Even though the fans know that EXO members aren’t at the dorm, it didn’t stop them from waiting outside for the arrival of their idols. Of our idols. Girls with cameras are standing outside the building, awaiting the men of their dreams.

I have no choice but to agree when Kai told me that we will teleport to the restaurant. I groan, but I hold on to Kai tightly. I’ve seen how evil the fans could get when other girls are around EXO.

Even though I expected it, the tugging sensation still felt the same. We appear in an alley with crates of fresh fruits, ready to be sold for the day. I take a step and my surroundings wobble. Kai holds on to my arm to support me.

“We should have just had it delivered, Jongin,” I groan. At this rate, I might not even enjoy my breakfast with Jongin, much less keep the food down.

“You think I didn’t think of that?” he asks, scratching his blonde wig. “No one is supposed to be at the dorm. Dr. McLaren said we should be careful,” he grumbles.

“Okay, fine. Lead the way, Barbie,” I chuckle.

Before we reached the restaurant, Kai and I walked two more blocks without making eye contact with anyone. We stopped in front of a beige building with glass double doors. The restaurant has a soothing vibe. Fairy light are scattered on the walls, which is painted in blue and white stripes.

Kai finds us a table while I wander around the restaurant. A corkboard catches my attention. Dozens of small paper squares are pinned to it. EXO is written on a couple of them.

“Hey, I found us a table,” Kai says as he approaches me.

“I love you, Kim Jongin,” I read one of the notes on the corkboard.

He laughs nervously in reply. “I love you, too?”

“You look so uncomfortable,” I comment, chuckling at this dancing machine.

“I honestly don’t know what to say when fans say nice things to us,” he tells me as we go to our table.

“That’s why I don’t say nice things to you,” I say, wagging my eyebrows at Jongin.

He makes a face at me and I laugh. The waiter arrives and I let Kai order for the two of us since he’s the chicken mania. This guy really knows his chicken.

While waiting for our food, our drinks arrive. My blueberry juice is in a jar with a spiral straw. I take a sip. “You want?” I offer.

He shakes his head. “No, thanks. I’m saving room for chicken.” He grins.

“I can’t believe you’re going to eat a whole chicken,” I tell him.

“I can’t believe you get cold when Sehun is around,” he counters, his grin widening.

“Will you ever let that go?” I sigh. He shakes his head in response. I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and my index finger.

Kai takes a sip of water. “You like him that much?”

I exhale in defeat. “He’s my bias, you know? Of course I like him. Hell, I have a thousand photos of him on my laptop.” I slouch against the backrest of the cushioned chair.

“So why are you so angry when we you’re with him?” he asks, his head tilted to one side.

The waiter arrives, holding a tray of side dishes. There are glazed onions, buttered corn, and mashed potatoes. He places the plate of seasoned chicken in front of Jongin. The chicken is already chopped up. A plate of fried chicken is placed in front of me.

Kai takes one of the chicken legs and puts it on my plate. I look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Peace offering. I’m sorry if we annoy you all the time. It’s how we are all the time, you know?” He gives me a tight smile.

I feel touched. The chicken mania has given me chicken. I shake my head in disbelief. Kai-stans will die just for this piece of drumstick. Kai starts to devour his chicken, eating some of the side dishes with it.

“I don’t know why I’m so mad, too. But then again, I have read so many fanfictions where the character lives with EXO. But here I am, actually living with EXO and I’m burning them one by one,” I sigh, shaking my head. I don’t know why I’m feeling this way towards this glorious situation. I push my thoughts aside and grab the chopsticks, beginning to eat Kai’s peace offering.

∞∞∞◊∞∞∞◊∞∞∞

After eating, Kai gives his card to the waiter. We eat banana splits for dessert as we wait for the card. I think Jongin phone’s vibrates because he take sit out of his pocket.

“Oh, crap,” he says. He looks at me with alarmed eyes. He purses his lips.

“What?” I ask, the waiter coming back to return Kai’s card.

“Well, at least I brought these.” He rummages for something in his pocket. He hands me a black face mask. “Time to flee, fire princess.” He stands up, proffering his hand to me. I take it and he leads me to the comfort rooms.

“What the—” I didn’t even finish my question. As soon as the male restroom’s door closed, something tugs on my stomach and there is darkness once again.

∞∞∞◊∞∞∞◊∞∞∞

“I told McLaren to separate you from that girl and he didn’t believe me. Look what good it did to you,” I hear the manager tell Kai.

They’re on the room next door but I can still hear them. I place my head between my knees. I shouldn’t have gone with Kai. I should’ve just insisted on a delivery. I should’ve just it up at the dorm. I should’ve just stayed at the hospital.

Apparently, someone saw us walking on the street. Some fans still recognized Kai even though he was wearing his Barbie wig. A giggle escapes from my mouth as I remember Kai’s long blonde hair. My happiness immediately dissipates as I hear the manager scold Kai some more.

“Of all the housemates that you can have, it had to be a sasaeng fan,” he hisses.

My heart breaks as I hear him call me a sasaeng fan. All of the heat drains out of me and the room temperature drops. I take a deep breath. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to keep myself together. I feel like I might break anytime.

The door opens, creaking. I look up and see Tao standing at the doorway, his eyes wide. He walks briskly towards me. I stand up, not caring how stupid I look like in Luhan’s baggy floral sweater.

Tao hugs me, smoothing down my muddled hair. I hold onto him, not even overwhelmed that Huang Zitao is embracing me. Right now, all I care about is someone is here to hold me together.

“I will not take any more risks, Junmyeon. My decision is final. I’m pulling you out of the school,” their manager says with decisiveness.

My heart shatters if it’s possible to break some more. Tao holds me tighter and I sob. “I’m going back to the ward, Tao. I’m going back to that hellhole.”

∞∞∞◊∞∞∞◊∞∞∞

My mom said that the first time I used my ability is when I was practicing wushu. I broke my leg for the first time and the pain was so bad. I unknowingly went back in time, and maintained balance so I wouldn’t fall down. Then, I shifted back to my proper timeline with my leg unharmed.

I felt a strong impression of déjà vu. I kept telling my mom that that day happened before but something is wrong. I still remember her warm hands on my face as she smiled. There’s something you have to know, Zitao, she told me.

That was the first time that I was able to go back in time. It was also the last, but this happened. We didn’t have a schedule for today. We just had to go to a stylist. So, as usual, I slept in.

I heard screaming from the room next door, Robin’s room. Some of the members slept there last night. The floor rumbled for a while and the screaming stopped. What are these guys up to? I reluctantly got up from the bed, wrapping my comforter around myself.

I went out of our bedroom, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Before I could turn the doorknob to open the door, Suho opened it, dashing out of the room. Some of them followed Suho to his room and I walked towards there instead.

Suho had his phone and was frantically dialling it. Chanyeol was excitedly waiting for the call to connect. Suho pressed the speaker button and we heard the call connecting. Kyungsoo was sitting beside Suho, patiently anticipating with blank, wide eyes. I bet he made the ground rumble to stop the shouting.

Sehun and Luhan arrived just in time when the call connected. Kai was with Een at the dorm. My eyebrows shot up. I thought she was still in her room. I was going to ask if she had good pictures of me, not just the stupid pre-debut photos.

Kai said that she was sick and I took a step forward from the doorway. Before I could ask her if she was okay, Sehun did. I could see the collective smirk of the other members and it occurred to me that Robin likes Sehun.

Oh, okay. I walked out of the room and into the Een’s room where the others are. Kris asked if they were calling Robin and I nodded. They went to Suho’s room, too. I wandered around Een’s room, still amused by the fact that she’s our fan.

I saw the Kris poster which was the reason he burnt Kris. I shook my head, that girl couldn’t control her powers very well. I groaned, lying on the bed. At least, she can use it, unlike me. I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep.

I was woken by Suho and I sat up, disoriented. Robin and Kai were out and some fans spotted them. Uh oh, I thought. Someone with the same abilities as Kai, he introduced himself as Officer Langdon, teleported us immediately to the dorm.

I waited and waited, worried about Robin and Jongin. Some of the fans could be really inconsiderate. My thoughts shifted immediately to Een, who isn’t an idol. The doors opened, revealing Kai and Een, who are gasping for air. I stood up but before I could call them, our manager called them.

I sat with the other members, nervous and tense. The atmosphere was very stiff on the room. We could hear our manager scolding Kai, flinching as the words struck.

“It had to be a sasaeng fan.”

All of us flinched, our heads snapping towards each other. Kyungsoo’s eyes were wider than ever. Sehun was breathing heavily, a light breeze blowing his hair. Suho buried his hands in his hair. Baekhyun tapped Chanyeol’s shoulder, comforting him. Chen did the same with Xiumin.

Luhan gave me a tight smile and it crossed my mind that we were all there to comfort each other while Robin was in another room, hearing these stuff alone. I stood up and walked out of the room, dashing to where Een is.

I saw her with her arms wrapped around herself, as if holding herself together in one piece. This girl had threatened to expose my pre-debut photos but I couldn’t care less at that time. I held her and even if all our interactions before only involved annoying each other.

“I’m going back to that hellhole,” she sobbed.

Something inside me broke as her voice broke. I smoother her hair down, scrunching my eyes close. And now here I am.

I’m in my bedroom. My eyes immediately darts to the alarm clock beside me. 7am. I’ve gone back in time. I quickly stand up, dashing to Een’s room. I pass by Xiumin who’s on his way there.

I open the door to Een’s room, revealing a sleeping Suho, Kai, and Kris. I tiptoe past them, approaching the bed. I see Een sleeping. She looks so calm, so different from the tear-stained Een that I was with moments ago.

Sehun’s arm is draped over her and something inside me breaks again. But I just shake my head, putting it aside. I have more important things to do. I remove Sehun’s arm from Een and I poke Robin.

She stirs and eventually opens her eyes.

“Good morning,” I greet her, giving her a tight smile.

“Oh. Morning, Tao.” She yawns, sitting up.

“I was wondering if you can take a morning walk with me,” I suggest. My eyes point to Sehun who’s sleeping beside her. She looks at him and her eyes widen.

“Yep, sure, come on!” she agrees, immediately stepping out of her bed.

The world shifts and something pulls me backwards as I watch Een put on a sweatshirt.