Where He Lives (1/1)

Songee POV-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bell rang and I left my last period class, waiting at the door for Luna to come out. I looked into the classroom again to see what was taking her so long when suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around to see Taemin looking down at me. He must have seen my startled expression and smiled. His eyes were so warm that I smiled too.“Taemin, what are you doing here?” I asked, still smiling.“Well, I thought we should think of a way to stop Onew and Luna from hating each other because it only seems to get everyone in trouble,” he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.I laughed. “I couldn’t agree more, but how?”Someone bumped into him and apologized. It was a girl; her eyes widened when she recognized who he was, and then her eyebrows rose when she saw me. Then she hurried away. Taemin coughed awkwardly and said, “How about you come to my place after school? We can talk about it then. Meet me at my car?”“Okay,” I agreed. Taemin said “good-bye” and left, just as Luna appeared at the doorway. “What took you so long?” I asked her.“Oh, let’s just go home,” she huffed. I didn’t argue and just followed her silently outside. Once there, she left for her bus and I sped to the parking lot to find Taemin. I spotted him and he waved me over. I got in the passenger seat just as he got behind the wheel, and he started the car. During the short ride, we discussed our favorite k-pop music videos. We both agreed that the ones with cool and complicated dances were the best.A few minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building and announced, “We’re here.”“Oh,” I said. The building did not look very new; in fact, it looked worn and about to fall apart. It didn’t seem like a place that bright and warm Taemin would live in. However, I made no comment while I followed him to his apartment room.He unlocked the door and said, “Welcome to my humble abode.” I laughed and walked inside. I looked around, and I immediately liked it. It felt...cozy. It actually did seem like a place where Taemin would live.“Shall I show you around?” He grabbed my hand and led me farther inside. “This is our living room.” He gestured to a room of mismatched furniture with a television on the far wall. There was someone stretched out on the couch, but his back was facing me. Taemin seemed to notice him too, because he called: “Minho! Get up! We have company!”I stood in shock as I saw Minho’s handsome face turn toward me. He could not mask the surprise when he realized it was me; I could barely hide my own. He got up and crossed the room quickly. “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly.“I was about to ask you the same thing,” I responded, confused.Taemin walked up to him, patted him on the back, and said, “This is Songee, but I guess you two know each other?”When I saw them standing next to each other, I immediately understood -- they're brothers. As the realization sank into me, I knew that it was true. They’re matching warm eyes and contagious smiles, not to mention their overwhelming popularity and the amount of girls who chased them. It all made sense now.Then, just when I thought I was getting a hold of things, it got crazier. Another guy walked into the room, eating a sandwich, saying in a rich, very manly-sounding voice, “What’s all the commotion? I’m trying to...” He broke off once he spotted me and dropped his sandwich. I was so shocked that I couldn’t move to pick it up. Another guy?? I thought. Is this where all the attractive and sought-out guys live??“Oh, Jonghyun,” Taemin said flatly. “Songee, this is Jonghyun, my older brother. Jonghyun, Songee.”He didn’t seem to have recovered, so I tried my best to shake off my surprise and walked up to him. I held out my hand and said,“Hi, I’m Songee. It’s nice to meet you.”He didn’t move. I lowered my hand back to my side awkwardly and backed away to Taemin again. “Is he usually like this?” I whispered.“No,” he replied, puzzled.I watched Minho go up to Jonghyun and slap him on the back. “Wake up!” he said, laughing. “It’s just a girl. I mean, it’s not like you’re not used to them being in our apartment. Plenty of them are here for you.” He winked at me and sat back down onto the couch.I didn’t realize that Jonghyun had left until he came back, bursting into the room. He whispered something in Taemin’s ear and ran away as quickly as he had come, stealing glances at me the whole time.Taemin stiffened and said quickly, “Songee, I think you should go now. Let’s get to my car. I have to get my keys, so you go first and I’ll catch up with you.”I nodded and walked into the apartment building hallway. I started in one direction, but realized it was the wrong way so I turned around to go back.I stumbled and nearly fell flat on my face. Someone was going into Taemin’s apartment. It was the principal, Mr. Jong! What was he doing here? What’s going on??