“Luda, will you and your girlfriend be of any help or just stare at us until we get catch by the old sir downstairs?” Sojung said in a mocking tone, she surely recovered from the shock of being catch fast.

“She is not my g-girlfriend!” Her stuttering really had great timing. She cleared . “And why would we help you steal college’s property?”

Finally Bona seem to snap out of her shocked state, remembering she was supposed to be documenting the whole thing instead of just watching it in awe, and managed to snap a couple of pictures. “Why are you two doing this? With who are you working with? What will you do with the animal? Is this some sort of satanic cult?” She made sure to use her best business tone, ready to record any and every word on her phone, but only got an eye roll from her best friend.

“Cut it off, Bona. You won’t be able to publish anything anyway.” Hyunjung said, already walking towards the door to get out as easily as they had come in.

Usually Kim would argue about it, empathizing her freedom of speech rights. She didn’t for three reasons: One – Suddenly they heard the guard shouting from downstairs, asking if there was anyone there; Two – Hyunjung was actually right because technically she couldn’t publish anything without the editor in chief’s approval, and her best friend currently holds this position; Three – Sojung, another fellow member of the newspaper team, would probably try to kill her if she ever tried to do a single Instagram post. Her dreams of getting a scoop were dying pretty quickly.

She muttered a curse to herself, not having enough time to give Seola a nasty reply before Luda pulled her out of the room and back to the corridor, just to get into a dead ending. Lee gave her a panicked look, but Hyunjung was already pulling them towards another room and telling them to be quiet while Sojung locked the door of Haru’s room before joining them at the other office.

The youngest out of the four was still having a hard time understanding the situation. How in the world she ended up in the middle of the newspaper’s team mess? Now Bona was keeping her close, both hiding behind one of the offices’ couches while the unnies (and Haru) were behind the desk. They still could hear the guard asking questions to seemly no one as his steps got near, and she shrieked against Jiyeon’s slightly bigger frame, praying that the old man didn’t come their way or they would have a very eventful day – and not in a good way.

Jiyeon bitterness over her friend’s betrayal wouldn’t wear off so soon, but she wouldn’t risk putting them all in trouble for her pettiness.  Her scoop was gone no matter what and if anyone found them, it would be hard to convince them that she and Luda weren’t part of the older girls’ scheme. So, she tried to act like a decent date for once, hugging her protectively – she would have to make it up to the Lee for bring her into this bizarre situation. Luckily, she was too tense to let her nervous giggle come up.

They waited for what seem like hours, but was probably only ten minutes, until the man gave up after checking that the door was safely lock and therefore no one could’ve sneaked in – poor old guy.

“Now just follow us. We will answer everything later.” Hyunjung ordered in her best senior tone, taking advantage of the fact that the two intruders were in no position of objecting her decisions now.

As quietly as they had come in, they sneak out through the back door – one which Hyunjung also had the key for. To think she and Luda had to wait hours just to be able to come in while these two were snooping around freely just added extra annoyance to Jiyeon’s already annoyed self.

All the way out Luda kept hold of her hand, whether it was just because she was feeling nervous or because she felt how stressed Jiyeon was and was trying to calm her down, Jiyeon was glad the girl didn’t seem mad at her for their failed adventure. They went to a quieter place they could find for a quick meeting – that would be even quicker due to the fact the weather predictions said they would have to face snow really soon and the raven was already frustrated enough without being drenched.

“Go.” She said as soon as they stopped. “Answers now.”

“Jiyeon, calm down. Will you?” Hyunjung sighed. She was acting like she was talking to a kid and not one of her closest friends. “You are so dense! So much for a journalism prodigy, hm?”

Questioning her journalistic abilities was probably one of the easiest ways of offending the Kim and it didn’t fail to do so this time. “Shut up, Hyunjung. I still have the pictures of you stealing the hamster.”

“It’s a guinea pig.” Luda corrected in a muffled tone, still awkwardly standing beside Jiyeon in the small semi circle they were currently in (Haru in his new warm cage included).

“And what you would do with that? Call my dad?” Hyunjung snorted. Being the daughter of the dean had its advantages, hence why she so easily sneaked into that building without breaking a sweat. “Jiyeon, wake up. You really think they didn’t know it already? They don’t care.”

“And we are not stealing, we are just replacing it. Is a big difference.” Sojung added in a know it all tone that didn’t match her. Luda shook her head in disapproval, she was starting to feel bad for her…friend? Date? Girlfriend in the making? Whatever Jiyeon and her were.

Bona blinked, her usually super fast and smart brain failing to process all the info. If it was of any comfort, Luda was having the same problem in the moment.

“This makes no sense! Why would you even do that? Doesn’t he have like a super fancy pet life? What do you even need it for?”

It was Sojung who answered with a small sigh. “Guinea pigs don’t live that long, you know?”

“But people get attached. We just take them out of the scene before anything happens. They have a happy life with a family, and we have a Christmas coverage every year!” The editor in chief snapped her fingers, as if it was indeed a brilliant idea and not just some weird college tradition. “The mystery is fun for the students as well, so why not?”

Luda shook her head, frowning slightly. She could understand, but it still seem too much work only to replace a guinea pig most people didn’t even really care about. “I still don’t get it. If the administration wants this, why wouldn’t they do it themselves, why are you guys sneaking in?”

“First: This is a lot more fun.” Sojung said with a smirk, which Hyunjung mirrored.

“Second: This is our tradition for the newspaper team. To check if the newbies are able to figure things out on their on their own or not.”

Jiyeon gasped. “You are saying you were just testing me?!”

“And you’re so incredibly slow that took you another try and you needed to bring your girlfriend along to figure it out.” The older Kim explained, clicking her tongue in disapproval of Jiyeon’s weak deduction skills. She turned to face her girlfriend, ignoring the maknae couple. “By the way, what are we even going to do about this kid? This is supposed to be a thing only for our team.”

“Luda is cool, don’t worry about it.” Sojung hugged the small girl by the shoulders, giving her a mischievous grin. “We needed a new photographer anyway.”

“What?!” Luda and Jiyeon said at once.

“We can’t have this leaking, so she has to join us.” Chu shrugged, apparently the younger girls’ opinion wasn’t really relevant for her plans.

“She doesn’t have to do anything, mouse thief.” Jiyeon was quick to draw Luda back to her side, hugging her a little too possessively for someone who had known the girl only for a day.

“You know, if she is part of the team, you guys have extra reasons to hang out and act friendly with each other.” Sojung looked at them with amusement, her quiet and shy roommate and her nosy and smarty pants friend were and oddly interesting pair.

“I get it. You want her all for yourself.” Hyunjung chirped in, gesturing the couple with an amused smirk on her face. “Just think about it, Luda. Our work is quite fun and next year is Bona’s turn to go get Haru, she will clearly need some help.”

Bona could have protested, these friends of her were probably the worst friends ever and she was about to snap at them, but Lee’s arm gently found its way to her waist, hugging her shyly.

“I’ll think about it.” Luda’s voice was small, the usual pinkness in her cheeks making her glow even in the dim light. She still seem a bit taken aback by all that was happening, however she had a determinate look in her eyes now – it was her practical side kicking in. “Where are you taking him to?”

“Oh, this little guy? My cousin Yeoreum will stay with him, she loves all kind of animals so he hit the jackpot here.” Sojung smiled, looking sincerely happy for the pet.

No matter how annoyed Jiyeon was at her friends for tricking her and embarrassing her in front of her date, she couldn’t deny that they weren’t that bad for giving the little animal a real home where he would’ve a much better life than his boring one at the administration building. With a sigh, she decided that there was no use in holding the duo back any longer. “We should get going, just in case someone shows up and sees us. You know, not all of us are related to the dean.” She said, side eyeing Hyunjung that shoved her shoulder lightly in reply.

“Don’t even thinking about tweeting about this!” The eldest gave a final warning, receiving a scoff as a reply. “Be cool and I’ll get you some tickets for that new movie they are showing, okay? So you two can date and be a little less grumpy.” And for the raven’s horror, she proceeded pinching Bona’s cheeks.

Sojung followed her example doing the same to poor Luda who hadn’t even said anything. “I’ll bring some candy home. See you later, kids. Don’t do anything that we wouldn’t do!” She winked at them, letting go of Lee to grab Hyunjung’s hand instead.

The couple waved goodbye still with those annoying smirks on their faces as Jiyeon and Luda massaged their own cheeks to regain the feeling on it after so much affection.

Jiyeon sighed in defeat, gathering courage to face the brunette after this little catastrophe, however, the freshman spoke first –  or better saying, she muttered to herself. “Now I know why you said your dates don’t work out.”

A/N: I know I'm late, sorry for that! I was busy finsihing another story, but now I'll focus on finishing this one. I guess only 1 ou 2 chapters to go.

Thanks for reading and supporting, see you soon!