"When will the competition day arrive? I'm tired of all these extra trainings." Haknyeon plopped down his bed. Hwall followed.
"Any more of Professor Jeon's 'Attention!' and I'm flying out of this place." Youngjae heaved.
"Maybe cause we are waiting, that the day doesn't come by fast?" Hwall suggested. The three of them were in their room after finishing their late night training sessions. It has been three days since both of the professors has been pushing them even harder than ever.
"By the way, Hwall. You're training together with us now." Youngjae said. Hwall nodded.
"I know. My sore legs tell me that." Youngjae shook his head.
"No, I mean, I get that you worked at their house before but you're not under them anymore. We're all training together. You keep , don't be mad, but you keep serving Hyunjae and Juyeon. And also Sangyeon! He keeps asking you to get stuff and acts like he's still at their house." Youngjae reasoned. Hwall looked at him thoughtfully.
"I owe them." He replied. Youngjae looked at Haknyeon for an explanation. Haknyeon shrugged, trying to get out of the mess.
"They saved me from the streets. I- I don't remember much about my past..." Hwall casted his eyes down. Now Youngjae felt bad bringing it up.
"Hyunjae and Juyeon helped me a lot. And Sangyeon might not look like it but he protected me too. So, in a way, they saved me and I owe them my life. So even if I'm not at their house anymore, I'm still going to serve them because that's the only way I can repay them." Hwall smiled to himself.
"Well, you're gonna suffer a lot more with this training." Haknyeon intervened.
"We need a break." Youngjae muttered out.
"Hell yeah, we do!" The three of them whipped their heads to Hyunjae who came in with a gleeful expression followed by Sunwoo, Juyeon, Younghoon, Changmin, and Chanhee, who had a dissatisfied pout.
"Is that what I think it is?" Haknyeon grinned. Hyunjae jiggled the two wine bottles in his hands.
"What'd you think?" He smirked.
"That we are going to get in trouble. Professor Kim clearly said we can't consume alcohol within these walls." Chanhee crossed his arms and looked at Hyunjae, unapprovingly.
"Come on, lighten up! We've been through so much these past days." Changmin slapped Chanhee's arms.
"It's only been three days, though." Juyeon said.
"Three hellish days." Younghoon corrected him. Juyeon shrugged.
"Still, you guys are gonna get in trouble." Chanhee huffed out.
"Stop being a party pooper and quit yapping." Sunwoo rolled his eyes as he sat down on the floor beside Hyunjae. Chanhee scoffed but decided to ignore the remark.
Hyunjae proceeded to pour everyone a drink. Just before they were about to clink their cups together, the door opened to reveal Hyungseo and Joonyoung with hands full of snacks.
"Hey! I thought you said you would wait!" Hyungseo pouted as he sat down, splaying the snacks across.
"I thought you would be talking sense into them." Chanhee side-eyed Joonyoung.
"Well, they are tired and I am too. It's not bad to relax once in a while." Joonyoung replied. Chanhee glanced at everyone in the room. He gave up.
"Pour me one." He lifted his cup towards Hyunjae. Hyunjae grinned, quite pleased as he poured Chanhee a cup.
Sunwoo looked at Chanhee carefully. He wasn't going to get drunk again, is he? Sunwoo still remembered the last time Chanhee was intoxicated and he shuddered at the memory.
"Now, everyone! Cheers to ourselves!" Hyunjae shouted as he clinked cups with everyone. Chanhee reluctantly followed.
After a few bottles, the eleven boys were drunk, some more than others. Younghoon kept an eye on his boyfriend. He didn't need a drunk squirrel alone with another man that night. Sunwoo also warily checked on Chanhee but the gumiho didn't seem to have more than two cups of wine. Well, at least he won't have to worry about reliving the memory.
"What do you think you are doing?" Everyone halted as they turned heads towards Sangyeon who had a stern expression on.
"Umm, hi? Want a cup?" Haknyeon asked, half drunk. Sangyeon's eyes flickered to Hyungseo who was grinning at him. Then he looked at Joonyoung.
"I thought you, of all people, would be more responsible." He said. Joonyoung furrowed his brows.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that none of you are taking this competition seriously."
"Now, that's just stretching it too far. We just needed a small break in between." Hyungseo intervened.
"I wasn't talking to you." Sangyeon gave Hyungseo a hard stare. Hyungseo swallowed hard as he casted his eyes at the floor. He felt a tiny blow in his chest at Sangyeon's tone.
"Hyungnim, it's me. I brought these wine and urged them to have a drink. You know, loosen up for a bit. So, why don't you join us as well?" Hyunjae stood up and passed a cup to Sangyeon. Sangyeon pushed away the cup as it went clanking on the floor.
"Oh, poor wine!" Hwall cried out. Haknyeon and Youngjae hurried to shut up their drunk friend.
"Get these cleaned up, right now." Sangyeon ordered, then proceeded to leave the room. Hyunjae sighed.
"You heard him, " Hyunjae started. Then smirked, "and we gonna do the exact opposite."
"Yay!" Hwall swung his cup around. Hyunjae grinned as he took another gulp.
"Are you sure it's going to be okay?" Juyeon asked worriedly. Hyunjae waved him off.
"Don't mind him. He's just being the usual, grouchy, old, stoic, boring-" Hyunjae got cut off as the door flung open again.
"Get those things away, now!" Sangyeon came back in as he slammed the door shut.
The eleven boys stared at him, half surprised and drunk.
"Professor Jeon is coming by." Sangyeon said.
"Oh, yippie!" Hwall cheered.
"Going on your nightly check-ins? May I tag along?" Hoseok popped his head in Jungkook's room as he was getting ready.
"Sure." Jungkook replied then, closed the door behind him. As the two professors walked out the building and across the yard.
"Professor! Umm, good evening!' A young maiden came running towards the two. Hoseok grinned as he eyed the package the girl was holding on tight.
"Ah, Seonja, what's keeping you up this late?" Jungkook asked, smiling lightly. The girl blushed. Hoseok observed the scene as he took a sip from his teapot.
"I wanted to give you this. I made them myself." Seonja kept her head down and handed Jungkook the package shyly.
"Oh? What is it?" Jungkook opened it up.
"Chrysanthemum cakes? Wow, how'd you make them?" Hoseok exclaimed as he took a piece. Seonja's eyes widened in horror. Hoseok smirked at her.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna eat them." He teased and put back the cake. Jungkook nudged him and bowed his head to Seonja.
"Thank you for the cake. It must've been hard to make." Jungkook smiled at her.
"It's my pleasure. Hope you like them! Good night!" Seonja walked away quickly.
"How lucky you are! Having a cute admirer!" Hoseok joked. Jungkook gave him a little glare.
"Let's go. We're late."
"Because of your little admirer."
"Shut up."
"By the way, I wonder where the wine in the kitchen have gone?" Hoseok said, pretending to be curious. Jungkook smirked to himself.
"Hyungseo! Have you got anymore of these scented candles?" Younghoon shouted.
"That's all!" Hyungseo shouted back.
The twelve boys were scrambling to hide the evidence and odour of wine. Haknyeon and Youngjae were tucking Hwall into bed. The boy was wiped out, along with Changmin.
"Wouldn't it be suspicious if we are all in one room?" Sunwoo asked suddenly. They looked at each other.
"Juyeon, Younghoon, and Joonyoung, get back to your rooms." Sangyeon instructed. The three nodded as they tried to sneak out by the window.
"Make sure to cover Changmin properly. We should go as well." Hyunjae said as he turned to Sunwoo.
"No. Someone needs to stay back to make excuses." Sangyeon said.
"I can stay. I always wander around anyway." Hyungseo volunteered.
"Hyunjae, Sunwoo, and I will get back, then." Chanhee said. Sangyeon nodded.
The three also made their way outside through the window. They jumped down lightly and tiptoed cautiously in case they got caught.
Chanhee bumped into Hyunjae as the latter suddenly stopped in front of him. That caused Sunwoo to bump into him as well. Just when Sunwoo was about to let out a stream of curses, Chanhee shut him up, slapping his hand over Sunwoo's mouth. Sunwoo glared at him but kept quiet, nonetheless.
Hyunjae indicated the two of them to pipe down as he heard the rustles of boots on the gravel path. They held their breath while sticking close to the wall, almost morphing into one with it.
Chanhee felt a tingling sensation on his right shoulder. He was about to snap at Sunwoo to stop messing with him when he turned his head. Chanhee's eyes widened as he spotted the spider on his shoulder. He hiccupped.
Hyunjae panicked and leaned over to shut him up forcefully.
"Shh.." He whispered. Chanhee's eyes darted right. That's when Hyunjae noticed the spider. He chuckled quietly and got it off with a flick of his hand. Chanhee visibly sighed in relief.
"How is a gumiho that scared of a puny spider?" Sunwoo muttered from beside. Chanhee glared at him, then his eyes widened again.
"What?" Sunwoo whispered.
Chanhee and Hyunjae pointed at Sunwoo's chest where the spider Hyunjae had swatted off stuck on. Sunwoo looked down. He, slowly but surely, silent panicked and frantically ruffled up his clothes to get it off.
"Is it gone?" He said after a short but intense fight with his own clothes. Hyunjae and Chanhee were struggling to hold back laughter at Sunwoo's state.
"You should have seen your face." Chanhee muffled up his own laugh. Sunwoo scowled at him.
Hyunjae was also chuckling lightly. But he wasn't looking at Sunwoo.
"Mind letting me join in on the joke?" The three whipped their heads around to see Hoseok leaning on the wall with an amused expression.
"Umm..." Chanhee started. They froze, finding no response.
"We like the night breeze?" Hyunjae tried. Hoseok shook his head, still smiling, and called them with a move of his finger.
The three glanced at each other and followed their professor.
"Professor? Where are we going?" Sunwoo asked.
"A party." Hoseok replied. A party? the three thought. The three started getting nervous when Hoseok headed for the direction of Haknyeon, Hwall and Youngjae's room.
"Chanhee? Did you get away?" Younghoon's voice appeared in Chanhee's mind.
"What'd you think?" Chanhee replied. The response came in after a while.
"We're screwed." Younghoon said.
Hoseok entered the room, revealing the other nine boys all standing at attention, except for Hwall and Changmin who were passed out on the bed.
"Come in." Jungkook called for the three boys frozen at the doorstep. The three hurried to stand beside their friends.
"Now, what is this?" Jungkook held up a bottle of wine. No response.
"I don't think they know. How about you have a sip and tell us?" Hoseok grabbed the bottle and handed it to Joonyoung. Joonyoung glanced at the others, not knowing what to do.
"Hmm?" Hoseok waved the bottle right under Joonyoung's nose. Joonyoung scrunched up his nose at the strong wine smell.
"Who started it?" Jungkook asked as he sighed. No response.
"Keep being quiet and you will get the consequences."
No one responded. Jungkook heaved a sigh.
"Jungkook-ah, might as well punish all of them." Hoseok looked at them, disappointed and left. Jungkook nodded.
"I'll inform you of your punishment tomorrow." He said as a final and left with Hoseok.
After the two professors left, silence enclosed the room. Until,...
"Mansae!"
"Remind me to never get alcohol near that boy again." Youngjae sighed as he eyed Hwall who was sprawled out on his own bed and almost strangling Changmin.
A/N: I've decided to update like once every two days because I'm running out of written drafts. I'm also working on my Milnyu book, so yeah :D.
I don't celebrate Christmas but Merry Christmas to those who do and always sending lots of love to you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!