

"There is no wrestling potential in that kid." Doojoon said. "Believe me."

They waited half an hour for everyone else to finish tryouts, which was when the announcement would be made on who had made it to the team.

Dongwoon, unfortunately did not. One guess on who was most happy about this.

They all approached him, trying to make their maknae feel better, and then all 8 of them walked out of the gym together.

"You did all right!"

"It was fine! I mean, it was your first try!"

"And you only had about a week to prepare! It's okay."

"Yeah, Dongwoon! We still love you."

They all attempted to cheer him up.

"Yah, you don't have to do this for me. Just tell me the truth." He sighed. "Was it really that bad?"

"Oh my god! It was horrible!"

"Oh man! You !"

Everyone was laughing while trying to get a word in on how bad Dongwoon performed.

"It was priceless! The way that kid beat you!"

"You got totally owned, dude!"

Dongwoon eventually ended up laughing along with his friends. He had come to accept that he at wrestling, but he wasn't going to give up on this challenge. He'll think of something else. He could surpass his Yoseob-hyung's votes, think of something much more effective than Gikwang's muscle show, and he certainly convinced himself that whatever he did, Doojoon would always be more embarrassing than he was.

But it was worth it. The embarrassment and aftermath of the wrestling tryouts. It was worth it because of how Jinhong reacted to the whole thing.

Smiling and laughing, the 8 of them walked towards their homes together.

Tomorrow was another day.

Holy mother of woah. THAT was a long chapter!!! probably our longest so far!! Mainly because for the first time, we worked on it seperately! Meaning we didn't coordinate as much as we did the previous chapters and that certain parts of the chapter we had assigened each other. Like we were working on the lunch scene and tryouts scene at the same time. :P hahaha. but i think this is one of our better chapters. ;)

anyway! as always! please comment because it makes us happy~!! :D and we hope you enjoyed this chapter! we worked real hard on it! :} hahaha. hope that it was a fun read! ;P
-Jinny & Jamie xD

also! here's a gif of Hyunseung!!!!
because it made Octoberettes, Bananapabo and I squeal, and squee and giggle like the fangirls we are at 3AM. XDD

 

from his version of the Bad Girl Japanese MV. :"">
asdfghjkl;mufkincutieicantomfg.