ANGELA   “Oh my goodness!” I mutter under my breath as soon I opened the bedroom of that snarky monster---   Err, I mean “master” of mine.   My whole body seem to have surrendered as I mindlessly find myself sitting down on the doorway, my aching back leaning against the wooden door.   I heave out a heavy sigh as my eyes scan through the whole devastated area. Let’s just say that both Hurricane Katrina and Typhoon Ketsana (popularly known as Ondoy in the Philippines) paid a visit in here. Now, maybe you’re getting a clearer picture of what I’m trying to say.   Well…okay. I might be exaggerating already, but seriously! Pieces of clothing along with junk food wrappers are scattered everywhere. Several wires are tangled up with each other.   Oh God, did I just see a rat pass by?   Jeez, I think I’m too afraid to find out what else are in store for me.   Using my arm, I wipe off the sweat dripping down my forehead. Never have I imagined that I’ll be doing this. I value cleanliness of course but back in my home, I wasn’t the one doing all the cleaning. At all.   I’ve always seen all of this cleaning stuff but I’m not really accustomed to using it. Well, maybe except for the broom; although truth be told, I still feel quite awkward while using it. In fact, Kyuhyun laughed at me like there was no tomorrow when he asked me to give them a demo of my “cleaning specialities”, despite of the fact that he knew I wasn’t used to it. I was trying to fight off the urge of whipping the broomstick on his face.   Well, maybe the next time he asked me to agree on a deal like this, I won’t be having second thoughts of doing so.

SIX DAYS AGO

 

It took me an hour or so before I got the courage to step out of my room and make the hardest decision I ever had to make.  

  Not wanting to get any attention just yet, I go down the stairs as silently as I could, and as I make my way to the dining area, I hear the boys chattering in the middle of their breakfast. I don’t understand what they are saying though as they are speaking in their mother language, but it seems like a funny joke as Donghae laughs boisterously, causing some bread crumbs to spurt out of his mouth.   Hay, this kid. I shake my head sideways as I chuckle softly.   I was thinking of going back upstairs without them noticing but I guess it’s too late for that as I see Siwon’s eyes widen at the sight of me while taking a sip from his cup.     “Oh! Angela, you’re awake!” He greets me with a warm smile and I just have to return the favour to him.   The other three turn their heads at me and I see Donghae and Ryeowook happily beaming at me, gesturing me to come and join them; while Kyuhyun is grinning at me mischievously, showing off his white pearls. To be honest, he reminds me of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Creepy.   I actually don’t feel like joining them as I feel so awkward and shy, but considering that it’s rude to decline an offer and the fact that my stomach has been empty since yesterday, I meekly made my way towards the table.   Siwon gestures to the empty seat beside him, revealing his buffed arms as he does so. He is wearing a black sleeveless top; and without any more hesitation, I sit down, completely unknown to me that Kyuhyun would be the one facing me from the opposite side. Great. Just great.   He still isn’t taking his big brown eyes off me as he takes a bite off his toast.   “Coffee or orange juice?” Ryeowook happily chimes in, coming from the other end of the table.   “Orange juice, please.” I reply back with a smile, feeling my cheeks become hot at the same time.   “Ryeowook-sshi, make that two.” Kyuhyun adds flatly in Korean.   “Arasso.” says Ryeowook as he makes his way to the counter just right behind him.   Err. Whatever they are saying.   “So, did you have a good night sleep?” Donghae asks keenly, his eyes glinting at me as he does so.   “Yes, I did. Thank you so much for everything, really.” I say sincerely as I look at Donghae and Siwon with a grateful smile. Before they could even say something…   “You’re welcome!” Kyuhyun exclaims loudly making me turn my head back to him. Jeez. What an attention seeker.   I give him a forced smile, hoping he would notice it but he is too busy spreading butter on his toast that he wouldn’t even dare lift his head to look at me as he says, “So have you already come to a decision?”   “Yes, that’s what I actually wanted to discuss with you guys.”   The smell of freshly fried eggs suddenly comes wafting through my nose as Siwon places a plate in front of me filled with, of course, eggs and a couple of toasts beside it.   “Well, why don’t you eat first? You need to regain your strength too.” Siwon voices out in a concerned manner. “I’ll go and take a bath now. Eat well.” He announces as he gently pats my back before standing up and heading out of the kitchen.    My eyes are following him as he trails off. Is he really this sweet and gentle? I couldn’t help myself but be all smiles for him and then I suddenly hear Kyuhyun clearing his throat, interrupting this slightly sweet moment I was having with Siwon.   “I’m all ears for you now.” He says as if to remind me of our previous conversation. Ryeowook comes back with two glasses of orange juice. He gives one glass each to Kyuhyun and I before excusing himself to go out.   “Thanks.” I tell Ryeowook before facing back to Kyuhyun. “Can you at least give me an idea about what exactly I have to do? The one you told me earlier was quite vague.”   And not to mention, misleading. Not that I’m putting any maliciousness in it but…Pfft, how do I say this?   Well, they’re all males and I’m the only female in here. We’re all complete strangers. Although they all seem harmless, I don’t know what they’re capable of doing. Plus the way Kyuhyun told me earlier… It’s just that… that smug face of his! He looks so mischievous and the way he was smirking at me. He just looks so…sinister. How can I not feel bothered by it?   He looks at me with one eyebrow raised. “I was actually referring to house chores unless…” He pauses as he displays that playful smirk of his again. “You were thinking of something else, weren’t you?”   I was about to drink but good thing I didn’t do so as I might have spat out the juice because of what he said.   I feel my cheeks burning hot and my stomach feeling uneasy. I hate to say this but he actually got me. The fact that I suspected them as a bunch of erted superstars is very stupid and silly of me.   But it’s not like he has to know that… right?   I try to remain my calm and compose as I tell him, “I just didn’t want to assume right away. I just needed some clarifications.” I then take a sip from my glass as I look away from him.   I hear him scoff. “Whatever you say then. So are you still up for it?”   I heave a sigh. “Well, I guess I could do some house chores. So let’s see what you’ve got.”   His eyes widen in surprise. “So you’re saying yes?”   I shrug my shoulders. “You’re just lucky I don’t have any other choice left.” I have to swallow my pride now. I don’t have any other choice, unless I want to die at the age of twenty because of coldness and starvation.   “That’s good then!” Insert his smug smile here.   “Well, before I go into detail, I just would like to say that this isn’t originally my idea. So just in case you have some complaints, it’s Donghae hyung here you should blame.” He jerks his thumb at Donghae who seems too busy to listen as he chomps on his noodles.   I pick up the toast on my plate and nibble on it as I look at Kyuhyun, who takes out a piece of folded paper from his pocket.   “So, here are some certain rules for you to follow while you’re staying under our roof.”He clears his throat as he opens the paper.“First and foremost, no one else apart from us and some of our close friends, should ever know that you’re living with us, nor should you tell other people about this place.”   I snort at him. “Are you kidding me? I don’t even know anyone here.”   “Well, just in case you meet other people outside, but then I’d highly suggest that you don’t talk to strangers.” He twitches the corner of his mouth and adds, “Considering how troublesome you could be.”   I throw him a disgusted look. “Excuse me?”   “Second, you are the one to do all of the house chores here.” He continues as he ignores my offended reaction.   “All house chores?” I repeat as calmly as I could.   “Yes. Everything. That includes cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry and the most important of them all, cooking.”   I flinch at the mention of the last two words. Honestly, I don’t really do chores back at home but I think I can give cleaning and grocery shopping a try. Err…I’m slightly worried about doing the laundry and cooking.   “Is there something wrong?” Kyuhyun asks as he surveys my worried expression.   “Um… do I really have to wash all of your clothes?”   Jeez! The horror if I had to do all of it! There are four of them! Besides, I can only wash small pieces of clothing, especially when it’s that time of the month for girls. Well, you know what I mean.   “Why? Would you like to? I actually wanted to make it lighter for you by taking our clothes to the laundry shop instead but since you are willing---”   “Hey, I didn’t say I was willing to do it! You have no idea how relieved I feel right now.” I cut him off before scooping some egg in my mouth. “And about cooking…” I trail off, feeling quite embarrassed to let him know that I can’t do such thing.   Kyuhyun gasps as he tries to contain his laughter. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to cook?”   “Sorry to disappoint you but I really can’t, unless you’d like to eat burnt pancakes for breakfast everyday.”   The first and last time I tried to cook, burned pancakes were the result. So basically, that’s the only thing I "can" cook.   And that’s when Kyuhyun loses his sanity as he laughs out as loudly as he can. I bet Siwon and Ryeowook could hear him from upstairs.   “What a pity.” He says as he wipes his eyes, still not getting over my cooking disability.   “If you’re still going to let me cook, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I remind him again in my sing-song voice, emphasizing the word ‘warn’.   Kyuhyun still hasn’t stopped from laughing his off. Jeez.   “You must be a great cook yourself for you to make fun of me like that, huh?”   I suddenly hear a loud snort coming from Donghae. “Oh! You should taste Kyuhyun’s specialty called Han River Ramen.”   “Han River Ramen?” I ask in confusion and I turn to look at Kyuhyun who covers his palm on his face.   Ooh. This should be interesting.   “Hyung, I don’t think it’s necessary for her to know that.” pleads Kyuhyun.   Ha! I knew it! This is indeed interesting. Now let’s see who’ll be getting the last laugh now.   “Oh no! I insist to know. After all, I deserve to know something about the cook expert, right?” I bat my eyelashes at Donghae as if to plead him and the moment he nods his head in agreement, I turn to smirk at Kyuhyun, who throws me a disgusted look.   “When Kyuhyunnie was new in the group and since he was the youngest, we asked him to cook dinner for us. We were having ramen that night. You only add water for it to cook but Kyuhyun here added more than enough, making the ramen tasteless. That’s why we call it Han River Ramen.” Donghae recounts as he laughs hysterically and I couldn’t contain my snort any longer.   Well, now I know that someone is far off worse than I am… I think.   “And why don’t you also tell her that that incident resulted to six months of torment for me.” Kyuhyun adds in bitterly.   I try to reduce my laughter as Kyuhyun is starting to look pissed already. It doesn’t seem like a good memory for him. I wonder what those boys did to him during those six months.   Donghae stands up from his chair and puts a halt to his laughter, changing into a hearty smile as he ruffles Kyuhyun’s hair. “You know we’re terribly sorry for that! You’ve been making up for it pretty well too with all these bullying schemes of yours. Besides, you know how important you are to us after everything that happened.”   That seems to please Kyuhyun as he lightly punches Donghae on the stomach. “Ya! Stop being so sentimental, hyung. Not now.” He speaks in Korean as he laughs.   “Why? You don’t want Angela to see you cry?” Donghae teases in English, and that earns him another light punch from Kyuhyun.   “Leave now if you must, hyung. I need to finish discussing these conditions with her.”   Donghae turns to face me as he says, “Basically, you’re just going to take care of us and our needs and you get paid for it too.”   I stare back at him, dumbfounded. I’ll get paid for this?!   “I haven’t told her that part yet, hyung. We’re not yet even done discussing rule number 2.” Kyuhyun says a bit irritably.   “So, okay we can?” Ignoring Kyuhyun, he grins as he gives me a thumbs-up before leaving the kitchen to which I respond with a nod despite of my confusion with what Donghae said.   Okay we can?Well, that’s a pretty cute expression though considering the manner Donghae had spoken it.   “So, I suggest we leave