"Chenle, save those fists for when you truly need them. Step Number Two towards reforming you: keep your reactions under control."
"Ew, imagine having self-control."
⭒☆━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━☆⭒
in which a police office...
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The bus ride was going to be killer. Four hours. Stiff seats. The Tweedle-pair.
It was a crisp morning that was rudely snatched by the unventilated warmth inside the vehicle. They had to throw their luggage into the side of the bus first, then face the wall of waving parents and guardians.
"Oh look, it's Oldy. Hi, Oldy!" Chenle called rather loudly and waved at the man through the window, who was frantically returning the gesture. Jisung sat beside him on the aisle seat, also bidding his father farewell. "And Mrs. Lee!" The lady caught sight of the Chinese boy through the window and enthusiastically sent him kisses. He sent them back with a joking toothy grin. Mr. Lee, not too far from his wife, was mouthing 'Bye Big D' to Donghyuck seated behind them next to Mark. The poor boy covered his face and looked away, pretending not to know his own dad.
Renjun was smiling too.
"Where are your parents," Chenle asked curiously.
The boy seated directly behind Donghyuck beside the window pointed to a lady near the middle of the wall of parents. "She's in bright orange jogging gear."
Hard to miss, Chenle had to admit. The woman saw that through the glass of the bus window, her son was talking to someone, and she clearly seemed happy with herself. It was the group's pleasure to call Renjun one of them — part of the squad.
Chenle would liked to have said that they took off in style, but the bus stalled for a hot minute, exhaust fumes the colour of tar jetting out the back. The parents began to look at each other worriedly. So were the students.
"What was our budget?" Jisung asked rhetorically.
A bit of life was breathed back into the bus when an extreme gust of wind helped them take off again, then they were well and truly departed. The wind stayed with them. It was still crisp but in a bitter way. Every time Chenle poked the chair in front of him, tendrils of dust floated out, some of them taking the shape of mushroom clouds. "Look at that. So unhygienic."
"Stop touching it," Jisung advised.
Jeno had taken the seat beside Renjun while Jaemin sat on the opposite side of the aisle to Mark. It hadn't taken as much convincing as Chenle and Donghyuck had expected for the other omega to sit beside an alpha. There was a bit of resistance that was more linked to hesitance than fear. He was still weary of any other alphas, but the four in the group were growing on him.
"I'll start us off," Jaemin called, addressing the entire bus and the teachers sitting at the very front, which was only two seats ahead of Chenle and Jisung. "The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round~" And sure enough, everyone joined in.
"Four hours," Donghyuck muttered audibly. "Four hours to contemplate bringing about my own death." He wasn't a fan of repetitive songs, especially rounds that could go on forever without ending.
