“Alex spoke about her father?”

Both Xiumin and Baekhyun walked through the school's hallways once the assembly was over. Baekhyun explained how his small interview went, and how intriguing it was that even though Alex warned not to meddle in her personal life, she mentioned a small hint about herself. 

Baekhyun looked at Xiumin and nodded. “She did. It wasn’t much but still... it was something.” 

Xiumin looked at the ground lost in thought. “It feels as if she wants to talk about her life but also... she doesn’t.” 

Baekhyun raised a brow at him. "And it feels as if you know more about her than me. Are you ever gonna tell me what happened when you followed her?" 

Xiumin looked at him, and for just a second he thought of going against Eunbi's orders. But he's also fully aware of the consequences of doing that. He bit his bottom lip and lowered his head. 

His silence was enough of an answer for Baekhyun. He rolled his eyes and said,  "Fine, I won't pry anymore. But Xiu, shouldn't we be in the same page for this project?" 

Xiumin managed a small smile. "We are, Baek. It's just... it's a bit more complicated than that." 

They both reached Baekhyun's locker before said boy turned around to face Xiumin. "It's only complicated if you let it be. We're a team, Xiu. That's why there's two of us to help each other out." 

Xiumin looked at him and a thought came to his mind. What if Baekhyun finds out for himself? Maybe that's exactly what needs to happen. That way he tells his father. And technically, I wouldn't be going against orders.... Oh god, I'm so gonna die for this. He took a deep breath and spoke. 

"Hey Baek, wanna try something out?" 

Baekhyun furrowed his brows in curiosity. “Depends..." 

Xiumin leaned against the locker and explained. "You remember how Alex made us agree to not let her catch us following her.” 

Baekhyun raised his brow. “Yes...and your point is...?”

Xiumin mischiveously grinned. “Exactly that... let's not ler her catch us." 

“Are you insane?!” His friend gasped. “She'll kill us! And besides, she is going to read our notes by the end of each day. So she’ll notice if we write about her personal life.”

"That's just it." Xiumin shook his head and explained. “She won't kill us because she won't catch us. We can manage to keep a certain distance from her. Just enough so she doesn't see us." He watched his friend rub his forehead in frustration. "And let me worry about the notes. You just... help me out with this.”

Baekhyun scoffed in disbelieve and opened his locker to gather the books needed for his remaining classes. “Why you're so determined to go against Alex's words... I'll never know." 

"Actually..." Xiumin paused for a second, unsure how to respond. Baekhyun looked at him and immediately realized the struggle his friend was having. 
 

"Xiumin, what's going on?" 
 

Said boy sighed and with strength he said, "You'll know once we follow her. But for now... please don't ask anything else." He turned around and mumbled low enough for Baekhyun to not hear, "I'm already getting in trouble for this." 
 

Baekhyun mantained his gaze for a few seconds before turning back to his locker and frowned. "Fine. We'll go after school." He closed his locker and turned back to the boy. "But I need answers, Xiu. How else am I suppose to help?" 

Xiumin lowered his head guiltly and slowly nodded. 

“Min-min!” 

The boys turned their heads to the right and found Eunbi running towards them. “How’s it going?” 

“Just talking about our project.” Xiumin shyly smiled. “Are you free now?” 

Baekhyun watched their interaction and smirked at his friend’s shyness. “Guys, I have to go talk to Mr. Park for a moment. I’ll see you later.” He waved and left him alone, not before laughing at Xiumin’s pleading eyes for him to not leave. 

Eunbi chuckled and waved back before turning to Xiumin. “Well I have practice in a few minutes. I just came to see if maybe... you know... you’d like to do something after school? Maybe grab a bite?” 

Xiumin rubbed the back of his neck and lowered his head, trying to hide his red cheeks. “That would be nice." His smiled disappeared when he suddenly remembered his other task for the day. "Um... I can't today though. How about tomorrow?" He smiled at the girl.  

His crush noticed the sudden change, but decided to let it pass and quickly grinned. She instinctively leaned forward and kissed his red cheek. “Sounds good to me. See you later, Min-min.” She giggled and ran away, leaving the nervous boy frozen by the sudden move. He slowly placed his hand on his cheek and widely smiled while looking towards Eunbi’s back. 

Baekhyun was humming a song as he walked towards the counseler’s office. He abruptly stopped his tracks the second he laid eyes on a certain dark-headed girl and her two minions standing in front of Mr. Park’s door, and quicky hid behind a wall. 

“I just don’t understand why you’re letting those geeks do a project about you.” 

He squinted his eyes at Gaein’s words and tried to lean closer to eavesdrop the conversation.

“Yeah, Alex. You were suppose to give them a peace of mind, not let them take advantage of you.” Mina argued.

Alex closed her eyes and took a deep breath, annoyed by girls' comments. She turned back around and glared at them. “What I do or don’t do is my business.” 

Gaein whined. “But it’s not fair. Now we’re obligated to...speak to them.” 

Mina scrunched her nose in disgust. “Ew no, Alex stop them. I can’t even imagine being social with those nerds.” 

“Come on, Mina. Let’s go find them. We’ll do it for you, Alex. You don't need to worry about a thing.” Gaein grabbed her friend’s arm and started to walk away only to stop when Alex stepped in front of them in anger. The girl’s eyes widened and they took a step back lowering their gaze to the ground. 

Alex looked at them both and frowned. “You stop them and it will be the end of us.” 

“But-“

“Do not speak unless you’re asked to.” Alex quoted. She took a step closer and watched how the girls nervously took a step back. “I never told you to interact with them. If you want to or not it is your decision. And how many times do I have to tell you both to STOP meddling in MY business?” 

The girls bit their lip nervously and kept their gaze to the floor as Alex continued. “Consider this a last warning for both of you.” She turned around and grabbed the doorknob to Mr. Park’s office. “Get lost.” She turned the knob and went inside the office.

The two girls looked at the door before turning to eac