Seeing his older brother again in such a long time made him feel, lighter. Myungsoo had always held a grudge against Jaejoong for leaving family responsibilities up to him. Jaejoong was always supposed to be the good looking son that graduated college and went on to pursue working in a business up until he was CEO. However, the said male at that time, wanted to venture out. Instead of getting a normal job like the rest of the people his age, he decided to apply for a job at an adult night club. Because of his good looks and young age they hired him immediately and made him bar attendant. From then, his grades in school began to drop steadily, until he just decided to drop out, leaving Myungsoo to follow in footsteps that were shameful and dishonorable to the Kim family name.

Of course, once he met Nana in the club and found out her dream to leave such a place and open a business of her own, he pounced on it.

He used his knowledge he gained from the classes he did take and put it to use. Now he was second in command at one of the most sought after businesses in the country.

How could Myungsoo stay angry at someone who turned their sad life around like that? Isn’t that what their parents wanted?

He stared at the side profile of Jaejoong as he drove him back to Agit Night so he could settle in. He would only be visiting for a week before he had to leave again.

Hopefully the week will prove to be eventful.

~~~~~~~

Xiumin studied his literature book with mild interest. They were looking over an old tale that was studied in primary school, "The Lady or the Tiger". He didn’t know why the professor made them reread it, but he didn’t complain. The story had been one of his greatest mysteries in literature - which did the accused man chose?

Truly it was fascinating that the man allowed the woman he was in love with and whom was in love with him to choose the door for him. She could have reasoned, "if I can’t have him, no one can" and therefore chose the hidden tiger door. But if she was selfless and wanted her lover to live, she could have chosen the woman for him to marry and instantly gave up her rights to him.

All in all, Xiumin reasoned, with a semi barbaric father as a parent, who is to say that those ill-effects of his personality did not seep into the thinking of his daughter as well, causing her to favor her lover dying by the teeth of a tiger, rather than him being instantly married to another woman?

Xiumin did indeed enjoy the literary device of Allegory, especially when he thought deeper about the real life he was living. What did his situation represent or symbolize? Better yet, what ideas or concepts did his roommates symbolize?

They all seemed to have some forms of barbaric upbringing as well, did they not?

If "The Lady or the Tiger" made no sense to reread, it did make enough sense to ponder over.

Her decisions in life were automatically questioned by readers because of who raised her. Of course, if she was a normal selfless girl, everyone would assume the lady came out the door. However, because everyone knows that she was not normal nor selfless, but rather primitive, unsophisticated and yet highly mixed in the ways of civilization, one can only assume she was unstable mentally - Unable to make a decision that leads to one way or the other.

Xiumin's head shot up from his deep meditation on the subject. Did his roommates fit this description as well? It seemed to explain certain things his wiser eyes picked up on.

Sure he was a poor, broke, and overly stressed college student, but his upbringing was rather stable. He lost his parents so young, there never seemed a time where his grandmother was not his actual mother.

But the others…Yixing's father left his mother with five children to raise on her own, Luhan suffered from the lack of love and constant hateful words from his parents, Kris own mother died while the boy sold his life to save her, Tao was beaten constantly by his mother and verbally abused by his father, and Jongdae…?

There was no way Jongdae was just naturally like the way he was - no way possible.

Though he knew less about the boy than the others, he saw enough to know he was definitely hiding something.

Xiumin took a deep breath and rubbed his face. There was no way he was pondering the fact that if his life was in danger and it was up to one of his roommates to decide if he lived or not, he would not be sure to trust any of them, because they all fit the category of ‘unstable’.

There wasn't any way he would put himself in such a situation anyway. To him, everyone was selfish, even the selfless. And in this room, that thought was more accurately applied.

He groaned and allowed his head to hit the kitchen counter he was sitting at. His stomach growled as well, causing him to look for the clock. It was evening, closer to the time of his appointment for tonight.

There was a tightening in his chest when he thought about that. He was told earlier that his client made reservations in the restaurant on the fourth floor already and just needed him to meet her at 6:00 p.m. sharp.

He decided a quick snack would tie him over until tonight.

~~~~~~

Tao slid out of the stylist chair as he stared in the mirror at his slightly different haircut. It was still black, but it was shaved lower on the sides.

It made him look edgy.

He smiled but quickly stopped; instead opting for a smirk he’d seen fit Jongdae’s mouth so well.

The look was different - it left a chilling affect on him as he watched how perfect it seemed to fit his villainous face. He heard the ladies behind him began to whisper while staring at him. The smirk nearly faulted once he realized he was being watched, but he caught it as he turned around to thank the lady for the haircut, commenting on her skilled hands in a suggestive way before leaving the salon.

He walked to the elevator taking a ride back up to his floor. Yixing had gone to visit his mother again, and again, Tao turned down his invitation to go along. Its not that he didn’t want to meet his mother, it’s just…he knew how Yixing was.

The young man was so caring and heartfelt that Tao was sure he would see something he rather not see so soon - a loving relationship between a son and a mother.

Something he would never and could never have.

The knowledge of why Yixing bakes every morning and the thought of the woman’s happy face when she receives his delicious food was enough for Tao at the moment.

Actually seeing it in person? He preferred not.

He slid his key card across the door and opened it, not expecting anyone to be home. They all had appointments that night so he expected them to be out getting ready. His appointment was scheduled at 8:00 in the evening and another at 11:30 p.m.

Tao didn’t know what to think about two appointments being so close in the evening, especially since, depending on the client, what would actually take place with both. But that was another thing that was learned from experience. If you wanted good tips at the end of a session, you had to be fast and satisfying at the same time. Spending two hours with the first client would be more than enough and it would allow him time to gather himself before hea