EXO Undercover

After a few hours of housework, Mr and Ms Song came home with several bags of hot pizza. Once Ms Song shouted their arrival, twelve boys bounded down the stairs and crowded around the kitchen counters, helping themselves. It seemed as if they were loud robots, dancing to a usual routine. Unlike other family dinners, they grabbed a plate, picked their pizza slices, and raced back into their bedrooms. It was a bustle of noise for a few minutes before the continuation of the silence in the mansion.

“Why aren’t you all going to eat at the dinner table?” June blurted out, confused. She was left alone with the two parents, standing still while trying to grasp the performance that just occurred.

“We’re all busy with our own job and work,” Mr Song explained, “so it’s easier to eat and work at the same time, preferably in our own workspace. Hey!” he nudged June with his elbow, “we use paper plates to minimize your time cleaning. The Chinese- the porcelain dishes- are when special guests come over.”

“June!” Ms Song called out from her office. Busy as ever, Ms Song continued typing away on her three computers. Not making eye contact as June entered, she said, “Did you finish reading my paper I left for you on the coffee table in the living room?”

“Yes. I-”

“Any questions?”

“Er, what did you mean when you mentioned-”

“Alright then. Please bring me some lemon balm tea at 9. If we don’t have any left, chamomile tea is fine as well.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.” June slightly bowed and headed back into the kitchen to eat her own slice of pizza. With the grandfather clock ringing 7, she boiled water in a metal kettle before checking out her assigned bedroom. After all, this was her first night in a mansion. I'm sleeping by myself, right?

It was plain and simple; nothing, in particular, stood out. There were basic necessities, including her own bathroom. All in all, she was thankful for this opportunity. Oh! I'm almost done for the day. I just need to vacuum the boys' bedrooms before making Ms Song's tea. Feeling nervous, June patted her sweat with her trusty handkerchief. Here I go.

Carefully carrying the vacuum, she lightly knocked on the first bedroom door that was assigned to the Kris, Lay, and Tao. Recalling the packet she had been assigned to read, she remembered bits of information and recalled them. These three people and Luhan often travel overseas for work. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing to always be travelling. Maybe I will someday. I believe one of them is my age. Tao, was it? He seems nice, always translating for Lay. Luhan is also nice, more friendly than Kris, who is no doubt intimidating.

Knock. Knock. Knock. No response. Are they sleeping? No, it's too early for that. Perhaps they're busy working. She set the vacuum against the wall, went on the ground on all fours and looked underneath the door. Loud, pounding music seeped out of the room. Bright lights flashed about but June could not make out what it was. Eh? It looks like there's a UFO in there! Suddenly, Luhan opened the door, still gripping glowsticks in another hand. Both Luhan and June jumped, shocked at the sight of each other. Luhan screamed into the party hat that fell in front of his face.

"O! M! G! June! Oh no, no!" He quickly slammed the door shut behind him and adjusted his fallen hat back onto his head, his back leaning against the entranceway. June quickly stood up and apologised.

"Sorry for intruding! I-I came to vacuum the room."

"No, it's alright, it's alright. To be honest, we are having a mini-rave. Party. Thing. In our room." Luhan blushed and waved the glowsticks, grinning. "Please, please don't tell our parents! When Kris is in a better mood, then you can clean up."

"Oh, then should I come by at a different time?"

"Tomorrow. I would invite you to join us but there are some things you shouldn't see-" Luhan was interrupted by Lay powerfully opening the door, his head peeking out and heavy bass music leaking out. Instead of wearing a party hat, he was wearing silver shutter shades. In addition to that, he wasn't wearing a shirt, exposing his slim upper body. Why is he shirtless? I knew I was going to end up seeing someone half-naked sooner or later, but not now!

"Bro! Kris asks why you taking long," Lay cocked his head at Luhan. Luhan made gestures, pointing back at forth from him and June, his eyes darting about.

"I'm in the middle of something!" Luhan clearly indicated that he was busy conversing with June, but Lay was too busy having a good time to worry about a thing.

"Is she bringing more pizza?" Lay faced June, "Pizza's good. Thank you, thank you!"

"Darnit!" Luhan pushed Lay's face back into the room, "June, let's talk more some other time. Don't tell our parents about our party! Including Lay's nudity!"

"O-okay then." June was left alone in the empty hallway. Oh, that's right. All bedrooms have a sound-proofing system. I'll have to knock harder for the next room. Well, here goes nothing. Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Chen!" yelled a soft voice from inside, "Did you forget something?" From the outside, June could hear more shouts, but could not make out the words. A few moments later, the door swung open.

"Hey," Xiumin's beaming face greeted her, "June! What's up?"

"Oh, Xiumin," she looked over at the vacuum cleaner in her hands, "I came to-"

"Sure thing!" he beckoned June to come in and showed her their bedroom. On one side was a well-furnished lounge and on the other was a space-saving triple bunk bed. She spotted Suho eating another pizza slice from his paper plate on the sofa, watching a martial arts match. "Suho! June is here!" Suho whipped his head around to face them, stopped chewing, and sat up from his slouching position.

"Hello there," Suho said.

"Hi," June said back.

"We're in the middle of a something. Can you vacuum tomorrow?"

"Okay then." Oh gosh, that was so awkward. June looked back at Xiumin, "Well, I should-"

"How are you?" Xiumin interrupted.

"I'm doing alright. It's good to see you, Xiumin."

"Same here. If Chanyeol or Kyungsoo cause trouble at school, tell me all about it."

"I will. Is Chen attending the mini-rave in the other room?"

"Correct. Suho and I aren't joining them because we really wanted to watch this sparring match. If we waited until after and watched the online recording, we would already know the outcome. It's more fun to watch the live version."

"I understand. I should go-"

"Hey, we haven't met in such a long time. Let's talk a bit first."

"Well, how's college?"


After her conversation with Xiumin, June left to vacuum the next two rooms. Noting the absence of the boys, she concluded that most were attending the mini-rave. As she vacuumed, she thought to herself. Each bedroom has one bathroom. First two rooms are for three people, and the next three are for two. Tao, Kris, Lay are together, and so are Chen, Xiumin, and Suho. The other empty room belongs to Luhan and Sehun and this room is for Chanyeol and Baekhyun which leaves Kai and Kyungsoo in the last one. I can't believe they're so many guys here. What kind of job do the Song parents have to afford a mansion and support for 12? How can I remember all their sons' names but not their occupation? Maybe they produce money and earn half of it.

June approached the last bedroom. Knock. Knock. Knock. I guess these Kai and Kyungsoo are also at the party. June was about to grab the door handle until the door swiftly opened by itself.

"It's June!" sang Chanyeol. He grabbed her wrist and brought her inside, leaving the vacuum cleaner behind. I haven't seen the first room, but the second has a TV lounge and the third, a gaming room and this room, a recording studio with tons of instruments. This bedroom has-

"Hello, June!" Baekhyun called from his gaming chair, "come in!" Like the third room, Kai and Kyungsoo's room had a gaming section. Four desks and multiple computers aligned together, forming a row. Baekhyun and Kai were furiously tapping their keyboard and clicking away on their mouse. By a coffee table behind Baekhyun and Kai, Kyungsoo was on the ground, reading a small book. Laid on the table were familiar school textbooks June recognised.

"When Baekhyun and I come over to this room, Kyungsoo teaches me my schoolwork and Baekhyun plays online games with Kai,” Chanyeol pulled June over to the long coffee table, "Kyungsoo, June's here!"

Kyungsoo looked up from his book, "hey, Lee." (Lee is June's last name)

"Hi," she replied, "I came to vacuum-"

"Woah! Kyungsoo!" Chanyeol knelt down and grabbed Kyungsoo's shoulders before shaking him, "You actually talked her!"

"Don't touch me," Kyungsoo muttered, "Please. Stop it." He raised his fist, threatening Chanyeol enough to make him let go.

Chanyeol happily howled and continued chattering away. "June! Congratulations on being acknowledged! On Valentines Day, he accepts all the chocolates but never says anything when he takes them. For group projects, he texts and emails his teammates and avoids meeting up with them-"

"Seriously?" Kai turned off his computer, "I didn't even know that!"

"I bet his arms and wrists are strong," Baekhyun teased as he swivelled around his chair, "he spends a lot of time alone for a good reason."

"If he wasn't with us," Chanyeol cracked up, "he would become a monk!"

"A eunuch!" Kai blurted.

"Kyungsoo is like expensive wine," Baekhyun chimed in, "the thing between his legs is exclusive and untouched." Everyone but Kyungsoo laughed hysterically, and June even giggled a bit.

"Shut up, you guys! I'm going to go sleep now." Kyungsoo stood up from his position and raced to the lower bunk bed and drew the curtains, concealing himself from the teasing. The room became silent before bursting into more laughter.

"Is he really sleeping?" Chanyeol questioned out loud, "He's hiding, right?"

“Probably," Kai responded, "but if June wasn't here, I bet he would be on the verge of killing us all! Well, maybe next time. Sometimes, he’s the funny one.”June nodded her head in agreement.

"So," Baekhyun slid from his chair to the ground and sat next to Chanyeol, facing June, "how did you and Kyungsoo get to know each other?"

"Well,” June opened up, "we had lunch together twice so far. We also greet each other in the hallways.”

“What?” The three boys gasped together.

Kai faced Chanyeol, “Eh? You didn’t know this either?”

“Whenever I eat with Kyungsoo instead of classmates,” Chanyeol explained, "June isn’t there at all! Is he purposefully eating with her alone? What the actual f-"

“Oh my, oh my goodness!” Baekhyun playfully poked June’s shoulder, “you and Kyungsoo must be on the road to becoming a couple! How cute! I remember my school romance was similar to that, too.”

“A-a couple?” June’s jaw dropped, and so did Chanyeol’s.

“Judging from her reaction,” Kai answered, “they aren’t.”

“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun shouted, looking over at the bunk bed, “Can you hear me? Fighting!”

“Fighting!” Kai echoed before chuckling. No response came. "He's cute when he's mad."

“Hey, June,” Chanyeol wondered, “did you come here to do something?”

“Oh, right! Vacuum!”

“It’s almost 9,” Baekhyun commented, "so just do it tomorrow. You’ll get to see us again anyway.”

“Alright then. S-see you next time!” The kettle is still boiling!

“Goodnight, June!” Baekhyun blew her a kiss. As she started to walk away, June asked herself, is Baekhyun gay?

“See you!” Kai said.

“Hey!” Chanyeol shouted before she left, "Let’s walk together to school on tomorrow!”

“Isn’t tomorrow Sunday?” Kai asked.

“No,” Baekhyun corrected, “it’s Monday tomorrow.”

“Crap!” Kai whined, leaning back in the chair he was still sitting in, "I have homework due!”

“Haha!” Chanyeol pointed at Kai and teased, "Sucks to be you! I have Kyungsoo to help me.”

“Not anymore,” Kyungsoo said as he exited the bathroom in his loose pyjamas, “I’m sleeping early tonight.”

“Eh?” Chanyeol was stunned, “when did you go shower?”

“He obviously slipped out of bed to go,” Kai gave Kyungsoo a thumbs up, “You’re sneaky as always. Nice!” Smiling, Kyungsoo gave a thumbs up back.

“Reminder!” Baekhyun told his younger siblings after she left, "we have another mission this Tuesday, 3:30 at the Incheon airport again.”

“Am I going this time?” Kai wondered hopefully.

“You, Sehun, and the Chinese unit aren’t," Baekhyun answered, "You guys can rest or visit headquarters, maybe go on a date for once. You have a girlfriend from school, yes?"

"Yes, Krystal, but our relationship is rocky. Sehun is at the mini-rave, right?" Kai nodded his head, "I'll inform him tomorrow on the way to school."

"Good plan," Baekhyun saluted, "Adios, my amigos!"

"Adios!"
"Adios!"
"Get out."

Notes

Sorry for the long hiatus!

What is a COOKIE?

• an extra, filler chapter (will either be written or in bullet points)
• will either be really long or really short (but well thought-out) drabble
• mainly used to illustrate the setting and the chemistry between characters
• may explain possible confusing events from previous chapters