chapter five     

[INDENT] Eunmi followed Junhyung out of the room and up the staircase. She didn't dare look back as she walked up the staircase, but she sneaked a glance and saw what seemed to be miles of darkness. I wonder what's down there, Eunmi thought as she shivered.

[INDENT] Finally, they reached the top of the stairs, and Eunmi realized that they were now in the garage. Doojoon's green pick-up truck stood quietly in the dim lighting. "This is the garage. So far, only Doojoon-hyung has a car in this household. And he treats that old truck like it's his baby, so never mistreat it -- that is, if we meet each other again."

[INDENT] Eunmi bit her lip in guilt before asking, "What about the room we were just in?"

[INDENT] "Uh... I guess you can call it the basement. No one ever really goes in there, I believe. C'mon, we have a lot more ground to cover." Junhyung said as he continued walking.

[INDENT] They got out of the garage and entered what seemed to be an old mansion. The paint on the walls was peeling, and the air seemed to be clogged with dust particles. Junhyung sighed before saying, "Excuse the condition of this room. Please do me a favor and repaint and clean this room for me when the boys and I are gone."

[INDENT] Eunmi continued to look around. She saw the front door to her right, and two staircases and a window to her left. Three sofas surrounded a circular coffee table near the window closest to the front door. Eunmi quickly rushed to the window between the staircases and gasped when she looked out. The garden outside was practically dead. The rose bushes were all dried up, and the grass turned brown from the lack of water. She spied a small gazebo losing its paint job out there as well.

[INDENT] "That's the backyard. None of us have a green thumb, so you might as well hire some professional gardeners to fix it up." Junhyung said. "C'mon, let's head to the kitchen."

[INDENT] Eunmi followed Junhyung through an open arched doorway with a white door frame into the kitchen. She was completely amazed on how pretty the kitchen was. However, it didn't give a homey vibe. I feel like these guys haven't even touched the kitchen, Eunmi thought. She glanced at the dead garden again in the backyard through the kitchen window.

[INDENT] Junhyung said, "This is the kitchen. We don't really cook much at home; only Doojoon does if he has the time. We always eat take-out, so the kitchen is in good condition. That door over there leads to the backyard." He then pointed to a room across from them. "That's the dining room. We don't really eat in there, so it's in pristine condition."

[INDENT] Through the same style of the archway they went through earlier to the kitchen, Eunmi could see a polished dark brown rectangular table with chairs surrounding it. She could see sunlight bounce off the table from the window.

[INDENT] "If you're done looking around, we can go to the second floor." Junhyung said. Eunmi quietly nodded and followed him out of the kitchen.

[INDENT] They walked up the stairs and ended up in a large hallway with three large rooms with doors except the middle one. "This is where we usually are if not in our rooms." Junhyung started. "Over there is the training room, where we work out."

[INDENT] "Wouldn't it be better if the training room was on the ground floor?" Eunmi asked.

[INDENT] Junhyung shrugged. "Kikwang hasn't fallen through the floor yet, so so far, this floor's pretty strong. Anyway, the middle room is the family room. Self-explanatory, right?" I merely