The PD of Roommate had recently announced that a new member will be joining the show to make use of the empty bed in Room No. 1 and hopefully to add a new layer of chemistry to the show (as he tried to put it tactfully).  Needlessly to say, the majority of the cast were initially outraged and dissatisfied, while the rest settled on indifference with regards to the PD’s decision.  Though, after a couple of days of digesting the news, most began to accept the decision.  They were professionals after all and as the common saying dictated, “the show must go on.” 

            It was an early Friday morning with the sun already rising high above the clouds, the first day of filming since the news was announced.

            “Since the new roommate is coming tomorrow, we should do something to make her feel welcome.” Seho was the first to break the silence with regards to the new roommate.

            “I agree.” Nana raised her hand up lazily.

            “I’m so happy that you’re agreeing with me.” Seho had a love-struck grin plastered on his face.

            Nana merely rolled her eyes at his comment.

            Dongwook nodded, in agreement with Seho for once in a long while since the latter lost their room to Kangjoon and Minwoo.  “But what should we do?  The only clue we have is that she is from Kara Project.  By the way, is that a new girl group?”

            “Ah really, this hyung…” Seho said, with an emphasized annoyance. “Why are you still keeping up the busy schedule façade?”

            “What?” Dongwook was taken aback. “What’s that got to do with this?”

            “Hyung, I’m saying you should have a lot of free time to find out about our new roommate now that Hotel King’s filming is over.” Seho responded condescendingly.

            “Yah!” Dongwook burst out. “I haven’t had a good night sleep since you lost our room.  I’m trying so hard to catch up on my sleep.  You think I would have spare time?”

            “Sorry Hyungnim!” Quickly recognizing his mistake, Seho got on his knees and held both of his hands up in a fist as self-punishment.

            Having a knack for timing, Dongwook followed up and commanded in a royal attitude, “Pay for the pizza, get me a cup of Iced Americano from about ten blocks down across the street, and order some more pizza.” Then he added, “Ah, don’t forget to bring back my suit fro—”

            Seho immediately got up on his feet and retorted, “Aren’t you being too much?”

            As if that was the cue, everybody else could no longer hold in their laughter at Dongwook and Seho’s brief bickering scene.  The spotlighted characters were only able to maintain a serious façade until Dongwook’s face cracked a smile.

            “Ah really, your face is too much.” Dongwook commented on Seho’s expression.

            Another round of laughter erupted.

            “Those hyungs are really funny, right?” Minwoo said to Gayeon who was sitting next to him.

            “Yeah.” Gayeon agreed.  Her laughter quickly faded when she turned to him and suddenly realized how close he was leaning towards her.  Her eyes involuntarily wandered to his lips.  They were only a few inches away.  She blushed at the close distance and quickly shifted her attention to Dongwook and Seho again.

            As the roommates’ laughter died out, Chanyeol caught a glimpse of Gayeon’s shy smile and her sneak glance at Minwoo.  ‘So she can make an expression like that too…’ He thought.

            “Maybe we can have a small welcome party.  We can split into groups and assign tasks to each group?” Soohyun suggested, gearing everybody back to discussing the big picture again.

            Everybody agreed unanimously with the Roommate treasurer’s suggestion.  Chanyeol, Nana, and Sora became a team by default due to having schedules this afternoon and thus, would be responsible for helping with decorations.  However, Seho forced his way into joining the group by volunteering to drive the three to their worksite despite Dongwook’s protest.

            Minwoo and Kangjoon enthusiastically joined Soohyun’s team to gather decorating as well as baking materials since the older girl took up interest in making desserts recently (despite of horrid results).  She could not hide her jackpot-like smile at the notion of finally having the flower brothers as her group mates again.

            Hiding her disappointment, Gayeon smiled and gave high fives to her group mates, Dongwook and Sungwoo.  With Sungwoo leading, they ended up with the task of shopping at the local market for food without much surprise.

            It was around four O’clock in the afternoon when Gayeon’s group got back to the house.  Each person’s hands were carrying at least two to three bags full of groceries.  The living room was quiet with only some sunlight overlaying on top of the furniture and piano.  It appeared that they were the first group back.

            Gayeon brought the bags to the kitchen counter.  Just then, she noticed a movement from the corner of her eye.  She jumped in surprised when she saw a girl appeared from the corner near the refrigerator.

            “Annyonghaseyo!” The stranger greeted.

            “Annyonghaseyo!” She immediately reposed and bowed in a ninety degree angle.  She realized the girl must be the new roommate.

            “Sorry, did I give you a scare?” The girl asked. “I was just changing the garbage bags.”

            “Oh no, I was just surprised.” Gayeon replied, slightly embarrassed at her own reaction.

            “By the way, my name is Ahn Sojin, a trainee under DSP Media.  Nice to meet you.” She smiled warmly and extended her hand.

            “Song Gayeon. Nice to meet you.” She shook Sojin’s hand.

            Sojin promptly gave her greeting again when Dongwook and Sungwoo walked into the kitchen.

            “We thought you were supposed to be here tomorrow.” Dongwook said, obviously confused after the round of greetings and introductions were done.

            “Yes, that was initially the case.  However, the schedule was changed at the last minute.” Then she added in a cheeky way that would make any older man melt in an instant. “Then I’ll be in your care from now on, Dongwook oppa and Sungwoo oppa!”

            The older men, despite being a bit shy, were clearly satisfied with the cuteness of their new roommate.

            “By the way, why are you in the kitchen?  Are you making all that yourself?” Sungwoo asked with curiosity when he saw the amount of food products spreading over the kitchen counters and in the sinks.

            “Yes,” She replied, her voice was particularly sweet and humble. “I thought of making dinner and getting to know all of you.”

            “You didn’t have to do all that.  Actually, we were going to prepare you a welcome party.”  Sungwoo mentioned.  Though, he was secretly happy that there was finally a girl who can cook in Roommate.

            “Hyung…” Dongwook eyed Sungwoo with ‘this-was-supposed-to-be-a-surprise’ look.

            “I will just put these in the fridge.” Sungwoo was flustered that he just blurted out about the surprise welcome party plan.

            “So I guess we’re the first ones you have met so far.” Dongwook attempted to make the new roommate feel comfortable right off the bat.

            “No, actually I have already met Seho oppa.” She responded. “He’s just taking a nap right now.”

            Upon hearing this, Dongwook walked up to their new room.  He shouted, “Yah, Jo Seho! How can you just leave our new roommate in the kitchen?”

           “Don’t worry, they’re always like that.” Gayeon assured Sojin when she saw the worried look on Sojin’s face.

            By dinner time, all the roommates with the absence of Chanyeol were already home and busy helping to set the table.  Despite the initial awkwardness that came with the introductions, everyone quickly warmed up to Sojin’s approachable personality.

            At first impression, Sojin gave a sweet and friendly vibe with her large mono-lid cat-like eyes, long luscious raven hair, and an inviting smile.  Not a sense of Nana’s cool exterior or Sora’s empress-like demeanor was detected in her.  She was definitely not from outer-space like Bom.  However she was not exactly the ‘girl-next-door’ type like Soohyun either.  She, in her own right, was extremely feminine and might have been given labels often such as ‘my friend’s daughter’ or ‘my friend’s girlfriend’.  Her femininity was even more emphasized when sitting next to Gayeon who was a stark contrast in almost every way a girl should be.

            Just as everybody was finishing up with dinner, the sound of door closing was heard.

            “I’m home—oh, annyonghaseyo!” Chanyeol greeted politely upon seeing a stranger at the dining table.

            “Annyonghaseyo!  I’m Ahn Sojin and I just moved in today.” Then she added with a hint of shyness, though appeared as a bold move from anyone’s perspective on the first day, “Chanyeol-sshi, because we’re both the same age, please feel free to drop the formalities with me.”

            For several seconds, Chanyeol could only chuckle with his hand covering his mouth at the suddenness of the situation.  Didn’t the PD say the new roommate would be here tomorrow?  After he adjusted to the situation, he confidently took up Sojin’s offer to drop the formalities, “Okay, same-age friend.”

            “Chanyeol-ah, did you eat yet?” Sungwoo asked in his usual motherly tone.

            “No, I just came back straight from work.” He answered.

            “Then you’re in luck, Sojin here is a very good cook.” Sungwoo was satisfied enough to even give Sojin a thumb up from across the far end of the table.

            “Let me heat it up for you.” Sojin offered.  She got up from her chair and walked up to the pot of seafood stew.  It seemed she was already feeling right at home.

            “Thanks.” Chanyeol went up to help her carry some of the plates over to the table anyways.

            After dinner was finished, being the youngest, Gayeon volunteered to wash the dishes.  As usual, Minwoo offered to help the young fighter, although the latter wished he didn’t.

            “So many dishes today.” Minwoo exhaled heavily at the sheer amount of dish work.

            “Sojin eonni’s dishes must be delicious.” Gayeon thought longingly.  Due to her diet, she was only able to taste a couple of the dishes.

           “Too bad you can’t taste it all.” He then tantalized her further with mouth-watering descriptions of each dish.

            “You want to start a fight, Oppa?” She shot him a death glare.

            “Be careful, if you break the plates, then you have to pay for it.” Minwoo grinned mischievously.

            Her face looked slightly sullen at his words.  Her defeated expression only gave Minwoo more satisfaction whenever he .

            “Oh yeah,” Minwoo hunched down and leaned close to her ear.  

            His breath felt hot on her skin. She froze and did not dare to move even a centimeter in case of anything unexpected.  As her heart drummed rapidly, she tried to breathe as slowly as possible so that he would not notice her uneasiness.

            “Be careful of the new girl.  Her vibe is kinda weird.” He whispered.  Then he drew back and winked at her. “Okay?”

            “Okay.” That was all she can say due to the close proximity which was making her nervous and a lot more self-conscious than she thought was possible.  

            Though, she did not take his words to heart because she thought he might be a bit oversensitive about their new roommate.  Perhaps he would change his impression later on.  She thought Sojin was friendly and seemed considerate.  Nevertheless, as shameful as it was, she had to admit it was relieved that Minwoo did not seem to have taken interest in their new roommate.

            Little to their awareness, Chanyeol witnessed their moments of seemingly close exchange just a few feet away.  Initially, he just wanted to grab a can of pop from the fridge, but something from the scene tugged at his heart.

            ‘They’ll probably end up with an overseas trip after all.’ He surmised, with somewhat a bitter frame of mind.  In truth, he was quite envious of the two.  Their status as non-idol gave them the choice to date freely and to love freely.  Once in a while, he wondered what that kind of life would be like.  Of course, he was satisfied with the way things were now – he got to achieve his dream and worked in a dream career.  He knew he was being too greedy just now.  He did not even have Baehyun’s courage.  Love to him was a mere luxury.

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Author's Note: Urgh...I'm just no good with multiple characters.  However, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoy writing it. =]