Chanyeol watched Nami's face heat up with embarrassment. Even though she was wearing a mask, he was able to see her almond-shaped eyes widen with surprise. He smirked. At that precise moment, he felt triumphant at having caught Nami off guard. Her expression was priceless.

"What's the matter?" he questioned her teasingly, "Why aren't you saying anything? Cat got your tongue?"

Chanyeol watched as Nami stayed rooted to the ground. His playful kiss had a bigger impact on Nami than he anticipated.

"Yah, Nami-ah" he called out to her, waving his hand in front of her face. "Hello? You there?"

Suddenly, Nami's eyes flickered and she finally recovered from her initial shock. She saw Chanyeol in front of her and abruptly took hold of his collar again.

"Woah, Nami-ah, what are you--"

Nami swept her leg from behind Chanyeol while pushing him down at the same time. Chanyeol was unable to finish his question as in less than a minute, his whole world turned sideways as he fell on the floor, landing on his back. Nami had done her judo throw on him again.

Chanyeol saw Nami towering over him, her face flushed pink and her eyes glittering with what looked like tears. He was about to shout at her, call her a macho woman but, seeing her upset caused him to bite his tongue. Instead of feeling angry at being thrown to the ground, he felt guilty. The kiss was only meant to be a joke. He didn't think that Nami would take it seriously.

"Chanyeol, you pabo!" she shouted at him before running out of the set.

The EXO members watched as an upset Nami fled the studio. Not knowing what to do, the EXO members followed Suho, who rushed to help a stunned Chanyeol up. All the members went to Chanyeol apart from one.

"I'm going to look for Nami-ah," D.O told Chen.

Chen nodded. "Bring her back to us when she's ready."

As Chen joined the rest, he saw that everyone had crowded around Chanyeol.

Suho's voice was raucous, "Yah! Why did you do that to Nami-ah? That's sexual harassment!"

"I was just joking" Chanyeol's voice sounded low and regretful.

Baekhyun commented, "You took it too far, Chanyeol."

"Yeah, says the one who walked in on her" he retorted.

"That was different!"

"Shut up, both of you" Suho growled. He pinched his nose bridge to signal how stressed he was. "I'm going to apologise to the staff for the delay. For now, I need someone to go and find Nami-ah."

"D.O went to look for her" Chen replied.

Xiumin approached Chanyeol. His face was dark. "You need to apologise to her, Chanyeol" he said icily.

Chanyeol shrank away from Xiumin. He had never seen him so serious before. "Yes, hyung" he answered mournfully.

~*~

D.O was walking briskly as he searched for Nami in the corridors outside the photography studio. She had run away so fast that he hadn't been able to keep up with her.

He turned left when he heard the sound of sobbing and eventually found an upset Nami, on the floor, hugging her legs as she hid her face behind her knees. D.O approached her quietly, unsure of how he could comfort her. It pained him to see her upset but it made him realise that despite her brave front, Nami was still a girl with sensitive feelings.

He sat down next to her and was quiet for a while. Only the sound of her sniffling could be heard echoing around the corridor.

"Nami-ah," D.O finally said, "All I can say is that I'm sorry for what Chanyeol did to you. He's not normally like this, he would never do anything to purposefully hurt anyone--"

"I'm not hurt" Nami's voice was muffled from behind her knees.

D.O watched as Nami lifted her face to reveal her teary eyes. She had taken the mask off so that he could finally see her face as a whole. Her eyes looked striking even though the makeup was slightly smudged from her leaning against her knees.

"I'm just upset at myself" she concluded. "I let myself get caught off guard by someone like Chanyeol. It's frustrating that I got taken advantage of."

D.O was quiet for a while. Then he responded, "You shouldn't be hard on yourself. How were you to know that he was going to do that?"

Nami thought for a moment. "I guess you're right." She smiled weakly. "At least I was able to floor him before I left."

D.O chuckled, "You should have seen everyone's faces. They were surprised."

D.O watched as Nami smiled to reveal her dimples. His heart fluttered at the sight.

"Thank you, D.O-ah, for coming to comfort me. I feel a bit better now." She pushed herself up and dusted her frock. "Why can't Chanyeol be more like you? Kind and thoughtful."

"He is kind and thoughtful."

Nami looked at him doubtfully.

"But he has a funny way of showing it" D.O added.

"Well, I think that how you show it is best" she said to him as she helped him to his feet. D.O felt his heart beat slightly faster at the touch of her hand. It was warm and soft.

"But, you shouldn't be too nice to me or your girlfriend might get jealous. Not to mention all your fans."

D.O was puzzled. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh" Nami was quiet for a moment. She looked at the floor and remembered what she had learned about D.O. He always treated girls nicely and she was no different. "That's a shame. Any girl would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend."

Then what about you? D.O asked internally. But what he ended up saying was, "You think so?"

"Yeah, I know so" she answered with a smile. "But you should be careful" Nami warned him playfully, "if you're nice to all the girls, they'll get the wrong idea." Nami started heading back to the studio. "Let's go back. We still have some more photos to take."

D.O watched as Nami walked ahead of him. He didn't understand why Nami had given him a friendly warning.

But I don't treat you like other girls, he said internally. You're the only one I treat this way.

~*~

"What a day, huh?" Chen said as he stretched his arms above his head. He was alone in the changing rooms with Xiumin as the others were still busy with their individual photos.

"Yeah, today was tiring" Xiumin agreed monotonously. He seemed preoccupied about something.

Chen inspected Xiumin closely. "Something up? You seem a little out of it."

Xiumin looked up at him. "Huh? What do you mean? Nothing's up."

Chen narrowed his eyes. They were both in the middle of getting changed so they were both shirtless. "Minseok-ah," he said sternly. Chen never addressed Xiumin by his real name unless he felt that Xiumin was hiding something. "Tell me what's bothering you."

Xiumin started buttoning up his shirt. "Nothing's bothering me" he insisted.

Chen hmphed. "Well, if you say so." But Chen wasn't convinced. He had been watching Xiumin over the past few weeks and he'd noticed some subtle changes in his behaviour. And it was subtle changes towards a certain someone. Chen had an inkling of an idea of what was bothering Xiumin. He tried a different approach.

"You seem to be paying a lot of attention to Nami-ah lately" he began. He peered at Xiumin who froze for a second. Chen smiled. Bingo.

Xiumin ignored his statement. Chen persisted, a lot more confident now, "Do you perhaps... have feelings for her?" he ventured to ask.

Xiumin froze again but this time Chen got a verbal response, "What? No! What are you saying?"

Chen raised a brow.

"She's like a sister to me" Xiumin continued, "I was just looking out for her. That doesn't mean that I have feelings for her."

Chen looked at him doubtfully. "I've seen how you treat Nami-ah and it's different to how you would treat your sister. It's more like how you'd treat a girlfriend."

Xiumin smiled playfully. "So you've been observing me?" He pulled an aegyo face. "Aw, is my wifey getting jealous?"

Chen aimed his dirty sock at Xiumin. Xiumin dodged it.

"Seriously though," Chen said sternly, "you've been looking out for Nami-ah to the point where if anyone tried anything on her, you'd lash out. You're the first to be at the scene each time. Is that what you would do for someone you considered 'like a sister'?" he asked making quotation marks with his fingers.

Xiumin sighed. "No, you're right. I have been very overprotective of Nami-ah but, that doesn't mean I have feelings for her. I think of her as a sister. Nothing more."

"But what if Nami-ah doesn't see you as 'just a brother'?"

At this Xiumin was quiet. "What do you mean?"

"What if she had feelings for you?" Chen asked. "What would you do then?"

Chen watched as Xiumin contemplated an answer to this question. He had his brows furrowed deep in thought.

Chen sighed at Xiumin. He knew it: Xiumin was completely oblivious to how Nami had been acting around him. Chen was no fool. He had noticed since long ago how Nami looked at Xiumin and the way she snuck glances at him and how she favoured him out of all the EXO members. His suspicions were confirmed when Nami last visited their room for a chat. When she found out that Xiumin wasn't around, she made an excuse to leave. And even when all three of them were together, Nami hardly ever asked about Chen. He always felt like he was the third-wheel in the room. That was when he knew that something was going on between them. But the question was, did they?

"I honestly don't know" Xiumin replied. "I have never considered it before."

"Really? But she's so close to you. It never once entered your mind that maybe, she might like you?"

Xiumin shook his head. "It's true that Nami-ah and I are very close. But she's also close to Sehun and Kai."

Chen nodded in agreement. It was true. Nami often played video games with them.

"And Nami-ah is close to Baekhyun and Chanyeol too" Xiumin continued. But Chen noticed how his tone shifted at the mention of Chanyeol's name.

"Did what happen earlier today bother you?" Chen asked tentatively.

Xiumin was frowning. "Okay, you got me! Yes, it did." Xiumin sat down on a nearby chair. "I can't believe Chanyeol did that. I know that he loves to tease people but he honestly took it too far this time."

Chen observed how Xiumin looked angrily at the table. Chanyeol was lucky that he wasn't in the changing rooms at that moment because if looks could kill, Chanyeol would have been dead already.

"I'm overprotective of Nami-ah because the others go overboard sometimes and forget that Nami-ah is still a girl. And she should be treated like one even if she's tomboyish."

Chen agreed. Xiumin did have a point. Sometimes the others did forget that Nami was still a young woman living with a group of guys. Living with Nami had been so easy that they had already forgotten there were boundaries.

"And it's been bothering me that Chanyeol won't stop badgering Nami-ah."

At this Chen spoke up, "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed? Since day one, Chanyeol has been stuck to Nami-ah like glue."

Chen could only nod. He knew the real reason why Chanyeol was going through great lengths to get close to her.

"I didn't want Nami-ah to fall for Chanyeol's tricks. Which was why I told her to be extra cautious of him."

"Cautious, how?" Chen asked.

"I told Nami-ah about Chanyeol's flirting habit."

Chen was puzzled. "But Chanyeol doesn't have a flirting habit."

Xiumin nodded. "I know. But I just told her that so that she would feel more comfortable around the dorm. You should have seen her that night when I caught Chanyeol trying to flirt with her. She was so uncomfortable and flustered."

"So you lied?"

"I prefer to call it stretching the truth" Xiumin corrected. "And so far, Nami-ah has heeded my warning. If I hadn't done that, she'd be more troubled about living in the dorm compared to now."

Chen was amused by this newfound piece of information. So that was why Nami had been playing hard to get-- Xiumin was the cunning devil behind it all!

"So what you mean to say is that you indirectly cock-blocked Chanyeol?" Chen mused.

"Cock-blocked?" Xiumin repeated aghast. "There should be no cock, to begin with!"

Chen laughed at Xiumin's response. It sounded like Chanyeol was dealing with an unknown force. There might be a high possibility that Chen might win this bet after all.

At last, the pair were finally ready to head home. "But still," Chen told Xiumin, "you should still think about what I said earlier about Nami-ah."

Xiumin looked away. "Don't confuse me, Chen. You know what I think about Nami-ah."

But the truth was, Chen didn't. All Chen knew was that Xiumin was always hesitating about his feelings. And he didn't want him to miss a chance in love if it came knocking on his door.

And it did.

It always came knocking on their door almost every day.

And he'd be damned if he didn't help his hyung to realise it!

Chen may not be a love doctor like Baekhyun but he could be someone better: he could be Cupid.

And Cupid decided to take on the challenge. He was ready to intervene in this subtle game of tug-o'-war.

~*~

Author's Note:

Hi reader! Thanks for reading chapter 15 of Our Little Dorm Mother.

I apologise that this chapter is shorter than the rest. But I hope that you found it insightful! And don't worry, there will be more exciting parts to come. I cannot wait for you to read it!

Who do you ship with our main character? Let me know by commenting.

Please vote and share too. I'd love to hear from you.

But anyway, happy reading!

Next time...