A/N: Again, sorry for the late update. This one is short too since there's some heavy coming...

Like the day before, Xi-eomma woke them up with a knock on the door. Sehun immediately woke up and glanced at the bed. He nearly had a heart attack when he saw Joonmyeon leaning against the wall with his upper body laying down, like he had passed out from exhaustion (which he probably did). He woke him up gently and they opened the door to go downstairs. Luhan had left them some more clothes in front of the door so they went back inside to change, which ended up taking a lot longer since Sehun had to explain the difference between pants and shorts.

Their morning ritual happened much the same as yesterday, except Luhan ate with them since they got up later. He was a huge help explaining the meals and helping Joonmyeon with chopsticks. He also managed to show them how to fold the laundry so Xi-eomma would ‘love them more’ as Joonmyeon put it.

After Luhan left (after he showed Joonmyeon how to use the hairbrush on his own) they spent the morning cleaning what they knew. Sehun washed while Joonmyeon dried and they figured out where all the dishes went, eventually. They took the laundry down from the yard and began folding and sorting it based off of what Sehun could remember on sizes. That prompted a lesson on the concept of human ‘sizes’ for clothing and shoes and Joonmyeon was fascinated. He was doing much better today since they had only been standing briefly, but Sehun noticed the bags under his eyes seemed darker and he would space out more often. But Joonmyeon was smiling and interested and that’s what mattered.

Xi-eomma came home just when they were bringing the armfuls of folded laundry in. Delighted didn’t even begin to cover her reaction and she hugged both the boys, leaving Sehun feeling pleased and Joonmyeon feeling confused. Like yesterday, a client had given her food which she thoughtfully shared with the boys. After lunch however, she asked Joonmyeon to do the dishes. “I’m going to do Sehun-ah’s feet and then yours. Tonight Sehun will do the dishes.” Joonmyeon nodded and did them as quickly as he could without splashing water, getting suds everywhere, and otherwise messing up the kitchen. It was lucky that he was meticulous with details since the dishes ended up spotless and the counters looked excellent. He came over just as Xi-eomma finished Sehun’s feet, and a funny story involving young Luhan and his fear of some object called a ‘vacuum cleaner’.

“Ah, Joonmyeon-ie is here,” she sing-songed. Sehun got up and moved to another chair, reaching for a magazine. He and Xi-eomma were silent as she worked on Joonmyeon’s feet and he didn’t wonder about it as he slowly drifted off to sleep. As soon as he was asleep, she got up and Sehun grabbed a blanket on the back of his chair to cover him with. They went over to the kitchen to talk.

“How was he last night,” she asked worriedly. She kept her voice soft so not to disturb the older boy.

“Worse. He stayed up most of the night reading and then fell asleep in the weirdest position.”

“He didn’t even try to sleep?”

“From what I could tell, no.”

“Why…?”

“His back. He was leaning against the wall, so I think he figured it would be most comfortable for him, but he still shifted around a lot.”

Xi-eomma pursed her lips. Then she got up and reached into her bag for a newspaper. “I almost forgot. I missed the newspaper yesterday, but here’s the one for today. You can look through and see about any jobs if you like. If they need a number to call, just give them the number here.”

“Thanks, that’ll be a huge help.”

“Not at all. I’ll be in my room doing the bills if either of you need me.”

“I’ll be upstairs. If you don’t mind, I’ll take the house phone with me-”

“Oh yes, good idea.” They both separated to complete their plans.

Sehun realized that afternoon how hard getting a job would be after searching the Classifieds section with the aid of a dictionary and the map. He looked up words he didn’t know and eliminated jobs that were too far to take by bus. He also eliminated any jobs with specific ‘requirements’ and was left with only a handful of part-time positions. He began calling about the jobs, twice the position had been filled, once they required a bachelors degree, one was only a weekend night shift once a month, and the rest required a scooter license with his own transportation. By the time he was done, it was after 5 and Xi-eomma was calling him down to cut vegetables again. Joonmyeon was there too, looking like he had just woken up. Sehun gave him three chances and once he missed cutting the carrot properly for the third time, he sent him upstairs to rest.

“How did the job hunting go,” Xi-eomma asked, heating up the pan.

“Poorly. I don’t seem to be qualified for anything.”

“Ah well, you can always try again tomorrow. The paper has a new set of Classifieds each day so I think you’ll find something soon. Did you try calling?”

“Yeah. But I always seemed to call at the worst time for everyone.” They both laughed and continued talking as they cooked.