D.O leaned back from the window which overlooked the garden. He blinked, “So that’s what she was hiding...” he took one last peek and saw Nami walking away from a disgruntled Chanyeol. He turned away from the window quickly to avoid being detected.

D.O had passed by the window on his way downstairs and had spotted Nami doing the laundry. He was about to call out to her when he noticed she was on the phone with someone.

And that someone was speaking English with her.

D.O stood by the window and watched as Nami whispered into the receiver. But even though they were hushed whispers, D.O could make out snippets of their conversation.

“...Videos... I will send later...” he heard her say and, ”I... my work as...reporter..."

His ears pricked up at that word. Reporter. He thought for a moment and recollected the other words he overheard a long time ago. Good footage and daily activities.

Now, it made sense. Nami was a reporter. How else could he explain why her English sounded better than her Korean?

She was a reporter from overseas.

D.O turned away from the window and stared blankly at the wall. What should he do now? Nami could potentially be a threat to EXO. After all, reporters had a bad reputation of invading celebrities’ privacy and Nami was doing exactly that.

He thought deeply, should he expose her? Should he get her kicked out? That would be the right thing to do. And yet... why did he feel like it wasn’t?

Ever since Nami came, he had been feeling a strange tightness in his chest. And he couldn’t figure out why he was feeling that way. What was she to him? Wasn’t she just a friend?

But I don’t want to be just friends...

He shook his head violently. Snap out of it, D.O! he internally shouted. She’s a reporter-- she can’t be trusted!

But even though he knew this, he couldn’t help being attracted to her. It was like Nami had bewitched him. And he knew he wasn’t the only one under her spell.

It was subtle but, things had changed amongst the other members too. D.O noticed that they were more lively now. They laughed a lot more and he knew that Nami was the cause of it. He didn’t want to be the one to ruin what they had now: it was like how things were when they were twelve instead of nine...

D.O nodded to himself resolutely, Nami may be a reporter but she didn’t seem dangerous. Surely, things would be fine if he let everything stay as it was? If he just turned a blind eye to what he witnessed? If he just pretended that he didn’t know?

He knew that Nami was only going to be with them for a year. After that, she would be gone.

“I could always intervene if she does something...” he pondered.

D.O took the first step down the stairs. He had decided. He will let Nami stay. But, he will be watching her closely from now onwards...

“Boring. Boring. Boring.” Chen repeated monotonously as he flicked through the channels on the TV. He let out a frustrated sigh, “There’s nothing good on!”

The other members let out sounds of agreement. It was late in the evening and the EXO members had gathered together after doing their individual activities. Everyone had congregated around the TV, expecting to watch a film but, nothing was deemed worthy of watching according to Chen.

He turned the TV off and leaned back into his beanbag. “What do you guys want to do now?” he asked, addressing the others.

Suho yawned, “We could just talk to each other.”

“Talk about what, though?” Baekhyun replied. He was busy blowing his fringe to pass time.

“Well, we could talk about our upcoming variety show appearance” Suho suggested. “Y’know, practise a little or something.”

“Wae? That’s so boring.” Chen complained.

"Wae? That’s so boring.” Suho mimicked him. Chen shot him a look.

The others sniggered.

“Actually, I think that’s a good idea,” Xiumin replied, sitting up. “I mean, we all get asked the same questions over and over but it gets difficult when they all ask us to give an answer to the same question. If we rehearse it, we could at least avoid repeating a similar answer.”

Sehun tilted his head, “How so, hyung?”

“That sounds like effort” Kai complained.

“But wouldn’t it be better if we just went with the flow?” Chanyeol argued, “I prefer to improvise.”

Just then, Nami appeared. She had just taken a shower so her hair was damp and she was wearing an oversized sweatshirt. “Oh, everyone’s here,” she observed. But then she noticed someone was missing. “Where’s D.O-ssi?”

The sound of cutlery jingling and glasses clinking from the kitchen caught everyone’s attention. “He’s cooking in the kitchen” Suho answered.

“What?” Nami was surprised. “Why?” she looked specifically at Suho, “Isn’t that my job?”

“Er, of course, it is,” Suho replied evasively. He looked around at the other members who had averted their gaze, “but, er, D.O said that he’d like to cook today.”

“It’s because your cooking is inedible” Chanyeol coughed. He was still a bit annoyed that Nami had wrestled him to the ground earlier.

Nami pursed her lips.

Everyone glared at him. Especially Xiumin.

“What? Everyone was thinking it!” He defended himself. “I don’t see why you guys can’t just tell her the truth.”

“At least say it nicely” Xiumin scowled.

“But there’s no nice way of saying it” Chanyeol retorted. He looked at Nami, “I’m sorry Nami-ssi, but your cooking tastes bad.”

Nami nodded, “I know.” To everyone’s surprise, Nami didn’t lash back. “I’m going to see if D.O-ssi needs any help,” she said, as she walked away.

As soon as she disappeared, all eyes were on Chanyeol.

“You can be such an sometimes” Sehun commented.

“A jackass” Kai clarified.

Chanyeol was appalled, “Bwo?”

Baekhyun raised a brow at him. Even he gave him a disapproving look. “There was no need to take it that far.”

But Chanyeol could only smile at him.

Baekhyun gave him a questioning glance and something transpired between them unbeknownst to the rest of the EXO members. At last, Baekhyun understood Chanyeol’s charade. It was all part of his plan to make Nami fall for him.

Baekhyun shook his head slightly in disbelief, still doubtful about Chanyeol’s dubious plan. There was no way Nami was going to fall for such an obvious plan like that, he inwardly told himself, there was just absolutely no way.

As soon as I entered the kitchen, I was greeted by the delicious aroma that wafted from where D.O stood, hunched over. He was wearing his square glasses and was busy whisking eggs with a pair of chopsticks.

“Need any help?”

He looked up and as soon as he did, his eyes softened. “Hello, Nami-ssi.” He returned back to what he was doing, “It’s okay. I’ll be done soon.”

I stood there, awkwardly. “Are you sure? I mean, it is my job to cook for you all...” my voice trailed off as I thought about what Chanyeol said. As much as I didn’t care about what EXO thought of me, I still felt a little hurt. And it annoyed me more that I was letting what Chanyeol said affect me.

D.O answered, “Don’t worry about it. You deserve a day off.” He paused as he looked me in the eye, “we can share the cooking duties. I like to cook anyway.”

I smiled at him warmly, “Okay.” I was thankful that at least the other EXO members were kind. “But you’ll only be cooking on your days off.” I told him, “I can’t have you cooking all the time or they’ll sack me.”

D.O grinned, “I won’t, I promise.”

We stood smiling at each other for a few moments. I hadn’t noticed before but, D.O’s large, round eyes and full lips made him look like an innocent child when he smiled. He looked so lovable that he gave me the maternal urge to protect him. Since when did he start looking so cuddly?

“You look so cute when you smile...”

D.O blinked at me. His eyes widened in surprise.

. Did I just say that out loud?

I rushed to explain, “Er, I mean, your smile! It-it’s so...” I fumbled for my words. “It’s so adorable. Erm, I mean, the way your eyes sparkle when you smile is really pretty. Er, if you had a kid I bet they’d be adorable too.”

What the hell was I saying?

D.O averted his gaze, his cheeks were a little rosy. “Erm, thank you, Nami-ssi” D.O mumbled shyly as he quickly returned to what he was doing. “I guess I should take that as a compliment?” he asked, peering up at me.

“Of course!” I said enthusiastically. Somehow, I had recovered, “I’d love to have a kid as adorable and as squishy as you!”

D.O chuckled quietly, “Are you saying you’d like to adopt me?”

“Er, maybe if you were still a kid,” I joked. I imagined a small D.O smiling up at me and my maternal instincts sky-rocketed. Oh, the aegyo!

D.O was amused.

“But,” I began, “if you ever do have a child, you gotta promise me something, okay?”

“Oh? What is it?” he asked curiously.

I went up to him and put both my hands on either side of his cheeks. D.O’s eyes widened at my sudden closeness. We were so close that I could feel his breath against my face.

“That you’d let me do this to them at least once.” I pinched both his cheeks together for a few seconds so that he was making an octopus face with his lips. His skin felt smooth and soft and definitely squishy. I laughed at the face he was making.

I let go after a few seconds. “I can just imagine it! They’d be so adorable! I’m already excited to meet them!”

D.O stood rigidly on the spot. I watched as his cheeks turned from rosy to crimson. “Y-you should go and join the others,” he said as he energetically went back to cooking. “I’ll call you all when dinner is ready.”

I nodded,