That Night

The boys came back around 10:30 pm that night, extremely weary from their hectic schedule. When they walked in something about their apartment looked different.

“Something's not right...” Kikwang said, tilting his head to the side.

“Did something change...?” Dongwoon said looking around.

“Something smells flowery” Yoseob added, sniffing the air.

“Ah! The apartment is clean!” Hyunseung chimed.

“What?” The rest of them said together.

They started looking around everywhere; their rooms, which had cleaned inside out, without a single spec of dust; the washrooms, everything had been scrubbed clean, including the shower head and the walls; the kitchen, not only was it clean, there was also groceries and prepared side dishes in the fridge, which was something new for them. The dining didn't have any clothes strewn about for once and was also extremely clean, with dinner already prepared and served on the table. The living room was also sparkling clean, with their clean laundry folded neatly on the couch and the table. Beside the multiple piles of clothes, Nayoung was sleeping balled up like a little kitten. Her glasses were almost coming off her face, and the hood of her hoody was being used as a pillow. Her was still in a bun, but it became looser now then it was before, making it seem like a very uncomfortable position to sleep in.

The boys walked up to her, amazed at how such a small and weak looking person can do all this in less than a day.

“Noona is amazing!” Hyunseung said under his breath.

“You got that right!” Junhyung replied.

“Omma looks like a baby!” Kikwang happily said.

“Should we wake up omma?” Dongwoon asked.

“So we could die? No thank you!” Doojoon said.

“But we can't leave her here like this!” Kikwang said, concerned.

“Then you carry her to her room” Yoseob said, patting on his back.

At that point, Nayoung starts stirring and all of them just freeze in their spot. She sits up, rubbing her eyes and notices the boys. “You guys are back? Why didn't you wake me up rather than making all that noise?” She said in a sleepy voice.

“We didn't want to bother you.” Doojoon said sweetly.

“Well you did end up bothering me.” She said fixing her glasses before looking up at them. “Did you guys eat yet?”

They all shook their head. “What are you waiting for then? The food's on the table.” She said getting up. “Let's eat, I haven't eaten all day!”

They all head to the table, taking their usual seats. Nayoung brings over an extra chair and sits between Doojoon and Yoseob.

“Noona! This food is really good!” Hyunseung said excitedly.

“Omma, how did your cooking get better so fast?” Kikwang teased.

“Oi! My cooking wasn't that bad!” Nayoung retorted.

“But weirdo, you didn't cook this did you?” Yoseob commented while stuffing his face.

She looked at him slightly pissed, but let the nickname slide, “I had a little help from the ahjumma upstairs.”

“The witch ahjumma?” Dongwoon looked up, scared.

“Noona...” Hyunseung tried to say something.

“Come on, don't be so mean.” She said while taking a mouthful of rice. “Just because she has 5 cats doesn't make her a witch.”

“But noona...” Hyunseung tried again.

“But noona, she yells at us everyday!” Junhyung complained.

“That's cause you guys tip over her garbage bin!” Nayoung replied.

“But noona, noona, noona!” Hyunseung called out impatiently.

“WHAT? I heard you the first time!” Nayoung angrily yelled.

“But noona, she's evil. None of the other neighbours like her.” Hyunseung finally said.

“Well, she just likes to keep to herself. She lost her grandson and his family a while back, so she's really sad.” Nayoung explained. “She was really nice to me when I bumped into her in the elevator today. She said she'll teach me how to cook more things!” She happily added.

“You are seriously something!” Doojoon said, “You melted the heart of the evil witch!”

Everyone clapped at that while Nayoung faked a dramatic bow at her achievement. “Oh before I forget, it took a long time to clean this apartment. And if any of you, mess it up again,” Her voice suddenly turned cold and chilling, “ALL of you will be punished.”

They looked at her scared, nodding slowly to show that they understand. After that, the dinner became blissful and loud, all of them enjoying their time together with a new friend. They all went to bed right after dinner, while Yoseob stayed behind to help her clean up.

“Yoseob-ah, go sleep. I'll clean up.” Nayoung said picking up dishes.

“Leave it weirdo, you already worked a lot today.” Yoseob said as he took the dishes from her and started washing them.

“Oi, can't you stop calling me weirdo? It sounds so weird.” She said as she sat on the counter beside the sink.

“What else do you call a weirdo then?” He remarked with a smirk.

“Tch, whatever.” She said while dangling her legs.

“Yah, hold my bangs back a bit, I can't see properly” He said trying to shake his bangs out of his eyes.

“Hold up,” She took out a pin from her hair and clipped his bangs back with that.

“Eww, did you wash your hair? I don't want any weirdo crud in hair!” Yoseob teased.

“FYI, I washed it this morning” She said defiantly.

“Ok” He said mockingly, “There, done!”

“You worked hard today!” Nayoung happily said, getting off the counter.

“You too” He said, pulling her nose once again.

“Yah stop that!”

“Or what?” He stuck out his tongue.

Nayoung tried to hit him, but he ran away before she could, leaving a smile on both their faces.