#acaexcsfair

DARE to join the elite ranks of Bidulgi University’s Debate Varsity. 

Five-time Champions at WORLDS. Home of the BEST Speakers and Adjudicators. 

 a debate team starter pack

you are the most precious baby in the whole entire universe please let me keep you safe and protect you from this ugly world you tiny soft roll of cookie dough i love you so much please (@acaxjihoon)

“alright, finny, ready to join your first college club?”

he sounds like a mother - of course.

doting has been a habit - a good or bad one depends on who you’re asking - ever since he’s met jihoon years (years and years) ago. their entire friend group treats jihoon like a baby, jeonghan more so than everyone else. thankfully, jihoon more than willingly obliges which, really, makes one wonder if the freshman is actually aware of the entire situation. admittedly, jeonghan hates children but jihoon fulfills his need to be a parent - or some similar bullshit he’s spouted on more than one occasion when anyone dares ask. regardless, now that jihoon’s in university, jeonghan takes it upon himself to, at least, introduce the misguided lost child boy to the basics: starting with university clubs.

and the e stands for extra : a debate team booth walkthrough

↺ it’s a sleek box of a “booth”--in air quotes because it looks more like one of those posh pop-up boutiques found in high-end department stores--its exteriors painted a matte black, its joints lined with gold foil. letter-shaped balloons spell “DEBATE VARSITY” at the top of the minimalist structure, their golden color catching the early morning sun in an almost blinding manner. giant LED screens flank either side of the boxy space, playing a well-edited supercut of last year’s world debate championships to an exciting edm sample, the team’s best speakers and adjudicators given an equal amount of screen and voice time in the minute-long clip. 

(but not too equal. she did tell jp to give her the subtlest extra second.) 

inside the box is a chic lounge, long couches lined parallel to the three connected walls. a faux-fur carpet decorates the space between the seats, and life-size standees of herself, jaebum, junmyeon, and youngjae serve as the grand centerpiece for the display. every corner contains a glass case containing their hard-earned trophies, and gold frames adorn the board from which their many medals hung. no space on the wall is left unused, as blown-up action shots from their competitions fill it up, overhead spotlights providing adequate illumination to the portraits. 

there’s even air conditioning. the debate team’s “booth” resembles a classy museum, offered in tribute to their organization’s many achievements. but hyeri made sure that it’s as interactive as it pleasing, as “mistletoes” hang from random spots in the wall, and the two lucky students found underneath it will be asked to pick from a fishbowl of pop-culture topics to debate on. mini-megaphones are stacked on a corner shelf (no one dares touch the bedazzled one on top of the shelf--everyone knows it’s hers), and newbies are encouraged to use the contraption as they voice out their opinion on, say, the relevance of taylor swift in feminist discourse. 

it’s a grand display, really, and it’s all to be expected from an over-the-top, larger-than-life, future overlord such as hyeri. but their supervisor did advise her to not make the entire thing too intimidating, so she made sure that the traditional looking booth remains in the entire installation. there she stands in her personalized debate varsity jacket, barking out praises and invitations as one of her freshmen lackeys hand out the flyers she personally designed. (heidegger’s existentialism allows her to ignore the existence of the memey flyer youngjae has distributed.) 

freebies are always a good marketing strategy, and the debate club president didn’t skimp on this year’s member ship giveaways. behind her is a long table containing chic-looking paperbags in gold and jet black, filled with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and skin-care samplers from riverlilee, her mother’s make-up line. she can’t really guarantee the intelligence quotient and argumentative experience of those signing up for the goods, but there is strength in numbers, and their core team could use a couple more cheerleaders for their many competitions. 

“come join the winning team, everyone!” she sing-songs into the bedazzled megaphone, her tone as enthusiastic as could be, “we’ve got cookies and lootbags for the first hundred to sign up!” 

can we start over, @acaxgyu​?

the space between them shouldn’t feel like they’re miles away.

it’s unfamiliar. the confines of his hoodie feel a lot colder than what he’s used to - mingyu’s hands intertwined with his, the tips of their fingers touching before saying good night. while he can tell mingyu’s been trying to act like everything is fine, their usual intimacy - platonic or otherwise - proves otherwise. jeonghan tries not to question it. he gets it.

it’s been a year.

“hey,” he starts, nudging the other’s arm with his elbow. jeonghan chews on his bottom lip, hesitant - something he has been for almost an entire semester. “i was actually thinking…” the new academic year should bring forth an array of new possibilities. that in itself sounds too optimistic for someone who can barely drag his ass out of bed, but it’s worth a shot. a desperate need for validation, a sense of purpose. sometimes mingyu just isn’t enough even if jeonghan wants him to be, especially after what happened.

“maybe i should join track again.”

hey, babe. @acahyeri

“do you really have to be such a fucking nerd about this?”

shamelessly, jeonghan leans back against one of the available seats in the booth, feet propped up on the registry table. he uses the excuse of being a supportive boyfriend as opposed to simply being bored out of his fucking mind. regardless, he did help his girlfriend in setting up whatever he can; it’s the least he could do for everything sans the nagging and doubts about his heterosexuality.

everyone at the share house is out. he guesses they’ll be around the fair one way or another, but it’s still a little too early to know. he’s surprised he even managed to leave his bedroom before noon, on a day where he didn’t have to run off to class. he eyes his fake girlfriend - who might as well just double as his best friend for multiple reasons.