“Are you really sure you'll be fine without us?” Dara rolled her eyes and glared at Luhan.

“For the nth time Luhan, I'm gonna be fine!” Dara said through gritted teeth.

“Are you really really sure about it?” it was Sehun's turn to ask, which made Dara more irritated than before. 'What is wrong with these people?!', Dara shouted in her mind.

Only three days had passed and the boys became a bit more close to Dara. Dara didn't mind it... at first.

[Flashback]

-Monday-

Dara woke up a little later than usual. She fixed herself first then picked up her bag before heading out of her room. When she came to the kitchen, to her surprise, all of the twelve boys were already present at the dining table.

“Good morning princess. You look beautiful today. But heck, you always look beautiful.” Kai greeted and gave Dara a wink, which made her feel disgusted for a moment.

“Good morning Dara! Come and sit here beside me so we can eat.” Xiumin patted the empty seat between him and Baekhyun. Dara only nodded and went to the only vacant seat, which was beside Xiumin and Baekhyun, feeling a bit awkward.

“Darong-ah, I made omelettes for breakfast, try one.” Baekhyun smiled from ear to ear, showing his shiny teeth, feeling proud of his home cooking. Dara looked at him with a weird expression. She furrowed her brows and was about to say something. Right when she opened , Baekhyun shove a spoonful of omelette in without warning. Dara coughed, thumping her chest; the boys panickly stood up and got a glass of water for her. Dara took it from D.O's hand and gulped the whole content of the glass.

“Dara, are you alright?” Suho asked worriedly. He wanted to rub her back to soothe her, all of them wanted to, but they can't. Dara exhaled and shot Baekhyun a sharp look. "What was that for?"

“S-sorry Darong-ah... I was just really excited to let you taste my cooking...” Baekhyun shyly confessed, slightly tugging the hem of Xiumin's sleeve. Feeling a bit sorry, Dara forgave him and let out a smile. “It’s ok. It was delicious. Help me and D.O cook next time, ok?”

“Uh… s-sure…”

-Tuesday-

School was over and Dara decided to walk around for a while.

“What? You’re not coming home with us?” Chanyeol asked, feeling a bit down. Dara nodded, “I just want to stroll around and see some shops.”

“Ok then, I’ll go with you.” Chanyeol said with a smile; Dara just stared at the giant in front of him, expressionless. “No, Yeol-ah. You go with the others, I’m going by myself.” Dara stated, which left Chanyeol no choice but to nod his head, then follow his friends outside the room.

Dara was happily walking around the streets near their school, entering some clothing stores and hat shops. She discovered that there was a park nearby too. She decided to sit on one of the empty benches and rest for a bit. It was only that time that she felt someone was watching her. She looked around the park but there was nothing.

“Long time no see, Dara.” Dara jumped and jerked her head up to the one who spoke. Her shocked face immediately turned into a blank one. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are, and I don’t want to know either. You can go now.” Dara said in a cold tone. The guy in front of her chuckled. “Come on, princess. If it’s about the past, I’m sorry, ok? I was just so devastated that you turned me down immediately without even thinking about it…”

“You left me unconscious there. You caused me to faint in public. But it doesn’t matter, my answer won’t change. Either it’s the past, present, or future, my answer is still no.” The look on the guy’s face hardened. Dara got up and started to walk away from the guy. The guy was about to grab Dara, when someone stopped him.

“Dara said no. Can’t you understand that?” a deep voice told, which made Dara to turn around. Her eyes rounded when she saw Chanyeol, holding the guy’s hand with a fierce look. What’s worse was that all of them were there, having the same look as Chanyeol has.

“You guys… followed me?” Dara’s blood began to rise. ‘I clearly told Chanyeol I’ll go by myself. Then he follows me and bring all of them with him? Unbelievable!’

“We’ll explain later princess, but right now, it’s time for you to sleep.” Dara snapped back to reality when Kai appeared in front of her. She was about to protest, but Kai held her face, making her fall into his arms. Kai carried her and laid her down to the nearest bench. “Sorry, princess.”

Kai’s eyes turned dark after that. He faced the guy which was now held by Chanyeol and Luhan with a menacing look — all of them did.

“You shouldn’t have appeared, you know?” Kai glowered, clenching his fists. “What he did is unforgivable. What should we do, Suho?” Chen asked with a cold voice. The guy trembled in fear, mentally slapping himself for his stupidity. “I don’t know Chen. I’m not a bad person after all. How about we do the same thing he did to Dara?” The boys smirked on their leader’s plan.

“Sweet dreams.”

-Wednesday-

Dara was still upset at Exo for following her yesterday. What made her more angry was the fact that Kai made her faint and they won’t tell her what happened to her ex-suitor. She doesn’t like the guy, but hell, she was worried if something happened to him — considering Exo’s terrifying aura.

“We only told him to never bother you again, no biggie.” Tao shrugged then proceeded to playing his ps3.

‘Ok, maybe I’m just overreacting.’ Dara sighed. “But you still followed me. I’m not a kid who gets lost, you know?” Dara frowned and crossed her arms across her chest, leaning back to the sofa.

“We know Dara, but we can’t help but worry. You are part of the family now, after all.” Suho explained while putting a glass of water for Dara on the table. Dara sighed in defeat, “I’ll let this pass, but don’t forget, I’m 17 years-old. Don’t treat me like a kid, arasseo?” Dara pouted like a kid; the boys chuckled at the sight. They wanted to pinch those cute cheeks of hers, but again, they can’t. “Yes ma’am.” Xiumin gave her a salute and Dara could only roll her eyes.

[End of Flashback]

It was Thursday, and their class adviser announced the upcoming project due on the second week of October — 3 weeks from now. It was the usual boys vs. girls project that was held every year for the seniors, where the two teams will have a showdown of talents. Dara didn’t mind it since she was used to performing back in her previous school. The only difference was she will now have male spectators — which was not allowed in their all girls’ school back then. There was nothing wrong…

...except for the fact that she was dealing with the 12 stubborn boys called Exo.

“We can change the rule, you know? After all, our families formed this school.” Lay was talking about how his and his friends’ parents joined together to form the finest private school in their area. Dara’s eyes widened at Lay’s suggestion.

“Yah! Don’t you dare do that. Even if your parents owns this school, it’s unfair to others if you just bend the rules for your own purpose.” Dara argued, which made the boys stare at her. It was then they realized that Dara was a just person.

“Sorry…” Lay looked down while rubbing the back of his neck. “But seriously, Dara, are you really okay with it?” Lay stared back up at Dara; Dara frowned, “You’re treating me like a kid, again! I’m 17 for cheese’s sake! SE. VEN. TEEN.” She fumed.

“Just let Dara be. She’s old enough so she can handle herself.” Kris, who was busy reading his book, finally spoke. He can’t take the noise any longer so he decided to end it. Dara looked at him with a thankful expression — someone finally took her side.

“Just don’t stay too late, I’m going to pick you up at 6 pm sharp.” He added as the corner of his lips formed a smirk; Dara gawked at him. “I’m serious, Dara.” Kris guaranteed. Dara couldn’t take it. She’s like a toddler in their eyes.

“That’s it!” Dara shouted as she angrily stood up from her seat, gaining attention from the people inside the cafeteria.

“If I’m a kid, then you’re all ugly Ahjussis!” She stomped her foot and turned her backs to them. All eyes followed Dara as she stormed out of the canteen. The boys can’t help but laugh at Dara’s tantrum.

“Ugly huh?” Tao smiled widely as he looked at each of his friend’s face. “She’s right. We’re ugly, pffttt…”

They laughed once again. It seemed like they haven’t had a good laugh since who knows when. The thought of annoying Dara wasn’t bad after all — it was surprisingly fun, to be exact. At least now, they were starting to discover new sides of Dara. When they’ve had enough, Chen straightened up and faced his friends with a smile. “Alright fellow Ahjussis, time to follow our little girl.”

All of them got out of the cafeteria and walked through the halls. Kai dialed Dara’s number and pressed call. After a few rings, it picked up, but his heart thumped rapidly when he heard a cry.

“D-Dara?! A-are you crying?! W-what’s wrong?!” the other’s heard Kai’s panicky voice and they huddled around him. They heard a sniff on the other line as Kai pressed the loud speaker — they fell anxious. “Ugh, Dara! You’re making us nervous here… What happened? Where are you?” Kai held his phone tight while trying to listen if Dara was speaking. ‘Please be alright.’

“I… sprained my ankle…” the twelve boys sighed in relief when she answered. They thought something bad happened to her. “Our little princess is very clumsy. Tell us where you are and well be right there.”

“The school gate…” Dara continued to sob over the line. Lay took Kai’s phone and placed it near his lips. “Don’t cry Dara, we’re almost there. Lay will heal you, ok? Please wait for us…”

“Darong-ah, stay strong ok? Stop crying please…” Baekhyun told over the phone.

“It hurts…”

“D-Dara, it’s only a sprain. We will treat it, ne?” Xiumin said. They all felt like their hearts were being torn into pieces. Was it because this was the first time they heard her cry like that? Or was it the fact that there’s something worse than a sprain?

“DARA!” they all ran towards Dara, who was lying on the road, outside their school gate. “Damn it! Where are the guards in this school?! They should’ve spotted her, right?” Kris roared as he turned around only to see no one was guarding the school gate.

“Fire all of them and hire a new set of guards.” Kris ordered and Suho nodded.

“You liar… You said it was a sprain…” Xiumin Dara’s sleeping face. They all knew that Dara has been slapped repeatedly, considering how swollen her cheeks were. Her neat, pony-tailed, hair before, looked like it was hit by a hurricane. Fresh tears were rolling off of Dara’s cheeks. Sehun, who was beside Xiumin, wiped them and carried Dara.

“Kid or not, we’ll never let you out of our sight again, Dara.” Sehun muttered.

“Pray that we won’t find you, whoever you are. Once we do, we’ll let you taste your own medicine.” Tao swore under his breath.

“Grand…” Dara barely whispered. The boys stood closer to Dara and listened to what she’s going to say next. Whoever she mentions must be the one who hurt her.

“…pa…”

boing boing o,o~

I hope the update didn't bore you :o

[not proofread]