A/N:  Ok, so first of all I only used Exos real managers names, I don`t know their personalities at all since I`ve only seen pictures, so I`m really sorry if their personalities doesn`t match >_< Also please bare with me on the slow progress and how some things may seem unrealistic, I tried to peak your interest a little bit more towards the end mostly because of the lack of Exo member interaction, but from now on they will have more chances to interact so from now on it`ll get more interesting, ^-^.....hopefully xD If you have any comments or advice you`d like to give me please don`t hesitate (^-^) Thank you and now enjoy~

The feel of someone lightly shaking my shoulders was what brought me back from my deep slumber. I slowly blinked my eyes open while stifling a loud yawn with my left hand. As my eyes adjusted to the bright light of what I assumed was the dance studio where I unfortunately and unwillingly had fallen asleep in yesterday, I failed to realize the presence of someone next to me, until I turned my head to my left and came face to face with Lay who had his face only inches away from my. My eyes widened within seconds and in an attempt to create some space between us I fell backwards and landed on my back on the floor. Lay blinked at me slightly, obviously confused at my sudden reaction, before he held out a hand and gently asked.

“Are you alright?” I took his outstretched hand and as he helped pull me to my feet I rubbed the back of my head and laughed slightly.

“Yes, sorry about that.  You surprised me.”   I let go of his hand and straightened out my skirt and shirt before looking up again and suddenly realized that Lay wasn`t the only one in the studio. Kai, Luhan and Sehun were also present and all three were staring at me and Lay.  I laughed awkwardly again before turning back to Lay.

“Why are you all here?” I asked trying not to sound rude but I had to admit I didn`t expect them to be back so soon.

“We always practice in the morning if we don`t have schedules until after lunch.” Kai replied instead of Lay who seemed to have drifted of slightly as he turned around and moved towards the other end of the room.

“Morning?” I mumbled as I knitted my brows and stared at Kai confusedly.

“Yes, morning, it`s already 08.30 you know” He said as he threw his bag off his shoulder and down on the floor with a heavy thump before joining the others who`d already begun their warm-up. For the second time that day my eyes grew wide and I turned around to stare at the still dreadfully large pile of letters.

“No, no, no, this can`t be happening.”  I mumbled to myself as I dove down to the floor and grabbed my pencil as I frantically began translating the remaining letters. I knew I had to get it done before Exo started their daily schedules and thankfully Kai had let it slip that they didn`t have anything planned until lunch, which still gave me some time. Provided that the managers schedule didn`t start before the members, that however was a frightening thought I skillfully avoided pondering too long.

I worked my way through the letters and was down to my last five. I glanced over at the Exo members who were having their third break in two hours. It was obvious that the morning practice was far less intense than the night practice. Luhan was currently joking around with Xiumin who had joined the other four 30 minutes after they`d started, he`d kept on apo0ligozing for being late, saying something about being stuck in a mob of fans outside of the building.  I looked back at my work and another 30 minutes later I had completely finished all the letters. I sighed in relieve as I glanced at my wrist watch and noticed the time was already 11.00. I slowly stood up and stretched my arms out before starting to pack up my bags and placing the five boxes in the corner again. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and the two shoulder bags over my shoulder as I began heading towards the door. I figured I`d find a bathroom and change into my spare clothes I always carried with me before returning back to Mr. Parks office. Carrying a spare set of clothes was something I`d learned to do a long time ago since I`d had a habit of working throughout the night until the next day at my previous translating jobs. As I was about to exit though a voice called out to me.

“Where are you going?” Luhan asked curiously as he stood up and walked towards me.

“Oh, um, the bathroom.” I replied as I pointed over my shoulder. Luhan smiled at me.

“I`ll show you were it is.” He offered kindly and didn`t wait for my reply as he moved past me and out through the door, kindly holding it up for me as I exited as well. I silently followed him through the corridors, thankful that he had offered to show me the way because honestly I didn`t know where the bathroom was.  In a few minutes we`d reached the ladies bathroom.

“I`ll wait for you here, so you won`t get lost on your way back.” He smiled at me kindly again and leaned back against the wall. I nodded towards him, too unsure of what to do to tell him to just go ahead and return. Besides, I had no confidence that I would find my way back unless he was there to guide me. So I hurriedly entered the bathroom and one of the many booths and swiftly changed into a new , this time black, long skirt and changed my brown knitted sweater into a red one, almost identical except for the part where the red one had shorter sleeves than the brown one. I then squeezed my old clothes into my back pack and exited the booth.  Before exiting the bathroom I stopped in front of the mirror and re-arrange my hair into a high ponytail and washed my face quickly.  Finally feeling satisfied with my as-good-as-it-can-get-under-these-circumstances look I exited the bathroom and found Luhan still waiting for me.

“Sorry for taking so long. Thank you for waiting.” I smiled at him, forcing myself to not stutter as the still angelic boy smiled back at me and pushed himself off of the wall.

“Then let`s go back.” Again I nodded and followed him in silence and only when we`d reached the dance studio again did I speak up.

“Actually I need to go see Mr. Park again, I`m not sure what I`m supposed to do today.” I gestured slightly towards where I thought Mr. Parks office was and Luhan looked at me confused.

“Why don`t you just ask our managers? They`re here right now.” He pointed through the window of the dance studio and I peeked through the glass to see what he meant.  However I didn`t get a chance to get a good look before Luhan pushed the door wide open and walked in, me following closely behind.   I moved away from Luhan and only then did my eyes fall on the two men in seemingly casual clothes that were standing in the middle of the room, casually talking to Xiumin and Lay.  

”Hyun Kyun hyung, Sung Hwan hyung.” Luhan hollered happily as he raised his hand to greet the two managers. I was slightly taken back by the friendly greeting but after closer consideration found it rather normal considering the amount of time they spend together.  To be honest it would have been weird if it was the other way around, with the boys walking on eggshells around their managers.   The two men turned around at the sound of their names and nodded in Luhans direction after simultaneously raising their hands in a similar greeting to Luhan. Then their eyes fell on me.  I slowed down noticeably and lowered my head as I bowed towards them.

“Hello, my name is Lee Hye-Mi. I`ll be in your care from today onwards.” I said respectfully as I raised my head from my bow and stood completely still, waiting for their response.  They seemed slightly confused at first before the one on the left snapped his fingers and pointed at me.

“Ah, you must be the new assistant manager, the linguistic genius.” He smiled at me and continued.” I`m Im Hyun Kyun” He stretched out his arm for me to take and I hesitantly took it, not sure if I should continue with my respectful approach or just be friendly like everyone else. Glancing at the second manager he took the hint and stretched out his hand.

“Lee Sunghwan, Exo-Ks manager.” He introduced himself and I nodded towards him before letting my hand fall to my side again. Silence fell on the room for a short moment before Hyun Kyun cleared his throat.

“Well we better get going then.” He turned to me. ”Have you been informed of todays` schedule?”  I shook my head and he sighed slightly before he pursed his lips.

“Well that might prove to become a problem, you see we won`t be back in Seoul for a while, the boys are travelling through Korea for several fan signing events starting today. I`m guessing you haven`t packed for that.” Once again I shook my head and subconsciously grabbed the hem of my shoulder bag, like I always did when I grew anxious or was presented with new crucial information. Hyun Kyun got a very troubled look on his face as he pondered how to best solve this situation.

“Do you live far away from here?” He asked and for the third time I shook my head, this time however I also forced myself to speak.

“It`s just a ten minute drive if the traffic is not too horrible.” This seemed to brighten his mood as a small smile flashed across his lips.

“Great, then you and I will go to your house so you can pack a few things and we will all meet up at the airport by 12.00.”He looked towards Sunghwan who nodded in reply and turned towards the boys, urging them to leave the studio and follow him. On their way out Luhan turned towards me and smiled

“See you later Hye-Mi.”  As Luhan waved Lay and Xiumin turned and did the same. I waved back to them before turning back to Hyun Kyun.

“Well we should get going too, we`ve only got 40 minutes after all, and it takes at least 20 to get to the airport from here.” He hurriedly moved past me and out the door. I followed behind, struggling slightly to keep up with his fast pace. I didn`t pay any attention to where we were going and before I knew it I was strapped to the passenger seat in his car and we were driving through the busy streets of Seoul. I thanked the gods that the lunch rush hours hadn`t begun yet because if they had we would`ve been in a smaller predicament since it would’ve taken us longer to reach my `house`. As Hyun Kyun drove through the streets I didn’t trust myself with giving directions so I merely informed him of my address and thankfully he was familiar with the area so he knew where to go.  I usually took the bus wherever I went since I had neither money nor a license to buy or drive a car. Precisely ten minutes later I found myself standing outside of my house, or rundown apartment as most would call it. It certainly wasn`t much to the world and since I was too embarrassed to let anyone see the insides I kindly asked Hyun Kyun to wait outside while I went inside to pack a smaller bag.

I opened the door to my apartment and was immediately greeted with the almost terrifying mess I called my home. There were garbage and clothes everywhere, mind you I rarely spent much time in my apartment and thus never felt too much of an urge to waste precious energy maintaining decent living conditions.  I carefully tiptoed my way through the mess and towards my closet where I kept all the things I would need for an unplanned trip. As I grabbed one of my smaller suitcases and begun stuffing it full of clothes and hygiene articles I glanced around my room a little bit. It was a one room apartment and the only extra room it offered was the small bathroom with barely enough space to hold the small shower, toilet and sink that they somehow had managed to squeeze in there. It certainly wasn`t much to the world, my bed – or the mattress which I referred to as my bed- was on the far left of the square room while my small gas stove was just across from it on the far right side. In the middle of all that and in the middle of my ocean of garbage was a low square table that was actually big enough for four people, however it was currently swamped with copies of my various old work assignments and several other job hunting magazines. I lived a very simple life.  After a few minutes I finally finished packing and went back to Hyun Kyun who was leaning against the hood of his car with his hands on his hips.

“You ready?” he asked as he saw me approaching. I nodded.

“Yes, sorry for the wait.”  I gave a slight nod in return before helping me load my suitcase into the back of the car.

It took us about 20 minutes to get to the airport, just as Hyun Kyun had suspected, and as we made our way towards our gate I spotted a huge mob of screaming girls pressed against the glass that separated the waiting room for those boarding the flight from those seeing their loved ones off.

“I guess they`re here.” Hyun Kyun mumbled as he urged me to follow him as he squeezed past the girls and continued on towards the security check. He handed me my ticket and I pulled out my passport for the guard to see before he too urged me to move on and follow Hyun Kyun. When we were behind the doors that let from the airport entrance to the gate waiting room I realized how quiet it grew, which was odd since the girls defiantly hadn`t stopped screaming. Obviously sensing my confusion Hyun Kyun said with a smaller laugh.

“Sound proof glass.” He nodded towards the glass windows surrounding the room.” Best thing about this airport if you ask me, come on now, they`re right over there.” He pointed towards a group of people only a few feet away from us. I immediately recognized them as Exo and while I was getting slightly better at handling my nervousness, just looking at them still made my heart race. Which was odd in my opinion but I absent mindedly shrugged it off and followed Hyun Kyun.

The boys of Exo took little notice of me and Hyun Kyun joining them and before I had time to sit down myself the flight attendant called out that we now could board the plane.

I had been instructed by Hyun Kyun that I would be seated alone on the plane so it was safe to say that once I`d found my seat on the plane and sat down I received quite a shock when Kai suddenly sat down next to me.  I looked at him in utter confusion.

“Kai, wha- why- aren`t you supposed to share a seat with-“ My voice trailed off as I gestured towards the many exo members who were all taking their seats in random places around me.

”-one of the others members?” Kai finished my sentence for me as he strapped the belt around his waist. ”Yes, but I need to talk to you.” I stared at him in confusion and for the first time since he had sat down in the seat next to me , Kai turned and looked me straight in the eyes.

“Did your boyfriend forget about you last night?” The question caught me so off guard that I subconsciously let my jaw drop slightly for a moment while I tried to figure out what he was talking about, then I remembered the lie I`d told him and the rest of Exo last night.

“Oh, umm, well-“ I began as I tore my eyes away from his piercing gaze and fumbled with the hem of my shirt. “Well no he didn`t. I never called him.” I continued as I glanced at Kai, mentally cursing  at myself for getting tangled up in that lie and then scolding myself for actually continuing it.

“Why not?” He pressed, obviously curious to know why I never went home. It baffled me that he would show such interest in someone he barely knew, but then I shrugged it off as just friendly concern.

“Well I didn`t finish my work in time so I decided to work on it overnight. Unfortunately I fell asleep and didn`t get it finished in the end.” I laughed awkwardly in a desperate attempt to break the rapidly growing tension between us. I wasn`t sure if Kai bought my lie or not but in the end he relaxed a little and his previously intense gaze softened.  He didn`t say anything in reply as he moved his gaze from me and toward the back of the seat in front of him. I studied him curiously for a few moments before he finally spoke again.

“What?”

“Oh, um, aren`t you supposed to go back to your seat now?” I asked, to be frank I didn`t mind him sitting next to me but I was dead set on sleeping the whole way to our destination and would therefore not be the most entertaining seatmate.

“No, it`s too troublesome. Don`t mind me though, you can sleep.” He looked at me and flashed a small grin.” You look like you need it, those are some pretty dark circles under your eyes.”  He laughed to himself as he pulled his headphones over his head and covered his ears. My face grew hot and red in a flash and I immediately turned away from Kai and faced the window.  It wasn`t only his comment that had caused my face to so suddenly change color and temperature, it was the way he said it and that grin that made it all the more embarrassing to hear.  I didn`t know anything about Exo besides what I`d learned since yesterday, which was basically their names, but if I were to take a wild guess I`d guess that their fans must have a hard time keeping their hearts in place if Kai grinned and talked like that on a regular basis to them.  I dared a glance at my seat mate only to find him already lost in his music with his eyes closed leaning back against the seat.

“Aren`t you heartbreaker material.” I muttered as the thought briefly crossed my mind that Kai sure seemed like the type to break girls hearts, maybe not intentionally though but still.  

My heart was still fluttering slightly when I finally decided to close my eyes and go to sleep, I had a small suspicion that I wouldn`t be getting much sleep the next couple of days so I wanted to get as much as I possibly could right now.  As soon as my eyelids were closed I was surrounded by complete darkness and it wasn`t long before I fell into a deep dreamless sleep. 

A/N Sorry for the rushed ending, I hope it wasn`t too terrible. Anyway, I`ve started school now so update might be a little bit slower but I have fridays completely free so I have time to write then ^-^ Until next time my fellow EXOtics <3