Chapter Text
Sehun’s not even surprised when trash falls out of his locker. He’s been here less than 3 hours and so far, he’s been spitballed, tripped, and found razors in his desk. Why shouldn’t there be trash in his locker? Why be nice to the fucking new kid? His dad told him that this school was different, but Sehun had at least thought they would give the transfer kid a grace period.
He can’t even be bothered to feel upset about it. He knows it’s going to happen again, so he just paws the rest of the trash out of the locker and starts loading it up with his newly acquired textbooks.
“It’s rather odd that they let a student transfer in. We pride ourselves so dearly on being elite, and yet here you are, the first transfer student in over fifty years.” The voice is warm and coy. Sehun closes his locker a bit to see who’s speaking to him. A soft-heart shaped smile catches his attention first followed by calculating brown eyes, and carefully swept-up hair. Sehun’s not one to be fooled. This is a very dangerous boy.
Sehun’s eyes flit down. Decked in the same blue blazer, tie and khakis as Sehun, his eyes alight on one key difference. In the breast pocket, opposite the school’s crest, is a playing card. A black ace of spades is pinned high up in the breast pocket so that it can be more prominently displayed. A quick glance over the rest of the students milling around in the hallway shows that most have their cards shoved as deep down in their pockets as it can go. They don’t show near the same pride as the boy in front of him does. Again, Sehun recalls what his dad told him this morning.
“Dad’s an alum of the school and pulled a few strings to get me in,” Sehun replies simply, going back to transferring his textbooks to his locker. There’s an ace of clubs scratched into the maroon paint on the inside of the door. Poor kid.
The boy nods like he knew all along. He watches Sehun unload his backpack for a few seconds. “I’m Kyungsoo.”
“Sehun.”
Kyungsoo’s eyes positively glitter at Sehun’s shortness. He smiles lazily. “How much do you know, Sehun?”
Involuntarily, Sehun’s eyes drop back to the card in Kyungsoo’s pocket. The plastic coating on the card gleams in the overly bright lighting. Sehun looks back up at Kyungsoo. “I know the cards determine the hierarchy of the school. I know that your card means you’re the bottom of the barrel.”
Kyungsoo rubs a finger over the corner of his card. “If only the cards did just that.” Silence again. “Come with me.” Kyungsoo takes off at a brisk pace down the hall. The students part around him like the red sea.
Sehun doesn’t want to follow, but he remembers the last thing his dad said to him. With a small sigh, he shuts his locker and follows after Kyungsoo, dodging around other students to try and catch up with the smaller boy. At the last second, he sees someone stick a foot out, but it’s too late. He hits the floor hard. Laughter erupts around him. Sehun groans at the sharp pain in his hands.
Black sneakers move to stand in his line of vision. Sehun looks up. It’s Kyungsoo.
“You made a mistake. As long as you don’t have a card,” Kyungsoo grinds a heel into Sehun’s hand until he gasps in pain, “you’re the lowest of the low.” He walks off.
Sehun groans again. The kids around him are still laughing, maybe even laughing harder, as he pushes himself up off the floor. A cursory once-over lets him know there’s no lasting harm. There’ll be a bruise from where Kyungsoo tried to crush his hand, but Sehun knows that’s nothing compared to what will happen if he doesn’t follow Kyungsoo. He gets up and starts walking.
Sehun goes through three different corridors, each time just barely catching Kyungsoo rounding a corner before he finally disappears into a room.
It’s a classroom, most likely unused since there’s nothing on the walls or dry-erase board. Kyungsoo’s sitting on the teacher’s desk, leaning back with his right ankle on his left knee. Next to him is a tall, gangly student with Dumbo ears, who’s spread wide because of necessity. A red joker peaks out over the top of his pocket.
“Sehun, this is Chanyeol. Chanyeol, Sehun,” Kyungsoo introduces them simply.
Sehun nods in Chanyeol’s direction. Chanyeol nods back, no words spared. Sehun glances around the room again at all the empty desks and bare walls. He’s sure no one would hear him if Chanyeol and Kyungsoo decided to beat him up. He’s sure no one would care.
Sehun bites the inside of his cheek. He'll have to make them care, but he needs to know how things work. Kyungsoo and Chanyeol must have the same idea. There’s no other reason for why they would drag him here. Kyungsoo was too quick to find him. They were waiting for him.
“Explain the game.”
Chanyeol gets up from the desk and goes to the dry-erase board. He draws the four suits.
“Every student gets a card. Every grade gets a suit. Freshmen are clubs, sophomores are diamonds, juniors are hearts and seniors are spades. Each grade has its own court but the upper grade courts have more popularity than the lower grade courts. There’s only three court cards. It’s your standard King, Queen, and Jack. Then there are two Jokers, four Aces and then whatever ranks 2 through 10 are needed to cover the rest of the grade. Aces are the losers of the school and serve as the punching bag. Then, of course, as you go up in rank, you’re allowed to bully those who are lower. The only card exempt from the ranking itself is the joker, which is what makes them unofficial members of the court. And that’s how the ranking works. Any questions?”
“How are the cards assigned?”
Chanyeol leans back against the board and looks at Kyungsoo. Sehun copies the motion.
Kyungsoo unfolds his body and leans forward. “At the beginning of each year, the Card Committee hosts the game. They hide the cards around the school. The students have 1 hour to find a card, which will determine the social rank for the rest of the year. If the student fails to find a card, they’ll be cardless and even lower than the ace. Very few cardless last the whole school year.”
Sehun wrinkles his nose. It doesn’t seem fair that he’ll be bullied (and maybe worse) just because he transferred and is thus cardless. “So I’ll just have to be cardless for the rest of the year?”
Kyungsoo shakes his head. “The committee informed us yesterday that the senior class will be playing the game again. It’s rare, but not unheard of. You’ll have just as good a chance to find a card as the rest of us.”
Sehun sits down on the desk behind him and thinks. From what his dad told him, he knows that the game’s cutthroat. There’s no way your social rank is based on pure luck.
“How do you get a good card?”
Kyungsoo smiles approvingly. “It’s not luck; that’s for sure. Aside from a new Jack during sophomore year, we’ve had the same court for all four years. Kim Jongin is the King, Bae Joohyun is the Queen, and Kim Minseok is the Jack. The top 4 ranks have been the same and its mostly ranks 6 and down that will change, if they change.
“Our jokers have never changed. It’s always been Chanyeol and Park Chaeyoung. The court and the upper rank have their minions find their card and give it to them in exchange for protection and benefits. Even though in the game all of us are cardless, we aren’t equal.”
“How do you get a good card?” Sehun repeats. Kyungsoo’s just giving him backstory. He needs an answer.
“Getting impatient will get you nowhere,” Kyungsoo chastises. “If you want to win, you have to be patient. This game isn’t fair. Most kids at this school will give up being in the court or being in a top rank if it means they have an easier school year. That makes them susceptible and dangerous. There aren’t any rules for the game itself. You will get hurt by any number of people if you procure a valuable card. To avoid that, you’ll have to align yourself with someone.”
“And I’ll align myself with you?” The moment Sehun asks the question, he knows that it doesn’t make sense. Kyungsoo’s the bottom of the barrel. Sehun gains nothing by siding with him. Does he align himself with Chanyeol? Can he gain anything by aligning himself with a joker?
Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Chanyeol and I have no intention of changing our ranks, and you’re not going to align yourself with anyone. You’re going to become your own faction. You’re going to become the Queen.”
Sehun breathes out heavily. That's a hefty promise if Kyungsoo is to be believed about the dangerousness of the game, but as he takes in the smug excitement of Kyungsoo's eyes, his dad's last words spring to mind.
The one who holds the King of Spades is never the King.