Taehyun’s living room looked like this week’s meeting place for the Everyone-Attractive-Ever Club, because out of nowhere, and in a span of less than twenty-four hours, five very attractive strangers decided that they would be staying over indefinitely. Which is usually the best case scenario.

Now, first meetings can be very awkward. A lot could go wrong. Like those awkward:

“Hey,”

“Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“Good. You?”

‘Oh .’

Terrible. Or, y'know, there might be the off-chance that you might accidentally reveal that you basically know everything about the person in question, down from the contents of their birth certificate, to their hobbies, and to their entire family tree, all because you’d already looked them up earlier. Just for good measure. Apparently, someone forgot to tell Jonghyun’s band of friends that this was not, in fact, a social norm.

Luckily for them, Taehyun was a good sport about it, stating: “My only friend showed me a picture of someone he wanted me to meet. And I found him really cute, so I stalked him online. Well, jokes on me because he’s not just openly gay, but also dating said friend. Now I have two friends, by default.”

Yeah, you’d think that after the train wreck of a first conversation they just had, they’d bail on the idea of living with Taehyun. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

“Okay!” Jonghyun announced, “I did some quick thinking and consulted my friend, Google, and it recommend me a lot of fun games for getting acquainted.” The aura in the room was so awkward, that even Jonghyun felt weighed down by it.

“What fun games did you find?” Taehyun asked, sarcasm bleeding through her words.

“Well,” Jonghyun replied, unfazed, “I went to this website, http://www.games4youthgroups.com/get-acquainted-games.html, and found a great list! Let’s start with number one: Elf, Giant, Magician.”

“Jonghyun,” Taehyun said, shaking her head, “No.” she redirected her attention to the group in front of her, and pressed her lips together, forcing a smile.

“I have to admit,” she continued, looking at four unfamiliar faces in front of her, “I haven’t made new friends in a while. I’m really rusty. And pretty much still hungover. But, I’m not socially inept.” She got up from her seat and bowed, saying: “Hello, I’m Cho Taehyun… I hope you like my house because this is basically it.” She sank back down into her couch.

“Very cute, Taehyun,” Jonghyun commented, “Now that that’s over…” he threw himself unto the couch, placing himself closely beside her. He began introducing the four in front of them.

“That one,” he said, pointing towards a luxurious looking male, “Is Suho. Real great guy. I only invited him because he can cook.” Suho sighed, nodding his head with an empty look on his face, commenting: “The truth comes out.”

You know that feeling you get when you first meet someone, and you can just tell that they have their together? And also probably have a cat at home? Maybe a dog? Or maybe cacti? Yeah, that’s the kind of feeling Taehyun got towards Suho.

“That’s our lovely Krystal,” Jonghyun continued, moving his index finger to the right and fixating upon a chic-looking woman, “I thought that having a sister would be nice for once, since you already have brothers.” Taehyun shot him a look like: ‘Not talking about it, go rot in Hell.’

Jonghyun was faking tears at her “animosity”.

She returned her gaze to Krystal, who gave Taehyun a small smile, to which she returned. Taehyun suddenly felt very cheap. Unsophisticated. There was just something in the way that Krystal carried herself that gave off a cold, city girl aura. And Taehyun liked it. Well, not the feeling cheap part. That feeling .

“Those two sharing the seat meant for one,” Jonghyun said, pointing at a pair comically and awkwardly sharing a seat, “That’s Minho and Taemin. I don’t know why they’re here.”

“Ey,” Minho groaned, “We’re useful too, y’know? You can’t have company unless it’s good company.” Taemin nodded his head in agreement.

“You’re in luck,” Taemin supplemented, “Because we’re the best company.” The two high-fived each other.

“That’s right!” if Jonghyun could, he would’ve rolled his eyes all the way to the back of his head.

The corners of Taehyun’s mouth perked up; she couldn’t help it. She’d always been the estranged, unwanted younger sibling. Seeing people getting along happily was melancholic, but also very beautiful. A joy and privilege that many people fail to notice. But, isn’t that the curse of humanity? To have been blessed with eyes to see, but not being truly able to “see”?

Jonghyun noticed her smile, and felt a vague sense of accomplishment. Two out of the three most important points on his quota have been checked off. Financial problems? Out the window. Loneliness? Hell to the no-no, not anymore. That pesky third one would take a bit longer…

“I was planning on hosting a housewarming party,” Jonghyun piped up, “But you have class tomorrow, so I guess we’ll have to call it an early night.” Taehyun did a double take.

“Class? You paid for my tuition, too?” she asked, ambivalent. Jonghyun nodded.

“God,” she replied, exhaling, “I never thought I’d miss eight A.M lectures.” She turned to Jonghyun and continued: “Thank you. Really. If I wake up tomorrow, and you’re still here, and I’m still here, with all my limbs and organs intact… It’d be a miracle.”

“I’m a miracle worker,” Jonghyun stated as a matter-of-factly, “And you should really stop with the organ-stealing thing already, none of us are after your organs okay so keep them to yourself. We have enough kidneys in our storage already.” Taehyun did not find any humor in Jonghyun’s sad attempt of a joke.

“Right,” Taehyun replied, without missing a beat, “Because miracles always begin with invasion of privacy, trespassing, and unwilling organ donors.”

She looked to the group in front of her and hurriedly got on her feet.

“The rooms have been empty for a while,” she spoke up, “I haven’t cleaned them yet… But, the least I can do now is show you around the house—“

“That,” Jonghyun interrupted, “Won’t be necessary.”

“Yup!” Minho agreed, “While you were hiding out in your room, we already settled in.”

“Don’t put it that way,” Suho chimed in, “It makes it really sound like we’re trespassing.”

“Granted trespassing?” Taemin thought aloud. Minho nodded in agreement.

“Welcomed invasion of privacy?” Minho replied. The pair laughed, and so did Taehyun. It was a light, happy laughter that bubbled out of her chest. It was infectious. She was one of those people. Those people who could make you laugh, just by laughing.

It got Krystal laughing as well. Then Suho.

“That joke was weak,” Jonghyun said, densely, “They’re politely laughing at you, not with you.”

“So,” Taehyun said, brushing aside Jonghyun’s comment, “Suho.” Suho’s eyes perked up, as he met eyes with her. She asked: “What’s for dinner?”

Taehyun smiled, partly because food can make anyone happy, but mainly because such a simple question held so much sentimentality behind it. If she were dying, she was dying in pure, simple bliss. She thanked a God she never stopped believing in, despite her struggles.

As the sounds of four men boisterously arguing over tonight’s dinner bounced around the now lively house, outside, the sun began to set. That beautifully rich orange hung low in the sky. Very different from the annoyingly, neon orange article of clothing that that one dude-bro we all knew, owned.

The day was long, and tested both Taehyun’s patience and her belief of what was real and surreal.

She’ll know very soon how much, and how far those boundaries can be bent.