I couldn't talk after that. Jungkook seemed to understand that I had gotten speechless, so he switched the topic back to the message he was supposed to be relaying. It took me a couple of minutes before I found my voice back. I got to say "okay" and "thank you" after he provided the information. I heard him chuckle before he ended the call. I had to shake my head for a few seconds before I got out from under the stairs. When I crawled out, Chanyeol was passing by. He stopped and placed his hands on his hips. When I tried to get past him, he caught me by the arm and questioned me.

Chan: What were you doing there?

Me: Nothing.

Chan: Doesn't seem like nothing.

Tao: She's been talking to Jungkook...

Me: Sheesh...

Chan: Why were you talking to him?

Me: It was for Kai oppa.

Chan: And why would he call you? Shouldn't he be calling Kai?

Me: They've been trying, but he won't answer.

Chan: They? Who's they?

Me: J and him. Kai had a question and when J tried calling him for the answer, he won't pick up.

Chan: What question?

Tao: I think it's time we tell you, hyung.

Chan: Tell me what? What is going on here?

Tao: Later. After lunch.

Chan: Oh, you better tell me, or else...

Tao: Uh-huh.

Me: Can I please go now?

Chan: Oh, okay.

And he let go of me. I told Tao that we already have the answer to Kai's previous question to Jin. He nodded and he told me to hold on to the information until after lunch when we tell the others of the current situation. And then I demanded.

Me: Why did you say those things?

Tao: What things?

Me: Oh, you know...

Baek: What things did he say?

Me: You said something too.

Baek: Who, me? What did I say?

Me: Arghhhhh...The person was only helping us out.

Tao: Uh-huh. Because he was helping his girlfriend's brother...

Me: I hate youuuuu...

Tao: Love ya too, squishy.

Baek: I hope you don't hate me, mei baobei.

Me: I hate you too.

Baek: Ouch. That hurt.

Tao: Xiao Yi-ah...don't hate gege please.

Me: I hate you both. Bye!

I stormed upstairs as I went to my room. Tao and Baek were laughing and did a high five. Urghhhh... I felt so ashamed right now. One thing though, I was thankful Chanyeol didn't hear them teasing me. If he heard those...things...I was sure he'd try to grab the phone from me and question Jungkook. Sheeeeshhh... I buried my face in my pillow and hit my bed. Imagine talking to someone you like and then your brothers would do side remarks about it...even though you were not talking about stuff about matters of the heart...but then because of their comments you feel so...ughhhhh.... I stayed in that position for some minutes. Then I heard a knock on my door.

"Xiao Yi. Lunch time."

It was Suho ge. I called out to him that I'd be down in a few. I just straightened my crinkled up shirt because I curled up on the bed and buried my face into my pillow. I went down to have lunch with everybody else. Mama was going down the stairs as I was. She waited for me and draped her arm on my shoulder and we went down the stairs together.

After lunch, Baek had called the others to the media room, except Luhan and Xiumin. Thankfully, even before everyone else were in the room, Xiumin had announced that he'd be going out for the afternoon. Luhan decided to go out as well. That sort of made us into panic though. We thought he was meeting Hua Chen. But then, Tao reminded us that they were supposed to meet on Friday, not today. I had forgotten for a minute there. Then we started the meeting.

Kyungsoo had asked if he'd still be asking Hui Qiao for help, but Suho and Lay had assured us that they'd be in charge of getting information from Song Qian, instead of from Chagiya. The look on Soo's face was of total relief. I bet he was nervous knowing that it was possible that he talk to Chagiya again.

The issue about Hua Chen flirting with Jin was heavily discussed. The older boys had wondered what exactly did the Dongs wanted. Suho had suggested that it was likely that they were doing a so-called trial and error thing with flirting with more than one boy. Jin was the oldest son of the Kim family, was it possible that Hua Chen had also hit on Yoongi, as he was the oldest Min son? Was it not so much trouble to ask the Mins if what we suspected was true? I had given the information that Jungkook relayed. Kai apologized by sending J a message that he fell asleep and his phone was set to silent mode. Actually, even if his phone was set to full volume, he won't be woken up by that. As the resident sleepyhead of the family, it would take more than just an alarm to wake Kai up. He had to be shaken, not just stirred. LOL. Lucky for him during earthquakes, he'd wake up. But what if there was fire? Unless someone shakes him awake, he'd probably end up being burnt Kai. xD

Tao had been the most observant of us all. He had pointed out that on Friday, Soo would be singing at the school event. Luhan and Suho would be with him. The school was where Dong Zi went to. It was possible that Hua Chen would be there too. And if Luhan and here agreed to meet on Friday, didn't they mean meeting in that school? Hmmm... He had a point.

Chanyeol: So...so...you mean to say that this girl...was flirting with Jin...and now she's trying to hit on Lu ge?

Baek: Yes.

Chen: This is about business, right?

Tao: I don't know. Maybe?

Chen: Because she's targetting the oldest sons of businessmen...not just plain business men, but the successful ones.

Suho: It seems like it.

Chanyeol: I guess she was not successful in getting Jin, so she's now trying to hook Lu ge.

Lay: What about Yoongi? Is he still one of her prospects?

Chanyeol: It is possible. We don't know if she already tried, though.

Baek: If she tried or not, one thing's for sure, she's not getting to Lu ge.

Sehun: I don't want to have a bell for a sister in law.

Kai: No, of course not.

Sehun: Why would Lu ge accept her invitation?

Me: Maybe he didn't have a choice?

Kai/Sehun: Like what? How?

Soo: Lu ge is messed up?

Me: It looked like Lu ge messed up on something and she's using it to blackmail him.

Suho: It's not like Luhan to mess something up, though.

Lay: I agree.

Suho: But he's been getting a lot of stress lately. What with papa giving him more work than he normally would have.

Baek: I hate being an oldie.

Suho: it up, you're next in line.

Baek: Na-uh. Not me. YOU are next in line.

Suho: You will follow Kris ge orz.

Lay: I would have to make sure everyone is accounted for...starting next year. I would be the one to help decide what to do...starting next year...

Tao had raised an eyebrow and threw a crumpled paper at Lay.

Tao: Gege, what are you talking about? We're supposed to be talking about Luhan ge's situation here.

Lay: Oh, we were? Sorry. I'm just thinking about the amount of stuff I'd get once they leave for college. I mean, I'm not used to taking care of all of you. OTL.

Kai: Ge, it's alright. Tao and Chen hyung would probably behave already next year.

Tao: I do not...I repeat... I do not misbehave.

Sehun: Pandas do not talk. Why did you talk?

Tao: And Cinderella became the evil stepsister.

Sehun: ..................

Suho: Alright, cut it out. We are here to talk about a solution to our problem.

Lay: What problem?

Baek: Oh dear god, gege.

Lay: What is it?

Chen: I wish sometimes there is a pause button installed in your system, ge.

Lay: Why?

Chen: So in case we talk about something, and you are zoning out, we'd just press pause and you can zone out without having to try thinking about it.

Lay: Oh...yeah. Thanks. But what about Luhan's issue? What are we going to do about it?

Baek: Hopeless... Tsk, tsk..

Tao and Kai snickered at that. Lay had kicked Baekhyun in the process. All of us were sitting on the floor. Suho had sat behind the door, just as a precaution that in case Luhan or Xiumin comes back and checks up on us, they won't catch us unawares. Suho had leaned on the door and was now stretching his arms high up. Tao had absentmindedly been massaging his legs. Lay leaned back while he stretched out on the floor. I went to sit as far as the number one bullies of this family. I sat behind Sehun. Chanyeol had been eyeing my leg the whole time and he was about to pull it, so I transferred to sit behind Sehun.

Suho: Xiao Yi, did Jungkook say anything about his Jin hyung still in contact with Hua Chen?

Me: Nope. I guess his hyung was not interested in continuing being "friends" with her...

Suho: Hmmm...Now that I think about it, Jin must have been pissed off that one time because of her.

Lay: Oh, you mean that time he went out of the class suddenly?

Suho: Yep, that time.

Baek: What? Why?

Suho: Well, there was someone who kept calling him and he kept rejecting the call. Then we would hear his phone beep again. It was sort of like messages sent, then an attempt to call, then messages again.

Baek: Hua Chen calling him in the middle of classes?

Lay: Yeah.

Tao: But wasn't she a university student?

Suho: Yeah, well, possibly she didn't have a schedule that day or time?

Tao: I myself would be pissed off if I get a call in the middle of a class. Especially from a girl like her.

Chanyeol: I forgot how she looked like, anyway.

Baek: You wanna remember her face? Ewww...

Soo: She has a decent face...

Chanyeol: Decent? LOL Kyungie-ya...Define decent face?

Soo: Presentable?

Chanyeol: That helps...rightttt...

Chen: She's pretty, though. But if she's exactly like what I think she is, then meh...no way.

Chanyeol: Was she pretty?

Lay: Yes, I guess. She's not ugly, if that's what you meant.

Chanyeol: *snorts* Okay.

Sehun: Why would she want to be with Lu ge?

Tao: If you are so curious, why not go and ask Lu ge?

Sehun: And be dead a second after.

Tao: Right. He's been wanting to murder anyone who will mention the name "Hua Chen."

Sehun: You are kidding, right?

Tao: No. Why keep asking the same question orz....

Sehun: Because nobody had given me a decent answerrrrr...

Tao: We don't know.

Suho: Oh please. Can you all just shut up and put your differences aside? This is not the time to fight or bully each other. Luhan needs our help. He might not be telling us because it's either he thinks he can get out of this mess by himself, or he's concerned about how we'd take it.

Sehun: I would fight for Lu ge.

Kai: Me too.

Tao: Me three.

Chen: Me. Me. Me. Me.

Chanyeol: What is that?

Chen: Four me's?

Chanyeol: Oh yeah. I'm so dumb.

Chen: Congratulations!

Chanyeol: Dingdingdingggg! Can Lie won dumb award!

Lay: Shhhhh.... Wait.. I hear a car pull up in front of the house.

And we became silent. Indeed, we heard a car pull up outside and honked three times. Xiumin or Luhan probably. We heard the gate being opened, and the car starting up. Chen, who was nearest the window that overlooked the front of the house, got up to check.

Chen: Oh yeah. It's Luhan ge.

Suho: Meeting adjourned, meeting adjourned. Let's continue later.

Baek: Quick turn the TV on...ahhh..Chanyeol, plug the XBox in!

Wu kids dispersing. I remained where I was. Sehun had ran outside going to his room. Soo had plugged in his headphones to his phone and went to the corner to listen to his music. Tao and Kai had gone to chasing each other around the house. Lay and Suho had gone out the room casually. The rest had remained in the media room pretending to have been playing videogames. When I realized I was in the room with the bullies, I quickly got up and started for the door. But yeah. Tao and Kai had made it back to the media room and they barricaded the door. I tried to squeeze my way under, by crawling, but Kai crouched down as Tao hugged me and tried to wrestle me back into the room. I squirmed and slapped his arms. Kai was laughing and started to tickle me. I kicked him as I tried to bite Tao's arm.

"What are you doing to your sister?"

Boy, was I that thankful for that voice. Luhan had reached the first floor and was standing by the media room door. Tao and Kai slowly let go of me and I crawled out, and sat on the floor behind Luhan. I saw Baek and Chanyeol turn their heads around and pretended to ignore what was going on. Chen closed his eyes and hugged the throw pillow that he pulled from the sofa inside the room.

Tao: Nothing..nothing...

Luhan: No horseplaying in the house.

Kai/Tao: Fine. We're gonna go out.

Luhan: Be home by 5 PM.

Tao: Yes, jiejie.

And he ran out, afraid Luhan would kick him. Kai followed him with a "See ya, Luhan jiejie" while he ran away as well. I had to give it to them. They weren't afraid of calling Luhan "jiejie" even if the situation was tense.

I got up from the floor and went to my room. I didn't wanna stay in the same room as the bullies. I suddenly felt a little lightheaded, so I went to take a nap. I had dreamed that I was in Japan, shopping with Kris ge. Then suddenly, there was a marching band coming from one of the stores inside the mall. The marching band's uniform resembled that of our school's and I saw our Math teacher leading the band. They were playing a kind of Christmas song as they marched out of the store. Then I heard my name being called, and from a distance, I saw Jungkook waving at me. I waved back at him. But Kris ge saw him and he transformed into a fire-breathing dragon. Jungkook fled from the scene and suddenly we were back in our old house in Tianjin. Then I heard music playing in the background. It sounded like my ringtone. Who could have been playing it at this time, I wondered. The song ended and I didn't see who it was that was playing the music. Then after a few seconds, the song was playing again. I suddenly woke up and realized my phone was ringing in the real world.

It was Yue who called.

She called because Jimin called her.

She was hyperventilating and asking me what she needs to do.

I asked her what she meant.

She had said that Jimin just called to talk to her.

I had asked her what she meant by what she needed to do.

She told me that Jimin was currently on hold. She had put him on hold while she called me.

"WHAT? GO BACK TO HIM NOW! GO BACK! CALL ME BACK!"

I had shouted at her when I realized she put the guy on hold while she asked me what to do. I had added that she should just be herself and talk to him nicely. It was clear that she was nervous and she was in panic mode. I could relate to her. It was like that whenever Jungkook called me. The thought of his name made me want to melt. It didn't help that Jimin was his brother, and knowing that he was on the other line with Yue, made me want to ask him if Jungkook was home. Aish. I should learn how to control my feelings. If Jungkook was home and he wanted to talk to me, he'd have called by now. Anyway, Jimin may not be home and he might be calling from his mobile phone from the mall or somewhere else.

While I was spazzing by myself, Taehyung sent a picture of his puppy, V. He captioned it, "Taetae wanted to say hello to you."

I had replied with, "Taetae the puppy?"

He had replied back with, "No, V the owner. :( "

I wrote something on a piece of paper, took a picture of it and sent it to him.

He then replied with a picture of him smiling and carrying his puppy.

Wait, is that Jimin behind him?

I sent him a reply with, "Awwww...Taetae is cuter than the owner. LOL. Btw, is that Jimin?"

Beep!

Another message from Taehyung. This time, it was a picture of him, the puppy, Jimin, and Jungkook. They were in a wacky pose. Taehyung was carrying the puppy with one hand; the other being the one he used to hold his phone to capture the picture, Jimin acting as if fanning the puppy with a folded piece of paper, and Jungkook tying a roll of tissue as if it were a diaper around the puppy's middle. "Hired new nannies for Taetae."

I laughed. Jimin and Jungkook were Taetae the puppy's new nannies. That meant Jimin and Jungkook was in Taehyung's house. And Jimin was calling Yue from there. I forwarded the pic to Yue with a question, "Do you know if Jimin's over at Taehyung's?"

She had replied with a "Yes."

I couldn't resist, so I asked, "Did you know that Jungkook was there too?"

"Ah, that, I didn't know. Awww...they look so cute in that pic!" Was the reply.

Yeah, the puppy was cute.

Okay. The nannies, too.

And the owner.

Fine. All of them.

I gave up. I sent Taehyung a message telling him to make sure the new nannies don't kidnap....dognap...kidnap...Taetae.

Beep!

A message from Jungkook this time.

"Who's cuter, me or V?"

Did he realize that I don't call the puppy by it's actual name? Did he realize that I call the puppy Taetae and Taehyung as V?

Oh. My. Gee.

What do I answer him? How do I answer this question?

I had to make it clear, "You mean, Taetae the puppy?"

It took a couple of minutes before he sent his reply.

"Oh, so he's a puppy too? LOL. :) "

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... I sense awkwardness mode approaching me in 5..... 4..... 3..... 2...... 1. It's like he sent the message with a hidden question. And that smiley at the end. What did he put it there for?

"Err...I call the puppy Taetae..."

Yeah, awkward. I had to bang my head on my pillow. Both of them in one house and we were talking about a dog. But this dog was making my life hard.

"Kookie is confused. He's thinking I'm the puppy. LOL."

Taehyung had sent that message. I guess they were discussing it right now. Was Jimin still talking to Yue? I had to know if he was, because if he was, then I could ask Yue if she could hear them talking.

"Yuuueeeeeeee!!! Are you still talking to Jimin?"

I fixed my gaze on my phone. I waited for her to notice that she had a message and needed to reply to it ASAP. She did reply to me, after about 5 minutes of waiting. Yes, she was still talking to Jimin...and she could hear Jungkook and Taehyung in the background. She had said that she could hear the two faintly. Jimin had mentioned that the two were playing truth or dare and that it looked like they were sizing each other up and were doing some sort of arm wrestling now. Yue had said that Jimin called it the "winner takes all" arm wrestling match. What?

Yue: "Apparently, the two are trying to decide on who would text you today."

Me: "What are they doing? Stupid...."

Yue: "They're just facing it like real men. Without actually fighting like babarians."

Me: "Why would they do that? Just to text me?"

Yue: "Jimin says Jungkook wanted to do the arm wrestling match and see that whoever wins would have the chance to text me the whole day."

Heh.

I gave up again.

I left Yue to continue her chat with Jimin. They needed to talk. I mean. Ugh... Sorry. Confused here.

"ZITAO! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY LAPTOP?"

Whoaaa! Xiumin was mad alright. How did he know it was Tao? Huh? I got up from my bed and hurried outside. I saw Xiumin by the stairs, leaning on the railings and calling Tao.

Xiumin: Come up here this instant! Zitao!

Tao: I didn't do anythinggggg!

Xiumin: Objection overruled! Come up here. NOW!

Tao: I didn't....

Xiumin: You can't tell me it's Sehun who drew on my laptop!

Tao: I didn't say it was Sehun either!

Xiumin: Come up here! Ughhh!

Tao: Noooo...

Xiumin: No one else draws these little hearts like you do. And with correction ink???

Tao: I didn'ttttttttt....

Chanyeol's head peered out from their room and was laughing. Chen's head appeared just below his head and Baekhyun casually slipped past Xiumin from their room. He was holding what looked like a correction ink bottle. But before he could go down the stairs, Xiumin saw him pocketing the bottle.

"You are so dead, Baixian."

And Baek ran as fast as he could down the stairs. Xiumin chasing him. Luhan had appeared at the foot of the stairs and Baek bumped into him.

"Nobody gets out of this house without proper punishment. Go clean the toilet. NOW!"

Baek: I hate you Lu ge. Why the toilet again?

Luhan: Would you rather the car?

Baek: Chen and Chanyeol needs to clean the toilet too.

Luhan: Rule breakers.

Xiumin had gone back up the stairs. I saw Chen and Chanyeol lock the door to their room. I could sense the house won't be as quiet as I hoped it would be.

Where was mama?

Because hell had broken loose again.

Taking the story one step at a time. A lot to consider, actually. So I hope you bear with the pace. Thanks! ^_^  ♥♥♥  吴爱你们！我爱你们！I