'Kai!'

'Haneul!'

'Are you okay? Kai, oh my god, I was so worried about you and you wouldn't come out and-'

'I'm sorry, Haneul'

'Oh shut up, don't be sorry! I'm just glad you're okay now. You are okay, right?'

'Yeah, I'm fine now. What did that guy want with you?'

'I'm not sure, he was just starting a fight. I think he's got a grudge on us.'

'Us?'

'Yeah, as in the 13 of us'

'It's like being back in high school, honestly' said Kai, sighing.

'What do you mean?'

'We're being outcasted once again and glorified into that stupid EXO name about being in our own little world and what not. It irks me so much that people just take things at face value. I mean, it's not like we're not friends with people besides ourselves. We've got Jinri and Jiyoung-noona and Minwoo and Jenny, haven't we?'

You nodded. 'And you can't forget Jaemin-oppa and Taejoon'

Kai frowned. 'Oh yeah, those two'

'Mm, Kai?'

'Yeah?'

'Are you sure you're okay?'

'Of course I am, Hanuel-ah. Why wouldn't I be?'

You hesistated for a bit. Kai looked at you expectantly. 

'Well... You're not the... The you-know...'

'I'm not the golden boy of the university anymore, am I?' said Kai sadly.

Lay was beginning to walk back towards the two of you. Kai patted your head gently. 

'Listen Haneul-ah, are you happy?'

'Happy? What?'

'Are you happy now that I'm not taking on a role?'

You looked at Kai and his eyes were sincere. He was begging you to say the right thing. You sighed and smiled. 

'Head of a committee or not, you're still the same Kai to me.'

'But... Do you think I was an idiot for going up on stage? Do you think I should have just held my feelings a bit longer?'

'You're only human, Kai.'

'Are you disappointed in me...?'

'How could I ever be disappointed in you?'

 

***

 

'Lay, why are we going to see Park-ssaem?'

'You can't be in the same class as that jerk'

'What?' 

You were trying to keep up with Lay who was storming down the corridors. He was furious and it surprised you that he had even said such a word as 'jerk'. It was like the gentle Lay had instantly gone. He banged on the door to Mr Park's office and entered anyway.

'Lay!' you shrieked. 'You can't just go in there! What if someone's with him?!'

Luckily, Mr Park was only having a coffee break and reading the newspaper. He seemed surprised though. 

'Lay? Are you alright? Haneul?'

'I'm fine, Park-ssaem. Sorry for bursting in like this'

Mr Park chuckled. 'The only ones that ever burst in are you lot. I've grown used to it. Is something the matter?'

You looked at Lay. 'Well?'

'I want Haneul to be moved class'

'What?!' you shouted 'Who says I want to move?!'

'I don't want that guy to harass you!'

'I've got Suho!'

Mr Park rubbed his temples. 'Lay, what trouble have you gotten into?'

'It's not me! There's this guy from my old school and he's set on hurting us'

'Us?'

'He's going to do something bad to one of us, I can feel it'

'Mmm, well... There's only one medicine class so you either get this guy to move or Haneul-ssi can-'

'I'm not moving out of my class. No way.' you said sternly.

'Fine.' said Lay

Both you and Mr Park turned to face him.

'I'm moving into the medicine class'

'What?!' 

'Are you sure, Lay?'

Lay nodded. 'I've been thinking about it for a while. I do biochemistry already so it makes sense to switch whilst I still can. Suho-hyung and Haneul can help teach me whatever I've missed. It's better this way'

Mr Park leant back in his chair. 'This is a very spur of the moment decision, Lay. It's going to affect your career path. It's going to affect your whole life'

'Ssaem... I can't just sit back and do nothing...'

'Fine. I'll need to give you some paperwork so Haneul-ssi, would you like to go back to class? Suho-ssi will be there by now'

You nodded and left. Mr Park turned to Lay once more. 

 

'What are you intentions, Lay? You know full well that Suho-ssi can look after Haneul and you know that this guy won't go after you boys. He'll only be after Haneul, if anyone at all'

'Ssaem...'

'Forgive me if I'm wrong, Lay, but it seems like you're set on protecting Haneul no matter what... Do you by chance...'

'By chance?'

'By chance harbour feelings for Haneul-ssi?'

Lay turned bright red. He hadn't been expecting Mr Park to catch on so quickly. 

'Wh-What? N-No way! You're misunderstanding, Park-ssaem! This is strictly brother sister type stuff. I mean, we live together. Nothing could happen between us!'

Mr Park wasn't buying it but he dropped the subject. 'I see. My apologies, Lay. I jumped to conclusions too quickly. Forgive me'

'It's nothing to be sorry about, sunsengnim. Don't worry about it'

 

***

 

'You moved class?!' Xiumin said

'Why did you swap?!' said Kris

'Who was the guy that kept staring at Haneul and I in class today?' said Suho

'You didn't tell him?' Lay asked you

'Mianhae but... I'm not exactly sure who he is either... Like, he just started picking on me. I really don't know why' 

'He must have found out about us from when my brother came...' said Kai

'What do you mean?'

'Well... Since I made a massive commotion in front of our entire year, people must have been trying to find out about me and who I am and well, if they find out about me... They're going to find out that I live with 12 other people and they're going to find out who those other 12 people are. I'm right, aren't I, Baekhyun?'

'Well...'

Kai sighed. 'I'm sorry. It's my fault this has turned out like this.'

'Don't say that, Kai. I made the decision a while ago to change subject anyway'

'Yeah but now everyone knows who are the dearest to me! I've put you all in bad light'

'Hyung, how can you say that?!' Sehun cried out.

'It's not like you've changed... You're still our Kai. I mean, I still love you just as much as before and I'm sure everyone else does too.' said D.O 'We're all we've got in life, Kai.'

You pinched Kai's shoulder gently. 'See, it's like I said before. We could never be disappointed in you.'

Kai kept silent but you all hoped that your words had touched him in one way or another. 

'So... Is this the guy from your previous school?' said Chen quietly

'What guy?' said Tao, whispering into Baekhyun's ear. He had only just arrived back from the gym and upon his entry into the dorm, he found everyone else gathered on the sofas looking solemn and serious. 

Baekhyun put his finger to his lips. 'Something about Lay and his bullies...' he whispered back.

Tao nodded slowly, taking in the situation and quietly settled his bag beside him. My shower can wait. Lay sighed loudly.

'He's just one of them... I've already met the others who weren't so bad but yeah, he's the worst.'

Lay adjusted the cushion behind his back and winced slightly, hissing in pain. Kris had to look away. He couldn't bear it. 

'Wait... You met the others already?' said Luhan

Lay's eyes widened and he looked at you in panic. You stared at him, your mouth gaping open. The secret was out and it had come from Lay of all people. 

'Why the hell didn't you tell us?! Brothers, Lay! How many times do I need to remind you that?!'

Luhan was so angry he was practically shouting. Sehun tugged on his sleeve to sit him back down. 

'Hyung, stop it. Lay-hyung is sad already. Please don't be angry at him.'

 

You noticed out of the corner of your eye that Baekhyun was fidgeting like a frightened rabbit. You stared at him until he noticed and he jumped like a deer in front of headlights.

'What are you hiding?' you mouthed to him.

Baekhyun diverted his gaze and you glared at him harder. 

'I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. I just... I couldn't bring myself to burden you like this and like... When I fought-'

'You fought with them?!' Kris yelled. You forgot about staring off Baekhyun and sat rigid in your seat. Everyone did. It wasn't often that Kris would get so worked up that it was scary. 'How could you not tell me this?! Dear God!'

Lay coughed and you turned your attention to him. 'Lay... You should really tell them...'

'He told you about the fight?' Kris asked you. You nodded but felt bad. It felt like you had backstabbed Lay. 

'How long ago was it?' Chanyeol asked. It was the first time he had spoken.

'A week or so... Maybe...' Lay replied

You returned you focus back to Baekhyun. It wasn't that Lay was no longer of interest to you but it annoyed you and frightened you that there was the obvious possibility of Baekhyun keeping something secret to himself. Chanyeol seemed none the wiser which only added to your fear. Byun Baekhyun, what are you hiding?

'Tell me what happened. Now' said Kris

You weren't paying attention. Firstly, you knew the story. Lay had told you when you caught him coming back and secondly, Baekhyun had begun to play with his fingers. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. He was under pressure and you were just waiting for him to crack. 

'Well... I saw the guys and they said they'd hurt you guys if I didn't face them properly...'

Lay's voice trailed off. He had noticed you weren't paying attention. 'Haneul?'

On cue, the word slipped out of your mouth. It was what, or rather who, you had been thinking so hard about. 

'Baek...'

Baekhyun looked at you and his lips. Xiumin narrowed his eyes at the two of you. He was usually just as quick as you were to catching onto things but with Lay and his current problems, he had been too swept up to realise that not only was there a problem with Lay's bullies, but also with Baekhyun's. 

 

***

 

It was the next day and everyone was having a lie-in with the exception of Sehun who was awake at the crack of dawn to read through the scripts, lighting instructions, stage management directions and all the rest of that lark. The upcoming show was going to be massive and classes began to slow as the date drew nearer and nearer. Baekhyun slipped into your room whilst everyone was asleep and he shook you gently. 

'Haneul-ah. Hey, Haneul-ah'

'Mmm? Baekhyun?' You rolled over, not wanting to get out of bed. 

'Haneul. I need to ask you something. It's been plaguing my mind all night'

'Can't you ask me later? I'm tired, Baek...'

'Mianhae, I really can't. It's bugging me.'

You sighed and sat up in bed. You hair was all over the place and you hastily rubbed your eyes, yawning and stretching. They say that in the morning, when you take your first stretch upon waking up, that is when the inner star in you comes out. Let me tell you this- it's true. 

'Okay, I'm awake now. What is so important that you had to disturb a girl's beauty sleep?'

'Well I was thinking...'

'Yes?...'

'About yesterday...'

'Mm?

'And well... Well...'

'Baek, if you don't say it in 1 second, I'll go back to sleep and call Chanyeol to take you back to your room.'

'Okay, okay. I was just wondering how you knew about me...'

'About you what?'

'Well... How did you know I was hiding something?'

'Baekhyun... You're nice. You know that, right?'

'Yeah... Wait, what?'

You ignored him. 'You gave up Physics because there were people from your previous schools in your class and they were treating you badly again, am I right?'

'Yeah, that's what I said last night when you found me out and made me confess to everyone'

'It was for your own good. Anyway, that's not the point.'

'You mentioned me being nice.'

'I figured that you wouldn't want to quit Physics unless there was a totally valid reason and well, I could only come up with one.'

'One? Which one is that?' Baekhyun asked warily. There are two reasons... So surely this means she's oblivious to the other one?

'Well instead of requesting your bullies to leave Physics, you took it upon yourself to quit the subject you love and why? Because you're nice. That's how I knew.'

'You mean to say, you knew I had quit Physics out of my own will'

'Pretty much. You love Physics, Baek. Anyone can see that. I thought it was strange when you suddenly announced you were changing and when Lay suddenly decided to change, I just put two and two together. Intuition really. Plus you started acting a bit strange when Lay was talkign about his guys.'

'Haneul, has anyone ever told you to be a detective?'

You giggled. 'Once or twice'

Baekhyun exhaled loudly. 'Wow.'

'What possessed you to pick up English instead, I will never know' you said. 

Baekhyun almost felt himself smile. So she's completely oblivious. Best keep it that way.

'Baek?...'

'Yeah?'

'Are you annoyed?'

'Annoyed? By what? You? What? No! Why would I be?'

'Well... You kept the fact that you had met your bullies again away from us. You even kept it away from Yeollie... I just... I suppose I feel bad for quite literally forcing you to tell us.'

'Haneul, it was for my own good. Now that I've confessed my problems, you're all going to be looking out for me. Technically, I'm the winner in this. We're stronger as a team than by ourselves, right?'

'I suppose so'

Baekhyun gave you a hug. Whilst still in his embrace, he tucked your hair behind your ear and gently spoke in a hushed tone. 

'Lay and I wouldn't be able to face our bullies without you. There's nothing more that I'm grateful for in my life than having you to cheer me up and remind me of the wonderful friends I have'

 

 

---

Guys, I noticed in the comments that a few people have said 'Oh! Are people's pasts coming back into the story?!' hahaha. If you want to know the answer, please reread the foreword. The first part of the description says: 

 

Originally from the UK, Haneul Shin has pretty much adjusted to her new life in Seoul

where she lives with 12 guys, each with a painful history of their own.  

Entering their first year of university is scary already

but when people from the past begin to pop up,

can Haneul find love and comfort from the 12 oppas she lives with? 

Or will her new found family break down?

Ahahaha, now you know! I've been following a careful plot plan so I apologise for the parts that seem a bit dry and boring but yes, the aim of this sequel is to have someone from the past of each of the characters, come back. Kai's brother came back. Kris' mom came back. Taejoon is in Seoul HA. Lay and Baekhyun's bullies are back. Who next, eh? I wonder... Any ideas as to who from each characters backgrounds will pop up?

(I'll admit, I'm not sure how it'll work for Tao but it's cool. I'll find something hopefully...) 

(If not, please don't kill me all you kung-fu panda fans)