She knelt on the carpet in her new room, a duffle bag in front of her, unpacking clothes. She sighed, realizing she would have to get familiar with the place and the people around her. She was never good at starting up conversations, neither was she very talkative. She thought of herself as a boring individual. Well, that was how mostly people of her kind were. They needed to be alone so their mind could work and that new ideas will surface. At least that’s how it had been for her for the longest time.

She zipped the bag close after taking out the last pieces of clothes – a white oversized shirt and a peach-colored knitted sweater. Tilting her head, eyes took in the entirety of the room she’s going to occupy from now on. For how long, she has no idea. It was a pretty decent room for a cheap price. The white wallpaper had yet to chap, there was a medium-sized desk facing the door, a small closet at the foot of the single bed that was pushed to the wall below the sliding window. The only thing that was bothering her was the communal bathroom that she had to share with the other occupants of the house. But overall, her accommodation was fine, although her room here couldn’t compare to the size of her room in Seoul, it was still comfortable.

She moved to the desk, hands grazing the cover of her sketch book. It had been months since she last drew anything in it. She can’t even bring herself to open it, which prompted her friend-slash-boss to send her here for soul searching; whatever that meant. She wasn’t really lost. No, not at all. It was just her boss, who always over think things. She was just going through a creative block – nothing that any artist had not gone through before. But it has been three months and a half since she last created something decent and it was freaking her boss out. The gallery can’t lose any more clients than it already had. And her regular clients were already disappointed with her works.

It wasn’t easy squeezing out ideas from her head. She was struggling and as much as she doesn’t want to admit it, she was actually losing inspiration.

Plopping herself down on the soft bed, she let out a wide smile. She was actually excited. The place looked promising. There was a wide plain of grass at the backyard that stretched out towards the mountains that she had yet to know the name of. It would be a perfect place to practice landscape painting. A few meters away from the road in front of the house she’s currently living lays the beach. It was quite a place to stay; she got the mountains and forest at the back while she gets to enjoy the beach on the other side.

Maybe this was what she needed; a time away from the city.

“Uhm, hello?” A voice came from outside her door followed by three knocks. Taeyeon cocked a brow towards the door before moving to open it. As soon as she flung open the door, her tall landlady greeted her with a small smile on her lips. She returned the smile and bowed.

“Hi, you’re Taeyeon, right?” The landlady extended a hand, to which she took and shook almost immediately.

“I’m Sooyoung and I manage this house,” the landlady, Sooyoung, said. “I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here.”

Taeyeon nodded then rubbed her nape out of habit. “It’s quite a place,” she commented. “I think I’m going to enjoy my stay here.”

The smile on Sooyoung’s face widened and she beckoned Taeyeon to come out of her room. “You should meet the others,” she said. “Since you’re living here now.”

Taeyeon could only nod as she was half-dragged out to the hallway.

Sooyoung stopped in front of the door across Taeyeon’s room, turning to look at Taeyeon, who stood behind her. “This room is off-limits,” she said. “Don’t even try to piss the occupant off.”

Taeyeon stared at the white door that was identical to hers. Their doors were the only ones that looked the same. With one eyebrow raised, she looked at Sooyoung. “Why not?”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes. “You were just like the others, too nosy!” She patted Taeyeon’s back before pushing the woman forward to the corner of the hallway before they turned to their right.

“Why does your house have a maze-like hallway?” Taeyeon asked out of curiosity. She can’t seem to comprehend why someone would design a hallway like Sooyoung’s. “I mean, it’s scary to walk back to my room at night. Why are the two rooms separated from the others?”

Sooyoung laughed; something unfamiliar but pleasant to Taeyeon’s ears. “You aren’t going to stop, are you?”

Taeyeon just grinned at her. She was curious by nature, and she can’t help it if she wants to learn the meaning behind things, or how things are. For her, there was always a purpose to everything.

“Soonkyu,” Sooyoung said from outside the baby blue door they were currently standing at. The door opened and out came a groggy short girl that looked nothing over eighteen. Sooyoung patted the short girl’s head before turning to Taeyeon again.

“This is Taeyeon,” Sooyoung said, gesturing at Taeyeon. “She’s occupying the room at the end of the hall.”

The girl, Soonkyu, extended a hand. “I’m Sunny,” she said. The look on Taeyeon’s face turned quizzical. “My Korean name is Soonkyu, but you can just call me Sunny.”

Taeyeon nodded. “Nice to meet you, Sunny.”

Sunny shrugged, smiling a tight smile.

“Aren’t you going to host a welcome party for this kid tonight?” Sunny’s lips curved up in a smile that looked too mischievous for Taeyeon.

“She’s older than you,” Sooyoung said with a small laugh. “And yes, I will, so go and wash up already.”

Sunny chuckled before turning to re-enter her room.

Taeyeon and Sooyoung continued walking towards the other door.

“Why is she living alone? Did she run away from her parents?” Taeyeon’s voice was laced with concern and Sooyoung stopped in her tracks, turning to face Taeyeon with a quizzical look on her face.

“I mean, what’s a sixteen year old doing living alone?” Taeyeon added.

“Who’s sixteen?”

“Sunny.” Taeyeon looked over her shoulder. “She’s a teenager, right?”

Sooyoung’s eyes widened before she burst out into laughter. “Taeyeon, no,” she said in between her laughter. “She’s twenty-six already.”

A look of shock crossed Taeyeon’s face for a moment. “Really?” she said. “She looks nothing like twenty-six.”

Sooyoung nodded as she went down from her high, draping an arm around Taeyeon’s shoulders. She pushed the shorter woman in front of a red door – bizarre, Taeyeon thought. “Go knock,” Sooyoung ordered.

Taeyeon hesitated for a second before bringing her hand up, balling it into a fist. But before her knuckles could come in contact with the wooden surface, the door flung open, revealing a blonde woman.

“I already heard your loud laughter from seconds ago.” The blonde narrowed her eyes at Sooyoung before her lips broke into a wide smile. She then turned to Taeyeon, her smile not faltering as she extends her hand. “I’m Hyoyeon,” she said. “Nice to meet you, Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon opened to ask the woman how she came to know her, only to close it back when Hyoyeon spoke again.

“I was the one who answered your call from last week,” Hyoyeon explained. “But I’m not related to this malnourished girl.” She pointed at Sooyoung, who groaned at the nickname.

“Oh,” Taeyeon said. “That’s why your voice sounds familiar.”

“Welcome to the Choi’s mansion!” Sooyoung said in a chirpy voice, making Hyoyeon roll her eyes.

“Soo, please,” Hyoyeon said. “This isn’t even big enough to be called abig house.”

“What do you suggest we call it, then?”

“Just a house, okay? Just a house.”

Sooyoung snorted before pulling Taeyeon with her. “You’re not coming with us tonight, Hyo,” she called out as they walked towards another door. “I mean it.”

“Well if you’re throwing another welcome party in the living room, I don’t think you can do anything about me joining the party!”

“Don’t mind her,” Sooyoung said as she pushed Taeyeon towards another door. “She just likes to act smart all the time.”

Taeyeon cleared to hide her chuckle. So far, everyone in the house seemed to be fun.

“Im Yoona!” Sooyoung knocked on the first door – decorated with stars – from the stairs rather harshly before they heard shuffling from the inside. The door swung open, revealing a tall girl with glasses. Taeyeon’s breath was caught in for a moment as she stared at the angelic face.

“Unnie,” the girl said, a hand pressed to her chest as if she was suffering from a heart attack. “I thought something bad happened to you. You didn’t have to knock that hard, you know.”

Sooyoung grinned. “Were you studying?”

Yonna nodded her head yes.

“This is Taeyeon,” Sooyoung said. “We just came by to say hello.”

Yoona’s eyes lit up. “Oh, hi Taeyeon! I didn’t know the new tenant was a high school student.” She smiled before ruffling Taeyeon’s dark hair. “Ah, it’s nice to have someone younger than me, at least I’d have someone to wash the dishes with.”

“I..” Taeyeon’s cheeks burned. “I’m actually, older than Sooyoung.”

Yoona’s mouth fell slightly open as she stared at Taeyeon. “Really?”

Taeyeon nodded.

“Man, that . I thought there would be someone to share the housework with.”

“Uhm,” Taeyeon her lips. “I’ll help you with it, don’t worry.”

Yoona grinned, raising a thumb up at Taeyeon before she excused herself back to her room.

**

“So, you met everyone,” Sooyoung said as they walked towards the kitchen.

Taeyeon hummed her answer, stopping in front of the huge metallic refrigerator. “This is,” she gestured towards the refrigerator. “Really huge.”

Sooyoung laughed and opened the refrigerator. “If I could afford two of this thing, I would have. You don’t have any idea how crazy those girls are for food.”

Taeyeon faked a gasp and chuckled. “No way,” she said. “They’re all so... slim.”

“But that doesn’t mean they can’t devour a whole cow in one go.”

They left the conversation at that, Taeyeon choosing to take the can of soda Sooyoung passed to her.

“I sincerely hope you’ll get comfortable around us,” Sooyoung said. “Treat us like your family.”

Taeyeon smiled and said thank you.

“How long are you going to be here, by the way?”

“I’m just here for some soul searching,” Taeyeon answered, rolling her eyes. “But I don’t think I’ll be here for long. Two or three weeks, maybe?”

Sooyoung nodded, beckoning Taeyeon to follow her as they continue their tour inside the house; getting Taeyeon familiarized with it.

A/N: I cannot promise fast updates so please bear with me :) but I promise to try to update regularly. Thank you!