Sehun, Baekhyun and Kai peeked through D.O's open door and observed in amused wonder at D.O rolling around in his bed. It had been an hour since they returned from their emergency meeting and it had been half an hour since D.O had started muttering to himself agitatedly.

"Do you think he's finally lost his marbles, hyung?" Sehun asked Baekhyun. "D.O-hyung has been doing that since we got back."

Baekhyun gestured for the three of them to step away from the door. He replied, "Hmm... something must have happened before the meeting."

"Do you think it has something to do with Little Umma?" Kai suggested. "She's not back at the dorm yet. Wasn't she meant to move back in with us today?"

"Maybe they had a fight" Sehun pointed out.

The three exchanged looks with each other.

"Well, I guess that's possible. I mean, they did have their ups and downs while they were filming but they've never been on 'no-talking' terms before" Baekhyun thought aloud.

"It's probably just a lover's tiff" Kai dismissed while rolling his eyes.

Sehun replied, "But even so, we'll be flying in a few hours and D.O-hyung hasn't even packed yet."

All three turned back to look at D.O as they heard him scream into his pillow while thrashing his legs about. He must have thought of something embarrassing again.

"Maybe we should get Suho-hyung to knock some sense into him?" Baekhyun jokingly suggested.

"Good idea" Kai and Sehun agreed.

~*~

D.O replayed the events in his head whilst rolling around on his bed.

He felt so stupid. Was it all a mistake? Had he jumped the gun too soon when he impulsively proposed to Nami?

He hugged his pillow tightly and sighed. It may have felt like a mistake but he was definitely sure that it wasn't--he hadn't jumped the gun.

Everything he had told her was the truth: he had been thinking about spending the rest of his life with her throughout the whole time they were on WGM together. Every day he would wake up smiling because Nami was the first person he'd see. Just seeing her once made him feel so elated and he didn't want that feeling ever to end.

But like all good things, D.O was painfully aware that their time together was limited. He knew that one day, Nami would have to leave but, he had hoped that by asking her to marry him, she would stay. D.O couldn't risk losing her; he wanted to be with her and he had never been so sure about anything in his life apart from this.

He sighed as he thought about her answer. I need time to think about it.

Honestly, D.O didn't know whether he should be happy that she didn't reject him or be sad that she didn't say 'yes'. While her answer wasn't bad, it wasn't good either. To a guy, 'thinking about it' was code for many things. And one of them was 'I'm not interested but thanks for the offer anyway'. 

D.O grew glum at the prospect. What if Nami was actually trying to say 'no' but didn't say it out loud because she was being mindful of his feelings? He had thought that he and Nami were on the same wavelength but her answer had proved him otherwise.

Suddenly, D.O heard a knock on the door which broke him away from his thoughts. He rolled over to his other side.

"Can I come in?" It was Suho.

D.O needn't respond as Suho came in anyway.

"So the others told me that you've been rolling around since we got back from SMHQ" Suho began, as he sat down at the end of D.O's bed. "Mind explaining to me why?"

D.O sighed gloomily. "I've just had a lot on my mind, hyung."

Suho pursed his lips. "What's up, D.O-ah?" he asked, eyeing D.O intently. "We'll be flying in a few hours and I see you haven't even packed yet."

D.O turned to look at his empty suitcase and sighed miserably. He didn't have the motivation to move from his bed.

Suho, seeing D.O's despondent reaction, persisted, "Is this about Nami-ah?" It didn't take much for Suho to guess correctly. He knew that Nami had such a great effect on D.O.

D.O fidgeted slightly which signalled to Suho that he had hit a bullseye.

"Look, D.O-ah, whatever it is that's going on between you and Nami-ah stays between you two. I get that. But I hope that you won't let things get in the way of our performance. First and foremost, we're a team. And we're also idols so we have a duty to our fans who have been supporting us since day one." Suho frowned slightly as he finished his sermon, "So please, get your act together and pack your bags, okay? We'll be leaving in less than two hours."

D.O nodded as he replied, "Okay, hyung."

"If you have any problems, you know that you can always talk to us, right? We'll always be here for you."

D.O managed a weak smile. "I know, hyung." But D.O knew that this was something he couldn't tell any of the EXO members about at all.

~*~

D.O searched the swarm of fans that crowded around the airport lobby for Nami. It was finally time for EXO to depart for the US but all D.O could think about was why Nami wasn't with them. Where was she?

He hadn't seen her since leaving the apartment, almost four hours ago, and he had been reluctant to go to the airport without her. If it weren't for Manager-noona, D.O would have stayed behind and waited for Nami to arrive at the dorm so that they could go to the airport together.

"Where are they now?" D.O asked Manager-noona for the third time.

She kept a straight face although D.O noticed her eyebrow twitch slightly. Manager-noona replied, "Manager-nim says that they're on their way to the airport as we speak. They've just finished moving all your things back to the dorm."

D.O began to relax slightly. He couldn't help worrying about Nami. They hadn't separated from each other since the moment they began WGM, so today was the first time they had been apart in a while. D.O didn't know how he was going to cope being away from Nami for a whole month.

"Don't worry, D.O-ah" Lay reassured him from his side. "Nami-ssi will be here soon. She wouldn't miss our departure since we'll be gone for a whole month and this will be the last time we'll see her."

"It's not the last time" D.O replied sharply. Lay noticed the edginess in D.O's voice and the pair exchanged knowing looks.

"I think what Lay-hyung means to say is, it's the last time this month. Don't you, hyung?" Kai pitched in.

"Honestly Lay-hyung, I think you need to work on your Korean again. Spending all that time in China has made you forget how to speak." Baekhyun joked.

Lay was bemused but he apologised all the same. "Yes, my bad. Nami-ssi will still be here when we get back. But wasn't she only supposed to stay with us for a year?"

"Yeah, that's right" Chen responded. "She came as a substitute for Mrs. Park because she got married."

The rest of the EXO members were quiet apart from Lay who was busy counting his fingers in Mandarin. "So, doesn't that mean that when we get back, she'll only be with us for five months more?"

Xiumin confirmed this. "Yeah... five months. It doesn't seem that long."

D.O chewed nervously on his lip.

"I actually can't believe it's been half a year since Little Umma came" Sehun stated nostalgically. "It feels like only yesterday that Baekhyun-hyung walked in on her in the shower."

Lay's eyes rounded as he turned to Baekhyun. "You walked in on her?"

"It was an accident!" Baekhyun rushed to clarify as he shot Sehun daggers. "It was just that one time. One time, people. Why does everyone keep bringing it up?"

The other members laughed at Baekhyun's outburst.

"I'm gonna miss Little Umma when she leaves" Kai admitted. "It's been so fun having her around."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Why are you all talking as though we'll never see her again?" Suho asked, trying to lighten the mood. "She'll still be here when we get back."

"But hyung, she can't stay with us forever," Kai said solemnly. "Eventually, she will have to go."

D.O shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Not if I can help it" he muttered but only loud enough for Lay, who was sitting beside him, to hear. Lay regarded D.O quizzically.

Manager-noona suddenly got up as she observed the departures bulletin board. "Your gate is open now" she notified the EXO members, as she beckoned for them to get up from their seats. The members proceeded to do so and they began to gather their belongings.

D.O surveyed the airport lobby for any sign of Nami. She still hadn't arrived. Why wasn't she here yet? He kept wondering. He scanned the army of fangirls that assembled in a massive huddle, screaming and waving their phones about as they tried to take pictures of him and the other EXO members. There were so many of them. How will he be able to spot Nami from this sea of die-hard fans?

D.O saw that the security guards were having trouble restraining the fangirls from crossing the human border they had made. Honestly, D.O hated being at airports the most. It was the worst place for idols since it left them exposed to the fans' wrath if it weren't for the security team, who made sure the fans never got too close.

"D.O-ah! Come on!" Xiumin shouted from the other side.

"I'm coming, hyung!" D.O replied as he looked back at the crowd of fangirls once more. He wanted to see Nami one last time but maybe, she didn't want to see him? What if he had scared her off by proposing to her and that Manager-noona was only telling him kind lies that Nami was coming when, in fact, she wasn't?

Seeing that Nami was nowhere to be found, D.O started making his way to join the others. But as he was walking away, he suddenly heard someone shouting his name in a very loud voice. He turned to the crowd of fangirls and, in front was no other than Nami, in their sky-blue couple hoodie.

His mouth stretched into a smile as he ran towards her.

The security guards prevented her from crossing their human border but, when they saw D.O approaching and Manager-nim weaving his way through the over-excited fangirls, they granted Nami passage while Manager-nim helped them keep the fangirls at bay.

"You came," D.O said to her as they walked away to somewhere quieter and further away from prying eyes.

"Of course I'd come" Nami answered hoarsely, her throat dry from shouting so much. "I wanted to see you off."

"I thought you weren't going to come. I thought that I'd scared you off with what I said earlier today--"

Nami suddenly lifted her finger to his lips, silencing him. "Let's not talk about that here" she urged, as she gestured at the fans who were not too far away. "We can talk about it when you get back."

D.O contented himself with her words as she pulled her finger away from his lips. "Yes, we can talk about many things when I get back." He gently takes hold of her hand and interlocks their fingers together. When he glanced down, he saw that Nami was still wearing her wedding ring. He smiled.

Nami stuttered nervously, "Erm, K-Kyungsoo?"

"Hm?" he said looking up.

"There's, erm, actually something I have to tell you."

D.O gaped at her questioningly. "Oh? What is it?"

Nami fumbled for her words. She met eyes with him and he saw that she looked slightly worried. "The truth is I'm a--"

"D.O-ah!"

D.O turned to look behind him and saw that it was Chen calling him this time.

"Come on!" Chen urged from afar.

Nami sighed as she followed D.O's gaze. "Looks like you have to go now."

D.O turned to face her. "Yeah, I guess I do." But then he remembered, "What were you saying earlier on?"

Nami searched D.O's eyes apprehensively before she blinked and her expression relaxed. "N-never mind," she told him finally. "It's not important."

D.O was about to persist further when he suddenly heard Suho call for him this time. "I'm coming!" he yelled back, slightly annoyed. He turned to Nami again, "I wish you could come with us."

"You know I can't" Nami replied, smiling sadly.

D.O gazed into her eyes deeply. "I love you, Nami-ah."

Nami was taken aback. But then she smiled at him affectionately. "And I love you, Kyungsoo."

D.O slowly let go of her hands as he captured her in his embrace. He buried his face into the crook of her neck as he inhaled her scent. Her hair smelled like coconut. Nami did the same as she wrapped her arms around his waist. They hugged each other tightly, sharing their warmth between them and feeling their heart beat as one. Both Nami and D.O wished that they could stay that way forever.

Nami was the first to pull away. "You need to go or you'll miss your flight."

D.O let go of her hesitantly. "I'll see you in a month. Make sure you eat well and you stay in touch. I'll call you as often as I can."

Nami grinned at him. "Just make sure you don't cheat on me while you're in the US" she playfully warned.

D.O returned her grin. "I'll try not to" he replied, which earned him a light punch on the shoulder.

"I'll be waiting for you," Nami told him finally. "Just promise me you'll come back to me safely."

"I promise," he said resolutely as he turned to walk away.

Nami watched as D.O started running to catch up with the other EXO members. But suddenly, D.O stopped and started doubling back. Nami eyed him curiously as he appeared in front of her again.

He grinned at her mischievously. "I forgot something."

Nami was confused. D.O had his luggage already with him. "What did you forget?"

"This" he replied, as he reached in and pecked her lightly on the lips.

Nami blushed when D.O eventually pulled away. She saw him smirk. "That should make up for the one month I won't be able to hold you."

"Yah! Do Kyungsoo!" Nami shouted in embarrassment as D.O winked at her flirtatiously before running off to join the others again.

He looked back at Nami and waved at her, a big goofy smile on his face.

Four weeks, he kept thinking to himself as he waved Nami goodbye. Four weeks until I can see you again. Four weeks until I can get my answer. He clenched his fist tightly as he thought, I just hope it's the answer I want to hear.

~*~

Author's Note:

Hi reader! Thanks for reading chapter 60 of Our Little Dorm Mother!

So what do you think will happen next? Will Nami leave while EXO is away on tour? Or will she choose to stay? Will she get the chance to tell D.O the truth?

Stay tuned to find out!