Lee Taemin

They went all around the various parts of the school, Taemin, enjoying the free ride on the wheelchair and the rest enjoying the mild breeze that played lightly with their hair. The four youngest kids took their time, heading from one location to another, enjoying the nice sights and the cool afternoon air.

According to Kai, who lived in luxury his whole life, he had attended the top school in Retret, that owned the latest technologies, but that school couldn’t compare to anything in The Academy. Apparently, Retret didn’t have hologram screens and touch-screen whiteboards and blackboards, but they did have a branded laptop for each student, and an additional tablet to go along with it. Other than that, The Academy seemed way more advanced.

Taemin and Min Hyuk mostly left their jaws hanging at the various labs and classrooms, the different facilities that they couldn’t enjoy back in their hometowns.

It was truly, a whole new world.

Their ‘mini-tour’ ended just in time for dinner, and they headed back, their stomachs growling for the delicious dinner that was, probably, already made. Just thinking about D.O. and Lay’s cooking, Taemin began to salivate. The dishes they made so far were off the charts! How could anyone resist the duo’s scrumptious food?

The four headed back quickly, the thought of dinner rushing through their minds, their imaginations of the brilliant concoctions of food the two cooks could come up with, plaguing their brains.

But when they got back, those ‘dreams’ were destroyed.

Dinner wasn’t made.

Not yet.

Apparently, both D.O. and Lay had gone for a walk themselves, and hadn’t returned, according to Chanyeol, who, too, was starving.

“Nothing much has been going around here; most of us were either watching television, or sleeping.” Chen elaborated to the four, rather groggily; he himself had taken a nap before the four woke him up with their loud entrance into the dorm.

Jae Hyun was chilling in the pool, chatting with Soo Hyun and Amber was sitting dazed, staring at the television, constantly touching her lips unconsciously. Taemin thought it was weird, Amber would usually talk to Sulli when she was available, but the former didn’t even glance at the latter’s way, causing Taemin to wonder if she even realized that they had returned. She looked caught up in her thoughts, and Taemin shrugged it off; he tended to do that a lot himself too. Jonghyun, Yong Hwa and Ji Yong were no where to be seen on the first floor, so the fellow assumed they were either in their rooms or at the rooftop of the dorm, one of the few places Taemin loved.

He had gone up when he had first arrived, and took a short glance around as he had various things to unpack and prepare; and he loved it.

It was so beautiful! The scenic view of the rest of the dorms and the day-to-day weather, the pretty plantations that added that hint of beauty to the whole roof, and the vintage-looking tables and benches for them to sit on.

Taemin slowly walked up the stairs and into his room, feeling upset that he couldn’t head to the roof, for fear of straining his foot. Kai had generously offered to keep the wheelchair and Min Hyuk helped him walk up slowly, bit by bit, into their room, before Taemin sat down gently, slightly exhausted from walking up that flight of stairs.

“I’m going to find Yong Hwa now. I’ll be back real quick!” Min Hyuk had exclaimed and rushed out of the room hurriedly, once he had gotten Taemin settled down, and before the lad could protest.

Taemin pouted and grumbled softly to himself, he was ‘locked’ in his own room with no one to talk to, and he felt rather bored.

Slowly, he repositioned himself into a comfortable position and sighed as he glanced at the ceiling with the feeling of homesickness growing within him. The classrooms made him think about his hyung, the vintage-like tables and benches made him think about Kibum, the sports lessons made him think about Minho, and the clumsy mistake of him jumping on Chris Hemsworth made him think of Jinki. He missed the whole lot of them, his family, his friends, even that annoying old lady that would visit Ace Market once in awhile and piss him off with her constant rambling and nagging about boys his age.

His missed them badly.

But what could he do?

Kim Jong Dae

Jong Dae had taken a nap to clear his mind about the needles issue. He had been resting so peacefully before he was woken up by the four kids returning from their small ‘tour’ of the campus grounds and they had made a whole lot of noise, indicating that they were back.

Jong Dae had gotten out of his bed rather sleepily, glanced and saw that Yong Hwa wasn’t in the room, and stomped down rather frustrated that he was woken up a little too early for his taste of nap timings.

He was greeted with Amber flipping through television channels nonchalantly, not noticing that the four lads had returned or that he had come down. She was constantly tapping and touching her lips, which looked slightly puffy and had a bright red tinge.

Jong Dae pushed it off; maybe she had an allergic reaction or something, things like that were possible. And he never thought about it afterwards.

He spotted Jae Hyun and Soo Hyun in the pool relaxing, and Chanyeol looking about ravenously for food.

The cooks weren’t home yet and he felt rather tired still, so Jong Dae made his way back to his room, with a cup of hot chocolate he made for himself. He entered his room to find Yong Hwa looking dazed, out of the window in their room. His eyes looked distant and he seemed to be lost in thought.

Jong Dae felt like trolling him and began to make funny actions behing his back, hoping that the windows would reflect the actions and make the serious Yong Hwa snap out of whatever sad reverie he was thinking about.

It took awhile, but Jong Dae’s antics caught Yong Hwa’s sight, and the fellow burst out laughing at the stupid actions Jong Dae was making.

Yong Hwa turned around and Jong Dae noticed that he, too, had slightly puffy lips with a bright red tinge.

Curious, Jong Dae questioned him, “Dude, are you allergic or something?”

He gave a simple “No.” and smiled, but it prompted him to say, “Then why are your lips red and puffy?”

Yong Hwa laughed, rather cheerfully at the questions and explained that he had just eaten something spicy and his mouth was ‘on fire’. Jong Dae believed his example and went on asking him about life in The Academy.

The short chit-chat lasted for some time, and before they knew it, both Kyung Soo and Yi Xing had returned with more groceries and cooking items before heading to the kitchen to make Kyung Soo’s long-awaited, kimchi spaghetti!

The food was prepared rather quickly, with the whole dorm sort of, pestering the duo about returning late, and beginning dinner late, causing them to finish cooking as quickly as they could, allowing the rest to begin tucking in once they set it out on the table.

Dinner ended soon afterwards and the whole night progressed rather quickly. The night sort of, flew by, and Jong Dae could just remember various things like Soo Hyun and Ji Yong getting high on soda, Jae Hyun laughing with Jonghyun about the lamest jokes they could come up with, and Amber and Yong Hwa visibly avoiding each other, stealing glances at the other when they weren’t looking. Jong Dae found it kind of weird, but he didn’t really bother; he himself had been caught up in a crazy game of Taboo with Chanyeol, Kyung Soo, Yi Xing, Jong In, Min Hyuk and Taemin. Sulli was preoccupied in her room, “clearing up” her things, as she put it, and setting aside whatnots for school.

They soon said their goodnights to each other and headed back into their own rooms for a proper rest in light of the next day.

Jong Dae had gone to bed around the same time as Yong Hwa, both rather sleepy from the day’s activities. They both knocked out once their head hit their pillows, totally unaware of the fate that awaited them the very next morning.

3.50 a.m.

A loud blaring alarm rang through the house, startling Jong Dae awake. He sat up hurriedly, wondering what on earth was going on. He glanced to Yong Hwa’s bed and found him missing.

What was happening?

His door suddenly slammed open, revealing Kyung Soo’s worried face.

“Hurry!” He gestured, his tone urgent and afraid. “We don’t have much time!”

“F-for what?!” Jong Dae asked, perplexed.

“They’ve taken one of ours, and we have to fight to get him back!” Kyung Soo explained generally, grabbed the half-awake lad and dragged him out of the dorm and onto the field.

Who was taken? Jong Dae wondered, his eyebrows knitted in confusion as his friend pulled him out onto the field where a large crowd had gathered.

What do we have to do?

NOTE:

Hi all! I know it's kind of late and all, but I just want to notify y'all that the updates won't be as quick as last time.. )': I know, I'm sad too; I really want to write continuously, but school has been so busy! I'll try my best to update two chapters per week, sometimes, there might just be one, but there will definitely be an update every week (unless I really can't commit)!

I really am sorry, and I hope you guys can understand.. ><