As if three brothers weren't enough, my dad's new wife has two sons that will unfortunately be living with us in our new house. The wedding will take place in a month but my dad thought that it would be beneficial for the two families to already try living in the same house considering that they both have children. It can also be considered as a tactic so that when the wedding comes, the two families can act like that they are close to each other or whatnot to avoid any criticisms regarding their marriage.

We tried to go against our father's decision to suddenly move. It was okay for us when my father decided to have a girlfriend, maybe a little bit angry when he finally decided to marry the girl. But it was definitely a no-no to move to another house.

Xiumin-oppa—as the eldest—immediately refuted. Not wanting to leave the house in where my mother used to sing us lullabies, cook for us, clean for us, or even teach us the things my father couldn't teach us. Our house just have a lot of memories that we cannot let go.

My mother was Chinese, so some of us have Chinese names or Chinese nicknames—based on my parents' preference. My eldest brother was given a Korean name, Minseok, since that my dad wanted to be the one to name their first child.

My second brother however was named Yi Fan, since my mother wanted at least one of her offsprings to have a Chinese name. Unfortunately, my father thought it would be essential for him to have something that is easier to pronounce, so he was given the nickname Kris. Upon given the name Yi Fan, Minseok-oppa also wanted a Chinese name since Kris-oppa was called by our mother by his real name—so eomma called him Xiumin.

For the last two offsprings, my mother thought that it would be beneficial for us to just stick to Korean names since that people started judging my family's Chinese heritage—hence, my name and my twin brother's name. I was given the name of Jiwon, while my twin brother was named Sehun. Well that's how complicated my family is. What's more complicated was that I was given three brothers, and now that my mother just died, I am now living in a household full of men.

My mother died when I was eight years old due to Brain Cancer. I know; it was a terrifying and heartbreaking experience for all of us. It was the saddest period of our lives, and now that she was gone, we became even gloomier. Well, maybe it's no longer the case for my dad. My father—a year after my mom died—met a lady when he went to a party organized by his oldest friend. Not too long after, they dated, and of course, you know what comes next.

So here we are now—two years after my mom's death—standing in a huge white and empty house. Even if we all opposed moving, my father somehow convinced us with certain conditions and by agreeing to our demands. Our old house should never be sold and the property should instead be named after us. Second, buy us a new gaming console. Third, buy four new bikes. Fourth, buy us new clothes. Fifth, let us select which school we'll be going to at our new town. My father was probably surprised by our demands—considering that we were all just young children—but knew that it was the only way he could make us agree so he approved everything.

We remained standing in front of the house, all of us not wanting to move an inch. After a minute, I heard Kris-oppa's sigh of defeat as he eyed the establishment. "Even if I don't want to move at all, I'm calling dibs on the largest room."

"Aniya, I'm having the largest room. It's a rule that the eldest should have it." And of course, Xiumin-oppa refuted. Sehun and I, as the innocent ten year olds we were, just shrugged our shoulders and let our brothers battle it out. It was already a common thing for our brothers to quarrel.

"Alright, kids, let's go inside. Your soon to be new mom is almost there with her two sons." My father shouted, closing the car door in the process. We all just shook our heads, wishing and praying that our new mom wouldn't turn out like Cinderella's step-mom. My father might have noticed the gloomy aura because he walked toward us, chuckling. "Don't be nervous kids, you guys will love her...and her two sons."

I saw Xiumin-oppa scrunch his face, already disliking his soon-to-be stepbrothers. He was lucky though that dad didn't saw him or else, he would for be losing the largest room to the second oldest. "Gaja," my father grinned, instantly making us scowl and frown. He practically pushed us towards the house, shoving all of us through the door. "Welcome home!" He then exclaimed gleefully, but failed to pass on his positivity to his children. When he saw that we weren't impressed at all and remained uninterested by the new house, he just cleared his throat awkwardly. "Araso, go choose your bedrooms now. Remember that Sehun and Jiwon would be sharing a room so they better have a large room."

"Appa!" Upon hearing this, I immediately faced my dad, frustrated. "I'm the only girl in this family, you should at least give me a room of my own. Once I turn into a teenager, I would be needing privacy. I can't be roomed with Sehun forever!" I practically shrieked, crossing my arms over my chest.

My father just laughed, embarrassed. "Ah, ne. Since that we only have seven bedrooms--"

"We all want a solo bedroom." Xiumin interrupted him, also crossing his arms, probably sensing that he'll be forced to room with another individual. Of course, the remaining two boys followed suit, which left all of us glaring at our father.

My father was already sweating, the pressure given to him by his motherless children getting to him. "Araso, araso. We just probably have to call the engineer and architect to build a small house in the backyard for the maids' quarter." He gave in, raising his hands. "Geez, I feel like I'm losing my parental authority." He muttered.

My siblings and I just looked at each other—calling it a victory for now—before we all divided and searched the house for our desired private space.

I immediately found my bedroom in the second floor. It wasn't that big nor small, but it was bright. The room had a huge window that was facing our garden as well as the vacant lot beside us. I was loving it already.

"This is your room?" Sehun suddenly barged in, looking at the room I chose. I just nodded my head and raised a curious eyebrow at him. "How 'bout yours?"

"I chose the one across from yours. It also has a bright feel to it but with enough darkness to satisfy my emo side." He just replied simply, scrunching his nose due to the immense amount of sunlight trespassing through the large window. "You better put on sunscreen everyday if you're going to go with this room."

I rolled my eyes at my twin, kicking him out of my room. "Go away." He just looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, quickly complying with my demand. I shut the door when he left, looking at my room. "I better apply sunscreen,"

 

I was already halfway done unpacking when Sehun once again barged into my room, wearing sunglasses. I scoffed at him, "why are you even wearing sunglasses indoors? You look so dumb."

"Your room is too bright so I have to shield myself somehow." He answered, "anyway, father's new wife is here alongside his new sons."

I stopped as my mouth dropped. "They're already there? Oh gosh, have you seen them already?"

"Aniyo. That's why I'm wearing sunglasses, to shield my eyes from the lies they'll probably be emitting just for us to like them." He said, quickly beckoning for me to come down. "And well, for them not see me judging and criticizing."  I just sighed, rolling my eyes with Sehun's weird antics. Sometimes I can't even believe that he's my twin brother.

As we went down the stairs, I can hear Minseok and Yi Fan conversing with the new family. Something they said made my dad's new wife laughed, and I swear, her laugh already annoyed me. When we reached the last step of the stairs, we were immediately welcomed by a gasp. "Omo, are they Jiwon and Sehun? They are both so cute!" My dad's new wife beamed at us, walking closer. I just held Sehun's hand, a little bit freaked out by dad's new wife.

She was wearing a red dress that was partnered up with heels and accentuated by a pearl necklace. Her hair was colored brown, and I have to admit, she was kind of pretty. "Annyeong, I'm Heeyeol, your new mother." She bent down so she would be leveled with me and Sehun.

I was kind of envious of Sehun since he can roll his eyes without any worry due to the sunglasses he was wearing, while I on the other hand, had to forced myself not to puke. Doesn't she know that my mother just died? "I'm Sehun and this is my twin, Jiwon." Sehun stiffly introduced ourselves, while I was still holding onto Sehun's hand.

My twin brother might be weird, but I'm always thankful that he was always there to serve as my anchor and refuge. Heeyeol just nodded, fascinated by us. Was this the first time she saw twins?

She finally snapped out of her thoughts after a minute, walking back to the unnamed boys behind her. "These are my sons," she smiled as my siblings and I turned to observe the two new boys standing before us. "This is Junmyeon, he's just a year younger than Minseok and Yifan." She introduced a young and small boy who was smiling at us softly. If he's older than Sehun by three years...then why was he so small? That was the first thing that came to my mind when I set my eyes on Junmyeon.

Heeyeol then turned to the other boy who had his head bowed. "And this is my other son, Baekhyun. He's two years older than Jiwon and Sehun." And again, he was smaller than Sehun. I don't know if my twin brother was just too tall for his age or if my new stepbrothers were just too small for theirs? Baekhyun finally lifted his head up, forcing a smile. His smile was different from the ones that I was used to seeing though. His smile was shaped like a square and it doesn't caused his eyes to squint which left me dazed and confused.

My father, who was just watching the whole scene unfold, finally clasped his hands together to gather our attention. "Okay, then! Introductions are over, Baekhyun and Junmyeon can finally go up to their rooms. Unfortunately, my kids already settled in so they don't have a choice but to go with the remaining ones. Heck, even I would just have to go with whatever remained." He muttered the last words, rolling his eyes.

All of us—the four siblings—just once again eyed each other, a little bit satisfied that our father was a little wind up. Then we just bowed politely before leaving the scene without another word.

 

No one went down for dinner that night as we all didn't have the appetite and the energy to face my dad's new family. Kris and Xiumin were playing video games while Sehun just watched them. I, on the other hand, just decided to go out and maybe take a ride on the swing in our backyard. I was surprised though when I saw one of my new siblings also riding the swing. He noticed me as well, his eyes dilating for a second.

I just shook my head and walked towards the vacant swing beside him, not uttering a single word.

For five minutes, we were just swinging quietly on our own. The only noise that we could hear were the ones coming from our house. It's amazing though how you can hear everything from here. I could hear Sehun's cheers, as well as Xiumin and Yifan's comments while playing. I could even hear my father and his new wife talking—although I can only hear soft murmurs. I stopped swinging when Baekhyun talked, his voice mellow. "Do you hate me?"

I turned my head to look at him but he was facing down. I just pursed my lips, thinking. I don't hate him nor his brother or his mother. I don't think that hate was even in my dictionary or set of emotions yet. It's just maybe because we were all still in a state of shock. For a young girl who lost her mother, I was forced to grow faster than the girls at my age. I had to be mature and to think rationally even if I was still a kid since I have three brothers to take care of.

Going back to Baekhyun's question, it's not that we hate his family. We're just not ready for this kind of drastic change yet. "Aniya, why would I hate you?"

He sighed, still not looking back at me. "I don't know, I just feel like I'm isolated."

I blinked, my spirit immediately came crashing down. I didn't know what it was but there was something that seems to be punching me right in the gut—and I obviously didn't like it. Maybe because I also felt sad, or maybe this was what they called 'guilt'? Nonetheless, I want this feeling out of me. I exhaled and smiled languidly, holding my hand out to Baekhyun. "How about let's play tomorrow morning?"

His head turned as his eyes stared at my outstretched hand, obviously assessing my intention. I was still smiling at him, trying to show that I was being genuine. He finally met my gaze before he took my hand and shook it. "Ne. Let's be good friends." His lips tweaked a bit, making his cheeks puff up.

I just chuckled, withdrawing my hand from his. "Yes, let's be good friends."