Baekhyun yawned as he stretched his arms over his head. "I'm sooo tired!" he moaned to Chen, who was doing his leg stretches. "I just want to go back to the dorm and sleep."

"Well, you can't do that" Chen replied. "We have to keep practising so that we don't mess up our choreography for our US tour."

Baekhyun pouted. "Ugh. D.O-ah's so lucky. He gets to skip out on some of the rehearsals because he's on WGM with Little Umma."

Chen frowned at him. "Yes. But that just means he has to work harder when he comes back."

It was already late in the afternoon and Chen and Baekhyun were back at the dance studio, practising their dance choreography with the other EXO members. Currently, Sehun and Kai were talking amongst themselves, while Suho and Xiumin had gone to sort something out with Manager-nim. Lay, being Lay, was probably still in the changing rooms getting dressed.

"When do you think D.O-ah and Little Umma will come back from their honeymoon? It's been a couple of days already" Baekhyun commented.

"I think they're probably back by now," Chen responded. "Manager-nim took their luggage to their apartment already so that must mean they're in the process of moving in together."

Baekhyun had a sheepish grin. "Wah, D.O-ah and Little Umma. Alone in an apartment together..." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Chen frowned at him. "You're such a perv, Baekhyun-ah."

"What?" he whined. "It takes one to know one. I bet you were thinking it too."

Chen scoffed, "Yeah, you wish."

But just as Baekhyun was about to reply, the doors to the dance studio suddenly opened and in came D.O.

Chen, Baekhyun, Kai and Sehun were startled at D.O's sudden appearance.

"D.O-ah!" exclaimed Kai, running up to him. He was excited to see D.O back. He pounced on him and snaked his arm around his neck to catch him in a headlock. D.O squirmed under Kai's choking hold. With his free hand, he tapped Kai's arm to signal his submission.

"Kai!" he gasped. "You're-- you're choking me!"

"Oops!" Kai answered as he loosened his grip on D.O. "Sorry, D.O-ah. I guess I got carried away."

"D.O-hyung, how was your trip?" Sehun enquired. "Did you introduce Little Umma to your parents while you were there?"

D.O answered reluctantly while rubbing his neck, "No. We didn't have time." And Sehun noticed that D.O seemed a little down. "But the trip was good. Nami-ah and I had fun while we were there."

"Where's Nami-ah now?" Chen enquired. "How come she's not with you?"

D.O averted his gaze. "She's back at the apartment. I've just come from having lunch with her and she said she wanted to rest so she went home."

"Oh..." Kai sounded disappointed.

"But she told me to give you guys these." D.O offered the other EXO members a paper bag that had the Japanese confectionary sweets inside.

Chen took it and opened the box. "Oh! They're desserts" he observed.

D.O nodded. "She wanted to get you guys a souvenir."

"A souvenir?" Sehun was in disbelief. "But, you guys were just nearby."

D.O shrugged. "Nami-ah still wanted to get you something."

Baekhyun took one of the sweets and popped it in his mouth. He grinned, "They taste good."

"That's good to hear," D.O said softly. "I'll tell Nami-ah that when I get home."

"Ooooh" Baekhyun teased. "When you get home" he repeated. "You mean when you get home to your and Little Umma's love nest!"

Kai and Sehun giggled as they joined in with Baekyun's teasing.

But to Baekhyun's dismay, D.O stayed quiet: he wasn't reacting the way Baekhyun wanted him to. He pouted, "Oh c'mon D.O-ah. It's no fun to tease you if you don't react to it." He eyed him carefully and then a wily grin appeared. "Ooooh, don't tell us you've fallen for Little Umma, now?" he joked.

D.O looked at Baekhyun squarely. "And what if I have?"

Sehun and Kai immediately stopped joking. Baekhyun was speechless while Chen was wide-eyed.

"Are you serious, D.O-ah?" Chen asked him. "You... like Nami-ah?"

"You're joking, right, hyung?" Sehun asked D.O. "You can't seriously have feelings for Little Umma."

Kai interjected, "WGM... it's all just pretend."

D.O exchanged looks with the rest of his group members. His voice was steady. "Why? Is there something wrong with me falling for her?"

The others gaped at each other. Chen was the first to speak, "It's just that...we always thought you were pretending. We knew you were quite close to Nami-ah but we didn't think that--"

"Yeah" Baekhyun agreed. "And there's Chanyeol-ah too."

"What about Chanyeol?" D.O snapped.

The others exchanged looks again.

"D.O-ah, we don't want you and Chanyeol-hyung fighting over Little Umma" Kai replied.

"We're not fighting over her" D.O retorted. "He had his chance with her and he blew it."

"Yah" Chen pointed out, "he had his reasons for doing that" and he looks at Baekhyun. Both of them felt partly responsible.

"Whatever the reason, Chanyeol should never have treated Nami-ah that way." D.O eyed the others determinedly. "I would never mistreat her."

Sehun looked like he was about to say something when the doors suddenly opened and Suho and Xiumin arrived.

"Oh! D.O-ah, you're back" Suho observed as he walked up to him with Xiumin trailing behind. "Looks like we'll have eight people for practice again."

"Omo, are those Japanese sweets?" Xiumin asked as he took one out of the box that Chen was holding. "They're so tasty."

Suho glanced at the other five members while Xiumin happily chewed on the Japanese sweet. He sensed that something was adrift. "Is there something going on?"

"No, nothing" D.O hastily replied. He turned to walk away. "I'll go and get changed." As D.O headed for the exit, Suho suddenly shouted after him.

"D.O-ah! Make sure you get Lay too. I think he's probably napping in the changing rooms again."

D.O gave a curt nod before disappearing.

"Now then" Suho declared as he tried to make eye-contact with the rest of the EXO members. "Go and warm up. We'll start practice again once Lay and D.O-ah are back."

While the others reluctantly dispersed to claim a space in the dance studio to warm up in, Chen exchanged looks with Baekhyun. They needn't say anything. Both of them could tell from the other's facial expression, that what they heard D.O say, bothered them both.

And Chen, most of all, couldn't help feeling uneasy about this sudden development.

~*~

Lay stared at the wall, in a daze on what he should do. He was in the changing rooms at the moment-- he had been here since they had arrived at SMHQ-- and he hadn't left because he didn't know how to face the other EXO members. How should he break the news to them that Nami wasn't all that she seemed?

When he discovered that Nami was a reporter, his first reaction was to tell the others. After he had packed away her things, he had taken his time in investigating Nami further. He felt reassured that she wouldn't find out that he knew her secret yet, since she wouldn't be coming back to the dorm for a while, as she and D.O were away on their honeymoon.

During that time, Lay had kept Nami's debrief folder and he had studied it carefully. It was mostly in English and since it wasn't his first language, he had had to enlist the help of a trusty source: A.K.A Google translate. After a few hours of tedious typing, Lay finally understood the contents of the folder.

His gut instinct was right: Nami was definitely a reporter.

As soon as it was confirmed, he wanted to tell the others straight away but realised that maybe, the others already knew and didn't mind it. He took it upon himself to investigate further by asking the others what they already knew about Nami. He hoped that they already knew her secret so that he wouldn't have to play the bad guy who ruined everything.

Lay had been hesitating because he knew that the EXO members really liked Nami.

During his time in China, he had kept in contact with Xiumin and Chen, who were his fellow EXO-M members back in the day, and therefore, he was really close to them. When Nami first arrived, Xiumin and Chen would update him on what kind of person she was and they would tell him all sorts of things that happened in the dorm while he was away. From their crazy stories, Nami seemed like a really fun person. Chen, who was his primary source of information, delivered his intel in a very cheerful manner, subtly hinting to Lay that the atmosphere in the dorm was finally brightening up thanks to Nami's appearance.

Lay remembered feeling reassured that the EXO members were doing well without him. And he had made a promise to himself that he would welcome Nami into the dorm, with open arms, when he finally had the chance to meet her.

But now, he was conflicted on what he should do.

He had found out that Nami had been deceiving the EXO members all this time and it was against his morals to let her get away with it. He didn't want the EXO members to get hurt by anyone. They were his family now and it felt like his duty to protect them from whatever harm that came their way.

Lay sighed as he made up his mind. "I have to tell them" he murmured to himself. "It's now or never. I can't let the others get hurt anymore."

As he stood up to leave, the door to the changing rooms suddenly opened and D.O came inside.

"Lay-hyung" he greeted him. "Good. You're up. Suho-hyung asked me to fetch you."

Lay was pleased to see D.O. "D.O-ah, how have you been?" It had been a few days since he had last spoken to him.

D.O gave him a small smile. "I've been well, hyung." He approached his locker and opened it so that he could change into more comfortable attire. Lay watched him intently and D.O noticed. "Erm, hyung?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh." Lay looked away as he picked up his towel and water bottle. "Sorry, D.O-ah. I've-I've just had a lot on my mind..."

D.O turned to him and gave him a brief smile. "Was there something bothering you?" he asked, out of politeness. In truth, D.O didn't really care. He was too occupied with his own problems but he just asked out of habit.

Lay bit his lip as he tried to hold in the burdensome secret that threatened to spill any minute. He trusted D.O-- he was one of the few EXO members who he felt he could relay his problems to, without feeling guilty. He also seemed like the right person to tell first. "Actually, D.O-ah" he began, "There's something about Nami-ssi that you should know."

At the mention of Nami's name, D.O turned to face Lay immediately. "What about Nami-ah?" he asked slowly.

Lay wore an uncertain expression. "Nami-ssi... hasn't been truthful all this time."

"What do you mean?"

Lay looked away. "I think she's been deceiving EXO since day one."

D.O was confused. "Lay-hyung, what are you trying to say? How has Nami-ah been deceiving EXO?"

"D.O-ah," he said firmly, "while you guys were at WGM, I was asked to pack up some of Nami-ssi's stuff from my room" Lay explained. "And while I was doing so, I found this." Lay turned around to pull out a chunky folder from his locker.

D.O saw it and recognised it immediately. It was the same folder that Nami had wrestled from him when she had first moved into the dorm.

Lay handed it to D.O. "It's a debrief folder" he stated. "It contains all sorts of information about us and how to conduct a report." D.O took it from Lay's hands and started flipping through the pages. It was all in English but then he saw that there was a page on the EXO members with a Korean translation.

"D.O-ah" Lay said while eyeing him sternly, "Nami-ssi's been lying to you. She's been lying to us. No," he corrected, "she's been lying to everyone. She's not a housekeeper: she's an undercover reporter."

D.O met eyes with Lay's and saw that Lay was serious. Calmly, D.O shut the folder and asked him in a low voice, "Does anyone else know about this?"

"No" Lay replied. "You're the first I've told. I've been wanting to tell the others but I haven't been able to." He sighed, "I think it would devastate them but, now that you know, we should both go and tell them. They deserve to know." Lay looked like he was about to leave the changing rooms when D.O stopped him.

"Hyung" he called out. Lay turned to face him. "Let's... let's not tell them yet."

Lay was befuddled. "And why not? We can't let Nami-ssi get away with this! What if she's got videos of you guys? What if she's working for the paparazzi or something? She could expose all sorts of things about us to the press. She could--"

"Nami-ah isn't like that" D.O snapped.

Lay was astounded by D.O's sharp words. "D.O-ah, I know that I've put you in a difficult situation since you're in WGM with her but, we really shouldn't keep this from the others..." Lay examined D.O's hardened expression and he realised something. D.O looked more afraid than surprised at the news. And that made Lay think, why was D.O hesitant in telling the others?

"D.O-ah..." Lay said slowly, "did you know all along?"

D.O found it difficult to meet Lay's eyes which only confirmed Lay's suspicion.

"I can't believe this..." Lay uttered. "You knew and you never told anyone? Why?"

"I-I can't, hyung" D.O replied weakly. "I-I wanted to at first but then I--"

"How long have you known?" Lay interrupted. "Did you just find out recently or--?"

D.O hung his head low. "I've-I've known since the beginning."

Lay ran his fingers through his hair as he paced around the changing rooms. "Aish, D.O-ah..."

"Please don't tell anyone yet" D.O begged Lay. "Just keep it to yourself for a bit longer. Please, hyung."

"But why?" Lay asked, vexed. "I know she's important to everyone, but why should I let her stay, D.O-ah?"

D.O shouted desperately, "Because I love her!"

Lay blinked at D.O's sudden declaration. He didn't expect that answer from D.O at all. "You... you love her?" He was in disbelief. Even the words felt alien coming from his own lips.

D.O's face was pink from his sudden outburst. "Yes, hyung. I do. I love Nami-ah. And I can't let her go."

Lay took a moment to process all that D.O had told him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was too much to take in for someone who had just got back to Korea. "D.O-ah, you know you can't let her stay. Not when you know that she's a reporter."

"I know, hyung" D.O replied sadly. "But all I ask is that you just keep this to yourself. Please. Just keep it a secret for a while longer."

"And if I keep this a secret, what will you do?" Lay asked doubtfully.

"I'll-I'll tell the others myself" he replied. "I'll tell them after Nami-ah leaves." D.O's heart ached as he said those words. "Nami-ah will only be with us for seven months more. After that, she'll be gone for good."

Lay still looked unsure.

"Please, hyung" D.O begged again. "Please keep her secret for me. I-I want to spend as much time with her as possible. Before... before I have to let her go." D.O averted his gaze as a squeezing pain shot through his heart. He couldn't bear the idea of Nami leaving.

Lay eyed D.O's forlorn expression and eventually, he gave in. "Alright," he said finally. "I'll do as you say."

D.O's face lit up. "Thanks, hyung."

"But you have to promise me that when the time comes, you will tell the others the truth, alright?" Lay said firmly.

D.O nodded. "It's a promise."

But inside, he prayed that that day would never come.

~*~

Nikka was bored in the office.

He spun himself on his swivel chair and watched as his surroundings went round and round like he was on a carousel. Once he started feeling dizzy, he stopped and thumped his head on his desk. He sighed as he laid his head on his folded arms, he was sooo bored.

It was a peaceful day at the office as there was nothing much to report on. Normally, Nikka loved these sorts of days since that meant that he could get away with doing as little work as possible. But, nowadays, he had been finding it hard to enjoy these blissfully quiet hours as he had no one to share these moments with.

He really missed Mirei.

Nikka checked his phone for the twentieth time and went on WhatsApp: nothing. He let out a tired sigh and tossed his phone to the side carelessly. He didn't care if he scratched his phone screen or the fact that it was an expensive phone. Why would any of that matter when his phone was as useless to him as a white crayon when he couldn't contact the one person he wanted to talk to the most?

He let out a frustrated grunt as he frowned at his phone. What had happened to Mirei?

The last message he received from her was about a week ago when he had asked her how her day had been and she responded with an 'OK'. For the past month, Mirei had been very quiet. They used to message each other every day and at least call each other once a week but, nowadays, they barely spoke to each other. It was just the usual 'How are you?' and 'What's up?' but their conversations never progressed to anything deeper than that.

It was like Mirei was hiding something from him and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Mirei used to tell him everything.

While Nikka contemplated on whether or not he should call her, Richard suddenly calls him from his intercom. His voice crackled through the speakers, "Is this Raj?" he asked, his voice was gruff like usual.

"I prefer to be called Nikka, sir" Nikka replied while rolling his eyes. He had been working with Richard for almost a year and a half and he still hadn't learned his name.

Nikka heard Richard hmph on the other end of the intercom. "Well, Nikka, Raj, or whatever your name is, I need you to come in and do some fact-checking for me."

Nikka sighed, "Now, sir?"

"Now" Richard replied.

"Okay," Nikka said wearily as Richard hung up. God, how he hated working for Richard.

Nikka got up from his desk and started making his way towards Richard's office, which was a large room, that was separated by glass walls. As he strolled along, he noticed that Miranda, who was one of his colleagues, was on her break.

Miranda was quite a large woman who wore round glasses and had her pin-straight hair always hanging loosely against her round face. She also had a habit of watching American TV series, on Netflix, on her phone and he would often hear her snorting like a giggly teenager while she did so. Presently, Miranda was chuckling at something as she stared at her small phone screen with her earphones attached to her small ears.

Nikka wondered, What could Miranda be watching this time? As he passed her desk, he peered from over her broad shoulders and saw that it wasn't 'Stranger Things', which was what he saw her watching last time. Instead, it looked like some Korean show.

Nikka scowled. He wasn't particularly interested in anything Korean since every time he thought of K-pop or K-drama or K-culture in general, he would automatically think of Mirei and how she was so far away from him.

Nikka was about to ignore what Miranda was watching when, suddenly, something of interest caught his eye. He turned to look at Miranda's phone again.

A short clip of the preview was showing and it featured someone that looked a lot like Mirei. Months of studying Mirei's profile had trained him to spot her from anywhere. And Nikka didn't doubt his eyes with anything that had to do with Mirei. After all, his eyes were so accurate at detecting her that, they were even able to tell that Mirei was the model in the photo shoot with EXO, despite wearing a mask.

He leaned over Miranda's backrest and commanded, "Rewind a bit."

"Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Miranda exclaimed in her strong Irish accent. "You scared me, Nikka!" she told him while clutching her large chest.

Nikka apologised quickly but then commanded again, "Can you rewind a bit? There's something I need to confirm."

"What? But I just finished this episode."

"It'll only take a sec" Nikka replied impatiently.

Startled by Nikka's sharp tone, Miranda did as she was told. She re-winded the episode she was watching until Nikka told her to stop. He watched the preview closely and sure enough, he saw Mirei holding hands with a guy. Nikka read the subtitles and saw that it said he was EXO's D.O and they will be appearing together in next week's episode.

"What show is this?" Nikka asked Miranda hastily.

She quivered, "It's called 'We Got Married' or WGM for short. It's a show where celebrities get together and explore what married life is like."

"What?! Married life?" Nikka was dumbstruck. Internally, a lot of questions flooded his mind. Why would Mirei be taking part in such a show? What happened? She was meant to be keeping a low profile!

Miranda nodded meekly. "It's only pretend but the celebrities who go on it do a lot of intimate things with each other."

Nikka's face darkened at her words. He didn't like the sound of that at all.

He turned his back to her and headed straight for his desk and abruptly turned on his computer, totally forgetting about Richard. He needed to do some research on this show to find out how and why Mirei ended up doing it. What could have happened to her during the past month? Why had she kept this from him?

Nikka's brows furrowed as he loaded his browser. On this blissfully quiet day, he had finally found something to satisfy his boredom. If Mirei wasn't going to tell him, then he was going to find out by researching as much as he could.

And if it's anything a reporter like him is good at, it's definitely investigating and digging up dirt.

~*~

Author's Note:

Hey reader! Thanks for reading chapter 56 of Our Little Dorm Mother!

What do you think will happen next? Everything is finally out of the bag- the EXO members finally know about D.O's feelings. And what will Lay do? Will he really keep Nami's secret? And what about Nikka? What will he do now that he knows about WGM?

Find out next time!