Somehow learning to stay with seven men was easier than imagined. Waking up earlier to use the bathroom, sharing food (they ordered massive amounts all the time), stealing their food, occasionally borrowing one of their shirts when I run out of clothes etcetera came in the price of cleaning up after them and doing the laundry, which I already did when staying with my brother at home anyway. Staying in a warehouse was not ideal for many reasons of course, with the screeching front door still getting on my nerves at night and that everything I did was visible pretty much from all angles of the space, so reading in peace at home was no longer an option.

The only person who seemed to have any qualms about the arrangements at all was perhaps my actual oppa, Shownu. He cast deadly glares at the Clan members when they gave me too much laundry to do or if they let me clean up their meals while they gamed. The thing that ticked him off the most, however, was if the boys were too close. 

Or perhaps, the boy. 

The older members had found me and Changkyun asleep on the couch the morning after we returned from the funeral, leaning on each other's shoulders as any nemesis-turned-friends would after a night of gaming and sushi for supper. Needless to say my brother pried us apart in our sleep,  despite nothing inappropriate happening, and when I lectured him about forcefully waking people up at inappropriate times, he found himself talking in circles about why his actions were justified. Shownu oppa getting lectured by his own younger sister was a novel scene to the boys, and since then Minhyuk and Jooheon had went the extra mile to be especially friendly with me when Shownu was nearby, just to turn up the fun in this dreary old safehouse. He gave Changkyun the cold shoulder for days until he realised we didn't even go to school together, because Changkyun simply didn't bother to wake up early enough. Our friendship was, as Changkyun clarified in his classic stoic expression, "a professional one that involved being on the same team when gaming, and going dutch when buying sushi takeouts together". 

Three weeks into my new residential life with them, and I had yet to advance on Yuna's case. Something still struck me as odd about the whole case, but I haven't had the energy to piece it all together. The newest lead remained as her mother's words, about how Yuna was depressed during her stay at the hospital. The last thing I would believe in, of course, was the bright sunshine who was my friend was depressed. Even if the doctor said so. 

"New case folks." My brother's voice echoed through the vacuous space of the warehouse. Seven heads turned to him as all of us stopped whatever we were doing (except Wonho, who was eating his ramyeon) and gathered at the living room. It was my first time, so Changkyun had to nudge me to follow him to the meetin