Baekhyun watched in amusement as Chanyeol paced up and down the corridor, occasionally glancing at the entrance to the dorm as if Nami would magically appear. He had been doing this for the past two hours.

"Why don't you just text her again?" Baekhyun asked from his beanbag. "You clearly can't keep still."

Chanyeol grumbled, "I already texted her fifteen minutes ago. I've been texting her every fifteen minutes but she hasn't been replying." He scratched his head in frustration. "What could she be doing?"

Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol started pacing again but this time, a lot faster.

"Relax Chanyeol" Chen told him from the sofa. "She's probably just talking with that Hyun-suk guy."

Baekhyun and Chen heard Chanyeol grunt disapprovingly in response. He continued his pacing until suddenly, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps from outside. In a few moments, Nami appeared. Chanyeol sprang to her immediately.

"Where have you been?" he questioned her agitatedly.

Nami peeped up at him and, after seeing who it was, hurriedly averted her gaze. Chanyeol noticed this.

"I-I was with Hyun-suk" she answered, not meeting Chanyeol's eye. She swiftly walked past him and headed straight for the kitchen.

Chanyeol was perplexed. He followed her, "And? Care to explain why you haven't been answering any of my messages?"

Nami dodged him as he tried to get into her line of sight. "I-I had my phone off" she replied, still avoiding eye contact as she got started on dinner.

Chanyeol was displeased, "Nami-ah," he said firmly. "What's wrong? Why can't you look at me straight?"

Nami fidgeted, "W-what do you mean? Nothing's wrong." She hesitantly lifted her head so that her eyes met with his but only briefly. "See? I am looking at you straight" she told him, before briskly turning around again to slice some vegetables.

Chanyeol still wasn't satisfied. "Nami-ah--"

"Chanyeol-ah."

Chanyeol turned around to see Baekhyun beckoning for him from the living room. "What?" he snarled.

"You have a call from Manager-nim."

Chanyeol frowned, "Tell him I'm busy."

He was about to turn back to Nami when Baekhyun continued, "But he says that it's about your audition for that Chinese film you wanted to take part in. He needs you to confirm some details."

Chanyeol sighed as he glanced from Nami to Baekhyun. The call was important so he decided to answer it. He will have to confront Nami later on that evening.

~*~

I let out a sigh of relief as I heard Chanyeol walking away. Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he had gone over to take the phone from Baekhyun.

I sighed, What was I doing?

After meeting up with Hyun-suk, I had become more aware of my feelings towards Chanyeol. I felt my cheeks heat up as I recollected what happened earlier...

A coy smile appeared on Hyun-suk's lips as he stated, "You said it yourself. You're in love with him."

I blinked a couple of times, trying to process what just happened. Why did I say 'yes'? Is that how I really feel towards Chanyeol? Am I... in love with him?

I shook my head violently, "No. No, I'm not."

Hyun-suk nodded his head enthusiastically, "Yes. Yes, you are! No use denying it, Nami-ssi. You love him!"

"No. There must be a mistake. I wasn't thinking straight--"

"But that's the whole point. You weren't meant to think about it. You were meant to let your heart decide, not your head!" he smirked, "And your heart says that you love him!"

"But I can't love him!" I shouted.

Hyun-suk was startled at my sudden outburst. I placed my head in my arms as I tried to digest what I had just discovered. "I can't love him, Hyun-suk. I mustn't..."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Hyun-suk eyeing me sympathetically. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"

I bit my lip as he bored into my eyes. I looked away. "Yes..." I sighed despondently. "The truth is, I'm scared of falling in love with him."

Hyun-suk looked at me quizzically, "But you're dating. Why are you afraid of loving him?"

I played with my sleeve anxiously. "Because... I've never been in a relationship before" I admitted.

Hyun-suk was surprised, "You've never dated before?"

I shook my head. "I went to an all-girls school in the past and I was also really shy during my university days so I never got round to actually dating anyone." I smiled at him weakly, "this is my first relationship."

Hyun-suk nodded understandingly. "But he asked you to date him, right? And you said 'yes'. So you must like him a little bit. Surely you would want your feelings to develop into love over time?"

I stared down at my hands, not knowing what to say. Eventually, I replied, "I guess so. But the thing is, I'm unsure of whether he will love me fully. Like I said before, we didn't have a great start in the beginning." My eyes met with Hyun-suk's as I professed, "I guess I'm just scared that he'll break my heart."

Hyun-suk's eyes softened at my words, "Aww. I understand. We've all been through that. But the thing is, you need to take a chance if you want this relationship to work out. Give him and yourself a chance to fall in love with each other. Spend more time with him and maybe that will help you make up your mind."

I nodded at Hyun-suk's advice. They were well-intended words but I couldn't help thinking how futile they were since Hyun-suk didn't know the whole story. My and Chanyeol's relationship was based on an agreement-- it was all a hoax-- and I was scared of falling in love with him because he had failed me once already. Unlike Xiumin, he was always joking around so I could never tell what he seriously thought of me. But lately, he's been treating me better and he was always worrying about me. Could he have changed? I guess there was one way to find out.

"You're right, Hyun-suk," I told him. "I'll give him a chance. At least one will be okay, right?"

He clapped his hands happily, "Of course! I hope it works out."

I gave him a small smile, "Me too" I told him, "me too."

~*~

D.O ambled into the kitchen and his spirits immediately lifted when he saw that Nami was already there. She had her back towards him as she washed vegetables in the sink.

"Nami-ah" he called out to her, "when did you get back?"

Nami turned around and smiled at him, "Oh, hey D.O-ah" she greeted. "I just got back an hour ago."

He stood next to her and observed the ingredients she was using. "What are you planning to make this evening?"

Nami replied, "I was thinking of trying kimchi soup." She stopped and glanced at him. "Were you already planning on making something else?"

"No" he shook his head to reassure her. "Kimchi soup sounds good."

D.O watched as Nami continued with what she was doing. He was always happier when Nami was by his side when he was cooking. It was the only time he had Nami all to himself and he cherished every moment of it.

Even though he knew that Nami loved Chanyeol, he couldn't help his romantic feelings towards her. To him, it was painful to see her happy with someone else but, he told himself to be satisfied with what he had. At least for two hours every day, Nami and D.O were alone together in the kitchen. And these were the two hours he looked forward to most because he could pretend that things were different. That Nami was just Nami and not Chanyeol's girlfriend.

"How was your day?" he asked her out of politeness. He knew that Nami had gone out to meet with Hyun-suk and like Chanyeol, he wasn't too keen on the idea.

"It was great" she replied but, he couldn't help noticing how she sounded a little reluctant. "We went for a coffee after doing some window shopping."

"Window shopping, huh?" He smiled. "I didn't know that was classed as a social activity."

Nami giggled, "Yeah, it's actually pretty fun. Have you never played that 'if I had money' game before?"

D.O shook his head. "What game is that?"

"It's a game I used to play with my friends when I was still a student" she explained. "Because we were totally broke but we wanted to hang out, we would go round the department store and pick out things that we would like to buy if we had money to buy it."

D.O arched his brow, "You pick out things you want to buy but can't buy? Doesn't that make you crave it more?"

"Yes, but then it gave us motivation to work hard so that we could earn enough money to buy all the material things we wanted." Nami looked to the distance as she experienced a wave of nostalgia. "Hanging out with Hyun-suk brought back memories."

D.O continued to smile at her, "It sounds like you had a lot of fun today, then."

"Yeah, I did" she replied as she moved on to the seafood. "It's quite nice hanging out with Hyun-suk. I feel like a normal person again."

D.O was intrigued by this. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Nami hesitated to answer, "the truth is, being around you guys has been quite hard on me. You're all celebrities and I'm just your dorm mother. I haven't been able to do things that ordinary people do without the fear of attracting too much attention and harming your reputation."

"But you can do things without drawing attention" he replied, a little saddened by her words. "You can still do stuff regardless of us being celebrities. What things are you referring to?"

Nami thought for a while. "I dunno, like going to the cinema." She jolted up as she suddenly remembered something, "Which reminds me, 'La La Land' has been released. I'm so excited!"

D.O watched as Nami squealed. "What's 'La La Land'?" he enquired.

"It's a romantic-comedy musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling" Nami replied enthusiastically. D.O noticed her blushing slightly towards the end. "I'm actually a Ryan Gosling fan" she admitted shyly.

Nami continued with preparing the seafood and D.O did the same. But while he was doing so, he started to think about what Nami had said. He understood why Nami felt that she was unable to do things that other people could do. Nami was constantly surrounded by the EXO members so she was isolated from making friends or socialising with people outside of their circle. Even if she wanted to hang out with the EXO members, she wasn't able to because they were either always too busy or it was always too unsafe for them to go out in public without security. Nami, therefore, didn't have anyone else to hang out with. She had no one until she met Hyun-suk.

D.O gaped at Nami secretly. He didn't want her to feel lonely because of them and he especially didn't want another guy competing for her affection. If Nami wanted to go to the cinema then, why won't he go with her instead? He can make time for her. If it can make her happy then, that's what he'll do.

"Nami-ah," he said, grabbing her attention. She turned around. "Erm, do you want to--?"

"Little Umma!" Sehun called as he appeared in the doorway.

D.O and Nami turned to face him.

"Suho-hyung's asking for you. He says that he needs to go over some figures for this week's grocery budget" he informed her.

Nami nodded, "Okay. Thanks. I'll go to him right away." She took off her red apron and washed her hands. Before she left, she looked at D.O. "Sorry, D.O-ah. You were about to ask me something?"

D.O shook his head. "Don't worry. It's nothing urgent" he replied. "You should go to hyung. We can talk about it later."

Nami nodded, "Okay, I'll see you in a bit," she told him before leaving.

~*~

As I left the kitchen, I scanned the living room to see if Suho was sitting on the sofas. When I saw that it was only Chen, Baekhyun and the maknaes, Kai and Sehun, I decided to go upstairs where Suho was probably hiding in his man cave.

I often visited Suho in his room or rather, his messy office, as he had a large oak desk that was suitable for business professionals. Why he had one in his room, I had no idea but, I guess it had something to do with the fact that he was the leader.

On my way upstairs, I suddenly spotted a pile of laundry, messily left outside the laundry room. I frowned. I had told Kai and Sehun to take out their laundry for me to do but, I guess they didn't have the common sense to put it away tidily. I sighed as I picked the pile of clothes up and proceeded to go into the laundry room, which was like a small storage room that had a dryer, a washing machine and other cleaning apparatus.

I opened the door and switched on the overhead light by pulling a drawstring. The light flickered on and I quickly put away the dirty laundry into one of the baskets that were empty. I was about to turn around and leave when I suddenly heard the door shut behind me. I jumped.

There, in front of the door, was Chanyeol with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face.

"Aish, Chanyeol!" I shouted, clutching my heart for dear life. "You scared me!"

Chanyeol continued to lour at me before he opened his mouth, "Nami-ah, we need to talk."

I noticed the graveness in his voice and it made me feel nervous. "T-talk about what?" I was suddenly conscious of my feelings towards him again and I averted my gaze.

This must have ticked Chanyeol off because then he replied, "That" he sounded exasperated. "Why can't you look me in the eye? You've been avoiding eye contact with me ever since you came back from hanging out with Hyun-suk" he spat his name out contemptuously. "Nami-ah, what's going on?"

"Nothing's going on!" I responded but, I still wasn't able to face him. "I-I have to go, Chanyeol. Suho-oppa is looking for me--" I tried pushing past him to get to the door but he blocked my path.

"Tell me, what's wrong?" His voice sounded desperate. "Did... he do something to you?" he asked, his voice was barely a whisper.

I managed to meet his gaze and saw that his eyes were searching mine and they were filled with a muted anger. I quickly replied, "Nothing's wrong, Chanyeol. And no, Hyun-suk didn't do anything to me. He's my friend."

But Chanyeol didn't believe me, "If nothing's wrong then, why are you avoiding me?"

"I-I'm not avoiding you." But my voice sounded uncertain. This only aggravated Chanyeol more.

"Nami-ah," he said sternly. I attempted pushing past him again but this time, he blocked me by grabbing onto the sides of my shoulders.

I jolted at the sudden contact and inadvertently looked at his face. Chanyeol had a serious expression while he scrutinised mine. I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I was forced to gaze into his large, almond-shaped eyes and I took in his features. His face was so close to mine that I was able to observe the contours of his nose and the sharpness of his jawline. How his dark hair covered his forehead; how his brows were furrowed as he continued to stare at me sternly and how his pink lips were slightly parted to reveal his wealthy teeth.

You're in love with him.

Hyun-suk's voice echoed in the back of my mind as Chanyeol locked his gaze on me. My heart started palpitating excitedly the longer I felt his touch on my shoulders and the longer he stared into my eyes. It felt like he was boring into my soul. His gaze was so penetrating that it felt like I was naked: he made me feel vulnerable and exposed. And I was scared that the longer we stayed locked in this position, the sooner he would find out about the feelings I was trying to hide. I didn't want him to find out about them. Not yet. I wasn't ready.

Chanyeol continued to search my eyes but then, his expression softened as he continued to look at me. "Nami-ah... why are you blushing?"

I broke away from his grasp, "I-I'm not." I turned away and felt my cheeks. They were hot.

"Are you... hiding something from me?" I heard Chanyeol ask suspiciously.

I turned to face him and denied, "No!"

But before I knew it, Chanyeol was close to me again, forcing me to step back, so that I could create space between us. "Ch-Chanyeol, what are you--?"

"You're hiding something," he said as he took a step closer. "I can tell when you're lying, Nami-ah. Your face is as red as a tomato."

I instinctively covered my cheeks and confirmed that yes, they were still very warm. I was probably as crimson as Chanyeol mentioned.

He kept coming closer to me, forcing me to keep retreating until I was pushed up against the dryer: I was cornered. Chanyeol loomed over me, his face obscured by the shadow that was cast from the overhead light. I peeped up at him and saw that his expression was unreadable. Suddenly, he threw both his arms on either side of me, forming a human barricade as he leaned his face closer to mine and he inspected me once more.

"Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to force it out of you?" His voice was firm.

My heart leapt at his close proximity. It was just too much. The smell of his cologne tickled my nostrils and the sound of his deep voice stirred something inside me, making me feel butterflies in my stomach. I needed to get out of here before I did something stupid. I tried breaking away from him, "I-I have to go, Chanyeol--"

But he wouldn't budge.

"Nami-ah," his voice sounded gentle this time. I looked at him and saw that his eyes looked sad. "If it's something I did then, I'm sorry," his voice sounded hurt. "But please, just tell me what it is rather than avoiding me like this. I can't bear it if you suddenly started hating me and I don't know what I've done to make you hate me so." He slackened the tension in his arms, letting me free. I saw that he looked dejected.

"Chanyeol, it's not what you think" I reassured him, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt. "You didn't do anything wrong and I definitely do not hate you."

He glanced at me hopefully.

I swallowed as I began, "The truth is... it's quite the opposite of hating you."

I saw his eyes flash. "The opposite?"

I fumbled with my sleeve as I felt my heart start racing again. Chanyeol continued to scrutinise my expression, his face showed a mixture of confusion and what looked like a tinge of happiness as he tried to figure out what I was trying to tell him. He leaned in closer, a smile forming on his plump, pink lips. "Nami-ah, are you...?" He intentionally left his question unfinished as he searched my face for further confirmation.

I bit my lip and nodded slightly. Words weren't needed to communicate what I wanted to convey to him. I watched as Chanyeol's eyes widened and his smile grew wider, revealing his pearly teeth. A soft pink glow was appearing on his cheeks as he finally understood what I was trying to say.

"Then, it's my turn to tell you" he replied shyly.

Chanyeol gently placed both his hands on both sides of my cheeks, cupping them as he leaned his face closer to mine. Instinctively, my arms reached out to him, welcoming him into my personal space. Chanyeol slowly closed his eyes as he drew closer to me, his breath felt hot against my lips while his hands felt cool against my face. My heart was thumping fast and my body tensed up as I anticipated his lips connecting with mine. I waited for that same electrifying and breath-taking kiss that we had before but, this time, I knew it would be better because I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted Chanyeol. And it felt like he wanted me.

Chanyeol's breath hitched as his lips got closer to mine. The desire for him to kiss me had never been as strong as it was that moment. My mind was in disarray as it waited for our lips to touch. For that sweet and soft sensation of lips against lips; for that deep and meaningful connection to be made between us; for that symbolic action that would change our relationship forever. I could feel his presence upon me now. Our noses bumped into each other and I could feel our hot breaths mixing as our lips brushed against each other--

"Nami-ah!"

I opened my eyes abruptly and saw that Chanyeol had done the same. Slowly, we parted from each other, disappointment both evident on our faces. The moment was lost.

"Nami-ah!" I heard someone call my name again. "Have you seen Nami-ah, Sehun?" It sounded like Suho.

"Yeah, I saw her a while back. I told her to go to you. Didn't she go?"

"No. I've been waiting for her but she was taking too long. Where could she be?"

We listened intently as Suho and Sehun carried on with their conversation as they walked away from the laundry room. Chanyeol turned to me, his face still flushed. "It seems like they're looking for you."

I nodded, "Yeah. I think I should go before they find both of us here."

Chanyeol had a flirtatious smile, "Well, I don't mind if they find out." He leaned in closely, wrapping his arms around my waist. I pushed him away timidly.

"Not now, Chanyeol. What if the others see?"

"Then let them" he replied carelessly. "After all, you did tell them that we do lovey-dovey stuff secretly, right?"

I blushed at the recollection. It was meant to be a lie. "Still!" I replied, flustered.

He chuckled at my reaction. "God, you're so cute when you're embarrassed." He leaned in close and whispered into my ear, "I don't want anyone else to have you." He wrapped his arms tightly around me, capturing me in a warm embrace. I could feel his animated heartbeat against my own. It was like our hearts were in sync: they were beating as one. Could our feelings for each other finally be mutual?

Reluctantly, he pulled away as he heard Suho still calling out my name. He sighed, "I guess you really need to get going."

I nodded, "I guess I'll see you later?" it was the same phrase I always said before leaving him but somehow, this time, it felt different.

As I walked away, I suddenly felt Chanyeol's hand grab onto mine. I turned to face him. "Before you go" he began as he laced our fingers together and drew me closer to him again, "there was something I wanted to ask you earlier today."

I nodded to show him that I remembered.

He smiled at me nervously as he asked, "Do you want to go to the cinemas with me tomorrow?"

I blinked. "The cinemas?"

He grinned at me bashfully, "Noona gave me free tickets to see any movie at any time and I was wondering if... you wanted to go with me?"

"Any movie?" I repeated and remembered that 'La La Land' was already out in cinemas. It must be a sign. I nodded enthusiastically, "I'd love to go with you."

I watched as Chanyeol's face lit up and his bashful grin grew confident. "Great" he replied and then added coyly, "it's a date then."

I shared his smile as I told him, "But I really should get going now. Suho-oppa is still looking for me."

"Of course" Chanyeol agreed and reluctantly untangled his fingers from mine. He walked up to the door and turned to me, "But you should probably let me go first."

I was puzzled, "Why?"

He grinned as he quickly planted a kiss on my forehead, causing heat to rise to my cheeks. I was surprised.

He winked, "Because you'd probably want to hide that cute blushing face of yours."

"Chanyeol!" I exclaimed, flustered.

He smirked as he lowered his voice and whispered into my ear, "Let's continue with what we were doing earlier tomorrow." Before pulling away and leaving through the door.

I felt my cheeks heat up once more as I tried to calm my excitement down. "Chanyeol, you pabo," I said aloud. But I couldn't help smiling. I was looking forward to our date tomorrow. It was going to be a new day and the start of our new love.

~*~

Author's Note:

Hey reader! Thank you for reading chapter 35 of Our Little Dorm Mother!

I was internally fangirling while writing this chapter. Huhuhu I hope you were moved by Nami's and Chanyeol's interaction. I have to admit, it made me blush >.<

How do you think their date will go?

Find out next chapter!

Next time...

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