he had seen them around the building, seen them teased and posted about on kq’s official pages as well as local kpop sources on twitter — it wasn’t a shock to find out about the group, not when all the staff at kq praised them for being something special.

chaoxiang sat against the wall outside of the practice room — or his old practice room at least. with his notice given over two days ago, the head of kq had been generous enough to let chaoxiang finish the week with the title of a kq fella, yet starting next week, he would be something else.

he had only looked up when he heard footsteps approaching, the two skyscrapers named mingi and yunho approaching with solemn faces — they had been together for quite a long time. when chaoxiang had come over from canada, and transferred into the school, yunho had been quick to take him under his wing, and before long, mingi had joined the trio.

“why do you two look so sad?” chaoxiang questioned, despite already knowing the cause of their long faces. “it’s not like I'm leaving the company, i’m just moving to the next floor,” he chuckled. it wasn’t a humorous situation to anyone, but he admittedly hated to see his friends sad, so if he had to put up an indifferent front to see them smile again, then he would do so without a second thought.

“do you know when you leave?”

he sighed, lowering his head — the lump in his throat swelled at the thought of walking away from this room. “after practice today — i have to go to the dorm,” he gestured to the luggage surrounding him. “starting tonight i’m an olympus member — my spot in the hyung line drops me into the position of the maknae,” he laughs, earning a small smile from the duo. “what a plot twist huh?”

more footsteps echoed in the otherwise quiet hallway, the appearance of hongjoong, seonghwa, and san coming into view, alongside a boy he’s never seen before.

must be my replacement

“do you have everything you need? our manager is taking you over to your new dorm as soon as practice is over,” hongjoong looked over the boy who gave a nod in return.

everyone in the hallway could sense that there was a heavy feeling. it was hard to see someone get dropped from the group, but seeing someone get moved to another group, a group that was so close yet just out of reach for the rest of the boys at the same time was rough. it was hard to see them in passing and know that they could have debuted together.

chaoxiang looked to the new figure in the hallway — he had dark hair, a face that he knew right away would draw people in, and carried himself in a quiet and reserved manner. despite his distaste for someone arriving the day he would be leaving, he wished the boy the best with the group.

seonghwa offered chaoxiang his hand and nodded towards the practice room.

“let’s start practice.”

—

he didn’t know how long he stood hugging the boys — mingi and yunho hadn’t let him go since they had finished their practice, hongjoong and seonghwa standing off to the side watching sadly as the trio swayed lightly. san, who had already hugged the boy, stood beside the three, his throat tight and his eyes swelling with tears.

“can’t you ask to stay with us?” mingi whispered, his raspy voice only bringing more tears to chaoxiang’s eyes.

“it’s not up to me where i go — and you know the boss,” he sighed, bringing his palms to rub harshly at his eyes. “when he sets his mind on something, there’s no changing his decision.”

“chaoxiang,” a soft voice echoed throughout the practice room, bringing the attention to the doorway. the manager stood patiently, a bag of his in her hand as she smiled lightly at him. “we have to head to the dorm, the others are waiting to meet you there.”

he swore his heart broke the minute the manager said that — he had been mentally preparing himself for this ever since the news broke, and he had been trying to work himself up to the point where he was strong enough to be able to walk out of the room with his head held high. however, the minute he heard the choked sob leave mingi’s throat, all sense of his composure flew out of the window.

gathering his belongings in the corner, he bowed sharply towards the remaining boys in the room. “thank you for welcoming me with open arms — we’ll perform together one day, that’s a promise.”

“don’t forget about us when you’re famous chaoxiang,” yunho tearfully laughed, his arm still wrapped around mingi’s shoulders who only sobbed harder at his friends words.

“i could say the same thing about you guys — i look forward to seeing you guys take the world by storm.”

the manager had let him say his goodbyes, knowing how hard it would be for the boy who had known them for well over a year to walk away from them for good. when chaoxiang finally composed himself to the best of his abilities, he joined his manager, the duo now walking towards the exit.

all he had to do now was prepare himself to meet his four new group mates — however, with how focused he was on his composure around the boys, he had little time to actually think over what meeting them would be like.

what if they were all snobbish?

what if they looked down on me since i’m the youngest?

what if they treat me like an outcast?

“chaoxiang?”

his head snapped up, the manager standing patiently at the trunk of her car, hands held out for the bag that was wrapped around his shoulders. “ah, sorry,” he shrugged the straps off quickly, setting it in the trunk of the car carefully.

“they’re a nice group of people — i think you’ll get along with them just as much, if not more than what you did with the other kq boys,” she smiled, before climbing into the driver’s seat, chaoxiang joining her in the passengers seat shortly after, hoping to hear more about just what exactly he should expect from them.

“can you tell me anything else about them?”

“if you buckle up first, then yes, i can tell you about them on our way to the dorm.”

—

despite the rundown that his manager had given him on the way over, he hadn’t been prepared to see the four when he walked through the door — on one hand, he could tell right away that he would find himself having a lot of headaches in their presence.

two girls, two boys — while one boy and girl offered him a large smile and a bow as soon as he peaked his head halfway into the dorm, the other two seemed to swing their limbs at the other without a care for the newcomer.

swift stomps, light smacks, and many colourful words whispered between the pair, chaoxiang thought to himself — these must be the twins. both considerably dark in their appearance, they radiated the same energy. chaotic, aggressive, yet accepting — that last part only came into his mind when the male counterpart of the duo turned quickly and bowed when he caught sight of him, the female giving one last glare to the boy before joining him.

the manager stepped in silently after the boy, setting his bags down by the door. “ah, i see you’ve already met the others—”

“not formally yet, but he’s seen enough already,” another boy chuckled, his offhand comment causing the twins to throw side-eyes back at him. ignoring the two, the boy had stepped forward, offering his hand to chaoxiang, “it’s nice to meet you, i’m daejung but i’m fine with being called dae,” he grinned.

daejung — right off the bat, chaoxiang reminded himself to distance himself from the boy, all in fear that the scheming smile he offered him would get him into trouble one day.

the girl who hadn’t spoken yet stood high on her tiptoes — the first thing chaoxiang noted was that she was oddly tall for a female idol. “hello, i’m seong aera, but i prefer to go by ariss — whatever you feel more comfortable with is fine, however,” she offered a smile like the prior, hers presenting to be much warmer.

she’s even prettier in person…

the manager’s words of praise had done little justice to what she looked like up close.

finally, the twins stepped forward, both now seemingly calm — he already knew who they were since the manager had gone into lengthy detail about the pair of firecrackers within the group.

“i’m junho.”

“and i’m jisu, welcome to the olympus dorm,” the girl smiled. “sorry you had to walk in on that, but i guess it’s better for you to get used to that early since you’ll be seeing it a lot.”

chaoxiang didn’t know how to respond to that — was he supposed to just get used to his members, not to mention the eldest members, fighting day in and day out? he knew it was most likely nothing more than petty arguments and light bickering — with a side of borderline roughhousing, yet the thought had scared him.

his response had simply been that of a bend at his hips and a light sigh.

“daejung, could you possibly help me out with his bags?”

the boy mentioned moved forward quickly, taking the bags into his hands and throwing them over his own shoulders.

“i have to head back to the company to finish up some paperwork, so until further notice, i’m trusting the four of you to make chaoxiang feel at home here?” she gave them all questioning looks, even as she was already halfway out of the door.

“will do — have a safe drive!” aera waved lightly to the woman, walking closer to where chaoxiang and daejung stood.

when the door finally shut, the twins sighed, jisu turning on her heal and walking towards the kitchen, only to stop short and turn to the new arrival once more. “if you have any requests for food, just let me know,” she smiled. “i’m just making something quick tonight due to the time, but tomorrow night i’ll make sure to cook a nice meal for all of us — a welcome to olympus type of treat, so it’s your choice,” she turned once more and headed into the kitchen.

“i’ll grab one of those from you,” the lone girl in the entrance hallway helped chaoxiang shrug his bag off before she too turned on her heel and walked away, only this time, down a separate hallway — she must be taking his bag to where he would be staying.

junho stood quietly, looking over the boy with scrutinizing eyes — his presence and glare were ones that made even hongjoong look harmless even at his angriest. that paired with his height and sharp features only made his aura even more intense.

chaoxiang’s heart had sped up when the man took careful steps towards him.

“i hope for us to get close in the future,” the smile he paired with it was soft, earnest, and warm — a steep contrast in comparison to the look he gave him mere seconds prior.

with that, the eldest boy turned and left, just as the previous three had, leaving chaoxiang in the presence of daejung.

a firm hand grasped his shoulder and shook him softly, “don’t look so tense chaoxiang, we don’t bite,” he laughed, walking past the boy to where aera had disappeared to. “you and i will be best buddies soon enough — we’ll be rooming together after all.”

chaoxiang held his breath for several moments after the male left his sights, unsure of what to make with his first impressions of everyone.

junho was scary looking with his appearance, yet was kind, even from the little amount of time he had been in the presence of him — he reminded chaoxiang of what german shepherds were like.

jisu was stern sounding, yet mother-like in a sense — despite this, she was also playful.

aera was the one he could see himself getting close to very quickly — her calm and warm presence being one that reminded him of the kq boys. if she had trained with them, he was sure that the leader position would be given to either hongjoong or her.

and finally daejung — perhaps the trickiest of them all. chaoxiang didn’t know if he wanted to befriend the boy immediately or run for the hills with his bags in hand. he was no doubt a loudmouth, someone who spoke their mind without a second thought, and someone who didn’t know what an indoor voice was.

olympus was an odd group of people put together, and yet somehow they made it work.

now, chaoxiang could only hope that adding him into the mix wouldn’t disrupt the balance that was already in place between the four.