Alex woke up in a strange bed, inside an unfamiliar house with hushed voices. She blinked her eyes open, turning her head to the side to look at the people talking in whispers.

“She should be in a hospital right now.”

“Xiumin, she just had a panic attack. It’s normal to faint when they have an episode.”

“You’re not a doctor, you don’t know if it’s just that. And I think Kai here also needs to get checked. Look how shocked he looks.”

Ever since they arrived Baekhyun’s house and settled Alex in the guest room, Kai just slumped against a wall and kept his gaze on the window, eyes widened in fear.

“Wouldn’t you be in shock if someone faints on you after a breakdown?”

They boys turned their heads towards the bed after a small whimper was heard. They rushed over to help Alex sit up slowly and Baekhyun ran out to bring her some water. After he came back and she had a sip, Alex was finally able to take a good look at them, noticing their distress.

“I’m sorry you guys had to go through that. I shouldn’t had asked you to come with me.” She whispered.

Baekhyun shook his head and sat down next to her. “I’m glad we went with you. I don’t want to even imagine what would’ve happened if we didn’t.”

Kai took a step closer and sat down at her other side. “How are you feeling?” He immediately faced palmed himself for not thinking of another question. God, I’m so stupid.

Alex flashed him a sad smile and leaned back against the headboard. “Not good. I’m terribly confused and extremely terrified.”

The boys settled themselves closer to her on the bed. Kai placed an arm over her shoulders and gently rubbed his hand up and down her arm in comfort. Baekhyun grabbed one of her hands and gently squeezed. “You’re not alone on this, Alex. We’re here for you.”

“Try resting for today, okay? Tomorrow we can deal with what we found out.” Xiumin suggested as he sat down at the end of the bed beside her legs. He gently patted her leg and spoke again.  “Please? We need you to gain your strength again.”

Alex looked at the boy and sighed with a nod. “Okay…”

After a few minutes of silence, Alex looked around the room. “Is this your house?” She directed the question to Baekhyun.

They boy nodded and offered her a smile. “It is. I’ll give you a tour later.”

“No offense, Alex. But you’re actually heavier than I thought.”

The girl turned her head towards Kai once he said that and elbowed his stomach. They boys laughed as Kai grunted and pulled back his arm from her shoulder to rub the area where he was hit. “I’m just saying… walking 30 minutes with you unconscious on my arms isn’t exactly how the movies picture it.”

“I didn’t ask you to carry me.”

“I wasn’t going to drag you all the way here.” Kai mumbled with a grunt. “My momma raised a gentleman not a caveman.”

Alex rolled her eyes and the boys laughed even more. A few minutes later, Baekhyun stood up. “I’m going to check the fridge for food. Is there anything specific you’d like, Alex?”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t have much of an appetite right now. I’ll eat a snack later.”

Baekhyun gave her a small smile and turned to the other boys. “I’ll be back guys.”

After he left, Kai excused himself to go to the bathroom and Xiumin settled closer to Alex. “So… how about a movie marathon today? Have any favorites?”

Alex shook her head with a small chuckle. “I don’t have much time to watch television. But I’ll watch whatever you want.”

Xiumin puckered his lips while thinking. “Mmm… do you have any hobbies you like?”

“Playing soccer. Whenever I have free time, that’s what I usually do.”

The boy smiled. “You’re a great captain. How long have you been playing?”

Alex raised a brow in confusion. “I thought you already knew that. Baekhyun asked me those questions a few days ago for your project.”

“Ah the project. We haven’t really been able to sit down and discuss what we already have.”

“I’m sorry…” She sadly smiled. “I guess you thought this was going to be an easy thing.”

Xiumin shook his head and chuckled. “Not at all. I knew it was going to be a challenge, no offense. I mean, you’re the mysterious girl.” 

Alex furrowed her brows and looked at him. “Can I ask you something?” He tilted his head and smiled for her to continue. “Why me? This project of yours consists in writing about someone you admire and respect, but you don’t even know me.”

Xiumin smile faded a little. He took a moment to look at her before he slid closer and took her hands. “When I first heard about you, people made it sound as if you were this dangerous person. They made it very clear not to mess with you. I didn’t saw who you were when they said that. I remember seeing you for the first time in the school’s cafeteria. You were a little intimidating, I wont lie. But there was something with your eyes… you looked… so lost.”

Alex lowered her gaze and swallowed back a few tears threatening to fall. Xiumin gently squeezed her hands and continued.

“As soon as the teacher gave us that project, I took the opportunity to get closer to you and see for myself who you truly are. Because you see, Alex, I can tell by a person’s eyes when someone needs help. I think Baekhyun does too which is probably one of the reasons he agreed to do this project with me.”

“He has more reasons?”

“I think he does. I don’t want to push him into telling me why. Maybe one day we’ll know. But for me… this is more than a project, Alex.”

Alex turned her eyes back to him as he continued. “I was bullied in China. I think I paid more visits to the hospital than what I go to school. My dad always thought it was just me being clumsy because I didn’t want to say what truly happened. I was scared of what they would do if dad found out. It wasn’t until one day they decided it’d be fun if they locked me inside a closet overnight after getting pinned down that I decided to speak out. My dad finally found me the next morning, I could tell he was hysteric trying to figure out why I didn’t come home. He saw all the bruises, the broken wrist… the blood. I told him what happened. And he took action.”

The girls had her eyes widened during the conversation and with a shaky voice she asked, “What happened?”

“The police got involved and those boys are at a juvenile prison for violence. I was able to get the justice I deserved.” He leaned forward a bit and determinedly looked into her eyes. “Which is exactly why we want you to speak to authorities for this. Alex, you’ll have a chance to be free of that. Live a life you truly deserve.”

Alex opened to respond but decided to let the conversation die there. She pulled back her hands. “I thought you said we weren’t going to talk about it today.”

Xiumin sighed and leaned back. “I know… but… think about it? Please?”

Alex looked at him for a moment and before anyone could make another comment, Xiumin’s phone went off. He tucked it out of his pocket to look at the caller’s ID, widening his eyes. “Oh my god, Eunbi!”

Alex startled at his shout. “What happened to Eunbi?”

“We were going to go on our first date today. I completely forgot.” Xiumin frowned.

Alex glanced at the clock on the nightstand and turned back to the boy with a small smile. “It’s not even seven. Just go out now.”

Xiumin shook her head. “No, I can’t leave you guys now. I’ll just ask for a raincheck.”

Before Xiumin could press to answer the call, Alex snatched the phone out of his hand and looked at him with a pointed look. “If you want Eunbi to be your girlfriend, don’t let her down on your first date.”

The lad was about to answer back but Alex caught him off. “This is exactly what you’re going to do now if you want to be on her good side. Two streets down her house there’s a bakery. Eunbi loves the apple pie from there and their mocha latte. Go there and get her that, then meet her at her house. You are not going to answer any calls or texts she sends you from now to her house. That way she’ll be surprised.”

Xiumin sighed, looking unsure. “I don’t think I should leave you guy-“

“Go!” Alex demanded as she handed him back his phone. “Kai and Baekhyun are here, so I’ll be fine. Now go and enjoy your date. Do you have her address?”

Xiumin nodded. “Okay, I’ll go but tell the boys to call me if there’s anything you need, okay?”

Alex rolled her eyes and waved him. “Just go already. And bring me back some cinnamon rolls.”

The boy chuckled and headed out the door. As soon as he left, Kai and Baekhyun appeared with food trays. “Where’s Xiu?”

“I sent him away to meet up with Eunbi.” Alex answered Kai’s question.

“It’s about time he made a move.” Baekhyun chuckled as he placed the food tray on the bed. “I’m going to go take a shower before I eat. You two won’t kill each other while I’m gone, right?”

Kai scoffed at the question and Alex let out a small laugh while standing up from the bed to stretch herself. “That sounds very intriguing, especially since he said that I was heavy. But I don’t have strength to do that today, so maybe another time.”

Kai sent a glare at her direction and Baekhyun laughed at the comment. “Behave you two.”

With that said, the lad disappeared to his own room leaving Kai and Alex alone. He cleared his throat and took a bag of chips, offering the girl some. She politely declined and took the moment to look around the pictures that were placed on top of the dresser. She smiled when she saw a picture with Baekhyun and his father riding a horse, the boy seemed to be struggling to get on it. In every other picture a small Baekhyun was found next to another girl. “The Byun family seems to be pretty close with each other, huh?”

Alex asked the question to herself, but Kai answered with a nod. Alex kept scanning the other pictures. Every single one of them was a younger Baekhyun and a girl, happily playing with each other. “Who is she?” Alex asked in curiosity.

Kai stepped closer to look at the picture and a sad smile appeared on his lips. “That’s Yoona. Baekhyun’s cousin. She died a few years ago.”

Alex slowly nodded and looked back at the frame. “What happened?”

“Baekhyun doesn’t like to talk much about it. All I know is that she was killed.”

She looked back at the boy with wide eyes and her heart ached. She can’t even begin to imagine what Baekhyun must had felt during that time.

“They were really close to each other. Quite inseparable.” Kai lowly chuckled before turning back into a sad smile. “Baekhyun is a whole lot better now but when it happened, he changed. Her death took a huge hit on him. We don’t like to ask about her because it still hurts him a lot.”

“It’s understandable.” She lowly said. She turned around and sat on the bed, poking at the bag of chips. “Where you close with her too?”

Kai shook her head and sat on the floor in front of her. “I only knew her for a year before that happened. We were all in middle school by that time. That’s when I first met Baekhyun.”

“I see…” Alex nodded. “How did you and Baekhyun meet?”

Kai let out a laugh before responding. “Uh, well it’s kind of embarrassing now.”

“Why?”

He rubbed a hand behind his neck. “We were both kind of interested in this same girl and we found out that she was also interested in both of us. So, we had a little competition about who gets to win her.”

Alex gave him a weird look before bursting out in laughter and Kai couldn’t help but smile at that. “Who won at that?”

Kai laughed and shrugged. “Neither. She ended liking an older boy and left us hanging. So Baek and I talked about that one day and laughed so hard at how ridiculous we were. After that we became friends.”

“You two are such geeks.” Alex chuckled.

“That doesn’t make us geeks.”

“Well, you’re definitely not a player.”

“No, that’s Kris.” Kai pointed out and Alex laughed. “He’s the ladies man.”

Alex shook her head with a smile. “Can’t really blame him. The guy is hot.”

Kai rolled his eyes and snickered. “Does that mean you like him too?”

“Oh, hell no!” Alex chuckled. “The guy’s hot but he’s way out of my league. Besides, he’s not really my type.”

Kai leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and curiously looked at her. “Who is your type?”

Alex looked at him and smirked. “Why would you want to know that?”

The lad let out a cough and hid his red cheeks behind his knees. “J-just making conversation.”

Before Alex could give a response, the door opened, and she noticed the small frown appearing on Kai’s face because of his unanswered question. She suppressed a laugh and turned her head towards the other boy entering the room. “Who’s ready to eat?”

Focus, Xiumin, focus. You just knock on the door and apologize. That simple.  

The boy stood nervously in front of Eunbi’s house, thinking how to approach. Per Alex’s instructions, once he left Baekhyun’s house he quickly went to the bakery he was told and bought two apple pies, a mocha latte and a few cinnamon rolls for Alex. All to impress the girl he liked. He took a nervous breath and knocked on the door. After a good long minute, he took a step back when the door opened, revealing a somewhat annoyed Eunbi. “Xiumin?”

The lad gave her a sheepish smile. “H-hey Eunbi…” He waved the items on his hands for her to see and noticed a look of surprise on her face before it quickly turned annoyed again. He gulped and lowered the items to his side before letting out an apology. “I’m so sorry for not answering your calls. I wasn’t exactly in great situation earlier.”

Eunbi’s annoyed frown turned into a worried one. “What do you mean? Are you okay?”

Xiumin sighed and bent down to place the food on the ground before sitting on the porch. Eunbi followed his actions and sat down next to him, waiting for an explanation. “A lot happened today, Eunbi. With Alex…”

The girl widened her eyes and grab hold of his arm. “What happened with Alex? Is she okay?”

The boy nodded and waved a hand. “She’s alright for now. She’s at Baekhyun’s with him and Kai. I’ll go back there later.”

“But what happened? Why is she there?”

Xiumin let out a sad smile and took hold of her hand, giving her a gentle squeeze. “I think it’s best that she explains herself what happened. It won’t be today, though. I promised her that much.”

Eunbi thought of insisting on an explanation but looking at the boy’s eyes, she noticed how tired he truly was. “Whatever happened must have been quite difficult for all of you.” She whispered.

Xiumin let out a low bitter chuckle and looked towards the grass. “You have no idea….”

They both sat on the porch silently for a few minutes until Eunbi decided to poke inside the baker’s bag. “Apple pie, mocha latte and cinnamon rolls?” She chuckled and looked back at the boy. “I’m guessing you had a little help.”

Xiumin flashed an embarrass smile and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah… it was actually Alex’s idea for me to come here.”

“Well, I guess she must had thought you could use the distraction.” Eunbi smiled and took a sip of her mocha latte.  “Tell me a little more about yourself, Min Min.”

“Hm…” Xiumin scratched his head while thinking. “What exactly would you like to know?”

Eunbi chuckled. “Your story. Where did you grow up? Your parents? You know… who is Kim Minseok?”

Xiumin smiled and leaned back against the rail on the porch. He took a bite of the apple pie and looked at her. “Well, I grew up in a small town in China and when I was about seven my parents moved to Beijing where my dad was able to find a very good job to support us. I’m quite a shy person so I never had a lot of friends while I was there. As a matter of fact, I was bullied constantly, to a point where I had to involve authorities.”

The girl widened her eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah…” Xiumin nodded. “It wasn’t pretty. But I got help and that was resolved. Um… what else? Oh, my parents are separated.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Xiumin chuckled and shook his head. “It’s not that bad. They’re not divorced, just separated. At least my parents ended on a good side, so we don’t have the whole family drama. I decided to stay with my dad because he moved here.”

“Is difficult being away from your mother?”

“I do miss her a lot. But I learned how to adapt quickly. Besides, we made a plan for us to see each other on holidays. Sometimes she’ll come here, or I fly out to China.”

Eunbi smiled. “It’s nice that everyone maintains a good relationship, at least.”

“Yeah, we do.” Xiumin shrugged. “My parents still love each other, to be honest. But they had a few differences they just couldn’t deal with as a couple. I hope one day they can. They brought the best of each other out when they were together.”

Eunbi scootched closer to the boy and hugged his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. “The last thing a person loses is hope. So, who knows what could happen, right?”

Xiumin smiled and rested his head on top of hers. “Yeah… who knows.”

They both kept quite for a bit while they finished their sweets. Once done, Xiumin spoke. “Do you think your parents would be okay if you spend the night at Baek’s? I’m sure Alex could use another girl there.”

Eunbi chuckled. “I’ll ask them. Pretty sure they’ll say yes. I’ll go check.” She quickly gave him a small peck on the cheek before sprinting back inside her house, leaving Xiumin speechless and blushing over the gesture.

“You’re going to make it fall again!”

“Shut up! I’m thinking!”

“You’re making the wrong move!”

“Bite me, Byun!”

“It’s going to fall!”

“Byun Bae-!”

The sound of the Jenga pieces falling on the ground were heard all over the living room when Kai took out the wrong piece from the tower. Baekhyun let out a groan and ran his hands on his face in frustration. “I told you it was going to fall!”

“It’s not my fault! You two already took out the better pieces.”

Alex rolled her eyes and crossed her legs as she placed back the pieces on the ground on the coffee table in front of her. “No offense, Kai, but you seriously at this game.”

The girl ignored the glare directed at her. “It’s a stupid game.” Kai mumbled.

Baekhyun shook his head and grabbed the box to put away the pieces. “You know what? I don’t want to play this anymore.”

“Why not?” Kai whined.

“Dude, this is like the ninth time we play and it’s you who loses every time.”

“It’s called trial and error.” Kai scoffed and crossed his arms against his chest, earning a snicker from the girl in the room.

“Maybe we should play something a little less challenging for Kai.” Alex clapped and looked at the boy with a smirk. “Oh, I know! How about some Candy Land?”

Baekhyun laughed when Kai took the bottle of water next to him and splashed a little bit of water on the girl. Alex shrieked and kicked his leg. “Yah!”

Kai gave her a smug grin before t