Before Baekhyun even started counting, 'Kai' stepped closer to you. Immediately, the members take out their weapons and aimed it towards him. "Don't. Take. Another. Step" Suho seethed. 

Your instincts told you to just go with what was happening, so when Baekhyun pulled you behind him, you didn't complain and took a few steps back. 

"You shouldn't underestimate us...You think that you can drown him so easily?" Baekhyun cocked his gun, the silver device clicking and sending a quiet high pitched ringing as a threat.

When 'Kai' didn't seem to have a reaction, Baekhyun continued, "My assumption is that you somehow managed to pull Kai into the swimming pool and pretended to be him when you came out...With false information that Kai couldn't teleport under water, you probably tied him down there so that you could go ahead with whatever it was that you're planning before he could either escape or drown" 

"Jokes on you though, next time you might wanna gather better data before going into the dragons den so stupidly" D.O spat. 

"Since it's already been a few hours, his powers can activate any second... I'm telling ya now, he won't be happy when he gets here" Chanyeol added.

The moment you made eye contact with 'Kai', it clicked. Those eyes...the piercing eyes full of hate, loath and anger...they didn't belong to Kai...And if the person from before wasn't Kai, and this one wasn't Kai, then the last time Kai was last seen must have been when Sehun said he fell into the swimming pool; and he was still in there. How, you didn't know, but if it could keep him under there for hours then it must be something pretty drastic. 

You finally understood what Baekhyun was trying to do with all the questions about holding their breathes underwater...He was trying to catch 'Kai' out and let the others catch on without going straight in for the kill. 

The pressure was on for 'Kai' though. Having 5 weapons aimed at him when you were so close in reach. It would have been so much easier if you weren't handcuffed to Baekhyun. This guy shouldn't be underestimated. 

"We'll give you ten seconds..." Baekhyun said before silence fell. His grasp on the gun was secure and in your eyes, he couldn't have looked more confident in himself. He wasn't shaking, none of the members were, none of them even looked hesitant; but when you felt Baekhyuns grasp tighten at your wrists by the second, you realized; all of them couldn't have felt more anxious. And you knew exactly why.
Although they were positive that this wasn't actually Kai, he still looked exactly like him...even if he was to make a movement, they wouldn't be able to bring themselves as to skim a bullet pass his skin. But they had to act like they would. They had to act as though they weren't afraid to drive whatever weapons they had in the hands into him. "Ten..." Baekhyun begun...but still no movement, "Nine..." His voice dropped an octave. Right then, there was a pause, one that made your heartbeat ring loudly in your ears...no...not just your heartbeat but...the clock? 

TICK...TICK...TICK

Was...was the clock always this loud? 

TICK...TICK...TICK...TICK...............!!!

All of a sudden, the ticking halted for a second too long and 'Kai' sprung into action, but everything went by too fast. A figure was standing behind you, shocked, you quickly spun around along with Baekhyun, however faced a figure with his back to you. 

“K-Kai?!” You urged in utter bewilderment when you realize it was Kai, dripping wet, his blazer had gone missing and his body reeked of chlorine. His twin stood in front of him, however his wrist was being crushed by Kai's firm grip. 

Kai panted desperately for air, “You…Bastard” He cursed towards the imposter in front of him. 

With a powerful shake, the imposter released himself and his eyes darted towards you.

It was that look again; that patronizing glare that seethed with hatred, as though he hated every cell in your body. 

Without knowing, you tightened your hold on Baekhyuns arm before Baekhyun continued counting “Eight...Seven” But before he could even get to six, the boy dashed out of the café quicker than you could blink. 

A weight lifted from the atmosphere as weapons and shoulders were lowered. Everyone loosened up before suddenly tensing again when the dampened Kai fell to his knees. “K-Kai! Are you okay?” You asked, dragging Baekhyun down with you as you kneeled down beside him. 

Kai turned to you and felt a part of him melt. The concern and shock in your eyes that looked at him made them look bigger than usual and for some reason, warmth spread across his chest. “Yeah…I’m fine now…” He answered, trying to catch his breathe whilst running his fingers through his dripping wet hair. 

“What happened?" Sehun questioned. 

“That …pulled me into the swimming pool in school” He took his time to breathe in the oxygen his lungs had longed for, but his gaze suddenly grew sharper. “They've got gadgets...ones from EXO” He explained, suddenly intriguing everyone as they stepped closer to him.

"No wonder" Suho sighed whilst plopping beside Kai,"I was wonder how they managed to trap you into a swimming pool for so long"

"Not only that" Kai shook his head. "That bastard...he's not a shapeshifter...none of them are"

The members glance at one another, slightly baffled.

"What do you mean?" Chanyeol asked. "You saw him- he looked exactly like-"

"It's a gadget. Shapeshifting...it's not his power...it's only a device" He said, peering over to Chanyeol and having to do a double take. “Should i ask?” He questioned, referring to Chanyeol wrapped up in the blankets like a burrito with a crossbow on his lap. 

“Long story” Chanyeol couldn’t be bothered explaining anymore. He would have got his revenge if Baekhyun hadn't shooed the bastard away.

 

You forced Kai to get changed after noticing him shiver in his wet uniform. And just when everyone got themselves upstairs did Rin suddenly enter the café, right on time for work. But after today, you didn’t feel like working. You felt like curling up into your bed and calm yourself down before you could serve customers.

When the members offered to help, you immediately turned them down. How could you let them? Chanyeol almost froze to death, Kai almost drowned and they all seemed so worn out by todays events. You wanted them to get some rest, especially since you all had to be back at school at 11- you couldn't forget that deal with Xiumin afterall. 

But of course there was something preventing you from working…

“Yeol, can you please just un-cuff me? I need to go to work” You pleaded, but Chanyeol was stubborn and shook his head.

“No. Not until…until…”

“Until what?” You asked. To be honest, Chanyeol didn’t even know himself. He just wanted you and Baekhyun to stop arguing so much, but what now?

“Er…I-I’m not telling you!”

“Ji-Eun-shi” Suho suddenly called, “How about me and Sehun take over your shift for today and you stay here and get some rest” He kindly offered. Truth was; the members could tell you were tired. They couldn’t blame you. But unlike you, they still had energy left…well most of them did anyway.

You softened, “No, it’s fine, I just need Chanyeol to-“

“No arguments” Suho ordered, a warm smile gracing his face. “Ready, Sehun?”

“Yup!” Sehun urged enthusiastically and before you could argue any further, the two already made their way down to the café.

“Call me if you need help!” You shouted before sighing. You took a glance at the boy you were still attached to and pulled a face. Even if you were free from work…you still weren’t actually ‘free’ from anything.

“If you’re tired, you should go to sleep” Baekhyun said. Although it seemed like a normal offer, you were reminded that with handcuffs, it would mean that Baekhyun would have to sleep beside you.

“N-No thanks” You stuttered, not even realizing that you were starting to blush.

Baekhyun laughed, “What? You think I’m going to do something to you?”

“Don’t worry Ji-Eun, if Byunnie tries anything funny, just yell and we’ll come to the rescue” Chanyeol reassured. 

Baekhyun eyes narrowed at the human blanket-burrito. “Ya, Park Chanyeol” He scolded.

“Hey, dudes got a point, you’re still male” D.O smirked teasingly. 

“Yeah~ Who knows~” Chanyeol wriggled his eyebrows.

“Ya! What are you thinking!?” Baekhyun grabbed a pillow and flung it to D.O who caught it in his hands. You looked up at Baekhyun, Is Byun Baekhyun…blushing? You couldn’t believe your eyes. 

When he noticed you staring, he immediately turned away. “Let’s check up on Kai” He suggested. But before he could drag you anywhere, D.O spoke up, “How did you know?” He asked. And by the confusion on everyones faces, had to repeat it, “How did you know that it wasn’t the real Kai back then?”

“Oh yeah…Luhan hyung said that the shapeshifter wasn’t going to mess with us, so I didn’t even think of it” Chanyeol added.

Baekhyun shifted his eyes around the room awkwardly. Honestly, there was a certain something that made him so confident it wasn’t the real Kai. He knew how Kai talked to you. There would be a certain look in his eyes, a certain way he responds to you and that was nowhere near it. But he couldn’t say it out loud. Not when you were right beside him anyway. Why? He wasn’t sure exactly.

“Intuition” He replied.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. These days, he’s been noticing something a little strange about Baekhyun. But he just brushed it off. “Speaking of Luhan, I'm still curious about ‘Chesse’?” Chanyeol asked, directing the question towards you. 

"Chess?" You almost forgot that these boys weren’t from your dimension actually, so the question was a little surprising at first, “Oh…well, chess is…is like a game”

Chanyeols eyes lit up at the word, “Game?”

“Yeah, but you know, for smart people”

“Smart people?” D.O rose an eyebrow.

“Yeah. It’s like a two player board game, only it takes more thinking. There are these little black and white things that you need to move. I’m not great at it since I just move random pieces but there’s a trick to it supposedly” The more you explained, the more lost the boys looked. “Like, er, you need to think ahead the person you’re playing against. Try to read their mind, their next move so that you can get Checkmate”

“What’s a checkmate?” Chanyeol asked, suddenly intrigued by the knowledge you were feeding him.

“It’s what you say when you win the game” You finished.

Chanyeol grinned, “I wanna play it!” He said. D.O randomly smacked him across the skull.

“You heard Ji-Eun, it’s for smart people, you’ll never win” He laughed.

Chanyeol was offended, “I can be smart!” He argued before turning to you and Baekhyun, “You think I’m smart right?”

“Let’s see what Kai’s doing” You suggested before dragging Baekhyun to his room.

“Hey!” Chanyeol cried. You smiled at him, “I’m kidding~”

“I’m not” Baekhyun replied, although you catch the little smile at the edge of his lips that said otherwise. 

Chanyeol pouted. I’ll show them one day, jerks.

When you entered, you saw Kai had taken your word for it and changed out of his uniform into his casual clothes that you’d brought him. He was away in dreamland already. And you said you weren’t tired you shook your head at him before slowly closing the door to leave him.

“Guess he’s worn out” Baekhyun assumed with a content sigh before turning to look at you, you were rubbing your tired eyes and yawning when he said, “You must be too”

You shook your head “I told you I’m-“

“Don’t worry, you can sleep on the bed and I’ll just sit on the floor beside you” He said.

“Baekhyun, I’m-“

“Han Ji-Eun…Don’t make me have to carry you” He glared at you.

You swallowed and felt yourself turn red because you knew he wasn’t kidding.

Strangely enough, his idea worked. You could sleep on your bed with your arm out a little and Baekhyun was just there, leaning his back on the bed from the floor. D.O and Chanyeol had fallen asleep on the couch whilst watching a movie.

You thought you wouldn’t be able to get to sleep, but after letting your thoughts wonder for a couple of minutes, your fatigue got to you and you drifted into a deep sleep.

The moment Baekhyun knew you were asleep, he reached for something in his pockets.

It was the envelope you’d dropped earlier today. He opened the pre-ripped envelope and took out the papers inside with knitted eyebrows.

Debt letters. Recent ones too.

Baekhyun felt a small pang at his heart when he saw the numbers and sighed. “Why is she doing this for us…?” He whispered to himself. “I don’t get it” He glanced over to you once again. “We’re getting too attached to her”

“Is that why you’re being so harsh on her?” Kai’s voice made Baekhyun jump a feet in the air and hurriedly hid the envelope back into his pockets. Kai was standing near the couch beside Chanyeol who had his legs dangling off the sides. He didn’t look too impressed. “Do you realize how stupid that is?” He spat, although being careful not to raise his voice just in case he woke anyone up.

Baekhyun took a moment to think before replying, “We’re not staying here forever, Kai…If we’re too attached then-”

“So you think that being harsh on her would make her happier?”

“In future, yes”

“Gee, I didn’t know you could be so stupid” Kai scoffed. Baekhyun glared at him, “Kai-“

“Whatever man…but we still don’t know how long we’ll be here for…could be years…If you want to keep up the act then be my guest, just don’t drag any of us along”

“Kai, wait-“ It was too late though. Kai already teleported back into his room.

Could be years…Kai’s words echoed in his head…He wasn’t sure if he could keep it up for years when he could barely stand ignoring you for a day. What the hek is wrong with him? How can it be so hard to ignore someone when all you need to do is not talk to them?

With a heavy sigh, Baekhyun rested his head back onto the mattress behind him. His eyelids were heavy, but he didn’t want to fall asleep. There was too much to think about, too much to sort out, yet he couldn’t help but fall into a deep sleep beside you.

 

You were dreaming about EXO-K, snow and someone else you couldn’t exactly recognize when suddenly, your eyes shot open and you saw nothing but total darkness. What the hek…You rubbed your eyes, trying to adjust your vision to see in the dark. When it finally did, you realized that Suho and Sehun were back from work. Suho fell asleep on the couch next to D.O, Chanyeol must have rolled off of it because now he was lying on the floor beside Sehun, even Kai feel asleep on the floor, leaning on the couch.
A warm smile lit up on your face. A couple months ago, you would have woken up with no one. Not a single friend or family member to call your own. But look at you now.
But your smile suddenly disappeared when you clicked your desk lamp on and checked the time. 10:32 pm. “SHOOT!” You yelled, causing the odd few members to jerk awake.

“Wha-wha-what?!” Chanyeol was the first to bolt up from the ground, swing around his arms at an imaginary figure before realizing that it was only you. “Ji-Eun? Are you okay?” He asked.

“G-Guys! Wake up!” The first person you shake awake is Baekhyun; although it didn’t take much because he was already awake from your loud utterance. He rubbed his tired eyes and blinked repetitively before his vision was able to adjust properly. Once it did, he noticed the alarm on your face, “Ji-Eun, are you okay?” The concern in his voice took you aback...this was the first time you’ve seen him genuinely concerned about you.

Suho lifted his head and forced his eyes open, “What time is it?!” He urged.

“It’s ten thirty! We need to get to school!” 

 

---

*[A/N: Super bad news guys...Life gave me school again....and this time a very VERY big slot of my time needs to be dedicated to my 5 subjects. Yes. I am stupid. I decided on taking on another option- which means, more work load- BRILLIANT RIGHT?! *slaps herself* I'm sorry that i won't be able to update as much as a did, but i will still keep updating and i PROMISE the story WILL progress. I love you all. And i miss you all. *hugs you all*]