secret santa with hefc!

for :: haolight !!

no title -- haochan

-- 🧪

"Well, look who's late to class." Perfectly trimmed, shiny black hair with bangs that fell over his face, almost shrouding his eyes. "How do you expect to be the top student when you can't even get to class on time?" the boy mocked.

"Minghao! That is quite enough," The professor huffed. "Chan, take a seat, and don't be tardy again."

Chan heard Minghao snicker as he passed him to reach his desk. Of course, Vernon just had to spell his closet to turn into a thicket of roses. But Chan held his head high as he sat down and took out his parchment and feather pen. He refused to miss out on anything important because Minghao caught him slacking.

"Students, as you know the end of the semester is approaching, which means that this year's top student is going to be announced soon." The teacher glanced between Chan and Minghao. It was no secret that they kept the highest scores. "You only have two assignments left to earn the title. Each of them equals to a high percentage of your final grade."
Risking a peek, Chan looked to see Minghao staring at him, bitter hatred filling his gaze. He believed he deserved the title and the benefits being top student would bring. Considering it was only Chan's first year at the school after transferring, and how Chan had skipped his grade halfway through the semester.

Really it stood to prove that Chan deserved the reward more, at least according to himself.
"Your next assignment requires students to work in pairs."
At that moment, Chan felt all his dreams crumble. He hadn't become friends with any of the students in this grade. After classes all he did was study, and if he did hang out it was with Vernon, and sometimes Vernon's friend Seungkwan. Now one of his final, and most important grades was going to ride on who he got paired up with. Absurd.

"Now for the pairs. Mingyu and Jungkook. San and-" Chan nervously tapped the wooden surface of his desk, waiting for the professor to call his name. "Minghao and Chan."

"What!"
"What?"

Chan and Minghao rang out simultaneously.

"But we have the highest grades. Shouldn't we put in different groups?" Minghao tried to reason with the teacher.
The professor only smiled at him. "Just wait one moment Xu, I'll explain the assignment in a minute, and you can understand why."

Chan didn't need to look at Minghao to know he was fuming. What was the professor thinking? The two would tear each other up before starting whatever they were supposed to do.
After what felt like an eternity to Chan, the professor finished assigning the teams. "As this is the second to final assignment it is a lengthy one, as well as dangerous."
Dangerous?

"By now most of you are very skilled with your chosen magic, as well as assisting magic. And with a partner, there shouldn't be any troubles."

Again, Chan dared to look at Minghao. He was no longer staring at Chan but watching the teacher with a determined annoyance.

"You will be expected to go into the Spectral Forest and slay a creature, as well as collect herbs and other ingredients to create a potion of your choosing. The potion will be graded together. And, to answer Minghao's doubts, there will also be a separate grade. Each student will write a detailed essay of the process of collecting and producing the potion, and what they personally contributed."

Chan wanted nothing more than to curl up and hide. The assignment was a difficult one, but far less difficult than working with Minghao. For all Chan knew, Minghao was planning a way to somehow use Chan as a potion ingredient.
"The rest of this class period will be used to plan with your partner. The assignment is due next Friday. Two weeks is plenty of time to complete this assignment, any late submissions will not be accepted.