The atmosphere, although not that different, wasn’t the same. You could tell that EXO-K have been cautious around each other over the weekend, but you couldn’t talk of course, since you were cautious around them yourself- thinking that the person you were talking to might not be the person who you think, was a little scary.

Monday morning came. Never before have you ever dreaded to go back to school so much in your life; thinking back to your wonderful memory of finally getting back at Kwon Hana for the first time (with help from the boys)- would definitely come with a price. Just the thought of seeing her in homeroom made you pale in the face.

“Ji-Eun-shi, you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost” Chanyeol commented as he peered at you with concerned eyes. The seven of you were all walking to school as usual, but the only difference was that you notice the boys had barely conversed, it was as though they were avoiding each other and only directing a conversation to you. “Are you too cold? Are you sick?” His eyes broadened whilst he cupped your cold cheeks with his hands. 

Winter had definitely come now, you could tell by the frost that’d started to form outside on the road and grass, not to mention the sub-zero temperature was like slap-in-the-face reminder to bring your winter wear to school. You chuckled before pushing Chanyeols hands away from your face.

“I’m fine Yeol, just a little nervous I guess” You said, taking deep breathes in and out as you continued to walk. After that the conversation ended, leaving an awkward silence as the seven of you carried on strolling down the road. The awkward-ness was something you weren’t used to when it came to EXO-K, even if it was quiet, it’d be either Chanyeol or D.O who’d spit out some crazy topic to talk about, but nothing; not this time. 

“Don’t worry Ji-Eun-ah! We’ll protect you if anything happens!” Sehun beamed.

"Says the magnae who can barely protect himself" Baekhyun added, making everyone smirk and scoff.

"Hyung!~" Sehun pouted. You smiled at him and playfully fluffed his hair.

“Aigoo~ You really are the youngest” You chuckled before noticing the difference between your attire to the others.“…Aren’t you guys cold?” You asked, peering at them in the school uniform without any warm winter clothes, yet they hadn’t seemed to show any signs of being cold whatsoever.

“Only a bit …Chanyeol won’t be though, he can warm himself up whenever” Kai smiled. Chanyeol nodding at you with a proud, cheesy grin.

"Just say the word Ji-Eun and I'll melt away all the ice!" He boasted. You blinked at him, rather impressed. 

“Wow! That’s actually re- WHOA!”

“Ji-Eun!”

Your foot skidded over the slippery surface mid-sentence and your body flung forward, about to fall flat onto the hard surface when suddenly…it stopped…even if 6 hands flinched out towards you, not even a single finger had laid a touch on you…yet it felt as though something pushed against you that stopped you from falling to the ground. Telekinesis? You wondered, taking the chance to step back onto your two feet with the help of Baekhyun and D.O. Automatically, everyone’s heads turned towards the boy standing behind them, your eyes lit up in surprise. Sehun especially had the brightest expression on his face.

“Long time no see, still clumsy as ever” The boy in the stylish winter coat over a tight fit long sleeved shirt greeted.

“Luhan!” You and Sehun cried with a smile, Sehun about to dash up to him however was stopped by Baekhyun.

“Wait…” He snapped at him before anyone could even take another step. There was a pause before Luhan smiled again.

“I’m just here to talk for a bit, don’t worry, I’m the real one” He said with a knowing expression.

“Prove it” D.O ordered. 

“Just trust me…” He stared sincerely at Suho specifically this time. But the boy being stared at was hesitant, however after seeing the look in his eyes, felt the need to give him a chance and waited for him to continue. Luhan took his sigh as a go for it. "I figure you already know…About the shapeshifter?”

“Yeah, we know alright” Kai said bitterly.

“Do you know anything else about it?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “Not yet, Professor wasn’t available for any data” He replied. Luhan nodded in acknowledgment. 

“First thing’s first then…The shapeshifter- he’s not your problem right now”

“You know something?” Sehun asked hopefully. Luhan nodded his head yet again but with a hint of pity.

“Yeah…but I can’t say anything further than that…sorry…you’ll just have to trust me…he’s shown himself once- but he’s not going to show up here for a while, at least it won’t be wise for him to do so anyway”

"Why not?" You asked curiously, not quite able to get your head around what they were talking about. 

"Think of it like chess...You wouldn't move your knight at your first go, right?" He explained, you nodded your head to show your understanding however the others weren't so familiar with the term. 

"What's chess?" You heard Chanyeol whisper into Suho's ears. They all shrugged their shoulders. 

“So if the shapeshifter isn't planning on popping up anytime soon...then I'm guessing that something else is” Baekhyun assumed. Luhan tried to gather his words but ended up just sighing at the loss of them. D.O glared at him carefully, noticing that this may have been the most distressed he'd seen Luhan, even more than when he sneaked out without saying goodbye. 

“…I can’t reveal much now” Luhan finally replied, somehow able to imply that it was out of his hands. Suho glanced towards the others, who seemed to have understood and acknowledged that answer. “Why are you telling us all of this?” He asked with a little grin, thankful for Luhans advice.

“I guess i'm having a rebellious phase...felt like some betrayal would be healthy" He joked, earning a few smiles and chuckles from the others "…Don’t distrust each other just yet, he won’t be messing with you for a while, believe me. And you might need to rely on each other this time…”

"Another one of 'them'?” Kai asked and for a moment, the person being addressed didn’t reply. But more than being hesitant in replying, it was more of a clueless silence. 

“Depends…” He sighed. 

“'Depends'?" You repeated, again slightly dumbfounded with the rather cryptically conversation. Luhan stared at you for a moment before turning to the others. “Be careful” He warned. Everyone turned to look at each other before glancing back at Luhan.

“Same goes for you dude…” D.O said. Luhan chuckled lightly.

“I’ll keep that in mind” He grinned at them and somehow everything seemed brighter. The boys smiled at themselves and the tense and awkward atmosphere melted away.

Suddenly, a light beeping noise came from Luhans pockets and he took out his regular mobile phone, one which you were actually familiar with (you're still not so used to the gadgets and devices EXO-K use). He saw the caller ID and didn’t bother answer. “Manager. Chasing me up again I bet.” He laughed before ending the call straight away. “Catch you guys later then”

“W-Wait hyung!” Sehun called before dashing up to Luhan and whispering something in his ear. You glanced at the others who just shrugged their shoulder at you. After Sehun finished whispering, Luhan shot him a strange look, as if Sehun has three heads.

“Why?”

“Just try it!” Sehun shoved him forward, closer to you. Luhan sighed before suddenly staring at you. You waited for him to say something, but nothing. There was a moment where both of you just stared into each others eyes, but after that short moment, Luhan bit his lip and rapidly turned away, his ears flushing red.

“I’m going!” He said, turning away and waving without even looking back. Your eyebrows furrowed as Luhan hurriedly strolled away; catching Sehun’s laughter and playfully shoving him before walking off. You glanced over to the boys again, but they did the same; shrugging their shoulders, however this time they had knowing smiles on their faces. I still don’t get it…you tilted your head curiously.

“Bye hyung!~ Come by again!!!” Sehun called, frantically waving goodbye to Luhan who just glanced back and smiled. 

“Can we really trust him though?” Kai turned to Suho. “…He’s still with ‘the others’ you know”

“I wouldn’t worry about that as much” The person who replied wasn’t their leader, but surprisingly D.O; who jerked his head towards you. “Ji-Eun said so; he’s not the bad guy right?”

Everyone glared at him with suspicion and stepped back, making his eyes widened at everyone’s alarm. “What?!” He snapped.

“A little too nice for something D.O would say” You teased, a little smile on your face showing that you were only kidding. D.O scoffed.

“I can be nice!” He protested as you all laughed. “What!? I’m a nice person!” 

“Yeah sure- keep on thinking dude~” Chanyeol patted him on the shoulders. 

Because of Luhan, the journey became a lot brighter than what it had started out to be. You entered the school ground feeling rather upbeat, especially since EXO-K were making you laugh all the way to the front gates.

Sehun and Yeol wouldn't stop teasing D.O about being nice about Luhan and Kai and Suho would start telling stories about their days back in EXO's dimension (You didn't find the story about Chanyeol almost burning down professors place all that funny though, it came to you as a shock that Chanyeol was capable of burning down a building) Surprisingly, although he didn't seem to be doing it on purpose, Baekhyun made you laugh countless times. His little snide comments and play on words made you laugh so hard that your stomach started hurting, even Chanyeol was cracking up with you…however from the moment you step foot into school…you could tell…something was up.

And the moment you entered homeroom with Kai…your assumption became correct.

“Ji-Eun?” The homeroom teacher (who for once was on time) called your name the second you opened the door.

“Yes?” You jolted, not expecting the homeroom teacher to be there so early. Kai secretly hid beside you, clever enough to be suspicious and not show himself to the teacher just yet. 

“You’ve been called by the principle” He said, the class suddenly erupting with whispers and laughter. 

“Ooooh~ Little miss Tardy’s in trouubbbllee~” One of the boys teased, high fiving his laughing friends after the remark that wasn’t at all funny but seemed hilarious to the rest of the class. You bowed to the teacher before glancing at Kai curiously. He put his finger to his lips, telling you not to say anything, but you didn't quite get it and just glared at him with an eyebrow raised. 

"Is something wrong?" The teacher asked. You jolted yet again and brushed it off with an awkward laugh. 

"Haha, nothing" You cleared your throat before closing the door and shooting a look towards the boy. "What are you do-"

"I'm going with you" Kai stated confidently, his hands casually in his pockets. 

"I'm not a child Kai, i can go on my-"

"I'm going with you" He repeated with a much stricter tone. You were about to argue but his eyes were practically threatening you. 

"But you-"

"[Han Ji-Eun, Please report to the Principles office immediately, i repeat, please may Han Ji-Eun report to the Principles office immediately]" The morning announcement from the bullhorns echoed across the school building. 

"Seems pretty urgent" Kai remarked with a little smirk. "Shall we go?" He asked, holding out his hand. But that expecting smirk of his made the offer just irking to you. You stuck out your tongue at him and dashed down the corridor; bluntly refusing his offer. 

You walked over to the principals office with Kai, but later had discovered the other 5 waiting outside the office for you to arrive. "Found her" Baekhyun stated, being the first to spot you walking over.

"We meet again~" Chanyeol sung. 

"What are you guys doing here?!" You asked, again a little suspicious as to why none of the teachers would have stopped them from suddenly walking out of class. 

"We heard the mystery man call your name and decided to invite ourselves" D.O replied casually. 

"Don't worry, just pretend like we're not here" Suho smiled at you whilst cocking his head to indicate the others. You glared at the 6 handsome boys and knew that it was a fight you couldn't win. 

"Whatever. But if they ask you to leave then do as your told, alright?" you warned them as you headed to the front of the office door. You knocked on the door and waited for a response...but nothing. "That's odd..."

"Maybe they couldn't hear you?" From Sehun's assumption you tried again, only with a little more force and finally, you heard the principle respond. 

"Come in Ji-Eun-ah" He spoke casually, but perhaps; a little too delicately. You raised an eyebrow at the door curiously before finally pushing the door open. 

"Annyeongha..." You were in the middle of bowing your head when suddenly you caught sight of someone standing in front of the principles desk. Your eyes shot up immediately and for a moment, you froze on the spot; you felt as though your heart sunk to your stomach. "...Dad?" 

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A/N: Sooooo Sorry for the really long wait (and for such an uninteresting and sloppy chapter T^T) I had a big writers block and plus- it's exam period so- really sorry! I'd like to say how much i really do appreciate my subscribers and for all the comments your leaving. It's not going unacknowledged so- keep it up! I love hearing what you think so far and also what you think might happen. ^^~