Modern day fairytale (P1Harmony's Theo Fanfiction)

1 - New friends

"And that's the living room. You can see that we use the entire second floor together", my brother concluded and let himself drop next to me, "And that is Katy." I cheered to the newbie with my water glass and added: "I'm not part of the interior though." He looked at me confused. I heard Keeho's light laugh from the kitchen. "Never mind", I shrugged and moved aside, "Sit down. Let's talk a bit." The newbie looked at me unsure, but my brother gently and mercilessly pulled him towards me, forcing him to sit down between us. I inspected him. "What's your name again?", I asked. "Theo", he answered. I nodded and added: "Sorry, we had so many people here lately, I barely can remember all the names. But I guess you're having a similar problem with us." He shrugged helplessly and I smiled softly. "Don't worry about it", I assured him, "But for now – Welcome to our shared house. I am in charge of making sure you know how much this house means to us. So let me tell you a little story." "My sis likes telling stories by the way. Though she doesn't do it very often, but every time she shares one, you can look forward to it. She's quite good", Intak interrupted me. A warning look towards him made my brother shut up and he silently motioned me to go on before escaping into the kitchen.

"So, as I was saying...", I continued, "It's about two years ago that my brother and I inherited this house from our grandma. But heaven knows, it looked completely different back then. Everything was in need of restauration. And if I say everything, I mean everything. However, we had earned and saved some money and were up for a challenge. Keeho joined us with after we told him he could move in with us. We worked hard – every day we came back from work and after only a short dinner break, we continued the restauration. That's right, we did everything we could ourselves. And finally, it was done. There it was: our own little house. We started working part-time to start studying like we wanted. But over time our bank account made us realize that we wouldn't be able to get around alone. We started working at the house again to turn the attic into what it is now – a cozy place with three sleeping rooms and a bathroom. Jongseob and Soul were the first ones to move in. And now you are adopted into our house – again welcome and congrats, I guess. Why did I tell you this though? This house holds Keeho's, Intak's and my blood, sweat and tears. Respect it, is what I am saying. If you do that, we'll get along well, alright?" Theo nodded. "Good", I said and leaned back, "Did the guys already tell you about the rules?"

While Theo shook his head, Soul scuffed in, earphones on and not looking at any of us as he let himself fall on the couch. I wasn't surprised, yet Theo looked at him slightly weirded out. But before he could ask, Intak came out of the kitchen with a bowl of snacks in his hands. He let himself sink on the floor across us and looked at us curiously. "I'm back", he said after a split second of awkward silence. "And in charge of explaining the house rules", I added, "I need something to drink real quick." I got up and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water and three glasses in case the others wanted something as well. As I passed by Keeho I heard him hiss and glimpsed over his shoulder. He had been cutting vegetables. "Did you cut yourself?", I asked worried and put everything down. "Nothing serious", he shrugged. I saw him bleeding heavily though and sighed. Gently taking him by the shoulder, I pulled him away from the cutting board and looked at his hand. Nothing serious indeed but it would need a plaster. "Come on", I said determined, "Let's get you some bandages first and then I'll take over cooking." He sulked a bit but followed.

I smiled apologetically as I sat Keeho down next to Theo and hurried away towards the bathroom to get the supplies. As I came back, Intak inspected Keeho's cut. I shooed him away and squatted down to sanitize the wound. "Ow", Keeho protested. I ignored it and started to put a plaster on it carefully. "Why were you even cooking?", I asked scoldingly but softly, "It's my job, after all." Keeho shrugged. "Wanted to surprise you guys for celebrating having a new flatmate, I guess", he mumbled. I smiled. "That's nice of you. But let's keep this as my chore, shall we?", I suggested. He shrugged pouty. "At least for tonight", I announced and got up, "Excuse me guys."

While I tried to guess what Keeho had tried to cook, I partly listened to chat the guys had outside in the living room. I had pretty good ears, so it was not hard for me. The harder part was to figure out Keeho's cooking. I took a new knife and continued the cutting while trying to find an answer. Paprika, Tomatoes, garlic, cucumber, mushrooms, noodles and some rice cakes lay around. I scratched my head. Maybe he – "Sorry, I just really thought Katy was your girlfriend", I suddenly heard from the living room and lay the knife down, perking my ears. "Definitely not. Katy's... She's...", Keeho tried to find words. I tiptoed over to the door. "She's not very fond of relationships", Intak helped out. I stepped in the doorframe and leaned against it, arms crossed. "What do you mean by that?", Theo asked confused. Soul was the only one to notice me. He looked at me shortly before turning back to his phone. It wasn't really his business. But his slightly changed posture told me that he listened attentively, snapping the very moment someone would say something hurtful. "Well", I said loudly, making the other three guys flinch, "It's a long story."

They stared at me like I was about to eat them. I chuckled. "But it also is a story for another time. Just so you know, Theo: I am no one's girlfriend and I intend to keep it like that." Before any one the guys could answer, I wandered back into the kitchen. I still didn't know what Keeho had attempted to cook, so I decided to just make something different and put away the rice cakes while instead getting some meat. Tonight's dinner would be meat, pasta and stir-fried vegetables. Yet, I couldn't get the upbrought topic out of my head: Relationships. I sighed. Complicated. Maybe I just wasn't meant to have one after all I experienced so far.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and yelped. I spun around to see Soul. He had a habit of walking around so quietly that we often got scared by him. "Sorry", he smiled apologetically, "But I wanted to know if you're good?" I nodded while catching a breath. "Thanks for asking", I added. He didn't know a lot about those stories, but he definitely understood that there was something that kept bothering me when it came to this topic. And even though seeming cold, he was deeply caring and always asked me if I was alright afterwards. "Can I help?", he then went on. I thought shortly and nodded. "You could prepare the meat", I suggested and pointed to it. He nodded and silently again, we continued cooking.