Mai could barely keep her jaw from falling to the floor, metaphorically of course. Right in her gaze were the twelve boys she had spent 60 years of her life being best friends with. All of them. Just standing there. In her school's uniform. And if all twelve of them gathered like this; it meant one thing and one thing only.

They knew where she was.

The boys stood still, focusing their own attention onto the student population ahead of them. All were a bit surprised themselves to see the others with them on stage, let alone in the same school. But it just solidified their beliefs that the Princess was here herself. She had to be. And if she was in that huge crowd somewhere, they were going to have a hard time finding her in the darkness.

A sweet scoff escaped the lips of one of the boys. He had deep sunken eyes, giving him a sort of dark circle look that added to his intimidating demeanor. His lips naturally curved upwards at their ends, thus forcing him to have a permanent smirk on his face.  If that didn't cause anyone to take a step back from his gaze, maybe the chains attached to his belt or the black earrings on his ears would. 

"Tick tock tick tock," he taunted those around him confidently.

Mai focused in on him, for he was the only one who seemed to speak during their entire time on the stage. His lips were easy to read and she knew he was playfully mocking the others with the sounds of a clock.

She whispered lightly, "...Tao..."

"You know them?" Taemin pulled her back to reality with his simple question.

"No, no," Mai rustled up her things, ready to dash off into her locker and the homeroom quickly. "I just... I can't believe that there aren't any girls up there. The odds of having twelve guys as our new classmates is funny to me."

"I'm glad though; more girls would just be such an annoyance," Taemin laughed as if he didn't know what was going on.

"That will be all. Please return to your homerooms and don't be afraid to say hi to the new students," the head director spoke into the microphone once more before all the lights in the auditorium.

In that moment, Mai was already up and in the crowd, pulling Taemin along with her. It was an advantage of hers that she was not that short, but not that tall, so blending into the sea of student wasn't that difficult. She didn't want anyone to notice her, especially not them.

Taemin was a bit caught off guard by her action, but enjoyed holding her hand non-the-less. "Are you heading off to somewhere important?"

"I don't like waiting for others to get out before me. It's a waste of time. Let's just go back to Mr. E's class as fast as possible," she told him as she continued to drag him through her peers.

"And dragging me along is...?"

"I don't like walking anywhere alone sometimes," Mai told him as she parted the large groups of students in the hallway.

Her presence was definitely known just by her scent, her aura, her spirit. This event—the twelve Princes finding her—was something that she nor Elijah had ever foreseen in the wildest and darkest imaginations. They weren't prepared at all for it. However they agreed had anyone they knew ever found out their location, their best bet was to pack their things and leave. Leave as fast as possible. As far away from their current location. As seamlessly as possible. Mai knew she had to gather her things as a quick rate and so she went straight to her locker and pulled out her duffel bag.

Without even a second though, she started to stuff all of her personal belongings, leaving behind her school books. Taemin was surprised by her actions, as he leaned against the locker right beside hers.

"You really seem like you're in a hurry to go somewhere," he told her while smiling and waving to their peers.

Mai closed her duffel bag and locker without even locking the latter. "It's not that. I just realized how much I don't know about so many things in school so I'm going to do a late night cram session tonight to catch up. That's all."

"Are you sure about that?" he questioned her motives playfully.

"Yes. Yes." She nodded back at him before basically jogging her way to Elijah's class. He was probably already gathering the papers for their 'transfer' so as to not raise too many questions about their sudden choice.

"Actually, I have to head off to the dance room today for practice," Taemin announced to the panicking girl with a smile. "I'll see you later in class, right?"

"Definitely," she told him a lie.

"Okay, bye Mai!" he yelled in the busy hallway, capturing the glares of the boy population along the way.

Mai found herself clinging even harder to her things. What are the odds of each and every single one of them finding out where she was? She and Elijah did a damn good job covering their tracks and ensuring maximum security in terms of their location and information. Maybe one or two. They were prepared for that. But all twelve. Every single damn Prince from the other planets of the EXO galaxy were there. On the same planet as her. In the same town. In the same damn school.

Trying to keep her eyes from being locked onto anyone else's, the student didn't have to push others aside to clear a path for herself. Whenever someone tried to slow her down or even speak a few words to her, she brushed them off nicely and continued her way. Before pushing aside the sliding doors to her class, the girl prepared to tug away her 'cousin' and escape the choking environment she was now in. Her entire environment seemed to go down in terms of volume, which should have been enough of an indicator.

"Elij—" She couldn't even finish his name before realizing that everything wasn't as it should be.

It was too quiet.

Mai focused in on her surroundings and noticed how everyone seemed to freeze in their spots. Girls were caught midlaughter as boys tried to flirt their way to their hearts. People were in the motion of high fiving each other or hitting others lightly. Turning left and right, the Princess paused mid turn of the doorknob. She heard a few noises inside the classroom. Listening in, she wasn't quite sure whether or not to blend in with the others or to just run and run as fast as she could. But at this rate, the Princess did not know if the entire school or just this section was frozen, and she definitely did not want to bring attention to herself.

The voices inside were pestered and bothered, opening drawers and looking in desks as diligently as possible. She froze in state, hoping that she could remain that way for as long as she needed.

"Are you even sure she's here?" asked someone from within the classroom.

"Yes I'm sure," another replied.

"Well, clearly she isn't here if the entire school is frozen in place," one more responded with annoyance.

"How are we even sure she hasn't left yet? That whole stunt in front of the school was a big giant 'We've found you Mia!' sign," a different person added into the mix of noises.

"We don't. That's the problem," someone else replied sternly.

Mai shifted her head slightly, focusing on the conversation going on inside. It seems as though six of her friends had formed an alliance, and were discussing the terms of the situation. She tried to conceal her eyes as best she could but still be able to see what was happening around her. This was odd. Really odd. Even for them.

"Ugh, this is annoying. We are never going to find her at this rate," one of the boys picked up a desk and threw it in the direction of the wall.

Tao focused in the flying object, causing it to stop midflight, before grinning and stating, "Tsk. Tsk. You need to calm down, Chen."

Another boy with big round eyes and a small face extended his right hand. He had small heartshaped lips in the colour of the perfect cherry blossoms. The curve of his chin playfully added to his youthful appearance. Under his command, the table returned to its original spot as if the other boy had never touched it.

"He's right you know; we all need to calm down," he agreed with the sly member.

"Calm down? Calm down? Are you serious? We haven't seen her for ten years and you are telling me to calm down, Luhan?" the one named Chen replied with more anger. His straight eye brows added some kindness to his not so stable expression. He had a sharp jaw that accentuated his almost perfectly shaped eyes that invited everyone who looked into them. The curves of his pink lips were trembling from his instability.

"Calm down or else you'll cause more harm than good, alright?" another boy who was leaning on one of the desks told him. He had modelesque features that added to his lean yet tall build. His lips were parted in a way that made it seem like he always had something to say. And the way his eyes just stared at things, caused one to wonder just what he was thinking.

The one right beside him could have been his brother from their striking looks. He was probably the tallest of them all. His best feature might have been his perfectly bridged nose, that just added to his appearance daringly. Something about his face seemed so melancholic and private, like he was always thinking of something that made him sad. "Lay is right, Chen. It's nearly impossible to stop one of your storms once it's started."

"Then let's find her and get off this planet, Kris," Chen sat down angrily on one of the chairs.

The last of the boys almost glided his way to Chen's side, patting him on the back lightly. This boy had almost cat like features, sharp eyes and a round face. His cheeks added cuteness to his appearance, which was both deadly and a cover. "And here on earth, it's only been two years. I doubt she looks that much different from the last time we saw her. It won't be that hard to find Mai, okay?"

"All I hear right now are excuses, Xiumin," the former rolled his eyes at his friend.

The focus shifted from Chen to Tao, who had his eyes closed and was trying to identify the different possibilities of the situation. With his arms crossed over his chest, the time controlling Prince took deep breaths and was lost in his own world.

"Anything?" the clear leader, Kris, asked the youngest of their group.

"Nothing," Tao opened his eyes, revealing his deep eyes to the others while shaking his head. "Nothing at all."

"Why don't you just fly around and see if you can locate her?" Xiumin asked the eldest.

"Yeah, cause humans can fly on a daily basis here on planet Earth, dimwit," Lay gave his opinion on Xiumin's suggestion.

"I was just saying, Lay. Damn."

"Unfreeze the school, Tao. Don't want too much time to pass," Luhan told Tao nicely. "We don't want to draw too much attention.

"Too late," Tao laughed under his breath before merely willing time to return to it's original pace.

Mai quickly turned away from the scene before any of them could see if anything had returned to normal. This was something she had never foreseen. Tao had gotten much more stronger and focused compared to when she last saw them. And if he can freeze the whole school with ease, who knows what else he could do. Leaving behind her duffelbag at the front of the classroom door, the girl sped off into the distance. She reached into her shoulder bag, finding even more difficulty simultaneously running and dialing for her protector's phone.

"Pick up dammit!" She yelped as she placed the big white electronic device against her ear. Pushing aside people going up the stairs, she rushed down to the first floor to see if he was at the office.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot pick up right now—" Elijah's voicemail told her politely in a prerecorded message.

"Ugh!" Mai threw the phone against the wall, having it stop midair. She shouldn't have been so focused on herself. She should have been aware. She should have been calm. The Princess calculated what was going on, knowing exactly what this event meant. Only one person can control time that way. And this meant... "Holy—"

"We knew you were here," Chen's voice spoke for the six of them.

The Princess froze. No. Not because of Tao's power. He couldn't do that. She was immune to it. All of them were. She stopped in her spot simply because she didn't know what to do. If only Mai had noticed that the entire school had been frozen once more. This was all something Tao had formulated to force her out into the public. Ingenious.

They had found her, and there was no escape once she was under their radar once more.

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Quick update! Don't forget to spread my story around to your friends and other EXO fans guys! I hope you guys enjoy the plot so far; and how I've twisted it in this chapter! Did you like how i descrive the boys? Do you believe it was accurate? This has definitely taught me the names of the boys and how to reaaaally tell them apart lol. You guys have no idea what sort of hell I had to go through to differentiate Lay from Kris and Sehun from Luhan. I hateeeed it T______T Maybe it's just me. 

If you guys know me from my other fics, you know my writing style and how I like to add a ton of twists and turns to my glorious fics for fun! ;D

Tell me what you guys think, and how you feel, becuase it makes me happy to know what you're all thinking. 

Don't forget! check out my other stuff and spread this as much as possible! Byeee~~