"Ow ow ow, stop pushing me!" Lay whispered harshly, turning his head to face Suho. Suho gave Lay a sad look and Lay elbowed him in the ribs.

Suho took in a sharp breath, wincing before he backed off of Lay and stumbled into the rest of the EXO members. He then proceeded to pout and sulk. Sehun sighed, letting the air around Suho help him regain his balance. Lay rolled his eyes, ignoring Suho’s clumsiness before he resumed his eavesdropping outside of Youngmin’s office. The others comforted Suho as they fell vulnerable to his sulking, their umma's self confidence damaged.

“Can you hear anything?” Chanyeol asked Lay excitedly, nudging him with his arm.

Baekhyun smacked Chanyeol in the head. “Be patient, will you?”

“Aish, jinja...” Chanyeol scowled, rubbing his head as if it was the most precious part of his body.

“WAIT A SEC!” Lay said suddenly.

All of the EXO members hushed in less than a second watching as Lay leaned closer to the door, so did they. However, right as they did so, the door to the office burst open. Just like dominos, each of the members fell one by one on top of each other.

“Ow!” “Ouch!” “Ugh..” “So..heavy!” “GET. OFF. OF. ME.” “Bacon, if you don’t get off of me right now, I will kill you.” “..........Is anyone hurt?”

Not only was Lay the unicorn of the group, but he was cushioned by the rest of the members so he seemed to be the least affected by the fall. He didn’t waste a beat to ask the other members if they were okay. Everyone just groaned in response before stumbling in all directions in an effort to get up.

Kris, who was standing off to the side the whole time, almost broke out into a grin as he saw all the members fall on top of each other, but held it in, clearing his throat to contain his laughter. After all, it was his job to maintain his cool as the father, wasn't it?

Suho and Baekhyun both had a coughing fit as soon as Chanyeol’s weight was lifted off of them and it took them more than a minute to recover.

“The guys I have to live with everyday..” Kyungsoo muttered under his breath as he patted down his clothes and caught his breath.

“...If you guys are done getting up...” Youngmin cleared his throat, finally gathering the boys’ attention as he stood by the door with Hyunjae. “I have an announcement to make.”

Everyone immediately shushed to hear the CEO speak. Xiumin and Chen, however, managed to keep their smiles as they secretly waved towards Hyunjae’s direction. Hyunjae gave them a brief smile and Xiumin almost squealed at the interaction.

“From today on, Hyunjae will be part of the SM family. I hope you all welcome her and make her feel at home here.” Youngmin said loudly, his voice official and somehow also demanding, as if they would be faced a consequence if they didn't abide by his words.

Hyunjae bowed 90 degrees to everyone after Youngmin’s announcement. “Please take care of me!”

There was a huge silence. The EXO members blankly stared at Hyunjae and Youngmin.

The first to break the deadening silence was Kris.

“What are you guys doing?” Kris asked sharply, again seen taking the 'leader' role of the group. “Congratulate her, she’s part of our family now.”

He gestured towards Hyunjae and locked eyes with her for a moment before looking away. He managed to murmur a quick ‘Welcome back’. Hyunjae was a bit taken back and before she could recover, the other EXO members began to celebrate.

Youngjae stopped everyone before they could lift Hyunjae up and go overboard in excitement.

"I have to go introduce Hyunjae to the new dorms so go congratulate her later. Araso?" Youngjae said sternly.

The EXO members pouted and backed away. Kris gave Youngjae a look and Youngjae smiled.

Hyung, I will take care of them so you can go off with Hyunjae. Have fun.

He watched as Kris led the other members off and dodged his spot as a flood of water dropped from the air above Kris. After avoiding the collision, Kris immediately turned to Suho.

"SUHO. IF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW." Kris raised his voice.

Suho laughed nervously before running to hide behind Tao and Tao threatened to stop time if Kris flew over. Youngmin chuckled at the sight of his boys playing around.

They just never grow up...

"Come on, Hyunjae; I'll show you to the dorms."

He led Hyunjae away, a smile on his face as he made the last eye contact with Kris before leaving.

~*~

The vibrations of TVXQ's 'Catch Me' got stronger and stronger as Hyunjae approached the familiar doors of the trainee practice rooms.

I haven’t been here in so long...I almost forgot the feeling of dancing to powerful songs like TVXQ sunbaenims!

Hyunjae stopped right in front of the practice room, hesitating to open the door. A girl that looked about her age was dancing inside, to ‘Catch Me’. Youngmin smiled as he watched Hyunjae’s feelings flicker from one thing to another: flashbacks, desire, happiness, and uneasiness. Youngmin patted her on the shoulder in reassurance.

“Go ahead. Open the door.” Youngmin coaxed. “You’re one of us now. There’s no need to feel uneasy.”

Hyunjae almost took the time to wonder how Youngmin knew how she was feeling but took it back in an instant.

I have to start watching what I think when Youngmin’s around...

Hyunjae sighed, giving Youngmin a glance before turning back and opening the door.

The music flooded her ears as the door slowly swung open, revealing one of the trainees doing a powerful dance choreography. Sweat ran down the sides of her face as she moved to the beat, pulling off some of the hardest moves that took Hyunjae about a week to learn -- which is considered pretty hard on Hyunjae’s scale based off of her previous dancing expertise. When the girl finally realized the sajangnim and Hyunjae had entered, she immediately panicked, stopped dancing, and rushed to grab the remote for the speakers. After turning the music off, she turned to Youngmin and Hyunjae, bowing 90 degrees.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Sajangnim!” She said loudly, giving him a nervous smile.

Hyunjae laughed. She’s probably not comfortable with Youngmin’s presence and the whole family concept yet.

The girl turned to Hyunjae. “You are...”

“Ah..! I forgot to introduce myself..” Hyunjae smiled sheepishly. “My name’s Hyunjae, 19 years old. I’ll be joining you here from now on. Please take care of me!”

The girl grinned. “My name’s Seungyeon. Yang Seungyeon. 18 years old.”

She held out her hand and Hyunjae shook it.

“I have a feeling we’ll be good friends!!” Seungyeon exclaimed as she let go.

She twirled around once. “I have an unni now~!”

Youngmin glanced at Hyunjae besides him and whispered. “I think you won’t be lonely here for a while..”

Hyunjae laughed. “I think so too.”

Youngmin then cleared his throat.

“Seungyeon, if you don’t mind, please show Hyunjae to the other parts of the dorm. She used to be a trainee here so much of the facility shouldn’t be a problem, but since we recently got a renovation and a new addition to the dorm building, it’d be great if you could show her around.”

Seungyeon beamed. “Of course!!!”

She grabbed Hyunjae’s hand.

“Unni, let’s go!”

Hyunjae stared at Youngmin for a couple of seconds as Seungyeon dragged her away.

Will I be okay with her?

To her relief, Youngmin nodded.

~*~

A/N:

Hello, this is Kpopchicken back with a new update! Feel free to leave comments below telling me how the story is, or just sharing your ideas; I’ll be sure to reply ;D Thanks to all the new subscribers and I hope you guys continue to support, rate, comment, and subscribe to my stories!

With love,

Author