Months have passed and the weather is getting colder by the day. Which means winter is coming. Which also means it's even harder for you to get up and go to school. "Ryoko ah, palli! You're going to be late!" D.O knocked against your bedroom door. After the incident that happened the last time, nobody dared to enter your room while you were sleeping. D.O sighed. Just then, someone patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll handle this." Kai said with a smirk on his face. D.O had his eyes shaped like saucers. "What are you going to do?" Kai kept that smirk on his face and took out something from his pocket. D.O put his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. In Kai's hand, was a mini water gun. Kai placed his finger on his lips and signaled D.O to keep quiet before slowly entering your lair.

The blinds were still down and you were on your bed, under the comfort of your covers. Kai aimed the water gun at you and at the same time, he nudged your leg. "Ryoko ah, ohayo...." He chimed in Japanese. You shifted around for a while before sitting up, eyes still closed. "Mama?" You looked at Kai's direction. Kai's smile was then replaced with a playful smirk. "Not this time sleepy head." And then WOOSHH! He fired the water gun at you. "IREONA!!!" Kai screamed at the top of his lungs. That made you completely awake. You coughed out some of the water that got in your mouth and shot him a look. "Oh you'll pay for this Kai oppa." You said at a most threatening voice you can manage to make after having choked on water. Kai faked a scared expression before throwing your towel at you and left the room. "Hurry up or we'll leave without you." He said before laughing in the hallway. *Aish that jerk.* You scolded him mentally. 

After taking a quick warm shower and dressed in your uniform you quickly went down. "What about breakfast?" You came down the stairs only to see the others ready to go. "Well because somebody was late, now we have to rush to get to school." Suho said sarcastically but with a warm smile on his face. "Well you didn't have to wait for me.." You muttered under your breath, but sadly, he heard it. "We're all family and nobody gets left behind." He whispered to you before leading the way out of the house. You felt frustrated but at the same time you were happy when Suho said that. *We're all a family huh?* You smiled to yourself and headed out. 

The trees were losing their leaves and the air seemed much colder. You pulled your coat closer to your neck to keep yourself warm but you couldn't stop smiling. "What are you smiling for?" Kai asked in an irritated manner. You made your smile grew wider. "I like the weather, I like the coldness! Oh I can't wait for winter to come!" Kai clicked his tongue at you. "Whoopee for you. I hate the cold. My body can't move well in the cold weather." Someone sneezed from behind. "Tell me about it." Sehun said while wiping his red nose and hugging himself. You gawked at them. "How can you hate winter? It's like the most magical time of the year! And plus, snow makes everything looks...cleaner?" You laughed to yourself. But Kai was too busy blowing warm air in his hands to keep himself warm. "Walking with you is no fun." You playfully said to him and slowed down your pace and ended up walking with Baekhyun at the back. "Please tell me you like winter." You asked him with a cute pout on your face. Baekhyun smiled sweetly at you and pinched your cheeks. "Actually I don't but let's just pretend I do okay?" 

You shot him a look but ended up smiling anyway. Baekhyun caught it and smiled too. "Actually, I'm quite neutral. I'm not really affected by the cold" You raised your eyebrows. Your hand suddenly brushed against his and you couldn't help but notice how warm his hands were. You grabbed one of them to make sure. Baekhyun was caught by surprise with your actions and tried his best to stop himself from blushing. *W-what is she trying to do?* "Oppa, you have really warm hands." You smiled at him. "Uh...thanks I guess." He said awkwardly. *Why is she so random? But it's making my heart beat like crazy!* "Mama used to tell me that people with the warmest hands are kind people." *And I think I just proved her right. Baekhyun oppa is a really kind person.* Just then Baekhyun tightened his grip which caught you off guard. "Well then stick close to me and you'll be warm throughout the whole of winter." He flashed you his eye smile. You couldn't help but melt a little. 

"Ugh I miss the sun already." Kai complained once the both of you arrived in class. Fortunately, you guys were still early for class and your stomach started to grumble because you missed breakfast. You clutched onto your stomach, scared that the grumbling noise might sound too loud. Kai noticed what you were doing and looked at you worriedly. "Yah, gwaenchanhnya?" You weakly smiled at him. "Yeah, just hungry." Kai sighed and ruffled your hair before reaching into his bag and pulled a packet of bread. "Here. I was saving this for myself but I think you need it more than me." He placed the bread on your table. You were touched by his gesture but felt a little guilty. "It's okay oppa. It's yours. I can handle it. Besides, recess is only.....3 hours away." Your stomach emitted a foreign noise at the thought and you blushed. *Aish stomach, behave yourself!* Kai chuckled and put the bread in your bag and before you could argue with him to take it back, he put his head down on the table and pretended to sleep.

Even though you still felt guilty about it, you silently thanked him and patted his head. You couldn't see it but Kai was smiling. *Thank God I packed some bread this morning since I knew something like this would happen. Ryoko ah, you always make me worry about you. But somehow, I don't mind it.*  And thankfully for you, the 3 hours passed by fast and once the bell rang, you took the bread from your bag and both you and Kai headed to your usual place; the gazebo. As usual, people crowd around it so that they can see the guys, or now they call them "Exo" or something. You thought it was a stupid name but the guys seemed to embrace it. "I can't help but feel like an idol! They even asked for my autograph in class!" Chen said with a huge grin on his face. Tao and Chanyeol nodded. "Today when I got to class, there were gifts on my table! And someone even bought me bubbletea!" Sehun chimed while drinking bubbletea which you suspected to be the one Sehun was talking about. "Hey, how come I don't get gifts?" Kai asked with an irritated face. "It's not your fault you look intimidating." Lay said under his breath but Kai heard it and shot him a death stare. 

You and Hae Ra were sitting beside each other giggling to the guys reactions when you heard a voice that made hairs on your body stand up. "You guys seem to be having fun. Mind if we join?" Everyone stopped taking and turned to the direction of the voice. Your heart fell when the person you least want to see stood in front of you. Lee. Min. Jung. *Great. For a second there I forgot she actually existed.* You mentally rolled your eyes. As though she read your thoughts, Min Jung looked at you and you gulped. "Well well well, if it isn't our Japanese friend Ryoko. Oh, and Hae Ra's here too?" She said in a sarcastic tone. D.O's body tensed when she mentioned Hae Ra but Hae Ra grabbed his hand from under the table and slightly shook her head. He relaxed a bit but still kept his eyes on Min Jung. Suho sensed the tension and spoke, "What do you want Min Jung?" Min Jung tore her eyes away from you and smiled sweetly at him. 'Oh oppa, is it wrong for us friends to have lunch together?" Ma Ri stood behind her, smirking.

*Why the hell is she here?* You thought to yourself. You looked at Baekhyun to see how he was doing. He looked tensed and his jaw was tightened. He shifted his gaze towards and started to relax. You tried giving him a smile to calm him down and it seemed to work. *Relax Baekhyun.* He told himself. "Well can we?" Min Jung said, at the same time crossing her arms. "I'm sorry but it seems like there's no more space-" Luhan said only to be interrupted by Suho. "Of course. The more the merrier." He said but didn't seem to mean it. Min Jung smiled and pulled a chair only to sit between you and Hae Ra. Some of the guys stood up to leave but Suho shot them a look and they sat back down. Kai rolled his eyes and left anyway. Suho sighed and shook his head. "Ryoko! Long time no see! And Hae Ra, I didn't know you were hanging out with her. Hae Ra tried to avoid eye contact and was shaking from fear. D.O tightened his grip around her hand. *This witch better not hurt Hae Ra. Or Ryoko.* He glared at her, but Min Jung was oblivious to it.

"I invited her to seat with us." You finally voiced out. Min Jung cocked her head to the side. 'Oh really?" She asked while eyeing both you and Hae Ra. Hae Ra was nudging you to stop but you ignored. "Yes, I did. We're the same age, so it's natural for us to be friends, and thus natural for her to join us for lunch." You tried to sound as intimidating as you can but inside, you were scared out of your wits. The rest of the guys could sense the tense atmosphere and just tried to not say anything. Min Jung was about to say something more but the bell rang. "Well what do you know, time flies when you're having fun. Time to get to class." Suho said and asked the rest of the guys to head out first. Kris, Chen, Xiu Min, Lay, Tao and Luhan went first, but the rest were waiting for you. "It's a pity the bell rang. You couldn't spend more time with us." You said, suddenly feeling a bit brave. You grabbed Hae Ra's hand and made your way to the toilet, heart beating like a rocket. 

Min Jung and Ma Ri gaped at you while the rest of the guys held in your laughter. *Our Ryoko's gotten stronger.* Baekhyun thought to himself before making his way to class with Chanyeol and D.O. "Maybe we can have lunch next time. I'll see you in class Min Jung ah." Suho said in a monotonous tone and went to class. *Why must you always disturb us? And our Ryoko too? Why are you doing this Min Jung ah...* He thought to himself. 

In the toilet, Hae Ra couldn't stop laughing. "Wow! Daebak! Ryoko you were...jjang!" She gave you a thumbs up sign. You raised your eyebrows. "Jjang?" Ryoko stopped laughing and smiled. "I almost forgot you were Japanese. My bad...It means awesome Ryoko ah." You nodded your head and smiled. "Oh I see. Oh my God I can't believe I just said that to her!" And the both of you started laughing again. But then you thought of something and turned to Hae Ra. "Yah, she's gonna kill me won't she?" Hae Ra stopped laughing too and became worried. "Ani, not her. Ma Ri will." The both of you shivered. But then Hae Ra tried to cheer you up. "Don't worry. The oppas are here. She won't have a chance to do anything to you." She patted your shoulder, but somehow, she seemed unsure of herself. "The oppas will protect me right?" Hae Ra showed you a weak smile and nodded. 

You gulped. *Let's just hope the oppas are beside me when she suddenly decides to kill me.*