Previously on Project X...

“He…he wouldn’t…actually hurt Ji-Eun…would he?”

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of bed today or something? What with you these days!? PMS?" 

"I handcuffed you two together…Now you have to let us stay with you Ji-Eunnie, whether you like it or not!" 

"Think of it as a charm bracelet, Ji-Eun-shi"

You honestly couldn't believe that EXO-K were being serious. You walked to school- actually handcuffed to Baekhyun. And you entered school...literally handcuffed to Baekhyun. You felt like shrivelling up and hiding under a rock from the number of glares and stares you received from the very moment you entered school premises. What was the principle going to think? Leaving school yesterday for an 'emergency' and suddenly entering with a boy attached to you  wrist. Congratulations Han Ji-Eun! You have officially reached a new level of utter embarrassment! You thought as you made your way to class.

“Someone looks happy” Kai chimed in sarcasm. You roll your eyes at him, “The time of my life” you pulled the fakest smile you could before turning it back into a frown. Baekhyun was completely ignoring you. Or so you were pretty sure he was. He hadn’t said a word to you since you left the house and spoke to the others as if nothing happened. Tsch! PMS indeed.

“Why? Would you prefer to be cuffed to me?” Kai smirked at his own comment. You scrunch up your nose slightly before sighing.

“I guess you wouldn’t ignore me…” You said with a sullen tone of voice before taking another sneaky glance towards your ‘charm bracelet’. He was smiling at something Sehun said and smacked him over the head with his free hand and the other guys were laughing along with him. Now that you thought about it…when was the last time Baekhyun ever smiled at you? He must have done so at least once right? Of course he has…but he doesn’t do it often…which was a little disappointing really…

Kai noticed your sadden mood and shot Baekhyun a glare that wasn’t received before turning back to you, “Don’t worry about that…it’s just Baekhyun for you” He shrugged. “But I still think that it would be better to handcuff you to the giant happy virus instead”

“Then why didn’t he?”

“He probably doesn’t like to see people fight…especially people he really loves”

You couldn’t help but blush slightly. “…Love?” You repeated.

Kai nodded, “Yeah...isn’t it obvious? We’re family now, of course we love you”

You felt a smile creep up on your face as warmth spread across your chest, but stealing another look towards Baekhyun and you frown again, “Maybe not all of you” you grumbled.

“Well, how about you then?” Kai suddenly questioned.

“Hm?” You turned your head towards him, only to be startled when his face was an inch away from you.

“You love us too, right?” He winked.  You could feel your face go a dark shade of red before you forcefully pushed Kai’s forehead away with your finger. “Stupid casanova” you cursed under your breathe when you suddenly remembered something. “Hey…Are you alright now?” You asked with your eyes slightly widened at him. But Kai didn’t really seem to understand what you were talking about and blinked a few times.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your arm, idiot! Does it still hurt?”

Kai suddenly smiled at your concern, “No…It doesn’t” He replied with a soft voice that sends your heart skipping a beat.

“Chanyeol” Baekhyun suddenly called.

“What?”

“This is the handcuff Professor gave Ji-Eun, isn’t it?” He questioned, cocking his head to his wrist slightly. Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows, not so sure why Baekhyun would be so curious about something that wasn’t at all relevant. Baekhyun wasn’t the kind to sprout nonsense either though, so his question must have something hidden behind it…right?

“Yeah, it is…why?” He shot a curious glare towards Baekhyun. But he just seemed to shrug as if it hadn’t really mattered anyway.

“Nothing, just curious”

But Chanyeol was still suspicious; however it hadn’t lasted long since he’d already forgotten about it when Sehun started a conversation with him.

You finally got to music, where you got the weirdest looks from other students as you entered.

“Glad for you to join us” Ji-hoon greeted, not at all fazed by the fact that you came attached to another boy. You and Baekhyun bowed simultaneously before heading towards you seats. Good thing Sir made you sit next to each other anyway, otherwise it would have been troublesome to have to ask to change seats. Good thing you were slightly ambidextrous too, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to write any notes. But even so, you weren’t entirely great with writing with your left, but as long as you could understand it, it’s alright.

But the moment he entered the room, Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice the black little dome stuck onto the ceiling with a small red light on the device. That wasn’t there before…

Just before class ended, you remembered you had something to hand into sir.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun wondered as you searched through your school bag for your music sheets.

“I’ll be one second” You replied, digging through the endless sea of sheets as everyone else exited the classroom. As you were rummaging through your stuff, you didn’t notice an envelope fall from your bag. But Baekhyun spotted it right by his foot. Glancing at you to see if you’d notice, he swiftly crouched down and quickly snatched it to put in his pockets. Little did he know that Ji-hoon saw him, but instead of telling him to return it, a smirk crept up on his face. Snooping, huh? That’s good for someone like Ji-Eun…

You finally found your homework, due late as usual and handed it to Sir. “Sorry that it’s late again” You apologized. But you weren’t worried about these things when it came to Ji-hoon saeng, he never really cared all that much unless he had to act tough in front of the other students. Sir took the coffee stained music sheets from you before his eyes landed on the handcuffs around yours and Baekhyuns wrists.

“Handcuffs, huh?” he chuckled. You and Baekhyun glance at each other before looking away and awkwardly clearing your throats. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask…But since both of you failed to hand the homework in on time…I’ll have to think of a punishment”

“…” That’s weird. A punishment for not handing homework in on time? Sure, for other teachers you were never surprised by that, but for Ji-hoon, he’d only give you punishments if you fell asleep during class or something. “A punishment?”

Sir nodded before suddenly sighing, “But~ I guess being handcuffed together is already difficult enough, right?” He chuckled, somehow finding it amusing. You scrunch up your nose and pull a face at him. If by difficult you mean slightly embarrassing then yes, it’s enough of a punishment. You wanted to say.

Ji-hoons eyes suddenly narrow towards Baekhyun when he asked, “Does it come off easily?”

Baekhyun stared at the other male for a moment…both exchange some kind of message in their eyes. “Not unless you have super strength” He joked.

Sir laughed again, “Yeah, or super powers”

You didn’t quite get the joke between them until sir suddenly mentioned super powers. It made you jump slightly, but you were relieved when you knew he was only joking around.

“Are you both going home now?” He asked. You nodded before blowing a strand of your hair away from your face.

“Work as usual”

“Don’t out do yourself, kid” Sir ruffled your head whilst smiling before taking looking at Baekhyun. “At least you have a helper now” He winked.

“Not funny” You retorted.

“Be nice” Sir scolded. Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a little jealous as he watched the conversation you were having with another man. Another man who was probably many years older than you, but still, he was a good looking man only in his mid-20’s and seeing him so close to you…might have sparked up a bit of jealously. “Well, it’s break now so I guess I should be on duty” He said as he gets his bags ready. You also try to sort out your bag, but it’s harder than it seemed, since for the several years now, you’ve just shoved whatever into it without even thinking.

Whilst you were sorting yourself out, Ji-hoon walked towards the exit but stopped beside Baekhyun, placing a firm grip on the boys shoulder. Baekhyun turned to look at him curiously before Ji-hoon leaned in slightly to whisper in his ear, “Thank you” He suddenly said, catching Baekhyun off guard.

“For what?” Baekhyun murmured back. Ji-hoon smiled.

“Tell you later” He patted him on the shoulder before heading towards the door, “See you guys later, remember, there’s homework due next week!”

“Okay!” You waved before going back tidy your bag.

But Baekhyun was left dumbfounded…Thank you…for what?  He wondered again, There’s something off about that teacher…

“You’re asking me for help?”

“I prefer to call it more of a cooperation”

“Well, well, and here I am thinking you were pissed about me stealing your thunder”

“I just acknowledge your talents as all…so what do you say?”

A low snigger echoed across the room, “It depends…if I help…I might not be able to hold myself back”

You were once again reunited with EXO-K after only a few hours of school to make your way home. Everything went suspiciously smooth today, although you still haven’t forgotten about your fathers surprise entrance, nor have you forgotten about Xiumin’s little ‘present that he made himself’. But since none of the answers to those mysteries are discovered yet, there was nothing you could do about it really.

“Hey, Ji-Eun” D.O suddenly called. “Does every class in school have cameras?” He wondered out loud, getting attention from the other boys.

“No. They only put them in some of the corridors, I’ve never really seen any cameras in classrooms…why?”

“Nah, I saw it in a movie I watched, never mind” He replied, sending Suho a look. Suho just nodded back without you knowing.

“Okay~” You adjust your arm warmers as you came towards the lake. No surprise that it was completely frozen over in this kind of temperature. But you were startled when a pair of strong arms suddenly wrap around you. “Whoa! Yeol! Careful! It’s slippery!” You scolded.

“But you seem cold” He pouted as he hugged you tighter. You chuckled at his childlike behaviour, but had to admit, he was surprisingly warm despite only being in uniform.

“How about sharing some of that love with the others, dude?” D.O complained, shuddering in the cold.

“My warmth is reserved for Ji-Eun only!” Chanyeol stuck a tongue out at the other boy. He swayed you back and forth and accidently made you bump into Baekhyun.

“Sorry” You apologized with a smile, trying not to laugh at Chanyeol as he rocked you back and forth. You looked up and noticed the agitated look on Baekhyuns face and froze. You guessed that it was probably because you hadn’t noticed tugging his wrists back and forth since you almost forgot that you were connected. But really, he was more annoyed towards the giant who was clinging onto you like king-kong.

Suho glanced over to Kai to see how he was reacting to Chanyeols skinship with you, but the boy was just walking in front without a care in the world. That’s out of character… “Hey, Kai” Suho called, getting the males attention as he turned his head towards Suho. “You alright there?” He asked, somehow able to get the others attention just by the little question.

“Yeah, I’m fine, why?” He replied.

“He’s probably just cold” D.O assumed. Sehun suddenly erupted in laughter, “Oh yeah! He fell into the school’s swimming pool today! What a klutz! Ahahaha!” He laughed. The others chuckled slightly but you suddenly became a little concerned. If Kai was to catch a cold- or any of them were to get sick- it would be your fault, after all, you’re the one the boys are giving their money to during work and you haven’t even brought them any winter clothing yet. You should probably make note of that. You released yourself from Chanyeols embrace.

“Kai, you can teleport back home if you want, I don’t mind” You stopped walking and grabbed Kai’s wrist to get his attention before smiling at him to show him that you were alright with walking in the cold. But your smile disappeared immediately the moment you saw the look in his eyes. It was a deathly glare; one that was as though he loathed every fibre of you and detested your touch. You stepped back and let go of him. “S-Sorry…”

“About what?” A smile suddenly crept up on his face. Now you were just confused.

“…You tell me” You replied, unable to forget the look in his eyes. The boys beside you fell silent along with you until a voice broke the silence.

“Soooo~ We meet again EXO-K!”

The seven of you twist your necks towards the lake and saw Xiumin swinging his feet from one of the tree branches.

“Him again” D.O growled under his breath as EXO-K got into their ready positions.

Xiumin grinned, “Ready to play?”

“Play what?” Sehun retorted.

“Frost Bite”

CLANK!

“CHANYEOL!” You yelled when the fence suddenly breaks and you saw the boy fall forwards out of nowhere.

“CHANYEOL!” The boys cry as Chanyeol falls through the ice and into the lake which immediately freezes back from the work of Jack Frost himself. “KAI! WHAT THE DID YOU…” D.O grabbed Kai by the collar before suddenly freezing on the spot. “You’re not…”

“D.O! GET AWAY FROM HIM!” Suho suddenly screamed. 

What the hek is going on?!