The Rules
Lights, Camera, (K)drama
Eunhae’s POV
What is Lee Taemin doing here? I thought I had squashed him like a bug. My jaw dropped so low that I didn’t think it was possible to pull it back up.
“Y-Yah! What are you doing here?!” I shakily glared at him. He smirked.
“I’m here to live in the apartment, too, babo,” he smirked, holding up the other key.
“Well hurry up! I’m starving here!” I snapped, moving out of the way. Taemin and I unlocked the door together, and I ran inside, eager to see what the new apartment looked like.
It was just like I expected it to be while walking to this building. The floor was a light brown, and the walls were white.
Grrrrrrrrrroooooowwwr.
“Did you have dinner yet?” Taemin asked. I shook my head fervently, going to the kitchen while Taemin headed for the dining room.
What should I make? I looked at my watch, and saw that it was 8 o’clock. There was no way I was going to eat something heavy, then. It would bloat my face. I guess it’s granola bars for tonight.
I finally located the kitchen and entered the room. It was pretty cool, actually, unlike the rest of the house. The countertops were a blue gray granite, and everything sparkled, especially the pots and pans.
BEEEEEP!! BEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEP!!
….Is that the fire alarm?
Taemin’s POV:
That Eun-hae girl walked around towards the kitchen while I went over another e-mail that had been sent to me by the director.
I grinned at the contents and sneaked a glance at the oblivious Eun-hae. Haha it’s great to be me. The other rooms were okay and I quickly stepped away from what was labeled as Eun-hae’s room. It looked kind of pitiful... Along the way, I noticed that the couch had my name on it, as did the table, chairs, tvs, and the shower...there was going to be a problem...
I opened the door that had my name on it and felt my jaw drop. It was a huge room that you wouldn’t expect in this type of apartment. There was a huge white bed with a warm comforter, a nice desk and a spinny chair (you gotta have those), a bookcase filled with comic books, a sound system, couches, a movie screen, and a huge assortment of game consoles and games.
I opened the closet door and smiled. Key hyung would be impressed with the assortment in here. The only thing on the desk was a copy of that book (that I still need to read)... And best of all...There was a refrigerator that was already filled with at least 50 bottles of banana milk.
I just took a straw out and stuck it in the top when I heard some alarm go off. And it wouldn’t go away. I took a pair of headphones off the couch to cover my ears with and ran to the kitchen.
That girl was standing in the middle of the kitchen without a care in the world. I yelled at the top of my lungs, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
She turned around yelled back. “I DON’T KNOW! IT JUST STARTED GOING OFF!”
Eunhae’s POV
“DID YOU EVEN TRY TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU STARTED WALKING AROUND LIKE YOU OWNED THE PLACE?!” Taemin yelled at me. He had these enormous awesome headphones on, which must’ve come from his room.
What instructions? OH SHOOT!!
My face must’ve reflected my panic because Taemin just sighed and pulled me out of the kitchen. Then he looked around for something on the wall. He looked like a blind idiot, feeling around on the wall like he was looking for something. When his hand had touched a certain square tile, the alarm stopped.
“How did you do that?” I stared at him in awe.
“I read the instructions,” Taemin shrugged, taking off his headphones, “you might want read them.”
I ran to the dining room table, and located a letter on the table. Ripping it out of it’s envelope, I saw a list of rules.
RULES
1. You may only touch things that have your name on it.
2. You may only ENTER rooms that have your name on the door or on the doorway.
3. If you touch something that is not yours, then an alarm will ring, indicating the SM company of what you’ve done and the alarm will also alert the police. This only way to turn it off is to have the person whose belongings you’ve touched to go turn it off.
For Taemin: Your button is one of the tiles on the left wall in the kitchen.
For Eunhae: Your button is one of the window panes in your room.
4. You may not bring anything that isn’t labeled in this apartment. There are DNA sensors and label sensors all over the house, so DON’T EVEN TRY TO SNEAK ANYTHING IN.
5. Each of you has a weekly allowance. Everytime you touch something that isn’t yours, a dollar is deducted from it.
Eunhae’s allowance: 20000 won
Taemin’s allowance: 1000000 won
EXCEPTIONS
1. The only time the alarm will not ring is when the two of you are using the object at the same time. NOTICE: Only objects, not rooms.
2. You can bring things in that you’ve bought with your allowance money.
How come my allowance is so small?! And why is Taemin’s so big?!
“Did you read it, yet?” Taemin asked as he entered the dining room, sipping on some banana milk.
“Yes...and how come you get all the good stuff?!” I shook in anger. Taemin shrugged.
“Don’t you remember the email? We’re trying to get into our characters. And remember, you’re the poor nerdy girl,” Taemin smirked.
Grrrrooooowr
“What was that?” Taemin looked at me weirdly.
“I’m hungry, that’s what it is,” I cringed in embarrassment.
“Sorry, but you can’t enter the kitchen. Only I can,” Taemin cackled, leaving the room. I lunged for his arm.
“Then can you PLEASE make me something to eat? I haven’t had dinner yet!” I put on my most pitiful face. Goodbye dignity.
Taemin’s POV
I looked down at the girl on her knees and smirked. Wow this girl was kind of pathetic. But I really didn’t want to hear those alarms again. Besides, maybe helping her would turn out to be a good thing. Maybe she’ll turn into one of those fairies and get rid of all my problems. Then I remembered how mean she was...nope let’s just be nice for the sake of being nice.
“Arasso. I guess we can eat some ramen.”
“MWOH!!! No ramen is terrible for your face! You’ll get all bloated!” She looked like she was about to cry.
I leaned in close, a few centimeters from her eyes and noticed with some satisfaction that she looked surprised, scared, and happy? Nope that was not part of the plan. “It’s either that or you starve.” I quickly moved away before she pounced on me or something and retreated into the kitchen, my safe place for now.
Sighing, I looked around. It was nice, as kitchens go, but I had no idea what to do. I bet none of you have ever made ramen before either. It was always cooks for me and Key hyung would whip up the occasional dessert. I distinctly remember Onew hyung trying to make something, but it exploded because he mixed in some chemicals by accident.
Ok, focus Lee Taemin. The first thing you would need is a pot and that ramen stuff. I found them in a cabinet and set them on the counter. Ok, this was a start. The instructions said to set the pot boiling before dropping the ramen in there, then adding the soup, and then eating it. That was easy.
I reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a clear bottle. I was just about to pour it in when that girl set off the alarms again. I raced to touch the tile and her.
“YAH! You have to stay out of the kitchen! We’re going to get kicked out at this rate.”
She just raised an eyebrow and pointed at the pot. “I’m sorry, I just don’t exactly want to get drunk while eating ramen.”
“Huh?”
“You were about to pour soju into the bowl. Do you know how bad it is to drink at our age?”
I checked the label and sure enough it was a very strong brand of soju. “Fine Miss Perfect, am I supposed to use water instead?”
She snorted. “Duh, have you never made ramen before?”
I coughed before pouring in a bottle of water into the pot. “Have you?”
“Of course I have. I had to when my parents were on business trips and left me alone.”
I frowned. “Why would they leave you alone? I mean my foster parents ditched all the time, but I still had my hyungs.”
She shrugged. “They thought I was old enough because I had already gotten a bunch of cf deals and had my own agent.” She paused and gave a real smile this time. “Oh foster parents. That makes so much more sense. Thank goodness they aren’t your real parents.”
I stirred the pot and looked over. “Of course they’re my foster parents. Haven’t you heard the story?”
Eun-hae shook her head while drinking a bottle of water. “I don’t really keep up with news and things.”
“Oh...well they were just friends with my real parents for some reason and all of my hyungs’ parents also died in the same accident so we all got adopted by ‘these angels’ and here I am.”
“I’m sorry about your parents.”
I shrugged as I served her the bowl. “It happened a long time ago. Eat up.” I pushed back my feelings and swept them back under the neutral feeling I seemed to always have now.
She cautiously takes a bite and nods. “It’s passable.” Then she ate the entire thing in about two bites. “You need less flavoring though.”
I just stared at her. “Um okay.”
She grinned. “Hey, since you’re the only one allowed in the kitchen, I guess you have to do the dishes and cook me breakfast every day.”
I patted her head. “There’s always the bathroom sink.”
Eun-hae’s POV
“You can’t cook with a sink! And it’s kind of obvious you need me to even tell you how to make your own breakfast,” I sighed, eyeing that bottle of soju on the kitchen counter. We’re both underage, so why is there alcohol in here? I shook my head, whoever set this place up had a screwed up mind.
“Whatever. Stop talking and eat your ramen. I still need to do the dishes,” Taemin got up, looked at the label of the alcohol bottle, and took a sip. Was I living with an underage drunk?
“Y-Yah! Do you even know the laws?! Only people +18 can drink alcohol! I’ll report you!” I accused him.
“Whoops. Don’t worry. This is my first taste of alcohol,” Taemin rolled his eyes, sitting back down at the table. Why do I somehow doubt that?
I gobbled up the rest of my bloated and over seasoned ramen, and passed the bowl to Taemin.
“Done,” I grinned, passing Taemin the bowl. I could get used to this. Taemin could be like my personal cook and maid, except for the fact that he couldn’t cook.
“Why are you smiling? There’s nothing to be proud of! You just ate a bowl of ramen,” Taemin sighed as he went back into the kitchen.
“Do you need me to tell you how to do the dishes too?” I called from my seat.
“......”
“Okay, then. I’m going to wash up and go to sleep then,” I got up.
“Wait. Could you help me out here?” Taemin sighed from inside the dishes. What? Washing the dishes wasn’t that hard!
“Did you find the soap yet?” I snorted, trying to not let my disbelief show.
“Uh...there are like, a million bottles here.”
“I can’t really see from here. Can you bring them over?”
Taemin took an armful of bottles and dropped them right in front of me. All of the had Taemin’s name on it, and they were for all sorts of things. Wow...even if I so much as touched one of these puny bottles, the alarm will ring.
“That one,” I pointed to a pink bottle right at the edge. Taemin picked it up and looked at the inscription.
“You sure it isn’t this one?” Taemin held up a longer and taller bottle.
“That’s for cleaning toilets, you idiot.”
“Oh,” Taemin blushed, putting the bottle down. It would’ve been cute, except that the dude was a wannabe actor and making my life hell.
“By the way, I think instructions are on the back, so you won’t need my help. Just remember that after you finish washing the bowl, dry it with a towel and stick back where it belongs.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yup, I’m going to go to sleep, now,” I notified him as I walked away.
“Eunhae? Don’t expect anything too fancy for your room. Good night,” Taemin ran his hand through his hair, all tired out. I noticed he had somehow slipped on a cute bunny apron.
What did he mean, “nothing fancy for my room”?
I hurried to my room, eager to see it for the first time, but what Taemin told me made a pit in my stomach. I found a room next to Taemin’s bedroom that had my name on it. Flinging the door open, I was scared of what I was going to see.
And I was rightfully so. My room was all empty. There wasn’t even a bed! All I had was a hair dresser, a mirror, a desk full of books (one of them was the book for the play, and the others were books I would’ve never touched, even with a ten foot pole.... educational books), and a lamp. There was a bamboo mat on the floor, with a travelling pillow. Even the floor of my room was different. It was stone.
Holy crap. What is this?! I saw that there were two other rooms connected to my own, and I checked out the both of them. Maybe there was more in here?
One room was actually my closet. I was excited to see what clothes I had. I had hoped that the person in charge of all this had a good sense of fashion. Now, I knew I shouldn’t expect anything but the worse for me. Inside was a pair of sweatpants, ripped up jeans, and athletic long shorts. There was also a sweatshirt to finish of the horrendous track outfit, an overly long t-shirt, and my school outfit. In a box, there was also a few bras and underwear. In another box was some things for a girl’s needs.
Oh dear.
I moved on to the other room....Is this my bathroom?
Like my bedroom, there was almost nothing. I didn’t even have a shower. All I had was a toilet, a sink, a toothbrush and the toothpaste, a towel, and some soap.
Just my luck. Leaving my room, I glanced over in Taemin’s room. He had already finished doing the dishes and was napping on his bed. His room was HUGE. Not to mention that it also HAD a bed, a TV, and all this extra fancy stuff.
“Great, just great,” I muttered. I’m guessing he also has a shower too. I headed back into my bathroom and the sink, hoping that the water didn’t come out all poisoned and black. Luckily, it didn’t. In fact, it was crystal clear. I guess I’ll just be drinking water from the sink from this day forward.
I first went through the slow process of cleaning off my makeup. Since they hadn’t left me any makeup remover, I had to meticulously scrub away every single speck of it. When I was done, my face was all pink and shiny.
Then I somehow got myself cleaned, using the towel. I pulled on the sweatshirt and sweatpants, which were actually pretty comfortable, and headed back into my room. Looking down at my bamboo mat, I came up with another idea. Could I sleep on the couch instead? I took my bamboo mattress and travelling pillow and headed off for the living room. Even if I couldn’t sleep on the couch (which I couldn’t), I could still sleep on the wooden floor. which beat the stone cold floor any day.
I spreaded my mat on the floor and tried to get comfortable. Dang it, this room is freezing! Too bad I can’t turn off the A/C because it probably has Taemin’s name on it too...
Even before I fell asleep, I knew I would wake up with aches and pains all over my back like an ahjumma.
Welcome to a poverish person’s life, Eunhae.
Taemin’s POV
I was dancing with the hyungs when we were all younger when a teacher approached us.
“Boys? We have some bad news.”
The nightmare repeated all the way up til the very first full day in the house with those people. It all went downhill from there.
I jerked awake and realized with a start that I wasn’t in my own bedroom. It was the new and almost as fancy place. I sighed before padding over to the kitchen for a bottle of water...the refrigerator only had banana milk and no one drinks banana milk in the middle of the night.
Something was in the living room so I went to go check. Eun-hae was lying down in an old sweatshirt and sweatpants. The air-conditioning was still running strong and I realized there were a couple things wrong with the set-up.
First of all...she was on the floor of the living room. Maybe she didn’t like her room? And the couch had my name on it. Of course. Then the clothing, I guess she didn’t have a massive closet like I did. And the air-conditioning probably had my name on it too.
I turned the cold air off and brought a blanket over. Then I noticed that it had my name on it as well. I was going to wake up the whole neighborhood if it went over her and we were going to get kicked out.
After an idea, a horrible idea, I took out my phone to re-read the e-mail.
1. The only time the alarm will not ring is when the two of you are using the object at the same time. NOTICE: Only objects, not rooms.
I sighed and glared daggers at the girl in front of me. “Be very glad that deep down I’m a nice person.” I whispered as I used a couch pillow and covered both of us with the blanket. Thankfully, no alarm sounded.
Looking up closer, she actually was really pretty, even prettier without that makeup since she looked so sweet. She seemed a lot more innocent without all that makeup and with her eyes closed, her face peaceful and ignorant to the world.
I brushed back a strand of hair that was covering her face and whispered, “Sweet dreams Eun-hae” before turning my back to her and falling asleep.
A/N- hoped you guys liked eunhae’s part...which is me...hehe ;P ...so guys, there are some major stereotype here for impoverished people....don’t slam on me for that.... TT.TT we’re always open to comments, subbies, and suggestions!!
We're going to have a lot of fun with our main characters..i don't know who to feel worse for...actually Taemin deserves more keke
-LOLxbox and chocolate-notes
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