"Come on, Na Jaemin, let's be real here. This plan is nowhere near feasible,"

No one was really paying attention, save for the screaming Choi Yena. Even Lee Donghyuck, who liked arguing just to see Huang Renjun go red in the face, groaned and leaned back in his chair with his feet on the table.

Jaemin sighed, ran his hands through his bubblegum pink hair. On the other side of the table, Kim Jiwoo shoved a cookie into Ju Haknyeon's open mouth.

"Then how would you fix it, Yena?" Haknyeon asked, spewing crumbs and accidently elbowing a sleeping Soobin in the face.

"I'm not sure," she announced confidently. Allen Ma, who was wrapping a red ribbon around his finger, groaned and shoved his face into the table.

Kim Sunwoo had used some magic spell to make Mark Lee's eyebrows fly off his forehead. On the other side of the table, Eric Sohn was somehow crushing Seo Woobin in a game of Pokémon cards and they were barely three turns in.

"I think—hey, Sunwoo, give me my eyebrows back!"

"Fine, fine,"

Sunwoo rolled his eyes before returning Mark's eyebrows to their rightful place on his forehead.

"Anyways, as I was saying—"

Almost on cue, Haknyeon started choking. Seriously choking, clutching his neck, gagging choking. Renjun facepalmed as Jiwoo gasped.

"I think Haknyeon's choking," she piped, standing up so fast her chair clattered to the floor. Sunwoo rolled his eyes, arms crossed.

"You think?" he raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

"Gods give me patience," Renjun grumbled.

"Why not strength?" Serim asked, slapping Haknyeon (hard) on the back.

"If they gave me strength, you'd all be dead,"

Renjun's serious expression deterred him from pressing further.

"Guys, guys, I've got this!" Jiwoo shouted excitedly, dumping a bucket of icy water right over Haknyeon's head. He momentarily paused choking to sputter, spit water all over the already dirty gingham tablecloth.

"Jiwoo! What was that for?" he asked, shaking his head of orange hair like a wet dog.

"You're welcome!" she called with a corny finger heart.

Sometimes Serim wondered what he had done to deserve this.

It wasn't like he wanted to be head camper. Never in his wildest dreams had he even contemplated it. But no, he'd completed one more quest than Lee Hangyul, which apparently cancelled out the fact that he hadn't been here as long.

The door creaked open seconds before Renjun tackled Donghyuck to the ground.

"How's it going, you guys?" Bang Chan asked diplomatically from the doorway.

Serim froze. This wasn't a pretty picture to show one of the strongest trainers. Haknyeon was soaking wet, Eric was screaming Uno, Yena was harassing Jaemin, Sunwoo was playing a magical game of got-your-nose that involved decapitating Mark's nose and spinning it like a pinwheel, and Soobin was snoring. Not to mention Chan was one of the few seniors who still trusted them. Losing that trust would not only be devastating but humiliating.

"I don't know, but whatever Renjun said was wrong," Donghyuck answered with a cheeky smile.

"Asshole, I didn't even say anything!" Renjun hissed, lunging across the table.

While the Renjun chased Hyuck around the table, Yena was starting to get belligerent.

"You bloody fucking idiot!" Yena screamed in poor Jaemin's face, "Where would we get all that fire from?"

Jaemin, who'd done his best at maintaining his cool until now, snapped.

"We're figuring that out," he growled through gritted teeth, hands balled into fists at his side, "Now if you'll just shut up and listen to me—"

"Not well, huh?" Chan whispered in Serim's ear, "Yikes, it wasn't this bad when I was counselor,"

Yeah, because they actually liked each other. The only people at this table who probably wouldn't strangle each other were Sunwoo and Haknyeon. Maybe Woobin and Jaemin, if they were feeling nice.

"We're getting there," Serim agreed, wincing as Eric Sohn flicked a spitball at his cheek.

"Kill me now," Sunwoo groaned, leaning dangerously back in his chair, "Ugh,"

Like Chan needed more confirmation that none of them were to be trusted, the chair tipped all the way over with a very disheveled demigod still inside. The clatter must have been loud, because the still-sleeping Soobin made his unceremonious entrance.

"What? What were we talking about?" Soobin, still groggy from his half-hour nap, asked, "Oh. Hi, Chan hyung,"

His half-closed eyes smiled as he ruffled his messy purple hair.

"Hello, Soobin," Chan waved back, ever-patient as usual, "Have a nice nap?"

Soobin nodded, staring openmouthed at the ongoing chaos. Woobin patted him on the shoulder, nodding at Serim.

"Me? You want me to explain?" he blurted, momentarily shutting everyone up, "Oh. Never mind. Go back to what you were doing, I guess,"

With that, Donghyuck went back to head locking Renjun.

"I'll tell you what's going on," Yena had somehow broken free of Jiwoo's armlock and climbed dramatically on the table, pointing an accusatory finger at Jaemin, "This guy, right over here, is being an obstinate fucking bastard,"

Haknyeon offered Chan a half-eaten bag of chips he'd stolen from an unsuspecting Jiwoo. Chan shrugged, popped a Dorito into his mouth.

"I'm being a bastard?" Jaemin asked incredulously, shaking off Mark's hand, "You just tried to punch me in the face!"

"Water under the bridge!" Eric offered helpfully.

"You're using that wrong!" Renjun shouted, releasing a gasping Donghyuck from his grasp, "In this case, neither of them are forgiving and forgetting,"

"Yes, yes. What was I saying again?" Jaemin asked, tapping his chin with his finger.

"Yena being a bastard!" Jiwoo called back helpfully.

"Right! Thanks, nuna," Jaemin nodded with a blindingly bright smile, "As I was saying. Yena nuna's more of a bastard than I am,"

"I think the word you're looking for is bitch," Donghyuck interjected with a wry grin.

"You did not just call me a bitch," Yena gasped dramatically.

"Well, you're acting pretty damn bitchy!"

Allen banged his head against the table again, covering his ears with his hands. Woobin pulled out his chair, likely to talk to Chan about something, and accidently kicked Mark in the balls.

"Hey, that hurt!" Mark called out woundedly.

"Anyone gonna help me get up?" Sunwoo asked, sitting in his overturned chair like an astronaut ready for takeoff, "Anyone?"

"Lee Donghyuck, come back here!" Yena screamed, throwing a pack of gummy bears at his head, "Fucking coward. Face me!"

Haknyeon caught the plastic bag mid-throw and proceeded to eat one like nothing had happened.

"You want a gummy bear?" he asked, nudging Allen's shoulder. Allen shook his head, face still buried in his arms.

"Stop being mean to Jaemin, Yena. Or I'll hide your shoes for two weeks," Mark called, tripping over Sunwoo's chair, "Make that three!"

"Wow, I'm so scared," she scoffed with an annoyed eyeroll. In that same second, she punched Donghyuck in the nose so hard a trail of crimson spilled over his clean white shirt.

"Hey! That's my favorite shirt!"

He grabbed Yena by the collar, about to bash her nose in with his hard skull, before he suddenly stopped.

"Everyone shut up!"

An imposing figure loomed in the doorway. Chan might be the son of Death, but at that moment, Kim Wooseok was even more intimidating.

All fourteen mouths closed in perfect unison.

"Freeze!" he demanded again.

Wooseok might have the face of an angel, but most definitely not the patience of one. And their spontaneous display of incompetence had already blown his short fuse.

"Chan, Sangyeon wants to see you," he mumbled through gritted teeth, "Go. Sitting room,"

Chan nodded, mouthing 'fighting' to the doomed leaders as he tiptoed out the door.

"You!" he shouted, pointing to an extremely confused Soobin, "Explain,"

"Me?" Soobin asked again, almost choking on a half-chewed gummy bear, "I...I just woke up. I have no clue,"

Wooseok sighed loudly, ran his long skinny finger through his hair. Soobin scooted his chair away, expression sheepish as he mouthed guilty 'sorry.'

"Fine then," he grumbled, "You,"

Wooseok's attention at such a tense moment was about as desirable as hot soup on a sticky summer day. The figurative spotlight was so intense Serim wanted nothing more than for a black hole to open beneath his feet and swallow him.

"We were," Serim started with sweaty palms, "discussing how to... the best course of action to kill the evil tree druids,"

That sounded a lot more confident in his head. Allen was probably rolling his eyes, because sure, they were talking about what they were supposed to be talking about.

"I thought we were talking about how Yena was a bitch," Eric added rather unhelpfully.

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Serim," Wooseok's words were fiery arrows. Ready to set the world alight as Eric flinched, burying his red face in Jiwoo's shoulder, "Continue,"

Woobin shot Serim a sympathetic nod, biting his lower lip. Allen lifted his head momentarily to give him a thumbs-up. Some friends he had.

"Ah. Right," Serim's voice caught in the back of his throat, like the gummy bear slowly peeling off the wall, "We were talking about... that, and then things, uh... escalated?"

Understatement of the century.

"She tried to punch me in the face," Jaemin nodded sagely, glaring at Yena.

"She actually punched me in the face," Donghyuck huffed, wiping away blood with the back of his hand.

"Someone get him a tissue," Wooseok mumbled, burying his face in his hands, "And Sunwoo, Mark? Get up,"

With over-exaggerated difficulty, Sunwoo propped himself up. Mark stumbled to his feet, gripping the edge of the table for balance, then trotted across the room to deliver Donghyuck a box of tissues.

"I'm too sexy to suffer this much," Sunwoo huffed, pushing the wooden chair back into the table.

"Me too, Sunwoo. Me too," Wooseok deadpanned, "Anyways. You guys are supposed to be leaders,"

Even Yena stopped looking indignant at that. The pure disappointment in his voice was the opposite of addicting. Like a strict parent, or a genuinely concerned teacher. Allen lifted his head from the table to stare at the unraveled red ribbon in his fingers, cat's cradle abandoned.

"What kind of example are you setting for the kids?" Wooseok continued, anger rising in his voice, "Choi Soobin, you slept through the whole meeting!"

Soobin sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

"Sorry?" he squeaked, withering under the pretty boy's glare.

"Ju Haknyeon, why are you soaking wet? I... never mind, I don't want to hear it,"

Haknyeon shrugged, lifted his sticky shirt away from his chest. Jiwoo stared at the floor, nervous smile spreading over her face.

"Yena, Jaemin, Donghyuck," he continued, "What are you? Twelve? No, I do not want to hear who started it,"

Donghyuck promptly closed his mouth, biting his upper lip and nodding solemnly. Jaemin side eyed Yena, a motion more powerful than the sarcastic apology he likely had planned. Yena nodded, hands clasped tightly in front of her.

"Sir, I—" Yena started, hands motioning weakly to defend herself.

"Choi Yena, you're older than both of them," Wooseok's voice was deathly quiet, almost a whisper.

She paused, opened her mouth to protest, but seeing Wooseok's paradoxically cold glare, just nodded her head in regret.

"You're all sorry excuses for leaders," he spat bitterly with crossed arms, "The rest of you. Didn't you even think of stopping them?"

That was true. At any point in their petty argument, Serim could have pulled them apart, or at the very least, deescalated the situation just a little bit.

"Clean this up before morning. If this happens again, there will be... consequences,"

Before any of them could protest, he slammed the door in their faces and left them to ashamed silence.

Author's Note: This chapter will make sense in plot later! Sorry if it was confusing, I didn't have anywhere else to put it. So just think of it as an intermission. Jungmo will mention this in the next chapter, but here are the people's godly parents (could you guess any of them?):

Serim—Ares

Allen—Tyche

Woobin— Demeter

Sunwoo—Hecate

Mark—Zeus

Eric—Nike

Haknyeon—Hebe

Jaemin—Aphrodite

Donghyuck—Apollo

Renjun—Athena

Yena—Boreas, but she represents Hermes

Jiwoo—Iris

Soobin—Hypnos

Chan—Hades

Wooseok—Aphrodite

Also TBZ look really good in their teaser images!