Chapter 6

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I felt uncomfortable.

I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to find a position that satisfied me. Still feeling groggy, I lifted my head up and punched my pillow a few times, attempting to soften it up.

Wait, since when was my pillow case pink with bunnies on it? I sat up only to smack my head against something hard. Wincing, I grabbed my forehead and rubbed it. It was then that I noticed my surroundings.

A) I was in a bunk bed.
B) I did not own a bunk bed.
C) To my right was a single bed; to the far right, another bunk bed.

Clothes were strewn in various places. Dirty laundry piled up in the corner of the room. To my left sat a desk, a large amount of mail piled on top. A few posters of various sports teams were taped to the wall.

Where the hell was I? When the hell did I get here? And how was I going to get out?

Then I heard five voices outside the door. I quickly lay back in bed. Pulling the comforter towards my chin I pretended to sleep. I heard the familiar sound of a door knob turning.

“Taemin! Get back here” someone called. Key, I assumed.
“I just want to see if she’s okay.”

“She’s fine, just let her sleep” a deep voice spoke; Minho.
“Ssh” someone scolded, it sounded like Jonghyun but I wasn’t positive.
“With all this racket, you’ll wake her up” he added a moment later.

“Do you guys like eggs?” a voice randomly called out. I smiled in my fake sleep, it had to have been Onew who asked the ridiculous question.

There was a moment of silence before he added “Don’t look at me like that! I just wanted to know because I’ll make some for breakfast”
 

“Does it look like we care about breakfast you mentally challenged dubu!” Key exclaimed in a hushed tone.

“Minho just brought home an unconscious girl. Not just any girl, Annahyun Noona.” Taemin added, keeping his voice down

Someone sighed.

“I already told you guys, I couldn’t sleep. I went onto the balcony for some fresh air and noticed someone walking towards our apartment building, then the figure collapsed. It didn’t look like anyone else saw this person faint so I ran out and saw that it was Annahyun. I didn’t know where she lived so I thought it was safer to bring her to the dorm to let her rest. We can get the full story of why she fainted when she wakes up.”

I listened intently at Minho’s explanation. It was definitely more convincing then my mugging story.

“I don’t see why my bed was stolen from me.” Key said; an image of him standing with his arms folded and a pout on his face crossed my mind.

“Minho’s bed is a top bunk! You expect him to haul a girl up there, when you could have just switched spots?” Jonghyun explained.

“Still, now my sheets will smell all womanly” Key added.

“Good, they’ll smell ten times better then they usually do” Jonghyun replied.

Silence, then I heard a smack.

“Ow! You idiot, I was just joking.”

“My sheets don’t smell!” Key defended.

“Ssh! You’ll wake her up” Minho said, he sounded like a mother scolding her children.

Then I heard the door open.

“Yah, what are you doing! Taemin, get back here and close the door.”

“I just want to see if she’s okay. I wouldn’t be surprise if you guys woke her up with your arguing!”

I heard footsteps, I knew they had all come in and were surrounding the bed.

“Wow, Noona’s pretty when she sleeps.” Taemin whispered to the other members. I tried my hardest not to blush.

I heard someone suppress a laugh. “Look, there’s a leaf stuck in her hair” Taemin pointed out in a quiet voice.

“Must have got caught when she fell onto the ground” Jonghyun reasoned.

I suddenly felt a hand run through my hair. “Minho, what are you doing?” Taemin asked

My heart stopped for a second and I tried not to make any sudden movements.

“There. No more leaf” he simply replied. Then a hand touched my face, my chest felt tight and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.

“There’s a cut” Minho explained, “right here. She must have hit the ground hard.” his voice sounded distant, almost regretful.

“Poor Noona.” Taemin interjected. Before this could go on any longer I pretended to wake up. I heard a collective gasp, footsteps hurrying in some direction, then shuffling noises. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. I raised an eyebrow at the sight before me.

All five members were crowded in a corner.

Key looked angry, he was positively squished at the bottom of the pile.
Jonghyun looked annoyed that Taemins bum was so close to his face.
Taemin sat on Jonghyuns back, smiling and waving at me.
Minho was squished against the wall, he did not look happy.

Onew was squished against the opposite wall, smiling like a fool. He was wearing a pink apron and oven mitts with teapots on them. In his right hand was a spatula, and it was digging into Minho’s back. Ah, so that’s why Minho looked uncomfortable.

I sat up. “What’s going on here?” I asked them, interested in what they had to say.

All five of them spoke at once.

“Sorry for waking you up-”
“Well you see you fainted so I broug-”
“We wanted to see if you were oka-”
“Then you woke up so we tried runnin-”
“I just wanted to make eggs!”

“Okay?” I played dumb. In mere seconds all five SHINee members untangled themselves and were sitting on the single bed to my right.

“I fainted? When? And how did I end up here?” I asked them

“Well, I don’t know how you ended up in our neighborhood but Minho saw you fainting. He brought you here and you’ve been sleeping ever since” Onew explained.

I nodded, trying to make sense of the situation. I remembered last night. Had I really fainted? And in front of Minho? Insomnia was starting to take it’s toll on me and it had me slightly scared.

“I-I don’t remember much, maybe I was sleep walking” I offered, it seemed like the only good explanation.

“Maybe! How else could have ended up here” Taemin said.

“Well, I do live a few blocks from here, no more then a 10 minute walk. When I lived in the States, my mom use to tell me that I sleep walked all the time” I lied. Hopefully they believed me. So far it looked like they were buying it.

“ All I know is that I’m glad to see you okay! You have a few scratches but other than that you seemed unharmed” Jonghyun said smiling at me.

“Thank you” I said looking into Minho’s eyes. My eyes glanced at each of their faces “all of you, for taking care of me.” I added.

“Well now that we’ve uncovered the truth, whose hungry?” Key asked.

“Fear not! The great and wonderful Onew will cook us breakfast” Onew said proudly, he took his spatuala and pointed it towards the ceiling.

“Idiot” Key muttered while smacking Onew up side the head. “quit being weird and cook”

“I can help” I offered getting up. I looked down at my clothes, they were dirty, I suddenly felt embarrassed. Running a had through my messy bed head I looked at all the members.

Taemin held onto my arm and smiled at me. “Noona, you just rest! Let the hyungs cook for us” he offered in a cheerful tone.

“What? How’d I get ered into cooking?” Key shouted.

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Taemin led me into their spacious living room and sat me on the couch. I watched as the other members filed into the kitchen with grim expressions. Onew was the only one who looked excited. He took a seat beside me and the television, suddenly he reached over and slowly poked my cheek with his forefinger. He giggled childishly.

This guy was too cute. “Look Noona, Saturday morning cartoons!” he said pointing to the screen front of us.

I heard a commotion in the kitchen. “Should we help them ou-” I began but the boy beside me cut me off. “Don’t worry about it Noona, happens all the time” his eyes never left the television.

“Key, stop touching the eggs! they won’t cook that way” Jonghyun shouted from the kitchen.

“Like you know how to cook eggs!” Key retaliated.
“Guys, stop it. Can we just cooperate?” Minho pleaded with his fellow members.

“Someone put bacon in this pan!” Onew commanded. He actually sounded like he knew what he was doing.

“Yah! You don’t need to put oil, the bacon gets greasy enough!” Key shouted.
“I know how to cook bacon! God Key quit being so-Ah!” I heard Jonghyun shout.

“Haha” Key taunted “see, all that hot grease splattered once you put the bacon in and you got hurt”

“Be nice” Minho scolded.

I smiled at the conversation from the kitchen. This place felt like a home. I wondered if this was something that happened on a daily basis.

“Minho! I’m making porridge, here use this spoon to stir th-” I heard Onew scream. I was about to get off the couch when Taemin put an arm infront of me.

“He’s fine” he said nonchalantly.

The other members didn’t seem fazed either. “Um, hello? Little help? I’m still here…on the cold floor. Hello? Guys…Guys!” I heard Onew shout.

“Sorry Hyung” Minho said, I heard the sound of Onew getting up

“Don’t worry, my body broke the fall, I slipped on…grease! Jonghyun! Clean it up!” the leader commanded.

A half hour had passed and the food was finally ready, I had to admit that it smelt delicious. We gathered around the table; Taemin found an extra chair for me. After we all took our places, those boys began grabbing various items and piling their plates. I filled my bowl with porridge and grabbed a piece of toast. I watched as the boys dug into their meal. I took a bite of toast and smiled. It was a picture perfect scene. A family coming together after working hard to prepare a meal. I watched as Key took a napkin and wipe off a piece of egg that clung to the corner of Taemins mouth.

I watched as Onew passed the butter to Jonghyun who happily took it.
Then my eyes met Minho, I caught him as he took a large bite out of his toast, he took a few moments to chew, then swallow. He offered me a small smile, one I gladly returned.

Remembering Minho’s quiet statement from last night; it was moments like this that made me feel truly alive. A feeling of comfort spread throughout my body, even though these boys bickered, it was not hard to see that they cared deeply for one another. For the first time since coming back to Korea, it was with these virtual strangers that I finally felt at home.

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