You come to realize that truly, not a single soul knows of the fact that Lara is Luhan and Baekhyun’s birth mother.  The Kingdom doesn’t even know. 

“I know,”

“Oh,” You blink, pursing your lips.  “I expect no less from the Lady,”

She chuckles as she swivels in her chair in amusement.  “You’re only here for that?”

“Well, um,” You frown.  “Yeah,” Slumping forward, you stand up.  “It’s no wonder the two are so weird sometimes.  Not the happy weird but the sad weird.  It’s killing me back when I didn’t know why but now, it’s still killing me,” You absentmindedly wipe your face with your hand.  “I pay them too much attention,”

“You do,” The Lady smiles at you, the sides of her eyes crinkling with her age lines.  “You do,”

“Aww, that’s cute,”

You don’t need to see who it is to know who it is.  You stand up and bow politely at the Lady, smiling at her.  “What we say stays here, ma’am, I would really appreciate that,”

“Come back after lunch, dear, we have things to talk about.  Bring them with you too,”

You nod at her and leave the room, your steps accelerating.  The skirt you wear ruffles along with your movements, its light peach color brighter in the sunlight that streams through the tall windows.  The buttons of the sleeveless white blouse you wear gleams under the light.  

“What to do, hyung.  I think she likes us,”

“Shut it, Q,” You snap, turning pink.

“Oh?”

“Shut.  It.”  You start running now, away from the amused chuckle of the two guys trailing behind you.

You turn towards the building’s exit, but find the two taking over and halting your progress.  You leap with a grunt and grab the railing above the door, swinging you over their heads and going on with your escape with a laugh. 

Around and around the garden you were chased and chased, and when you couldn’t take it anymore, you enter the labirynth and focus on finding the center, your breath irregular and your lungs burning.  Having a jumbled mind, you end up at a dead end and by the time you were about to go the other way, the two stands before you, steady breathing and crossing their arms.

You crumple to your knees and cover your face.  “Stay away!”

“Why?” You hear Luhan ask.

You don’t answer, still covering your face.

“You shouldn’t have taken off your shoes, Amara,”

Before you could pull away, Baekhyun has taken hold of your ankle and had begun tickling you. 

“Stop it! Stop it!” You say through giggles.  “Cut it out!”

When they do, you pant, moving back from their faces, which are now much too close to yours to your liking. 

“I’ve never seen you blush, Amara,” Luhan muses.

Baekhyun chuckles handsomely.  “We agree that it was cute,”

The word causes the blood to rush to your face and you stand up, failing to cover your face with your arm as you look at their mischevious eyes, flustered.  “Don’t step any closer.  5 meters! 5 meters!” You shout at them, still trying to cover your face as you see them approach you.

“Another look wouldn’t hurt,” They say in unison, creeping you out.

Shrieking, you manage to slip between them and make your way out of the labirynth, closing the building doors behind you and finding maids to hold it off.  “Don’t let them in before I disappear down the corridor!”

But that doesn’t work because while still in the corridor, the maids yelp in surprise as the two boys come in through the door.  You groan and make your way up to the Lady’s office, speeding up as you see it coming closer.  You push the doors open and close them tightly behind you, meeting eyes with the Lady who has an amused look on her face. 

“At you again?” She laughs.

“Are you with them or with me?” You look around, finding a place to hind and calm yourself down. 

“You know hiding’s not gonna help you,” The Lady plays with her pen.  “And here they come,”

You move away from the door and take a scarf from the coat hanger and wrap it around your neck, sitting across the Lady as quick as possible.

“Two o’clock!” Baekhyun shouts victoriously.

“Right on time,” Luhan fist bumps his brother and the two take the seats on either side of you.  “Miss Amara is feeling a little stuffy, ma’am,” He takes an end of the scarf you’re wearing and pulls at it tauntingly.

“I’m fine,” You huff. 

“You heard her, and because she’s the team leader from now on, you’ll listen to her,” The Lady says.

“What?!”

“Aha!” You finally take off the scarf and point at the two with a triumphant grin on your face.  “Team leader.  Me.  Sidekicks.  You.  Ha!”

“I suppose you have what you want, Q? Prince?” The Lady smiles with a tilt of her head.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Luhan and Baekhyun dips their heads in bows at the Lady, and you shrink back in your seat as you are reminded of the reason for the color in your face right now.

“But truly, she is your team leader. The three of you will be assigned to the case of finding the Queen,” The Lady holds her hand up, stopping your protests.  “You three are the best we can find and she is still our Queen,”

“But—“

“No buts.  I’ll have the files sent to the room at the 4th floor, which will be where you’ll be checking in for the days you’ll be working, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” The three of you answer to her and stand up as you are dismissed.  You hang the scarf back and leave the room ahead of the two, feeling a slight nudge of deja vu as they trailed behind you.

“As long as we get to see that face of yours, Amara,” Baekhyun suddenly pops in front of your face, and you have to back away to avoid your noses from touching.

But you bump onto something behind you and look up, only to see that it’s Luhan.

You let out a frustrated groan as you bury your face in your hands.  “It was once.  Once,”

“But you blushed,” Luhan says, and you flinch at the word.  “You don’t blush very often, you know,”

“I didn’t! I, um,” You tuck a lock of hair behind your ear and snap your fingers.  “I pinked,”

“Pinked?” Baekhyun holds back his laughter.

Picking up your feet and running away again, you wail in a very unladylike way, mentally calling out for Lara’s help.

i am sO sorry but the drama has to wait juuuuuuuuust a tad bit longer hehehehe

i couldn't hold out on this chapter :>