A/N: For convenience's sake, there will be only one EXO manager. Sorry, won't be including all six of them.

The members' expectant looks turn to those of disbelief.

"Yah, 寶貝…"

You burst into laughter, falling over onto Luhan's lap. "Oh my god, guys…" You wheeze. "Why are you all so paranoid? It's not healthy!"

Sehun says coldly, "Yah, stop joking around. It's not funny to us."

"Oh Sehun! She's your noona!" Joonmyeon scolds him.

You raise a hand, sitting up. "Gwenchana, I told you all to speak informally, didn't I? And plus, I speak informally to all you oppa-deul."

Sehun shoots a look (See?) at his leader. Joonmyeon just shakes his head.

"So it was good, right?" Kris pats your head to get your attention.

"Mm, it was good. I like Growl the most," you tell him, then look at your watch. "I should probably go soon if I'm having dinner at the canteen."

"Stay," Kris stops you from getting up. "Have dinner with us."

Most of the others nod.

"Should I? Hm," you think. "What's for dinner then?"

An argument erupts like it did for lunch.

"Bossam!" Chen cries again.

"Chicken!" Kai.

"Doenjjang jigae!" Sehun.

You facepalm and lie back, sighing. Kris is standing behind you. Your head is hanging upside down over the couch, just about level with his mid-thigh. Crazy tall bastard. You flip over, grab his shirt and pull him towards you suddenly. Wrapping your arms around his waist, you close your eyes and rest your head on his abdomen.

Stumbling forward, Kris is taken by surprise, but he just rests his hand on your head for a moment before joining into the argument. "Chicken?"

"Chicken isn't my style~" Baekhyun mimics his buzzword.

The room resounds with laughter.

Luhan looks at the interesting scene next to him and smiles, but feels a little bereft. He became friends with you, only to discover that knew Kris first. He sighs.

"I kind of want Chinese food," you suggest, speaking quietly into Kris' shirt. You don't question how all the suggestions are take-out. You're too tired to cook for them, anyway.

"How about Chinese?" Kris asks loudly.

"Actually, that sounds good," Luhan nods.

The others all agree, surprisingly, one by one.

"Alright! Let's order food," Joonmyeon claps his hands, dialing.

"Zha jiang mian," you stick a hand up in the air amidst the orders of the members.

"Jagi-" Kris chokes on laughter as he says your nickname. "Jagi wants jajangmyun."

While waiting for the food to arrive, the thirteen of you chat.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Chanyeol asks.

"Let's go to a theme park!" Tao suggests.

"Yah, we have practice all day tomorrow," Xiumin reminds everyone. "As twelve."

"What about the day after?"

"Schedules."

"Ah wae!" Tao pouts.

After dinner, you decide to leave. "I'll see you soon!" You wave at the twelve members, though a few of them don't wave back. They're still not used to you after only a couple hours of acquaintance.

"Tomorrow," Kris suggests.

"Sure, why not?" You shrug. "It's only the orientation. I've memorized the map of campus already so it won't do me much good. And my roommates detest me."

"I'm sure they don't. But yeah, since we have practice tomorrow, you should come watch for a bit," he says.

"But what about manager hyung?" Kyungsoo asks.

"She can be someone's cousin," Chanyeol says excitedly.

"Whose?" Sehun asks boredly. "She doesn't look like any of us."

"Uhh… Lu-哥's cousin," Chen points at Luhan.

"Not a great idea," you shake your head.

"Why can't we just say she's Kris's friend from New York?" Luhan asks.

"I think that's okay," Kris nods. "I'll see you tomorrow then? Meet us here at around 8. We'll be outside so you won't have to go past security."

"Ah, so early? Araso, annyeong~" You wave and leave.

When you reach the dormitories, your hall-mates greet you with cold glares. You sigh. Although you don't care much for their company, either, it could get tiring living in this atmosphere. Whatever. You wash up and go to sleep smiling, for once having plans for the next day.

***

You wake up bright and early at 6:30, as you so rarely do. "Goddamnit, why did I agree to this," you mutter, rolling out of bed. Orientation doesn't start until 9, so none of your hall-mates are up. You're glad you're in a single.

"I need a drink," you mumble as you practically sleepwalk off campus. "Jihye's, save mee~" You walk into the café as soon as it opens. You order your drink, then twelve others. "One iced black coffee with a hazelnut shot," Kris. "…one iced green tea latte…" Sehun.

The barista cuts you off before you finish. "You mean the 12 regular for the men in black?"

You blink at him for a while before nodding. "I guess, yeah." You don't question the unique description. It suits them.

"Arasoyo, please wait a moment."

While you're dozing waiting at the seat, the door opens. "Oh, I was just about to text you to see if you wanted a drink," Luhan says upon seeing you. "Uh, 寶貝, wake up," he prods you gently when you don't respond.

"Oh, Bambi, hi," you yawn. "How do you guys function at this hour?"

"We practiced even earlier during training period," Luhan smiles, amused.

"Really? You guys are insane…"

"Excuse me, your drinks are ready," the barista calls.

"No way, 寶, how do you know what we want?" Luhan asks, looking at the drinks.

"I helped Suho carry the drinks back to the dorm, remember? Actually, I was originally going to get you coffee, but I figured you guys are the type to drink whatever you want in the early hours of the morning. So there's your boba," you gesture tiredly.

"Thanks, 寶, your photographic memory is really something. And don't look so exhausted. You slept at least 7 hours, you left us at only 10:30!"

"Ah, shut up," you moan pitifully.

"Fine, but get up, we have to go."

"Hnnngh," you groan as you heave yourself up. "Waeeee…" You lament as you trudge out. He doesn't let you carry any of the drinks.

"Your head is practically dragging on the floor," Luhan laughs. "Sleepyhead."

You end up following Luhan up to the dorm, being slightly early. The members have gathered in EXO-M's dorm again. Kris chuckles when he sees you.

"Even I'm awake, Jewel, look alive," he teases. You flip him off, slumping against the wall. The others look shocked, then laugh.

"Let's go," Kris says. "Manager hyung says the vans are downstairs." He looks at you. "Act natural, Jewel."

You wink at him. "When am I not?"

As soon as you come in view of the vans and their manager, you skip forward, stick your hand out for a handshake, and say, brightly, "Aniyonghassayoh, 寶 eemidah!"

The twelve members freeze behind you. They didn't discuss what language you would speak. Luhan's the first to grasp hold of the situation.

"寶, you're supposed to bow," he explains sweetly, holding in a grin as he demonstrates.

"Who is this?" The manager demands, ignoring your outstretched hand. You shrug and retract it, still smiling.

"She's a Chinese friend of mine from New York," Kris says, suppressing a grin. "She can't speak Korean very well. She's here as an exchange student to learn more of the language."

"Nice to meet you!" You beam at him.

"She's still settling in, and she hasn't seen Kris in a long time, so we were thinking that she could come watch us practice, then have lunch with us," Joonmyeon explains.

"I don't know, boys, you know the risks," the manager shakes his head.

"Please?" Twelve pairs of eyes stare at him. You look around as if confused.

He hesitates, then gives in. "You all need to be careful, though. I don't want another incident."

"Yehet."

"Azza!" Suho cheers.

"Let's go," the manager sighs. What is it about them that convinces him every time?

***

"Did you bring your computer? I don't know if you'll be bored," Kris says as the thirteen of you walk into the practice room, manager following behind.

"I did, but I want to watch you guys practice," you reply.

"Ja- uhm, noona?" comes an unexpected voice.

You turn to see Sehun looking uncomfortable. He's flapping his hand at a couch at the side of the room. "You can sit there." Even the irritable maknae, huh?

You remain expressionless for a moment before making an "Ah, I understand" face. Walking over to the couch, you sit and watch as they stretch.

Anticipation fills you as the music starts. The beat goes, the one that has your head bobbing.

Dance has never been an interest of yours. It might have been, but you don't like the attention it attracts, not after what happened. You veered from dance and went to Muay Thai instead. But looking at them now, you think that it might be fun to try.

You frown as you notice something.

"凡凡, what was that?" you ask as the song ends.

"What?" Kris is confused. Partially because of the new nickname, but mostly because he doesn't know what you're talking about.

"At around two minutes in," you clarify.

Kris winces. He thought he covered it well. "Uh, you saw that?"

"What happened, duizhang?" Xiumin claps him on the back.

"You led out with the wrong foot, right?" You ask Kris. Luhan translates for the others.

"Yeah," he admits.

"Ah, so I was right. I just wanted to know," you shrug and lean back again, relaxing.

"How did you know though? My part is different from everyone else's there," he wants to know.

"Photographic memory, remember?" You remind him nonchalantly.

"Damned useful for remembering choreo and lyrics," he mutters.

"You said that ages ago," you laugh. "Except in English that time."

"Wait, does that mean you know the entire dance? All of our parts?" Kai asks in disbelief.

When you don't reply, he furrows his brow, then widens his eyes in remembrance as Luhan translates for appearance's sake. The manager looks suspicious.

You think for a bit. "I believe so, at least I know what it should look like. I'm not 100% though."

"Ah, no way, you're not serious," he laughs and waves it off after Luhan translates.

"I think she does know it all," Baekhyun says in awe. Kyungsoo nods.

"No way, it took us ages to learn it," Chanyeol denies.

"Why don't you try it?" Kris suggests, interested. "It might be fun. Try replacing one of us."

"Ah, wae," Sehun complains a moment later. "She can't dance!"

"Well, I can't dance," you repeat after him. "I know what it looks like, but I don't know how to dance it."

"You've never tried. If you're coordinated enough for Muay Thai, I think you'll manage dancing," Kris reasons.

"Not the same thing," Lay says.

"Yah, combat sport is not the same thing as dance," Kai argues, offended.

"That comparison is not valid," Sehun scoffs.

"I think you might do better than Chen, Suho and Yeol, at least," Kris jokes, winking. Luhan tactfully does not translate this, but he and the two other Chinese members choke slightly. "And you're dressed perfectly for it, as always."

"Stop wasting time," their manager reminds them before leaving. "Call me when you want to go back to the dorm!"

"Alright, it's decided. 寶貝, you're in my place," Kris gives you a light shove as Growl begins to play. "加油! (jia you/fighting/hwaiting)"

"Aish, really!" You stumble a bit, then retreat to stand next to him. "It's not even your bit yet, what are you doing?"

"Oops, sorry," he says cheerfully, quite unabashed. He's looking forward to seeing you dance, not because it's likely you'll fail completely, but because he honestly thinks you can do it. You look like a dancer, to him. Actually, you look to him like idol material, more than he did when he joined S.M., in his opinion. The only thing is your height. He can't get over how short petite you are.

"Kris, I really don't know how to dance," you warn him, pleading, but the song is already approaching the point where Kris comes in. He gestures. "Goddamnit, Kris!" you groan as you rush to take his place behind Kyungsoo.

All too soon, you hear Kyungsoo's voice.