"Oh my god! I want to help him out," Xiumin's muffled voice drifted in the air as he nearly fell out of his chair, jumping up and volunteering.

"Well, you could at least finish your food first so that he can at least understand you," Suho sighed, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose as he bit back an urge to laugh at the oldest in the room that acted more like a five year old.

"Whatever, whatever. i got this. I get the easy month! Yeah! February, which means Valentine's Day. This will be a piece of cake, so I'm all over it," he grinned happily as he made his way to the front of the room to join the very shy and slightly weirded out Jongin and the two leaders.

"You wish you could get a piece of cake right now," Tao quipped, sticking his tongue out boldly at his older friend.

"Hey, I will come over there and slap you. Respect your elders!" he shot back, completely forgetting the task at hand.

"Do you really want to mess with someone that knows Wushu?" Tao snarled in response, raising an eyebrow cockily, knowing that his opponent would have no argument.

"Anyway," Xiumin sighed , looking up at his taller target, "You can continue doing this the loser way for the rest of the month, but I totally have a plan for next month and you'll love it!" he exclaimed, happily clapping his hands together as he tried to stop himself from bouncing in his spot.

"Xiumin, can't you tell that you're scaring the boy with your energy? What happened to the mellow Xiumin that you were a while back?" Kris interjected, noticing the look of wild confusion and discomfort on the younger boy's face.

"Well, it's either this or stuffing my mouth all the time. Which one do you prefer? And, I got this way because I got to know all of you dorks. I'm always shy at first, but when I get to know people, I change completely, as you can see," he shot back confidently, crossing his arms across his chest as he poked out his bottom lip and his head to the side as if shunning them all.

"Uh, well, I guess that this is a bit of an improvement, but back to the moment at hand," Suho sighed, trying to reign in the steamed bun's attention.

"Oh, yeah. That's right. Well, like I said, you can keep doing it Luhan's way for the last few days of the month since that is the way it is going to work, but let me tell you of the plan for next month," he stated, realizing that he had a goal to fulfill. He stretched to stand on his tip toes, about to whisper what he had intended in his ear when he looked around the room, aware that the other ten pairs of eyes in the room were expectantly on him. He frowned cutely as he pulled away and put his hands on his hips.

"Now, do you guys mind? Guess we have to go out," he sighed, grabbing Jongin by the hand to lead him out the room.

"Hurry, someone lock the door!" Baekhyun called out teasingly as Xiumin halfheartedly slammed the door.

"Okay, Xiumin? What do I have to do this time then?" Jongin asked blandly, not completely sure whether he should listen to him or not.

"Oh, c'mon. You can at least sound happy that I'm helping you out here. I have other, more important, older stuff to do," he scoffed teasingly.

"Like what? Asking Kyungsoo in there for more food?" Jongin smirked, raising an eyebrow at the shorter male.

"Oh, I see that you're catching on to our ways already. I don't mind. This means that you're getting comfortable with us, and with what I'm going to tell you to do, you'll be comfortable with just about everyone in no time," he hinted, cracking a sweet smile.

"Well, it takes time, but, yeah. I think that I'm getting how things work around here. You are all very fun people and I'm finding that I don't have to be so shy anymore," he confessed, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's the spirit! Now, on to the plan. I guess it was good that Luhan told you what he did because that will transition perfectly into my plan," he smiled.

"Which is?" he asked expectantly, leaning in so that Xiumin could get his point.

"Ah, yeah. Well, you're good at dancing, right? Well, since I'm in leadership here, I can hook you up with an outdoor stage concert with the speakers and everything. I can play the most romantic song and you can break out your best dance moves and pretty much silently serenade her. But, that's only for Valentine's Day," he explained, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"And, what about the other weeks?"

"Ah, well, be as cheesey as you can. Girls love cheese. Be as hopelessly romantic as you possibly can. Shower her with compliments all the time, stay by her side, tell her what she wants to hear all the time. Buy her cute little teddy bears and chocolates periodically and show that you really appreciate her. That will do the trick," he elaborated.

"But, isn't that just like what Luhan told me to do?"

"Well, I'll admit, we're pretty close, so sometimes he influences me a bit," he shrugged, not wanting to give away too much information that the other might not approve of but smiling shortly after so as to evade an otherwise imminent awkwardness.

"Uh huh. Well, in that case, it doesn't seem too hard. I think that I've seen enough American soap operas to figure out how to do that," he stated as he thought about just how he would go through all of this.

"That's the spirit!" Xiumin squealed, clapping his hands together cheerfully. "You'll do fine. No pressure. All we want to do is help you get that girl!" Jongin only shook his head and smirked playfully at the older's childish joy though he could hardly contain his own excitement that was bubbling inside of him. For almost a month now, he had adopted a persona that, at the beginning, was completely opposite from himself, a persona that was loving and open with affection, but as the month was drawing to a close, was becoming a small part of him. He hoped that following Xiumin's advice would help him become a better version of a crumbling shell of himself. Although he was slightly frightened of having to perform for her during what he presumed would be lunch, he knew that this task was only going to give him even more confidence, something that he desperately needed if he wanted to belong in this new environment.

"What are you smirking at, mister? Do I need to teach you some respect, too?" Xiumin pouted, making himself look more like an adorable chipmunk than a slightly offended older friend.

"Nothing. You're just too cute sometimes, Xiumini," he chuckled.

"I'm not cute and you can't call me Xiumini. Only Luhan can do that," he scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Aww, I'm sorry," he sighed, assuming an apologetic air.

"Well, that's better," he retorted as Jongin bent down to his ear.

"Xiumini," he whispered in his ear playfully just as the bell rang. "Thanks for the help, Xiumini," he laughed as he opened the door and entered the room to get his things, leaving a shocked and slightly impressed Xiumin in the crowding hallway to think about how quickly Jongin was adjusting.

"You've learned quickly, Jongin. Now, go get her," he whispered as Jongin reappeared to meet you in the hall. Jongin only looked back as he grabbed for your hand and smirked, proud of himself.

"So, looks like you're getting along with all of them in there. That's good to see," you sighed happily as you both walked to your next class together.

"Yeah, the people here aren't so bad. I was scared for nothing. I'm getting over it now, I guess," he answered shyly, gripping your hand tighter. You didn't mind; you just wanted to see him happy and change for the better.

"Yeah, there's actually some really cool people here on campus. Not all of them are dorks like me," you joked cheerfully, trying to make a sweet smile appear on his gorgeous face.

Yeah, but you know something," he started, stopping in the middle of the hallway and lightly jerking you back with him.

"Hmm?" you asked calmly, not wanting to exhibit your internal confusion. Before your mind could process, he had both of your hands in his much larger ones and was staring longingly into your own deep brown eyes. You gulped, not wanting to know where this was going but wanting it to turn into something romantic, despite your best wishes to refrain from imagining such,

" ______, there may be a lot of interesting and cool people here, but you are the only one that I care about," he cooed, immediately pulling your body closer to him so the two of you were chest to chest and he was looking down at you with loving eyes.

"Ah-ah, thank you, Jongin, but that's really not necessary to say. I know I'm a loser," you stammered, trying to get your mind to catch up to the situation. In an instant, his fingers were twirling in your hair gently as he continued to stare down at you.

"No, you're not. You're beautiful and the most wonderful person that I've met," he corrected you politely, moving his hand to cup your now burning cheek.

"And I'm also the friend that you just met two weeks ago. Don't you think that you're laying it on a little thick already," you smirked, pushing him away and putting your hands on your hips sassily. "Don't think that I forgot that little bet that you have going on with me," you added, smirk growing as you wondered how he was going to redeem himself from this one.

"But, I want to treat you the way that you deserve. You are a true princess who needs all the attention she can ever want. I'm willing to give that to you. Please, hear me out. This isn't about some silly bet. I just want to make you happy, princess," he responded, stepping closer to you and trying to pull you back to him, making sure that he didn't hurt you. You sighed to yourself as you tried to push him away again but failed, feeling yourself enveloped in his warmth and surprising comfort as his arms wrapped around you tighter.

"You know that you can do that by just being my friend. I don't have to be your princess or anything like that. Please, Jongin. You don't have to do all of this. Who cares if you don't win the bet? I'll still be your friend and then we can drop all of this," you explained, pulling apart from him but still wrapped in his arms. You looked up at him with almost pleading eyes, hoping that he would understand the absurdity of all of this. He didn't. To him, this was slowly becoming less of a bet and more of a mission to get something that he didn't even know that he wanted. He wanted to be close with you and would try to accomplish that goal by whatever means possible. He really did want to treat you like the benevolent princess that you were in his eyes and wanted to see you smile. He didn't completely understand all of his actions, but he didn't have to because he was getting closer to you in the process and that warmed his own heart. He would never tell you the conflict between finding himself and having you, but all he could do to express even a tiny bit of it would be to keep following his friends' advice to show you what you really meant to him.

"Don't you see, I don't just want to be your friend. I want to be with you, no matter what, princess," he replied honestly.

"Well, we can be best friends. Don't worry, I like you too, Jongin. I just don't love you and I don't think that a silly bet like this will get me to do that. I'll still be with you, I promise. Just stop all this madness," you sighed. He looked down, ashamed as you pulled away from him. "Oh, don't be like that. You act like I just ripped your heart out. Please, Jongin. Just drop the bet and then we can get along normally," you pleaded, cupping his tanned face. "Now, let's get to class. I can always see you later," you added after no response from him. He simply nodded, head still head down in shame.

"Can I at least hold your hand?" he asked timidly, looking up at you with pleading eyes. You smiled sweetly before nodding and grabbing his hand, interlacing your fingers.

"You don't have to ask, silly. Even friends do this, sometimes. Come on, cheer up, Jongin. Ah, how about this? How about you come over my house tonight and we can study for the chemistry test together and have chocolate and snacks and everything," you suggested, smiling brightly. To your relief, an excited smile plastered his face as his mind raced with ideas for later. "There, that's the spirit. I'll see you at my house at 4 then? I'll see you later, Jongin," you grinned as you hugged him goodbye and made your way to your own class, hating yourself for being so excited about your upcoming time together.