I dropped the chopsticks I was holding, and they rolled on the countertop with a clatter. What the… I spun around to see a guy with a yellow mop on his head for hair staring at me from the entrance to the hallway, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, holding a white shirt in one hand. Oh my gosh. He has abs, I thought, then quickly averted my gaze back to the chopsticks on the counter, feeling dirty for staring at a guy’s abs.

Alex and Uki both looked up from their pots at the strange guy, and I could see their eyes widen. Then they both started to scream at the guy, waving around their chopsticks threateningly at him. He smiled a gummy, sheepish smile at them, raising his hands in surrender, and quickly struggled into his shirt, after which the yelling died down a bit.

He looked back at me as I finished matching up twelve pairs of chopsticks and started to place them around the table. “Hoo ahl yu?” he asked me again, walking a little closer towards me.

“Um, I’m Taryn,” I replied, a little unsure and kind of unnerved, since he wouldn’t stop walking towards me. I backed up a step, knocking into the countertop in my attempt to get away from him, ignoring my mission of setting the table for a moment. Sheez, he’s such a creeper! “Um, who are you?” I asked him in return. Please stop walking towards me, you’re kind of freaking me out…

Suddenly, he yelled and stopped walking, holding his head. I spun and saw Alex with a satisfied look on her face, holding a baby carrot in one hand. She said something in Korean to the guy and swung her arm back, ready to throw another carrot at him. He yelled again, putting his hands up to cover his face, and retreated a few steps. I giggled. “Thanks, Alex,” I told her.

She grinned and tossed the carrot to me. “Anytime. That’s Eunhyuk, by the way.” She turned back to a pot and proceeded to strain the juices into the sink.

I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. Oon-yuck?! Oh gosh, that’s an even funnier name than Ee-toogh!! I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth to keep the giggles from coming out, and looked back at Eunhyuk, who was glowering at Alex’s back. Both she and Uki were oblivious, or maybe they were just pretending. “Hi, Eunhyuk,” I said, bringing his attention to me.

He smiled hesitantly, showing off his gums, then pointed to the ceiling. “Nice weather,” he said seriously.

I couldn’t help myself. My laughter broke free and I abruptly plopped on the floor, still holding chopsticks and the carrot. “Nice weather?!” I gasped, tears starting to leak out of my eyes. “Oh gosh, where did he learn that?! It’s only the most awkward sentence in the English language!”

Eunhyuk looked a little bit sad now, giving me big puppy dog eyes, and said mournfully, “My intentions were good…”

I managed to somewhat stop laughing then, and picked myself up off the floor. “Alex, tell him it’s okay and I just found it funny for a moment.” I started placing the chopsticks around the table again, acutely aware of his gaze locked on me, while Alex relayed my message.

I listened to his reply as I placed the final pair of chopsticks on the table and went back into the kitchen for the spoons. Suddenly, both Uki and Alex chuckled a bit, and I looked behind me to see Eunhyuk turn bright red like Leeteuk did earlier. “What? What did he say?” I asked them as I pulled twelve spoons out of the drawer and slammed it closed with my hip.

“He just wants to know if you really are a girl or not,” Uki said, snickering.

I glanced up in surprise at Eunhyuk, who was staring at me almost as if I was an animal in a zoo. Sheez, at this rate I might as well have a sign stapled to my back saying, Please stare at me, I am a foreigner! “Of course I am. Why on earth would he want to know something like that? I’m obviously a girl, right?”

Uki told him this in Korean while Alex replied, “Well, when I first got here I had to stay here for nearly eight months as a guy, and I fooled him pretty well. He was…pretty surprised to find out I was a girl. He put me in some rather awkward situations, and I guess he just wants to confirm your gender before something like that happens again.”

“Oh.” Then, “Why on earth did you have to stay here as a guy?!”

She scowled slightly, stabbing at a bowl’s contents with her chopsticks. “Well, it was your brother’s idea, actually. My brother went along with it because he thought it would be safer for me. Leeteuk doesn’t really like girls staying here. It creates scandals. Oh yeah, and with how you reacted with him earlier? Don’t expect him to accept you anytime soon, not after how you treated him.”

Great. Conscious for barely thirty minutes, and I’ve already made an enemy. “Good to know. Sorry Henry kind of forced you to be a guy for so long,” I apologized, setting down the last spoon and stepping back to admire my handiwork.

“It’s okay. He’s pretty much my best friend here, so it’s rather hard to be mad at him for long. Hey, if you’re done, can you start putting these bowls on the table?”

“Sure.” I heard the TV in the living room turn on as Eunhyuk fell onto the loveseat. Lazy thing, why isn’t he helping? He shouted a question at Alex and Uki as I went back to grab a couple bowls of spicy-smelling stuff to put in the center of the table. Alex and Uki yelled back at him, saying the exact same thing at the exact same time, then Uki asked me, “Ryn, if you still have that carrot, do you mind throwing it at him? Try to hit his head.”

I snickered and took careful aim at the blond mop, then let it fly. I was rewarded with a thunk and a cry of pain. I laughed a bit and said, “Hey, that was kind of fun! Do you guys always throw things at him and the other guys here?”

“Yep, pretty much. You’d better learn how to be violent, it’s pretty much the only way to survive,” Uki answered, then asked, “Do you mind taking this pot and filling each of the smaller white bowls with rice?”

I took the pot and a large spoon from her and proceeded to carefully fill each bowl with rice. I could smell the delicious aroma spreading throughout the apartment, and my growling stomach was a sore reminder that I haven’t eaten in well over thirty hours. I guess I can afford to eat a little bit, I thought. “So, what are some of these dishes anyway?” I asked the girls.

I could see Alex opening to answer when the door to the apartment suddenly burst open and a guy who looked like a male version of her came barreling in, barely stopping to take off his shoes. He yelled something that sounded like, “OON-YUCK AH!!” and jumped full force onto the loveseat where Eunhyuk was, sending them both crashing to the floor. Uki and Alex rolled their eyes, and I simply stared. Oh. My. Gosh. What a weirdo.

Alex sighed, “And that is my brother Donghae.” Then I heard her mutter, “Who should have greeted us first. Aish!”

~~~~~~

Oh my gosh, you guys have no idea how happy I was to see so many comments yesterday!! :D Anyway, introducing Eunhyuk and a little bit of Donghae! I hope you liked Eunhyuk's English. If you don't know where he learned that, shame on you. I hope this chapter was okay, I made it a little bit longer in appreciation for the comments yesterday. I hope you guys don't think I'm moving this too slow, but if it is going too slow then please tell me. Anyway, please comment :)