Before I could exit the kitchen to see what Henry wanted to give me, Alex hollered, “Henry! The radio broadcast is in an hour, which means you guys are leaving in ten, and you still need to eat something! Put that bag by the TV or something! You showered, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered good-naturedly, and I could hear the thunk of a cloth bag being dropped in the living room. Uki buzzed into the kitchen, yelling something in Korean at one of the boys down the hall, and plopped the empty rotten-vegetables bowl into the sink. Then she spied me. “Hey, Ryn! Since you don’t yet know how to help the boys, do you mind clearing the table? If there’s anything left, just cover the bowl with the ceran wrap in that drawer and put it in the fridge. It’ll be gone by the end of the day. Thanks, you’re the best!” She sprinted out of the kitchen again, resuming her loud-voiced Korean.

Kind of starting to resent her for bossing me around so much, I set my glass back down and walked back towards the table, where Henry was literally inhaling my barely touched food. Good thing I didn’t eat then, I wouldn’t want Mister Superstar to faint in the middle of…what was it? A radio program? Henry barely looked up at me as I grabbed some dirty dishes, continuing to shovel rice and little brown crunchy things into his mouth.

There was a crash that sounded like countless pairs of shoes falling at once, and I heard a yelp. “Shorry!” one of the guys said sheepishly from the doorway. Looking up, two dirty bowls and ten spoons in my hands, I saw the adorable one on his knees, trying to find his shoes. What was his name again? Sang-mini or something?

Alex came running over and smacked him on the head, pointing back towards the hallway. His face fell into this adorable little puppy dog face, with his bottom lip quivering like a lost child’s. Awww! I smiled, forgetting my task and simply watched him for a minute. Then Alex ruined the moment by smacking him again and pushing him back towards the majority of the apartment. He slipped a little bit, his socks sliding over the hardwood floor, and started to run. Alex then rummaged through the pile of shoes, pulling on hers and shouting, “I’m going upstairs!” Then I think that’s what she repeated in Korean, because four guy voices simply said something that sounded like “Air-uh-so” back at her simultaneously.

She slammed the door behind her, jolting my memory of what I was supposed to be doing. Letting myself fall into the hectic atmosphere, I felt myself move ten times faster than usual, taking the dirty dishes off of the table and plopping them in the sink. The only extras were the brown crunchy things Henry was eating earlier, and I covered the bowl with the shrink wrap and plopped it into the fridge. Both ramen bowls from last night were gone; I guessed someone like Eunhyuk or that Shin-splint guy ate them. That of course brought my attention back to my empty stomach, which gurgled from the water I drank earlier. Hopefully Henry won’t ask me whether or not I ate breakfast.

I grabbed Henry’s dirty dishes from the table, as he had disappeared down the hallway. Note to self: figure out what is behind all of those doors down there. I set his dishes in the sink, then yelled into the depths of the apartment, “Uki! Is there dishwashing soap or a dishwasher around here?”

I heard her faint, breathless reply, “Underneath the sink, right hand side! NO, YOU’RE WEARING THIS ONE! THAT ONE’S DIRTY, YOU IDIOT! I TOLD YOU TO PUT THIS IN THE DIRTY CLOTHES PILE!”

I chuckled as I heard her repeat this again, with the same tone, in Korean, emphasized by a grunt from one of the guys. I quickly grabbed a bottle of dishwashing liquid from beneath the sink (thank goodness she and Alex kept it so organized!) and started scrubbing at a pair of chopsticks with a cute strawberry-shaped sponge.

Suddenly, Henry and the other four boys came rushing back out, being chased by Uki, and started grabbing masks and bags and such. Henry started speed-talking to me as he searched the living room for something, “In the bag are a new mask, a new phone, and a bank card. I figured you wouldn’t appreciate looking like a doctor all of the time. As well, your current phone doesn’t really work here, and the ones here are really cheap so it works out. I think it’s in both Korean and English… Anyway, the bank card is in case you need to spend any money. It draws from an account I set up for you that has about $2,000 American dollars in it, and you get a text on your new phone every time something is bought or paid for with it. Oh, and your old phone is in there too, I swiped it to transfer the contacts. Oh, and I got a copy of the dorm key made for you, I think that’s in there too. Yah, Yesung!” He descended into Korean as I simply stared at the boys, who looked kind of ridiculous rushing around like crazy people, darting in and out of the doors, while still being yelled at by Uki. Rather hectic, but funny at the same time. I resumed my scrubbing, telling Henry that I understood.

The door to the apartment opened up again, and in came Leeteuk, Alex, Donghae, the short feminine guy and Shin-splint. Ugh, I couldn’t remember his name. Leeteuk barked out something, and finally all of them were pulling on their shoes to exit. Alex said, “Ryn! We’re going with them but we’ll be back in a little bit. You’re staying here, okay? Don’t do anything stupid, don’t leave the dorm, and text me or Uki or Henry if you need anything.”

“But I don’t have either of your numbers!” I protested, waving around my sponge and a soapy bowl.

Uki came back to the kitchen and grabbed a sticky note, shuddering a bit, writing down two strings of numbers. “The top one’s mine and the bottom one’s Alex’s,” she said, sticking it to the fridge and rushing back to the small pack of guys at the door.

I simply stared at Henry, who was getting squeezed in between Leeteuk and Donghae. Did he really approve of leaving me in a strange apartment all by my sixteen-year-old self? My question was answered when he shouted, muffled by the dull roar of people, “You’ll be fine, Ryn! Don’t be afraid to text me, okay?”

Wow. Just, wow. I could barely believe my ears. The door to the apartment opened, and people began flooding out. Almost as an afterthought, Uki yelled, “And eat something, okay? You don’t want to be sick on your first day here!” Then the door shut, leaving me in blissful silence.

Wow.

I just got ditched.

In a foreign place.

By my brother.

Wow.

Just, wow.

~~~~~~

Hey guys, I thought I should clarify something since I've gotten at least two comments along the lines of "Is Taryn starving herself?" Well, the answer is yes, in a way. If you get easily triggerd by stories with anorexia or other eating disorders like this, like I sometimes do, then please stop reading. I don't want to be the cause of you missing your next meal. But if you're fine with it then go ahead. I mean, I don't plan on making this like one of those uber-depressing anorexia stories, just so you know. I still like fun. :)

Anyway, on that depressing note, please comment :) I really appreciate the feedback I've been getting.

P.S. I fixed a bit of info about the slurping, sorry that was such a big deal. :)

P.P.S. Sorry this is a bit early, I'm going to see The Hunger Games in a bit and I figured I wouldn't really be in a writing mood afterwards. Or if I was, I'd make this story really bloody and gory. :)