Hell and Back (EXO x Reader)

Youtube Classics (Trial 10)

Chapter warnings: Mild language

Word count: 1259

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"Haha, you like it!'

"Shut the fuck up! I'm just trying not to be rude!"

"Suuuure, that's the only reason-"

"You better pray I don't rip your head off as soon as I can get up-!"

Y/N stirred as her ears were filled with the muffled bickering of her friends around her. She was confused as to what was going on, eyes still shut as she shut her mouth and swallowed harshly, limbs starting to move themselves from the confines of unconsciousness.

"Nice one, genius! You woke her up!" Eyes fluttering open, her vision was obstructed by some sort of black fabric, bunching up in front of her face. Slipping her hands below her body, she pushed, trying to lift herself up from the bed. The surface beneath her hands didn't have as much give as a mattress, though. Vision clearing, she looked around at her strange audience.

Kai was half-sitting, half-laying on the bed beside her, thigh up against hers because of their positions. He was sitting back against the headboard, watching her curiously as she realized her hands on his upper abdomen. Quickly removing them, she apologized.

"S-sorry, I didn't- what time is it?" Changing the subject, always a classic distraction.

"Uh... 10:24." Chen answered her, looking at his watch.

"Are you serious?!" She asked, almost panicking, using it as an excuse to jump out from the bed. It was regrettably cold, but anything to avoid the awkward situation she had awoken into. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because you just looked so comfortable." Sehun joked with a laugh, earning himself an elbow to the side. "Hey!"

"I said I was serious about ripping your head off." Kai grumbled.

"Stop it. And Y/N, it's really no problem, we have plenty of time. We should all just take a few minutes to get ready, then we can eat, and start the next trial. Sound good?" She was a bit jumpy to get on with the challenges, but she couldn't deny twelve boys their right to food. Reluctantly, she agreed, eager to- oh... she couldn't change. She wasn't at her house. Noticing the expression on her face, Sehun asked,

"Yo, what's the matter? If it's about the jokes, I was just. k-"

"No, it's not that. I just... kinda wanted to change, but I don't want to bring all of you over to my place right now."

"Oh." He realized, thankful that her attitude wasn't due to something he said. "I mean, I can see if I can dig up something that'll fit you?"

"Really? That would be awesome." Nodding in reassurance, he ran off into the dorm. It only took him a minute or two to grab a few items. Thankfully, due to the members' varying sizes, he could find something that at least partially fit her. As long as it adequately covered her, it would do the job. Coming back out to hand her a t-shirt, sweatpants, boy shorts (clean, she prayed), and a pair of socks, she grabbed it from him, thanking him profusely as she left to change.

Walking back out, she received a few sideways glances from a few of the boys, assumedly the ones whose clothes she was wearing. Still, no one said anything about it. She was painfully aware of the places in which it didn't fit, but it couldn't be helped. Maybe she'd force them to sleep at her place the next night. For now, though, it was time for the next trial.

"Xiumin is limited again, so no frost." Suho said.

"What could that mean?" Kungsoo asked. "Who's the best to fight against something that-"

"We already know that the limited powers don't necessarily mean anything." Tao pointed out. "Maybe just whoever is comfortable? I can go, if you want. Worst case scenario, if something bad happens, I can just... back it up."

"That's the case for all of them, though. SHouldn't we save you for the harder trials?" Kris added.

"That's not really fair to him." Suho mentioned. "He can have this trial, and then one of the later ones. That way, we all end up with even difficulty. Fair?" They all nodded in agreement as Y/N selected his name. Processing the request, the white text scrolled.

Trial 10: Cinnamon Challenge

Swallow three tablespoons of dry cinnamon within one minute.

Limited power: Xiumin

Drop-out Fee: $300

"Oh... I see why Xiumin is out." Chanyeol tried to laugh awkwardly. "He could just use his ice-watery stuff and... yeah."

"So the limits are only effective some of the time." Kyungsoo grumbled. "I love consistency."

"Are you gonna be okay with that?" Suho asked him, concerned. Nodding lightly, he consoled the man.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure as hell not going to drop out because of a spice. I just need to make sure I get it the first time so I don't have to do it twice. Or more." They all agreed with that logic. Trying to figure out where they might find cinnamon, they settled on the dorm kitchen. There shouldn't be anybody in there, so it was perfect.

Sure enough, the kitchen was empty. Pulling out a tiny plastic bottle labeled Ground Cinnamon, Lay shook it.

"Will this be enough?"

"We'll just have to hope so." Suho said as he dug through a drawer for measuring spoons. While they were all different styles, he managed to find three tablespoons- one metal, one a blue plastic, and one a marbled white color. Laying them on a dish, he picked them up one by one, filling each with the aggressively red-brown powder. Thankfully, they just barely had enough to fill all of them.

"You'd better get it the first time," Xiumin joked. "If not, we'll have to go buy more cinnamon." Rolling his eyes, mostly out of nervousness, Tao sat down at the table, eyeing the spoons in front of him.

"Just don't let it get all over your tongue." Kris advised. "Swallow as fast as you can without choking." He sounded strangely well-versed in the topic, but no one wanted to ask. Readying a timer, Baekhyun, (the one holding it) nodded as if to indicate that he was ready to go. Not wanting to put it off, Tao lifted the first spoon to his mouth, opening it and pouring in the powder as his colleague started the timer.

It took him only about twelve seconds to mostly get rid of the first spoonful. The distaste was clear on his features, but he was able to suffer through it. By the second spoonful, things were beginning to clump up in his mouth and stick in his throat, heat rising to his cheeks lightly. The two spoonfuls combined took him almost forty seconds alone. Worried that the timer was running out as Baekhyun called out remaining seconds, he tried to swallow the last bit like a pil, but ended up breathing it in the wrong way. Covering his mouth, he tried to keep from coughing it all up, forcing himself to swallow as he used his tongue to dig the excess out of the crevices of his mouth. Just as the timer was finishing up, he opened a very red, relatively empty mouth.

"Is that it? Is he done?" Baekhyun asked. Everyone turning to the screens with their breaths held, they all sighed practically in unison as the completion banner flashed. Tao was holding a hand to his stomach, clearly disgruntled, but happy that his trial was over.