The weather was getting chilly and the leaves were turning bright shades of red and orange. Minzy breathed in the crips air happily and strolled through the trees as she watched the buzz of activity from the distance.

Fall being her favorite season, she was excited to be back in school. She didn’t realize how much she loved being there once she had missed a week.

Fall festivities were under way and everyone was going all out. The school was decorated in fall colors, different kinds of pumpkins decorating the halls and rooms around the campus. Many charity events and auctions were being held.  Everyone was outside more often, relishing in the perfect weather, so people singing or playing their instruments could be heard. A visibly excited energy coursed throughout the school. It wasn’t until she passed by some girls who were cheerfully chattering away about their dresses and dates did Minzy realize why everyone was excited. The Ball was this week.

Hmm.. I completely forgot about that.

Determined to avoid Kai at all costs, she put her best into catching up with school work. Dara and Bom gave her crash courses on the acting and singing lessons she had missed, while Chaerin practiced dancing with her when she could. Jointly they also caught her up on other class work like makeup, hair and styling. She spent most of her time in her practice room, writing songs and choreographing dance routines for her classes. She had become so busy she felt like her purpose came back. She felt more focused than she had in a while that even the dreams had stopped for a bit. No mysterious men. No odd happenings. No silver hearts. She could breathe again.

On her way to lunch one day, she bumped into some of the Exo guys, who were also on their way to the cafeteria. She talked to them like old friends as they all walked into the dining facility.

Who knew I’d get along so well with all of them.

“Kai’s been looking for you, you know”, D.O revealed with a wicked grin.

“Yeah who isn’t”, I responded sarcastically, trying to steer away from that topic and making them burst out laughing.

They went upstairs, where they usually hung out and ordered their food. I was smacking Tao for stealing my food when I heard someone arrive to their table behind me. The rest of the guys welcomed him.

“Hello, Minzy.”

A silky warm voice greeted me from behind. I froze and quickly cursed myself for letting my guard down. I turned around and was met with his gorgeous caramel brown eyes. She in her breath and tried her best not to stare. His perfectly disheveled silver hair loosely framed his slightly prespirated face. She could immediately tell he’d been dancing. I blanked for a couple of seconds, feeling a bit disoriented. He lightly cleared his throat and I snapped out of my reverie. He had a goofy grin on his face, as if he had caught her doing something she wasn’t meant to do. Ahaha I’m leaving.

“As pleasant as this is, I have to get back to practice.” I quickly put my things away and got up.

Sehun frowned. “Noonaaaaaa don’t leave! We haven’t seen you in ages.”

“Yeah stay with us, Minzy.” Kai laughed, obviously taking advantage of the situation.

“Yeah, you wish I could stay. You can’t get enough of me can you”, I quipped. His boisterous laugh drew some glances their way.

“I think we all know it’s the other way around.”

“I can very well live, thank-you very much. Tao, you can have my food. See you guys around.” I waved at the rest and gave Kai the iciest smile I could muster and walked away.

“You won’t be able to avoid me forever!”, I heard him playfully shout from where he was standing.  I sharply turned back to scowl at him. He stood there smiling, being his normal enticing self. It annoyed her immensely that he could stir things up within her without even doing anything. She needed to stay away from him.

“Try me!”, I yelled back hotly.

_____

From a distance Bom, Xiumin and Luhan sat together eating, watching with amused faces as Kai and Minzy bickered.

“They can’t see it but it’s so obvious”, Luhan declared incredulously.

“Why is Minzy avoiding Kai though?”, Xiumin asked Bom in between bites.

Bom took a bite out of her corn before answering.

“I actually have no idea. She’s been acting quite strange since the accident...”

She suddenly clapped her hands and put on a determined face.

“No worries.This is how it always starts”, Bom answered with a gleam in her eyes. “I know they know they have chemistry. The question is, how long are they each going to resist before they give in to the other”, she finished with an evil grin.

“I have a plan.”

“To eat?”, Xiumin playfully taunted. She