I woke up to the sound of water running. I checked my phone for the time; it was 7:56 in the morning. Eli probably got in the shower so that would give me enough time to change into fresher clothes. I sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I don’t even remember hearing him come home last night. I must’ve been out like a light considering that I’m a light sleeper. Making my way to his room, I tried straightening up myself as much as possible without a mirror. I let my hair down and rolled down my pant leg that came up in my sleep. When I reached his door, I knocked making sure it really was empty and when no reply came, I entered, shutting the door behind me. I flipped the light on and maneuvered my way to the closet. He must’ve unpacked some of my things while I was asleep because, while there were still things scattered along the floor, most of it was put into neat piles in the closet. I knelt down and searched through the bins containing my clothes and pulled out a graphic t-shirt and a pair of beige cargo shorts. I pulled on a pair of purple socks, grabbed my camera and left the room.

 I carried my dirty clothes out of the room and knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey Eli, where do I put my dirty clothes?” Five minutes went by and there was still no answer. I kicked the door and let out a frustrated sigh. “Hey! Pigeon Boy! Answer me or I’ll just drop my clothes and leave them right here!” I jumped a little and dropped my pants when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

 “Yah, Pain, I’ve been out of the shower for a while now. I was waiting for you to finish changing so I could put some clothes on. Now, pick your pants up and I’ll show you the way. I need to take my clothes down too.” With that, he picked up my pants and proceeded to walk towards the door.

 “Give my pants back you ert!” I ran up to him and gave him a light slap to the head. “You are not to touch my clothes unless I tell you that you can or else I’ll… Wear one of your hats.” Oooo, what a threat that was.  He did love his hats though, so it could be like a death threat to him I suppose. “Oof!” I stopped abruptly when I ran into something and looked up. I didn’t have to look far considering he was only a few inches taller than me.

 He glared down with a dark look in his eyes. “Don’t touch my hats. Don’t call me Pigeon Boy. Just follow me to the Laundromat down stairs in silence.” He threw my jeans at me and walked over to the elevator that was on our floor. The unbroken elevator on our floor. I stuffed the jeans in the crook of my arm and waited in silence as he pressed the button calling it up. I was pretty shaken up by the way he looked a few moments ago. I must’ve gotten on his nerves pretty bad. I would apologize but at this point, I think anything that comes out of my mouth would make him go haywire.

 The elevator arrived and we both loaded in quickly. He hit the lobby’s button and the doors shut. I always got nauseated during the first few seconds in an elevator and I could feel the bile rise in my throat. After we passed the fourth floor, my stomach settled and I was able to relax. Well, relax as much as possible under an awkward silence. By the time we reached the lobby I was losing it. I hadn’t been this quiet in over three months. And I tried to keep it that way for a reason. We got out and I followed him toward a room next to some vending machines. We walked in and the scent of bleach and laundry detergent filled my nose. I quickly chose the machine farthest from Eli and threw my clothes in. I poured in the detergent and waited. In another 30-40 minutes, I’d transfer them to the dryer, repeat and leave. I glanced over at Eli. He was sitting in a plastic chair waiting for his load to finish. There was a seat next to him but I decided that I should probably apologize before sitting near him.

 “Eli, I’m sorry for earlier. I didn’t mean to get on your nerves like that,” I took a step forward, “I didn’t mean it. Kind of.” I kept going towards the spot where he was sitting until I was only five paces away. “Forgive me?”

 He slowly turned his head and, for some reason, looked me up and down. “I forgive you. But next time you’re seen with me, wear some shoes. A blue shirt, tan shorts and purple socks… you’ll also need a better style if you’re going to go places with me.” He beckoned for me to take the seat next to him. I sat downs and adjusted myself into a crisscross-applesauce position. I felt the tension between us loosen and he let out a sigh. “Besides, you seem like a pretty cool person. I wouldn’t want to fight with a cousin like that.” He flashed his arrogant smile and lightly punched my arm. I rubbed the spot and laughed to myself. Finally we’re getting somewhere.

 “Well since we’re all buddy-buddy now, and we have about an hour of waiting down here to do, let’s learn about each other! I guess it would be better to know now then later. But just things like your favorite color, animal. Small things like that.”

 “Okay… sure. Well, you came up with the idea so you go first. I’ll ask you… three questions and you have to answer them truthfully. Then, when your turn’s done, you do the same to me.” I nodded and leaned back, awaiting the storm I brought upon myself. “First, why college here? I know there’s plenty of artsy colleges and universities in America.”

 I smiled confidently because I knew this answer like the back of my hand. “That’s an easy one! It’s because of the job opportunities here. There’s plenty back home but my aunt tried to make it in that business and she said that you’re either the best of the best or you pay your way to the top. She became a lawyer. I just figured that because I’m a foreigner, the college and places available for internship would be more open to a more diverse work force and student. Okay, next question!” Eli simply raised an eyebrow at me. My answer wasn’t that bad! Was it? It was the truth! But my aunt was always a wack…

“So more diversity? But wouldn’t they also want someone who speaks Korean?” I was snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of his voice and glared a hole right through him. “Relax, I was joking. So, next question! What about your… favorite color?”

 “Blue. Next.” He was going to have better questions than these if we were to make any progress.

 “Alright then, what about your favorite food? Or perhaps your favorite… U-KISS member?”

 “Pasta! Wait- what?” I felt the heat slowly rise into my cheeks. I can understand why he would ask this question. It was bound to come up eventually, but now? While doing laundry? I couldn’t avoid it though; he would never let me hear the end of it. So, I inhaled deeply and prepared for the worst. “It’s uh- it would probably be- the member of this group that I would find most attractive- I think it’s… AJ. Yeah, but you cannot tell him. I’d have to kill you.” I released my breath in a shaky stream and waited for his response.

 He slapped me on the back and was grinning from ear to ear. “Sooo, it’s not me. I must say that I’m a bit disappointed. I honestly thought that we’d have something in common here: me as the bias! Don’t worry though, I wouldn’t dream of even mentioning you to them until you learn some more Korean. Or make a name for yourself through that camera of yours.”

 “Oh! I forgot my camera on your bed! I was going to take some pictures while I was down here! I’ll be right back. If my clothes finish, close your eyes, take them out, and place them in the dryer.” I put my hand out and waited for him to hand over the key. I was going to need it to get in obviously. “What are you waiting for? I need the key to get in.”

 “Oh, right. Here just give it back when you come down and think of three questions. The game is still going.” He tossed me the room key a leaned back in the white plastic chair. I caught it and jogged my way to the elevator. I had just pressed the button calling the elevator down when my phone went off.

 “Yobosayo? Hello?”

 “Hey, I see you’re learning some Korean! It’s your airplane buddy, Mari! You have time to talk?”

 I stepped into the elevator and put in the floor. “Yeah, sure, what’s up?”

 “I hope you’re settled in because I’m ready to show you around! Just text me the address and I’ll be there by 12.”

 “That’s fantastic! Baby dance, I mean- heh sorry, habit. But absolutely! Once I’m done with the laundry I’ll text you. I’ll be done by 11:30 so it’ll give you just enough time to get here.” Opening the door, I ran to Eli’s room and grabbed my camera. Slinging it across my back, I did a quick breath check to myself and headed for the bathroom. Once we were done talking it would only take me two minutes to brush my teeth and then I could head back down.

 “Alrighty! And don’t worry, I do that too. Thank you Simon and Martina! Haha just don’t eat breakfast, that’s where we’re going first.” I could hear her music playing in the background. Block B’s Freeze, good choice.

 “You watch them too? I love them! Okay, I’ve got to go I’ll text you in a bit. Bye!” I hung up and put my phone back. Shifting my camera’s position, I grabbed my neon pink toothbrush- another thing Eli must’ve unpacked- squeezed a strip of toothpaste onto in and brushed. I tried cleaning as thoroughly as quickly as I could. When my two minutes were up, I spit and rinsed and headed out to leave. Without forgetting my shoes this time, I bent over to slip on my high-tops. Eli already thinks that I have horrible taste, I should probably at least wear matching shoes to lighten the impression.  I grabbed my shoes by the laces and walked back to the bedroom. I felt my camera bouncing on my back as I rounded into the closet. Tossing Batman somewhere to the side, I searched for a pair of yellow low-tops. “Ah-ha!” I fist pumped the air and slipped on the bright yellow shoes. I was halfway to the elevator when my phone went off.

  Sent By: Unknown  June 2, 2012 at 10:53 A.M.

        Hey Pain, your mom gave me your number yesterday. Hope you don’t mind. But WHERE ARE YOU??? I didn’t like loading your things into the dryer and I don’t want to bring them upstairs. Btw, yesterday was Saturday. Your underwear said Friday. Learn your days of the week.

 I quickly saved the number for future purposes.

  Sent To: Pigeon Boy June 2, 2012 at 10:59

       You freaking idiot!! Don’t touch another thing until I get down there! I specifically remember telling you to close your eyes! Now I can call you a e because you’re a 21-year-old looking at a 17-year-old’s underwear. Intentional or not, you’re dead when I’m let off this elevator! >:(

 I shoved my phone into my pocket and stormed out headed straight for the laundry room. The door slammed against the wall behind me and I walked right up to Eli. That cocky bastard just stared down in amusement that quickly turned to pain. I practically slapped the dye out of his hair. “What did I tell you? Close. Your. Eyes. And what do you do? You go and look at them so much that you know the day of the week on them! Why? What in this world would tempt you enough to look at your cousin’s underwear? Do you want to see underwear that bad, because I have a friend back home and her sister said that if you were to walk through the door while she was in the room, she’d- What are you doing? Let go!” I struggled to get free of his grip. He had grabbed both of my shoulders and was now leaning down to my height. As much as I struggled I still couldn’t get free, so I did what I could do, avoid eye contact. If I looked into his eyes, I would forgive him instantly. Even though AJ was my favorite I always had a thing for Eli’s eyes. “If you let go, I’ll forgive you.”

 “Skylar, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Just settle down and let me explain. Since my eyes were closed, I missed the dryer and dropped your clothes. I had to look to see them and that’s what I saw. It was unintentional and I admit that I went about it the wrong way. Now just sit back down, take deep breaths and for punishment, I’ll let you ask my any question that comes to mind.” He led me over to the chairs and sat me down while taking the seat next to me. “Am I forgiven now?” I felt like such an idiot. I had always acted on impulse and it had always landed me in situations just like this. Only, a different problem was at hand. If anything, I should be the one asking for forgiveness.

 “Great, now I’m the bad guy. I’m so sorry Eli. I really should have gotten the full story. So, am I forgiven?” a small smiled played onto my lips, “But if you ever do it again, that’s the end of the famed Pigeon.” He nodded in agreement and we both just sat there for a bit. It felt nice to just sit in silence rather than yelling at each other 24/7. But I had questions to ask and he had to answer. “About those questions, I only have one at the moment. I’ll think of the rest later on but this is one that I have to ask. I think I’ll only get the full answer out of you.”

 “What is it?”

 “Just how are we related? It’s not impossible but I just don’t see it.”

 “You mean that your mom didn’t tell you?” I shook my head. “Well, uh, it’s an interesting story. I only know it because your mom told my dad and he wanted to tell me so I don’t ask anything to stir things up. So, here it goes. My uncle and your mother met each other while he was visiting Detroit on a five month contracting deal. Before he showed up, the man who- your father- had just left her once he found out that she was pregnant. I remember my uncle describing her to my dad. He said that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen and when he was asked about her being pregnant, he said that he was prepared to care for you like he was the father. They were so in love. Eventually she became close with my whole family and I even came to know her as Aunt Jessica after a while. After his five months though, he had to ship off to China, which is why I was able to study there. Apparently, and he agreed of course, your mother just considered him the father. I always figured that she never told you about your real dad because either you wouldn’t understand or you’d go looking for him. Your mom did say you were a very curious person.” We both stretched our arms and looked at each other. I couldn’t read his expression but mine was probably easy to read. I was taken by surprised at the story. Some part of me always suspected it but the larger part always assumed that I had a loving mother and father and one passed.

 “Well, that was… a bit unexpected. But I’m glad you told me. But that also means that we’re not really cousins. Eh, we’re cousins by heart! Next thing you need to tell me is when you’re teaching me Korean!” I lost the sad face I was probably sporting and changed it to a smile.

 “And what makes you think that I’ll teach you? I was planning on being your tour guide and hoping your little friend could be your tutor.”

 “I was actually thinking the opposite. I already promised her on the plane and she’s expecting to show me around today. But I suppose on your days off, instead of sitting inside and teaching me there, we could head to the nearest market and I can learn from interaction!” I pulled my camera around and held it up mimicking taking pictures. “Or you could pick the place, teach me Korean there, and I’ll show you how to take some pretty deabak pictures! How about it?” I was a tad worried. It’s a lot to ask out of a person with an already busy schedule but I had to try. Biting my lip in anticipation, I waited for his answer.

 “That’s actually a great idea! But my next off day is on AJ’s birthday I promi-”

 “That’s perfect! He could come with us! He speaks English and Korean so we could all talk and you both could teach me! We could go somewhere cool like the Cheong-eyo-chang- you know what I mean. Just somewhere nice! And I should know a few places by the end of the day to recommend!”

* * * *

 It was 6 in the evening and I was a ball of fire. Mari had taken all over Seoul and even took me to a coffee shop. Needless to say that that wasn’t the brightest of ideas. Right now we were at a local park where Mari was sitting and watching me run around like a monkey. I couldn’t help it though! Whenever I had coffee I either crashed immediately or became hyper and if I become hyper, I have to let out my energy or else my bad attitude will come out. Not my I’m-fighting-with-Eli attitude, but a you-just-woke-me-up-at-three-in-the-morning attitude. That’s why I generally tried to stay away from the stuff but how could I deny her offer? She was paying for it too so it would just be rude! I’m sure she’s regretting it now though. I gleefully bounced over to where she was sitting and collapsed. I had had that coffee three hours ago and it had finally worn off. “Mari, I’m tired now. I’m sooo tired. So, so, so, so, so, so tired.”

 “It’s about time! You were starting to scare me there for a bit. I’ve never seen anybody that full of energy in my life! You want me to take you home now?” She sat up and I followed.

“Not really, I just want to sleep now. Is there a place in Seoul where you can stop by just to sleep?”

 “Yes, Skylar, there is. It’s called your apartment. We’ve been all over Seoul today and you look exhausted. Let’s go.” She patted my shoulder and we both walked over to her car. I climbed into the passenger seat and the radio, noticing that U-KISS was having an interview.

 “Hey, can you translate some of this for me? It’s U-KISS and I really want to know what they’re saying.” She nodded and throughout the whole ride back, it went back and forth between the station and Mari. They really only talked about their upcoming Special to KissMe promotions and how after that they were heading back to Japan for more promotions. These guys were always working! They just came out with DoraDora and now they have two more mini-albums being released? I’m going to have a lot to deal with in the next few months, that was for sure.

 “And now they’re saying goodbye. You really need to learn some more. I’m not going to be here every time you need something translated.” I let out a laugh as she pulled up to the apartment building. “I’ll see you soon, araso?”

 “Absolutely! Bye, thanks for today and I’ll be sure to call soon!” I shut the door and made my way up to the elevator until I realized: I can’t get into the room without a key. Great, I wasn’t planning on Eli being gone too and he hasn’t given me a spare yet. Up until this point, everything had been great; Eli and I had found a common ground, I had found out about my past, had gotten Eli to agree to teach me Korean, had even gotten him to take AJ with us on his next day off, and explored Seoul with my first friend since I left. It had been a happy little world and it could’ve stayed like that if someone trusted me with a key to the very place I’m living in. I let out a sigh and sat on one of the benches next to the elevators. I could wait it out. The radio show had just finished as soon as I arrived so he was what, 20 minutes away tops? I decided to text him just to make sure.

       Hey, how far away are you from the apartment? I just got here and can’t get in without a key.

[Eli’s POV]
 
 Uh, oh. I forgot that she didn’t have a key. That was my fault really but I’ll hear it enough from her once I get there.

      I’m out with everybody getting dinner. I’ll leave now, I’m sooo sorry Pain! ^^;

 Yeah, she was not going to let me live this one down. I guess I did have to give her a key if this was going to become regular. I leaned over and told our manager why I was going and stood up say good bye to the others. “Uh, I have some things to take care of before our schedule tomorrow and I need to get it done as soon as possible. I’ll be leaving first tonight, annyeong!” a chorus of goodbyes echoed out the door as I called over a taxi. I had lie to the other members about Skylar. If I told them about her, they would all want to meet her and that would be bad for all of us. She can barely speak Korean which would just make it awkward for everybody if only three of us could talk to her. I mean, Soohyun-hyung and Dongho could probably understand her to an extent but if she ever expected them to talk back, she would be in trouble. It was a risk having AJ meet her, but he promised that he wouldn’t tell the others. I made it seem like I would be embarrassed if she met the others, and if what played out in my mind happened I would be, but I was trying to save her from embarrassment. Her mom had explained that we were her favorite group and I would hate it if her first meeting with all of us was just one long ball of awkward. Aw, look at me caring for someone besides myself and my band mates! I hate to say it but in the short time she’s been here, I’ve changed a little.

 Finally the taxi arrived and I got out. After paying the driver, I headed inside expecting an angry Skylar, but what I got was totally different. She was sprawled across one of the benches sleeping. She had one leg over the back of the bench while the other was bent up leaning on the back. One arm was draped over her eyes to keep out the light and the other one was across her stomach. I walked over and tried shaking her awake. “Yah, Pain, you can’t sleep here. People will mistake you for a homeless. Wake up!” I shook her shoulder a bit harder before a slight moan escaped her lips. It was a start. I kept at it until she sat upright facing me. Half of her bun was still intact while the other covered the left side of her face. She had the swollen lips and eyes of a half asleep person but you could tell she wasn’t happy with me.

 “You’re giving me a key tomorrow.” She yawned and stood up, walking to the elevator to our floor and hit the button. I laughed at the sight and during this moment, she reminded me of a female version of Dongho. I knew there was a reason I wanted to take care of her; the way she acted resembled him so much that I felt the need to care for her like we do to our maknae. By the time the elevator let us off, she was piggy-backing on my back asleep. I could hear her singing in her sleep and I was pleased. U-KISS’s new number-one fan even sang our songs while sleeping. I sang along with her all the way up to the apartment. I opened the door and nudged it shut behind me and set her down on the couch. I adjusted the pillow behind her head and pulled a blanket over her. She immediately grabbed the frayed edges and brought them up to her chin. Insane, she even slept like Dongho. Now I just needed to buy her a pair of puppy pajamas and they’d be twins. When I teach her Korean, the first person she’ll have to meet is him. They’d be best friends. I removed the camera from her neck and headed for my room, turning off the lights behind me. I set her camera down on my dresser and changed into my PJs. I threw the covers over myself and rolled onto my side. I think I’ll enjoy living with her after all.