It did not take too much time before the house greeted my arrival. It is smaller than I expected. I am starting to ponder how the seven of them lived here together.

It is a simple two story apartment that had its concrete walls painted with a milky vanilla colour. The linings of the corner of the house and the rooftop are somehow with a coffee brown shade – modern minimalist. There are four rectangular skinny windows which are submerged to the mini group of ornamental plants outside; I think it was meant to touch the ground. Black curtains are visible from its translucent glass while the door is the part of the house that caught my attention.

Its natural colour was preserved and it gave justice to the abstract carvings on it which was artistically associated with wide variety of holes covered with different glass colours. Looking from the outside while there is a light open inside, it looks so marvellous and enchanting.

Junjin stepped in and I followed. Pebbles covered the grounds outside the house and there I saw a mini gazebo beneath a relatively short acacia tree. A round small table is in the middle of six different chairs that made me think – it used to be seven.

“They’re here!!!” someone screamed inside.

“Really?!” another excited voice responded with a higher pitch.

Two excited men raced towards us upon opening the door. They are of almost the same height and I’d say that Junjin is a lot taller than them. They were so eager about our arrival and I cannot respond to their overwhelming happiness equally. My poker face did not even get criticized.

“How was your travel?” – The guy with the ash blonde hair asked hurriedly.  His smile is like that of a kid who saw his favourite mascot but his aura projects a very cool charisma. I like the way his eyes greet me with fondness.

His thick eyebrows and evident jawline achieved those virile features of his personality. He looks like a very dependable person and a promising heartthrob.

He is wearing a white V-neck shirt under his thin knitted red cardigan partnered with black knee length shorts which made him look taller despite his box type body figure.

I noticed a name tag was stuck on his chest – Minwoo, it was his name. He caught me looking at it and held it out while waving like a pre-schooler. The other guy’s name tag is invisible though the rectangle cut is embossed on the surface of his apron covering his white shirt. He looks so homey with his blue pyjama and seems to not care about dressing up.

I cannot understand what they were thinking by wearing name tags.

“She’s cold.” Junjin answered with a serious tone.

“She ignored me most of the time and she is really scary.” He chuckled at the end of his sentence before he can even finish his half time drama. I caught him looking at me with a smiling face when I looked at him with an annoyed expression.

“Kahel won’t be her if she is not like that.” the other guy with a black neatly trimmed fluffy hair added. Like Junjin, he is looking at me with huge fascination. He even cupped his face of an actor between both of his hands trying to look cute. Charming wrinkles formed at the side of his dreamy eyes and his smile flashed those white perfectly proportioned teeth. I don’t see any similarities with the three of them. I can’t even imagine my brother spending time with them. How did their personalities fit?

“Hyung! Hurry! The chicken is burning!!!” another guy came to us with a rush. He run towards us in a hurry and missed to wear one of his slippers properly. He almost slipped but he managed to maintain his balance by means of holding on Minwoo’s shoulder.

The nameless guy ran inside hastily. Chaotic, is the only word that I can think of to describe this set up.

“Jinnie, let’s go inside now. You need to take shower before dinner. Hyesung will scold you if he sees you that way.” Minwoo told Junjin at once and he followed. He went inside carrying my belongings.

The other guy who’s wearing a white jumper pulled its sleeves up to his elbow and hopped with one foot towards the gate to lock it. He decided to catch up with me with his unstable tactic. He looks shy. I bet it will take time for him to say his name. He has no name tag so I cannot help him to make things easier.

“I’m Andy.” I heard him whisper from my back with his well-modulated voice. I turned around and saw him reaching his hand towards me to have a proper hand shake. His skin looks smooth and healthy. Andy’s face shines brightly even with a messy tied hair, without probing, I am guessing that he is the youngest.

I cringe the way he put that cute smirk while he is talking to me. He is really adorable, I can’t handle it. He has that innocent baby like impression but his joyful face cannot hide his attractive appeal. His eyes are full of sincerity so I returned his gesture. I shook his waiting hand and I received a very warm encounter.

“Nice to meet you.” I said as I let go of our short conversation.

“Welcome our Princess” Minwoo said as he led us to the house’s main entrance.  

I stood there surveying the whole sanctuary that used to cater my brother’s last year in college. The interior was not intended for girls and by that I meant to say that there is nothing much to see.

The moment I entered the door, there I found the receiving area on the right side which is occupied with huge bean bags lying on a furry grey mat on the floor which is in front of a 50 inch wide flat screen TV and on the left side is the dining area with an oblong glass table and its 7 chairs, 6 were identical in design which are black in colour and the odd one in the middle is with an orange tint.

Looking a little bit further from the dining set is a mini kitchen and a huge black refrigerator. The house was lighted with alternately aligned bulbs which are hanging from the ceiling. On the far end just with the same direction of the entrance is a spiral staircase going to the second floor which was situated near a mini study area with a huge sign “Manners Maketh Man”.

There were 3 black doors fixed on the wall of the second floor along the wooden braced hallway. It is a good thing that the house is equipped with a centralized air conditioning system. A hole at the centre of our ceiling caught my interest. It was a skylight; a transparent thick glass served as its cover to deliver natural light during day time and a magnificent view of the starry heavens at night – it was exactly my brother’s dream feature.

I saw my luggage resting on another door downstairs right were their study area was. It looks cosy with group of pillows laying on the floor together with bookshelves sticking from the wall in a diagonal manner. The corners were occupied with huge lava lamps to serve as a temporary light since it’s not being used. I just want to go inside that room and become a hermit but I don’t think they will allow me to do that. I can see my pale reflection while looking on the black tiles which concealed their floor.

Minwoo snatched my backpack from my shoulders and rested it on one of the leather covered bean bags. I am really tired and I am hoping that they will not give me a hard time on my first day.

“I’d really like you to rest peacefully in your room but we don’t have the key. Eric is out right now having it duplicated with the rest of ours. I’m really sorry.” He said with a very honest tone.

I reached for my phone inside my bag to send my parents a message that I arrived safely when I saw that there was no mobile signal. I tried to restart it and there’s still none. What the –

“Oh my..” were the only words that I was able to say while looking on it desperately; having a hard time facing the reality that it has no signal at all.

“Kahel, it’s hard to get a signal here. If you’re about to send your parents a message about your arrival, you may go up and try to catch signal there. The reception here is messed up since the nearest cell site had some technical issues with its tower. Internet is also not available down here.” Minwoo dreadfully confessed.

I’m a dead meat. How will I survive now?

“If you’re worrying about studying, there is no need to worry; the school has good internet connection. It’s a shame that we are in a black hole.” Andy’s reassuring words gave me hope.

I just let out a sigh upon hearing this. I can’t throw a tantrum and cause a burden to all of them. I don’t have any other choice but to wait. I gave him a quick nod since we can’t do anything about it.

“Can I use your comfort room? I need to wash my face to refresh a bit.” I asked him politely since I feel very sticky right now because of all the sweat that covered my face earlier.

“Over here.” The nameless guy called out while removing his apron, after putting a net cover on the food that he prepared on the dining area. At last I’ll be able to address him properly.

His manly chest displayed his name and it read – Oppayam. I almost fell for it.

 “HAHAHA! That is a good one Dongwan-ah!” Minwoo said while laughing at his friend’s scheme.

“Ya! Why did you say my name out loud! She could have called me Oppayam first!” he said while trying to laugh at his failed attempt.

I am too tired to laugh. I need to wash my face first. Dongwan noticed me waiting for him and he pointed to the door beside the corner near the refrigerator.

I moved sluggishly towards it. I twisted the knob slowly and for some strange reason the door stopped opening halfway while I am pushing it. I didn’t know it was a trap.

“Kahel, wait! I am still !” A nervous voice erupted inside. I stopped in an instant.

I heard the three of them laughing out loud while I stood there frozen trying to figure out what to do. Warm moisture came out when a fully covered Junjin opened the door while staring at me maliciously. His shoulder length hair is still dripping with water and I really feel sorry for my unintentional intrusion.

“I didn’t mean to –”

“You almost scared me to death! HAHAHA” Junjin continued. He recovered from his shock but I still can’t.

I kept my eyes on the ground. I cannot even look at him directly now.

“My bad, I thought he’s already done when he told me that he’ll be out in a minute. I didn’t expect her to open the door right away. I thought she will knock first.” Dongwan said with a mix of guilt and laughter.

“It was a good thing that I overheard you when I turned off the shower. Kahel, our comfort room’s door knob is broken and it cannot be locked. So, every time you’re going to use it – please knock first.” Junjin explained with full of forgiveness over my ignorance.

“Don’t worry; you will not be sharing it with us. You have your own bathroom in your room.” Andy assured me with his words. I felt much better. It was so nice to have him around.

“Hyesung should be on his way now from his part-time job. They will be here in 15 minutes?” Minwoo gave me the signal to wash my face now since the room is already available.

Junjin moved out of my way and I entered the door immediately to lessen my embarrassment period.