The next few weeks were a breeze; it was simple; become incognito, stay in your room and only come out when everyone is asleep, Easy! I mean sure you felt like a prisoner, but it was a feeling you were all too familiar with. Every day you would hear Taecyeon come to your door; knocking, trying to talk to you but you just shut him completely out, you felt bad about it but Minjun said that he wasn’t the only one who had suspicions of you, was Taecyeon one of them? Minjun wasn’t to be trusted; it was obvious he didn’t like you very much, so it was a 50/50 chance; a tricky situation, He could have been telling you the truth because he doesn’t like you, or he could have been lying because he doesn’t like you.

 Nichkhun made it easier for you, at night you would creep out to the Garden and sit and talk with him for hours about absolutely nothing and return to your room and Video chat with Cam whenever you had the chance.

There was a knock at your door followed by a sweet but stern voice “Raylee, sweetie are you in there? Could you open the door please?” You scrambled to get to the door and there she stood, your Aunt finally back, it’s been a month since you last saw her. “I wanted to talk to you all about something could you please come to the Living room” You had become introverted, stowed away in your room, almost petrified to leave it in the day time, almost nocturnal; like an owl. Why couldn’t she have just talked to you in your room?

You sat as far away from everyone as possible, scanning the room, repainting the faces you’ve created for them; it’s been a while since you’ve seen them all. You could see Taecyeon glaring at you angrily but you shifted your eyes trying to not make contact.

“First of all Raylee I want to give you my sincerest apologies” she spoke while holding your hands “I know it wasn’t easy leaving your life behind only to come to a house full of strange  men” She was right, life was much easier back home with Cam.

“I’m sure you all have met and are well acquainted with he-“

“Actually No, I only got to know them as much as three days would allow and I locked myself away in my room”  

“Really, But Why?”

“Let’s just say it was my way of “Coping” with my new change”

“Because you locked yourself up in your room I’m sure no one introduced you to any of the Coping Mechanisms”

Coping Mechanism? What in the hell was she talking about? It was like you’d been dragged into a secret club and were the only one who didn’t know what the secret was.

Minjun glared at you sweetly but his eyes told you that he was irritated “It’s what we use to deal with stress”

“I wanted to make sure you could live as stress free as possible” she spoke

“You’re not doing a very good job” you muttered.

She scoffed and looked at you flustered “Raylee, I haven’t been completely honest with you” She sat on the sofa across from you and seemed very serious. “This house isn’t what it seems, I’m not sure what these boys may have told you but every last one of them has endured some sort of hardship in their lives, I took them in and shielded them away from their former lifestyles. They were forced to live lives no child should ever have to live, they did things; saw” things children shouldn’t have.”

“So, what is this like a shelter or something?

“Not a shelter, but more like a refuge a place to feel safe, a place to heal”

“So how do I fit into all of this?”

“Because I know, Raylee, I what you have been through”

“So you brought me here to save me from what I been through? No offense but you’re kind of too late, I was already safe. My life wasn’t perfect back home but it was enough.”

“Ray calm down, she’s only trying to help!” Taecyeon spoke harshly

“I was happy; you took me away from the only person on this entire planet who understands me. You put me in this gigantic mansion with the fancy cars and expensive furniture and all these nice clothes but is that really all you have to offer? You said agitatedly

“Ever since your father passed away all I have wanted to do was take care of you, we weren’t close, but he was still my baby brother, you are very much like he was; money and materials never impressed him; he was all about love and friendships, that is what made your father the richest man in the world. It took me years to find you and I don’t want to lose you like this. I can’t guarantee it’ll happen right away but if you just give me a chance I promise I can love you, I’ve don’t it for them and they’ve done it for me now let us do it for you”

You looked around the room; everyone had such gloomy expressions anticipating your response. It was almost like her eyes alone casted a spell on you; you could see the sorrow, the guilt, the determination. Your emotions began to rise and you could feel it in your chest; Tears forming, lip trembling, your mind was racing; you look down at your hands while you played with your nails, trying to speak in between the tears.

“I came here with no idea of what to expect” you sighed "let things come naturally, I did get a little ahead of my self, I tried to force friendships and I apologize if that made anyone uncomfortable, this is all so new to me, I just need time"

“Absolutely” she sighed in relief “Take as much time as you need”

And you did, by the time you started to get the hang of things a whole year had went by, you had become a part of their little family. Your relationship with Minjun was more like sibling rivalry; he was too stubborn to apologize after he found out the truth but you knew he wanted to, it was like he did things intentionally to piss you off; like play really loud music whenever you tried to watch TV or disable your passcode to the front gate so you’d get sprayed by the sprinkler but when he wasn’t picking on you, you would watch him in tune with his real passion; cooking, it was like he lived in the kitchen, he would try out new recipes and test them on you and as much as you hated to admit it; he was an amazing cook.

 Things with Taecyeon were steady, the way things went you first met him you thought your friendship would surley flourish but you still couldn’t quite figure him out, it was like he was holding on to something although everyone else seemed to have let go of their past. Every Sunday night like clockwork he would leave and by the morning he’d be back locked up in his room, none of the others cared but seeing him like that bothered you. You felt pitiful knowing there was nothing you could do.

Chansung and Wooyoung were a weird pair, they were together often; going to parties, coming home drunk; falling all over the place. On the days you knew they were going out drinking you would lay blankets and pillows on the living room floor because you knew they were only going to make it that far. You and Wooyoung attended the same University so you were used to being around him a lot; you went to school together, you both had a class together and you even studied together.

 But Junho was all about studying, you never bothered to study with him because his books were way to advanced and intense, but you couldn’t catch him without a book in his hand; he studied at breakfast, lunch and dinner; there was a time you all went to the beach and there he was under his umbrella; studying. He mentioned something about owning his own business someday, so he majored in Business Management.

Nichkhun was the one you were the closest to, by spending so much time with him you knew exactly how he ticked and exactly what ticked him off, you learned that he suffered from bi-polar disorder and depression. He seemed to cope with it well though, there were days where he would lash out on you; reminding you of the first time you met, but you knew that walking away was the best way to deal with that. Your Aunt was in and out of the Country all of the time. She would com back take you to her restaurant, take you shopping and show you some of her favorite parks but when she left, she'd be gone for days even weeks at a time watching over her other restaurants.

And you, you had your moments as well, like the most recent time you fainted walking down the stairs. Nichkhun found you at the bottom of the steps and Taecyeon tried to call Dr. Jin but Nichkhun wasn’t allowing it he convinced them to take you to the hospital although you hated them. Your aunt was out of town again and said that she would rush over as soon as she could and instructed the boys to stay with you as long as the Dr. would allow.

 Junho, Wooyoung and Chansung sat uncomfortably on the small couch in your room, Minjun sat in the remaining chair while Nichkhun sat on the edge of your bed and Taecyeon stood in the corner. Everything was hectic Nurses coming in and out of your room hooking you up too all types of machines, injecting you with needles, drawing blood. Things calmed down after the Dr. entered, he didn’t have time for introductions he was stern and straight to the point

“Are you aware of how I’ll you are Ms. Kim” he spoke in English

“Not really” you spoke sluggishly

“Well according to your friend Taecyeon this isn’t this first time this has happened, so why is this the first time you came to the hospital for this specific situation?”

“Because I don’t like hospitals”

“It’s not a matter of whether you like hospitals or not, you have a serious condition Ms. Kim”  

“And how would you know that?”

“Gentlemen, would you mind stepi-“

“It’s ok, they’re family”

Anything he had to say he could say it in from of them, what did he know anyway?

“I have a copy of your medical records here”

“Oh ”

Author's Note: I promise it's going to get better, I just had to set the story up. From this point on I promise things will get more interesting!!