After the chaos at the beach, both Tao and Nana were brought to the hospital, though both had been given a clean bill of health.  The event had seemed to cement their relationship, as they never wanted to be away from each other for very long, and the others quietly accepted it.  Liz and Cat eagerly invited Nana to move into their apartment with them, which Mr. President had quickly approved and set in motion.  This meant the boys were often at their dorm, and more security had been delegated to watch their movements. 

Tao and Nana rarely spent nights apart in the beginning, both of them wrapped wordlessly in each other’s arms.  After the shock wore off however, Tao did begin making his way back to his dorm at night, and Nana began to laugh freely again.  Cat and Liz were tiptoeing around the subject, and were going out of their way to encourage her to laugh and be silly.  Cat spent hours with her designing makeup for upcoming performances and music videos, while Liz taught her how to cook, despite it often ending up in take out.

“I’m sorry I’m not being much fun lately, guys.”  Nana murmured one day, curled up on the couch and staring at her phone.  “I guess it just really shook me up, what happened.”  Shivering involuntarily she stood up and walked to the glass door to their patio and shutting it.  The summer was quickly leaving, and a cool, crisp scent was now filling the air.

“Honey it’s completely understandable.  No one’s blaming you.”   Cat murmured warmly, smiling up at the girl as she sat curled up on a cushion in the far corner, sketching aimlessly on her sketchbook.  “We’re not mad at you in the slightest.”

Nana shrugged and sighed, putting a faint smile on her face.  “I just hate how helpless I felt…”

“Then ask Tao-ah to train you!  I’m sure he would.”  Liz chirped from the kitchen, curled up on a stool and munching on some toast.  “Oh!  By the way, that weirdly reminds me.  Mr. President said he has a surprise for us this afternoon, and to look presentable.  I don’t know what’s going on, though…”  Shrugging, she stood and stretched, groaning as her back and hips popped.

Cat grimaced, sticking her tongue out at her sister.  “You’re gross.”

“Hnng… Don’t complain.  It feels so good!”  She groaned as she walked toward the bedrooms.  “I’m going to take a shower.  You guys probably should get cleaned up too.  We’ll go visit the guys before we meet Mr. President in his office.” 

“I’ll do your makeup if you want.”  Cat called from the living room.  Liz waved her hand over her head as she walked into her room, closing the door behind her.

A grin burst over her face once the door was shut.  She hadn’t been entirely truthful to the others; she knew what was going on, and was nearly bursting at the seams with excitement.  Quickly she showered, leaving her face bare for her sister.

For clothes she chose a white lace top with a black collar, and a black skirt.  Chunky black heels, spike-like earrings and black sunglasses completed the look, and she grabbed a blazer over her arm in case of chill.  Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and she grinned in the mirror, turning around to look at all angles.   Nodding, she walked into her sister’s room, seeing that Cat had already changed and looked quite casually cute.  “Oh!  That’s a nice look for you.”

LIZ

“You think?”  Cat demurred, looking down at herself.  She had chosen distressed jeans, a white button-up t-shirt under a black vest, black pumps and a white quilted bag.   The bracelet from Sehun gleamed on her wrist to complete the look.   Her hair was also pulled up in a high ponytail, and she wore a warm brown smoky eye and pale pink lip.  A black leather peplum jacket was draped on the chair by her purse.  “Well thank you.  I did borrow your shoes, though.”

CAT

“I knew I recognized those!!  You little thief.  You’re lucky I love you.”  Liz teased, sitting down at her makeup table.  “I already moisturized, just so you know.”

“Okay good.  I’ll just do your basic look; yea?  That should suffice.”  Nodding, she filled out her brows to a dramatic arch, and then added a thick dark cat eye, emphasizing the natural tilt of her eye.  “Tsk… I’m jealous of your coloring.  I’m so pale…”  She murmured, frowning slightly.  “You got mom’s coloring, while I got dad’s… Not fair!”

“Well you got mom’s eyes and figure!   That should be worth something!”  Liz teased, pouting her lip as she applied a pale pink gloss.  “And her talent with makeup.  I certainly didn’t get that.”

Chuckling Cat shrugged, capping the gloss and throwing it back into the drawer.  “That’s true.  Oh, Nana’s still getting ready.  She should be ready to go soon I bet.” 

 Nana emerged, wearing a much more relaxed outfit than the other two. Dark skinny jeans, a loose fitting teal sweater that was cinched at the waist showing off part of her hip tattoo, black patent leather heels and a fedora completed her look. Sparkling silver jewelry glimmered at her ears, and a butterfly ring rested on her hand. "How do I look?"

NANA

"You look great Nana-ah!" Liz clapped her hands and nodded, slipping her jacket over her arm. "Shall we go visit the boys?"

The girls chatted quietly as they walked down the hall to the elevator, eventually arriving at the door to the guys’ dorm.  A loud ruckus could be heard behind the door, and they rolled their eyes, pushing open the door.  Apparently there had been a vicious pillow and nerf fight as feathers and darts were everywhere, and the couches were put to opposite ends of the room, the two groups members crammed behind them as they tried to stay behind cover.

“Intruders!”  Xiumin cried, and ran up, grabbing Cat’s arm and dragging her behind the couch, crowing proudly.  “I have taken your woman hostage, Sehun!  What are you going to do about it?!” 

Kris had already snatched up Liz and pulled her behind the couch as well, unable to stop from laughing as she just stared at him with a puzzled expression, picking feathers from his hair.  “And I have yours too, Chanyeol!”

“TRAITORS!”  The guys cried in unison, peeking around the opposite couch and yelping as darts flew around the room. 

Unable to help herself, Nana dove forward and grabbed an abandoned gun, hiding behind EXO-K’s couch, laughing heartily for the first time in days.  “I’ll rescue you, girls!!”  

Tao’s head popped up, a mocked hurt expression on his face.  “You abandoned me, Nana-ah!?”

Nana paused, staring at him with a blank look for a few moments.  “Tao-ah… I-uhm…  You shouldn’t stick your head up in combat.”  She grinned and pulled the trigger, shooting a dart straight into his forehead. 

“I’M HIT!”  He cried as he fell back dramatically, and fell back to the ground as a plume of feathers exploded up beneath him.

Nana laughed again, rolling her eyes at his dramatics. "Drama Queen!" She called, chuckling as he popped up again, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead. "Do you want round two?" She smirked, raising her eyebrow at him and laughing as he darted back behind the couch.

"Yeollie-ahhh!!!" Liz called, laughing as Kris tackled her and tried to cover . "Help me!!!"

Chanyeol popped up over the couch, feathers sticking every which way out of his curly mop of hair. "I'm coming Lizzy!!!!" He roared, diving over the couch and army crawling toward the other one. Nerf darts fell around him, and he dug around in the feathers, finding them and throwing them back as if they're grenades.

"Myyy hero..." She chuckled as he rolled behind the couch, grabbing her hand. "What a valiant man."

"That's what I do, m'lady!" He grinned and tugged her from Kris, shooting him in the chest with a nerf dart as he did so.

"LOOK OUT!" Cat yelled, seeing EXO-M pointing his nerf guns at them. With a twist she grabbed the gun from the fallen Tao, and shot Luhan and Xiumin, dodging a shot from Chen and chuckled. "Sehun!! You're not doing very good at this whole rescuing thing here!"

"I'm not am, am I?" His husky voice grumbled in her ear, and his arms encircled his waist, scooping her up and running back to EXO-K's couch, tossing her behind it then leaning over her, smirking. "Now let me check for wounds, and for your breath." He grinned and leaned forward, pressing his mouth to hers while his hands roved up her waist.

After a moment she pulled away, breathlessly staring at him. "Aishh... Sehun, the guys are watching. And you need to behave; I have a meeting with Mr. President."

"Oh? What's going on?" He murmured, kissing down her neck lazily, causing her to whimper quietly.

"I don't knowwww... Liz just said we did, and to dress nicely." She whimpered and squirmed as his teeth grazed her jawline, nipping at the skin. "Now stop thaaaat."

He leaned back and grinned, smiling happily. "Fiiiine. Go to your meeting." He chuckled and kissed her nose, waving toward the door. "Just know that I'll be waiting for you when you get home." He whispered huskily, winking at her.

Swallowing hard she nodded and stood, holding her hands up in surrender. "Guys! Can I have the girls? We have a meeting to get to."

Liz popped up from behind the other end of the cushion, breathless and red faced, Chanyeol soon following with a lazy grin and mussed hair. Running her hand through her ponytail she chuckled quietly and nodded, standing.

Nana chuckled as she leaned against the couch. "Are you sure you can peel yourself away from Sehun?"

"At least I didn't shoot him in the forehead, you goon." Cat chuckled, smirking and walking toward the door. "Let's go!"

Together the girls left the dorm and made their way to the President's office. Nervously Liz knocked, and heard Mr. President's voice bidding them enter. "Ah, girls. Good afternoon. Thank you for coming so quickly. I have some people I want you to meet."

The girls, who were up to that point picking feathers from their clothes, looked up. A ragged gasp ripped through Liz, and she covered with her hand as she saw the men in front of her. "I-It's... it's SHINee!!"