As I neared my destination, my brain began throwing rapid-fire lies at me, trying to find one that would be suitable for lower back pain in addition to not having a book that I said I was getting.

I briskly brushed away my tears of pain, gritting my teeth. If I’ve gone through this before and gotten away with it, I can do it again. Quickly, I straightened my posture, removing my hands from my back and wiping my face clean of any pained expressions. I sorted through my mental list of lies I’ve used in the past, and settled on two that I thought would get the job done as cleanly as possible.

I slapped a stray bug away from my neck and absently rubbed my right wrist. Now, what can I use for any counterarguments? It’s possible that they’d call the bookstore, so there’s one of my lies out the window. I invented a new one on the spot and continued thinking, my feet taking me to the doorway of the building. I stepped inside, bowing to the security guy, and paused for a moment in the spacious lobby.

Then I smiled. I knew exactly how I’d play this out.

I stepped into the elevator, playing all of the possible scenarios in my mind, making sure there were no flaws in my plan. I reminded myself to keep my emotions bottled up and not show any pain when Henry or one of the girls hugged me. I looked at my shirt and quickly brushed the stray bits of grass off to hide the fact that I had been facedown in the dirt just a little bit ago. Subconsciously I went through my mental ‘lies’ checklist, making sure my story was believable.

Then the elevator dinged, and I stepped out, grabbing my key out of my bag as I did. I quickly slipped inside the quiet apartment, taking off my shoes, and threw my bag onto an empty spot on the shelf. Checking myself one last time, I took a breath and stepped into the living room, where the smell of tea immediately assaulted me.

Uki and Alex looked up from their cooking, seeming as if they were still asleep. Alex had her hands in a bowl of milky water and Uki was busy making tea, steeping a few delicious-smelling bags in the pot of hot water on the stove. She didn’t spare me a glance; she just kept mindlessly stirring the tea, rubbing her right shoulder as if it pained her. Alex still had her huge nerdy glasses on, her lids half-closed behind them, but perked up when she saw me. Then she looked confused. “Ryn?” she asked. “I thought you went to the bookstore.”

I was prepared. “I kinda got lost, and the bookstore wasn’t where I thought it was,” I replied, smiling sheepishly as I moved to put a few bowls on the table.

She cocked her head, thinking about this for a second, then seemed to accept it and turned back to the bowl her hands were in. “Oh yeah, you’re probably thinking of the bookstore near the LOEN dorms,” she mused. “That one is right next to the park over there. By the way, the boys aren’t going to have a lot of time to eat today, so only get like twelve or thirteen bowls, okay?”

I nodded in consent, gazing with concern at Uki. “Um, Uki?” I asked as I put one bowl back and reached for the smaller size. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t talk to me if you value your ribs staying intact,” she muttered in an icy tone, rubbing her shoulder more. She sounded like she was having trouble breathing, but I couldn’t see anything that would obstruct her breathing. I took a scared step back, remembering her threat, and my brows drew together, making me completely forget the pain in my own back. What the heck?

Alex deftly removed one hand from the bowl and grabbed a fine strainer, dumping the contents of the bowl into it. Ah, so she had been washing rice. Okay, weird. She then sidestepped Uki and grabbed me by my wrist, pulling me into the room we shared. Then she sat me down on her neat bed and started talking.

“Ryn, there are a few things you need to know about Uki. First, don’t ask her too much about her shoulder, or else she’ll get mad at you. Don’t ask her if she’s having trouble breathing, because she’ll get mad at you. If she’s in a mood like this, don’t bother her, or else you might have to go to the hospital. If you make her mad, you risk getting it both from Donghae and She-won, her brother. She’s been through a lot, okay? You’ll learn when it’s okay to talk to her and when it’s not, and today is not one of her good days.”

I nodded, feeling like I was in mortal peril with every word she uttered. “But, Alex, why does her shoulder hurt? And why does it look like she’s having trouble breathing?” I asked in a whisper, worried.

Alex took a breath and whispered back, “You’ll have to ask her yourself. I mean, I’ll readily tell you, but I’m not comfortable telling a strange sixteen-year-old girl something that happened to my best friend. Got it?”

I nodded, and Alex put an arm around my shoulders. “Just, if you need a hint, search this room, okay?” Then she straightened and said, “Well, the boys have a photoshoot in a bit, so go wake up Sungmin. Since you bonded with him so much yesterday, this should be easy. His door is the first one on the left entering the hallway; he shares with Eunhyuk. Have him wake up the rest of the members on this floor, okay? Tell him that he needs to wear something blue.” She then whisked out of the room, leaving me a bit stunned at this sudden transition.

Um, okay.

I stood and headed back down the hallway, ignoring the snores emanating from one of the rooms, and timidly opened the first door on the left.

Ugh, it’s that pink room again! I stifled a retching noise and cautiously tiptoed into the room, feeling like an intruder. The bed closer to the door had an unmistakable blond mop peeking out from underneath the blanket. My eyes widened. That means…

I stared at the bed on the pink side of the room. Sungmin is Mister Pink??

I bit my lip and tiptoed to the other bed. Of course Sungmin was in this one. I hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, knowing how well the llast time I did this turned out. “Sungmin,” I whispered, giving him a small shake. I shuddered at the thought of touching a guy right now, even if it was through an inch of blanket. “Sungmin, wake up,” I said again.

He grumbled something and rolled over, his back now facing me. “No,” he muttered in Korean.

I decided to be brave and just go for it. I whisked the blanket off of him and threw it to the floor. Instantly his eyes shot open as he curled into a ball. “Yah¹!” he yelled piteously, whimpering and pulling his puppy-dog eyes on me.

Craap!

I averted my eyes, remembering a warning Henry had given me about his puppy-dog eyes. “Sungmin, food!” I said in my broken Korean. At least, that’s what I think I said.

I heard a thump as he fell onto the floor. I looked back at him, surprised, just to see him transform from pitifully sad to pitifully eager. “Food!” he exclaimed in Korean, and headed towards the door with a pillow tucked under his arm and only a pair of shorts on his body. Sheez, what is it with these guys and not dressing?!

“Sungmin, wait!” I cried, waking up Eunhyuk, who pulled the covers up over his head. He ignored me and continued to the kitchen. I heard a shout, and then he came racing back in, a panicked look on his face. I had to laugh, it was so funny.

He quickly put a shirt on and put his pillow back on the bed, then with a look at me proceeded to yank Eunhyuk’s blanket off of him as well. The poor blond boy yelled in surprise and spasmed, falling off the bed and landing loudly on the floor. Sungmin looked at me again, proud, and I smiled back at him, giving him a thumbs up.

Slowly, I spoke in English, giving Sungmin a chance to understand. I pointed at him, then at me. “You and me,” I said, then pointed at Eunhyuk, “same,” I pantomimed pulling a blanket off of someone, “others,” I held up two fingers.

Sungmin smiled evilly, apparently understanding, and grabbed my wrist again, dragging me out into the hall and to another door. He pushed it open, revealing two beds and… a terrarium? With turtles in it? Oookay, whatever.

Sungmin pushed me towards the bed closer to the terrarium, and I could see Yesung’s black hair hiding underneath the covers. I grabbed the blanket, and Sungmin got a hold of the comforter on the other bed holding Alex’s boyfriend. (I still can’t remember his name!) He then intoned under his breath, as if he were counting off dance steps, “Five, six, seven, eight!”

On eight, we yanked the covers off of the two boys and sprinted into the hallway to a small chorus of “Yah!”s, the blankets still in tow. He and I laughed as the two stumbled into the hallway, looking a bit rattled and cold, but then they apparently smelled the cooking rice and pushed past us in their way to the kitchen.

Sungmin and I shared a glance as we tossed the blankets back onto their respective beds within the room. Suddenly, I heard the door to the apartment open, and I heard Uki’s shrill voice go, “SHE-WON!!”