Kris woke up from another fitful sleep to the sound of rain pit-pattering against the windows. He sighed; he never slept well at night, and the rain hadn’t made it any easier. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled, demanding to be filled. He sighed again before rolling off his cot, standing up, and walking to the kitchen.

         The boys lived in a shabby apartment in a shabby part of town. There were three rooms, including the kitchen, and one bathroom with questionable plumbing. Also, there were at least two places where the ceiling was wet and discolored from leaks, the floors creaked precariously when walked on, and at least one gunshot or police siren was heard outside every night.

But they could pay the rent, and that was all that mattered. They had lived in worse.

           Luhan, Kris, and Xiumin slept in one room, and Lay, Chen, and Tao slept in the other. They all met and planned in the kitchen.

Luhan still wasn’t sleeping. During the nights, he’d disappear, and stay out for days at a time, not calling or texting. Then he’d come back for a few days, get updates on everything from Kris, and leave again. No one had any idea what he was doing, except that it had something to do with Kai and the “mission”, as Luhan sometimes called it.

Kris hadn’t seen Luhan for days now, and even though he knew Luhan could take care of himself and cut any attacker to pieces, Kris still worried.

“That’s all I do these days,” he mumbled to himself as he trudged into the dark kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

“Do what?” a strong voice cut through Kris’ sleepiness and made him jump. He turned around and saw Luhan, leaning against their bedroom door and smiling. His bright blonde hair shone through the darkness.

“Worry,” Kris responded, quickly collecting himself. He flipped on the lights and considered for a moment before adding, “About you.”

“You always did worry yourself over nothing. No wonder you’re aging so quickly--you already look like an old man,” Luhan said, grinning.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve been told that I look like a manga character,” Kris snapped back, smiling a bit while walking to the fridge. It was good to hear Luhan’s joking insults again.

           “Yeah? By who? A desperate middle-aged woman?” Luhan scoffed, following Kris.

           “No, by a girl at the school--a young and pretty girl at the school,” Kris said, smiling victoriously.

           “She probably meant you looked like one of those grumpy old businessmen. What do the Japanese call it? An ‘Ojisan’?” Luhan laughed, a hint of his old warmth shining through.

            Kris rolled his eyes and shook his head, opening the fridge. There was nothing but milk and a small, day old piece of fish, which Kris took out and gobbled up without a second thought.

            “Ah, is that fish?” Luhan asked, peering around Kris into the fridge, where the fish used to be. “Ahhhh Kris Ojisan, I want some!” he whined.

            “Too bad. It’s all gone,” Kris said with a mouthful of fish.

            “Ergh, don’t talk with food in your mouth. It’s gross and stinky,” Luhan crinkled his nose, “So nasty. It’s like you’re a pig or something

             “Well--”

             “You’re a pig, Kris Ojisan.”

             “A wha-”

             “A gross, stinky, mannerless pig who eats all the food,” Luhan said. He nodded, satisfied with the description. Kris shook his head but couldn’t help but laugh--he never thought he’d see Luhan like this again.

            “You’re trying too hard, Luhan. I’m clearly not a--”

            “What’s going on here?” a voice interrupted. Both Kris and Luhan turned around and saw Xiumin rubbing his eyes and stumbling out of their bedroom. He stopped when he saw Luhan, his eyes widening. “Luhan?! When did you-?”

            “Kris is an Ojisan. And a pig!” Luhan said, pointing at Kris. They both were by the refrigerator, and Xiumin walked over to them.  

            “Really?” Xiumin said with a smile on his face.

            “Like I said, I’m not--”

            “Kris ate all the fish,” Luhan said. Xiumin let out a huge, mocking gasp.

            “There was only a little fish le--” Kris said.

            “You ate all of THAT?” Xiumin asked, staring at Kris in mock horror.

            “Well, yeah, but there wasn’t--”

            “Kris, you pig! What if Luhan wanted some?” Xiumin asked, pointing at Luhan.

            “I did,” Luhan whined, scurrying over to Xiumin’s side and clinging onto his arm like a child. He pouted, looking hurt.

            “Look at how thin he’s gotten!” Xiumin said, cupping Luhan’s cheeks, “He needs to eat. But now he can’t.” Kris couldn’t help but notice that Xiumin was right--Luhan looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. But it was nice to see him and Luhan bantering again, even if he was the of all their jokes. “Don’t worry, Luhan. I’ll get you some fish after I have breakfast,” Xiumin said, finally breaking down into laughter. “No, but seriously, I want some eggs,” he said, opening the fridge.

             “There are no eggs,” Kris said. Xiumin sighed and shut the fridge, glaring at Kris.

             “You eat those, too?” he asked.

             “He probably did,” Luhan commented, clicking his tongue. Kris opened his mouth to protest, but Luhan and Xiumin were on a roll. Together, they were unstoppable.

“You disgust me,” Xiumin declared.

“You’re such a hog. Why didn’t you save any for Xiumin? Can’t you see he’s hungry? I

mean, look at his arms! So bony!” Luhan shouted, holding up one of Xiumin’s skinny arms.  

             “I’m going to become a skeleton because of you! My cheeks are already thinning away--Look!” Xiumin puffed out his cheeks and pointed at them.

             “Xiumin!” Luhan gasped, grabbing Xiumin’s face and turning it towards him, “You baozi cheeks....they’re....they’re deflated!” he fake sobbed.

             “It’s because Kris eats all the food. He never lets us have any,” Xiumin explained. Luhan hugged him.

             “My poor baozi, your cheeks are gone because of THIS selfish monster,” Luhan said, patting Xiumin’s back. Kris chuckled and shook his head.

             “Will you guys stop if I buy you food?” he asked. The two immediately broke apart and grinned at each other. Five minutes later, Kris was walking out the door while Luhan and Xiumin shouted food orders to him.

              “Get some eggs!” Xiumin yelled.

              “And fish!” Luhan added.

              “And cheese!"

              “And baozis! I want baozis!” Luhan shouted. Kris nodded and waved at them, walking down the hallway to the elevator, while the two went inside, laughing. And for a moment, everything was right again.