Serving 5: Chapter 2 - "Sarang?"
Title: Chapter 2 - "Sarang?"
Series: Serving 5
Author: Vangelynn
Rating: G
Pairings: subtle DaeRi & should-not-even-be-there-less-than-a-minute GTop
Genre: Un-attempted Humor
Summary: After many failed attempts, Big Bang finally has a new housekeeper. But what they find isn’t exactly what they expected. Instead of the typical naggy ahjumma, they have themselves a twenty-year-old overseas student. How will they cope with her? And how will she cope with them? (Oh goodness, this summary sucks X_X) Trust me it’s better than this.
Diclaimer: I own all other characters but Big Bang.
A/N: First ever fan fic. I was challenged(forced) by some of you guys to start writing one. This plot in particular was in my head for quite a while, four months to be exact.
(Chapter 1: "The Phone,the Phone is Ringing")
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Daesung laid the bags on the floor, wondering dumbly if he should leave. “I-I think I’ll go now.” He said awkwardly, as he fumbled past them and into his room.
The kitchen remained silent other than the click of Daesung’s door behind them. Manager laid his head on the table, too upset to say anything. He just wanted to give up. Even Seungri’s humor died away, as he sat up and looked at his hyungs for any means of conversation. Several very long and hushed minutes later Daesung came back with a plain white shirt and the hat thankfully discarded.
He sat down quietly between Youngbae and Jiyong, not daring to look at either one of them. Instead he looked at the girl and grinned.
Jiyong had a strong urge to slap the grin off his dongsaeng’s face. Is that all he could do sing and grin? He got them into this situation, why make it worse?
Surprisingly enough, she grinned back, as if nothing ever happened. Her cheeks raised and eyes turned into diamonds. She turned to Manager, who still had his face buried in his arms in defeat, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “You were going to introduce us?”
The manager sprang up straight. He had been expecting a polite ‘I will be leaving now’. Regaining his self-esteem he cleared his throat thrice, making the members jump every time and started where they had left off. “Now that we’re all here,” all eyes on Daesung. “I suppose we must start. It’s now or never.”
He laid a friendly hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Boys, this is Sarah.” Sarah waved. “She was recommended to me by your first housekeeper. Apparently, she’s her niece who came over seas to study here. This place is only a walking distance from where she boards and her school, so her aunt thought it would be perfect.”
Daesung had been spacing out ever since Manager mentioned her name. “Sarang?”
Sarah laughed good naturally and shook her head. “No, Sar-ah.”
“Sarang.”
“Sarah.”
“It’s easier to say Sarang,” Youngbae said, helping out his dongsaeng. “They sound the same anyway.”
Seungri rolled his tongue. “Saaaaa-rang?”
“Sarah,” Seunghyun said promptly with a victorious smile.
The other four looked at him with ‘whatever’ pasted on their foreheads above their lowered eyebrows. Seunghyun frowned and sulked on his chair, Seunghyun-like.
“Sarah, Sarang, it doesn’t matter,” Youngbae sighed.
“It really depends if you can cook,” Seungri said, shifty eyes towards Daesung.
Daesung hadn’t caught the gesture and didn’t respond.
Sarah looked slightly appalled. “You guys can’t cook?”
“Well, I can cook some,” Seungri answered, getting ahead of Youngbae. “But Daesung-hyung, Youngbae-hyung, and Jiyong-hyung can’t. I’ve never seen Seunghyun-hyung cook.”
“Wait, who is who?” Sarah looked at the manager who had completely forgotten about the members.
“Oh, yes. Sorry about that,” Manager started from left to right. “This is Seunghyun, Seungri, Youngbae, Daesung, and Jiyong.”
“How old are you?” Seungri asked innocently.
“20.”
“Ha!” Daesung stretched his hand across Youngbae to poke Seungri. “You will always stay the maknae.”
Seungri pouted and pulled a childish face at his hyung. As Seungri looked away Daesung stuck his tongue out, repaying the maknae. If Youngbae hadn’t been in between them Jiyong would have gotten up from his chair and bonked their heads together for such a display of behavior.
Sarah’s laughter rang out, as she saw their childishness. “I suppose you guys are close, huh?”
“Yes, very,” Daesung grinned.
Even if he didn’t say anything wrong, Jiyong was annoyed with him. More grinning? He looked at Sarah reproachfully. “Aren’t you bothered by them? At all?” He reached his hand out to the two that were kicking each other under the table with a wincing Youngbae in the middle, who could feel the their shins on his legs.
“No,” Sarah said, smiling from Daesung’s contagious grin. “I have many brothers at home. I’m used to it.”
“Oh.”
Manager stood up suddenly, concluding that phase one of hiring the housekeeper was a success. “Why don’t you show her around the apartment? I need to take a call.”
The maknaes were more than happy with the conclusion. They had simultaneously made up their minds that they really liked this new housekeeper. “C’mon we wanna show you everything!” They hurried Sarah out the kitchen, excited.
Youngbae’s eyes widened as he heard them mention ‘everything’. He jumped of his seat and rushed to them, to make sure not ‘everything’ would be exposed. That left Jiyong at the table with Seunghyun three empty chairs to the right. Jiyong look at Seunghyun and tilted his head towards the direction the three had gone to. Seunghyun shook his head. No way was he going to participate with the grand tour of their humble home. Jiyong motioned to the hall once again, this time with the ‘oho-you-better’ face. Sighing, Seunghyun got off his chair reluctantly, and shuffled to find the other three.
With all the others gone, Jiyong set himself to giving the manager a nice click of reality.
He found him out side the apartment finishing his phone call. Jiyong waited for him to hang up and then, right away, exploded.
“HYUNG, WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”
“Jiyong, your manners,” Manager tsked and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “What did I do?”
“What did you do? What did you do!” Jiyong ejaculated. “Hyung, you literally hired some twenty-year-old female student to come over to our apartment every day and house keep. Do you realize the scandal that would make?”
“Like the time Seunghyun and Hyori kissed? That was a scandal.”
“Now is not the time to humor me.” Jiyong groaned and paced up and down the hall. “What do you suppose will happen when the public, our fans, find out there’s a girl living with us?”
“Now, Jiyong, she’s not living with you. She’s boarding in a separate building near by.”
“But still!” He exclaimed.
Manager lowered his hands as if to tone down Jiyong’s volume. “Sh! Do you want people to hear?”
“Hyung, I’m speaking for my group here,” Jiyong said in a softer but still agitated tone, his leader sense coming around. “I don’t want anything happening to us.”
Manager chuckled. “She’s not going to murder you in your sleep. You think I don’t know? Of course I do! I’ve been your manager so long. I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”
He patted Jiyong on the shoulder and headed back into the apartment. “Come. I have to go soon.”
Jiyong sighed and rubbed the back of his head, as he followed his hyung into the apartment. Manager better be right.
Around the corner an ahjumma had been standing there taking in all that she had heard. Adjusting her large sunhat, a smile crossed her lips, as she walked inconspicuously into her apartment across the hall from Big Bang’s.
“Hyung! We showed Sarang-noona the leaking pipe in the bathroom and she said that we can stop the leak by tightening one of the hinges on the pipe, so we don’t have to call the plumber anymore!” Seungri was at Jiyong’s heels jumping like a dog. “We also showed her your shoe collection. She said it was organized and that you have big feet.”
Jiyong choked. He did not have big feet. Obviously she hadn’t seen Youngbae’s. “What else did you show her?” He asked uneasily, not actually wanting to know.
“Oh, the laundry room. The stain on the living room curtain that you said would never come off. Youngbae-hyung’s bed. My bed. Your bed. Daesung-hyung’s socks…”
“There you are!” Manager came to them from the living room, his walking shoes ready. “I was looking for you two. Well, I just said goodbye to the others. I’m going now. Sarah is in the living room. She’ll leave later after she goes over the schedule I gave her. See you later.”
“Bye, hyung,” Seungri waved.
Jiyong watched as Manager left, leaving him in charge, naturally.
“Your manager gave me the schedule,” Sarah said as she went through the stuffed calendar book. “He gave it to me since he thought it would be better if I knew when you would be around…” Her eyes widened when she saw the dates and notes recorded for the month. “This is a lot!”
Seungri shifted his weight on the couch so he could see it over Sarah’s shoulder. “That’s only Wednesday. You should see Mondays.”
“What do you guys do?” Sarah asked, slightly taken back as she leafed through the book trying to figure out how on earth she would manage to work around the activities.
“We’re a singing group,” Youngbae answered. “Mostly that.”
“That explains this,” Sarah’s voice trailed away as she read the detailed concerts and live shows.
Seunghyun nudged Youngbae for telling her. Youngbae looked at him surprised and mouthed ‘But that’s the truth.’
“You guys must sing well then,” Sarah closed the notebook and laid it on her lap. She got out a smaller notepad in her pocket and a pen she had borrowed from Daesung earlier. “I thought it would be best to get down to the basics first. What time do you guys wake up?”
Jiyong moved his head back and forth. “Depends,” he said in a so-so voice.
“Who wakes up the earliest and latest then?”
Jiyong couldn’t help but take the chance. “Well, Seunghyun wakes up the latest, but I-”
“Jiyong-hyung, always wakes up last,” Seungri interrupted.
“Yeah, and it’s so hard to get him out of bed.” Daesung joined in.
Jiyong smacked the back of Seungri’s head and kicked Daesung’s leg. Maknaes; they always think they know everything. “Aigsh, you two. I wake up earlier than everybody else. I just get out of bed late.”
Youngbae rolled his eyes. “Riiight…”
“I’ll just skip that,” Sarah turned over the notebook to a new page. “What places here are off limits? I mean for me.”
“Everywhere,” Jiyong said under his breath, now in a bad mood because of the maknaes.
“Hmm,” Seungri tapped his finger on his chin. “I don’t really have anything off limits.”
“Me neither,” Daesung rang back.
Jiyong wanted to hurt something. Why the heck did it seem like those two were always against him?
“My hats,” Youngbae answered. “I don’t want them disorganized.”
Sarah clicked the bottom of the pen and scribbled on the notepad. “Okay, anything else?”
“My clothes,” Jiyong returned, holding his chin high as if he was married to his clothes. “No one can touch them.”
“Eww, who wants to touch your clothes anyway?” Seungri said like a grossed out teenaged girl.
Daesung agreed with Seungri. “Yeah, hyung, your clothes smell bad.”
Ignore them, Jiyong-ah. Ignore them.
Sarah chuckled softly as she wrote down ‘Jiyong-oppa’s wardrobe’. She looked up and motioned to Seunghyun. “Oppa, do you have anything to say?”
Seungri helped out his hyung before he had the chance to answer. “He doesn’t.”
Daesung. “He never does.”
Youngbae wanted tried not to laugh as he saw the two tsking and shaking their heads in concern over Seunghyun’s silent ‘problem’. Seunghyun, on the other hand, was none too amused. He opened his mouth to scold them, Seunghyun-like, but Jiyong stopped him with a face the meant ‘let-them-be’ but looked more like ‘you-can-kill-them-later’.
Wanting to stop before any rivals would break out, Sarah changed the subject hurriedly. “Your manager told me the main problem was that you couldn’t settle over the food. I’ve worked up a system that will hopefully work.”
She brought out a small piece of folded paper that was in her pocket and let them pass it around.
Jiyong googled at the schedule and then passed it to Seunghyun. “Is this even necessary?”
“No.” Sarah looked at the leader, slightly amused. “I just wanted to make an outline.” She received it from Seungri and smoothed it out. “So every day except Fridays I’ll cook Korean food. Then on Friday we’ll have foreign food.”
“What do you mean by foreign?” Seungri asked, raising his eyebrows. “Like spah-geh-ti?” His face went aglow influencing Daesung to agree.
“Oh, I like spaghetti!”
“Yep, like spaghetti,” Sarah said, enjoying their enthusiasm. “Do you guys have any suggestions?”
Youngbae thought for a while as the others suggested their favorite foreign foods. Hey! How ‘bout they have a special day where each member requests his favorite food? Finally a chance to participate! He opened his mouth to present his idea, but the voice he heard first wasn’t his. It was Seungri’s. “Noona, how about we have a special day each week where one of us could suggest our favorite food?”
“That’s a great idea, Seungri!” Sarah squeezed Seungri’s arm in appreciation, completely unaware that behind them a rain cloud was forming over Youngbae’s head.
“It’ll be on Tuesdays then. And since you suggested it, you get the first to pick.”
Jiyong swore he heard thunder coming from somewhere.
Sarah wrote their names youngest from eldest under Tuesday. “Just don’t pick anything spicy, it’s way too hot. And not anything cold like ice cream. I can’t cook that.”
“OH MY GOSH!” Daesung yelled suddenly causing every one, except Youngbae whose heart was too drenched to care, to jump. “The ice cream! I left it in the grocery bag.” He scrambled off the couch and into the kitchen, nearly stepping over Seungri.
Sarah stood up. “I might as well help him. I’m leaving soon anyway.” She gathered the papers and her notebook and stuffed it into her bottomless pocket.
Seungri got up after Sarah left and headed for the kitchen as well.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jiyong demanded.
Seungri didn’t stop to answer or even face his hyung. “To the kitchen. I’m hungry.”
He left the three hyungs on the couch. A while later Youngbae went to his room. Saying something about brooding when Jiyong asked for his go-abouts.
Once again Jiyong was alone with Seunghyun.
“No,” Seunghyun said, even though Jiyong wasn’t about to say anything. “I’m not going into the kitchen to stop those two from kissing up to Sarah.”
Stop from what? The maknaes could do what ever the hello they wanted to do. It was too late, anyway. Jiyong grabbed Seunghyun’s collar causing the other to gasp under the sudden action.
“Ji, seriously! What the-”
“Seunghyun you’ve got to help me,” Jiyong looked into Seunghyun’s eyes as if trying to find his most innermost feelings. “Seungri and Dae are now permanent converts and Youngbae’s just in a bad mood, but you never know! They will lure him into this trap sooner or later. Seunghyun, you must stand strong and not give in!” Jiyong was on top of Seunghyun, nearly begging the breath out of him.
Seunghyun pushed the leader off quickly incase someone would see them and start thinking things. “Kwon Jiyong, what are you talking about?”
Jiyong was kneeling his, knees sinking into the couch. “It’s that girl!” He shrieked, causing Seunghyun to wish he never asked. “She’s manipulating us all! I know she’s got something up her sleeve. She’ll strike anytime. She’s plotted all this out before hand. Our manager was hypnotized under her trance so he could hire her. Now she’s going record what we do in our daily lives. Our habits. Our weaknesses. Before we know it, we’ll all be under her spell. Under her stare. Gah! Those eyes!” He broke down into a tearless cry, like a person who was scheduled for an appointment at a rehabilitation clinic.
Seunghyun had tried to follow, but lost him after the third sentence. “Jiyong, honestly. What are you talking about?”
“I have no idea,” He sighed and drooped back into the couch. “I just wanted to say something.” He slumped off the couch, out the living room, and to his own room. He looked back before he went in. “Tell them I’m not seeing anybody until that girl leaves.”
Bang.
“What is that guy’s problem?” Seunghyun asked to himself under his breath. Ji was always like this. Him and his twisted personality. Not exactly twisted. More like weird.
Meanwhile in the kitchen a completely different situation was going on.
Sarah looked up at Seungri in concern. “Is this how you guys usually do this?”
“From time to time.” Seungri said. He was standing on the kitchen counter, trying his best to store the can of sardines on the highest shelf of the cupboard. How does Jiyong-hyung manage to reach these so easily? Standing almost to his toenails the can finally slipped on the shelf along with the other solutions of canned goods.
“Ok, there’s one. Pass me another, Noona.”
Sarah handed Seungri another can from the stack on the table. “Couldn’t you get one of your taller hyungs to do this? Or at least use a ladder?”
“Don’t worry, Noona. I’ve done this many times before.” Just as Seungri started his reach for the top shelf Daesung’s shrill voice stopped him.
“Lee Seungri, get off the counter immediately!”
Daesung, who just saved half of the ice cream from melting, had turned around to see what Sarah and Seungri were doing.
“But hyung-”
“Off!”
Seungri slid off the counter and brought the can down on the table, slamming it somewhat.
“Seungri, go and bother the other hyungs. You’ve helped enough.”
Grumbling, he shuffled out the kitchen. Thankfully, there wasn’t a door, or he would have given it a good slamming.
“Rule number one,” Daesung said when Seungri was out of hearing. “Absolutely, no one stands on the counter. He’s been reminded that too often for him to forget.”
Sarah picked up the can, checking to see if Seungri had dented it. “What do I do with this then?”
Daesung emptied another grocery bag and scrunched it up into a hand-sized ball. “I’ll just ask Seunghyun-hyung to put it away.”
Sarah looked at Daesung with a new fascination for him. “Do you really act this different when the hyungs aren’t around?”
He tossed the plastic ball into the corner of the kitchen where they dumped the bags for later use. “Eh? Yeah. When they’re around I can act as childish and happy-go-lucky as I please, but when they leave I have to take responsibility. Especially for Seungri. He gets himself into so much trouble I get worried a lot. He just doesn’t seem to appreciate my help sometimes.”
“He’s quite energetic,” Sarah complemented, knowing that this conversation could result to a deeper subject.
“Yeah,” Daesung's voice trailed away as his eyes softened at the thought of the maknae. He shook the feeling off. “Anyway, he should be grateful you know. At least it wasn’t Jiyong-hyung who caught him. He would have gotten a bad scolding.”
Sarah decided not to push the subject further. She went across the kitchen and scanned the fridge to see exactly what they ate everyday, as Daesung wrapped the rest of the empty grocery bags into balls. She reached in and pulled out a glass bottle that had been stuffed into the corner. “White Soju?” She popped the bottle cap open taking a sniff. She choked as the strong alcohol enflamed her nostrils.
“It’s expired,” Daesung said, as she covered the bottle immediately and gasped to get air back into her nasal passages. “just don’t tell Jiyong-hyung that.”
Sarah hacked out the strong stench into the sink. “Ack!” She shook her head to whiff out the rest of the alcohol. Taking a while to get back into her normal state, she asked. “He drinks?”
“Not as much as he used to. Manager found out and we had to extract discipline on him.” Daesung threw the last ball into the corner. “But it’s still hard for him though. He says he can’t write anymore. Then he gets mad. You’ll get used to it. But I don’t think any temper will flare up since there’s a lady in the house.” He smiled at her, too Daesung-ish to give her a playboy wink.
Sarah blushed slightly and bent down to see the lower parts of the fridge. She opened the crisper and whistled. “Ooh! I see green.”
Daesung looked back to see what she was looking at. “Yeah, I try to buy as much healthy food as I can and get the members to eat them. But it hasn’t been easy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whatever is healthy they avoid and they run to junk food instead. Like ramen,” Daesung continued sentimentally. “So much sodium!”
“Are you sure it isn’t your cooking?” Sarah asked, recalling Seungri’s answer a while back when she questioned their cooking.
“I assure you it can’t be,” Daesung sighed. “I really want them to eat right.”
He seemed sincere about his concern for the other members and Sarah sympathized with him. Back home she had had those same problems before with her family, until she trained them into a healthy diet hidden under deceiving appearances.
“Are you sure doing that will work?” Daesung asked. “The others know healthy when they see it.”
Sarah had taken note of all the fridge’s contents when she spoke to Daesung. “Don’t worry. I’m positive it will work.” She stood up and checked her watch. “Great timing. It’s about time to go.”
Daesung nearly jumped off his seat, hoping that he could see her off without having the others (Seungri) come along. “I’ll show you out.”
“Thanks.”
As Sarah stood by the door she looked back into the apartment. “Tell the others I said good bye.”
“I will.”
“Bye, Daesung,” she waved gently and turned to leave, until she was stopped.
“Wait, Sarah.”
“Hm?”
Daesung looked down at the floor kicking his feet absently. “Do you happen to know how to make and use a naturally beauty mask?” He asked scarcely, hoping this wasn’t a dumb thing to ask. “I mean I just thought maybe you knew, because you were a girl and all.”
“The one made of avocado?”
“Yeah.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up when she knew that she had finally found a friend among the five. “I know exactly how to make it. I’ll show you when I come back.”
“Really? Thanks!”
“No problem,” Sarah started walking away. “See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Daesung grinned.
Tomorrow. Sarah stepped into the elevator, the buttons obviously sticky from the heat. She sighed as she felt the elevator start its climb up to the fourth floor. Her bag was full of equipment she would use to tackle the apartment when the boys were gone. She was expecting a chaotic mess hidden somewhere. (There had been a stench somewhere near the sink.) That could all be done with. The harder was adjusting to her clients.
Seungri was likable. Slightly childish (goodness, they all were in a way), but he was like the little brother she left at home. Eager and enthusiastic.
Daesung and his grinning. At first she thought he was just a second older Seungri, but after her chat with him at the kitchen she knew his second personality. Concerned and brotherly. She would do her best to help him with his health issues for the others.
Youngbae had problems. But they would go. Then he would be probably as likeable as the other two. Although, she had this feeling that he had been hiding something the day before.
Seunghyun was like a rock. Cold and hard, but if she turned him the right way his true feelings show. She was positive a loving older brother was under all that stiffness. Daesung had told her that he was very caring around them, even though he seemed intimidating.
Jiyong. She didn’t know about him. He was just different.
The elevator dinged as she stepped out. Boy, was her work cut out for her. If Manager was right they should be gone by now on some radio show. Ranking some sense of responsibility she advanced toward the apartment, ready to start her job.
While she turned the corner she screamed as she felt a rough hand grab her from behind.
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After Story Author Side Notes:
- The DaeRi wasn't added until I thought about it while revising. So I'll have to go over the plot line I mapped out and try to fit it in. But I'm sure it will work to my advantage.
-OH MAH GOSH SuJu's album is coming out this week ^_^ *is unrelated*
- I bet you can tell by my writing that I'm a noob at this. So please bear with me :D I decided to tackle this series as a way for me to improve my writing and hopefully learn something. Critique would be helpful.
- To clear things up, I am not trying to slip myself into the story by adding Sarah. It's just that a female character is essential for this plot. Oh! And my name is nothing near the name Sarah. Also I look nothing like her. Well, maybe in the eyes =D *gets bricked* XP
Series: Serving 5
Author: Vangelynn
Rating: G
Pairings: subtle DaeRi & should-not-even-be-there-less-than-a-minute GTop
Genre: Un-attempted Humor
Summary: After many failed attempts, Big Bang finally has a new housekeeper. But what they find isn’t exactly what they expected. Instead of the typical naggy ahjumma, they have themselves a twenty-year-old overseas student. How will they cope with her? And how will she cope with them? (Oh goodness, this summary sucks X_X) Trust me it’s better than this.
Diclaimer: I own all other characters but Big Bang.
A/N: First ever fan fic. I was challenged(forced) by some of you guys to start writing one. This plot in particular was in my head for quite a while, four months to be exact.
(Chapter 1: "The Phone,the Phone is Ringing")
____________________________
Daesung laid the bags on the floor, wondering dumbly if he should leave. “I-I think I’ll go now.” He said awkwardly, as he fumbled past them and into his room.
The kitchen remained silent other than the click of Daesung’s door behind them. Manager laid his head on the table, too upset to say anything. He just wanted to give up. Even Seungri’s humor died away, as he sat up and looked at his hyungs for any means of conversation. Several very long and hushed minutes later Daesung came back with a plain white shirt and the hat thankfully discarded.
He sat down quietly between Youngbae and Jiyong, not daring to look at either one of them. Instead he looked at the girl and grinned.
Jiyong had a strong urge to slap the grin off his dongsaeng’s face. Is that all he could do sing and grin? He got them into this situation, why make it worse?
Surprisingly enough, she grinned back, as if nothing ever happened. Her cheeks raised and eyes turned into diamonds. She turned to Manager, who still had his face buried in his arms in defeat, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “You were going to introduce us?”
The manager sprang up straight. He had been expecting a polite ‘I will be leaving now’. Regaining his self-esteem he cleared his throat thrice, making the members jump every time and started where they had left off. “Now that we’re all here,” all eyes on Daesung. “I suppose we must start. It’s now or never.”
He laid a friendly hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Boys, this is Sarah.” Sarah waved. “She was recommended to me by your first housekeeper. Apparently, she’s her niece who came over seas to study here. This place is only a walking distance from where she boards and her school, so her aunt thought it would be perfect.”
Daesung had been spacing out ever since Manager mentioned her name. “Sarang?”
Sarah laughed good naturally and shook her head. “No, Sar-ah.”
“Sarang.”
“Sarah.”
“It’s easier to say Sarang,” Youngbae said, helping out his dongsaeng. “They sound the same anyway.”
Seungri rolled his tongue. “Saaaaa-rang?”
“Sarah,” Seunghyun said promptly with a victorious smile.
The other four looked at him with ‘whatever’ pasted on their foreheads above their lowered eyebrows. Seunghyun frowned and sulked on his chair, Seunghyun-like.
“Sarah, Sarang, it doesn’t matter,” Youngbae sighed.
“It really depends if you can cook,” Seungri said, shifty eyes towards Daesung.
Daesung hadn’t caught the gesture and didn’t respond.
Sarah looked slightly appalled. “You guys can’t cook?”
“Well, I can cook some,” Seungri answered, getting ahead of Youngbae. “But Daesung-hyung, Youngbae-hyung, and Jiyong-hyung can’t. I’ve never seen Seunghyun-hyung cook.”
“Wait, who is who?” Sarah looked at the manager who had completely forgotten about the members.
“Oh, yes. Sorry about that,” Manager started from left to right. “This is Seunghyun, Seungri, Youngbae, Daesung, and Jiyong.”
“How old are you?” Seungri asked innocently.
“20.”
“Ha!” Daesung stretched his hand across Youngbae to poke Seungri. “You will always stay the maknae.”
Seungri pouted and pulled a childish face at his hyung. As Seungri looked away Daesung stuck his tongue out, repaying the maknae. If Youngbae hadn’t been in between them Jiyong would have gotten up from his chair and bonked their heads together for such a display of behavior.
Sarah’s laughter rang out, as she saw their childishness. “I suppose you guys are close, huh?”
“Yes, very,” Daesung grinned.
Even if he didn’t say anything wrong, Jiyong was annoyed with him. More grinning? He looked at Sarah reproachfully. “Aren’t you bothered by them? At all?” He reached his hand out to the two that were kicking each other under the table with a wincing Youngbae in the middle, who could feel the their shins on his legs.
“No,” Sarah said, smiling from Daesung’s contagious grin. “I have many brothers at home. I’m used to it.”
“Oh.”
Manager stood up suddenly, concluding that phase one of hiring the housekeeper was a success. “Why don’t you show her around the apartment? I need to take a call.”
The maknaes were more than happy with the conclusion. They had simultaneously made up their minds that they really liked this new housekeeper. “C’mon we wanna show you everything!” They hurried Sarah out the kitchen, excited.
Youngbae’s eyes widened as he heard them mention ‘everything’. He jumped of his seat and rushed to them, to make sure not ‘everything’ would be exposed. That left Jiyong at the table with Seunghyun three empty chairs to the right. Jiyong look at Seunghyun and tilted his head towards the direction the three had gone to. Seunghyun shook his head. No way was he going to participate with the grand tour of their humble home. Jiyong motioned to the hall once again, this time with the ‘oho-you-better’ face. Sighing, Seunghyun got off his chair reluctantly, and shuffled to find the other three.
With all the others gone, Jiyong set himself to giving the manager a nice click of reality.
He found him out side the apartment finishing his phone call. Jiyong waited for him to hang up and then, right away, exploded.
“HYUNG, WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”
“Jiyong, your manners,” Manager tsked and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “What did I do?”
“What did you do? What did you do!” Jiyong ejaculated. “Hyung, you literally hired some twenty-year-old female student to come over to our apartment every day and house keep. Do you realize the scandal that would make?”
“Like the time Seunghyun and Hyori kissed? That was a scandal.”
“Now is not the time to humor me.” Jiyong groaned and paced up and down the hall. “What do you suppose will happen when the public, our fans, find out there’s a girl living with us?”
“Now, Jiyong, she’s not living with you. She’s boarding in a separate building near by.”
“But still!” He exclaimed.
Manager lowered his hands as if to tone down Jiyong’s volume. “Sh! Do you want people to hear?”
“Hyung, I’m speaking for my group here,” Jiyong said in a softer but still agitated tone, his leader sense coming around. “I don’t want anything happening to us.”
Manager chuckled. “She’s not going to murder you in your sleep. You think I don’t know? Of course I do! I’ve been your manager so long. I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”
He patted Jiyong on the shoulder and headed back into the apartment. “Come. I have to go soon.”
Jiyong sighed and rubbed the back of his head, as he followed his hyung into the apartment. Manager better be right.
Around the corner an ahjumma had been standing there taking in all that she had heard. Adjusting her large sunhat, a smile crossed her lips, as she walked inconspicuously into her apartment across the hall from Big Bang’s.
“Hyung! We showed Sarang-noona the leaking pipe in the bathroom and she said that we can stop the leak by tightening one of the hinges on the pipe, so we don’t have to call the plumber anymore!” Seungri was at Jiyong’s heels jumping like a dog. “We also showed her your shoe collection. She said it was organized and that you have big feet.”
Jiyong choked. He did not have big feet. Obviously she hadn’t seen Youngbae’s. “What else did you show her?” He asked uneasily, not actually wanting to know.
“Oh, the laundry room. The stain on the living room curtain that you said would never come off. Youngbae-hyung’s bed. My bed. Your bed. Daesung-hyung’s socks…”
“There you are!” Manager came to them from the living room, his walking shoes ready. “I was looking for you two. Well, I just said goodbye to the others. I’m going now. Sarah is in the living room. She’ll leave later after she goes over the schedule I gave her. See you later.”
“Bye, hyung,” Seungri waved.
Jiyong watched as Manager left, leaving him in charge, naturally.
“Your manager gave me the schedule,” Sarah said as she went through the stuffed calendar book. “He gave it to me since he thought it would be better if I knew when you would be around…” Her eyes widened when she saw the dates and notes recorded for the month. “This is a lot!”
Seungri shifted his weight on the couch so he could see it over Sarah’s shoulder. “That’s only Wednesday. You should see Mondays.”
“What do you guys do?” Sarah asked, slightly taken back as she leafed through the book trying to figure out how on earth she would manage to work around the activities.
“We’re a singing group,” Youngbae answered. “Mostly that.”
“That explains this,” Sarah’s voice trailed away as she read the detailed concerts and live shows.
Seunghyun nudged Youngbae for telling her. Youngbae looked at him surprised and mouthed ‘But that’s the truth.’
“You guys must sing well then,” Sarah closed the notebook and laid it on her lap. She got out a smaller notepad in her pocket and a pen she had borrowed from Daesung earlier. “I thought it would be best to get down to the basics first. What time do you guys wake up?”
Jiyong moved his head back and forth. “Depends,” he said in a so-so voice.
“Who wakes up the earliest and latest then?”
Jiyong couldn’t help but take the chance. “Well, Seunghyun wakes up the latest, but I-”
“Jiyong-hyung, always wakes up last,” Seungri interrupted.
“Yeah, and it’s so hard to get him out of bed.” Daesung joined in.
Jiyong smacked the back of Seungri’s head and kicked Daesung’s leg. Maknaes; they always think they know everything. “Aigsh, you two. I wake up earlier than everybody else. I just get out of bed late.”
Youngbae rolled his eyes. “Riiight…”
“I’ll just skip that,” Sarah turned over the notebook to a new page. “What places here are off limits? I mean for me.”
“Everywhere,” Jiyong said under his breath, now in a bad mood because of the maknaes.
“Hmm,” Seungri tapped his finger on his chin. “I don’t really have anything off limits.”
“Me neither,” Daesung rang back.
Jiyong wanted to hurt something. Why the heck did it seem like those two were always against him?
“My hats,” Youngbae answered. “I don’t want them disorganized.”
Sarah clicked the bottom of the pen and scribbled on the notepad. “Okay, anything else?”
“My clothes,” Jiyong returned, holding his chin high as if he was married to his clothes. “No one can touch them.”
“Eww, who wants to touch your clothes anyway?” Seungri said like a grossed out teenaged girl.
Daesung agreed with Seungri. “Yeah, hyung, your clothes smell bad.”
Ignore them, Jiyong-ah. Ignore them.
Sarah chuckled softly as she wrote down ‘Jiyong-oppa’s wardrobe’. She looked up and motioned to Seunghyun. “Oppa, do you have anything to say?”
Seungri helped out his hyung before he had the chance to answer. “He doesn’t.”
Daesung. “He never does.”
Youngbae wanted tried not to laugh as he saw the two tsking and shaking their heads in concern over Seunghyun’s silent ‘problem’. Seunghyun, on the other hand, was none too amused. He opened his mouth to scold them, Seunghyun-like, but Jiyong stopped him with a face the meant ‘let-them-be’ but looked more like ‘you-can-kill-them-later’.
Wanting to stop before any rivals would break out, Sarah changed the subject hurriedly. “Your manager told me the main problem was that you couldn’t settle over the food. I’ve worked up a system that will hopefully work.”
She brought out a small piece of folded paper that was in her pocket and let them pass it around.
Jiyong googled at the schedule and then passed it to Seunghyun. “Is this even necessary?”
“No.” Sarah looked at the leader, slightly amused. “I just wanted to make an outline.” She received it from Seungri and smoothed it out. “So every day except Fridays I’ll cook Korean food. Then on Friday we’ll have foreign food.”
“What do you mean by foreign?” Seungri asked, raising his eyebrows. “Like spah-geh-ti?” His face went aglow influencing Daesung to agree.
“Oh, I like spaghetti!”
“Yep, like spaghetti,” Sarah said, enjoying their enthusiasm. “Do you guys have any suggestions?”
Youngbae thought for a while as the others suggested their favorite foreign foods. Hey! How ‘bout they have a special day where each member requests his favorite food? Finally a chance to participate! He opened his mouth to present his idea, but the voice he heard first wasn’t his. It was Seungri’s. “Noona, how about we have a special day each week where one of us could suggest our favorite food?”
“That’s a great idea, Seungri!” Sarah squeezed Seungri’s arm in appreciation, completely unaware that behind them a rain cloud was forming over Youngbae’s head.
“It’ll be on Tuesdays then. And since you suggested it, you get the first to pick.”
Jiyong swore he heard thunder coming from somewhere.
Sarah wrote their names youngest from eldest under Tuesday. “Just don’t pick anything spicy, it’s way too hot. And not anything cold like ice cream. I can’t cook that.”
“OH MY GOSH!” Daesung yelled suddenly causing every one, except Youngbae whose heart was too drenched to care, to jump. “The ice cream! I left it in the grocery bag.” He scrambled off the couch and into the kitchen, nearly stepping over Seungri.
Sarah stood up. “I might as well help him. I’m leaving soon anyway.” She gathered the papers and her notebook and stuffed it into her bottomless pocket.
Seungri got up after Sarah left and headed for the kitchen as well.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jiyong demanded.
Seungri didn’t stop to answer or even face his hyung. “To the kitchen. I’m hungry.”
He left the three hyungs on the couch. A while later Youngbae went to his room. Saying something about brooding when Jiyong asked for his go-abouts.
Once again Jiyong was alone with Seunghyun.
“No,” Seunghyun said, even though Jiyong wasn’t about to say anything. “I’m not going into the kitchen to stop those two from kissing up to Sarah.”
Stop from what? The maknaes could do what ever the hello they wanted to do. It was too late, anyway. Jiyong grabbed Seunghyun’s collar causing the other to gasp under the sudden action.
“Ji, seriously! What the-”
“Seunghyun you’ve got to help me,” Jiyong looked into Seunghyun’s eyes as if trying to find his most innermost feelings. “Seungri and Dae are now permanent converts and Youngbae’s just in a bad mood, but you never know! They will lure him into this trap sooner or later. Seunghyun, you must stand strong and not give in!” Jiyong was on top of Seunghyun, nearly begging the breath out of him.
Seunghyun pushed the leader off quickly incase someone would see them and start thinking things. “Kwon Jiyong, what are you talking about?”
Jiyong was kneeling his, knees sinking into the couch. “It’s that girl!” He shrieked, causing Seunghyun to wish he never asked. “She’s manipulating us all! I know she’s got something up her sleeve. She’ll strike anytime. She’s plotted all this out before hand. Our manager was hypnotized under her trance so he could hire her. Now she’s going record what we do in our daily lives. Our habits. Our weaknesses. Before we know it, we’ll all be under her spell. Under her stare. Gah! Those eyes!” He broke down into a tearless cry, like a person who was scheduled for an appointment at a rehabilitation clinic.
Seunghyun had tried to follow, but lost him after the third sentence. “Jiyong, honestly. What are you talking about?”
“I have no idea,” He sighed and drooped back into the couch. “I just wanted to say something.” He slumped off the couch, out the living room, and to his own room. He looked back before he went in. “Tell them I’m not seeing anybody until that girl leaves.”
Bang.
“What is that guy’s problem?” Seunghyun asked to himself under his breath. Ji was always like this. Him and his twisted personality. Not exactly twisted. More like weird.
Meanwhile in the kitchen a completely different situation was going on.
Sarah looked up at Seungri in concern. “Is this how you guys usually do this?”
“From time to time.” Seungri said. He was standing on the kitchen counter, trying his best to store the can of sardines on the highest shelf of the cupboard. How does Jiyong-hyung manage to reach these so easily? Standing almost to his toenails the can finally slipped on the shelf along with the other solutions of canned goods.
“Ok, there’s one. Pass me another, Noona.”
Sarah handed Seungri another can from the stack on the table. “Couldn’t you get one of your taller hyungs to do this? Or at least use a ladder?”
“Don’t worry, Noona. I’ve done this many times before.” Just as Seungri started his reach for the top shelf Daesung’s shrill voice stopped him.
“Lee Seungri, get off the counter immediately!”
Daesung, who just saved half of the ice cream from melting, had turned around to see what Sarah and Seungri were doing.
“But hyung-”
“Off!”
Seungri slid off the counter and brought the can down on the table, slamming it somewhat.
“Seungri, go and bother the other hyungs. You’ve helped enough.”
Grumbling, he shuffled out the kitchen. Thankfully, there wasn’t a door, or he would have given it a good slamming.
“Rule number one,” Daesung said when Seungri was out of hearing. “Absolutely, no one stands on the counter. He’s been reminded that too often for him to forget.”
Sarah picked up the can, checking to see if Seungri had dented it. “What do I do with this then?”
Daesung emptied another grocery bag and scrunched it up into a hand-sized ball. “I’ll just ask Seunghyun-hyung to put it away.”
Sarah looked at Daesung with a new fascination for him. “Do you really act this different when the hyungs aren’t around?”
He tossed the plastic ball into the corner of the kitchen where they dumped the bags for later use. “Eh? Yeah. When they’re around I can act as childish and happy-go-lucky as I please, but when they leave I have to take responsibility. Especially for Seungri. He gets himself into so much trouble I get worried a lot. He just doesn’t seem to appreciate my help sometimes.”
“He’s quite energetic,” Sarah complemented, knowing that this conversation could result to a deeper subject.
“Yeah,” Daesung's voice trailed away as his eyes softened at the thought of the maknae. He shook the feeling off. “Anyway, he should be grateful you know. At least it wasn’t Jiyong-hyung who caught him. He would have gotten a bad scolding.”
Sarah decided not to push the subject further. She went across the kitchen and scanned the fridge to see exactly what they ate everyday, as Daesung wrapped the rest of the empty grocery bags into balls. She reached in and pulled out a glass bottle that had been stuffed into the corner. “White Soju?” She popped the bottle cap open taking a sniff. She choked as the strong alcohol enflamed her nostrils.
“It’s expired,” Daesung said, as she covered the bottle immediately and gasped to get air back into her nasal passages. “just don’t tell Jiyong-hyung that.”
Sarah hacked out the strong stench into the sink. “Ack!” She shook her head to whiff out the rest of the alcohol. Taking a while to get back into her normal state, she asked. “He drinks?”
“Not as much as he used to. Manager found out and we had to extract discipline on him.” Daesung threw the last ball into the corner. “But it’s still hard for him though. He says he can’t write anymore. Then he gets mad. You’ll get used to it. But I don’t think any temper will flare up since there’s a lady in the house.” He smiled at her, too Daesung-ish to give her a playboy wink.
Sarah blushed slightly and bent down to see the lower parts of the fridge. She opened the crisper and whistled. “Ooh! I see green.”
Daesung looked back to see what she was looking at. “Yeah, I try to buy as much healthy food as I can and get the members to eat them. But it hasn’t been easy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whatever is healthy they avoid and they run to junk food instead. Like ramen,” Daesung continued sentimentally. “So much sodium!”
“Are you sure it isn’t your cooking?” Sarah asked, recalling Seungri’s answer a while back when she questioned their cooking.
“I assure you it can’t be,” Daesung sighed. “I really want them to eat right.”
He seemed sincere about his concern for the other members and Sarah sympathized with him. Back home she had had those same problems before with her family, until she trained them into a healthy diet hidden under deceiving appearances.
“Are you sure doing that will work?” Daesung asked. “The others know healthy when they see it.”
Sarah had taken note of all the fridge’s contents when she spoke to Daesung. “Don’t worry. I’m positive it will work.” She stood up and checked her watch. “Great timing. It’s about time to go.”
Daesung nearly jumped off his seat, hoping that he could see her off without having the others (Seungri) come along. “I’ll show you out.”
“Thanks.”
As Sarah stood by the door she looked back into the apartment. “Tell the others I said good bye.”
“I will.”
“Bye, Daesung,” she waved gently and turned to leave, until she was stopped.
“Wait, Sarah.”
“Hm?”
Daesung looked down at the floor kicking his feet absently. “Do you happen to know how to make and use a naturally beauty mask?” He asked scarcely, hoping this wasn’t a dumb thing to ask. “I mean I just thought maybe you knew, because you were a girl and all.”
“The one made of avocado?”
“Yeah.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up when she knew that she had finally found a friend among the five. “I know exactly how to make it. I’ll show you when I come back.”
“Really? Thanks!”
“No problem,” Sarah started walking away. “See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Daesung grinned.
Tomorrow. Sarah stepped into the elevator, the buttons obviously sticky from the heat. She sighed as she felt the elevator start its climb up to the fourth floor. Her bag was full of equipment she would use to tackle the apartment when the boys were gone. She was expecting a chaotic mess hidden somewhere. (There had been a stench somewhere near the sink.) That could all be done with. The harder was adjusting to her clients.
Seungri was likable. Slightly childish (goodness, they all were in a way), but he was like the little brother she left at home. Eager and enthusiastic.
Daesung and his grinning. At first she thought he was just a second older Seungri, but after her chat with him at the kitchen she knew his second personality. Concerned and brotherly. She would do her best to help him with his health issues for the others.
Youngbae had problems. But they would go. Then he would be probably as likeable as the other two. Although, she had this feeling that he had been hiding something the day before.
Seunghyun was like a rock. Cold and hard, but if she turned him the right way his true feelings show. She was positive a loving older brother was under all that stiffness. Daesung had told her that he was very caring around them, even though he seemed intimidating.
Jiyong. She didn’t know about him. He was just different.
The elevator dinged as she stepped out. Boy, was her work cut out for her. If Manager was right they should be gone by now on some radio show. Ranking some sense of responsibility she advanced toward the apartment, ready to start her job.
While she turned the corner she screamed as she felt a rough hand grab her from behind.
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After Story Author Side Notes:
- The DaeRi wasn't added until I thought about it while revising. So I'll have to go over the plot line I mapped out and try to fit it in. But I'm sure it will work to my advantage.
-OH MAH GOSH SuJu's album is coming out this week ^_^ *is unrelated*
- I bet you can tell by my writing that I'm a noob at this. So please bear with me :D I decided to tackle this series as a way for me to improve my writing and hopefully learn something. Critique would be helpful.
- To clear things up, I am not trying to slip myself into the story by adding Sarah. It's just that a female character is essential for this plot. Oh! And my name is nothing near the name Sarah. Also I look nothing like her. Well, maybe in the eyes =D *gets bricked* XP