The cameras focused on Izzy, who hummed as she sashayed around the kitchen, waiting for a kettle of hot water to boil on the stove. The Super Junior members would be home sometime soon, and she wanted to give them a little treat to boost their spirits. Lately, with the consecutive rounds of SFS and Spy promotions, the men had seemed tired upon return to the house. This hot chocolate ought to cheer them all up, especially Donghae. Izzy had praised herself for coming up with such a nice gesture.

                The cups were all set and ready for brewing, each one having the same amount of chocolate powder mix. When the young woman steady stream of smoke coming from the kettle’s spout and heard the high-pitched whistle, she delicately picked up the teapot of scalding water and proceeded to pour into the cups, all while trying to keep from getting burnt.

                “Yow!” She hissed as she placed the pot not-so-gently back on the burner. Her hand had accidentally grazed the side of the scorching steel chamber; the affected elliptical area swelled and turned a faint red. Her eyes watered, and Izzy turned away from the cameras for a second, fighting to maintain her composure. Then, quickly turning back to face the lenses head on, she smiled brightly and cracked a joke. “I did that on purpose. I’m secretly a masochist.” The camera crew gave her sympathetic looks and asked the reality show star if she was alright, but she denied help, stating she was fine and just needed to go to the bathroom for a quick treatment.

                Izzy used water to cool her skin, and then turned to the first-aid kit to sufficiently treat the burn. She exited the bathroom just as her television-scripted brothers entered through the front door, softly murmuring and trudging their feet like a tired flock of sheep. A genuine smile lit up her face, and she called out to them. “Welcome home, guys!”

                A few weary replies came from the group. Izzy watched as each man flopped onto the nearest piece of furniture in the living room, too tired to do anything else. The last in the line was Donghae. His eyes closed, he walked up to her, then dropped his forehead onto the woman’s shoulder, resting his heavy skull there.

                “Yah, Donghae,” Izzy tried to act annoyed, but formed a natural smile. She couldn’t help it, she reasoned. The 26-year-old’s soft hair was tickling her neck. “I know that I make a wonderful pillow, but I think you’d be a little more comfortable on a real one.”

                “Mmph,” he mumbled back, refusing to move.

                The young woman giggled, and gently nudged him off. “How about this,” she proposed. “Go take a shower to wash all your sweat off and then maybe I’ll let you lay on me.” Her words came out in a seamless flow, but as soon as she said them she realized the innuendo she just made on air. “Lay your head on me,” she quickly corrected, and then tried to move on. “All of you should go take showers, and come back here. I have a little treat ready for you guys.”

                At her words, no one objected, and they all wearily went about their nightly rituals. As soon as all the men were back in the living room, changed and clean, Izzy brought out trays carrying the still warm hot chocolate, and passed them out amidst grateful cheers.

                “Ah, look at our lovely sister taking care of her siblings,” Eunhyuk told the camera as he gave a thumbs up.

                She was handing out the last cup to Donghae when he roughly grabbed her wrist, almost spilling the mug’s contents. “Hey, be careful!” Izzy warned. The male idol eyed her hand, which was bandaged to protect the wound. Donghae didn’t say anything, but just by meeting his eyes Izzy understood that he was worried. “It’s nothing, just a small burn,” she hissed, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear.

                Unfortunately, the others did hear. “You burned yourself making the hot chocolate?!” Sungmin exclaimed, suddenly glaring at his half-empty cup. The others gave similar reactions.

                Kangin, whose hands had almost completely healed, sympathetically patted Izzy on the shoulder. “I hope it wasn’t too bad.” Izzy smiled up at him and shook her head. “Well, either way, you shouldn’t be carrying anything, and let yourself relax. Donghae! As best brother, you should clean the dishes for Izzy,” he ordered.

                Donghae stood obediently. “But can’t we finish our drinks first?” He held up his cup, replete with milky hot chocolate.

                “I’m finished!” “Me too!” “I think everyone here is,” chimed the remaining members. They all seemed to be in favor of bullying the singled out ‘best brother’. Grumbling, he gave his mug to Izzy and went around collecting the empty cups on a tray, bringing them to the kitchen.

                Izzy was now sunk into the cushions of the couch, surrounded on all sides by her sweet, doting brothers. “Aish, seriously, you guys don’t need to overreact. It’s just a little burn.” They all protested, saying they needed to protect the girl of the ‘family’. “You know,” she pondered. “Sometimes I think you work too hard,”” she pouted. “You need to spend more time resting at home.”

                The room fell silent and all eyes stared at the young woman. Even Donghae noticed the quiet from the kitchen and popped his head back in to see what had caused the change in atmosphere. Izzy was almost never serious, and that pout on her face gave her an unfamiliar, although quite cute, look.

                Eunhyuk couldn’t take the serious moment and threw a joke into the quiet atmosphere. “Ha! I bet you’re just bored sitting in this house all day by yourself,” he commented. This elicited giggles from tehr oom. Donghae joined his best friend in teasing their favorite (only) little sister.

                “Does this girl miss spending time with her dear oppas? Oh, oh, oh O-ppareul saranghae,” he sang as Eunhyuk danced.

                Izzy saw this opportunity to poke a jibe at Donghae. “Oh, I didn’t know you guys were practicing to be secret SoNyuhShiDae members!” She remembered his line from the time he caught her doing the same dance and threw it back at him, including a wink for good measure.

                Donghae seemed stunned, but then a shy grin crept across this face before Kangin shooed him back into the kitchen to finish the dishes.

                The other men began to joke with the woman, telling her of the highlights of their performance that night. Izzy kept lamenting how she wasn’t able to be there to cheer her favorite idols on.

                “Why don’t you come with us tomorrow night then?” Ryeowook suggested lightly, smiling widely at the female. A few other members shouted out chimes of support.

                “Oh, I don’t know,” Izzy was hesitant. “Is that okay?”

                “Of course! It’s fine,” Leeteuk assured her. “Look,” he pointed. “Even the PD is giving a thumbs up!”

                At this Izzy chuckled, as did a few of the cameramen. “I bet the PD just ran out of ideas for the show.” More laughter ensued.

                “Ratings, ratings, ratings!” Sungmin sang, inciting more chuckles, some a bit nervous.

                “Okay, I’ll go with you guys tomorrow,” Izzy smiled at all the faces around her, feeling lucky to have such great friends. Everyone in the vicinity cheered. They spent the rest of the night joking and laughing, not unlike they did one night a couple episodes ago. However, after the performance they had put on earlier that night, the boys were pooped out and eventually all fell asleep one by one, right there in the living room- some on the couches, some on the floor, and one even under the table!

                Izzy watched as each idol struggled to keep their eyes open and smiled when they individually failed. Even Leeteuk, notorious for sleeping the latest and waking earliest, couldn’t stay awake. “It’s good they’re getting sleep,” she whispered to the camera. “They need some, and have definitely worked hard to deserve it.” Then she shooed away the camera crew, insisting that now would be a good time to stop filming.

                Once the filming crew was out of the house, Izzy went to the linen closet and dragged out swathes of blankets, carefully draping them over the slew of men. She counted as she stepped through the maze of sleeping idols, listing each name in her head. Leeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Eunhyuk, Henry, Sungmin, Zhou Mi, Ryeowook, Shindong, Siwon. But where are Donghae and Kyuhyun?

                Her eyes quickly found the youngest member on the corner of the couch, head drooped downwards and face peaceful. He does look kind of cute, she thought, walking over with a sheet.

                As gently as she could so that she wouldn’t wake him, Izzy tucked the blanket around his body, fixing the cushions around him. Gazing at Kyuhyun’s non-evil sleeping maknae face, Izzy couldn’t help herself, and petted his hair lightly. When he wasn’t giving out his usual mischievous look, she had to admit that he was quite handsome. Izzy suddenly felt like a proud big sister, and had wanted to do something to show for it.  

                “I thought you were supposed to be our sister, not our lover,” a quiet voice chided from behind. Izzy quickly withdrew her hand from the maknae’s head and whipped around, seeing Donghae leaning against the wall casually inspecting his nails.

                “I thought you were supposed to be getting some rest, not creepily watching me,” she smiled, clearing an available spot on the couch before sinking down into the seat. Without waiting for an invitation, Donghae strode over and squeezed in next to her, causing for close quarters between the two. It was a bit squishy, but Izzy didn’t feel like complaining. His body gave hers a bit of warmth in the cold house.

                “Well, I am tired,” the idol yawned, leaning his head down onto his television sister’s . “And you do make the perfect pillow. Maybe I’ll just sleep here,” he mumbled slowly, snuggling her shoulder.

                Izzy softly chuckled. “I guess we know who wears the pants in this relationship,” she sarcastically commented, and grinned when Donghae only incoherently mumble in response, too sleepy to give a verbal retort.

                She then steadied her breathing, trying to make her shoulder as comfortable for him as possible. Not because she wanted him there, she assured herself, but because he needed to have his sleep. He had worked hard that day.

                Eventually, her moments of stillness paid off, and she heard Donghae’s quiet snores. I’ll be sure to remember to about it tomorrow morning, she inwardly giggled. Then her eyes flickered over to the features that had teased and laughed at her so many times. Her face was only a few inches away from his, and she was able to get a closer look at Donghae’s features. She was awestruck at how good-looking he was, even up close- her gaze kept wandering from his neck, up his jawline, over his nose, and at the cheekbones that rested below his eyes.

                She suddenly realized how easy it would be to just lean over a little bit and touch his face with her lips. Once the thought had entered her mind, her curiosity got the best of her and bit by bit, she inched her face closer to his. When she became close enough to feel the breath come out of his nose, Izzy almost backed away, but pressed onwards, finally landing a light, gentle peck on his cheek.

                Pulling away as fast as possible and ignoring the heat seeping to her face, Izzy cleared and surveyed the rest of the room, praying no one noticed her moment of tenderness. When it became clear that everyone was still sleeping, the young woman allowed a slight smile to appear on her face. Feeling tired herself, she slowly got up from the chair, leaving Donghae to lie more comfortably on the now-roomy couch.

                “Good night,” she whispered to no one as she walked away from the slumber party, and gave one last look at the men. Before shutting off the lights and going to her room to sleep, she swore she saw Donghae’s lips curved up in a wide grin.