Iahn still had to unpack the car but most of it was his mom's stuff and he didn't even know where he was supposed to put it, so he was reluctant to do it without knowing.

 

He chewed his lips looking back and forth between the car outside and his tempting — not fully zipped — backpack.

 

His charcoal eyes wandered to the ominous bedroom door, knowing what loomed just down the hall, directly in his path.

 

He could sketch for a few minutes, then take the chance of going to unpa—

 

Iahn flinched as a familiar voice shouted from downstairs.

 

"Iahn! Get down here and help me!"

 

He almost groaned, wanting to bang his head against the wall until it split in half, but at least he no longer had a dilemma.

 

Heading for the door, he only got halfway before realizing his backpack was still in his hand.

 

He debated for a second on whether to risk taking it with him but ended up quickly sliding it under the bed and slipping out of the room. As much as he wanted to draw, he wasn't willing to sacrifice his supplies to his mother's wrath.

 

Iahn was careful and quiet when passing Yuen's room and all but tumbled down the staircase back to the front of the house, where his mom stood by the door with her black & pink makeup box that's almost big enough to be a carry-on suitcase.

 

The woman stood in her heels looking like a businesswoman on a company trip. If you ignored the horrendous color and pattern of the "suitcase", she looked like an executive of an office who earned their position through detestable means. And keeping true to that theme, she wasted no time in giving instructions and relieving herself of tasks.

 

"Get the pink and orange suitcases from the trunk first and take them upstairs, I have to organize this."

 

She walked towards him and Iahn moved out of her way, almost bumping his shoulder on a picture frame on the wall.

 

He nodded meekly as she tossed the car keys into his hands — and he almost dropped them.

 

She had already made it to the stairs before he took two steps to the entryway and slipped his shoes on, going back outside.

 

It took a little digging in the trunk, but he found the hard cases and managed to get them out of the cramped back, taking them to the house, and made a quick stop at the backseat to grab his own gym bag and sling it over his back. He'll get his paint box later when he grabs the rest of the stuff.

 

Iahn switched his shoes back when he got inside — not wanting to track anything into the weirdly clean house and even though he technically lives here now and was just inside a minute ago, it felt weird just opening the door of someone else's house. Like he should knock or something.

 

The house was eerily quiet. Not a calm quiet like his grandpas usually was, but it was quiet like nobody lived here.

 

It wracked his nerves but not as much as the first time he had stepped through this door.

 

Maybe Mr. Min and his son just moved into this house too. Maybe that's why it didn't feel lived in or homey yet and felt more like an office building than anything.

 

Having a task made him feel less awkward, for that he was a little grateful. It felt a little less like he was doing something wrong just by being here, and more like he had a purpose; not an unwanted nuisance hiding in one of the bedrooms like a spider in a corner.

 

The cases were a bit heavy but Iahn was careful of the walls as he brought them upstairs, and even more so at the top of the steps; not wanting Yuen to hear him out here but as he came near the door, he could hear music inside the room and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of relief. At least he had a little bit of a barrier. There's no way the older boy could hear his little movements out here with music that loud.

 

"What are you just standing there for?"

 

Iahn jumped out of his skin and whipped to his right to see his mother standing on the other side of the dark railing that overlooked the steps with her arms crossed and something that was a strange half-way mix between a scowl, disdain, and indifference.

 

"Come on, bring those in here." She walked down a hallway he hadn't even noticed before, leading the opposite way of his room.

 

He hesitated before grabbing the cases and did as told, following to an open white door at the end of the hall.

 

As soon as he followed her in it became apparent that it was the master bedroom.

 

The room was at least twice the size of Iahn's and must have taken up the entire back left corner of the upper floor of the house.

 

A king-sized bed draped in black & red silk covers sat dead-center against the far-left wall. There was an identical dark nightstand on both sides of it, with deep red lamps sitting atop them. The gold trim on the blankets and throw pillows made it look like something out of a magazine, or that you would expect to see on a king's bed.

 

The white fluffy rug made it difficult to roll two large cases to the far-right side of the room, where there were two doors side by side. Both were open and as his mom walked into the left one — that he could tell even from the doorway that it was probably the biggest, nicest bathroom he had ever seen.

 

She pointed to the other door. "Put them in there and go get the rest. I'll unpack them later. Don't you dare break any of my imported china."

 

Iahn couldn't help thinking, "We had imported china?"

 

Iahn nodded, swallowing, and half-wheeled half-carried the cases to what became apparent as the walk-in closet that was big enough to be a bedroom all on its own.

 

It was already half full of a man's stuff; expensive-looking suits and sportswear mostly, and a quarter of it was already filled with stuff he knew belonged to his mother. Only she would wear a glittery sequined skirt that short. Or was that a tube top? It was always hard to tell.

 

Iahn scurried out of the room before he got in trouble and slipped back down the stairs, this time a little more comfortable glancing around, as he knew where 2 out of the 3 other people in the house were and tried not to get distracted by the biggest TV he's ever seen as he passed the living room once again. He thought it was a wall before.

 

He paused for a second, daring to lean into the living room, and took a quick peek through the other opening on the right of the room. The one with lots of natural light he had noticed before, and he was right.

 

A large dining room with the same dark wood floors as the entryway spanned all the way to the back doors, which were indeed glass and flooding the room with warm light. It was the most welcoming thing about this house, that warm yellow glow that cast the entire back corner of the house with the feeling of a home.

Iahn's jaw dropped as he caught an odd light reflection.

 

"There's a pool!?!"

 

His mind tore itself in half, a part of him became inexplicably excited and another stronger part doubled over with intimidation.

 

His mother said that Mr. Min had a high-paying job, she didn't say they were rich.

 

A lot of people would be excited to have suddenly become a part of a rich family but all Iahn could feel was cold sweat beginning to collect on his back.

 

His feet dragged themselves backward, the need to get out of here overtaking him again, and he turned, all but running for the front door, but he still made sure he did not slam it on his way out. Unconsciously, he planned to go as unnoticed as possible and he was not about to ruin it when he had just gained a little more breathing room.

 

He collected more boxes from the car, including his paintbox; forgetting until that moment that he hadn't dropped his gym bag off in his room while he was upstairs and still had it slung over his back like a backpack.

 

It took half an hour to unload the car completely, most of it being his mother's stuff. He didn't have many things; at least none that he was allowed to bring.

 

His mother didn't want to bring any of his canvases or paintings, or anything except his sketchbooks because they "were a hassle". She said they were too big and wouldn't fit in the car, that part she may have been right about for at least the bigger ones, but he was perfectly aware of that too, he isn't blind.

 

The ones he would have brought were small, no bigger than a sketchbook, but he knew the real reason she didn't want him to bring his stuff.

 

He didn't realize everything else he owned would fit into just a few medium-sized boxes and some bags until he did it.

 

On the last few runs, Iahn nearly did break one of his mom's boxes of wine glasses — that he couldn't really see over the top of — as he carried it when he ran into Yuen at the door.

 

He didn't see him. Though he probably should have heard his steps or felt his terrifying presence, somehow, he didn't until Yuen yelled, "Watch it, brat!"

 

Iahn jumped, and if Yuen hadn't had one hand on the other side of the box, pushing it against Iahn, he would have dropped it.

 

Yuen "pushed past" him (he was already backpedaling) and it scared Iahn but at least the box was alright; and bonus, Yuen left after that. So, he would say that a lack of fear from passing his room for the rest of the moving, was almost worth his heart making a jailbreak from his chest. Almost.

 

After another encounter with his mom, Iahn found out that the room next to his — the one with the door he could've sworn was open earlier — was Mr. Min's study.

 

He had been in there all afternoon, which explained why Iahn hadn't seen him.

 

It was unnerving that he hadn't seen or heard him go in there — that he didn't know the tall hair-raising stranger was in there, but maybe it was a good thing. He would rather that, than awkwardly passing each other in the hall trying not to make eye contact.

 

Mr. Min was terrifying. Not like Yuen — who scared the living ghost out of him — but it felt like being stopped by a police officer when you haven't done anything wrong. The mere fact they stopped you makes you sweat and think twice, rapidly, and uncontrollably questioning yourself in the span of 3.5 seconds.

 

A stranger with authority over you...

 

Welcome to a skittish 13-year-old's worst nightmare.

 

---

 

"So, they finally moved in huh?" Allen smashed the buttons on the controller, trying to crush Lucifer's character, but to put it bluntly, the only thing he was smashing was the controller. The youngest was running circles around him and shamelessly enjoying every second of it.

 

Yuen growled at the mere mention of his soon-to-be stepfamily, but he was the one who came over to Casey's place fuming.

 

"I thought he was joking when he said he was getting remarried and she had a kid."

 

"How old is he? The kid, I mean." Lucifer's curiosity peaked. He already wiped the floor with Allen, he was just waiting for him to realize it.

 

It was hard to imagine Yuen with more family, so he couldn't help his curiosity.

 

"Congratulations Luc, you're finally older than someone," Yuen muttered bitterly, turning his face into Parker's leg on the couch; where he had been laying across three of his friends since the minute he walked in.

 

"Yeessssssssssssssssss!" Luc shot up fist-pumping the air, right as Allen shouted, "Noooo! No no no!"

 

'Red's Victory' displayed in bold candy-apple-red across the large TV screen.

 

Luc flailed in an oddly impressive happy dance, not just at his victory over Allen but also because he was finally not the youngest anymore. And bonus, he's technically still the youngest because it's Yuen's brother and not just someone younger joining their friend group. Which meant he could still get away with things that only the youngest can.

 

"What's he like?" Shi asked, eyes alight with excited curiosity, as he bent over the legs on his lap, trying to see around the boys next to him (Jun and Parker).

 

"The brat looked like he was gonna wet himself," Yuen grumbled into Parker's muscled dancer's thigh.

 

"You know, you shouldn't be so quick to judge, Yuen. You just met the kid." Casey plucked the controller from Allen's hands before he broke it, and so he can destroy the youngest in Mario Kart and keep the youngest from getting too cocky.

 

"I didn't ask for a brother!" Yuen snapped.

 

"Neither did he." Allen didn't miss a beat, sliding up off the floor to sit next to Casey on the opposite couch from their grumpy 2nd oldest friend.

 

Yuen ground his teeth and huffed, resisting rolling his eyes as he grumbled, "Whatever."

 

"What about your stepmom though? Is she nice?" Jun attempted to divert this away from the poor kid who wasn't even here to defend himself. He kinda feels bad for the boy. Knowing Yuen, he's not gonna make him feel welcome.

 

Yuen snorted at the mere mention of that bimbo. "She's marrying my father. Take a wild guess."

 

"Right, dumb question." Jun shook his head and reached over Yuen to grab the popcorn bowl off the coffee table, using the elder's back like a table, and refocused his attention on Casey as he obliterated the golden youngest's Red Toad with Princess Peach.

 

"When's the wedding?" Parker asked, curious.

 

"Like a week from now. Who gets married that fast?" Yuen grumbled, his hands jutting out like he's grabbing someone's head and shaking it like a tambourine.

 

"Your dad apparently." Shi pulled a white fluff off Yuen's black pants, blowing it off his fingers into Lucifer's hair, and giggled at it while a chorus of "Oooooo" went around the room.

 

"Oh, shut up." Yuen groaned at his friends, listening to their mocking disperse into laughter, only to be followed by more mocking.

 

He rubbed his forehead against Parker's leg in pure frustration and felt a hand on the back of my head, running his fingers through his hair. "Don't worry, Yuen. It'll be fine."

 

Yuen scowled into the darkness. "This is gonna be a nightmare."

 

A forceful sigh made it through his nose and the six of his friends shared looks.

 

Luc finally turned away from the game screen, not having fun anymore after Casey kicked his ass and glanced back in silent wonder. "Why does he hate this kid so much? He just met him."

 

Yuen can be mean, and scary — especially when he's tired, or you just woke him up — but it's not like him to hate someone for no reason, and a kid at that.

 

If he's younger than him then he's got to be at most a middle-schooler. Then again, Yuen isn't big on kids either, so that could be part of it.

 

He doesn't have the best relationship with his father either, so suddenly having even more people he doesn't get along with within this house ...Lucifer felt bad for him, —actually, he felt bad for everyone involved.

 

"Alright, alright." Casey stood up as Luc stared at the screen with his mouth open; looking like he was wondering how his life came to this, while the bold pacific blue letters across the screen read 'Blue's Victory'.

 

"Let's order pizza and watch something. Yuen's choice." Casey swiped the remote off the coffee table, motioning at Jun, who lifted his hips — and part of Yuen up, to dig his phone out of his pocket.

 

Yuen sighed, turning his face out of Parker's leg.

 

At least his friends are the only ones making him feel better about this.

 

Yuen has hated that woman from the minute he met her — which wasn't even 2 weeks ago. He didn't believe that her son would be any better, in fact, he might even be worse.

 

---

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