I woke up in the morning with a pounding headache. I wasn’t surprised considering the fact I hadn’t been able to sleep all night. After the phone conversation with Kris, I had laid awake in bed, staring up at my ceiling for the majority of the night. The last time I had looked at the clock it had been 5am. I checked the little alarm clock on my bedside table again – 9am. Fantastic. I had to go into uni and drop in my assignment today, then hit the town centre to buy a few things for home. I didn’t know when Kris would call, so I couldn’t waste the whole day sitting at home waiting for him.

I got out of bed and slowly made my way over to my wardrobe. I looked at the clothes inside, wondering what to wear. I was going to see a celebrity today, and felt butterflies in my stomach at the thought. I wanted to look good but I didn’t want to make myself look like I was trying to impress him – which I wasn’t. I doubted even if I did try, it would work. He spends his life around some of the prettiest women on the planet; I didn’t stand a chance next to them.

 I wasn’t unattractive, not by any means – at least that is what I had been told by guys that had asked me out over the years. I had blackish brown hair that fell to my waist; brown eyes that I thought were a little too big; full pinkish lips; pale, milky skin; my body was mostly in proportion with shapely legs. (All words of other people!) In the end I decided to go with a pair of skinny jeans, a thin turquoise sweater and a leather jacket.

I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, washing my face along with it. That washed away the remnants of my sleep too. I didn’t shower because I had done so last night when I had gotten drenched in the rain. Going back into my room, I changed into the clothes I had laid out on the bed and grabbed my bag. I started to take out the things I that I didn’t need today. I found my notepad…it was wet. Oh no… I started to lift up the cover and crossed my fingers that the ink of the autographs hadn’t been washed away thanks to the rain. I closed my eyes and lifted the cover, then opened them the tiniest amount…the autographs were so faded, they were barely there. My heart sank. How would I get all three of those again? I could get Kris’ but the others? I threw the notepad onto my desk, frustrated. I left my assignment and my purse in the bag, and then added my phone and Kris’ to it. I would have to take it with me to avoid missing his call.

I pulled on black boots over my jeans, untied my hair, which had been wrapped in a bun all night long, and it fell open in soft curls. I applied a little bit of eyeliner and lip-gloss, and I was ready to go! I grabbed my bag and headed out towards the front door. I didn’t bother with breakfast since I wasn’t hungry. I could get something later, if need be.

I stepped outside and was about to close the door when I saw something by my sofa. I went up to it and crouched down to pick it up. “Hello, my love.” I said, speaking to my umbrella. It had gotten me in trouble yesterday, but not today. It didn’t look like it would rain today but you could never trust British weather. I locked my door and set off.

***

I was walking into town after handing my assignment in. I went past a phone shop, when something caught my eye. I stepped back and looked at it. It was a phone cover, a black one with a white dragon coiling up one side of it. I went inside the shop. The man behind the counter smiled at me.

“How can I help you, Miss?” he asked me.

“That black dragon cover you have in the window,” I said, pointing towards it. “Do you have it for other phone models?”

“Which model are you looking for?” he enquired. I reached into my bag and took out Kris’ phone. After being kicked around in the station, it wasn’t in very good a state. There were dents and scratches all over it. I handed it to the shop owner. He opened the battery cover and looked at the model number. He then handed it back to me and told me to wait a minute and disappeared into the storage area behind the counter. A few minutes later he emerged, carrying a small packet in his hand. He handed it to me. I opened it and looked at it. I smiled – it seemed fitting for the Flying Dragon leader.

“I’ll take it.” I said to him, handing it back. He scanned the barcode and I handed him the money. I was leaving the shop when I had another thought. “Is the cover permanent or does it go over the existing one?” I asked the owner.

“Oh, it’s permanent. You’ll have to screw off the other cover and put this one on.” He told me. I frowned. I didn’t have the tools to do that, and I would probably break something.

“Is there any way you could put it on for me?” I asked the shop owner. He looked middle-aged, and was balding, with a nice open face. I hoped his personality matched his friendly appearance. He thought about it for a minute.

“Alright, come on back in, love, and I’ll do it.” He said smiling. I grinned back and gave the phone and case to him. He was pretty fast at it, and a few minutes later, I had a brand new looking phone in my hand. Perfect, I thought. I thanked the shop owner and left. I did my grocery shopping after that and went back home. It was a little after noon when I got back in.

I was sorting the bags out in the kitchen when I heard the Chinese version of EXO’s History start to play – and it wasn’t my ringtone. I dropped whatever I was holding and ran into the living room, where I had left my bag. I pulled out Kris’s phone and looked at it – caller ID in Chinese. Well it must be him calling anyway. I took several deep breaths and picked up. “Hello?” I said. Silence…

“…Where’s Kris?” A confused male voice asked in Korean. I panicked. It clearly wasn’t Kris talking, and now I had just answered one of his personal calls. I immediately hung up the phone. Crap, crap, crap, crap! The phone rang again. It looked like the same caller ID so I ignored it. I went back into the kitchen to put my shopping away. I was still breathing heavy, so I tried to calm myself. The phone rang a few more times and then stopped. Thank God.

After a while, I forgot about it. I made myself lunch and spent a few hours watching TV. I then went into my room and started working on my next uni assignment. It was about 8.30pm when the History ringtone started playing again. I turned around to my bedside table where the phone was charging and looked at it. I had memorised the look of Lu Han’s contact ID so I recognised it when it showed up on the phone. I answered the phone. Just to make sure I didn’t mess up again, I didn’t answer first this time.

“Hello?” Asked the Canadian accent. I sighed with relief.

“Hi.” I said curtly.

“Yeah…we are back at the apartment. Are you busy right now?” Kris asked.

“I…y-yeah. I mean no! I’m free. Would you like me to bring your phone over?” I questioned. It had to try my best not to start stuttering from nervousness.

“Yes, that would be very kind of you.” He replied.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a little while then.” I told him. We said bye and then disconnected. I got up from my chair in a rush and pulled on my jacket and boots again. I fixed up my hair, separating it on the left side of my head so my fringe framed my face, refreshed my makeup, grabbed my things, and ran out of the door.

Their apartment was in central London, where all the rich people lived in their big fancy houses. I could imagine what kind of apartment they would be staying in, especially if all twelve of them were in the same one. Once I was in the area, I got a little lost. I didn’t know which building was theirs exactly, so I had to ask a few people until I finally found someone who told me where to go. It had started raining, and once again I had forgotten to bring my umbrella, so I put the hood of my leather jacket up. At least that would keep the rain off of me to some extent.

Kris had told me their apartment was on the bottom floor. I walked along the building until I finally found the correct door number. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. I waited a few minutes but no one opened it. Had they gone out somewhere? Maybe I had the wrong door. I checked my watch – 9.36pm. I knocked again. A few seconds later, I heard some shuffling on the other side of the door. I was standing to the side, so they probably couldn’t see me through the peep-hole. I heard a lock opening, then a chain being drawn and the door opened.

My eyes almost fell out of my head. Kai was standing in front of me…without a shirt on. I could feel a nosebleed coming on. He looked up and down at me, and then saw the box I was holding in my hands. His eyes widened. He backed up and closed the door again as I stepped forwards. I stood there astonished. Had I done something wrong? But… I hadn’t even done anything yet. I sure didn’t look like a thug if that’s what he had thought I was. I knocked again and I heard scraping on the other side of the door, as if heavy things were being moved around. What on earth is going on? I knocked a few more times but no one opened, just more scraping and shuffling.  I was starting to get cold because of the rain now, and no one was opening the door. What should I do? Should I just leave the phone outside their door and leave? They don’t even have a letterbox!

This couldn’t get any stranger…

KRIS’ POV

I was sitting watching TV in the living room, while the others around me occupied themselves in some other way. I was the only one really watching since none of the others could understand English that well. Chen was sitting next to me on his laptop, looking up from time to time when something caught his eye. Xiu Min and Lu Han were in the kitchen cooking dinner while Suho and D.O were on the floor in front of me, playing some Korean card game I didn’t understand. Se Hun, Lay, Tao and Chanyeol were on the big sofa, looking at something on Lay’s laptop and Baekhyun was in his room, taking a nap. Suddenly I thought I heard knocking on the door, but I wasn’t sure. I waited a minute to see if it happened again. Nothing. I wondered when 'station girl' would turn up.

A couple minutes later the door knocked again, and Kai went towards it to answer. He looked like he had just come out of the shower and didn’t have anything but a pair of jeans on. I sighed. “Kai, get some clothes on.” I told him as he went past me.

He ignored me and opened the door. He stood there for a moment, without saying anything and then slammed the door shut on whoever was standing outside. He put his back against the door and looked at us, eyes wide.

“What? Who is it?” Se Hun asked him.

“They’re here!” Kai whispered.

“Who’s here?” I asked.

The door knocked again. “The fans!!!” Kai whispered again. And suddenly all hell broke loose. Everyone stopped what they were doing and got up, worried looks on their faces.

“Are you sure?” I asked Kai as he ran towards the coffee table in the middle of the room. He nodded, and started dragging it towards the door, pushing it up against it so it wouldn’t be opened. He grabbed the single sofa next and dragged it over to in front of the table.

“Girls, with present boxes! How did they find out we are here?!” He said, huffing from the effort he was putting into pulling the sofa.

Suddenly Lu Han was sliding dramatically out of the kitchen towards Kai and a came to a halt in front of me. “They have a crazed look in their eyes!” he said, twirling his fingers in Kai’s face. Lu Han was just joking around but Kai seemed to get more disturbed by the second as he watched his fingers wiggling. I raised an eyebrow at Lu Han. “What?” he asked. I pushed his face back into the kitchen…his body followed.

I pondered over Kai’s words. If there really were fan girls outside, how did they know? Had ‘station girl’ updated her friends after getting our address? A pulse of anger shot through me. I shouldn’t have trusted her. No one was supposed to know we were here. Kai grabbed a cabinet next and was about to pull it back to the door when I stopped him. “Hold on.” I moved the table near the door and put my ear to it. Knocking…I moved my face to the peep-hole and looked outside. There was a girl standing outside the door looking around. She seemed to be the only one though. I couldn’t see her face properly thanks to the hood she had over her head.  She turned around and started to leave. I quickly opened the door and grabbed her, dragging her into the apartment. She screamed but it was muffled by my hand. I suddenly felt something sharp on my finger. “ARGH!”

I pulled her inside, shutting the door and cornered her next to it. I pulled her hood down and did a double take.

“Station girl?” I asked, shocked. “Have you alerted all your fan friends? How many are coming?” I was angry. Her eyes were wide and she looked scared. “Well?”

“I...I…I swear I didn’t tell anyone! I just came to give your phone back!” she stuttered.