Yoora sipped her bubble tea from her straw and stared at me intently. "So, Nami-ssi" she began, "tell me more about yourself."

I sat and stared at her awkwardly, not knowing where to begin. We were in a bubble tea shop and Yoora had ordered a bubble tea for me and herself after I had declined her offer of bringing me to a swanky, fine-dining restaurant. Thankfully, she agreed to the compromise and I let her lead me into the bubble tea shop across the road.

She sipped at her bubble tea again, her hand cupping her chin as she leaned on her elbow. She tilted her head, "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Even the way they speak is the same, I thought inwardly. "N-no, Yoora-ssi" I replied. "It's just that, I wasn't really expecting to meet any of Chanyeol's family."

Yoora had her brow raised, "Chanyeol, huh?" She smiled slyly as she spoke, "You don't call him 'oppa'?"

"Erm, no," I replied. "Well, I did before but--"

"Don't worry" she interrupted. "I'm not going to grill you on formalities." She played with her straw as she stirred her bubble tea. "I just wanted to get to know the girl that's dating my little brother." She peered up at me and her piercing dark-brown eyes met with mine. "So, are you going to tell me more about yourself or are we just going to sit here and drink bubble tea?"

"Erm," I managed to mumble, "what do you want to know about me?"

Yoora grinned. "Just the basics" she replied but I could see a glint in her eye. "How old are you?"

"I just recently turned twenty-two" I responded.

Yoora nodded. "Ah. So you're two years younger than Chanyeollie." She smiled before asking, "have you got any siblings? What do your parents work as? What is the highest education level you've achieved?"

I blinked as Yoora continued to ask me question after question like rapid bullet fire. I was starting to think that this was more like an interrogation rather than a casual get-to-know session. Yoora eyed me expectantly as I hesitated to answer her. The way she looked at me was somewhat familiar. And that was when I realised why it was familiar: she was trying to fish out any vulnerabilities in my character--just like how a seasoned reporter would do. Unluckily for her, I was also a reporter who knew how to evade such tactics.

"I'm an only child" I replied. "And my mom is a teacher and my dad is a..." I paused as I tried to think of a believable occupation, "a nurse."

Yoora nodded politely. "And what about your education level, if you don't mind me asking?"

I sipped on my bubble tea nervously. "I graduated from university a few years ago."

At this, Yoora was impressed. "Ooh. Which university?" she asked interestedly.

I searched my brain as I tried to think of the name of the university I attended in Seoul for my exchange year. "I prefer not to say" I answered in the end.

Yoora looked at me suspiciously. But then, she said, "Look, I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm just trying to get to know you, that's all."

I continued to sip on my bubble tea.

She sighed before asking, "So, have you two kissed yet?"

I spluttered as I nearly choked on a tapioca pearl. Yoora hurriedly offered me some tissues. "Omo, are you okay? Do you need me to get you some water?"

"I-I'm fine" I replied, hastily trying to calm myself.

Yoora eyed my expression and I saw her eyes twinkle with mischief. "So you have kissed then" she teased.

I coughed, "Erm. No, we haven't--"

"No need to hide it" she quickly interrupted. "I can tell from how flushed your cheeks are that it's true." She grinned back at me as I checked my reflection against the silver serviette container in the centre of the table. She was right. My cheeks were as pink as roses.

She grinned, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about you two dating if that's why you're adamant about not spilling any details."

I looked at her and saw that her eyes were melancholy. "You see, Chanyeollie isn't very good at relationships. Ever since he became an idol, he hasn't had the time to fall in love. His idol life has led to many sacrifices and, most of the time, I only get to see him when we Skype each other during the weekends. Our family rarely get the chance to see him in the flesh too since he's so busy with his schedules." Yoora stared at a napkin she had pulled out and started playing with it. "So when I heard that he might be dating again, I was really happy for him. It meant that he had someone supporting him, even if it had to be a secret."

I stared down at the napkin guiltily. Yoora sounded like she was genuinely happy for me and Chanyeol and that made me feel worse since it was all a hoax. I wasn't really dating Chanyeol: it was all part of our agreement.

Yoora looked up from the napkin and smiled at me warmly, "Don't worry, Nami-ssi. Even though it's my job, I won't publish anything that would get in the way of you and Chanyeollie's relationship. I want you guys to be happy."

I forced a smile on my face, "Thank you, Yoora-ssi--"

"Please. Call me unnie" she insisted, a smile still on her face.

"Erm. Okay, unnie" I replied.

"After all, we might as well get better acquainted" she began, a playful smile appearing. "We might become in-laws one day."

I covered my mouth as I nearly choked on another tapioca pearl. Yoora laughed.

"Unnie, it's a bit too soon to be talking about things like that," I told her, blushing.

Yoora maintained her playful smile, "Oh? But you never know. I sense that you'll be wearing a ring on that finger soon." She pointed to my left hand and I followed her stare. "I'm quite psychic, you know. And I've never once got it wrong."

As I continued to stare at my left hand, Yoora's phone suddenly started to vibrate. She checked her messages and let out a grunt of amusement. "Looks like your boyfriend is summoning you back." She got up from her chair and slung her side bag over her shoulder. "I think it's time I return you to your darling."

"Thank you for the bubble tea," I told her as I got up and put my coat on.

She smiled. "No problem, Nami-ssi" she paused as she suddenly thought of something, "Tell you what. Why don't I treat you to dinner tonight?"

"Huh?"

"Yes," she said out loud, more to herself than to anyone else. "Why don't we all have dinner together? Me, you, Chanyeollie and heck, why not the rest of EXO too? Since you declined on having lunch with me, surely we can have dinner together instead?"

"Erm--"

"Then it's settled!" she exclaimed. "I can come and join you all after the interview I have to do."

"Unnie, instead of going out for dinner, why don't you come and have dinner with us at the dorm?" I quickly suggested. I knew that the EXO members would be too tired to go out for dinner.

Yoora looked at me curiously. "Will you be ordering in?"

I shook my head, "No, I'll be making bibimbap tonight."

Yoora's face lit up at the suggestion. "You cook too?" she sounded delighted.

"Er, well. I'm learning to" I replied humbly.

She chuckled, "No worries. Not only are you educated, you're also very homely too. No wonder Chanyeollie fell for you! You're perfect wife material."

I felt heat rise to my cheeks. "Erm. It's not like that honestly..."

But Yoora wasn't listening. "Alrighty then. I'll come to your dorm after the interview. I can't wait to try out your cooking!"

~*~

I stared at the rows of colourful vegetables in front of me and inspected them carefully. "Now, which one did D.O say was the best type to choose...?" I mumbled to myself as I peered at the vegetables.

I was in the supermarket buying ingredients for the bibimbap I was going to cook in the evening. After I had left the bubble tea shop with Yoora, I had told her that I was going straight to the supermarket instead of going back to SMHQ.

Yoora looked at me quizzically. "Are you sure you want to go by yourself? I mean, Chanyeollie must want to spend more time with you if he's constantly messaging me" she said, as her phone vibrated again.

I nodded. "I need to buy more ingredients for the bibimbap tonight," I told her.

She was still reluctant to let me leave. "Do you need any help? I can come with you now and do the interview straight after."

"No, unnie" I insisted. "It's okay. I can handle it."

Yoora smiled. "Okay, Nami-ssi. You're very independent too. I feel like we'll be getting along just fine."

I picked up a few cabbages that I thought looked like the freshest and started moving on to the other vegetables. As I walked to the other aisle, I suddenly heard someone calling my name.

"Minami-ssi!"

I turned around.

"Omo! Fancy meeting you here too!" It was Hyun-suk, the SM tech guy that I met earlier in the dance studio. He grinned at me as I took in his appearance and noticed that he had a basket with him too.

"Are you doing your grocery shopping too, Hyun-suk?" I asked, after greeting him. After Yoora had come into the studio, I hadn't noticed him leave.

He shook his head. "No, I'm just here to buy lunch." He raised his basket and I saw that he had a cup of instant ramen and a chocolate bar. "I was about to choose my drink when I noticed you passing by. How come you're here?"

"Grocery shopping," I told him, raising my basket too.

He continued smiling. Hyun-suk was a short man with slanted, almond-shaped eyes and pale skin. He was round-faced and his hair was flat and shaped like a bowl. He wasn't handsome but he wasn't bad-looking either. He was pretty average but when he smiled, he made you feel comfortable.

"If you don't mind, can I accompany you while you shop?" he asked as I started walking to the other aisle again.

"Sure" I replied as I inspected more vegetables. He trudged along beside me, a goofy grin on his lips. I peered at him and questioned, "why do you admire me?"

He turned to look at me. "Why do I admire you?"

"Yes," I replied. "You said before that you were captivated by me." I blushed at repeating his words. "But, I'm nobody special. I'm just your average girl."

Hyun-suk's smile widened. "But that's what's great about you. You're very modest." He paused as he thought of the right words, "those who don't think they're pretty are the prettiest of them all."

I stopped and stared at him. They were the exact same words Stylist-unnie told me on the day of the Gayo Daejun concert! Hyun-suk saw me gawking at him and halted. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

I shook my head, "No. You just surprised me, that's all. Someone told me the exact same words a while back."

After I had finally chosen all the ingredients, Hyun-suk asked me to accompany him in buying a beverage for his lunch. "Which one do you think is the best?" he asked, his index finger in between his lips as he skimmed through the rows of different chilled drinks.

I looked with him until my eyes fell on a particular brand of chilled canned coffee. It was the brand that Xiumin liked which was why I always bought it for the EXO members when I went to visit them for rehearsals. I smiled weakly at the thought of Xiumin. After finding out that he only thought of me as a sister, I had decided to distance myself from him throughout the past week. We still spoke to each other but, not as often as we used to. I felt like distancing myself was the only way I could get over the squeezing pain in my heart. And thankfully, the pain had dulled into a low ache.

Hyun-suk must have seen me staring at the coffee can for a long time because the next thing I knew, he had picked up the same can that was right in front of me. "Oh? You like coffee?" he asked as he observed the beverage in his hand.

"Ah, yeah. Kinda. This is the brand that I buy for the EXO members. They like it a lot."

Hyun-suk nodded approvingly, "Okay. I guess I'll try this brand out today."

After we had paid for our shopping I bid Hyun-suk goodbye as I headed straight for the bus stop.

"Hang on a sec, Minami-ssi" Hyun-suk called out. "You're going to take the bus?"

"Yeah" I answered.

He took out something from his pocket and I saw that it was a car key. "Let me give you a ride back home. I can't let you struggle back with all those bags by yourself."

"Oh, no. It's okay, Hyun-suk, I can handle it--"

"No, Minami-ssi. I insist" he replied firmly as he helped me with my carrier bags. "I applaud your resilience to do things by yourself but, you should depend on others too." He started making his way to his car, gesturing for me to follow him.

"Thank you, Hyun-suk," I told him as we arrived outside the dorm. I unbuckled my seatbelt. "It's been nice hanging out with you."

He smiled. "I had fun too" he paused as he looked at me earnestly, "Minami-ssi, would it be okay if I ask you out for coffee one day?"

I blinked. Was Hyun-suk asking me out on a date? "Erm...I-I have a boyfriend," I told him quickly.

Hyun-suk blinked too and then chuckled, "Don't worry! I'm not trying to woo you or anything." He laughed again as he saw my embarrassed expression. "I just want to hang out with you. Just as friends."

I was surprised. During my time in Seoul, I hadn't made any actual friends apart from the EXO members. Hyun-suk was probably the first non-idol person I met who wanted to be my friend. I nodded, "Sure. I'd like that" I told him smilingly.

"Great!" he exclaimed happily. "It's a date then" he joked.

I watched as Hyun-suk waved me goodbye as I got out of his car. Today had been very eventful. "Okay!" I said out loud. "Time to get cooking!"

~*~

The mysterious figure took off his coat as he arrived in his dark and musty room. Very little light seeped through his blacked out curtains, creating an ominous and dark feel in the space around him. He switched on his overhead light, filling the room with flickering, fluorescent white light that slowly stabilised into consistent illumination. On the walls, there were posters of a two-dimensional female character wearing a black frilly dress and platform boots. The same female character was seen in all the posters across his walls.

The mysterious figure smiled as he opened his battered, old laptop and the screen came to life, revealing another photo of the female character. He smiled wickedly. "Hello my goddess" he whispered in a husky but creepy voice as he traced his chunky finger around her jawline. She stood still, smiling inanimately at him.

He sat down on his old swivel chair and waited for his browser to load. While he did so, he glanced at the coffee can he had with him. He hadn't opened it yet and it was probably lukewarm and disgusting but, he didn't mind. That coffee can was precious to him. He didn't want to ever open it; it was irreplaceable; it was a souvenir from her.

Once his browser finally loaded, his wicked smile returned. On the screen was a photo of Nami during the photo shoot. The mysterious figure had cropped out the EXO members from the photo shoot and had created a collage of Nami's portraits. "You look so beautiful, my goddess" he whispered to her affectionately.

He continued to smile at her as he had finally figured out her true identity.

A few days ago, he had come across EXO's photo shoot which had taken the internet like a storm. He never really cared about these things in the past and would have ignored it if it weren't for the female model. The mysterious figure stopped and carefully examined the female model after briefly glancing at the photos. He was mesmerised by her. Not only because she was beautiful but, also because she bore a great resemblance to his true goddess, a two-dimensional animated character from a dating simulation game that he liked to play. He was in awe of the resemblance. From the long, raven, black hair to the frilly dress and exotic hue, she was identical. But one question remained... who was she?

He had rifled through the internet, clicking on every article he could find about her but, there was absolutely nothing about her identity. He scowled when he had watched the interview with EXO where they stated that the female model would like to keep her identity a secret. But instead of discouraging him, he was motivated even more to discover who she was.

And to his delight, he eventually did.

He worked at SM Entertainment. He was invisible there. Hardly anyone remembered his name or said anything to him. To them, he was like furniture: useful until broken, replaceable until proven essential. He had been working there for a while but, compared to the idols that came and went, he was just part of the background. He was a lackey and he resented being treated that way.

Naturally, he detested idols. They always drew so much attention which made his life harder. He knew every single idol that came in through the entrance. He'd been there long enough to remember when some of the most well-known stars used to be trainees. But none of them ever remembered him.

But she was different.

He had been looking out for the female model ever since he found out about her. He knew every person who went through the entrance doors so, why hadn't he noticed when the female model came? Surely he would have remembered her face as soon as she walked in? If only she didn't have that mask on!

It's been a couple of weeks since the photo shoot had happened. The female model might be long gone by now. The mysterious figure had been at work, doing what he normally did, when he spotted a young woman wearing a hoodie and yoga pants approach the entrance. She had her black hair up in a ponytail and she was carrying a plastic bag filled with snacks and cans of drinks.

She was about to walk in when the bag suddenly ripped and her cans started rolling away. The mysterious figure helped her stop them from rolling down the road.

"Thanks" she had told him. She tried picking them back up but realised that she didn't have anywhere to put them now. Her other plastic bag looked like it might burst too if she wasn't careful.

"Do you want me to help you with that?" he had asked her. He felt bad for the young woman. She looked like she was being treated invisibly too.

"It's okay" she had replied. "I can handle it."

The mysterious figure watched as the young woman took off her hair tie so that her long black hair fell to her shoulders. She took hold of her hair tie and started tying it around the end of the bag so that she could use it again. The mysterious figure was impressed by her ingenuity. As he watched her fix her bag, he noticed something familiar about her. From where he was standing, he observed her impressive angular jawline and her caramel tinted skin. Her hair fell to the front of her eyes and he gasped.

The young woman looked up, "Are you okay?"

The mysterious figure smiled. "Yes, I am. I-I just realised something important."

The young woman looked at him curiously but then, proceeded with what she was doing. Once she was finished putting away all her cans in her newly repaired bag, she started making her way through the entrance again. "Oh," she said before walking away. She approached the mysterious figure and smiled as she offered him one of the cans, "thank you for helping out earlier."

The mysterious figure was surprised. No one had ever thanked him before or given him the same attention as she was doing now. He took the can from her. It was a coffee can. "Y-you're welcome" he replied.

The young woman kept smiling. He noticed how pretty she looked as her mouth stretched into a smile to reveal her dimples. "I'm Nami, by the way. I'm EXO's dorm mother."

The mysterious figure couldn't help smiling too. His day couldn't have gotten any better. "I'm Ryuk, SM Entertainment's security guard."

Ryuk scrolled down his collage of Nami's portraits and sighed amorously.

"Nami-ssi..." he whispered her name as he stared at her pictures on the screen. "I want to know more about you..."

~*~

Author's Note:

Hi reader! Thank you for reading chapter 32 of Our Little Dorm Mother!

Gah, all I can say is that something is brewing. I hope you'll stick around to find out what!

As usual, please comment, vote and share if you enjoy reading this fanfic!

See you all soon!

Next time...