The next day, ChangMin was called to the NeUspaper Club Room after lessons. It was a spacious room with many tables and neat piles of papers around. He was standing right at the centre of the room, facing the Chief Editor's table, behind it there was a partition. Wonder what's it for? Huge, tinted glass-panelled windows formed the back wall of the room.
The Chief Editor LeeTeuk rebuked, "I see that you're great friends with the four hottest guys in campus." He threw a picture onto the mahogany table between them. It was a photo the five of them together. "So what? It's against the law to befriend them? It's just right that I hang out with them. Heck, I'm the fifth hottest guy in campus! Not to mention the fact that I even won first place at last week's poll for accidentally wetting my shirt… with water from the campus' sprinkler," thought ChangMin. It sure was an eventful day worth remembering, what with girls squealing and chasing after him all over campus with their cameras and mobile phones, and posting them all over facebook. "So sexy! ChangMin oppa! Touch me!" were the squeals he heard that day.
Then, the conceited chief threw a few photos onto the table next to the first picture. Some were of JaeJoong and YunHo making out at a quiet stairway, or holding hands as they walked back from class, the others were of YooChun and JunSu smooching in empty corridors.
Oh… Uh oh…
The chief rose menacingly from his chair and loomed over ChangMin, pressing his hands on the table till his knuckles were white. He bellowed deafeningly, "Why don't you ever send in any of these pictures? Aren't you a photographer? I want more of these pictures! If we put them in the papers it'll sell like crazy!" The man breathed noisily by the end of his sentence.
"Exactly. I'm a photographer, not a paparazzi. Sorry, I cannot execute the duty you'd have me do." ChangMin refused frostily. Though the chief towered above him, ChangMin's ferocity never ebb the slightest, his piercing eyes stabbing back at the chief icily.
"Then, I will remove you from the position of NeUspaper's sole photographer, and hand it over to that guy over there – third year senior KangIn." With a sense of foreboding creeping up his spine, ChangMin looked at the direction where the chief had just pointed. Indeed, a few feet away to the right stood his rival for the position of sole photographer, waving two fingers at him coolly. So it's you who took these pictures and handed them in.
ChangMin stared. He felt rage and fury blistering inside him madly, not because of the chief editor's sale obsession or KangIn's spitefulness, but because of the lack of space given to his dear friends. He shot up from the chair and said brusquely, "I will not agree to anything that denies them their privacy." That said, his long legs stormed out of the room crossly.
The next day, the five would be in for a huge surprise.
Crossing the wide grassy field, the five walked to the cafeteria feeling as if a lot of people were gawking at them strangely. When they passed by a bookstore that was selling newspapers on a rack, JaeJoong stopped in his tracks and stared at Seika NeUspaper's front page. He could see their pictures on the cover. JaeJoong strode to the rack, grabbed a copy, and slapped a coin onto the counter. The other four who noticed his sudden absence, turned around and saw Seika NeUspaper on the rack too. Their eyes enlarged in shock at the front page.
JaeJoong returned with today's paper and strode past them briskly. The four hurriedly followed him to the cafeteria, glancing at the paper in his hands as they walked. Their faces were tensed with guarded surprise, the only feature betraying shock were their hard eyes. The headline which they glanced at was, "Campus' four hottest guys are gay?!" Below it were two large pictures. One was of JunSu and YooChun making out at a corridor, the one next to it was of YunHo and JaeJoong smooching at a stairway. They hastily picked a table and sat down, huddling around the paper in JaeJoong's hands. With an ominous feeling of doom piling high up, they scanned the words below the pictures. The caption just made the situation worse. It said, "Now we know why they never have any girlfriends, why none of the girls would ever have a chance to date them. The reason is none other than the fact that they're taken by another man…" the story went on, shining onto the five a bad light that would cause discrimination against them. But the five of them have yet to reach the end of their torture, for at the bottom of the front page mentioned that there was more on page six. With great trepidation, they turned to the page only to be traumatised to a further degree. There were more pictures… of them holding hands and kissing. The four looked at ChangMin.
"Aren't you NeUspaper's sole photographer, ChangMin ah?" asked JaeJoong. "Could it be that you took this photos?" asked JunSu. ChangMin denied the claim. YunHo sighed and wondered aloud, "It's doesn't make sense. If he took these pictures, he could have sent them to NeUspaper the very first day he knew us." YooChun nodded. JaeJoong rubbed his chin with his fingers and said, "You're right. ChangMin isn't the type to do something like this." Everyone looked at the ex-photographer. YooChun gripped his shoulder firmly and asked, "ChangMin ah, tell us what happened."
"Third-year senior student KangIn took those pictures and handed them to the Chief Editor. He wanted his newspaper to sell. So when he knew I was close to you guys yet never send any pictures to him, I was reprimanded and kicked out of my position," explained ChangMin.
YunHo cracked his knuckles and clenched his hands into fists, looking into empty space and imagining a KangIn before him. "Having fun picking on second-years huh, KangIn?"
"And first-years too, YunHo ah. Because you're still a first-year," JaeJoong reminded him, gazing at the other man lovingly. His three friends were having the same thoughts. He's probably bottom. I wonder what he feels about loving and being loved by a man younger than him.
JaeJoong took ChangMin's hand and patted it. "I'm sorry you had to leave the NeUspaper club for us. You're such a great friend, ChangMin. I love you so much." JaeJoong was about to pull ChangMin in for a hug when YunHo hooked his fingers under his lover's chair and dragged JaeJoong closer to himself, farther from ChangMin. "Ah!" The unexpected motion of his chair caused JaeJoong's light upper body to lose balance and lean unto YunHo, who had a secretive smug look on his face. JaeJoong moaned his name with an annoyed pout on his lips.
"JaeJoong," JunSu and YooChun said his name matter-of-factly. JaeJoong lifted his head with an innocent look on his face, eyes round and lips parted. "Wae? What?" He looked around at his friends, who sighed.
"Hey, I have a plan..." YooChun swung his arms around his friends' shoulders and leaned into the centre of the circle. The others leaned in and lent their ears as YooChun told them his strategy.
YunHo exclaimed, "That's a good plan!" JaeJoong blushed and wagged his hands in vigorous refusal. "No, no! I can't do that."
"Why not?" Everyone asked. JaeJoong gave up and hid his face into his folded arms on the table. YunHo rubbed his back reassuringly.
ChangMin asked warily, "Really? Are you sure? Don't you guys want to think twice?"
YooChun answered, "Don't sweat it. You're our friend so this is exactly the right thing to do. Besides, I don't want to live my campus life in a sea of hateful stares." ChangMin nodded, "Thanks."
"Since we've settled this, let's go to class." They stood up one after the other.
"Wait, aren't we going to have lunch here?" asked ChangMin, even JaeJoong suddenly perked up. The rest looked at them. "Feel free to dine here if you don't mind them," JunSu pointed at the curious openly-staring crowd in the cafeteria. The two immediately stood up and joined them on their way to the next class. After quite some distances, they halted briefly halfway between the freshman and sophomore departments.
"See you guys after school," said YunHo. He then walked to his freshman class alone, the other four heading toward their second-year classes.
Next morning, ChangMin stormed into the NeUspaper club room with an envelope in his hands. He slammed it onto the Chief Editor's large mahogany table and then… realised the chief isn't in his expensive office chair. How unexpected. He whirled left and right, looking for him. Then…
"Ah… uh… KangIn ah… More… More… Ah!" He heard high-pitched ultra sexy moans of a woman coming from the partition behind the table. That KangIn, having the guts to do it here. Nobody was here except those two and ChangMin. What made him hard next was not what he heard, but what he saw. On the partition was a silhouette of a person riding another human on bed, the one above had her back arched forward sexily and her head tilted backwards in plain ecstasy. More moans were released into the club room.
Through the silhouette, he suddenly realised that both of them were flat-chested - they're both men. Just when he wondered who the man with the feminine moans was, the man began to speak. ChangMin recognised the voice at once, it was the Chief Editor.
'Huh? Chief Editor LeeTeuk? With KangIn?' thought ChangMin. His excited lower region made him furious, so he shouted, "Okay, now that you've reached orgasm. Come out like a man and hear me out."
He could hear the men behind the partition groan his name. He smirked to himself complacently, glad that they recognised his voice. The silhouettes dressed up and came out from behind the partition. Chief Editor LeeTeuk leaned against the side of the partition and crossed his arms, his torso showing through the unbuttoned shirt which he simply put on. "What do you want? If you're thinking of getting your position back, I can't help you."
"I'm not here to do that. Just want to give you something that'll increase your sales," said ChangMin, his thumb indicating the envelope on the table. LeeTeuk lifted the packet and took a peek into it, as did KangIn. They looked up at him warily. "Is this what I think it is?" LeeTeuk asked. He reached his fingers into the wrapping and extracted a photo out of it. His eyes twinkled in surprise. The picture was better than the ones KangIn gave him, for they were much more sexual pictures of JaeJoong and YunHo making out in the apartment. Even better, the photos showed the entire length of their body. One of the pictures was of YunHo pinning JaeJoong onto the wall, a hand around his waist. To add intensity to the picture, YunHo's leg bent forward between JaeJoong's thighs and pressed on his groin. JaeJoong had his deeply blushing head pleasurably tilted backwards for YunHo to suck onto his neck. LeeTeuk and KangIn shifted uncomfortably at the photo.
ChangMin cross his arms. "I was able to get amazing footage because they willingly allowed me to take shots of them. Oh, this is just one of a whole pile. I could give you more pictures next week and every following week, if you want, but with a condition." They flashed their eyes at him. "The text will always be written and edited by me and only me, any other provoking article about the five of us will invalidate our deal." he stated his clause.
KangIn started, "That's too much to ask for."
"Then this'll be my last visit." ChangMin began to head for the exit.
"No, of course it isn't too much to ask for. I had expected a more bothersome requirement from you, so I'm glad with what you have to offer. These pictures are beyond my imagination! Students all over campus will craze for more. Condition accepted." LeeTeuk consented enthusiastically.
"Thank you. The manuscript for this week's in the envelope. I will be expecting it in one of this week's NeUspaper." Having said that, ChangMin stuffed his hand in his pocket and turned back towards the double doors. He lifted two fingers and waved goodbye, then shoved the door open and slipped out.
"But…" KangIn began to speak. LeeTeuk wrapped his arms around KangIn and said, "No buts. Isn't it enough that you have me already?" He kissed the other man lustily. KangIn let out a deep groan.