*A few minutes later*

                “It seems there’s no one here, Heechul.” Siwon said walking out of a room that was joined with the room that they were in.

                “There’s no problem with the princesses’ clothes either…not even a stain.” Nhichkun said as he and Seulong fix the princesses’ costumes on the mannequins.

                “Even so, all these roses…must have been very expensive. What a waste!” Seulong said as he looks around at the roses who are still scattered on the floor.

                “That’s not the point.” Taemin put in, worried of what this might mean.

                “Informing us was a good judgement call, Onew-nim. If other students found out about this, it would’ve become a big issue and could’ve easily gotten out of hand.” Heechul said complimenting Onew.

                “Ani, actually, we don’t really know what to do.” Onew said humbly as he rubs the back of his neck shyly.

                “Hmmm?” Taemin and Key said like they were saying ‘really?’

                “W-What?” Onew said startled at their reaction.

                “Nothing~” Key and Taemin said in a I-don’t-think-that’s-true kind of voice.

                “Today, all the members of the Home Economics club are on vacation, right?” Heechul said thoughtfully rubbing his chin with his finger. “Where’s Jokwon-sunbae?” as he turned to the other SC members.

                “I didn’t see him today.” Nhichkun said as he was clearing up the roses from the floor.

                “In that case, it must’ve been somebody from outside.” Siwon concluded.

                “Do you think there’s a bad intention behind this, Heechul?” Seulong asked lifting head from what he was doing.

                “Could it be a stalker?” Siwon asked voicing out what he thinking.

                “Stalker?!” the princesses all said in alarm.

                “That’s not necessarily the case. Someone probably just happen to leave the roses here.” Heechul said but they can all hear that he himself doesn’t believe what he just said.

                “That’s impossible…” Siwon said disagreeing with Heechul.

                “It’s only a speculation. Well, for now, just leave the rest to us. Princesses, please continue your work.” Heechul said.

                “Eh, but!” Hongki once again complained.

                “Hongki!” Key said scolding him.

                “What?! We’re the ones who’re being stalked!” Hongki retorted.

                “Staying here isn’t going to help. So it’s better for us to work.” Key replied trying to talk some sense into Hongki.

                “So what I was thinking is right. Someone was watching us.” Taemin softly said thinking back when they were at the hallway.

                Everyone’s attention now turned to Taemin with a questioning look on their faces.

                “What happened?” Heechul asked with a sense of urgency.

                “Just a moment ago, Taemin-ssi felt someone was watching him from outside of the school.” Onew explained.

                “Stop today’s work. The three of you, go back to the dorm first and wait for further instructions.” Heechul said to the princesses before turning to Onew. “Onew-nim, could you please go to the dorm with them?”

                “Ah, yeh.” Onew said bowing slightly.

                “First, we need to contact the members of the Home Economics club.” Heechul instructed his SC members.

                “Arasso.” Siwon said as he pulls out his phone and started dialling numbers.

                “After that, search the inside of the school.” Heechul continued.

                “Yeh!” Seulong and Nhichkun said and exited the room to do their task.

*Night at the dorm*

                “Hey, what do you think of what happened today?” Key asked just to break the uncomfortable silence.

                “Mmm…Maybe they were just presents from someone.” Taemin answered as he sits down on his bed facing Key who was seated on the desk chair.

                “That’s impossible.” Key said turning down Taemin’s idea.

                “Eh? What makes you so sure? Princesses are people’s idols, right? It’s normal to receive presents.” Taemin reasoned out.

                “Giving personal presents to princesses is not permitted.” Key informed Taemin.

                “Huh? Why?” Taemin asked a bit confused.

                “Don’t you think this room would be buried in presents by now if it was permitted?” Key said rhetorically.

                “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I guess you’re right. But if that’s the case…” Taemin said tilting his head a bit in thought.

                “As we suspected, it’s the guy you saw earlier.” Key concluded.

                “I only felt someone was there…” Taemin said while Key just sighed deeply.

                “Oh, by the way, where’s Hongki?” Taemin asked only just noticing that Hongki was not around.

                “Eh?” Key said wondering the same.

*On the phone*             

                “Yeah, that’s right…Yes, there’s going to be a bit of a delay here…Yeah, I’ll be back as soon as it’s over…I know. Well, good night, Eunhye-ah.” Hongki said to his girlfriend as he hangs up the phone with a smile plastered on his face.

                “Calling your girlfriend?!” Key said calling attention to him and Taemin who were huddled behind a wall eavesdropping on the conversation and startling Hongki with their sudden presence. “He sure didn’t tell her about the princess job.” starting with the teasing again.

                “How could I tell her about that thing?!” Hongki said in indignation.

                “Why not? It’s not nice to hide things from your girlfriend.” Taemin said joining in.

                “Yeah, that’s right! If you can’t tell your girlfriend the truth, it’s called a dishonest relationship.” Key said slyly.

                “So, it’s the kind of relationship that can’t survive without relying on dishonesty…” Taemin said in mock thoughtfulness.

                “Yeah, yeah!” Key said nodding his head in agreement.

                “Shut up! Stop it! You don’t even have girlfriends! What would you know?!” Hongki yelled in annoyance and in defence of himself.

                “Mmm…It’s okay to tell then?” Key said with a seriously evil expression. “It’s okay if I tell your girlfriend about everything, right?” narrowing his eyes as he glares at Hongki.

                “Sorry! I was wrong!” Hongki immediately apologized and kneeled down begging Key.

                “It’s good that you understand that.” Key said returning back to his normal self.

                “Well there’s a lot if summer vacation time left. If you really want to see your girlfriend, it’s okay to go see her.” Taemin said reassuringly.

                “Yah, Taemin, why do you spoil him so much?” Key asked quirking a brow in the process.

                “I can’t go.” Hongki said with his head bowed.

                “Huh?” both Key and Taemin were puzzled.

                “If a stalker really is out there, it might bring danger to those around me…like the people who are important to me.” Hongki said seriously.

                “Hongki…” Taemin said not knowing what else to say.

                “If something happened to Eunhye-ah, I…” Hongki said with his voice full of worry.

                “You really like your girlfriend, don’t you?” Key said commenting on Hongki’s actions.

                “What’s the deal with you guys?! You two really don’t have any girlfriends?!” Hongki said in disbelief.

                “I’m still looking! Sorry, I don’t have one.” Key said rubbing the back of his neck as he sneaked a glance at Taemin’s reaction.

                “Ahh…yeah, I don’t have one either.” Taemin said not making eye contact and is obviously uncomfortable with the topic.

                “Seriously? For you guys, it should be easy to pick up girls.” Hongki said still not believing what he was hearing.

                “Ah, let’s just forget about picking up girls for now. There’s a more pressing matter to attend to.” Key said successfully changing the subject.

*The next day*

                Students crowd the entrance to the dormitory startling the princesses with their sudden presence.

                “Princesses!”

                “We heard!”

                “Don’t worry! We’ll do our best to protect the princesses!”

                “Uh…Did everyone come back because of this?” Taemin, leaning to Key and whispered.

                “It seems so…” Key whispered back.

                “Right, everyone! Let’s get to guarding the place!” and with that they started to leave.

                “Something happened here too.” Leetuek said coming out from a room and headed to the princesses.

                “Huh?” the princesses said in unison as they turn their attention to their sunbae.

                “This was left at the door this morning.” Leetuek said as he pulls out a big bouquet of roses.

                Images of what they saw in the Home Economics room yesterday flashed through their minds sending a chill down their spines.

                “I’ve already contacted Heechul, and I’ll be more alert.” Leeteuk reassured them.

                “Don’t worry, princesses!” the students who they thought had left shouted taking them by surprise.

                “We won’t let that guy lay even a finger on the princesses.”

                “Even if we need to put our lives on the line, we’ll protect the princesses!”

                “So in compensation…”

                “Hmm?” Taemin said confused by their statement.

                “In order to protect the sanctity of our hearts, please bestow your mercy on us!” the students begged with tears in their eyes.

                “Mercy?” Taemin asked still confused.

                “Princesses, please!” the students said going on their knees.

                “They’re talking about that…” Key whispere to Taemin.

                “What? Oh, that.” Taemin said finally realizing what the other students meant.

                “Hongki, it’s okay, right?” Key said turning to his friend.

                “Yeah.” Hongki replied without complaint.

                “Thank you, everybody!” the princesses said as they give the other students their signature smiles.

                “Ahh! It’s so good to be alive!” the students exclaimed.

                “Thank you, princesses!”

*Student Council Room*

                “So, are there any clues?” Key asked hoping for the best.

                “No. There’s no trace of any outsider being inside the school.” Heechul replied solemnly.

                “We asked the florist about the flowers that were left at the dorm. They were ordered by a young man.” Siwon informed them.

                “A young man? What about his name?” Hongki inquired.

                “Unfortunately, we don’t know that yet.” Siwon answered making the princesses feel a little bit on edge.

                “So basically, we still don’t know anything.” Taemin said summarizing the information given to them.

                “Well, although it hasn’t caused any harm, we still don’t know his purpose in sending flowers to the princesses. If it’s simply a present, then it’s just a violation of the rules. I’ve encountered one before…a guy who broke the rules.” Heechul said thoughtfully.

                “Eh?” the princesses said curious of what the president said.

                “He was a kid from a rich family. Day after day I was bombarded with gifts. Even though I rejected them, I was embarrassed about it, but he couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” Heechul reminisced.

                “Oh, that’s…” Taemin said lost for words.

                “S-So, what did you do?” Key asked hesitantly.

                “Of course…I had a firm talk with him.” Heechul said with an evil glint in his eyes that raised the hairs on the back of the princesses’ necks.

                “What a stupid guy!” Siwon said shaking his head.

                “Totally unreasonable.” said Seulong.

                “No, no, we should say he’s a guy who just wouldn’t learn.” Nhichkun put in lightly.

                As they were saying this, this is what was going on in Taemin’s mind: What did they really talk about? I want to know, but I’m not sure if I really want to know…

                “Then do we have other clues?” Key asked.

                “None at all. But we do have a way to catch him.” Heechul said. “If he won’t show himself, then we have to use a bait to lure him out.”

                “So, we’ll be the bait?!” Key asked uncertainly.

                “Of course. But it’s going to be a problem if anything happens to you, so we’ll have bodyguards following you.” Heechul informed them of the plan.

                “But…” Key said hesitantly.

                “Arasso.” Hongki answered without a second thought surprising all that were present in the room.

                “Eh?!” Key and Taemin said in unison as they sharply turn their head to their friend.

                “I want to do it.” Hongki said firmly and with conviction.

                “Are you serious, Hongki?” Taemin asked to confirm what he just heard.

                “I don’t want this to go any longer.” Hongki replied seriously.

                “I understand, president I’ll do it too.” Taemin said after seeing how determined his friend is in doing this.

                “Taemin!” Hongki said in surprise.

                “Me too.” Key said looking Hongki straight in the eyes.

                “Key, you too…” Hongki said in appreciation.

                “I told you before; we’re in the same boat, right?” Key said giving his friend a reassuring smile.

                “Key…” was all Hongki could say to his friend.

                “That’s how it is. Please take care of us, Hongki.” Taemin said patting his friend’s shoulder lightly.

                “Taemin!” Hongki said with an appreciative smile on his face.