[title song: miss jackson]

Chapter 4;

You watch as Mina shakes the can of lilac spray paint briskly, scrutinizing her masterpiece carefully as she adds the finishing touches. You cross your arms, sighing, "This was not what I had in mind when I said we should lie low for a while."

Minhee just grins and you know her expression must be devious, despite half of her face being covered by the mask. "But this is part of The Plan." You can hear the capitalization in her tone.

She was right. The plan you all had come up with was to infiltrate as many EXO storehouses as possible and take them down one at a time. They say, the bigger you are the harder you fall, and you've figured out that EXO is really, really big. Still. Dismantling EXO one piece at a time is a lot easier than trying to confront them all at once. Anyways, with all the things they've stolen, you guys need payment, especially since your customers and clients are incredibly impatient.

Jessica purses her lips, "Besides, this is payback for Gyujin ajhussi."

You look away, and the tension in the atmosphere is thick. You don't like to think about it, the fact that the security guard you guys hired hadn't been some random man off the streets, it was a neighbor of Minhee's whose family owns a flower shop. Of course, he never knew your true identities, but you knew his. And it hurt a lot to know that you guys were the reason why he was dead, why the flower shop had shut down and his family had moved away, grief-stricken and unable to live in place with so many memories, in a place that couldn't do a thing about its citizen's blatant murder.

Minhee nods, solemnly, before ping her backpack. She pulls out a long stemmed white rose with the thorns still attached. There's a tag on it and when she catches you looking, she shows it to you. There's a lilac kiss mark on the tag, right above Gyujin ajhussi's flower shop logo. You blink, dumbfounded. "Are you trying to guilt them?"

Minhee shakes her head and you watch as she gently places the rose on top of where Mina had spray painted a giant pair of lilac lips. There's a long silence before she finally speaks, "You don't know what it was like. Afterwards. I want them to know what they've done. I want them to know that they are so ing screwed." Minhee's voice cracks halfway through the sentence and it's not from just sadness, it's from anger. Rage.

You take her hand, squeezing it gently, and you glance at Jessica, "Did we get everything?"

Jessica nods and the four of you head out the storehouse doors, pausing to admire your work. The place is absolutely empty, every weapon, every box of drugs, even every cord had been taken and stowed away in one of your discrete transport vehicles. Minhee had dismantled all the security cameras and Jessica had shredded the couches to tiny bits. All you left EXO with was a white rose and a giant pair of lilac lips etched across the empty floor. You grinned. Payback's a and so are you.

---

You've been ringing Byun Baekhyun's doorbell for a straight five minutes now and you have half a mind to just leave, because obviously he's ignoring you. (You know he's home because there are three other cars that you remember from yesterday morning parked in the driveway). You figure you can yell at him at school when the door swings open. It's not Baekhyun, though; it's that tanned boy with the serious face from the party.

You bite your lip, "Um. Hi. Where's Baekhyun?" You ask, trying to be as polite as possible.

He eyes you, scanning you up and down, before replying, "Who the are you?"

You glare, "Excuse me?"

He raises an eyebrow and snaps his fingers, "Wait. I remember you. You're that chick from the party who flipped some dude twice your size into the ground without a second thought and then stayed the night."

You don't know how to respond to that (because what a way to be remembered), so you lamely wave your hands and wiggle your fingers a bit, "Uh, yeah. That's me."

He leans real close and you're now absolutely positive that Baekhyun and his friends, in general, don't entirely understand the concept of Personal Space. You lean back and he chuckles, looking at you skeptically, "Where'd you learn to do that, anyway?"

You freeze up for maybe a millisecond and then you reply, "Self-defense classes."

He rolls his eyes, leaning against the doorframe (still not letting you in), "I've been to self-defense classes, sweetie, they don't teach you that."

Before you can tell him off, a voice interrupts, "Jonginnie, you weren't supposed to hassle her."

You turn your scowl on him, "Byun Baekhyun."

He rubs a hand against the nape of his neck, "Yah, don't sound so angry. I didn't even say anything yet."

"We have a project, or did you forget?" You ask, staring him down even though he's a good three inches taller than you. It's not your fault you're short.

He sighs and you find it a little weird because he's not even smirking at you or saying stupid things. He looks a little tired. You wonder what's wro--Wait. Why do you care? You don't care. "About that. I. Um. I'm really busy."

You cross your arms, "The proposal is due this Wednesday."

He looks at you in annoyance, "Can't we do this later this week?"

When you mentally check over your schedule, you realize that no, you really, really can't. You can feel your stress levels rising with each second that passes. "No. I can't."

His eyes narrow and he looks at you with much more irritation then before, "Then do it by yourself! I really can't do it right now. I'm not even supposed to be talk--" He cuts himself off quickly, settling on glaring at you.

You're stressed. You're so, so stressed. You can't do this by yourself, because you can't think. Whenever you think, your thoughts are consumed with LILAC and EXO and your three best friends and how you all are supposed to survive. Plus you have student government meetings every day this month thanks to the approaching Homecoming and Family Weekend and you have Calculus, ing Calculus. You're even stressed about seeing Jihoon in school because even that still hurt. You were hoping to get this project over with, at least, just so you'd feel like you're accomplishing something important. This is important, goddammit.

"Uh, hyung, she doesn't look like she's breathing."

Finally you look at Baekhyun (who looks quite concerned, actually) and you pout, stomping your foot hard, "We need to do this. Just one hour, okay."

The tanned boy--Jongin, probably--snickers, "Are you using aegyo?"

You glare at him, "No." Then you pause and bite your lip, looking at Jongin, questionably, "Does aegyo work?"

Baekhyun's shaking his head, furiously, "Don't you dare--"

"It doesn't! Hyung won't fall for that." Jongin interrupts, staring you down.

You smirk and then put on your most pitiful expression ever. You look up at him from beneath your eyelashes and stick your bottom lip out in a pout. "Baekhyun oppa." You drag out the 'oppa' and internally cringe at the fact that you are practically straddling the line between 'cute' and 'desperate'. "Please. I'm so busy this week and this the only time I'll be free. Please, oppa."

"Don't fall for it, hyung." Jongin warns, but you know you've won because Baekhyun is currently looking at everything but you and he won't stop ruffling his hair and sighing.

Baekhyun sighs, again, and says, "Go tell Kris hyung I'll be down in an hour."

You grin at him, "Thank you."

He glares at you, "I hate you."

Jongin glares at you, as well, "Kris is going to be pissed."

You smile at Jongin, sweetly, "It's only an hour, Jonginnie."

Jongin's glare deepens, if that's even possible, "Don't call me that. It's Kai to you."

You take that as a challenge, but before you can respond, Jongin mutters something under his breath before leaving the room, slamming the basement door shut behind him.

Baekhyun just stares at you, "One hour. That's it." And then he turns on his heels. You follow him into the kitchen, shutting the front door behind you.

---

Byun Baekhyun actually has some really good ideas. You're actually a bit stunned. You look at him after he's done talking and say, "Wow, those are actually some very good ideas."

Baekhyun ruffles his hair and smirks, "Thanks. Kyungsoo's a genius."

You roll yours eyes because of course he'd get brainstorming help from a friend. "And you're an idiot." You say, pulling his laptop closer to you and typing up the second paragraph (and editing the one he wrote). You two are taking turns writing each paragraph of the proposal, despite his annoyance for having to do actual work.

He leans back on his chair, balancing on the back two legs, and looks at you thoughtfully. "Since you're class president, you have extensive knowledge on most people at the university, right?"

You look up from the laptop and nod, "Yeah, I do. Why?"

"I was just wondering." He then props his elbows up on the counter and tilts his head, eyeing you. "Don't most people where red lipstick?"

You make a face. That's a weird question. "That's a weird question, Baekhyun. But, yeah, I guess? Sometimes people wear natural colors like pink and orange is a new fashion trend, too. Oh, and there's also purp--"

"Orange sounds really ing weird, actually." Baekhyun interrupts. "I wouldn't want to kiss a girl with orange lipstick."

You roll your eyes at him, "Sorry to burst your bubble, Baekhyun-ssi, but most girls wear makeup for reasons that don't involve boys. Believe it or not."

He groans, placing the side of his face on the counter, "Oh god. Please, don't go into any feminist rants. Chanyeol's noona does that enough already."

You flick him, lightly, on the forehead, "Apparently, you really need one."

He suddenly sits up and narrows his eyes at you. "Why aren't you calling me oppa anymore?"

"Because."

"Are you only going to call me oppa when you get desperate enough to ask me for something?" Baekhyun asks.

You think the answer is pretty obvious. You still blush a little. You weren't desperate, you were stressed. "Yes."

His face slowly breaks into a devious little smirk and you really don't like it. He leans forward shutting the laptop in front of you without breaking eye contact. "Does that mean I have to make you desperate if I want you to call me oppa?"

You're not exactly breathing properly because his face is just a centimeter away from yours. There's this dark look in his eyes and you can smell him. He smells like aftershave and mint and something else and god that stupid smirk looks so stupidly good. He's attractive, you're not going to deny that, but he's an and you are so not going there. You push him away (and you hate how a part of you is disappointed with you for doing such a thing) and you snap open the laptop. "Shut up. We need to finish this."

You probably look a bit flustered because his smirk is even bigger and you get the sudden urge to hide. “Can’t you just finish it at home?”

“No, you need to write some more.”

He makes a face, “But I already wrote the thesis and the thesis is the whole point of an essay. So, basically, I wrote the whole paper.”

“You’re such an idiot.”

“And you’re not the goody two shoes Class President everyone thinks you are.”

You can’t help but look up at him. He’s looking at you thoughtfully. You roll your eyes, but you’re a little nervous that he might figure something out. “Well, I can’t help that people see me that way.”

"No, you can't. I wonder what else you're hiding."

You turn your gaze on the laptop screen and try to school your expression into indifference. Since when was he so insightful? "I'm not hiding anything. That's ridiculous."

"Okay, sure." Suddenly his fingers are on your face and you flinch a little. His fingers are rough against your skin and you can feel them tightening a little as he turns your face gently towards his. He's forcing you to look him in the eyes. You should probably yell at him or something but the look in his eyes stops you from saying anything. He looks positively dangerous for a moment. "Tell your friend, Mina, I think, to keep out of the sketchy places downtown. It's dangerous."

You blink, dumbfounded. What is that supposed to mean? 

"Ahem."

You pull out of Baekhyun's grasp because three of his friends are currently standing by the door, grinning mockingly. Oh god. You recognize Oh Sehun and Luhan but you don't know the last boy, who's somewhat short and has a strong looking jaw.

The boy with the strong jaw is grinning at you and it kind of reminds you of the kind of smiles Jessica gives before she emptied the contents of Minhee's underwear drawer in the school parking lot that one time they had gotten into a huge fight that lasted for nearly a month. You're immediately on guard because the boy looks positively devious. "Hello, I'm Kim Jongdae. You must be Baek's...partner."

You frown because why exactly did he just pause like that? You, especially, don't miss the way Sehun giggles. You shake his hand, figuring you should clarify some things, "Yeah. I'm Lee Sooyong. Baekhyun-ssi and I are comm partners."

"Baekhyun oppa." Baekhyun interjects. You throw him a look that clearly says Never.

Jongdae is looking at Baekhyun and smirking and you watch as Baekhyun makes a rather rude gesture at Jongdae before getting out of his seat. You frown, "Where are you going? We're not done."

Sehun leans against the counter and answers, "Hyung's one hour is up."

You sigh. "Okay. Fine. You can write the conclusion when you have free time, alright?"

Baekhyun actually pouts at you. It's kind of cute. "Why do I have to write the conclusion?"

You quickly email the document to yourself and reply, without looking up at him, "Because I wrote the body paragraphs and basically rewrote the intro."

"You're terrible."

You dig through your backpack until you find a pen. You look at him, ignoring his comment, and pull his arm towards you, "Oh, shush. You complain too much."

He reluctantly lets you take his arm, "Are you going to stab me? Because there are witnesses, you know."

You roll your eyes, pulling off the pen cap with your teeth, before scribbling down your number on his forearm. "If I wanted to stab you, I would have done it sooner. Anyways, text me when you're done, okay?"

He smirks, nodding, and you roll your eyes. Baekhyun takes his laptop from you and you try to ignore the fact that Jongdae seriously looks like he's about to die from laughter. Baekhyun stands up, waiting for you to finish packing up.

Luhan is leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen entrance. "Can I ask you a question, Sooyong-ah?"

You put your arms through your backpack straps and push your chair in, wondering when exactly he was allowed to speak so informally to you. Maybe it was sometime between getting absolutely wasted in front of him and apparently wandering the party shirtless for a while. You cringe a little at the hazy memories. You look up at him, a bit uncomfortable that three (very attractive) boys are now staring at you quite seriously. You don't miss the warning look Baekhyun sends them, from beside you. They're basically towering over you. Why do you have to be so short? You tuck a strand of hair behind your hair, nervously (it's a bit of a habit you picked up from Mina). "Sure, go ahead."

"Where'd you learn to do what you did to Jihoon?" Luhan asks, his eyes glinting with a sort of seriousness you never really thought he'd possess. 

You roll your eyes. "Like I told Jonginnie," You begin defiantly, ignoring Baekhyun's snort at the fact that you're using the nickname Jongin forbade you to use, despite the fact that Jongin isn't even there. You like being spiteful, sometimes. "I took a few self-defense classes. I mean, I am a young woman living in a town with an abnormally high crime rate, in an apartment with a girl who may look absolutely kick but actually can't even harm a fly, let alone robbers or whatever. I need to know how to protect myself."

Jongdae nods, understandably, a tiny little smile playing on his lips, "True. Wouldn't want you getting kidnapped by one of those mafias that swarm the streets. What are they called? EXO? LILAC? Baek would be very upset."

You kind of want to laugh because boy is he out of the loop but you're surprised to hear Sehun snicker instead. Luhan hits the back of Sehun's head hard and Sehun pouts. Baekhyun just rolls his eyes from beside you and grabs your arm, pulling you out of the kitchen, impatiently. You hurriedly wave goodbye to a snickering Jongdae, amused Luhan, and pouty Sehun and make a face when Baekhyun practically pushes you out of his house, "Okay, okay. I'm going. Geez. You don't have to throw me out."

You notice that it's getting a little dark outside. He frowns a little, "You walked here, right? Do you want me to walk you?"

"No, I'm fine. It's not far."

He leans forward until you're forced to look at him, "You sure?"

"I can take care of myself, Byun Baekhyun." You tell him, crossing your arms.

He rolls his eyes and you frown because he's so close you can make out every eyelash. Does this boy not understand Personal Space?? He speaks quietly, "I know you can take of yourself, I just don't want you to actually have to."

You rub your forearms and tuck a strand of hair behind your head, nervously. God. Okay. That was really ing smooth, goddamn. Before you can actually respond (because that damn smug smirk really needs to go away) an angry voice from inside the voice shouts, "Baekhyun, hurry the  up. There's a problem!"

He leans back, placing his hands behind his head, casually. "Well, there's Kris. Be careful, alright."

You nod and he winks, before shutting the door in your face.

---

You walk into your apartment to the sight of about two dozen coffee cups strewn across the floor and a barely blinking Minhee typing furiously at the dining room table. You glance at Mina, "What's happening?"

Mina frowns at you, "Do you ever, like, check your phone? Or are you too busy doing dirty things in that gigantic mansion of his?"

You flick her lightly on the nose, "You know I can't check my phone around them. They're nosy little s."

Mina sighs and you can tell that she's not okay. Her hair is thrown into a messy bun and she's wearing sweats and a huge t-shirt. She just looks messy and tired and the Mina you know would never look messy and tired, even if she's just at home. At least she's wearing Gucci sweats. Otherwise you'd really have to worry.

"It's Jessica." Minhee replies, quickly, most likely because of all the caffeine she's consumed.

You instantly stand up and look between them, "What happened?" You feel hollow because you're anticipating the worst.

"She's missing. I've been looking through every goddamn camera in town. I can't find her!" Minhee exclaims, her hands tightening around the coffee cup in her hands.

You shake your head, rapidly. Your throat feels tight. No. Oh god, no.

Mina looks like she's about to cry. "She's gone. Jessica is gone."

---

a/n: cliffhanger oh no ^O^

I'm just seriously anticipating writing the parts leading up to the big reveal oh my god you don't understand. also i was gonna write my chenlay oneshot but instead i got distracted by stupid byun baekhyun okAY LIKE 

;_;

what a cutie i'm going to stop now

comment, subscribe, and most importantly enjoy :)