"KYAAAAAA!" You shriek as loudly and girlishly as you can.

The twelve boys whip their heads in your direction. One particular face, you see, goes quickly from shocked to pleasantly surprised and finally to amused. Some are confused. Most are plain terrified.

You bounce up and down excitedly. "OPPA-DEUL, SARANGHAE!"

"I KNEW IT, GODDAMNIT LUHAN I KNEW IT!" Xiumin yells accusingly at Luhan, bolting up. "If she steals Baek's underwear again-"

You let out another ear-piercing shriek and sprint towards someone. He lets out a small smile as the others stand frozen.

"KRIS OPPA! KYAAA~" You tackle him in a hug so that the two of you fall on a couch lengthwise. He grunts as your weight lands on him. The damn giant is too tall to fit. Though his head is safely on the couch cushion, his legs stick past the armrest.

The others swarm you and try to pull you off, panicking.

"DUIZHANG!"

"KRIS!"

"GET OFF HIM!"

You don't budge, gripping Kris' arms, but you do stop shrieking and laugh at the look on his face. "Surprised?"

Not understanding, the others continue to try and remove you.

"That you knew? Not really. That you're here? Yes," he admits. You grin.

"Did I do well?"

"Too well. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea. Can you get off now? I've lost all feeling in my feet."

"I don't think I have to," you laugh as two of the others finally lift you bodily. To their surprise, you don't struggle as they carry you to the door by your hands and feet, clearly meaning to kick you out. "Yah, 吳亦凡, do something," you call back to Kris, who has swung his feet down.

He chuckles and complies. "Kai, Xiumin, put her down. She's a friend."

Joonmyeon and Luhan breathe sighs of relief, then frown slightly in confusion. However, the other nine have different reactions. Tao leaves the group to stand closely behind Kris, eyeing you warily. Lay just observes quietly, still as a JPG.

"She attacked you, Kris!" Kai exclaims incredulously.

"She followed Luhan home!"

"Xiumin hyung, how many times do I have to tell you that's not true?" Luhan throws his hands in the air exasperatedly.

"Guys, she was just playing a joke, don't take it so seriously," Kris rolls his eyes.

"You told her where our dorm is?" A short boy with large eyes asks, shocked.

"No, I have no idea how she got here."

 "She followed Luhan home!"

"Xiumin hyung, seriously!"

"Goddamnit," Kris groans. He flaps his hand at you, finally admitting: "She's the Jewel who messaged me and made it onto the news."

You lift your head slightly. "I would wave but that's kind of not possible right now."

"I thought you said you didn't know her!"

"I didn't want her to find out, but it's too late anyway."

"Oh." They set you down.

You stumble a few steps. Your legs have gone numb. "Holy ," you mumble as you feel them give out. "Kevin-"

"Got you," he smiles, holding you up. "You alright, 寶貝?"

The Chinese members look completely flummoxed, except for Luhan. Over Kris' shoulder, you can see Tao's closed face. He's crossed his arms.

Xiumin whispers to Lay. "What does that mean?"

"Um… Gwenchana, jagiya?" He says after a moment.

"Bwoh?!" The Korean members exclaim.

Meanwhile, "I'm fine now." You look down. "Well, other than the fact that my feet aren't touching the floor. You can put me down now, you giant."

"Okay." He sets you down gently.

You turn to the others and smile brightly. "Hi. Jin Ae-ibnida. You can call me… Well, anything, really."

"So, explain. How did you get here, anyway?" Kris demands.

***

Speaking in Korean for the benefit of the others, you explain everything leading up to meeting Luhan.

"Oh, so you're the one who rescued Luhan and Sehun that night! I can't believe I met you," Joonmyeon exclaims. "Thank you," he smiles. "We were very worried."

"Coincidences tend to happen to you," Kris observes. "How is it even possible that you met the three of us, or four, sorry, separately?" He shakes his head. "Anyway, how long since you found out? And how much do you know?"

"About?"

"Us being you know… Us. I thought I covered up pretty well."

"Are you kidding me? About you, I've known for sure since you left New York."

"Really? I was that obvious?"

"Dude. Don't even." You laugh at him. "The slips while you were speaking, the all-black winter clothes, and then, most recently, giving me Joonmyeon's number as your temporary one. Then there are the ones you couldn't help. Me seeing your coffee while helping Joonmyeon carry it, for one." He winces. "The list goes on. Anyway, I still don't know much. Just that you guys are EXO. You guys have the privilege of being the first K-pop band I know of."

He glances at the rest of them.

"You really don't know us?" The tall guy with protruding ears asks in disbelief.

"But you must have seen me somewhere!" A smiley-eyed, brown-haired boy exclaims.

"Nope."

"Aish, kkaeb song~" 

Joonmyeon counts down.

"We are ONE! Annyeonghaseyo, EXO-ibnida!"

You suppress a laugh. "Well. Mind introducing yourselves?"

It takes a while for them to go around, saying their name, stage name, birthday, and their role in the group.

"Don't worry if you get our names wrong," Kyungsoo says sweetly. "There are a lot of us."

"That won't happen." You smile at them.

"You seriously haven't heard or seen anything about us?" Chanyeol asks again.

"But I'm so handsome!" Baekhyun whines.

"Nope. Not at all."

"Not even when you found out I was in EXO?" Kris asks, shouldering you lightly. "You could have looked us up instead of being bored to tears by your textbook."

You shrug. "I figured since you thought I didn't know, I should act like it."

"You never even hinted at knowing, this entire year! I sweated over you finding out for nothing," Kris complains. "寶貝, you're so evil."

"Duizhang, why do you call her bao bei? Are you two together?" Xiumin asks suspiciously. The rest of them nod.

You look at Kris and he looks back. The two of you start laughing. "No, of course not!"

"It's a nickname because her name is 寶, right?" Luhan says. He smiles slightly. "I thought of that too, but I didn't want to seem too forward," he admits shyly.

"Don't be such a stranger." You flap your hand at him. "By all means, call me that. I've gotten more used to it than 寶, anyway."

"But doesn't it mean jagi?" Chen is confused.

"Yes, and that's why I told Kevin not to use it." You give Kris a mock glare. "He decided to ignore me."

"Can we all call you jagi then?" Kai grins.

Kris frowns. "Hey, back off," he threatens jokingly.

"Don't be jealous," you poke him playfully. "I don't use Jin Ae much, anyway, and most of you won’t be able to pronounce Jewel well," you muse. "Call me whatever's better for you," you tell them. "It doesn't matter to me. Oh, and please don't be formal to me, since I most likely won't be formal to you. It's not like I don't know Korean etiquette, but I don't bother with it much," you inform them breezily. "Even those of you who are younger than me."

They nod, though some look a little taken aback.

"Are we all older than you?" Suho asks.

"Most of you are. I'm older than Tao, Sehun, and Kai though."

"Her birthday's a day after yours, Lay," Kris volunteers. "October 8th, 1992."

"How do you know?" You ask. You never told him.

"I saw it on Skype a while ago," he admits. "I didn't tell you happy birthday because I didn't see it until we got back from China, which was a week after. Happy late Birthday," he finishes, smiling. "I hope it was a good one."

"Aww, how sweet." You nudge him. "Of course, I spent the day by myself in the coffee shop. But this year, you get to make up for it~" You turn to the others. "Anyway, my new oppa-deul and dongsaeng-deul, annyeong~"

"Anyway, 寶貝, we were going to go out for food, so wait here and chat while we go change, okay?" Kris tells you, gesturing at himself, Lay, Xiumin, Chen, and Tao. "Play nice!"

"Okay," you nod.

"So, Jagi," Baekhyun grins. "You're still in college, right?"

"Yes, Seoul University."

"Daebak, you must be really smart! What's your IQ?" Suho gasps.

"Molla~ My parents never felt the need to test it," you shrug. "Honestly, I'm not that smart. I just have perfect recall, and every exam is just a regurgitation of the textbook."

"Don't fish for compliments; it's unbecoming," Sehun says blandly.

"Yah, Oh Sehun!" Suho's voice is sharp as he reprimands the maknae. "She's your noona!"

"We don't even know her, hyung! You're acting like you've known her all your life!" He gripes.

"She helped us once, remember? And she helped me earlier today, too."

"She could be lying!"

"Is she lying about being Kris' friend? Is Kris lying?"

Sehun doesn't answer.

"Any friend of Kris is a friend of ours," Luhan tells him softly. "I trust Kris' judgement. Don't you?"

At that, Sehun falls silent. Sullenly, he nods.

"Yah, Sehunnie, I even bought you bubble tea," you complain. He cringes at the familiarity but jerks his head stiffly.

"Sorry."

The rest of the members, awkwardly silent throughout the entire exchange, manage a short chuckle as their maknae gives in. The ice cracks a little.

A few minutes later, the rest of the EXO members come out of their rooms. All except for Kris. "Kris, hurry up!" You call. "Stop primping and just come out already, will you?"

"You with your naturally clear complexion will never understand the need for proper facial care," comes the haughty reply. "I'll be right there!"

Tao volunteers shyly, not looking at you: "That means five to ten more minutes."

"Your duizhang is such a girl," you whisper loudly. He looks shocked. The others chuckle.

"Yah, Jewel, I heard that!"

"It was meant to be heard," you inform him flippantly.

The eleven boys in the living room giggle.

You spend the next few minutes acquainting yourself with them. The EXO-M members you find fascinating. Lay is an interesting specimen; eighty percent of the time, when you look at him, he's in the same position as the last time you looked, with the exact same facial expression. Tao looks incredibly fatigued, and acts like the maknae. Xiumin is like a friendly neighborhood hyung, though in your opinion he looks like a hamster. He's always with Luhan, perhaps because they're the two oldest. Luhan seems especially fond of grabbing his hyung's hand whenever something funny happens. Chen is just constantly smiling.

The EXO-K members seem a little more normal. Not much, but a little. Baekhyun could be the gay friend you never had, though you're almost positive he doesn't go for guys. Although Suho, whom you met as Joonmyeon, is the leader, it seems like he's trampled on by the other members. Chanyeol is a happy virus whose ears give you the impression that the elves cast him out for being too tall. Kai and Sehun look like a prankster duo; you make a note to never fall for their tricks.

Before long (only about 7 minutes), Kris finally makes his entrance.

"Princess Kris, glad you could make an appearance," you tease.

"It takes work to maintain this magnificence," he announces dramatically, gesturing at himself.

"Right. But of course, it doesn't make any difference, the way you're dressed." You snort, waving your hand at the twelve of them. "You guys look ridiculous. People notice you from a mile away."

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun frowns.

"If we don't cover up, people will recognize us," Luhan says. "Like what happened today."

"And you think wearing winter clothes in summer helps? There are other ways to deflect attention, pabo-deul." You shake your head at their logic. "Dress normally and naturally people's eyes will pass right over you. Dress like this… People will think you want the extra attention. Do you?"

"No, it gets so frustrating," Suho admits. "We love our fans, but being unable to spend a day without them is hard. That's why we try and make it so they don't recognize us, but somehow they find us every time."

"Palli, can we go? I'm hungry," Tao whines.

"Let's go then." You open the door and step out, but look back when Chen says:

"Wait! We're we just going to go out with jagi, just like that?" He asks.

They have gotten close to you quickly, so that they didn't realize the implications of you being seen with them.

"They'll kill you," Kris whispers, pale. It won't be like in New York, where fans found it hard to follow.

"And if fans hear any of you call her jagi, it'll be chaos," Kyungsoo warns. "Even bao bei-" He pronounces it strangely. You and Luhan laugh.

"I can take care of myself," you say. "Thanks for the consideration, though."

They look at you.

"I know height isn't everything, but…" Chanyeol trails off.

"I know you can, 寶貝, but I can't help worrying," Kris admits.

"You're tiny," Kai says bluntly.

"Have you even ever killed a mosquito?" Baekhyun wants to know.

"She fought her way through an entire crowd of sasaengs today just to get my hat," Luhan says proudly.

"Your hat? She could've been killed just because of your hat?" Suho asks incredulously. "Are you crazy, hyung?"

"I think you're exaggerating-" You begin.

"I don't think that's the point he's making, hyung," Kyungsoo interjects.

Lay agrees quietly, unfreezing. "The point is that she wasn't hurt."

"She kicked that guy in the head in New York," Sehun reminds them reluctantly.

"I've been practicing Muay Thai for years, everyone, calm your balls," you roll your eyes. "Can we just go? The panda's hungry," you point at Tao before leaving.

As you walk out the door, they stare at your back in shock.

"Are you sure she doesn't know anything about us?" Xiumin whispers to Kris. "She called the panda the panda!"

"Mollaaa. Honestly, she's a mystery to me too. But I trust her," Kris shrugs offhandly. "She's one of my closest friends aside from EXO. It's surprising considering how we met and how much I don't know about her."

"The fans are going to go insane," Xiumin groans.

"Don't jinx it," Kris tells him. "It won't happen until it happens."

"Yah, Princess and hamster, mind hurrying up? We're waiting for you," you call, squished into the elevator with the other ten. "It's getting hot in here!"

Xiumin and Kris exchange one last apprehensive glance before joining you.