Hello everyone~ my newest chapter took me awhile but here it is! Please subscribe and comment <3 (it motivates me to update faster despite my schedule )

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(as an author’s note....DongHo has already graduated high school about 3 years ago according to my story timeline)

Hoon’s POV

“Aish Kevin! How could you have hit such a sweet person!?” I reprimanded him.

“Aish Hoon ah~ how could you yell at me,” he said with his aeyego...aish this person (-_______-;)

“Kevin ah~, you have to,”

“Aish STOP IT ALREADY!” an annoyed Soo Hyun yelled at us, “she said it was okay, drop it!”.

“Hyung’s right guys, lets just get to our new home,” Eli said before going back to sleep.

“Where is our new home?” Jiseop ah~ asked out of the blue.

“That is a good question, HYUNG!!” Kevin said before addressing our manager hyung.

“It’s about time you guys asked, you guys are going to live in Nanuet, New York,” he said nonchalantly.

“Nanuet, where have I heard that name before?” Eli pondered out loud as he slowly realized he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep.

“I know what you mean Eli, I know I’ve heard it before,” Kevin joined in.

“Hyung, why are we going there instead of staying in the city?” I asked him.

“Easy, Minard sangsonim is only one of the few amazing music teachers you will meet. He is actually minor to a few of Nanuet’s music teachers. President’s hope for you is to learn from all of them and from the students that attend the school as well. More than 70% of the students are involved in the music/theater department till graduation. Nanuet’s Music Program has been one of the finalist for a grammy award for almost seven years straight now. It is an honor for you to study here so be on your best behavior,” hyung told us before resting his head back on his seat pillow. I looked over to see what Kiseop and DongHo were doing as we talked amongst ourself. The two of them were sleeping in the back of the van.

“No wonder it seemed familiar! The director over there is called Jack Gremli. He’s famous for his high school theater productions,” Kevin said while gazing outside the window.

Hmm, so famous that Kevin heard of them from the other side of the country? This is gonna be an interesting few months.

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Eli’s POV

We finally reached Nanuet after another 15 minutes of driving. I woke everyone up once I saw the town sign signaling that it was finally the town border. For some odd reason we were all quiet. Maybe it was the realization that this wasn’t a vacation but a trip to help UKiss grow together.

The van went up a steep and somewhat isolated hill with these huge houses. The van finally stopped in front of a soft brick red colonial house. It was...big. There was a huge front lawn and backyard. It looked like a house that came out of a magazine.

“Welcome to your new house boys,” manager hyung said to us with a smile. Everyone got there own bags and walked up to the houses big black doors. I saw the lion door knockers from Narnia on the door and smiled to myself. I love South Korea. It’s the place of my career, where my dreams came true but standing here, it made me realize how much I missed...home.

Kevin reached for the doorbell and pressed it. There was a stream of three ding dongs that played a short but sweet tune. We heard fast footsteps coming down what seemed to be steps. We could hear the person on the other side of door unlock the doors. I felt my heart beat faster when the door opened. Why do I feel like this?

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AJ’s POV

We made an agreement that I would greet the members of the host family, but for some odd reason, I’m super nervous. Ottoke? The door opened slowly, I swear, ALL of our breaths were caught in our throats. Finally behind the wide open door stood a woman around 5 feet and a warm smile.

“Eh? Your the woman I bumped into earlier!” Kevin screamed at the woman and everyone just stared at her. She really did look like it.

“What? I’ve never met you before this...” she said with a slightly confused expression.

“No, seriously, in the city...Eli and I were singing Imagination from Sesame Street? We bumped into you. Come on, you gotta remember us...” Kevin kept pressing her. I looked at her carefully, I saw a resemblance but, it definitely wasn’t the same person.

“I know Imagination quite well. My daughter loved Sesame Street as a young girl with her younger siblings...however, I didn’t leave the house once today, I think you are talking about the wrong person...,” the woman smiled awkwardly. Great job  Kevin. Look how awkward the atmosphere is now. Guess it’s time for me to step in.

“Aish, sorry about Kevin. He speaks on instinct,” I said while holding my hand out to her. Might as well greet her like an American.

“It’s okay, kinda reminds me of my eldest, you are?”

“Jiseop but you can call me AJ,” I told her with a smile. While looking at her face I could see that she definitely older than the woman Kevin bumped into earlier, but the mood that she gives off felt the same.

“Your english is really good, Jiso~ ah who am I kidding I can’t pronounce that without butchering it. Let me try that again. Your english is really good AJ,” she complimented me before releasing my hand with a small laugh.

“Mummy, why aren’t you letting them in?” a younger voice called from the hallway. It was a younger girl with an ice-cream cone in her hand. She walked closer to her mother with a questioning look.

“Oops, I did it again. I swear the older I get the worse my manners become,” she said slightly.

“It’s no problem, it’s Kevin’s fault that the gesture was delayed,” Hoon said before pushing DongHo and SooHyun with his bags into the room. Kiseop, manager hyung, Eli and Kevin followed right after him.

“Before I forget again, this person is my youngest child, Alex. She is in her first year of high school and one of three. Alex say hello,” the woman told her daughter.

“Whatever,” she said before going up the stairs to another room.

“Sorry about her, she’s....well she’s always like that,” the woman said waving it off.

“Umm, Mrs. Thomas, I was wondering, what would the boys like to call you while they stay here? They already seem to be trying to find a way to address you,” manager hyung said while putting down DongHo’s bag.

“Hmm, well you can call me anything you want. Not even my kid’s friends call me Mrs. Thomas....it’s too weird since that’s my husband’s first name and yah....it’s just weird...,” she answered with a smile. I could already tell she had a great sense of humor and her kindness was evident.

“Hmm,” Kevin was about ask her a question until we heard a male voice.

“You can call her aunty, that’s what my sister’s and my friends call her...some even call her mom,” a younger man said while coming down the stairs.

“But she looks so young,” Eli said out loud causing the woman to burst into laughter with her son.

“This old hag, psshhh, young? In her dreams,” the younger said with a wide grin while looking at his mother. The grin itself looked really familiar and saw Hoon notice it too.

“Pshh, this son of mine who’s asking for a night without dinner,” the woman told him without any menace.

“Pshh, this woman who forgets my older sister’s coming home and loves me more that you and owes me a dinner anyways,” he mocked back.

“Pshhh, my baby’s gonna feed me before you,” the older woman stuck her tongue out at her son.

“Pshh, really mature mummy,” he said before pulling his mother into a hug. He seemed to be still in his growing stage. He was a little more than ten inches taller than her

“Pshh, this pshhh thing is more annoying than your “I know you are, but what am I?” fights with Alex. Anyways since you’ve put my reputation into ruins you might as well introduce yourself while I go make something to eat to redeem myself as the adult” she told him while patting his . She reminded me of Hoon’s mother in a way.

“Okay mummy, hello I’m the middle child and the only boy in this household other than my dad. My name is Louis but you can call me Louie,” he said with a bright smile and shook hands with all of us. His hands were firm but welcoming if that makes sense?

“Cool, what grade are you in?” Kevin asked immediately.

“I’m in the middle of my third year,” Louie said with his teeth flashing.

“Okay, since we have basic introduction, I will have to go now, however if you boys need anything, Mrs. Thomas has my number. And in case you are wondering, I will not be living with you punks in order for you guys to get the experience of truly growing up. I wish you all the best. I will be here and there to check up on your progress but my involvement will be very limited. Louis, just to warn you know, these seven truly are a handful, good luck,” manager hyung said before heading out the door while giving each of us a hwaiting sign.

Aunty came up from the hallway before he touched the doorknob and stopped him.

“Before you leave take some food with you. American food is too fattening, it’s better to eat home cooked food as much as possible,” she said while giving his some plastic containers filled with food. She saw him off and closed the door after the van left.

“Okay since that order of business is done, Louie, you show them around the house and then they can introduce themselves before we eat so it’s not too awkward,” the woman said after pecking Louie’s cheek and heading back to what I assumed to be the kitchen.

“Ewww~ mummy~. Anyways, since that person’s gone I’ll give you a tour of the house. Oh wait a second... MUMMMYYYY!?” Louie said while screaming back into the room where his mother disappeared. Seconds later the woman appeared.

“What?!” she whined once making eye contact with the younger boy.

“So four of them are sharing Ally’s room and the others are in the guest room right?”

“Yupp,”

“Then where’s Ally going to sleep?” he asked with a confused face.

“The basement,”

“The basement?”

“What, have you become illiterate within the last half an hour?”

“You are going to make your eldest daughter sleep in the basement?”

“It’s not like it’s unfinished and anyways...with all her running around and work, what are the chances of her not ending up on the couch in the middle of the night?” the woman said before returning to the kitchen.

“Okay, with that cleared let’s get your stuff in your rooms. Since my sister’s room is the second biggest bedroom you guys can decide how you are gonna split up,” Louie said.

“This might take a bit,” I told him and he just went to sit on the step of the staircase.

(this part of conversation is in Korean)

“Okay, Eli, Kevin, Kiseop and Dong Ho will share a room while Jiseop, Hoon and I stay in the other room, any objections will not be considered,” SooHyun said but didn’t finish his thought fast enough.

“But I don’t wanna stay with these people hyung,” DongHo said before latching himself to SooHyun.

“Give it up DongHo, your with us,” Eli said as he got DongHo off hyung.

DongHo kept resisting but Kiseop ah went to him and whispered in his ear.

“Never mind hyung, I’ll go with the hyungs,” DongHo smiled mischievously before jumping to his new roommates.

“What did you say to him, Kiseop ah?” SooHyun hyung started to interrogate but I caught hyung’s arm.

“Hyung drop it, it’s not like it matters let just get a feel for the house and then eat...I AM STARVING,” I told him while rubbing my stomach. The others nodded and hyung sighed in defeat.

(Convo goes back to english)

“Sooo, wheve is ouv vooms?” DongHo tried to communicate to the younger boy whose eyes just widened in confusion. The guys looked at each trying to fight a laugh.

“Vooms?” Louie asked and all of our self control went down the hill.

“Ewww~ Vooms? What kind of word is vooms?” Eli started to tease before Kevin fell to his knees in laughter. I was leaning on Hoon since I was laughing to hard. I looked to Kiseop and SooHyun who just were bright red.

Aigo, DongHo your english is TERRIBLE.

After our laughter died down we all looked at Louie’s face again.

“Sheesh, you guys are worse than my sister!” he said before nodding his head in disbelief.

“Your sister?” I asked him.

“Yah, she’s the best. I miss her a lot. Think of my mom but even more weird~. You guys will meet her later I think. She speaks Korean actually, it might be easier for some of you,” he said as he started to walk up the stairs motioning us to follow him.

“You seem to look up to her,” Kevin said as he followed right behind our new doosaeng.

“Ally gets along with virtually everyone but my younger sister and our extended family and some kid who was in the same grade as her in high school. She knows a bizillion languages and is super smart in everything but science. She’s someone everyone is compared to in our high school. She’s super nice but talks too much. Super involved in EVERYTHING. Ally has a gift of creating things that people want whether it be desserts or actual clothing. She has good social skills and is someone that you don’t forget. Even if you don’t meet her today, when you guys meet our music teachers, her name will DEFINITELY pop up. I’m cursed to the name “Little Ally’s bro” forevermore but it doesn’t matter. She’s like my best friend. We were always close, but I’ve missed her since she’s gone to college abroad,” Louis said as he opened a door slightly before closing it again.

“It’s nice to see that you have such a good relationship,” Eli said with a soft smile as he set the bags at the door

“Well since you guys understand, this room was my sister’s. It’s a little messy, my sister wasn’t the most organized person but it’s good enough to live in. It has a lot of memories and she decorated it herself. I hope that you will treat this room graciously seeing as it’s one of the few places that I have left to remember memories with just my sister and I. I don’t see her that often or even hear from her since she’s so busy. Please take care of this room not just for my sake but also my mother’s. She misses my sis more than any of my family. This is the most treasured room in the house,” the younger said as he poured out the meaning of this one room to us.

“Thank you so much, and since it seems that you’re the oldest after the departure of your sister it must be hard to bear alone. So how about we make a pact between just us men? How about you become our younger brother while we stay here?”

“Why would you do that for me?” he replied curiously with a spark of light in his eyes.

“Maybe it’s because you’re the type of little brother we’ve always wanted. I mean look at DongHo....his baby ways are getting a little old and since you’ve confided in us, it is only fair for us to confide in you. We have no clue what to do and having someone not just as a friend but as a brother would really help us out,” I told him before ruffling his hair. Louie looked at me for a couple of minutes and then at the other members. His eyes were full of clouded thoughts. We waited a moment until we got a full grin as an answer.

“No matter how much I love my sister, I’ve ALWAYS wanted an older brother,” he said before opening the door fully to uncover it.