Twelve of them

We walked down a hallway which opened up into a sitting area with a random assortment of couches.  There were three guys already seated.  They looked at me.

            I tried to bow, almost falling.  Chanyeol steadied me, “This is Suho hyung, Xiumin hyung, and Chen.”

            All three had brown hair and were looking me up and down.  One was very withdrawn and didn’t seem to approve of me being there.  The sitting on his left on the couch had a distinctively adorable face.  He looked at me with a curious gaze but when our eyes met he looked away.  The third was sitting on his own couch.  His angular face showed concern.  He seemed anxious but also stubborn.  Our eyes met and he held my gaze.  His lips stayed straight but it seemed like he was glad to see me.

            “So she’s up.”  Kris’s voice came from my right.  I turned to look at him.  He was tall and intimidating and he glared at me briefly before taking a seat. 

He was followed by another equally tall young man who glared at me with cat-like eyes.  He had sandy hair and did not seem to be glad to see me at all.  Luhan followed with another man who had brown hair.  He glanced at me and took a seat next to Chen.

“Is Baekhyun getting Kai?”  Asked one of the original three.

“Yes,” Lay responded.  He opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted.

“I’m back!”  Baekhyun hopped into the room, followed by a tall man who I assumed was Kai.  He gave me a dangerous glance and sat down with the others.  He, like the others, was extremely attractive.  His lips were fuller that the others but no less intimidating.

“Well,” Said Kris, leaning forward and looking towards Lay.  “We should introduce ourselves I guess.”

Chanyeol interrupted, “We’ll go oldest to youngest.  It’ll be easier for her to remember that way, I think.”

Kris nodded and turned towards the cute-faced one on the couch.

He nodded towards me.  “I am Xiumin, the eldest.  What do you go by?”

I bowed slowly and deeply.  Chanyeol stood ready to catch me in case gravity decided to grab me.  “My name is Susanna.  Thank you for your hospitality.”

Standing back up, I noticed that he seemed to be smiling at me curiously.  “Nice to meet you.”

Luhan suddenly piped up, “I’m Luhan, we’ve already met.  I’m the pretty one with red hair.”  He pointed to his head.  “At least for now.  Hopefully I’ll get to change next time.”

I thought some of their hair colors looked a little fake.  “Not if you play like last time, I was surprised.”  Said Chanyeol.  He looked down at me, realizing, that I had no idea what he was talking about.  “We compete to see who gets what hairstyle.  The winners get to choose and the losers get whatever is left over.”

“I think you wear it well, Luhan-shi,”  I bowed to him.  Some of the others chuckled.  Luhan smiled at me appreciatively.

“I’m Kris.”  Said the tall scary one.  His gaze made me feel transparent.  “I am one of the leaders.  I would say that I am the strict father who does not want you to be here.”

I bowed deeply again, hoping that my shaking would seem like I was unsteady and not scared out of my wits.  “That is not nice, Kris,” said Xiumin.

“It’s best that we are clear and straight-forward,” said the man sitting next to him.  “I am Suho, the other leader.  Since Kris claimed the father role, I guess I’m the-“

“Mama!”  shouted Luhan.   He jumped up and into Suho’s lap, who caught him instead of pushing him off.

“Really?  I’m a man!”

“Of course, sugar mama,” Said the sandy haired one sitting next to Kris.

Kris pointed to Lay, “You already met him.”

Lay took a step away from me so he could bow.  “Hello, I am Lay, your healing unicorn.”

I couldn’t help but giggle.  His normally serious eyes twinkled playfully.  “I am very grateful Lay.  I understand that I would not have survived with out you.”  I bowed.  “Thank you.”

Then Baekhyun spoke up, “I’m Baekhyun, your favorite.”

I laughed aloud as I bowed.  “Nice to meet you.”

Chanyeol nudged me as I straightened, “I thought I was your favorite.”

My laughter stopped as soon as Kris stood.  “This is Chen.”  He pointed to the one who had been looking at me with concern ever since I had walked into the room.  “The fool who saved your human life.”

I bowed.  “Thank you, Chen-shi.  I am sorry I got you in trouble.”

He looked at me with an emotion that I couldn’t decipher.  “It isn’t anything you need to apologize for, I am glad you are alright.”

“Next!” Snapped Kris as he fell back into his seat.

“Chanyeol!  The brains of the pack at your service!” Shouted Chanyeol next to me.   Leaving my side he bowed suddenly.

Losing my balance I fell to my knees.  I was so embarrassed.  Chanyeol was too, though, “Lay!  You were supposed to catch her!”

“Brains my ,” snorted Baekhyun as he walked over to help me stand.

“I guess we can’t kick her out yet,” stated Suho.

I apologized for my clumsy mistake and most of them said it was alright.  One of them rolled his eyes.  This one spoke next.  “I am called D.O.”

He didn’t say anything else, but looked at the sandy haired one sitting next to Kris.  I bowed to him anyways.  He certainly was being friendly- not.

“I’m the romantic kung-fu aegyo panda younger brother, Tao.”  He nodded his head toward me, though he still was looking at me disapprovingly with his intriguing, cat-like eyes.

“How’s she supposed to remember that?”  Chanyeol asked back.

I tried to recite it, “Nice to meet you, younger brother panda who does kung-fu?”  I scratched my head.  I totally messed it up, and he already didn’t seem to like me very much.

“It doesn’t matter.” Kris cut off.  “Romantic Kung-fu aegyo panda younger brother.  Really Tao, it is getting too long, pick like three of those next time.”

Tao nodded at the other and curled his lips into a smile.  He was really cute.  But also intimidating, like Kris.  Kris was in your face frightening while this Tao was seemed deceptive and dark.  I hoped that they wouldn’t pay me too much mind.

The one, who I guessed was Kai, with his full lips opening, turned to me to introduce himself.  “I am Kai.  The second youngest and the best dancer.”

This statement aroused some disagreement from the others and while they bickered I noticed him smirk.  However the joke was not enjoyed by anyone else.

Suho interrupted the squabbling.  “He’s good, one of the best among us, now let’s move on to Sehun.”

Sehun stood and bowed.  He had platinum blonde hair and a sour look on his face.  I guess he lost the hair game.  “I am the youngest Sehun.  Nice to meet you.”

I bowed in return.  He didn’t look at me but instead was watching Luhan out of the corner of his eye.  Luhan smiled at me.

“Well, you’ve met everybody.  Now when can she leave?”  Kris asked.  Obviously impatient and annoyed.

“She can’t walk straight, hyung!”  “You can’t kick her out now!”  “Kris hyung, really, she just woke up!”

Lay interrupted the protests of the friendly few.  “She should at least stay the night.  We’ll make another decision tomorrow morning.”

Suho nodded and Kris sighed.  “Alright.  Who’s gonna babysit this human?”  Luhan’s hand shot up, followed by Sehun.  Nobody else volunteered.

“Well, there should be four of us splitting the watching duties until tomorrow.  I’ll stay and, D.O, you still haven’t done your chore for the week.”  D.O nodded, resigned to his fate.  Suho seemed to have a quiet leadership role, in comparison to Kris’s barking of orders.  “The rest of you can go out and party if you like.  Kai, would you mind finishing the grocery shopping.  You can take my car if you need a vehicle to carry the groceries in.”

Kai stood and stretched.  “Thanks Suho hyung, I’m gonna take you up on that.”  He left.

Everyone else stood.  I suddenly felt very small.  I mean, standing next to Chanyeol made me aware of how short I was, but all these young men were making me feel puny and weak.

“We never go south anymore.  Let’s drive down that way tonight.”  Suggested Xiumin.  The others agreed.

“I’ll take three of you.”  Lay offered.  They began sorting out rides and Chanyeol shifted me into Luhan’s custody.

“Have fun,” He said, patting me on the head.

“You too,”  I said, feeling very small and very overwhelmed.