This is a double update, check Chapter 6 if you haven't already. :)

I ignored Alex’s comment and stared at the strange boy who was now wrestling Eunhyuk on the rug. He looked like such a little kid, with that idiotic grin and mess of brown hair. Glancing in between him and Alex, I realized that if they wanted to they could look literally exactly like each other. Creepy.

Wait. What was his name again? Dang-hey? Who’d name their kid that? That’s just downright cruel! Plus, Alex said they were related, right? How come she got the good and sturdy name and the famous idol (at least, I think he’s famous) got stuck with a name like Dang-hey?

I looked back into the kitchen and saw both Uki and Alex scowling. Then Uki started yelling at them, and they stopped mid-tussle. Her face turned a bit pink, but she continued, and within a minute the TV was turned off and both boys had disappeared down the hall.

I had to marvel. “Wow, Uki, you really have a knack for controlling them. Hey, why is your face pink?” I asked as I continued dishing up rice.

“Um…” She turned even redder, for some reason, and busied herself getting a container of something out of a drawer that looked like a miniature fridge.

Alex interrupted the younger girl. “She and Donghae are dating,” she answered matter of factly, ladling some white tubes of something into one of the big white bowls.

“Alex!” Uki complained, her face redder than ever.

They descended into a few minutes of Korean as I stood awkwardly by the table. Suddenly Uki burst out as fast as she could, “Fine! By the way Ryn, she’s dating the guy who looks like he has a perpetual bed head. His name is Kyuhyun, you’ll know him when you see him. Ow!” She held her arm and glowered at Alex, who had just hit her with the handle of a spoon.

Just then, Eunhyuk and Donghae came back in, followed by Leeteuk, who frowned at me and then went back to the door to pull on his shoes and exit the apartment. Where’s he going? I wondered as Donghae came into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around both Alex and Uki, kissing the latter quickly on the cheek. She turned an even more vivid shade of pink and smiled a bit. Donghae asked them a question in Korean, and was suddenly shoved away by them, who once again did that thing where they said the same thing at the same time. Wow, if it had gotten to a point where they jinxed each other scolding the boys… They’ve been here a little too long, I concluded, waving at Eunhyuk who smiled his funky smile at me.

Just then, three other groggy boys trailed in behind them from the hallway, looking like they had just been pushed out of bed onto the nice cold floor. One looked adorable, and the second one looked… well, I don’t even know how to describe him. He had black hair and this expression that was both serious and hilarious at the same time. The third had a definite bed head thing going on, and I guessed this was the guy Alex was dating.

Sure enough, the guy ducked into the kitchen as the other two found places at the table, catching Alex by the waist while she wasn’t looking and plopping a kiss on her cheek. This time, it was she who blushed. I fought the urge to wrinkle my nose and shout, “PDA!” like I would in school; I absolutely hate it when people kiss in public. Then she pushed him away and gave him one of the bowls, muttering something to him and pointing to the table.

Well, now that people were here and the volume in this place had started to rise, I started to feel a bit useless. After all, none of the new guys were even sparing a glance in my direction. I might as well be invisible, for all they’d care. Taking this chance while both girls were preoccupied, I slunk out of the kitchen area and towards the large bay window in the living room. Seating myself down, I stared out into the yellow haze that seemed to be clearing up a bit from earlier, leaning my head against the window and pressing my hands against my stomach to make it quiet down. I could feel a headache coming on; I haven’t spoken this much in one day in several months, and my mouth was a bit dry.

The door to the apartment opened again, and Leeteuk walked in trailed by two guys who could not be more different. One was a rather large, heavyset, tall man and the other looked like he weighed about half that. The smaller guy immediately darted into the kitchen, shooing both bed head dude and Donghae away, then proceeded to take the chopsticks from Uki and Alex, motioning for them to sit down. He told them something in Korean, and both girls visibly groaned, picking up one of the places I had set and dumping the rice back into the pot, leaving only eleven spaces at the table. Guess another wasn’t coming.

The noise level now at a dull roar, I turned back to my window and started playing a game to see how far away something had to be before I couldn’t identify it anymore through the yellowness. I had just identified a bus following a taxi on a nearby street when Alex said, “Hey, Taryn! Aren’t you going to come eat?”

I turned back around and saw ten faces looking back at me with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and skepticism. I felt my cheeks heat up under so many gazes. “Um, sure?” I squeaked, sliding off of my perch to awkwardly sit next to Uki at the only empty spot. Tucking my legs underneath me, I listened as Alex and Uki introduced me to the rest of the guys at the table. At least, I thought they were introducing me. I couldn’t be sure, seeing how I couldn’t speak Korean and all.

Then Uki turned to me as the guys started to eat. “So, that one is Shindong,” she motioned to the heavyset man, “and that’s Sungmin and Ryeowook,” she said, motioning to the adorable one and the short guy who came in with Leeteuk respectively. “And that’s Yesung and Kyuhyun,” she finished, motioning to the black haired, hilarious-and-serious-expressioned guy and the one who had hugged Alex earlier. “All of them can understand English to some degree, but don’t ask them what Einstein’s theory of relativity is or anything, okay?”

I nodded wordlessly, watching them inhale their food with a sick feeling. Especially Eunhyuk and the Shin-something guy. How in the world can they eat so much? “I just have one question,” I said.

“Hmm?” Uki shoved some rotten stewed vegetables in , slurping at her soup noisily.

“Why aren’t you pointing at them? Like, is it taboo to point at someone? Plus, why are you and everybody else slurping so much?” Usually people would at least try to keep from slurping, at least in a somewhat public setting like this.

Alex answered for her as Uki was fighting to swallow the hot soup. “Well, pointing at people is rather rude. And slurping your soup signifies that you enjoy the food, if that makes sense. Plus, the soup is really hot so it's hard not to slurp. Just, please don’t blow your nose at the table. That practically is taboo.”

Uki swallowed her soup, fanning . “Yeah, what she said.”

I picked up my chopsticks, glad that I had been so fascinated with the things when I was younger, and started to pick at my rice and the rotten vegetable things, fighting the urge to throw up. Chill, Ryn, I told myself. A little food won’t kill you. Just do the stairs a few times afterwards. Besides, he'll get mad if you pass out or something.

Calming myself with that thought, I managed to take a small bite of a white tube thing, which tasted surprisingly good, as the boys engaged me in conversation.

“Hoo ahl yu?”

“How ol-duh ahl you?”

“Nice weather!” (Yes, that was Eunhyuk again. I nearly spit out my tube thing in laughter.)

I giggled a bit and said slowly, “My name is Taryn and I am sixteen years old.”

Then Uki elbowed me in the ribs and hissed in my ear, “When’s your birth year?”

“1995, why?” I winced, sticking my chopsticks straight up in my rice bowl to massage my ribs.

“You’re considered seventeen here. Tell them that! And get your chopsticks out of the rice, that’s not proper table manners!”

I grabbed my chopsticks and told the guys, “Sorry, but I am seventeen in South Korea and sixteen in Canada.”

“Canada? Canada person?”

I nodded at Yesung, who had asked the question. “My brother is Henry,” I told him. Then, trying to avoid another question, I asked Uki, “Can I get some water? Or is that rude to have a drink at the table?” For some reason, nobody had any drinks. I wondered if that was on purpose.

She seemed to ponder this for a split second, ignoring the boys’ questions, then said, “I guess you can get some water. Generally drinks aren’t served until after the meal, but seeing how it’s all going to be gone in a few minutes anyway I guess it’s okay.”

Gratefully I unfolded my legs from beneath me, ignoring my muscles screaming in pain, leaving behind my nearly untouched food, and limped to the kitchen, opening a few cabinets before I found drinking glasses. I ran tap water into the glass and took a nice long drink, feeling the water run down my throat and into my empty stomach. It gurgled happily, then quieted for the first time all day.

Day… I glanced at the clock on the microwave and was a bit surprised to see it read 7:13. What boy on earth would willingly wake up this early? I wondered, sipping at my water.

Within another minute, I heard the guys get up from the table. Half of them started rushing around the apartment, yelling down the hall for each other, and the other half quickly exited the apartment. I heard one of them say in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice, “I’ll be back!” Where the heck did they learn that? Seriously, the English sported by some of these boys is downright strange.

Moments after the door closed behind them, I heard it slam open again. “Taryn!” a voice called. "I have a few things for you!"

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Hmmm, what could Henry have for Taryn?? :) I hope you enjoy the double update, I was in a good mood and felt like writing more, so this is like 500-800 words longer than a usual chapter. Well, I don't know if it's a double update for you guys, but it is for me since it's still the same day as when I added Chapter 6! Also, I introduced the majority of Super Junior!! Yay :) Anyway, comments are appreciated! I love your feedback :)