Hyeyoon stares at the door, dumbfounded at what just happened.

 

 

 

Inside the apartment, in the living room, Doyoung, Johnny, and Haechan are talking. Taeyong was in the bathroom, he wanted to be the first one to take a shower. They just came home from an early morning meeting at the company to talk about their upcoming schedule for their album repackage promotions.

“That sasaeng was the absolute weirdest,” Johnny says staring at the ceiling.

“Weird is an understatement! She’s scary and downright creepy, hyung!” Haechan exclaims while playing on his cellphone.

Doyoung remained quiet, trying to calm himself down. He felt so angry that a sasaeng had entered their dorm. Their apartment was supposed to be safe but how did security not stop her in the lobby?

“No… there’s something strange about her behavior. Why was she vacuuming?” Johnny wondered aloud.

Taeyong exits the bathroom with very wet hair. “Who’s next?” he asks.

“Me!” Haechan says and gets inside.

Taeyong notices that Doyoung was still pretty upset at what happened. He tries to reassure his younger member, “Doyoung, don’t worry. I’ll tell manager hyung about what happened as soon as he gets here.” Doyoung says nothing which makes Taeyong share a look of concern with Johnny.

“But Taeyong, that sasaeng was seriously the weirdest one,” Johnny says again, “why was she vacuuming our house?”

“All sasaengs are weird Johnny. I wouldn’t be surprised if she stole our laundry,” Taeyong says jokingly.

Johnny nods and stops staring at the ceiling. He starts texting Mark. He wanted to ask if he thinks it’s “normal” for a sasaeng to vacuum their dorm. Meanwhile, Taeyong goes into his bedroom to get changed but he instantly notices that his laundry basket was empty.

He immediately goes back to the living room and says, “what the ! My laundry has been stolen!”

Johnny stops typing and rushes to his bedroom which he shares with Haechan, to check if his laundry was also stolen.

"No way! Mine’s stolen too!” he shouts when he sees that his basket was empty.

Doyoung, who’s been quietly listening to Taeyong and Johnny, gets up from where he was seated.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough! I’m calling the cops!”

“Wait Doyoung, let me check something” Johnny says and goes into the utility room where the washer and dryer were.

Johnny suddenly had the strange thought that the sasaeng didn’t steal their clothes but instead, she did their laundry. His intuition was proven correct when he sees that the washing machine was running. Their colored clothes were piled neatly on the floor and he noticed that only their white clothes were in the washing machine.

“Our clothes weren’t stolen! Come and see!” he shouts at them.

Doyoung and Taeyong follow him into the utility room and were shocked to see that their laundry was actually getting washed and were not stolen. The three of them feel weirded out and confused at the same time. They collectively think sasaengs usually steal laundry, not wash them.

“What’s all the fuss about?” Haechan says following his three hyungs into the room.

“What the- the sasaeng did our laundry?” Haechan shouts, feeling the hair on his arms raising.

Despite the scary circumstances that they were in, Johnny couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He found it ridiculous that the four of them were staring at a washing machine while Haechan and Taeyong still had dripping wet hair and both were wearing nothing but a towel on their waists.

“I’m sorry but this situation is hilarious!” Johnny says in between laughs.

Doyoung rolls his eyes while Haechan and Taeyong look at him like he was crazy. Suddenly, their manager, Jung Ingyu, call them from the living room.

“What a relief, manager hyung is here,” Doyoung says. He’s the first one to get to the living room while the rest of the guys followed.

“Hyung there was-“ Doyoung was saying as he walked but stopped in his tracks when he saw the sasaaeng seated with their manager on the couch.

“What the hyung? Why did you let that inside?” Doyoung couldn’t control himself from swearing even though he was talking to their manager.

Haechan and Taeyong, who were still nearly , immediately ran into their rooms when they spotted the girl seated on the couch. Johnny crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the girl.

“Calm down Doyoung! First, please apologize to Ms. Han,” their manager said.

Doyoung was exasperated. Why should he apologize to the sasaeng who intruded their private space? He could feel his body heating up from anger. Johnny sensed that Doyoung was becoming increasingly irate so he lays a hand on the younger member’s back and pats him, trying to ease his anger.

“She’s not a sasaeng, she’s our new temporary housekeeper,” Ingyu explains, “her name’s Han Hyeyoon. She’s the niece of Auntie Han.”

Doyoung felt as if his soul left his body. Johnny immediately uncrossed his arms and looks away from Hyeyoon. Haechan and Taeyong, who were now dressed appropriately, came out of their bedrooms and smiled awkwardly at her.

“Hello, I’m Han Hyeyoon. I hope we’ll get along well for the next six weeks,” Hyeyoon introduces herself and bows. She tries to avoid eye contact with Doyoung, she feels a bit scared and intimidated by him especially at what he did to her. Doyoung was frozen in place, he was feeling embarrassed to death. They could feel the awkwardness, shame and tension in the air.

Johnny smiled and tried to ease the atmosphere. He crosses the space between him and Hyeyoon to shake her hand. "Hello, Ms. Han. I’m Johnny, it’s nice to meet you!”

Hyeyoon felt a little star-struck seeing him closer. She could feels that his hands were soft but they also had a firm strong grip. For some reason, she thinks he's a foreigner. She knows Westerners usually shake hands instead of bowing. 

Haechan follows Johnny but instead he bows to Hyeyoon with an apologetic smile on his face. “We’re sorry for mistaking you as a sasaeng earlier,” he says scratching his head, trying his best to overcome his embarrassment. “I’m Haechan, the youngest member.”

“Yeah, we’re really sorry Ms. Han. I’m Taeyong and I’m the leader of NCT 127,” Taeyong says, giving Hyeyoon a smile.

Hyeyoon's heart skipped a beat at the pink haired guy's smile. He's the leader? Hyeyoon thought he looked like the youngest.

“I'm really sorrry about what happened Ms. Han. It was my fault, I should have told these guys you were coming instead of our usual auntie," Ingyu bows to Hyeyoon apologetically. Hyeyoon bows back to Ingyu and awkwardly smiles at the four guys standing.

"What happened to Auntie Han?" Taeyong asks.

"She got sick so she needs to rest for a bit," Ingyu replies and gets up from the couch. "Well, that’s enough for introductions! Ms. Han, let’s go up to the 10^th floor so I could properly introduce you to the rest of the members.”

Hyeyoon nods and bows to the four guys before following him out of the apartment. Doyoung stands in the middle of the room, not being able to say a word. Johnny laughs as soon as Hyeyoon and their manager leave.

Haechan groans in frustration, “that was so embarrassing!”

“I’m going to go to the studio. I don't know when I'll be back so don't wait up for me!” Taeyong pats Doyoung's back before leaving.

Doyoung wishes the earth would eat him up now.

 

 

 

“I’m really sorry about what happened downstairs,” Ingyu apologizes again to Hyeyoon. They were in the elevator, heading up to the other apartment NCT 127 occupies on the 10th floor.

“No, it’s okay. They must have been shocked to find a complete stranger in their house,” Hyeyoon reassures the man.

“We’re here,” Ingyu says and he leads Hyeyoon out of the elevator. They enter the apartment which had the exact layout as the one on the 5th floor.

Ingyu shouts, “guys come out for a sec, there’s someone I’d like you to meet!”

“Who is it hyung?” Mark was the first one to come out. He was texting Johnny, telling his older member that he thinks it's not weird for a sasaeng to vacuum their place. As he looks up from his phone, he stares wide-eyed as he sees that their manager wasn't alone but came with a young and pretty girl. 

Is she manager hyung's girlfriend? Wow, she's pretty but isn't that not allowed? Mark's thoughts were running a hundred miles a minute, trying to come up with reasons why their manager is bringing a girl at their dorm.

He bows politely to Hyeyoon and gives a look at Ingyu but their manager ignored Mark’s questioning eyes. He guides Hyeyoon to take a seat at the couch in the living room of the apartment.

“Oh- hello!” Jaehyun who just came out his room suddenly says when he sees Hyeyoon seated right next to their manager. Jungwoo, his roommate, was right behind him. He bows to Hyeyoon and gave Ingyu the same questioning expression just like Mark.

“Where’s Taeil and Yuta?” Ingyu asks.

“Taeil hyung! Yuta hyung! Come out to the living room for a bit,” Mark knocks on their bedroom door. “They probably couldn’t hear you because they’re playing really loud EDM inside.”

Taeil and Yuta came out of their rooms a few seconds later and were both surprised to see Hyeyoon. They politely bowed at her but kept quiet. The five NCT members were very confused and curious who the pretty girl in their dorm room was. They were all thinking she must be their manager's girlfriend and were dying to ask him about her.

“This is Ms. Han, she’s the niece of auntie Han and she’ll be our temporary housekeeper.”

"Temporary housekeeper?!" Mark repeated.

Ingyu found it amusing to see the surprise in their eyes. He knew they were assuming all sorts of things about Hyeyoon. 

“What happened to auntie?” Jaehyun asks.

“She got sick and she needs some time off to rest,” Ingyu answers.

Jaehyun nods in understanding while Mark says, “please tell her we hope she gets well soon.”

“Yes, I’ll tell her later,” Hyeyoon says. 

The people on this floor seem much nicer and friendlier, Hyeyoon thought to herself.

“I’m Yuta and this is Taeil hyung,” Yuta tries to introduce himself politely. Taeil waves and smiles at Hyeyoon.

“I’m Jungwoo, nice to meet you!”

“I’m Jaehyun, I hope you won’t be too tired from working here,” Jaehyun smiles, which reveals his dimple. Hyeyoon could feel her cheeks heating up.

The people on this floor are as handsome as the guys on the 5th floor. She’s never seen such handsome men in her life and they also all looked around her age. The guys back at her hometown weren’t as well-groomed and stylish-looking. She couldn't help herself but stare at their faces. 

“And I’m Mark. Let’s get along well, uh what should we call you? Auntie? I mean- uh…” Mark starts to mumble but Jaehyun stops him.

“I think Ms. Han would be appropriate, Mark.”

Hyeyoon nods in agreement. She manages to smile and make eye contact with the five men in the room but she suddenly remembers the laundry that she was doing on the 5^th floor dorm.

“I have to go back and finish my work downstairs but I’ll come back to cook and clean for you later,” Hyeyoon says while bowing and walks out of the apartment in a hurry. She still had a lot left to do plus she soon has to make lunch for them.

"See you later then Ms. Han," she hears Mark say as she leaves.

"That was Auntie Han's niece?!" Yuta says as soon as he heard the front door close.

"I was asking myself the same question," Ingyu replies laughing.

"She's way too pretty to be her niece, I mean, I'm not saying auntie is ugly! Auntie Han is a great cook but you know..." Mark rambles.

"I guess we have to start washing our own underwear again," Taeil says.

"What? Why hyung?" Mark wonders then realizes what Taeil means. "Oh, you're right..."

Jungwoo laughs and heads back into his room with Jaehyun right behind. Jungwoo wonders if Hyeyoon's cooking is as good as auntie's. Meanwhile, Jaehyun thinks the next weeks are going to be interesting. Having a young and pretty housekeeper doesn't seem like a good idea.