It was quiet in the dorm. I sighed dejectedly as I started my routine again, which consisted of getting up and making myself breakfast before sitting down and twiddling my thumbs for the next few hours. I was so lonely. Without the EXO members, I had nothing to do and no one to talk to and I couldn't believe I was actually missing cooking and cleaning. At least then, I had a goal for the day.

I rolled over to my side as I laid on the sofa. I was still unsure of whether or not I should contact Nikka. After his sudden confession to me, I had panicked and ended the call. What else was I supposed to do? I had deliberated on D.O's proposal for the past week, over and over and when I finally made up my mind, Nikka had to say that he was in love with me. It came as a shock. And, I may have overreacted by deleting Skype altogether from my phone. I still had it on my laptop but I hardly used it nowadays. I didn't need it anymore since I was giving up my job as a reporter and staying with D.O.

I peered at my phone now. Richard had sent me my boarding pass through e-mail yesterday as he still didn't know I wasn't going. I had been putting it off for as long as possible but I knew that I had to tell him at some point. I checked my boarding pass out of curiosity and saw that my flight was scheduled for tonight in approximately ten hours. It was still early in the morning so I had plenty of time to pack if I changed my mind.

But I wasn't going to change my mind. I was going to stay.

My phone vibrated and I peered down at it. D.O had sent me another message through KakaoTalk and it made me smile. He had sent me a picture of him trying out a giant bubble tea with Sehun and they looked pretty surprised by the sheer size of it. I giggled as I sent him a message back, telling him how much I missed him and how he should make sure Sehun doesn't go on a bubble tea coma while they were there.

D.O and I had been communicating with each other as much as possible whenever he had time. He was always busy with rehearsals, performances and preparations so our conversations were always short and brief. Sometimes, he was too tired to video call so we would send each other voice messages instead. I knew he was working hard so I didn't want to bother him no matter how eager I was to talk face to face. I was just happy to hear his voice.

I got up abruptly and decided to clear out my things. Since I had already resolved not to leave Seoul, I didn't have any need for my news reporter things anymore. I was going to turn over a new leaf and start anew.

As I went to my room and began to gather all the reporter things I had hidden, I suddenly noticed that I didn't know where my debrief folder was.

"Where did I leave it?" I wondered aloud as I searched the room. Finally, I peeped under the bed and found it, pushed right against the wall. "How did that get there?" I asked as I reached out for it with my foot. Once I had it within my grasp, I saw a thin film of dust on the cover. I flipped through the pages and found nothing was amiss.

"Lay had been using this room while I was gone," I said to myself as I scanned the layout of the room and observed how it had slightly changed since I moved back to the dorm a week ago. "Could he have...?" I glanced at the debrief folder worriedly, anxiety swirling unrestrained in my stomach. I had forgotten to hide my debrief folder before leaving to go on WGM so there was a slight chance that Lay may have seen it while I was away.

After a while, I decided to dismiss my worries. After all, if Lay had seen my debrief folder, wouldn't he have said something to me? Or, to one of the others? Either way, Lay and I didn't know each other very well so he had no reason to keep my secret if he had discovered it.

I tossed my debrief folder to the side. There was no point worrying. Since nothing happened before EXO left, I could only assume that Lay didn't see it and therefore, no one, apart from Chanyeol, knew I was a reporter.

I let out a deep breath as I thought about that dilemma. Apart from Chanyeol, no one else knew I was a reporter. And that included D.O.

"I'm going to tell him when he gets back" I reminded myself. "And, if he's willing to accept me for who I am and if the offer still stands then, I'll be... I'll be his wife." I blushed. It was the first time I had said it out loud since he proposed to me and it was only now that it started to sink in.

Mrs. Do.

I squealed, I couldn't wait to tell him when he gets back!

I rummaged through my wardrobe to search for more of my hidden news reporter equipment when I suddenly remembered that I still had the wedding dress I wore for WGM. Gently, I took it out of the rack and observed it affectionately. The wedding dress belonged to SM but to me, it felt like it was my own. Memories of when I walked down the aisle with the EXO members singing to me flooded my mind and I smiled. But most of all, my favourite memory of that event was when I saw D.O at the top of the altar, beaming at me with the most radiant smile.

I grinned at the thought. "I wonder if I could wear this for our real wedding day..." It did hold a lot of good memories. But in the end, it wasn't my dress to keep and I had to return it. "I should probably return this to Stylist-unnie" I sighed glumly. "Now that WGM is over, there's no reason for me to keep it."

I carefully set the dress aside before preparing to go out. "Might as well return it ASAP" I said aloud.

I was glad I finally had something to do.

~*~

"Stylist-unnie?" I said uncertainly as I peered through the entrance of the dressing room.

The woman turned around and I found that it was Stylist-unnie. "Oh, Minami-ssi. How come you're here?"

I had arrived at SMHQ and had made my way to the dressing rooms where I thought I would most likely find Stylist-unnie. As EXO had gone on tour to the US, I had originally thought that Stylist-unnie would go with them. I was relieved to see that she hadn't.

I entered the room. "I came to return this" I replied, as I handed her the wedding dress which was inside a dry cleaner's plastic cover.

Stylist-unnie took it from me and unzipped the bag curiously to see what it was. When she saw it was the wedding dress, she looked surprised. "I had forgotten you still had this! Thank you for returning it."

"It was nothing" I responded, smiling. "I had forgotten all about it too."

Stylist-unnie put the wedding dress away and resumed her sitting position on the desk. She looked really bored.

"So," I began, "how come you're not with EXO?"

Stylist-unnie frowned as she replied, "Some other stylist is with them." I noticed that her voice sounded bitter. "So I had to stay behind."

"Oh" I responded awkwardly. "That's, erm, a pity."

Stylist-unnie looked like she wanted to vent but instead, she asked, "So how are you doing at the dorm? It must be really dull, huh?"

I smiled at her weakly as I agreed. "It's really lonely, unnie. I have literally no one to talk to and nothing to do. I don't know what I should do for a whole month."

She giggled, "That makes the two of us." Suddenly she stood up from her chair. "Tell you what, Minami-ssi, since you're not busy and I'm not busy, do you want to have a long chat? I'll go and fetch us some snacks from the staff room too."

I smiled at her. "Sure. I'd like that."

She gave me a brief smile as she strolled out of the dressing room to fetch us some snacks to nibble on. I glanced around the dressing room as I waited patiently for Stylist-unnie to return. The dressing room was filled with many outfits and there were vanity tables and costume props all tidily tucked away to the side. As I was observing some of these outfits, I suddenly heard a familiar shrill voice speaking from the entrance. I turned around.

"Stylist-unnie, I need help with my hair--" Suji stopped mid-way her sentence when she saw me staring at her. She scowled. "What are you doing here?" she asked, in a contemptuous tone. "Where's Stylist-unnie?"

"She went out" I replied curtly. "And I just came here to return something I borrowed."

Suji narrowed her eyes at me. "I hope you're not stealing anything" she said presumptuously.

I had to hold my tongue to avoid lashing out. C'mon Mirei, she's not worth it, I told myself. "I may not be as rich as you but I assure you, I have enough sense not to take what isn't mine."

Suji gave a mock laugh. "Hah! As if I would believe anything you say!"

I glared at her. "I don't care if you believe me or not."

"Good" she jeered. "Because I know you're a compulsive, manipulative, lying son of a bitch!"

"Excuse me?" I retorted. "What did you just call me?"

Suji smiled smugly. "A compulsive, manipulative, lying son of a bitch" she repeated, enunciating each and every insult slowly to my face.

I fumed as I raised my hand to slap her. I had put up with Suji's many antics before but I wasn't going to let her belittle me like that. I didn't care if she was Lee Sooman's daughter. Not anymore. I was going to slap her so hard, she'd end up in another nationality.

Suji raised her eyebrow at me as I got my hand ready to slap her. She smirked. She didn't seem threatened at all. "Go ahead," she taunted. "I can just add that to your case when you get arrested for fraud."

I froze. "What?" Arrested for fraud? What did Suji mean by that?

Suji's smirk grew wider. "I already know your true identity, Mirei. You're a reporter for the BBC."

My eyes widened at Suji's remark.

She pulled out her phone to show me a video that she had. "I know everything about you now. All the lies that you've been spinning all this time. You had everyone wrapped around your little finger. I must admit," she said mockingly. "You're quite the devious little liar, aren't you? You thought you could get away with it and you almost did. But the problem was, you forgot one. Little. Thing..." Suji dropped her phone to her side after I had watched myself appear at the end of the video, "Me." Suji laughed hysterically, mimicking the voice of a villainess.

I stood rooted to the ground, glaring at her. "How did you get that video?" I questioned her in a small voice.

She returned my glare once she had stopped laughing. "I have my informant" she replied dismissively. "But that's not what you should be worrying about right now." She played with her long hair as she carelessly mused, "I wonder how the EXO members will feel when they find out that their beloved little dorm mother had actually been deceiving them all along?"

"You-you wouldn't."

Suji sneered, "Try me." She gave me a steady gaze that signalled to me that she was serious. I was in big trouble now.

After an intense stare down, I murmured, "What do you want from me?"

Suji smiled triumphantly. She knew that I was powerless. "I want you to leave" she declared bluntly. "I want you to cut ties with all of EXO and get out of this country and never come back."

I struggled to process her request. "I-I can't do that."

"You can't or you won't?" she sneered. "Either way, you have no choice."

I clenched my jaw hard.

Suji added, "I heard that you already have a plane ticket booked for tonight."

I was astonished. "How did you know that?"

Again, she brushed off my question with the same answer. "I have my informant. But that doesn't matter. What matters right now is that I want you to get on that plane tonight."

I contemplated on how to answer. It just didn't make sense. How was Suji able to get hold of my report and learn about my flights? Had my computer been hacked while I was away doing WGM? How did Suji find out?

"I-I'm not leaving," I told her resolutely. "And I'm not scared of you."

Suji had her brow arched, "Oh? You're not scared of me?" she laughed softly before continuing. "But you should be. Because if I reveal this to the press, you will never be able to get a job. You will be blacklisted as a reporter and even convenience stores won't hire you because your face will be plastered on every TV screen and you will be branded as a deceiving impostor." She laughed at me mockingly, "You can never live here. And you should know already" she said with a wicked smile, "Whoever holds the media, holds the power, am I right?"

I clenched my fists tightly as Suji continued to jeer at me. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. If I stayed and Suji revealed that I was a fraud, I wouldn't be able to live a peaceful life with D.O. Not only will I be branded as an impostor but EXO's name would be dragged down in the mud too. Their reputation would be ruined because they would be heavily associated with me. And a major scandal like this could ruin their careers and damage their credibility, even if they were innocent.

I couldn't let that happen to EXO. I cared about them. I cared about him.

In defeat, I conceded. "Okay, Suji-ssi. You win. I will leave Seoul."

Suji was exultant. "Wise decision. Now, hand me your phone."

"Excuse me?"

Suji quickly snatched my phone from my hand before I could stop her. "From now onwards, you're banned from contacting EXO."

"Yah! That's my property. Give it back!"

"Not anymore" Suji replied as she tossed something at me. I caught it.

"Take that" she ordered. I peered at the item in my hand. "It's one of my many phones" she explained. "You can have that from now onwards. It's been rebooted so it's practically brand new."

"I don't want your phone. I want mine" I snarled.

"Tough luck" Suji replied. "But you're not getting it back. I can't risk you telling any of the EXO members about our agreement."

I pursed my lip at her. "At least let me say goodbye to them."

"No" she responded heartlessly. "We'll make this a clean break. EXO will only find out that you've left after they come back from their US tour."

"But they'll look for me" I argued. "They'll want to know what happened."

Suji laughed sarcastically. "Look for you? Don't make me laugh! Why would they ever look for someone like you? A lowly and common reporter? Don't forget," she taunted in a low voice, "that you and EXO live in two different worlds." She approached me until we were staring at each other eye to eye. "To them, you were nothing more than a lowly and replaceable housekeeper."

I breathed in and out slowly as I tried to calm myself down. I could feel tears springing to my eyes and I tried desperately hard for them not to fall. I didn't want to show any weakness. Not in front of someone like Lee Suji.

Suji backed away as she looked down at me. "Well, you better get going." She sauntered over to the door and opened it wide for me. "Don't you need to pack?" she asked in a condescending tone.

As I walked past her, she said to me brightly, "I hope we never meet again."

I gave her one last look. For once, Suji and I actually agreed on something. "Yes, I hope we never will." 

~*~

Author's Note:

Hi reader, thanks for reading chapter 62 of Our Little Dorm Mother!

How do you feel after reading this chapter? Do you feel angry at Suji? 

What do you think will happen next? Will Nami leave without EXO finding out? Will she find a way to stay? Will she ever get to tell D.O the answer he's been waiting for?

Find out next time...

P.S Just a heads up, it's almost time for this fanfic to end! Please vote, comment and share to show your support~ Thank you to those who have!