You arrived home and told the boys to go to bed early. It was 10:45.

"Noona, what will you do about Chinji noona?" Tao whined.

"I'll just give her my special tea. It'll make her sober up faster. Don't worry and just go to bed, we have to leave early in the morning. Be sure you're all packed and ready to go."

"Mhmm, we'll see you tomorrow." Luhan came up to you and gave you a quick hug before trudging up the stairs.

You had Chinji's arm around your shoulder as you dragged her limp body to one of the chairs on the counter. You brewed your famous White Peach Wuyi Oolong Tea before sitting down across of her. She was practically sober, but she was still a little confused after she knocked out on the passenger seat.

"What.... happened?" She mumbled squinting her eyes

"You drank too much punch. And there was alcohol in it."

"Dang... what did I say this time?" She said miserably.

"Well you basically broke up with Henry--"

"What?!" 

"But! I saved your . I told him you didn't know what you were saying."

"Thank you." She heaved a sigh of relief.

"What exactly happened before you decided to drink so much? I know you knew there was alcohol in it. If Ryeowook and Eunhyuk were there, then Henry would be there too."

She lowered her head, obviously stating that she was aware of the contents in the drink.

"He called me beautiful..." She said absent-mindedly.

You smirked to yourself. "Who?"

"Luhan..."

Chinji had a weak spot for the word 'beautiful'. Why? Kevin used to call her that. Her first love. And as far as you knew, none of the guys she had ever gone out with, had ever called her beautiful. Which would make Luhan only the 2nd person to ever call her beautiful. It was always just 'pretty' and 'cute'. But beautiful. Never.

"Then what happened?" You placed your chin in the palm of your hand with your elbow propped up on the counter.

"I don't know exactly, but just that word, it made me want to break up with Henry right at that very moment, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I only wanted to, but I didn't think I would actually do it. I guess I figured if I was drunk, it would make it easier for me." She shrugged while you nodded along.

"Good thing I didn't say anything else." She heaved another sigh.

You turned ice cold, the room feeling like it dropped 30 degrees, you somewhat clenched your teeth before finally facing her.

"But you did say something else."

"What?"

Xiumin had no intention of going to bed. He had a feeling you and Chinji were going to talk and he wanted to find out what that suspicious feeling in his gut was. He hid behind the wall of the kitchen, with the darkness as his protection. He made it in time to hear your conversation about Luhan, and he smirked.

Guess I'll be helping deer boy from now on.

"But you did say something else." This was it.

Xiumin inched closer to the archway leading to the kitchen.

"What?"

"You practically said everything about my arm surgery!" You whispered through gritted teeth. 

"I... I did?" Chinji squealed in horror.

"You almost did. I had to practically suffocate you to make you stop."

'I'm sorry..." She lowered her head.

"Yeah, well it's okay now, I'm pretty sure none of them caught on."

"But, what about your arm surgery? It's supposed to be tomorrow."

"Yeah I know, but I rescheduled it already."

"To when?"

"Well, they said if I wanted to reschedule, then my arm probably isn't hurt that badly, and it's true, it doesn't really hurt that much anymore. It's only a minor injury..."

"Minor Injury?!? I don't think getting into a car crash and having glass embedded into your arm, is very minor! You collapsed when we went to Everland from exhaustion and over exerting your arm! It hasn't healed properly yet!"

"Yah, can you quiet down please? They might hear us." You said calmly, you were too tired to argue.

"But—"

"No buts. They told me to come back if it hurts, and get the surgery then, and right now, it doesn't hurt, so don't worry about it."

"Promise me you'll tell me if it ever starts to hurt again. Okay?"

"Promise, now can we go and pack?"

"Mmm." Chinji looked at you with hesitation, not believing your words. You noticed her look, and answered, "I said, I promise! Seriously. I mean it."

"Araso, let's go."

Xiumin's breath hitched as he heard your footsteps coming towards him. He booked his way up the stairs and into his room. Chen was packing up his clothes for the trip when Xiumin came into the room panting, a few seconds later, you knocked on the door and entered.

"Hey, guys—" You were taken aback when you saw Xiumin panting furiously.

"What did you do? Run a marathon in your room?" You gave him a weird look while he sheepishly smiled. You turned to Chen and he simply shrugged.

"Don't ask me, he came in like a second before you." Chen continued on packing.

"Where did you go?"

"The bathroom!!" Xiumin answered a little too quickly.

"Jeez, don't have to freak out on me!" You shook you head, "Anyways, you guys need to pack extra clothes cause we're going to Jeju after Daegu. We go to Incheon next Saturday and flying out from there." You said sluggishly, your eyes practically closing.

"Yejin-ah, go get some sleep. You look really tired." Chen said worriedly.

"Mmm, thanks." You bid the two goodnight and strode off to Tao and Lay's room and informed them of the new set of plans. You expected Chinji to tell Luhan, so you headed to your room. Kris was still packing as you headed to the bathroom to wash up. After you finished washing up you headed straight for bed, too exhausted to even have a conversation with Kris.

"Kris, just pack extra clothes, we're going.. to Jeju~" Your voice trailed off as Kris slowly peered over at you to see you fast asleep.

"She must've been really tired." He chuckled to himself before tucking you in properly and crawling into bed himself.

The next day, you woke up at around 6:30 am, bright and early. You got up feeling energized and carefree. It was winter vacation. Finally.

Your flight was at 8:00. You all finished packing your last minute items and ate a quick breakfast before taking the subway to Incheon. An hour later, you all got your boarding passes, and headed for the plane. You found your seat, which was right beside Lay. In front of you, Kris and Chen, and behind you, Luhan and Chinji. On your left was Xiumin and Tao. You couldn't help but notice Xiumin always trying to help you all morning, he had been giving you worried looks since you woke up, but you thought nothing of it. The plane took off and you decided to take another nap. It was uncomfortable, with all the screaming babies crying, but suddenly, you felt something being placed in your ear, as soft soothing music played. You looked up at Lay who simply smiled and stuck the other earphone into his ear and dozed off. Soon enough, you joined him in dreamland.

"We will be landing in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in 5 minutes, please get ready to leave the plane and do not forget your belongings and have a nice stay here in China. We hope you had a wonderful flight with us this morning. See you soon!"

The airplane intercom began to speak and repeated the same message 3 times in English, Korean, and Mandarin. You understood them all.

"Yejin-ah, let's go." Lay lightly nudged you as your eyes fluttered open.

"Mhmm..." You quickly gathered your items and headed out of the plane, you all received your luggage and waited by the arrival gates.

"From here on out.. NO KOREAN WHATSOEVER. Chinji's mom is Korean, but her dad doesn't understand a single word. He doesn't like it when people speak a different language he can't understand. Got it?"

"Easy."

"No problem."

The boys all nodded.

"Good."

Luhan had helped Chinji with her bags and stayed with her the entire time. You observed his behavior from afar and noticed quite a difference in the way he approached Chinji. You felt a rush of pride in him.

I need to stop looking like a weakling around her or else she'll never take me seriously. I need to man up to this or I won't even have a chance, He promised himself.

He had finally decided to act on his feelings. He wasn't sure where they came from. He had only met her recently and it felt like love at first sight. This wasn't some childish crush to him anymore, he saw what he wanted, and he was going to have it one way or another. There just seemed to be something about Chinji that drew her to him, and he wasn't going  anywhere. He had to earn Chinji's trust and above all else, find a way to make her, his.

A second later, you heard a loud screech quickly making it's way to your direction from behind you.

"Jiejie!!!!!!!" You turned around to find Chinji on the ground with a familiar body sprawled out on top of her.

"Xiao...Li..." Chinji groaned. "Get off me!!!!"

"Xiaoli! Get off of your sister!" A lady called out from the distance.

*Sister?* The boys thought.

You helped remove Xiaoli off of Chinji as she dusted herself off.

"Unnie!" Xiaoli screamed as she ran towards you, giving you a huge bear hug.

"Yah, no Korean." You whispered in Mandarin.

"It's okay, dad can't punish me." She shrugged, speaking the same language."Hey, who are the hotties?" She nudged you, motioning towards the 6 boys standing idly around without a care in the world, other than this new presence before them, whom they had never met before. They stood there awkwardly, upon her statement.

"They're my friends."

"Mhmm... what's with fluffy hair and his googly eyes to Jie?" You looked in the direction she was turned to, and saw Luhan staring at Chinji as she brushed off her clothes.

You smirked, "You'll help me right?" You winked at her. She immediately understood but scowled..."Eh, okay." She stepped forward towards the boys and bowed.

"Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Yuji. Well at least that's my Korean name. I'm currently 17 and I'm a senior in high school right now. My Chinese name is Xiaoli, but you can call me Li for short." She winked at Kris who suddenly looked uncomfortable. You cupped your hand over your mouth while discretely laughing. Kris glared at you which made you burst into another set of giggles.

"I suggest the 6 of you finish your Korean introductions now before their dad gets here."

"Annyeong, my name is Xiumin!" He puffed his cheeks with a cheeky smile.

"You'll be... Baozi from now on!" Yuji proclaimed.

"Mmm, I like it!" Xiumin gave her a thumbs up.

"Annyeong, I'm Chen!" He beamed at her. She gave him an equally enthusiastic smile.

"My name is Yixing, but you can call me Lay..." He sheepishly smiled.

"Lay? Interesting.." She nodded, "And you are?" She eagerly made her way towards Kris while eyeing him up and down.

"I'm... Kris... Just call me... Kris."

"Mhmm." She moved up to Tao, and simply blinked at him boredly.

"You aren't scared of me?" Tao questioned. She shook her head.

"Wow, a lot of people are usually scared of me at first glance... You're one of the first people who weren't." Tao beamed.

"One of? Who else?"

"Your sister." Tao giggled, "Anyways, I'm EXO-M's maknae, Tao!"

"EXO-M? My friends always talk about you guys, but I've never heard of you before." She spoke bluntly. The six boys' heads sunk...

Ouch... That must've hurt. You thought.

"Anyways, who are you?" She asked Luhan bitterly.

"I'm Luhan." He smiled cutely.

"Mhmm... anyways, let's go home!"

By the time they were done introducing themselves. Chinji's mom and dad had arrived.

Chinji's mom was slender and a bit short, she had a motherly look to her, but also looked professional. She wore a floral gown with a sun hat and sunglasses. Her dad had a slight belly, with a somewhat stern look to him. He was slightly taller, and was dressed in a simple button up shirt and jeans.

"Hi Má, Bá." You bowed politely, "How have you been?" You smiled at the couple who seemed enthusiastic to see you.

"We've been good, how about you?" Chinji's mom greeted.

"Great!"

"Has Xiaofei been doing good in her studies? Has she been a pain to you? Is she getting in trouble a lot?" Her mom bombarded you with questions.

Her Chinese name is Xiaofei. The boys noted.

"She's been doing well, and don't worry, I have her under control." You chuckled, "But if you don't mind... I brought a few friends along..."

"Oh yes, I heard from your mother that you would be bringing friends along, but a few?" Her mom eyed the 6 boys.

"Mhmm, uhm, this is Xiumin, Chen, Yixing, Wufan, Zitao, and Luhan."

"6 boys... 3 girls... alright, let's go!" Her dad grabbed Chinji's bags and began to walk away, while the boys stood there dumbfounded.

"He doesn't mind 6 boys staying in the same house with 3 girls? Isn't he worried at all?" Kris gaped.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." You assured them, chuckling to yourself.

You all got into their car and drove out to their house... well mansion to be exact. Once you stopped in front of their mansion and got out of the car, the boys gasped at its size.

"There is no way you live here." Tao gaped at Chinji.

"Yeah... I do."

Her house was about 2 or 3 times the size of your own house in Seoul. 

"Told you it wouldn't be a problem, from now on, I doubt you'll see us around the house very often. It's kinda hard with how many corridors and hallways they have."

Chinji's dad approached the nine of you and cleared his throat.

"Guys in the west wing, girls in the east wing."

The boys blinked at him, not understanding. He sighed.

"Guys on the left, girls on the right." He simplified.

"Ohh, alright. Got it." They all nodded and headed in.

"Whoa... it's even prettier inside..." Lay gulped.

"Just go get dressed and head to the kitchen. Bá, can you show them their rooms?" Chinji spoke softly.

"Of course, sweetie pie."

"Dad.. I'm not 10 anymore." Chinji whined.

Her dad laughed heartily.

"No... she's 5." Yuji whispered under her breath. Chinji quickly whacked her on the head.

"I heard that!"

"Sorry!" Yuji ran away up the stairs and out of sight with Chinji chasing after her.

"Aww... it's staring to feel like home again." Chinji's mom chuckled, "I'll come with you to bring Chinji's luggage to her room."

As for the boys, Chinji's dad led them through a maze of hallways and they finally reached their rooms. Once they did, Chinji's dad abruptly turned around and eyed the boys.

"Which one of you like my daughter?" It got awkward as eyes turned to Luhan.

"So it's you." He squinted at Luhan, "I'll be watching you closely, but so far, I like the 6 of you." His expression and tone softened into a more light-hearted mood.

"You are the first ones who didn't complain after walking for 5 minutes just to get to your rooms."

"Oh it's no problem Mr..."

"Uy. You can call my Mr. Uy."

"Yes Mr. Uy, but how exactly do we get back?" Tao asked worriedly.

Mr. Uy laughed his regular low grumble.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." He came closer to them, "I actually took you the long way just as a test, but there's a much quicker way to get to the kitchen. If you keep going down the hall, there will be a bookshelf at the end of it. Just open the book case and behind it is a secret passage. You can follow it and it'll take you straight to the kitchen. Probably only take you 1 minute tops!" He gave them a thumbs up before bidding goodbye.

"Mr. Uy seems nice." They entered their rooms, while Luhan began to worry.

I have to prove myself to her dad, and maybe he'll let me... aish what am I thinking?!

Kris watched Luhan have an inner battle with himself and laughed.

"Bro, what are you thinking?" He said, still laughing. Luhan was about to answer but Kris cut him off.

"Let me guess, you're thinking that you have to prove yourself , but you only met her 3 weeks ago and yet you like her this much."

"No, but that's what i was going to think. Dang man, stop reading my mind, it's creepy..."

"Ha! But seriously, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know... but I want to get to know her more." He smiled to himself.

"Alright lover boy, you go do that while I'm gunna change and get some dinner, I'm starving." The two of them got changed and met up with the rest of the boys. They slowly made their way through the secret passage way and found themselves in a fridge full of meat produce.

"Dang, It's cold in here." Tao shivered.

They opened the door to the fridge and found themselves in a kitchen fit for a king. It was practically the size of another house in itself and took up about half of the house itself. The kitchen seemed to be separated into two different kitchens, contaiing at least 2 of every kitchen appliance ever made, one for each kitchen. One side was painted pure white, and the other, blue.

"Whoa." Lay gaped.

"Guys, come one, just eat dinner and go to bed, we have a long day tomorrow." Chinji called out to them.

The boys gathered around the grand table.

"You boys will be eating dinner a little differently tonight..." Mr. Uy announced.

"Differently?" The boys pondered.

"Finally, a proper competition! It's been boring when it's only me and mom!" Yuji came hopping in.

"Competition? I'm so confused..." Chen scratched his head.

"Well first off, I'm from a family of food." Chinji explained. "My mom's a world famous chef, or something like that, and my dad--"

"I own all the restaurants that sell her food." He smiled, winking at Chinji's mom.

"Now you're just flirting." She laughed.

"Ahem, well anyways... We usually take turns making dinner, but on Saturday nights, we compete. You get 3 different appetizers, entrees, and desserts. You decide at the end who's the winner, that's our score board." She pointed to a chalkboard on the wall with a bunch of tick marks. The numbers on Yuji and Mrs. Uy's side had a somewhat equal amount of tallys compared to Chinji who hadn't been competing in quite some time.

"And I'm sure you're all wondering about the kitchen... well the blue kitchen is Li's and the white kitchen is clearly mine." Chinji continued.

"What about your mom?" Xiumin gaped in wonder.

"She has a separate kitchen in the backyard."

"Where? I don't see one."

"Do you see that house looking building? That's my mom's kitchen."

"WHAAAT?!?" They all shrieked.

"Yup."

"I thought that was your neighbors house..." Tao's eyes bulged.

"Nope."

"Wow..." They all stared in awe.

"Since you all came out of the meat fridge, I'm guessing my dad showed you the secret passage ways, so now would be a good time to tell you. There are 4 of them in the house, one for each of us leading to our favorite pantry. My dad's favorite food is meat, so his leads to the meat fridge. My mom's leads to the vegetable fridge. Mine leads to the dessert cabinet." She smiled brightly. "And Li's leads to the junk food." She laughed while Yuji simply beamed in pride.

"You guys all have secret passage ways?!" Tao gasped.

"Well my dad had a creative mind when designing this house."

"Wah, Mr. Uy, you designed this house?!" Xiumin blinked, with wide eyes.

"Well of course! What house has 7 different pantries and two different kitchens?" Mr. Uy laughed with a low grumbling voice, "Well then, let's begin.!" He boomed.

Soon after, Chinji, Yuji, and Mrs. Uy came out with three different trays. They all presented fancy, 5 star food on to the table while all of the boys started to drool.

"Boys, stop drooling over the food, it's impolite." You scolded sternly with caution.

All the boys turned rigid and suddenly went serious.

"Bwahahahaha!" You burst into laughter along with Chinji's family. The boys blinked in surprise.

"Oh my, you don't have to be so serious because of our profession! Just think of us as your parents too! We don't mind you being informal around us!." Chinji's mom declared. The boys loosened up a bit as the food was passed around. They still couldn't believe this was home cooked food, just looking at it seemed like they were in a fine-dining restaurant. As soon as they took their first bite, it was like paradise. Every flavor distinct in their mouth.

"I have never... in my life, tasted food this amazing." Xiumin declared.

"Thank you!" Mrs. Uy smiled in appreciation.

After an exciting and very delicious dinner. Mr. Uy finally spoke, "Well boys, "I'll give you the honor of presenting the winners for tonights dinner."

He handed a piece of chalk to them and nodded towards the chalkboard with the scores.

The boys huddled together and began to mumble inaudibly. They moved to the chalkboard and made 3 tally marks. They turned around to reveal the winners.

"WHAT?!" Chinji, Yuji, and Mrs. Uy chimed in surprise, "A three-way tie?!?"

"Mhmm... I loved Li's appetizer." Xiumin began.

"Well, I specialize in small portions, cause that's what snacks and junk food are, right?" Li shrugged.

"And, Mrs. Uy had and amazing entree."

"It's my specialty after all. You can't be a famous cook with an appetizer or a dessert." She scoffed speaking with a haughty voice, but she gave up the act and quickly giggled afterwards.

"So that's what it feels like to be Madam Beauregard." She rolled her eyes.

"Hmm? Who's that?" Tao blinked.

Xiumin gasped, "She's another world famous chef, except she's French and Mrs. Uy had beaten her in every competition they have ever competed in." Xiumin announced proudly.

"Wow, Xiumin, I'm impressed, You seem to know a lot about me." Mrs. Uy nodded.

"Ahh, yeah, I'm actually a huge fan."

Aww, well thank you, but the reason she never wins, is becase of her bitter attitude all the time. You can't cook great food with that kind of attitude. But anyways, let's continue with the winners?"

"Of course! Well, I like Chinji's.. Ahh I mean Xiaofei..."

"You can just call me Fei." Chinji whispered.

"Oh well, I like your dessert, well because I'm guessing you specialize in that too!"

"Yup!"

"Well, tonight's been fun, but we have a long day tomorrow, so better rest up!" Mr. Uy clapped and got up. Everyone followed except for you and Yuji.

"Unnie, I can speak in Korean now right?" Yuji nudged eagerly, "Appa isn't here!"

"Araso, you can speak."

"Finally! Ugh! I feel like I'm not even Korean anymore... Do you know how long it's been since I've said 'annyeong' or anything Korean?!" She whined. You laughed at her childish behavior. She kind of reminded you of Tao.

"Yah, you're 17! Stop acting like a 10-year-old."

"Aish, whatever! But... When do I get to see Yemin again?! I haven't seen her in almost 2 years! All we do is video chat and it's not the same as seeing her in person!"

"Ehh, I forgot you were friends with my sister." You rolled your eyes sarcasstically.

"Well guess what? I haven't seen her in 2 years either, so were on the same page here."

"But, unnie, do you know what tomorrow is?" She asked cutely.

"Hmm... nope. Is it a special day?" You asked absolutely clueless. She simply huffed and got out of her seat, her expression bitter.

"Aish, never mind." She began to walk away when she glanced back at you, still looking sour. She sighed and continued on.

"Yah, Yuji-ah, what? Did I do something wrong?!"

You realized you were now just talking to yourself. You took out your calendar and checked the date.

December 16? What's so special about December 16?...

It took you quite some time to figure it out, but suddenly, you felt guilty for forgetting.

"It's her birthday..." You grimaced as you headed back to your room.

____________________________________________________________________

A/N:

I HOPE ALL OF YOU ARE DOING ALRIGHT.! This is a really long chapter I know xD HAHA. But I still hope you all like it!

How do you like Yuji/Xiaoli?(: 

Comment and let me know what you think of the story so far, I actually like reading all the stuff you guys like to say(:

But I'm thinking of doing a 10 chapter countdown to Baekhyun's return starting from chapter 30. So tell me if you guys want me to do that. Cause I see that a lot of you want him to come back soon! But don't think of it like I'm changing the story, because I was going to make him come back around chapter 40, so it doesn't really matter. I was just wondering if you wanted a countdown to it. Make it more exciting you know?

HAHA, well let me know!

LOVE YOU GUYS! THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING, I APPRECIATE IT!<3

PLEASE DON'T PLAGIARIZE!! ><