I knew that there was only one truth in life: jet lag was a merciless who took no prisoners. Also that my brother was a bastard who took pleasure in my haggard appearance as I passed through customs.

Kim Jongdae had smiled brightly when he first saw me, but quickly burst out in loud, obnoxious laughter as I drew nearer, “Dear god, is that what I look like when I get off a plane?” I scowled back at him, but my exhaustion turned it more into a pout causing him to laugh again, “Yah, don't do aegyo to me,” He pulled me into a tight hug, setting his chin on top of my head, “You don't look that bad.”

“Shut up you , I just had a twelve hour nonstop flight. I'm allowed to look like the boogeyman for a little while.” I hid my tired face in chest and smothered a yawn, “And you do look this bad when you get off planes.”

He scoffed and pulled back, “No I don't.”

I scowled and linked my arm around his as he picked up my luggage, “No, you don't. You want to know why? Because you're a ing flower boy with his own personal team of stylists who don't let you out in public with one hair out of place.”

Jongdae poked my cheek while grinning, ignoring the insults I threw at him, “Is that jealousy I'm detecting little sister?I forgot that you got such a foul mouth when you're tired.”
“Your skin is better than mine, I'm allowed to be a bit pissed off about it. I remember when girls ran from you when you tried to flirt with them Kim Jongdae. Those were the good days.” I sighed wistfully and stuck my bottom lip out and stared up at my brother, “Introduce me to your stylists?”

He chuckled while fishing his phone out of his pocket, “Baekhyun would never forgive me if I did. You'd monopolize them and we'd never see them for the rest of our careers.” He read the message that was blinking up at him and shook his head, but then blinked after fully processing what I said, “Yah! Girls never ran from me!” I stuck my tongue out at him and he shoved me with his shoulder in response while he led my out of the doors, tensing slightly at the sight of the small crowd forming outside, “Hurry, the car is waiting outside.”

I nodded, raising an eyebrow at the hysterical girls quickly closing in on us and focused on his guiding hand that puIled me hurriedly through the crowd. I blinked at the sight of men in black jackets surrounding the two of them, slowly parting the crowd for the siblings. Jongdae smiled quickly down at me before he spotted a familiar van. “Come on, there he is.” He shuffled me into the back seat before jumping into the passenger seat and slamming the door shut.

“Go Hyung,” He said hurriedly, “I'd like for my sister to not get mauled by a horde of teenage girls.”

The guy in the driver seat turned around and smiled, and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes in frustration. I had forgotten that the entirety of EXO was stupidly attractive. I remembered his face from pictures my brother sent me periodically, and from the videos I had watched, but I just couldn't place a name. His face was all strong lines and angles and he had a kind expression on his face, lips turned up in a soft smile, fringe falling into his dark eyes. “Annyeonghaseyo, Eun Mi-ssi. Chen 's been bouncing off the walls waiting for you to come. Hasn't stopped telling all of us about his adorable twin since it's been confirmed that you were coming to work with us.” I smiled softly before letting it fall into a crooked grin.

“Oppa~” I cooed, leaning forward and poking my brother's cheek, “Did you miss me that much?”

Jongdae rolled his eyes, “Don't encourage her Hyung.” He sighed and puId my hand away, “Yes, I missed you. Now can we go?” I smiled as a slight red blush rose up the back of his neck and turned my attention to the guy at the wheel.

“Thank you for helping Jongdae pick me up from the airport..?” I led with, smiling tentatively.

“Suho.” He smiled back and turned around, throwing the car into gear and pulling away from the airport, “The boys are excited to meet you too,” He continued, eyes focused on the road, “Though I don't know if we should be wary or not if you're just like Chen.” He teased slightly.

“I should hope I'm not like him, that would just be unfortunate.”

“Yah!”

 

 

When I woke up in the morning on an unfamiliar couch with a throbbing headache, a serious case of dry mouth, and hatred for anything living I decided that maybe I should have listened to my brother's advice the night before that tequila was the devil's drink and to stay away, or rather his exact words were, “Nghh, tequila...ngghhh.”

I supposed at the ripe old age of 21 and having just graduated from university with more than a few drunken excursions under my belt that I should have known better than to have so many margaritas with my brother's colleagues, but they were just so convincing, especially that cute blonde one...

When I had saw my twin brother at my graduation I had been more than elated. My brother had become a trainee under the prestigious S.M. Entertainment when we were 18, right as I was leaving for college. Due to restricted visitation and his crazy training schedule, and then even more tiring schedule after he debuted I hadn't seen him in person since they had both left four years ago. We had tried to stay close through numerous video calls, but those were expensive with being  halfway across the world in a university specializing in the arts in the U.S.

So when he had come to my graduation with an application to become a personal assistant to his group, EXO, with the opportunity to work with the visual team, I had promptly burst into tears. We had always been close, which annoyed our mother to no end, and the last four years had been hard on both of us. Both of us had developed an inclination towards the mischievous and a love for teasing otmys and he often regaled me with stories of his misadventures with s, always finishing the story with, “It would have been so much funnier if you were here with us.” my heart would clench a bit and I would smile and promise him “Soon.”

Despite being excited for the opportunity, I was skeptical of the company letting me work with my brother and his eleven attractive members, but with some well placed letters of recommendations and my semi-impressive resume they had all but welcomed me with open arms.

I thought back to the day before. After Suho and Jongdae had picked me up at the airport they had brought me back to their dorm so I could drop off my things. I was slated to move into my apartment today and I groaned at the thought of doing all of the physical activity with a hangover. The boys had quickly explained to me that the other boys were waiting for them at the restaurant that they had reserved specifically for that night. I had nodded and quickly changed and made myself presentable to the general public. After yanking a brush through my brown locks and changing into a pair of skinny jeans and boots, I pulled a thin blouse over my head and grabbed my jacket and wallet.

The two boys had been waiting patiently downstairs when I jogged down the steps and my brother looked up at my grinning, “Look who doesn't look like she just crawled though a cave!”

“Stuff it, Jongdae.” I stuck out my tongue and ruffled his hair, laughing as he squirmed under my touch.

He scowled before grinning again, “Ready to celebrate your triumphant return to Korea? Preferably with many alcoholic beverages?”

“I swear if you're using me as an excuse to get drunk I will end you, Oppa.”

Suho laughed, “Now I see what you were talking about Chen-ah. she doesn't let you get away with your .” He winked at my and I blushed slightly, “Don't worry, I'll watch after you tonight so feel free to let loose a little.”

I had nodded and grabbed both boys by the arms, tugging them out the door, “Shall we get this night officially started?”

When they arrived at the restaurant Jongdae had gone around telling the other eleven members that they hadn't experienced a true night out until they had a night out with the Kim Twins. Then came the soju. And tequila. I didn't doubt that I wasn't the only one who could barely remember the previous night. I knew Jongdae sure as hell didn't.

I puIled myself up to a sitting position and sat around blinking blearily. Speaking of that brother of mine...what miserable corner did he crawl into last night? I distinctly remembered one point of my otherwise hazy night of my brother jumping onto the table declaring a drinking challenge towards his coworker...Baki? Beka? The other man had accepted immediately and I remembered my brother's almost maniacal laugh as a horrendously large bottle of soju was brought over.

“Kim Jongdae you better not expect me to be the one taking care of you tonight!” I had laughed, watching my twin's eyes gleam in mischief in response, “I have a jet lag to drown!”

He laughed, “And I intend to help you with that! Don't worry, I got umma to look out for us.”

I had raised an eyebrow in response – Umma? - but he merely chuckled again and returned to his game, a weary Suho behind him shaking his head.

The night faded out from that point. Again, tequila. Ugh.

I winced as I finally gained the willpower to stand up, my back cracking loudly and painfully in response to having slept on the highly uncomfortable couch.

There was a snort of laughter from my left and I saw one of my brother's friends standing in the doorway, plastic bags in each hand, and heart shaped lips curled up in a grin, “Don't you look gorgeous this lovely morning?” His tone joking and much too happy that early. I recognized his wide eyes as I had thrown back several shots of whatever Jongdae had thrown at me. His name was at the tip of my tongue and it frustrated me to no end that I couldn't remember it.

I groaned, “Don't talk to me unless you either have coffee or painkillers. And maybe unhealthy food that will make me not feel like dying.”

The boy grinned and nodded for my to follow him, “Then it's your lucky day. I have all of those things.” He placed the bag on the table, taking out a small bottle and tossing it towards me. “Take that and go wash your face; we'll revive all of you after that.” Nodding slowly I popped the pill into my mouth before staggering off. I somewhat remembered the layout of the dorm from when Jongdae had brought me here before they went out and I found the bathroom without too much difficulty.

Lo and behold my twin lay slouched against the tub, his head dropped back against the rim. His eyes flicked towards my before shutting and a quiet groan slipped through his lips.

I found the energy to smirk slightly before going to the sink, splashing cold water against my skin, reveling in the sharpness that it brought with it. “You have ten seconds to get up before I shove you into that shower to wake you up.” I muttered before patting my skin down with a towel.

He groaned louder this time before slowly crawling to his knees before turning to me with round, pouting eyes, “Be a good dongsaeng and help your poor hungover oppa up?”

I laughed outright, “Please tell me you're not holding delusions over the fact that you brought this state onto yourself, okay?” I offered him my hand and slowly pulled him up and slung his arm over my shoulder, “Just know if you puke on me I will set you on fire, deal?”

He nodded groggily and rested his head on my shoulder, “You're so mean to your oppa~.” He whined, “Though I honestly don't know how I ended up in the bathroom all night. I remember challenging Baekhyun but...”

“Soju.” I nodded, sagely, “Seems like something else you need to add to your 'do not drink' list.” He mumbled something I didn't catch into my shoulder and I chuckled, wincing slightly as my head throbbed painfully again and I hoped for the painkillers to kick in soon.

We stumbled in the kitchen where the blonde boy I remembered from the night before had managed to make his way to the table, slumped over, and looking just as haggard as Jongdae and I looked. I pushed my brother into a chair and stared thoughtfully at his half awake state, thinking of something to wake him up fully.

The groceries and smell of coffee hit my nose and I could already feel my hangover lessening, “Your friend bought food and coffee and I think I love him.”

Jongdae's eyes fluttered open as he looked over to the other boy who was now chuckling quietly while chopping something, “Oh. Kyungsoo-ah.” Jongdae sighed and leaned forward, finally alert, “You remember my sister, Eun Mi?”

The boy, Kyungsoo, laughed again, “How can I forget? Suho and I had to haul both of your asses into the dorm last night. If I had known that both of the Kim twins had such a love for alcohol I wouldn't have allowed you near the stuff at all last night.”

I grinned weakly, “We tend to go a bit overboard, don't we?”

“Yah! I'm allowed to celebrate when I see my sister for the first time in years!” I smiled at the whine in his voice. Jongdae had a talent for being able to whine about anything at anytime, and most of the time people gave into him.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, “Some celebration. You abandoned her to Sehun and Kai for most of the night! I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust those two with a goldfish, let alone my sister.”

“Hyuuung.” The other boy at the table looked up, his blonde hair messed up and sticking up on end, looked up blearily, “What do you mean by that? Kai and I are responsible!”

Jongdae snorted beside my, “That's so cute that you think that Sehun.” He reached over and ruffled the boys already tousled hair, “Silly maknae.” He had the sense to look slightly guilty when Kyungsoo shot him a look, “Maybe not my best decision...” He mumbled to himself and I chuckled.

Sehun pouted and gave him a weak glare before winking at me, “Noona, you had fun last night, right? Tell Hyung that we showed you a good time!”

Noona? I laughed and shook my head, “I would, but tequila has this funny effect of not letting you remember the previous night.” I chuckled at the boy's disgruntled expression before he let his head fall back to the table. “So if you're Sehun, then where's Kai?”

Kyungsoo poured some vegetables into a pot and started working on the rice, “I was lucky to get Sehun to come back to the world of the living. That's rare enough as it is. I won't be surprised if we don't see Kai, or the rest of them for that matter, till noon.”

I frowned, “Wait, what time is it now?”

“Around eleven.” The boy answered evenly.

I groaned, “Why did I wake up so early...?”

“Why did you wake me up so early?” Jongdae glared at me before dropping his head back in a hopeless attempt to fall back to sleep. I flicked his nose, causing him to jolt forward in shock and scowl at me before reaching for the bottle of painkillers.

Looking around I sighed and stood up, walking towards the dark haired boy who was cooking, “Kyungsoo-ssi, do you need any help? Now that I'm up I don't see the point of sitting around doing nothing.”

He grinned, “Chen-ah your sister is so much more helpful than you. I'm glad to see you didn't poison her with your influence.” The boy in question groaned in response.

“Jongdae has always been a little , it's just a matter of training him.” I responded, grinning.

Sehun let out a bark like laugh from the table, “I think that's the first time I've heard that sentence and not had it directed towards me.” He turned towards my brother and snatched the painkillers out of his hands, “Hyung, I think I like the way this noona thinks.”

I grinned as Chen sent my a withering glare and reached over to smack Sehun on the back of the head, “Yah! Don't agree with her, I was your hyung first!”

Kyungsoo shook his head at their antics and turned back to me, “If you want to grab Suho hyung and help him get everyone down here for breakfast that would be great.” He stopped and shuddered, “I really don't want to have to make our managers do it. They probably hate us a little bit right now.”

I coughed to cover up my laugh, “Hopefully they won't lump me in with that.” I smiled at Sehun's despairing groan in response, “Anyways, where would I find him? I don't want to wake him up either. He did such a good job looking of looking out for me last night that I'd feel a bit guilty waking him up.”

Chen laughed behind me, “Don't worry about it. Suho's used to dealing with us on a regular basis that anything you do will seem like a vacation”

I laughed, “That poor boy,” I poked my brother on the forehead and he swiped my hand away, “How much do you torture him?”

“Leader-Hyung likes to take care of us,” Sehun mumbled, “Him and D.O both fit the role of group mother.”

D.O shot the younger boy a glare, “How about you take Eun Mi to your room, maknae, and get Suho with her..”

“But hyuuung-” The whine had barely escaped the boy's lips before D.O cut him off.

“Did you want to eat today?”

I smothered a laugh at the boys' antics. Was it always like this here?

Sehun sighed and motioned for me to follow him out of the room and I nodded, ruffling my brother's hair on the way out and ignoring his mumbled complaint.

I walked next to the blonde as he led me up the stairs and down the hallway, “Knowing hyung he's probably just gotten out of the shower.” He said as we reached the door at the end of the hallway, “Wait here and I'll get him.”

“I'm going to change quick!” I answered, grabbing my bag from the hallway closet and running into the bathroom as the younger boy sighed in response. I pulled the clean clothes over my body, yanking on another pair of jeans and putting a red flannel over my gray tank top. I ran my fingers through my hair before tying it up into a tight ponytail.

Exiting the bathroom, I checked to see if either boy had come out of the room yet. Seeing neither I leaned against the wall and pulled my phone out of my pocket when it buzzed against my thigh, scrolling through the messages I had received late the night before and that morning.

 

Umma

[00:58] tell your brother that he can't drink his weight in soju. He doesn't have enough body fat for it.

 

I laughed and saved the message, intending to taunt Jongdae with it later.

 

Hyerim-ah

[08:22] ur still asleep & I h8 u 4 it. Y do u get to prty with cute boys who r idols? :((

 

I laughed at my best friend’s anger, Choi Hyerim was boy crazy when we were in high school and I didn't expect it to change anytime soon. I was glad that we were able to stay in touch during college.

 

Manager

[09:02] Don't let Jongdae try and fool you. He can help you move today. Let's work well together!

 

I laughed at the last one, remembering my conversation with the boys' manager the day before on the phone. I had made sure that I left no loopholes for my brother to get out of the work. I sent back my thanks and was halfway through responding to Hyerim when the door opened.

“Eun Mi-ah,” Suho greeted me, smiling, “Good to see you up and about.”

I locked my phone, tucking it into my jeans again, and scratched the back of my neck, embarrassed, “I'm afraid you didn't quite see the best side of me last night, Suho-ssi.”

He laughed, “I don't know what you're talking about. It was hilarious watching you and Chen together!” I grinned in response and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“We tend to get a bit carried away.” I remarked, “Oh! Kyungsoo-ssi sent me to help you wake everyone up!” I clapped my hands together, “He's making breakfast!”

His grin widened, “Well, we better get to work then, huh?” He turned slightly and poked his head back into the door, “Sehun, if you don't get out of bed you won't be getting any breakfast.”

Suho smiled at the answering groan and shut the door again, turning back to me, “Shall we?”

I laughed, “Lead the way.”

It took us a good forty minutes to rouse all of the boys from their beds. Between death threats shouted at us from a pile of blankets and pillows Suho had identified as Kris to a snoring giant named Chanyeol and varying degrees of anger at being woken up they had all eventually made their way down into the kitchen.

Chen had fully woken up by the time I managed to get myself back into the kitchen (after breaking up a petty argument between a boy named Tao and Kris over who got the bathroom first) and patted him lightly on the head.

He smiled affectionately up at me, “I see you survived the rounds?” He glanced around the table at the the others who still looked half dead, “They weren't too bad, were they? They tend to turn into massive s when you try and wake them up.”

There were some indignant shouts of “Hey! I am not that bad.”, “Luhan, the last time we tried to wake you up you kicked me in the stomach.”, and “I am a freaking angel compared to Kris, okay?”

I laughed and nodded, “Well, let's just say I was glad I was with Suho.”

Chen glared around the table in response, “That's my sister you idiots! Show some respect!”

“I'll apologize for them, noona.” Sehun yawned while walking into the room with Suho.

I smacked him on the shoulder, “Don't give me that! You were one of the worst!”

“Noona~” He whined, rubbing his shoulder, “I helped you though! I woke up Luhan hyung for you.”

“Because you fell asleep again on his bed and he woke up to kick you off, you deadbeat.” I remarked.

He started to whine at my again when Kyungsoo called out to them, “Someone better help me carry this to the table if you want to eat!”

The giant named Chanyeol stood up, “I'll do it!” Now that he was awake he was quite upbeat, I reasoned while watching him snatch the plates from an exasperated Kyungsoo. Pity he wasn't so helpful when it came to waking up Baekhyun. The boy had continually hid under his covers until Suho had grown so frustrated that he had ripped his blankets from the bed.

“And breakfast is served!” I looked down the table to see huge portions of food littered across the table. Chen had not been kidding when he told me their food bill was ridiculously high.

“Remind me to never buy any of you food.” I commented, watching the food disappear into their mouths at an alarming rate, “Like, ever. My wallet would never forgive me.”

“Leave that to Suho,” One of the boys I recognized as Xiumin pipe up, “He's got us covered on that front.”

I turned in shock to the boy sitting beside me, eyes wide, “What are you, a money tree? You have seen how they eat right? I feel like I'm watching black holes consuming the universe right in front of me!”

He laughed while my comments garnered a couple of grumbled protests, “I just like to take care of my members.”

“What do they have on you, exactly?”

“Not everyone thinks like you and me, Eun.” Chen laughed.

“Okay, so what does Jongdae have on you?” I added quickly, grinning as my brother lightly swiped me across the back of the head with a “Yah!”

“If buying them food makes them happy, then who am I to say no?” Suho replied, smile still on his face, evidently amused by our interaction.

I laughed and turned to the rest of the table, “So you basically abuse your kind, selfless, and disgustingly rich leader then?”

“The term 'abuse' is so strong,” Luhan interjected, “How about you say that we're using a resource wisely?”

I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone to check the time before grabbing for my bowl of rice, smacking my brother's wandering hand out of the way. “Remember oppa, you have to help me set up my apartment today. I checked with your manager and he said you were clear to do it.”

He waved me off while reaching for more food, “Don't worry about it. I'll be there to help. Mom would kill me if I didn't.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Forget Mom, I would flay you alive and set you on fire afterwords if you left me to haul all of those boxes up by myself.”

He sent me a wounded look around the rice in his mouth, “Noona~!”

I shoved him, “Stop trying to up to me by calling me noona! Kim Jongdae you know some of those boxes are yours that you begged to be sent with me!”

He groaned and leaned back, ignoring the amused looks the other members had on their faces, “Noona,” Sehun spoke up, “I'll help too, considering if you just have hyung it'll never get done.”

I cut off my brother's protest by smacking him on his exposed stomach, “Thank you Sehun.” I turned to my brother and soothingly rubbed his shoulder as he groaned, clutching his stomach, “Work hard, little brother! Fighting!”

“I was born before you!”

“Don't call me noona, then.”