“Good work today, guys,” Mrs. Choi praises from the front of the room. She places her hands on her hips and smiles at the class proudly.

You smile back at her and wipe some sweat from your forehead.

“Okay, go shower and get changed, class is over!”

You rise from your sitting position on the floor and chat with a few other girls on your way to the showers.

Today’s class was basically a refresher of some techniques you learned last school year, so it really wasn’t that difficult for you. A few of the girls compliment your skill as you enter the locker room and you blush at all their praises. You don’t think you’re that good.

It’s a little annoying that Mrs. Choi didn’t give you any time with your partners for the competition, but she did warn everyone about that. It’s up to you to approach Kai about practice.

But he didn’t even glance my way during class! You curse him in your head and think about how you should approach him while you rinse off the sweat from today.

You decide the only option is to just walk up to him after school and demand he go to the practice room with you. You want to win that competition more than anything, and if the two of you can get along well enough to come up with a routine, you just might have a pretty good shot at first place.

You change back into your uniform and wait up when a couple of your classmates call out to you. You smile at them as they jog over with their books held firmly between their arms. They both tower over you and you suddenly feel inferior. But Jihyun always tells you that your personality makes up for what you lack in height, so you ignore the annoying feeling.

“You’re so lucky to be partners with Jongin,” one of them, her name is Soojin, pouts. You’ve known her since your first year here and she’s always been really nice to you. If you had more classes together, the two of you would probably be really good friends. She reminds you of Jihyun.

“Yeah, he’s such an amazing dancer, and completely gorgeous,” the other girl says while clasping her hands together and staring into the distance dreamily. You laugh at her expression and shake your head.

“Naeun, don’t be dumb, Minhi likes cute guys,” Soojin laughs. She winks at you when your cheeks blush.

“Yeah, I like the cute type,” you admit with a shrug.

Naeun blinks at you. “But don’t opposites attract?”

At this, you burst out laughing. You’ll never be attracted to someone like Jongin. You even told Jihyun that if you ever start to find him attractive, she has permission to slap you.

You’re pretty sure she’ll never have to slap you.

“Not in this case,” you laugh.

“She’d much rather be partners with someone like...” Soojin taps her chin and scans the studio slowly. Her eyes narrow and she smirks when they finally land on someone. “Seungjin!”

Your cheeks blush and you slap a hand over , glancing back to make sure he didn’t hear anything.

It’s not like you don’t want Seungjin to know you like him, it’s just that you want to be the one to tell him. You’ve planned on confessing on multiple occasions, but you either chicken out or something gets in the way.

Soojin laughs under your hand and you pull it back with an angry pout. “Don’t say things like that so loud!”

The other rolls her eyes. “Minhi, I’ve known you for a while, and I’m pretty sure with the way you act around him, he already knows you like him.”

“I don’t care! I want to be the one to tell him!” You flap your arms up and down like a child and blush furiously. The thought of Seungjin already knowing about your crush has crossed your mind many times, and he probably does know, but you’d rather pretend he doesn’t. That way, when you finally do confess, you’ll feel a little less awkward.

Soojin rolls her eyes and ruffles your hair a little. “Calm down, he didn’t hear me.”

The bell rings and you give Soojin a warning glare that just makes her laugh again. Naeun twirls her long, black hair around her fingers and waves goodbye as her and Soojin walk the opposite way down the hall.

You let out a huff and scurry off to second period where you can whine for the thousandth time about not being Seungjin’s partner.

Only, you forget that Seungjin is in that class, too.

You and Jihyun end up passing notes back and forth until the teacher notices. He threatens to read the notes aloud to the class or the two of you have to separate. They’re both horrible options.

Jihyun opts to change seats because she knows you want to tell Seungjin you like him face-to-face, not through a bunch of borderline creepy notes.

“Alright, Miss Park, please stand up,” the teacher says with a sigh. He tosses the notes in the trash and waits as Jihyun gathers up her belongings.

You pout and tug at your best friend’s skirt. “Seonsaengnim, how could separate us?!” (A/N: Seonsaengnim means teacher in Korean ^^)

“Your aegyo is not going to work, Minhi, so please stop unless you want me to read all of your notes to the class,” he sighs.

You frown and release Jihyun’s skirt with a pout. “I tried.”

The class laughs and even the teacher cracks a smile. He shakes his head and surveys the room. “Seungjin-ah,” he shouts suddenly.

Seungjin nearly falls out of his seat and blinks at the teacher with a shocked expression. “Ne, seonsaengnim?”

“Switch seats with Miss Park, please.”

You and Jihyun exchange a quick glance and your cheeks turn a light shade of pink. Suddenly, you’re not upset with this change at all.

Seungjin glances back at Jihyun and then at you. He turns around and gathers up his belongings, grabs his backpack off the back of his chair, and heads towards Jihyun’s seat.

She smiles and moves aside as he approaches and winks at you before heading upfront to where Seungjin’s old seat was.

You take a breath before looking sideways at Seungjin. He feels eyes on him and smiles sheepishly when he meets your gaze.

“That should keep you guys quiet,” the teacher says with a firm nod. He goes back to the lesson immediately.

You struggle to focus on the lesson but can’t seem to forget about Seungjin sitting right next to you. You peek at him out of the corner of your eye and internally scream when you see him looking your way.

He smiles when you finally look over and points at a page in his notebook. You furrow your brows and he nods his head, again tapping the same spot on his page.

You glance at the teacher to make sure he’s not looking. He has his back the class, so you take the chance to lean over a little and look at the notebook.

At the top right corner of the page is a little note:

Sorry about this, you probably really want to sit with Jihyun-ssi  (⌒_⌒;)

Your cheeks flush and you shake your head violently to make sure he knows it’s no big deal. In fact, you’re beyond thrilled with this new seating arrangement.

Sorry, Jihyunnie, you think shamefully when you notice her giving you angry eyes. She clearly knows you’re not upset in the slightest.

Seungjin’s eye smile reappears and you swear his cheeks look a little red. You both face front and you struggle to pay attention for the rest of the class.

The day drags by and, once the final bell rings, you’re forced to awaken the sleeping Jihyun. Your lockers aren’t that far from each other, so you can walk together and chat.

She has singing lessons today, so you won’t be able to hang out.

You hug her goodbye after you both finish at your lockers and, once she’s gone, you exit the school.

You furrow your brows and scan the crowd of students for any sign of Jongin. You really need to talk to him about what the two of you are going to do for the competition.

You get sidetracked when you spot Seungjin walking towards the large school gate and decide you’d much rather talk to him. You rush forward but something large appears before you and you crash into it full force.

The object barely moves, but you end up stumbling backwards a few steps. You rub your nose and glare up at whatever got in your way. Your eyes widen when you spot Jongin staring down at you.

“If you wanted a hug, all you had to do was ask,” he smirks.

You give him a weird look and shake your head. “You stepped in front of me! It’s not my fault for bumping into you!”

“Whatever.” He rolls his eyes and you wonder if he wants to talk about the competition, too?

“I’m glad I found you, though,” you admit unwillingly. “We need to figure out when and where we’ll practice. I figure if we go to the studio afterschool on Wednesdays and Fridays we can-”

Jongin slaps a hand over your mouth and grimaces. “Okay, be quiet because you’re annoying me. We’re gonna do this my way.”

You glare at him and pull his hand off of your mouth. “Oh, really?”

“We’ll use the EXO practice room because I have practice there every day, anyway.”

“HUH? But there’s a studio right here, why do we have to use the EXO studio?” You shout.

“Because this makes my life easier. Come on.” He grabs your wrist and pulls you through the crowd of students and out the front gate, with you shouting protests the whole way.

“Jongin, let go of me!” You huff once you reach the street.

The other releases your wrist and wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Don’t call me that.”

“Isn’t that your name?” You ask dumbly.

“Call me Kai.”

“Kai?”

“That’s the dancer name the EXO boys gave me,” he explains with an impatient look. “Now zip it, I’m gonna be late for practice.”

He starts walking again and you struggle to keep up with his long strides. You give up on arguing about it, seeing as how he probably doesn’t care about your opinions at all. It’d just be like talking to a brick wall.

After a while, your legs are screaming in pain and you can barely catch your breath.

“How far away is this practice room?!” You cry out. Kai is way ahead of you.

“Just keep walking,” he yells back, not even bothering to glance your way.

You groan and trudge along behind him, muttering complaints and curses under your breath. You’ve never been able to travel long distances on foot with your short legs; Jihyun usually gives you a piggyback ride if you get too worn out.

“It hurts!” You whine, stopping in the middle of the empty street. You don’t even know this part of the city. There are a few shops along the street, but there’s practically no one out.

“Are you a baby?” Kai shouts. He stops walking and turns around to glare at you.

“I don’t do well with distances,” you admit. “Jihyunnie usually gives me a piggyback ride.”

Kai rolls his eyes and starts walking your way. “You really are a child. If I give you one, will you shut up?”

He turns around and starts to reach for you, but you jump backwards with a yelp. “Yah, don’t touch me! I can walk on my own, I’m not a baby!”

“So stop acting like one,” he retorts with an irritated expression.

“Just keep walking,” you spit. He rolls his eyes but does as you command and you follow behind him.

The two of you finally reach some run-down looking building and Kai stops short in front of you. You bump into his back and stumble back a few steps.

“Stop doing that!” You hiss, rubbing your nose.

Kai gives you a smug grin and you spit your tongue out at him.

“We’re here,” he announces, walking toward a large, maroon door. There’s an electronic box with a bunch of buttons on it next to the door, which you assume to be the doorbell. Kai presses a button and you wait for something to happen.

“WHO IS IT?” Someone bellows from the other side. You flinch and subconsciously cower behind Kai.

“Hyung, don’t scream, it’s me.” Kai shakes his head with a lopsided grin.

“Oh, Kai,” the loud voice replies, not any quieter than he was before. It sounds a little scary because his voice is extremely deep. “Hang on.”

There’s a loud beep followed by a click. Kai turns the knob on the door and gestures for you to follow him inside.

You bite your lip and peek around the doorframe into the eerie looking… whatever this place is. There’s nothing but a small, dusty entryway and a long staircase that leads up to yet another rusty-looking door.

Is this really the place? You think to yourself as Kai hurries up the steps. They creak and echo throughout the entryway with each step he takes.

He stops at the top and looks down at you with a raised eyebrow. “Coming?”

Suddenly, the door slams shut behind you. You let out an inhuman screech and, before Kai can even blink, you’re up the stairs and clinging to his arm. You blink at your own actions and immediately release the other. He just gives you a smug grin and knocks on the door in front of him.

After a few seconds, the door creaks open and you find yourself peeking around Kai’s arm to see who’s there. You almost lose your balance on the platform when you see eleven male faces squished into the doorway, all of them staring at the two of you.

“Told you guys he had a girl with him,” one of them says. You recognize his voice as the one on the intercom and your eyes widen when they fall on his baby face. His voice doesn’t match his face at all! He looks like a kid!

You blink at him and realize you’re basically looking straight up to see him. What is he, a monster?

“Can I come in so I can explain?” Kai sighs, glancing at you over his shoulder.

There’s a lot of shuffling sounds as the guys step aside to let the two of you inside. Kai walks straight in, but you’re a little wary. One girl, twelve guys, a creepy old building, and no one around? This is like a scene out of one of those bad movies!

“What are you waiting for?” Kai groans and reaches back through the door to grab your wrist and drag you inside.

You stumble through the doorway and, upon smelling and seeing the inside, almost toss your lunch.

It smells like sweat and rotten food. There are dirty towels and shoes tossed everywhere. Off to the side of the large space is a sectioned off kitchen with dishes piled at least three feet high in the sink and food scattered all across the filthy counters.

There are a few couches in the center of the room and huge floor-to-ceiling windows on the far wall. At the left side of the room is an open archway that leads into what you can only assume to be the actual practice room. But you’re afraid to see – or smell – anything else.

“Welcome to EXO’s secret hide out!” The deep-voiced monster smiles. “What do you think?”

“I think...” you stutter and feel a cold sweat break out on your neck as your stomach does somersaults. “I think I’m gonna be sick!”

All twelve pairs of eyes widen and a few of the boys start shouting “NO, NO, NO!”, but it’s too late.

The first thing you do in the EXO hide out is toss everything in your stomach.

Hopefully this update was worth the wait?!

Have you guys ever been someplace where basically only guys hang out? Or like, a guy's room? If you have, multiply that by twelve and then you'll have a pretty good idea of what the EXO hideout looks - and smells - like.

The members of EXO will be formally introduced in the next chapter after you clean yourself up... lol. And if you were wondering who Naeun and Soojin are, Naeun is from "A Pink" and Soojin is....just an OC ^^;

Please comment and upvote, and I'll try to post another update sometime soon! (As in, sometime this weekend again)

And I realized in the last chapter that I kept referring to Kai as "Kai" before he told her that was his new name... so I went back and changed it all back to Jongin >.< Hopefully that didn't confuse anyone!

Annyeong~!