JENO WAITED A BIT. the announcement stopped, abruptly changing the look in hyejoo's eyes.

"oh no, what are you planning..."

her eyes were filled with determination and competition.

"you already know jeno-ssi."

"please don't call me that."

"whoever comes last loses the race!"

the girl zoomed past him, not looking back to see jeno's annoyed state.

"what the fuck..." the boy muttered under his breath, "she's wild..."

jeno didn't really care for losing, so he just walked to the laser tag area. everyone, including the swimming team and dancing crew was there. he kept his smile on, waving to everyone he knew.

hyejoo stood in front of him, looking at the boy teasingly, "haha!! you lost. i thought you were our school's ace!!"

"ma'am..." jeno replied, "i don't care if it's not an actual competition."

"oh well. anyways, since i won, you have to face the consequences."

"ok, go ahead."

hyejoo had a glint of mischievousness in her eyes, "you have to kiss either renjun or jaemin... or any of the girls."

jeno just stared at her, blushing.

"minus me! minus me." hyejoo bewilderingly said, "i don't count."

"uhm. no," jeno answered in a low tone, "i will not kiss anyone."

"please?" the girl said, giving her best puppy eyes to the older boy.

"consent," jeno said, pointing his finger, "consent is important hyejoo-ah."

"aARGH!!" hyejoo let out, catching the attention of others around them. she whispered a minute "sorry," and looked back to jeno.

"how's it feel like embarrassing yourself?" jeno asked rhetorically.

"fine, you owe me hotpot though." hyejoo smiled as she said that.

"bitch!! i'm broke!"

"save up your money then," hyejoo winked, "you'll need it."

their ordeal was interrupted by jaemin and mark appearing next to his side suddenly.

"ah! h-hi jaemin... and mark."

"oh, so that's what i get, an 'and mark.' gosh, kids these days!" mark exclaimed, walking off.

"go to hyuck!" jaemin shouted out as mark walked away from them. "hey jeno," the boy said as he turned around.

hyejoo snickered, "i'm here too jaem..."

"ah yes, sorry. i think chaewon was looking for you."

the girl looked at him confusingly, "she's here? i thought she was sick," hyejoo then smiled at jaemin, "or are you trying to get me away from you two?"

"more like you're sick," jeno mumbled under his breath.

"i'm kidding," the girl frowned, "where is chaewon?"

jaemin pointed in the direction where he came from, keeping a smiling face on. hyejoo waved and said goodbye to jeno, leaving the two awkwardly standing next to each other.

"he-"

"so h-"

the two looked at each other, apologizing and telling teh other one to go first.

"jeno, its fine... i really don't mind."

"nah, you can say whatever first."

the younger frowned at his defiance.

"anyways, i was going to ask how you think about the party right now?"

"it's a lot of fun, actually. i mean, a lot of the people here i've only ever seen from afar but now i'm actually meeting them." jeno smiled his infamous smile, answering jaemin's question.

"nah, that's me to you," jaemin said, pointing at the popular athlete, "you're the one that has been seen on tv."

"its really not a big deal," jeno said, "except for the fact that so many people freak out when they meet me."

"now it just sounds like you're bragging."

jeno laughed, scratching the back of his neck, "i promise, i'm not stuck up."

"whatever you say lee jeno," jaemin responded, smiling.

"how are you, student council president?"

"great! just a bit stressed, but great."

"you should take a break sometime though."

"woah, is that how you propose a date with someone?"

jeno laughed once again, "you're funny."

"i'm kidding," jaemin said, "but yeah i really should... literally right before i came here i had a nosebleed. i mean, its not a big of a deal compared to you."

"shut up, physical strength is way different mental strength. the latter is way more important than whatever i do," jeno exclaimed, "you manage everything, along with doing dance? that's just amazing."

"i'm not that good at dance," jaemin frowned.

"shut up."

jaemin's lips turned at least a bit up, "thanks, but we should start to lineup for laser tag."

"yeah, lets's do that."

RENJUN SMILED AT the various people who he has never even met before. he sat at the couch next to chenle, who was fully engrossed in a conversation with another chinese transfer student, guanlin. scrolling on his twitter feed, he realizes that he's almost completely alone. the boy frowns and runs off, finding the bathroom.

"oh god, you know who gets on my nerves?" a voice said loudly as renjun walked past the bathroom door.

the other person replied with a "hmm?"

"lee jeno," the guy answered, "he thinks he's all the shit when all he does is nothing."

renjun held back a laugh, trying not to think how stupid the guy was. despite only knowing jeno for like, a day, he was already sure he could accomplish just about anything.

"i think you're just jealous," the other boy said in a monotonous tone, "lee jeno can do so much better than you anyways."

renjun walked in the bathroom anyways, taking a good look at the two boys that were talking. they curtly smiled at him and he smiled back.

the boy thought to himself, "what if that guy is literally pretending to be jeno's best friend?"

renjun has dealt with fake friends before but knowing that jeno was extremely popular, he'd have a lot of friends but a lot of enemies too.

after washing up, he walked out of the bathroom, expecting a long line already forming at the laser tag area. the bathroom was directly across, so that's exactly what he saw.

one thing he didn't expect was jeno and jaemin right in front of him as he exited.

"h-hey?" the boy called out to the two. they completely outshined everyone in the room.

they both turned around and saw renjun smiling awkwardly at the two. jaemin smiled widely and exclaimed, "hey renjun!"

jeno replied with a wave and a smile, making renjun feel a bit more homely. "how's the party going for you?"

renjun frowned, "i feel really alone, but it's my second day here so i don't know what to expect."

"yea," jaemin replied, "most groups here are exclusive here and like to get into them you have to be extremely good at whatever they're about."

"i've realized..."

jeno stepped up, looking at renjun and tilting his head down to direct at the other boy. "trust me, you'll be fine renjun-ssi. you're extremely good at art so i don't know what jaemin is talking about."

"i never said anything about his artwork being bad!" jaemin sighed as he spoke in between his sentences, "that's why we're here, to help guide you through your journey in seoul university."

"it's not that deep jaem..." jeno said, laughing.

renjun smiled, but inside he knew that he would never truly find people like the ones he had at home. they were in china and they were his family. closer than his actual family. "what did i expect? i mean, you are the student council president. it's your job, right?"

"is it my job to talk to people who transfer here?" jaemin asked, turning his head slightly.

"you're stupid," jeno stated, looking at jaemin, "what renjun meant was that you're not talking to him because you want to, rather it's your job."

renjun nodded, even though that wasn't exactly what he was trying to go for. since that kinda sounded rude.

"oh," jaemin exclaimed, "no! i think you're real cool. if i didn't think you were, i wouldn't have a steady conversation with you."

renjun felt flattered, "wow uhm...you're cool too!"

"if you two are trying to flirt," jeno mentioned, looking deadpanned, "please don't do it near me."

jaemin and renjun looked at each other and then to jeno, laughing. "you're just jealous!" jaemin teased, with renjun pointing his finger to jeno.

"hah, you wish."

🔫

the three boys finally reached the front of the line, joining the next session of laser tag. despite waiting an earlier 10 minutes, they had to wait another extra ten minutes for the next session to be called. a group next to them was talking loudly about how a "new transfer student" was coming to the school and that he was an artist. jaemin and jeno looked at renjun, who was blushing at the compliments he heard from the group next to him.

"hey you guys," jeno said, interrupting them, "the guy-"

"oh my GOD," one of the girls exclaimed suprisedly, "are you the lee jeno?"

"uhm yes, but thats not the poi-"

"you're so much better looking in real life," another girl said, "i'm sorry to my boyfriend..."

renjun eyed the situation closely. he's honestly used to this, his friends getting recognized as superstars in china. jaemin noticed him looking intently. "this is uhm.. normal."

renjun looked at jaemin, who shook his head, "oh, i'm used to this. my friends in china are like part of this idol group."

"although i'm not exactly close to jeno, i'm used to this with chaewon," jaemin stated, "i mean, go won."

"really? you and jeno aren't that close?" renjun looked at jaemin with disbelief, as he thought they were best friends. like childhood friends.

"oh, no. we literally started actually talking today."

"guess you guys are a perfect match huh?"

"uh-"

he was cut off by jeno appearing next to him, "oh sorry. they were asking for my autograph."

"like i said before, you're just bragging."

renjun smiled at the two, and felt a pang of jealousy. he missed his friends in china. ones that would always tease each other and act like some popularity contest.

"shut up!"

the two other boys laughed at jeno's expressive reaction.

"let's go," renjun said to the two as the bell went off to signal for the next session.

JAEMIN FOLLOWED THE TWO boys who were in front of him. the path they followed led to a dark room that was lined with heavy vests connected to laser guns. renjun ran to one side of the room, the green side and hugged someone that he couldn't really see in this dark lighting. he looked at jeno who noticed, and shrugged at the student president. they followed renjun, standing next to him.

he saw the girl who was next to him, and saw it was yuqi. "hi jaemin! ooh, and jeno!"

"hi yuqi," jeno said first, "how're you?"

"i'm doing well, and i guess renjun is too. with his two new friends."

jaemin smiled at the girl, "yup."

"that's good to know," yuqi nodded, looking back at renjun, "see! i told you that you were easily going to make new friends."

"you sound like a mom..." renjun said as he side-eyed yuqi.

jeno laughed, "yuqi is far from a mom. she's evil."

"shut up, renjun doesn't have to know yet."

"i'm warning you..."

jaemin looked around the room, noticing chenle entering the room. renjun almost automatically shouted at chenle in chinese, "go to the other side lele!"

the younger boy looked at renjun, who was bewildered from the sudden outburst.

"ok ge. i'll beat you!"

their conversation was cut short from one of the workers, "listen up everyone, put on the vest and watch the video. please follow the rules and play safely."

a sudden silence carried through the room, as heads turned to the tv screen that was in the front of the room. rules and a demonstration played out on the tv as the people in the room watched intently.

"ok everyone," the worker said, "you can go now."

everyone's eyes changed right at that moment, letting the competitive state take over their minds. 

"oh god," jaemin thought, "i just hope someone doesn't get hurt."

hey everyone! its iza here and im finally (officially)back! im so sorry that this chap wasnt longer, im kind of like out of ideas, but here i am! with a new chapter. thank you so much for the ongoing support that i get and all the love you guys have given me. i really appreciate it. thank you. until the next upload, make sure to stream takeoff and highway to heaven!