It had been about a week later, and Yixing refused to let Mari leave the house without him or one of the other boys if she felt comfortable with them. He couldn’t risk her being alone right now.

Most evenings, she spent some time in the kitchen with Kyungsoo learning how to cook. She learned he was a daycare teacher. She also learned he was a patient man when it came to her, even if she did scorch the bottom of his favorite pan. His looks intimidated her at first, but she soon learned his owl eyes held nothing but kindness. She loved when he would widen his eyes at something because that just made them more round and gave him an even squishier look.

It was one particular night when she had miscooked something for the second time that night when she finally had to ask. She dropped the dish towel onto the counter and slumped back against the edge. “Kyungsoo...why do you let me cook with you? I burn things or cook them wrong, and every time you just say ‘It’s alright. Let’s try again.’ And you never get mad. I don’t understand.” She was thankful Kyungsoo was busy stirring something on the stove so he didn’t notice the tears watering up in the corners of her eyes. She was frustrated. She hated failing.

Despite not facing her, Mari could see the small smile form across the man heart shaped lips. “It’s because you actually try. It’s okay to fail when you’re trying, and I understand that. There’s no reason at all to get mad.” He put the spoon down and wiped his hands on his apron before turning towards Mari. “Plus I enjoy your company. No one usually comes in and cooks with me.”

By now Mari couldn’t stop the tears from slipping over the edge of her grey eyes. “Oh. Why are you crying?” Kyungsoo’s eyes widened and his lips parted slightly, which gave that adorable look to his face that had Mari giggling through her tears.

She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand before offering a smile. “I’m sorry. I’m a big baby. I cry a lot. I just never had the opportunity to learn to cook with my mom or dad or anyone and I just really appreciate how kind and patient you are with me.”

Kyungsoo walked over to Mari and placed a hand on her shoulder before giving it a gentle squeeze. “Well you’re part of our family now. I’ll teach you everything I know. And you’re always welcome in here with me.” He smiled wide making his eyes crinkle up. “Now come on, I think you’ll do well this time!”

The next morning, Yixing had a morning wedding to sing for, so Mari was sitting in the living room in her pajamas watching cartoons with Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Baekhyun who all munched on cereal. The four were quite the sight. Bed head was plaguing each of them. Chanyeol had on  his thick framed glasses that were slightly crooked. Baekhyun’s pajamas were HORRIBLY mismatched.  Jongdae (whos bed head was the worst. Looking something between a stray poodle and a birds nest) was splayed across the couch with one leg perched on the back of it. Mari, whos lap was occupied by the poodle headed one, was curled up in one of Yixing’s over sized hoodies and wrapped up in a blanket that he had draped over her before he left.

Mari particularly liked the company of these three boys. They all had quite the personalities. She always found herself laughing around the three of them.

Chanyeol was the tallest, and quite possibly the goofiest and most warm hearted of all of the boys in the house. He always had on a smile, or a facial expression for every situation. He always seemed to listen with the utmost interest every time Mari would speak to him. It made her feel important. One of his warm hands placed on her back could soothe her nerves in seconds.

Baekhyun…well…he was Baekhyun, just as Yixing told her. Baekhyun often tended to be loud, but it was almost always just out of excitement, which seemed to be 99% of the time. Despite being loud, he had a ton of charm. He had an aura around him that just made you want to smile when he showed off his own. Mari felt like he had a very brotherly feel to him, and would make her smile even on days when she didn’t feel like it.

Jongdae was the one to always make Mari laugh. He was just fun to be around. Whether it be a joke he would play on one of the others, or a wise crack, he could always get a snicker out of Mari. He has this high pitched laugh that sometimes is more of a screech. Whenever he would laugh like that, Mari couldn’t help but double over in her own fit of laughter at it, which would cause Jongdae to laugh/screech harder and the two would end up in tears crunched over holding their abs in laughter.

Jongdae seemed to be fond of snuggling himself up to Mari. Mari found this gesture innocent and cute. She enjoyed the friendly skin ship and would absent mindedly run her fingers through his curly hair. Yixing however was not a huge fan.

One night, Mari, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol were on the couch watching a movie when Yixing came home from work. Jongdae was sitting beside Mari with his head on her shoulder and an arm wrapped around her waist. “Jongdae. Kitchen. Now.” Yixing said sharply before storming off into the kitchen, Jongdae following suit.

“What’s up man? Something eatin’ ya?” Jongdae asked while grabbing a bottle of water.

“Yeah actually, there is. Can I ask exactly why you’re all over Mari like that? You know…” he paused and lowered his voice. “You know I’ve got it bad for her.”

Jongdae just gave Yixing a cat like smirk. It was true, There were some days when Yixing would come into his room and flop face first down onto his bed and spill his guts out about how much he adores Mari. “For one, you don’t have to worry about me. I respect you too much to ever try and break up whatever mutual fondness you two have. Why you don’t just finally ask her to date you I have no idea.”

“I’ve told you why Jongdae. I don’t want to scare her off or make her uncomfortable.”

“Right.” Jongdae said and raised an eyebrow. “Anyways. You know how I just like to be comforted. I snuggle with everyone. She’s a noona. So it’s basically like my sister. Plus, man, I see the way she looks at you. It’s COMPLETELY different than the way she looks at me or any of the rest of us in this house.”

Yixing turned bright red. “Really?”

“Oh totally. But, you better hurry and claim her. I see some of the other making googly eyes at her. You better watch out for the youngest two. They always get what they want.” And with that Jongdae went back to his snuggled position on the couch leaving behind a very flustered Yixing.

But here the four were again, that morning on the couch watching whatever cartoons they found with still sleepy eyes, Jongdae occasionally laughing at whatever antic the characters cracked. Chanyeol was channel flipping, most channels now flipping to adult shows, before he sighed and turned the TV off. “What are we going to do today guys?” he asked flopping backwards on the couch.

Baekhyun stretched, and “accidentally” bopped Chanyeol on the nose. “Well, we do need to get some of our compositions polished up before next week.” Chanyeol and Jongdae groaned at Baekhyun’s proposal. Mari cocked her head to the side and lifted an eyebrow.

“Compositions?” she asked quizzically.

Baekhyun nodded. “Yeah, the three of us work as music producers, composers, back up singers. Ya know. The works.” He nonchalantly said. “Channie plays guitar and piano and drums and well just about anything along with composing and lyric writing. Jongdae and I are more of the singers. We bring the final pieces together before they go out to artists or groups.”

Mari sat wide eyed. “Is everyone in this house some sort of musically inclined?”

Chanyeol just nodded. “Pretty much. We basically all sing. A few of us rap. Sehun and Jongin and Yixing are dancers. We used to joke about making our own group. That would have been something.”

“Wait, Yixing dances?” Mari sat up, slightly moving Jongdae’s head from the comfortable spot in her lap.

“Yeah he didn’t tell you?” Jongdae asked sitting up.

Mari shook her head. “No I guess not. He does everything huh? Plays guitar. Piano. Sings. Dances. That’s incredible.”

Jongdae gave a cheeky grin as Mari rambled on about how talented Yixing is.

“So would you like to hang out with us while we work on the pieces? We’d love to hear your input.” Chanyeol stood up and stretched out his long limbs. “We’re just going to the music room down the hall.”

“I’d love to come with!” Mari was excited to get to see the musical talents of the others.

“The best part about working from home most of the time, is getting to work in your pajamas!” Baekhyun exclaimed and starting down the hall.

“Uh yeah, Baek, about that…” Mari began. “We’re going to have to work on your pajama fashion sense.”

Baekhyun turned around and pouted like a puppy. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, red plaid bottoms with a yellow and green stripped shirt? Really? Chanyeol even managed to match his tshirt with his bottoms. No offense, Chanyeol.”

“None taken.”

“And Jongdae, well he doesn’t even have pants on, but his shirt matches his boxers. But Jongdae you should really put some pants on, it’s almost noon.”

Jongdae sighed a “Yes mom” And turned off into his bedroom to quickly find some pajama bottoms.

Baekhyun feigned looking hurt. “I’m a single man. I will take joy in wearing the most unmatched of pajamas while I still have the freedom.”

All that could be heard was Jongdae’s howling from behind his door.

“Alright boys, warm ups.” Chanyeol said seating himself down behind the piano and playing a scale gracefully. Mari plopped her blanket wrapped self in a chair off to the side to watch everything unfold.

Warm ups went by easily with minimal shoving and arguing between Jongdae and Baekhyun. And Chanyeol only had to tell them to focus twice after laughing about it himself.

They split up soon after, Jongdae writing something, Baekhyun working on vocals, and Chanyeol still behind the piano, playing, and then scribbling a little after. Mari just sat back and watched. She was off in her own little world when Chanyeol’s baritone voice broke her daze.

“Mari, why don’t you come sit down beside me.” Chanyeol scooted over on the piano bench leaving space for Mari to sit next to him.

“Are you sure? Won’t I get in the way of your playing?”

Chanyeol pressed his lips together as to think for a few seconds before shaking his head. “Nahh. You won’t be in the way. Besides, Yixing told me you can sing.”

Mari’s face went red as she plopped down beside the gentle giant. “I uh…I don’t know. He says it’s beautiful. But it’s nothing compared to his or even theirs.” She gestured over the piano at the two who were still in their own zone.

Chanyeol flashed his blindingly bright smile. “Well, we’ll see. Do you know that one SHINee song?”

Mari made a face. “Chanyeol there’s like a billion SHINee songs. You have to be more specific.”

“Their newer one. Kind goes like…uhhh…” He placed his hands on the keys and began to plink away. “Like that.”

Mari nodded her head. “View. Of course I know that one. It comes on the radio a lot.”

Chanyeol’s face brightened. “Yeah yeah yeah! That one! Sing it along with me okay?” But before Mari could protest he began to play it from the beginning. She listened to his smooth voice sing lowly to the song and got lost in the melody.

Before she knew it, her voice began tinkling in along beside Chanyeol’s. Her higher tone contrasting nicely with his lower. She closed her eyes and swayed along, her voice becoming stronger with each passing verse. She looked over at Chanyeol who was grinning widely, and she threw her head back in laughter just out of sheer happiness.

When the song finished, the room went silent for a few seconds before she heard clapping from across the room.

“I guess Yixing was right. You CAN sing.” Jongdae said walking over and leaning on the piano.

Mari threw her hands up in the air. “Does he just tell EVERYONE things about me?!” She wasn’t angry, maybe just a tad embarrassed.

Chanyeol shook his head. “Of course. He talks about you all the time. He thinks-“

“That’s enough out of you for the day, Chanyeol.” Said a voice from the doorframe. Mari spun around and standing there in the doorway was Yixing. He had his tux jacket slung over his shoulder and was leaning on one shoulder. He took a few steps into the room and Mari got up to greet him with a hug.

“H-How long have you been standing there?” she asked nervously. He had heard her sing before, but not ever like that.

Yixing grinned down at her. “Luckily enough, from the beginning basically. I should call up SHINee’s manager and tell them they’ve been put out of business. Seriously, don’t hide that voice from us anymore.” He pinched a little at Mari’s cheek before walking out of the room, Mari close behind.

She closed the door softly behind them once they got into their bedroom. “How was work?” she asked walking up towards her bed.

“Long. Early.” Yixing threw his tie somewhere and walked up to where Mari was standing beside her bed. Yixing groaned.”I just want to sleep.” He leaned his body weight onto Mari and made her collapse onto the bed with him practically being dead weight ontop of her. Mari was grunting and laughing beneath him.

 “I hate morning weddings. Who wants to get married in the morning when the sunrises?” He rolled off of the still struggling Mari and laid on his side to stare at her while she was still staring off looking at the ceiling. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

“I want to get married at night time.” She began.. “In the late summer. Outside. Where there’s lots of trees to hang purple and blue and white lights from. I want it to be like a woodsy fairy land type of theme. I want to wear a beautiful dress and one of those fairy circlets on my forehead. I want lots of flowers and candles everywhere. It would be so magical.” Her eyes glossed over with imagination and desire, and Yixing couldn’t help but to stare.

He reached out and gently her cheek. Mari closed her eyes and smiled.

“That does sound absolutely magical.” Yixing breathed out quietly.

Yixing knew this was the moment. This was the moment he was to lean over and place the first gentle, sweet kiss to Mari’s lips. He raised his head up slightly to move in when suddenly the door to their bedroom burst open.

“Hyuuuuuung! Oh, am I interrupting something?”

Yixing just sighed and flopped back down on the bed placing his hands over his face and groaning silently. “What, Sehun?” he asked kind of grumpily.

“Jongin and I are going to the studio today to work on some dances, do you want to come with?” Sehun laid down on his stomach on Mari’s bed beside them and placed his chin in his hands and kicked his feet up in the air.

“No, Sehun. I’m tired. I had to be at a wedding at 5 am this morning.”

“But hyuuuung!” Sehun whined while rolling his body onto of Yixing’s. “You haven’t come dancing with us in foreverrrrr!”

Yixing just shoved the youngest off him and stood up moving to his dresser. “No Sehun. I’m going to shower and take a nap. You two go have fun.”

Sehun pouted and sat up. “What about Mari?” He turned his big baby face towards Mari. “Would you like to come with us?” Yixing stiffened slightly, remembering what Jongdae had said a few days earlier.

“Watch out for the youngest two. They always get what they want.”

“Sehun don’t bother-“

“I would love to!” Mari chirped up.

“You dance?!” Sehun’s face lit up.

“Yeah! Of course! I-“ Mari cut herself off remembering she still hadn’t told Yixing, or anyone other than Minseok for that matter, that she used to be a stripper. “-I ya know, dance to a lot of the dance routines the idols do.”

Sehun seemed to buy it, and Mari mentally sighed in relief.

“Great! Go get dressed and meet Jongin and I in the living room.” And with that the tall blonde left the room.

“Mari are you sure you want to go with them? They’re kind of a handful.” Yixing tried to talk Mari out of it still in fear of Jongdae’s warning. He would go with them to keep an eye out if he weren’t so dead tired.

“I’m sure Yixing-ah! I think I can handle those two big babies. It’s just for a little while. You’ll have lots of peace and quiet for your nap. And if you’re worried about me being out of the house, I promise I won’t go anywhere without either one of them or both of them.” Mari walked over and brushed a piece of hair out of Yixing’s eyes.

He was still pretty worried about her being out in public without him, but her promise made him feel a bit better. He smiled and leaned into her touch ever so slightly. “Alright. Keep those two in line. Don’t let their baby pouts fool you. They’re grown men, though slightly younger than all of us, but still grown men nonetheless.”

Mari gave a little laugh before giving Yixing another small hug. “I will. Nap well, okay? I’ll wake you up when I get home.” And she was off searching for dance clothes in no time.

The ride to the studio with Jongin and Sehun was relatively short, but there she learned they both worked at this dance studio teaching classes.

Jongin was a sweet person, who’s voice was smooth like caramel. Mari loved to hear him talk about dancing. She could sense the passion in his voice every time. He was also a lot more patient than Sehun was.

Sehun was childish. But not in a bad way, but more in the “Im a grown up but still have fun” kind of way.

Mari mainly sat back and listened to the two of them talk and laugh. She could tell these two had a strong sort of bond. After a few minutes, Mari wanted to know more about their jobs.

“Jongin, what type of classes do you teach?” Mari asked from the back seat.

“Ballet. And lyrical. I also teach pop dancing with Sehun.”

“And I teach hip hop and pop.” Sehun chimed in without even being asked.

They arrived shortly after and Sehun plopped all their bags down into the corner before getting a good stretch and reminding the others to do the same.

Mari was sitting on the floor, feet to feet with Jongin while he pulled her hands forward stretching out her back.

“Mari, how about you show us what you got first?” Sehun suggested. Jongin eased Mari back slowly before letting go of her hands.

Mari hummed in response. “Alright.” She stood up and dusted off her leggings and sweater. “But only if you have the song I’m looking for.”

She walked over towards Sehun who held his phone out to her. She scrolled around and raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “Well what do you know. You do have it.” She plugged it in and hit play letting the music vibrate throughout the room.

“Crazy by 4MINUTE? Really Sehun?” Jongin asked. Sehun just shrugged.

“This song is really good. Now shut up and let her do her thaaang.”And do her ‘thang’ she did.

When she finished, she turned around to see the boys with slack jaws. “So?” she asked through huffed breaths.

“Where did you learn to dance like that?” Jongin asked “I didn’t think it was possible for hips to move like that. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were in that group yourself.”

Mari flushed at the compliment and the question. “Well, I uh…I danced for my last job.” She stated, running her hands through her hair. It wasn’t a lie.

“Oh so you were a dance teacher too? Or a choreographer? Why didn’t you tell us?” Sehun looked baffled as to why she would hide that she could dance.

Mari shook her head and faced it towards the floor. “No I wasn’t either of those things. I was a uh…I was a stripper.” She said heaving in a breath. “So of course I had to dance well.”

“WELL!? Mari you killed it.” Sehun nearly yelled.

“Wait, you don’t think it’s weird I was a stripper?” Mari looked up shocked. 

“No. Why would we think that? It’s a job, you were obviously good at it. Some people may think it’s an undesirable job, but not us. Not any of us in the house. In fact, can you teach me that little middle part you did?” Jongin was imitating the part of the dance he was talking about the best he could.

Mari just laughed. “I’m so relieved. Now let me show you how it went.”

The three spent the next couple of hours working on dances and doing some of their favorite idol routines. Part way through a dance, Mari had to stop because her head was spinning so badly. She stood still and bent her torso over so her head was down near her knees. The spinning would not stop, and by now her vision was going in and out. She reached a hand outwards towards the other two. “Guys…” she said meekly before falling to her knees.

The music stopped abruptly and she felt two strong hands place her so she was sitting on her with her back against someone’s chest.

“Mari. . Are you okay?”Sehun’s voice was frantic. “Yixing is gonna kill us.”

“Sehun, calm down, you’re going to make her panic. Mari, can you hear me?” Jongin cooed.

Mari could barely hear him, she was going in and out of consciousness. “Dizzy.” She whispered. She felt her sweater being pulled off her body and water being tipped into . She took two mouthfuls and her breathing began to slow down. She tipped her head back onto the shoulder of the body behind her and closed her eyes. “I’m okay just…let me rest.”

“Okay.” She heard the smooth satiny voice of Jongin close to her ear. After a few minute of silence Jongin spoke up.

“Mari, have you eaten today?” Jongin’s voice was soft and Mari detected a bit of worry behind it. Mari could only shake her head no.

“Sehun. Go across the street and get Mari something to eat. And a soda. Her blood sugar is probably really low. That would explain why she’s like this.” Jongin combed Mari’s bangs out of her face and waited for Sehun to leave.

She could hear him take in a deep breath behind her. “Are you eating properly?” Mari couldn’t lie to him. Not sweet Jongin.

“No. I’m not. I only eat when Yixing is around. He makes me.”

“I’m glad he does. But why aren’t you eating. You’re tiny. That isn’t healthy.”

Mari sat up slightly, regretting it immediately when her head started to swirl and she slumped back down into Jongin. “I just was always told I was fat or that I needed to lose weight. My parents told me that. My ex told me that. And of course my boss told me that. I had to have a good body for my job. So it’s always just stuck. Not eating became a habit.”

“Oh Mari.” Jongin’s voice was filled with sadness. “You are far from fat, and you still have a loooong way to go before anyone could even think that. You need to eat. Everyday. Multiple times a day. Especially if you’re going to be out and about dancing with us. I know eating disorders are hard to overcome, but it is okay to eat. That is taking care of your body and that’s something you need to do. So will you eat for me when Sehun comes back? Please? I will feed you every day if I have to. Or I’ll get Yixing to do it more.”

 Jongin chuckled a little making Mari feel more at ease. She picked at the hem of his sweatpants before answering. “I’ll try.” She whispered.

Jongin’s arms s around her waist and gave a squeeze. “Good!”

“Jongin. Please don’t tell Yixing. He doesn’t know about that. Or about how I was a stripper. I’m too afraid to tell him. I’m afraid he might think I’m messed up.” Mari curled her knees in close to her chest.

“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.” Jongin laughed and moved his body so he could look at Mari. “Do you want to know a secret?”

Mari just shook her head. “Yixing thinks the world of you. There’s no way he could think lowly of you.”

“Funny, Minseok said the same thing to me when I told him.”

“Do you like him?” Jongin asked suddenly?

“Minseok? No. He’s just a friend.” Mari answered. She was a little confused when Jongin laughed.

“No not Minseok. Yixing. Do you like Yixing?”

“Oh.” Mari’s face went red. “Yeah. I do. A lot.” She confessed.

Jongin hummed. “Then you should tell him. Everything. Being honest with him should be the first step. Then everything will fall into place. I guarantee it.” Jongin rocked them back and forth slightly.

“You think so?”

“I know so, Mari. He’ll still adore you no matter what you tell him.”

“Okay. I’ll do it.” She said quietly, more so to reassure herself than Jongin.

Just after, Sehun burst through the door with a take out bag in between his teeth and a tray of bubble teas in his hand.

“I got lunch for all of us, and the bubble tea was right next door. I couldn’t help it.”

Jongin just pressed the palm of his hand into his face. “Whatever, just hand me a container so Mari can eat.”

Sehun passed him a container and a pair of chopsticks and Jongin opened it up and set it down in Mari’s lap. “Eat well! You still have to teach me that dance!”

A/N: Next chapter gets a bit angsty. and eveything goes down. Sorry for so little Mari/Yxing. I wanted to get the rest of the characters introduced.