In the debate world, there are five unspoken rules. The first four are trivial; simple social laws that every sane person would understand.
But the last one. Now that's something.
Rule Number Five: Never, ever, under any circumstances, date your d...
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today's theme: replacement
The rest of the morning passed by in relative peacefulness.
Peacefulness for the two of them, at least, who had made a pact to ignore the spotlight that was beaming down on them.
For everyone else, it was pure chaos. You were either staring at them as they walked by in the hallways, reading the hundredth post you had found that day on the forum about him and his new partner, or exchanging small talk with your opponents over the exact same topic.
Or, if fate had given you the special card of the day, you and your partner were among the souls that had actually been matched against them. Which, depending on how you looked at it, was either a stroke of luck or a sad, sad reality.
"Hey look, five more posts have been made." Hyunjin tapped away at his phone, absentmindedly gnawing at his coffee straw.
It was lunch break, and the team had reconvened at one of the long tables in the middle of the school's cafeteria, hundreds upon hundreds of other people surrounding them. They all pretended to mind their own business, eating and prepping and whatnot, but Minho's figure was all located in the corner of their eyes, silently watching his every move.
Beside him, Felix had been doing the same thing. "Ooh, two of these are about Jisung! They got some really good candid shots of you in the hallway."
"Wait, wait, lemme see." Jisung took a bite out of the rice ball he had bought. "Okay, that's a cute one—ew, they got my bad side for that one, oh hey, you can see the earring!"
He giggled. "It does look hot on me."
"I took a look at some of the posts this morning," Changbin said, mixing his noodles. "They've already figured out that he's from the Academy. The team website got three thousand new visitors; it's crazy."
Seungmin sat up. "The original post just passed five hundred thousand likes. We're famous now, guys." He pondered for a moment. "You think we could make t-shirts out of Minho's face and sell them?"
Jisung glared at him. "Touch my partner and you die."
Minho, for one, was feeling a bit guilty. "Sorry about the mess. I didn't mean to throw you all into the hot water, too."
Chan smiled at him warmly. "Don't say that. We're a team—we go through these together and for each other. We're just glad you decided to come back."
"Very, very glad indeed," Seungmin snapped a photo of Minho, barely avoiding Jisung's swipe at him. "My four hundred dollars and box of snacks thank you, Minho."
Felix bobbed in his seat proudly. "Overall, I think we can all agree that Minho's return was a great thing. Which means I was right. Again."
He gave a pointed look to Minho, as if to prove a point. "Now, on the count of three, everybody say 'Thank you Felix our lord and saviour' and shower me with presents."
