I was right, class wasn’t fun at all. It was inexplicably, inexorably, irrefutably boring. Baekhyun didn’t say or do anything out of question, and Sehun and I went back to not talking in front of everyone in class. I did mention the fact that being close to Exo isn’t exactly trivial. I even told Songhyun and Jaeyeol about the whole ‘date’ thing and the talk with both Sehun and Baekhyun.

Songhyun reacted explosively as usual, and Jaeyeol rubbed my back comfortingly when I told them about my marriage expectations. Everything went the way it was supposed to, up until the designated time for the three of us to go to the spot. Lunch was over a lot more quickly than I would have liked it to be, and soon I found myself being dragged by Songhyun to the over-glorified spot. 

The famous spot, was merely a couple of benches that happened to be in a cluster, an architectural or constructional mistake that was used as an advantage. It was however, quite lucky how the benches were under a shady tree, situated deep in the school garden in such a way, that the public eye could not ade its space. 

Prudential academy was old, even though it was regularly renovated to better accommodate whatever technological needs the students might have. So phenomenons such as these happen a lot, the spot was just the most convenient school-located getaway for a student. It was the perfect hang-out place.

But since there was only one place such as this, the students who are at the top of the social circle, believe that they are entitled to it. Politics and bull work the same way, even in places like schools. But Exo, had been the longest standing "clique" to ever exist in the academy. Namely because, Exo isn't made up of kids from the same generation, or year batches I suppose. So the spot has been Exo's for years now.

And there we were, on the way to the spot. Songhyun was happy because she would get to see Sehun, but grumbled about the fact that we weren't so anti-social if we did this. Jaeyeol argued that being anti-social wasn't a goal, it was just the way things are, so there really was no point in saying we're breaking some sort of anti-social rule. Kudos to you Jae, that is exactly why I keep you around.

Anyway, as we were walking briskly yet ever so reluctantly to the spot, I could hear Exo's voices loud in the air. When we were finally standing in their line of sight, I could make out the boys lounging about around the area. I had to give them some credit for "redecorating" the spot to their liking. There was a long picnic table in the middle of the cluster of benches, lights hung from the shady tree, heaters were somehow put up around the place and there was a bunch of food and drinks on top of the table.

I could see Sehun and Kai, playing on their phones together, laughing boisterously on one of the benches. And then there were Baekhyun, Chen, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, playing cards on a small space next to the food. I could also see Luhan and Tao, bent over some books, possibly doing last minute homework.

The place was loud with their different voices, and I was surprised that Baekhyun had been one of the loudest, considering the fact that he was mostly quiet around me. And because of that, they hadn't noticed out presence yet.

To get their attention, I had to fake-exaggerate a cough, and then suddenly, all eyes were on me. In those few seconds that felt like an eternity, they stared at me and I felt like a fish out of water, trying desperately to breathe. I felt embarrassed and self-conscious, not knowing why I was feeling both. 

Fortunately, it didn't last very long and Baekhyun suddenly cleared his throat. He turned to me and smiled, "Guys, my fiancee, Jung Hyunmi and her friends, Kim Songhyun and Park Jaeyeol."

I smiled at them and bowed slightly, “Hey everyone, it’s nice to meet you.”

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Songhyun and Jaeyeol doing the same, saying it was nice to meet all of them. It was true that all of us knew who the other was, but we had never officially introduced ourselves to them and vice versa.

Chanyeol was smiling and gestured a hand for us to come closer, “Hey guys, come and sit with us.”

The three of us went to approach the four on the table, but then a hand caught me before I could make my way there. I looked up to see that the owner of the hand was Sehun, who was smiling down at me. I didn’t even see him walk towards me earlier, how the hell did he come so close, so quickly?

“See, everything’s fine. Baekhyun may still be your perfect man.”

I scoffed and punched his shoulder mockingly, “Oh please, shut up while you still can.”

He shrugged and smirked, “Oh come on, you should cheer up a bit. Were you always such a grouch?”

My jaws dropped at his accusation, and watched as Sehun ran to the table while laughing at me, “Yah! OH SEHUN!”

I walked to the table with a frown, and sat down next to Sehun, not forgetting to slap him on the shoulder. He turned to me with a pout, “That hurts you know.”

I stuck out my tongue at him, “You totally deserve it.”

He rubbed his shoulder and grimaced, “It’s not my fault you were in a bad mood for the past couple of days.”

I glared at him with death in my eyes, and Sehun seemed to take the hint, and put both his hands up as a sign of surrender, but he still had that cheeky smile on his face that I would very much like to punch.

“Ladies, would you stop? We are all here to talk about the plan, yes?”, Kyungsoo intervened before I could land another punch on Sehun and shut the both of us up. I looked around the table, and found Baekhyun staring at me, again with an eyebrow raised and with no particular emotion on his face.

I scrunched my eyebrows at him, but rolled my eyes when I didn’t get a response, as stoic as ever. I averted my gaze and set my palms on the table, “So, how are we going to do this. Any ideas anyone?”

The table was silent for a while, and I thought they weren’t going to be much help at the rate that the plan was being formulated. Until, Luhan raised a hand, “I have an idea. Why don’t you guys just pretend to kiss somewhere semi-public. And then when people bust you, bam! You’re dating.”

Come to think of it, it wasn’t such a bad idea. But I would most definitely like to avoid as much skin-ship as possible, although highly unlikely.

Songhyun interjected Luhan’s idea before anyone could have a say in it, “That’s not such a bad idea, but then it would’ve been scandalous since Baekhyun is a teacher. I believe we have to start small.”

The others hummed in agreement and the table was once again covered in silence. I was thinking of a subtle way to start the plan, when Chen suddenly went, “Aha! I got it!”

All of us looked his way and he smiled triumphantly at us, “We should start a rumour, an unconfirmed one. Word from one of our mouths would definitely be regarded as something important.”

Kai nodded and sent Chen a smile, high-fiving him, “Nice idea dude.”

I nodded along with Kai, agreeing that the rumour would serve as the best way to start small. But then the rumour had to be somehow confirmed and that was another obstacle in the journey.

Jaeyeol clucked his tongue, sharing his concern that I had as well, “But then, we couldn’t just let it stay a rumour, we have to somehow confirm it after it is spread.”

I raised my hand and looked Jaeyeol’s way, “Agreed.”

Chanyeol’s hum could be heard afterwards when I put my hand back down, “At that particular time after the rumour is spread, all the students would be on high-alert and hyperaware of both Hyunmi’s and hyung’s actions. We should use it to our advantage.”

Tao suddenly shot his hand up in the air enthusiastically, “Oh I know! They should do something that suggest the fact that they are connected, without explicitly showing that they are dating.”

“Like hints?” Luhan asked. Tao, who was sitting opposite him, nodded. Baekhyun’s slight movement to relax against the bench did not go unnoticed by me, he had a calm smile on his face, maybe feeling assured because the plan-making was going so well.

I couldn’t help but reciprocate his feelings, and smiled myself. Kai’s question grounded me back to reality, “But how are these hints going to be shown? They haven’t really interacted at all in school, save for what’s exposed during aristocratic family events.”

Sehun had a palm under his chin, but raised his head after an idea got to him, “Easy, Hyunmi should ‘pretend’ to go to hyung’s office and stay there. But, it has to be some time during school hours, so that Hyunmi could miss the first few minutes of class. When asked where she was, she should clearly say that she was hung up in hyung’s office.”

Kyungsoo clapped his hand with a smile, “Genius! And then when the suspicion is at its peak, they could do what Luhan first suggested. Fake getting busted and voila, their relationship is confirmed. The next day, the press should release the official statement, but the school won’t be thrown into a shock, because they practically know already.”

All of us nodded along to Kyungsoo and they all childishly high-fived each other, which made me chuckle under my breath. I looked around the table, finding the boys back to their earlier activities. Songhyun was talking with Sehun, her face blushing a faint shade of red, Kai was laughing