the days all started rolling into each other, and every night was the same story. johnny was never going to give up on his futile attempt at maintaining freewill, and ten had to go through hell and back just to find the guy each time. sometimes the older would leave the hint with his roommate, yangyang, and sometimes it was so much more obscure and difficult to unravel than that.

during the day, however, the two were starting to acknowledge one another's presences...so that was nice. this whole thing felt like a fruitless effort and a disaster in disguise, yet the ivory president had no choice but to fulfil his end of the deal for now.

his brows were knitted tightly together as he walked into a chaotic canteen where once again a war was taking place. it was dinner time, and the idea that the school had this much energy this late was actually rather impressive. for god's sake, he inwardly grumbled.

"hey, watch out!" someone hissed at him before a flying clump of carbonara rocketed towards his clean form. he tsked irritatedly and ducked to the left, letting it pass by easily and splatter over some other unfortunate soul.

"hey!" he snapped while grabbing ahold of a supposed first year's white uniform jacket. the boy turned to him, eyes wide since he too probably wasn't a warrior. "where's johnny seo?!"

the noise levels were ridiculous, and the smashing of china ceramics against the ground was a little concerning. everything was an utter mess, and the president was desperately attempting to keep his patience intact.

"johnny?" the teen hummed in response as he thought, "sorry, i don't really know much about third years. he doesn't participate in wars though, does he?"

perhaps not, the ravenette sighed defeatedly and pulled away to rub his fingers through his long hair. "fine. sorry to disrupt you..."

"chenle."

"chenle. thanks anyway." and with that the conversation ended and the older stormed off to continue his search. if the guy wasn't fighting in this mess right now, then where the hell could he have been?

"hey, pres!" a deep, somewhat kind voice called out from behind him. ten spun around in a heartbeat and spotted a male he actually got along with pretty well, since he was quite popular around this school. "i heard you were looking for johnny?"

"oh, yeah! any idea where he is?"

"he told me to give you a hint," jaehyun chuckled fondly, probably well acquainted with this childish behaviour. he also predicted the massive eye-roll that news received.

"god, what is it?"

"at twelve where it's darkest lies noise where it's quietest?"

"okay..." the older pursed his lips without any form of amusement, "so like, do you know where he is? or....."

"unfortunately not. you know how doyoung is," the tall boy winked, "he hates parties, and i stopped attending them once we started dating. i'm out of the loop now, but i wish you the best of luck."

damn it, this is just so stupid! he wanted to shriek in frustration, it's been a week already and he still keeps fucking around with me?! "thanks jae," he murmured, leaving first to exit the canteen as fast as he could. an ebony student unceremoniously crashed into him without so much as an apology, and that was all it took for ten to snap.

"watch where you're fucking going!" he growled, "you ebony students are a bunch of wild goddamn animals and you need to be tamed!" and just like that, he stalked out of the room leaving most of the noisy students stunned at the violent outburst.

of all the pupils of the school, be it in ebony or ivory, the two presidents were expected to show no malice nor to entertain wars. that was surprising.

kun is gonna shoot me in the next meeting, the boy swallowed thickly, but it didn't bother him as much as it should've. he was on a mission and he wasn't about to crack all because of some stupid male who refused to play ball.

"at twelve," he uttered softly and glanced at his watch with exhaustion. "damn, it's only nine. i just wanna sleep..."

and conveniently enough, while the ravenette had all that time to sit in his room and study on his own before beginning his search, he had managed to come up with multiple ideas as to where the blonde could've been. at first he thought of the library again, but he knew the clever older was wiser than stupidly choosing the same place again so soon. he then considered what places in the school were the darkest and the quietest.

initially, places like dorms and the canteen were cancelled out since they had windows to allow moonlight in. one of the most beautiful perks to this stunning school was its views and the intense moon and sun rays it received. but, moving on, he considered all the spaces that didn't have windows.

well, the janitor's closet came to mind, though it was way too small and cramped to be a decent spot to hang out in. then the theatre where the performers took a lot of pride in their stage design and backgrounds. there was no way the sassy group of actors and artists would allow an outsider to even consider bringing a milkshake in there, let alone a gang for a party.

the list went on a little further, though the most obvious place that had far more pros than cons and seemed plausible to ten was the kitchen. it was incredibly dark due to no windows, only vents. it was silent since no one went in there at night. and it was big.

"bullseye," he snickered once arriving outside the back entrance. noise could be heard leaking from within, and there was no possible way he could've been wrong at this point. so, stretching his hand out and pushing the door open without even knocking, he wandered on inside with a pissed expression.

"ah, you've made it to the fun, pres," johnny, who's attitude to life annoyed the younger to no end, stated with a wave. "heyo."

"don't 'heyo' me!" the younger snarled, "i hate you."

"no you don't. you're just still warming up to me."

"wishful thinking," the short teen sighed, though trailed closer to the older and proceeded to tug at his strong arm in the most adorable way possible. the other rule-breakers present cooed playfully and teased the stiff authoritative figure ceaselessly.

"aaaw, join the party," they insisted. "it's just a bit of fun."

"and then the fun ends when expulsion is threatened!"

"psh," he heard, though the others weren't his priority then and there. he was still faced with the issue of dragging this gentle giant to a quiet place to do actual, genuine work.

"please johnny, i found you, didn't i? stop making this so hard for me..."

the blonde blinked once and absentmindedly placed his drink down on a countertop. there weren't many around, just a few friends to chat to when curfew had long since passed...though he felt quite peaceful as of now. "then give up."

"huh?"

"you heard me. give up. all the other useless tutors gave up when they couldn't figure me out, so give yourself a pat on the shoulder for a job well done and throw in the towel."

is he serious? does he honestly think i'd let that gruelling week of hide and seek go just for nothing? bitch, i don't think so! "no. you're coming with me and you're coming with me now!"

the taller wasn't physically or mentally prepared for the rough pulling and dragging that followed his angry demand. ten wasn't sweet about shoving him unceremoniously towards the door and forcing him to leave the semi-crowded kitchen.

"hey! i didn't get to say goodbye—"

"boohoo!" the younger slapped his shoulder, and once the door clicked shut behind them, their journey towards their study destination began.