D.O blinked at the creepy looking building in front of him. He turned to one of the directors of WGM, "Do we really have to do this?"

The director nodded. "It's one of the missions that you've been set to do" he explained. "Don't worry, there are only a few people inside that will be scaring you and Minami-ssi" he paused as he stroked his short goatee, "I heard that you did something similar a few years ago in 'EXO Showtime'?"

"Yeah" D.O answered but he was still sceptical. Last time, he had gone in as a pair with Luhan and even then, it was scary. He had ended up running away, leaving Luhan behind to fend for himself--it wasn't one of his proudest moments.

He glanced behind him and saw Nami fidgeting as the stylists fixed her hair. After they had gone to the park, they had been given a mission to complete in the evening. It was a special event that involved going to a haunted house as part of a test of courage. D.O wasn't too keen on the idea. It wasn't because he was scared of ghosts or any of the sort, it was more because he was worried about Nami. Ever since the incident, Nami had developed a fear of the dark and he was concerned that entering a haunted house, that bore a very big resemblance to the warehouse, would trigger her trauma.

He eyed her now and he could see the uneasiness in her eyes. "Surely we can do a different task instead?" he asked the director. He knew that none of the staff at SM or WGM was aware of Nami's trauma.

The director shook his head. "Sorry, D.O-ssi. It's already been planned out. Just try your best. It's not that scary, honestly." The director walked away as he shouted instructions to all the staff to get ready.

D.O sighed as he approached a nervous Nami. She was fiddling with her cardigan sleeve as she gawked at the haunted house in front of her. It was a dilapidated building with glassless windows and unhinged doors. When she saw D.O approaching, she gave him a quick smile. It was already late at night so the haunted house looked even more eerie against the veil of darkness. It also didn't help that the lamppost nearby started flickering, causing Nami to jolt every time the light went off.

"I tried asking the director if we could get out of it," he told her. "But he won't let us."

Nami didn't look too disappointed. "Don't worry, D.O-ah, I didn't think they would excuse us anyway" she looked at the haunted house again and breathed in and out slowly. Cold sweat started trickling down her forehead and her hands were getting clammy.

D.O tried his best to reassure her. "Just stick close to me when we're inside."

She attempted a small smile at him but inside, she was still unsure.

"Nami-ah," he said firmly, his eyes showed a lot of determination. "I'll protect you. Trust me, okay?"

Nami searched D.O's eyes. She'd heard those words before and it gave her a wave of nostalgia from when Chanyeol had told her the same things. The only problem was, she had trusted Chanyeol and he had failed her. She wasn't sure if she could do the same thing again.

Nami nodded in response. "Okay."

"Everybody stand by!" shouted one of the WGM staff. He eyed Nami as he addressed her, "Minami-ssi, you'll be going in first."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean 'going in first'?" queried D.O. "Aren't we supposed to go in together?"

The staff member shook his head. "You will go in separately. There will be three rooms in the haunted house and you, D.O-ssi, will try to guess which one is Minami-ssi in."

"Wait" Nami interrupted, "You mean I have to wait inside that house until D.O-ah finds me?"

"That's right" he answered. "If D.O-ssi gets it right, you can both leave together. If not, then you will have to exit on your own without a torch."

"Without a torch?" Nami repeated anxiously. "So I'll be in the dark?"

"This is ridiculous!" D.O exclaimed. "You can't do that. Nami-ah, forget it. I'll go speak to the director again--" D.O started stomping his way towards the director when suddenly, Nami caught his arm.

"It's okay, D.O-ah" she murmured. "I'll be fine." But D.O noticed her hand was trembling. She gave an awkward smile, "I don't want to cause any trouble."

"But--"

"Well, if that's all. I suggest you start making your way to the entrance, Minami-ssi" the staff member said before sauntering away. D.O glared at him as he left.

"Nami-ah, are you really sure about this?" he questioned. "I mean, you'll be in the dark alone." He saw her shiver at the thought but she looked at him resolutely.

"I can handle it" she replied but D.O was far from convinced. "I'm fine now, honest."

D.O was still unsure. "I'll definitely find you," he told her eventually. "Just wait for me, okay?"

Once the director finally gave the signal, filming for the next challenge commenced at last. Nami hesitated in front of the haunted house as she slowly crept up to the entrance. There was no door so she was able to peer inside and she saw that there were no lights coming from within: it was like entering the mouth of a cave. Reluctantly, Nami took the first step, her heart racing as she forced her wobbly legs to take one step after the other. Her breathing was short and quick as if she was hyperventilating as she proceeded forward.

Inside the haunted house, she could just about see the cobwebbed paintings that hung in tilted angles. The floor, to her surprise, wasn't made of wood so her steps didn't make creaky sounds as she cautiously walked ahead. Instead, her footsteps made tapping sounds that echoed across the hallway. A thick blanket of dust lay undisturbed on the ground and on every surface that she felt with her hands and she managed to accumulate folds of dust on her fingertips. Nami hastily wiped her hands on her jeans as she continued to skulk ahead. Getting her hands dirty was the last thing she needed to worry about.

The sudden sound of footsteps made Nami jump. "Hello?" she heard her voice say. It sounded small and terrified. She looked around, searching for any signs of the ghosts that were meant to scare her. So far she had been coping well. She knew that all she had to do was go upstairs and choose a room and stay there until D.O found her. If she could manage that without encountering any ghosts then, there was nothing to be afraid of. Maybe her fear of the dark was gone now?

Feeling slightly braver, she started climbing up the stairs. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the lack of light and with the help of her outstretched hands, she managed to get to the second floor without too much hassle. "This isn't so bad" she mumbled to herself. "I can do this."

But as she finally reached the top, she suddenly felt an ominous presence behind her.

She turned her head slowly.

Behind her, was a pair of sunken eyes that was masked by tufts of unkempt, wild hair. It was wearing grubby, torn clothing and Nami couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman. A hysterical smile greeted her, its black lips disappeared to reveal a band of crooked and yellowish teeth. The thing advanced towards her in jerky movements, as if it was possessed by an evil spirit.

Nami staggered backwards in shock at the horrific image before her and her first instinct was to scream. A loud, ear-piercing sound escaped her mouth as she scrambled from the floor and up on her feet.

The thing followed her until she reached one of the three bedrooms where she locked herself inside. It banged on the door repeatedly as she whimpered from the other side of the door. She was submerged in complete darkness. The room she was in had no windows so all she could do was listen to her panicked breathing and the drumming of her heart against her chest.

"Please, please, please stop...." she pleaded, although it came out as desperate screaming. Eventually, the banging stopped as the thing walked away in preparation for D.O's arrival.

But Nami didn't realise this as she was still begging for the thing to stop. In complete darkness, Nami re-lived the traumatic events of that hateful night. She put her hands to her head as if to shield herself from the nightmare that was resurfacing. Something about the thing's appearance triggered her fear of Ryuk. The yellowish teeth, the wicked smile and the abandoned building...

"No, no, no!" she cried out as she crouched into a ball and hugged her knees. "Please, please, save me, please..."

Memories of that night flashed in front of her.

The tapping of her feet as she ran to escape Ryuk; the coldness of the metal pole she held in her hands; the spine-chilling sound of Ryuk's voice as he called for her; the look of twisted delight when Ryuk found her.

"No!" she screamed, tears streaming from her eyes in fear. "No!" Let me go! Let me go!"

"Nami-ah!"

The door suddenly burst open and a ray of light sliced through the darkness like a knife. "Nami-ah!" D.O shouted again, as he waved his torch around. When he eventually found her, he saw that Nami had crouched down in a corner and was shivering with fear. Her eyes were wide and teary.

He went to her immediately. "Nami-ah, I'm here." He dropped his torch to the ground as he wrapped his arms around her. Nami clung to him like she was holding on for dear life. She sobbed in his chest, her small frame still trembling from having re-lived her nightmare while she was awake.

"I'm here. You're safe now. You're safe now. Nothing or no one is going to hurt you" D.O reassured her. "I'm here." D.O cradled her and soothed her with his soft words.

But as if she didn't feel safe enough, she pulled herself closer towards him by wrapping her feeble arms around his body so that they were embracing each other. "Please... don't leave me" her voice was muffled as she spoke into his chest.

"I won't," he told her softly. "I'm here. You're safe now. You're safe now."

And Nami believed him.

~*~

My mind was in a daze as I stared at the rice cooker in front of me. We were in the aparthotel now and D.O was currently taking a shower while I got dinner ready.

After we had returned from the haunted house, my mind had been in disarray. I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. The last thing I remembered was my face being buried in D.O's chest whilst we were locked in an embrace. After a while, D.O had pushed me away and helped me to my feet as we left the haunted house together.

I felt my cheeks and found that they were warm. I must be blushing. Suddenly, I became conscious that my heart beat started racing as I thought of D.O. What was wrong with me?

Memories from when D.O held me in his arms resurfaced and I remembered how safe I felt. D.O's presence had always made me feel reassured and I was glad that I had him as a friend. When we were leaving the haunted house, he had held my hand firmly and the familiar warmth was comforting. It was the same warmth that enveloped my hand and gave me strength during my darkest days. He was like my good luck charm; my dream catcher that ward off nightmares; my hot water bottle that kept me cosy during the winter.

D.O was important to me and I knew that I shouldn't confuse my feelings of thankfulness with anything else. "D.O's just a friend" I reminded myself again. And then I remembered how D.O was nice to everyone and that I was no exception. "He has someone he likes" I pointed out to myself. "So don't go overthinking things, stupid Mirei."

I glanced at my hand and was reminded of D.O again. His hands were slightly bigger than mine and were significantly smaller than... Chanyeol's.

My heart wrenched.

"That's right" I murmured to myself. "I shouldn't overthink things..." My mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of Chanyeol. I had believed that things between us were real and ended up getting hurt. I shouldn't expect anything from D.O either. After all, this was all pretend--I was in a fake marriage-- and I was only taking part in this show because I had no choice.

While I was lost in my own thoughts, the water from the rice cooker suddenly started to boil over, causing froth to spill all over the hob. I didn't even notice D.O leaving the bathroom as he suddenly appeared before me and lifted the lid of the rice cooker to stop it from spilling.

"Omo," I said as I finally snapped out of it. "Sorry."

D.O turned to look at me, his hair was still dripping and he had his towel slung over his neck. He was wearing his black shirt and tracksuits. "What's up, Nami-ah? Why were you spacing out?"

I scratched my head, "Sorry, D.O-ah. I was just thinking about some stuff." I looked up at him and noticed that he hadn't fully dried his hair as droplets slid down his face. I scolded him, "You'll catch a cold if you don't dry your hair properly." I reached out my hands and grabbed his towel. Gently, I started drying his hair for him. "My mom always used to tell me off for not drying my hair properly."

D.O stood still as I patted his head with his towel. His eyes were hidden behind the towel but when I pushed it away, I saw that he was looking at my lips. I didn't even notice how close we were until I was staring at his too.

I stopped what I was doing as we paused and stared at each other. Our eyes slowly traced upwards until we were looking at each other directly. Again, I saw that his eyes had a look of desire in them. I was the first to break away.

"D-Dinner's ready," I said hastily as I pulled away from him, my heartbeat racing again.

"Er, erm, yeah. Okay," he replied.

~*~

D.O blinked at the ceiling as he waited for Nami to enter the bedroom. It was finally time for them to sleep as they had finished filming for the day. After they had filmed the dinner scene, they had sat in the bedroom awkwardly and had spoken for a while, while being in a clumsy cuddle. He covered his mouth as he remembered how animated his heartfelt. He had to stop himself from smiling. He was really happy to be with her-- it was like a dream come true-- but at the same time, he couldn't stop himself from being nervous.

It was his first night with Nami alone.

Luckily, there were two single beds in the room, just like the dorms so, he knew that he wouldn't be tempted to try anything. Not that he was tempted... he was a gentleman. A well-mannered gentleman. Not some hot-blooded beast.

D.O glanced up at the sound of the bathroom door opening and his eyes rested on Nami. She was wearing her fluffy pyjamas and her hair was wrapped up in a towel. She smiled at him shyly as she approached her bed and collapsed on top of it. He returned her smile, "How do you think today went?" he asked while she dried her hair using a hairdryer.

"I think everything went okay" she replied over the roaring of the hairdryer. D.O watched as she flipped and tossed her raven hair about. "I'm getting used to having the cameras around although, I can't understand how you guys can cope with it."

D.O chuckled. "It's an occupational hazard that comes with stardom."

After she had finished brushing her dry and fluffy hair, Nami tucked herself under her bed sheets in preparation to go to sleep. D.O turned to his side and watched her. They were quiet for a while.

"Nami-ah, can I ask you something?"

D.O saw Nami turn to face him. "Hm?"

"What were you like when you were a child?"

At this, D.O had Nami's full attention. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I have been talking about myself the whole day and it's only around now that I've realised that I don't actually know much about you."

Nami laughed nervously.

"You're still quite the mystery" he added.

Nami was on her guard as she answered. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Anything really."

Nami paused for a while as she started thinking. "Erm, well, I'm an only child and I used to play a lot of sport when I was in school."

"I can imagine that" D.O replied. "Was this when you started doing judo?"

Nami shook her head, "No. I started when I entered university. I dabbled a bit with other sports like volleyball but I wasn't good at it." She paused as she started to reminisce her time in university. "In fact, I actually dreamed of taking part in the Olympics. I wanted to go pro."

D.O's eyes widened. "Why didn't you?"

Nami shrugged, "Because I didn't want to risk failure. I guess I lost my nerve when I saw how competitive it was."

"That's a shame," D.O said. "You should have gone pro, you definitely have the talent for it."

Nami gave a sound of uncertainty.

D.O continued, "You shouldn't be afraid of failure, sometimes it's okay to take risks rather than having the regret of not having done it when you're older."

"I don't know, D.O-ah. At the time, I just felt so inadequate."

D.O was thoughtful. "I understand what you mean. Sometimes, even I go through rough days." He turned to look back at the ceiling, "Before I took the leap and applied for SM, I was actually considering on what I wanted to do when I was older. After I won a singing contest at school, my teachers and friends were very encouraging when they told me to try out a career in singing." He turned to Nami once more, "If I didn't have the courage to take that first step, I wouldn't be here now. In fact, I probably would have been a chef instead."

Nami laughed softly, "I think you would have made a great chef."

"You think so?"

She smiled, "I know so."

D.O watched as Nami turned to look at the ceiling. "I guess I should have been stronger. I just wasn't brave at the time. I wasn't brave enough to pursue that dream."

"But I'm kinda glad that you didn't end up going pro" D.O replied which surprised Nami.

"Why is that?"

He gave her a meaningful look, "Don't get me wrong, you should definitely follow your passion" he rushed to say. "But, if you had gone pro, we wouldn't have met," he smiled at her affectionately, "and that would have been my biggest regret."

Nami felt her face heat up at D.O's words. She hoped that it was dark enough in the room so that D.O wouldn't see her blushing. "Oh, erm. I-I guess it turned out for the best."

D.O, realising what he had just said, stumbled on his words also. "Er, yeah. Erm. Yeah, I guess so too."

An awkward silence filled the room as the pair didn't know what else to say to each other.

"Well, good night" Nami eventually said after a few seconds of silent torture. She turned to her side, facing away from D.O.

"Good night" D.O mumbled as he continued to face her. "Sweet dreams, Nami-ah."

Nami closed her eyes as she tried to force herself to sleep. She had a lot to think about. After listening to what D.O had to say about her dreams and aspirations, she couldn't help feeling a little lost. What was her main goal in life? Where did she want to be in the future? Once the year was up, Nami was to return to her life as a reporter but then, what? Was getting a promotion what she really wanted? She didn't know anymore.

You should definitely follow your passion.

Nami sighed internally. She knew that D.O was right.

But the question was, how was she to follow her passion when she didn't know what it was anymore?

~*~

Author's Note:

Hi reader! Thanks for reading chapter 50 of Our Little Dorm Mother!

Woop woop! Finally, the big 50! Thank you for those who have been reading this fanfic until now. Please continue to give your support, it won't be long until it is completely finished. There are still plenty more good bits to come! Please look forward to it!

Next time...

P.S I might be updating a little later/ earlier tomorrow (23/3/18) because I will be travelling. Rest assured, I will update as long as I have wifi and a charged battery!