***

Where to start? Could he just flip out randomly or was there a certain time and place for it? His brothers were freaking out, that was sure, but he was a little worried that if he started, he may never stop. 

Baekhyun, usually one of the loudest and rowdiest of the twelve, had never been this silent before. The shock was still painted on his face and he kept adjusting his blazer, shirt or trousers, just to make sure that yes, he was wearing clothes. 

When it had truly settled into his mind that the newbie he thought was just a scrawny guy, was in actuality a genuine girl- Kris-hyung could most definitely attest to that -, the lights in the locker room had all gone out. His doing, of course, but far too late. Suho scolded him for using his ability so carelessly and it was Chen who got the electricity back on and the lights along with it. 

"Are we sure that the newbie didn't just say that to get us off his back?" Kai asked, a frown on his face. Kris glared at him and gestured urgently with his hands. The younger brother was unable to prevent from blasting out a laugh, his eyes slimming down to crescents. Baekhyun would've usually laughed along with him, but not this time. He felt the sweat beads appearing on his heated brow again, blushing involuntarily. He groaned inwardly and covered his face with his hand. How could they all not have possibly known that the newbie was a chick?! Was it because full moon was approaching? Was it throwing them off their game? That couldn't be right. Usually their instincts were enhanced, at least they could've smelled she was a girl! 

Apparently not...

"Are you okay, Baekhyun? You're red," Chen remarked, trying his best to stay serious, but the smirk on his stupid dinosaur face betrayed him. Not having the strength to push away the arm Chen draped over his slumped shoulders, he heaved a deep sigh. 

"Could Tao not just turn back time or something?" he finally whined, absolutely embarrassed since he couldn't get the locker room situation out of his mind now. Several hands wrapped around his big mouth in an instant. Since they were still walking on school grounds, there were other students around. 

"Could you speak up a little louder, I don't think the girl on the bench over there heard you!" Suho hissed, his mood having worsened since the 'incident'. Suho had always been more sensitive when that time of the month was approaching, but Baekhyun noticed that this time, it was worse. He figured it had something to do with the newbie - who is a chick that saw my d-! he shivered and felt flustered all over again. 

"Sorry," he breathed when his brothers had removed their hands. "But, still," he glanced at his younger brother. "Can't you do something for damage control? She saw you, too, you know!" he pointed at Tao, who swallowed and looked embarrassed. 

"She didn't see much of me compared to you!" the lanky teen immediately protested. "Besides, you know that what I do doesn't work that way. I can't turn back what has already happened, hyung!" 

"And even if he could, he shouldn't do so. We can never know with your abilities," D.O. noted at Tao, looking grumpy. Baekhyun made a point not to go against his younger brother's words, fearing that he'd find himself in a headlock. 

"I just hope she didn't go around telling everyone what happened," Sehun remarked quietly, rubbing the back of his neck while he kept his gaze fixed on the ground. 

Baekhyun's eyes widened. "S-she wouldn't d-do that, right?! I mean, it was just as embarrassing for her, right?!" 

"Well, maybe you should start wearing sunglasses and a hat when you go to school, just in case," Chen coaxed, making Baekhyun nervous. "Then again, we're only talking about your reputation, right? What meaning does a reputation have in high school anyway?" Chen smirked teasingly. 

"Oh man..." Baekhyun grunted, sighing as he saw his life pass before his eyes.

"It's your fault for not wearing a towel when you get out of the shower, you idiot," Xiumin prompted, his soccer cleats hanging around his neck. 

Baekhyun groaned again. "I didn't think I needed to because we were in the boys' locker room, hyung! Aish, what is this?! I thought brothers were supposed to comfort each other in times of crises?!" he complained, when he suddenly felt a soothingly warm hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Lay as though the boy had been a godsend. His hyung smiled encouragingly at him. "Don't worry too much about it, Baekhyun-ah, maybe she didn't see anything," Lay tried to comfort. 

"Hey, hey, hey, we're talking about Bacon Jr. here! Of course she saw him!" Baekhyun immediately found himself defending his pride, upon realizing that it was just as worse for her to have seen him without seeing anything. Lay only blinked blankly at him, slow on the uptake, as usual. Baekhyun sighed and returned the pat his hyung had given him, since he knew that he meant well. 

"Did any of you even remotely sensed that she was a girl?" Suho interjected, ignoring Baekhyun's personal emergency, focusing, as usual, on more important matters. Well, important matters to him, at least. Right now, all Baekhyun wanted to do was complain and figure out how he could get out of this mess without having to wear a paper bag over his head to school from now on. 

"Did any of us appear to have their suspicions, Suho?" Kris retaliated, and Baekhyun could tell that this particular hyung was in a similar situation as him, except Kris was holding in his freak-out, but the tension was there. He was moving his hands in strange ways at times as well, as though he wanted to forget that they were even there. 

"Exactly my point," Suho said. "That didn't seem weird to any of you?" he asked and the brothers went quiet. 

"When the voices disappeared and I heard that gentle voice," Luhan started, the soccer ball placed stiffly in his hands, "At first I thought it was a girl. But then I saw to whom it belonged to and I didn't think more of it. Guess it didn't help that I couldn't hear his- her voice after that anymore," he shrugged. Luhan didn't look like his usual self either. Baekhyun made note of his troubled expression, how much older it made him appear. Suho looked the same way, but Baekhyun could sense an underlying agitation coming from their leader that was bound to worsen until full moon came. 

He glanced up at the sky, wondering how much longer they had to wait. He was actually rather disappointed that Suho had canceled the hunt for tonight. He could've really used it to relieve some stress. Then again...

"You've been focusing on the newbie intently, haven't you, Suho-hyung?" he asked their leader, to which Suho frowned. 

"What is that supposed to mean? Of course I have! In case you haven't noticed, Baekhyun, since this new kid came to town, all of us are on edge, out of balance- restless and uncomfortable. I don't trust her. I don't trust the trucks she came in with either," Suho sprouted and sighed. "Why can't you take this potential threat seriously?"

"That's not why I made the comment, hyung," Baekhyun clarified steadily. "What I meant to say was, since we've been focusing on the new kid so much, it's like we're not bothering with searching what we always search for at night and now it's like the little trail we had, is gone." 

The brothers fell silent again, quietly looking at one another. Suho scratched the side of his head a little more aggressively than was necessary. "I can't think straight," he abruptly admitted, his voice laced with frustration. "I need the full moon to pass and then I can clear my head again," he grunted, and with that, the brothers agreed. They all felt like they'd feel much better and far more calm after the moon's cycle continued. 

"Alright, here's what we'll do for now," Suho then decided, clearing his throat. "We'll meet the newbie tomorrow again, apologize to her for the whole situation. At the same time, we keep an eye on her, just in case. I need information on her. I want to know why Luhan can't hear her thoughts, I want to know why weren't able to tell that she was female from the get go. I want to know why she makes me feel this uneasy," he listed, gritting his teeth a little. 

Baekhyun nodded a little hesitantly at Suho's words, but he couldn't help but agree, with the exception of having to walk up to her tomorrow to apologize. He'd preferably not go anywhere near her for a while. 

"That sounds difficult. Especially since you also want all of us to stay away from her," Kris remarked dryly. 

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," Suho retaliated. 

"She's an enemy then? We're sure about that?" Chanyeol questioned, looking around his brothers. From the corner of his eye, Baekhyun could tell that D.O. didn't seem to agree, since he wasn't making eye contact with anyone, and Lay, naive, far too kindhearted Lay was shaking his head. A grave furrow was on his face as he pressed his palms together. 

"We're not sure of anything yet, right, Suho-hyung?" Lay asked calmly. To be honest, Lay seemed quite his usual self, even under the effects of the time of the month steadily approaching. Kris was the same way. Baekhyun envied that, since he noticed that he had the tendency to become even more energetic and talkative than he usually was, often making it hard for him to concentrate and causing him to do things that he wasn't necessarily proud of. However, at the moment, he just felt like burned bacon. There was hardly any energy in him left to spare. 

"Exactly. Which is why I told everyone to be careful," the leader answered. 

"...What if the reason everyone felt so strange was because this newbie could be number thirteen to our dirty dozen?" Sehun had declared out of the blue, startling them with his words. 

"Thirteen? That's impossible. What would make you think that, Sehun?" Tao commented, playfully shoving the youth from side to side. 

"Just a hunch," Sehun shrugged his shoulders, though the glance he shared with Luhan did not go by unnoticed by Beakhyun. Had those two been communicating? 

"That's ridiculous. I don't have any memories of a thirteenth person," Kai stated resolutely. He made it more than abundantly clear that he didn't want to have anything to do with the new girl, save for staying away from her. 

"Then who is she?" Suho asked dramatically, wanting to know the answers. 

"Not that bad, actually," D.O. suddenly interjected, finally looking up. "I got to talk to her a bit while I was showing her around and she doesn't seem bad," he repeated.

"Well, in all fairness, D.O., we don't seem bad at first glance either, but piss us off when full moon is coming out to play, and your days are numbered," Xiumin remarked, glancing at his watch. He turned to Chen. "Weren't you supposed to be in detention by now?" he asked.

Chen's eyes widened and he smacked himself on the forehead. "Crap! I've got to go before I get extra detention time," he piped up a little panicked. "Are we done for now?" he asked, already peeling away from the group to head back to the main building. 

"For now. Keep a weather eye out, everyone," Suho instructed. "Girl or not, if she is a threat to us, we'll have to find a way to deal with her. Until then, we'll just have to see what she's got hiding in her closet. Keep in touch, okay?" 

Baekhyun and his other brothers nodded at their leader and went their separate ways. He was contemplating skipping vocal club for today so that he had more time to prepare himself for the apology he'd have to extent to the new kid tomorrow, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. 

"I'm sorry if I'm being too snippy or crude. You know I don't mean it like that," Suho apologized quietly. "And as far as your little problem is concerned-, Lay is right. You shouldn't worry about it too much. If she blabbed to anyone, we'll find a way to minimize the damage, okay?" 

Baekhyun was genuinely happy to see Suho smiling again and recognized bits of his usual self again. He nodded at their leader. 

"Thanks, hyung," he replied and walked with Suho to the main building. "One question though," Baekhyun continued.

"Hm?"

"What did you mean with 'little' problem? I mean, seriously, have you met Bacon Jr.?" he laughed when Suho shook his head in amusement and smacked him on the back of the neck, wrapping his arm around his head whilst dragging him along with him.