ch. 35

"someone has to get out of here."

-seesaw

"ah screw you, yunho!"

"it's not my fault that i'm good and you suck, mingi."

"wait, how do you punch?"

"hyung, you press this button and move the left joystick."

"ah, thank you hongjoong."

"san, i'm coming to get you~"

"wooyoung-ah, leave me alone for once please! i want to win!"

"guys, yeosang still has three stocks left!"

aggressive button pressing and shouting can be heard throughout the house when eunbi walks into the living room. her eyes land on the group of boys sitting on the couch, controllers all in their hands and the light of the television flashing before them.

she slaps her face with her hand and slowly drags it downward.

why are this guys so stupid?

"yah!"

someone pauses the game and everyone looks over to her.

"there is a child sleeping in this house!" she quietly scolds. "quiet down for goodness sakes!"

hongjoong, who is closest to the tv remote, reaches over for the object and lowers the volume a little. they all look at each other, nodding in unison, before resuming their match of super smash bros. a few minutes later, jongho comes out of the hallway and joins them in their gaming session.

not being in the mood for video games, the female drifts off to the kitchen in search for any ingredients for dinner and dessert. beginning with dinner, she lays out the necessities of the dish she will be cooking. she takes off her jacket, setting onto a chair, and ties an apron around her waist.

she begins with preparing the meat and vegetables, setting them off into different bowls and marinating them, as she separately blanches the spinach. after that, she boils the sweet potato starch noodles for a while before taking them out of the pot and cutting the strands into medium-sized pieces into a new bowl.

putting different sauces into the noodle bowl, she uses her chopsticks to help her evenly mix the flavor with the noodles. the scent of soy sauce and pepper enters her nose and she lets out a pleasant hum.

"eunbi-ah, what are you doing?"

she can feel a presence hovering over her petite figure as she places the noodles off to the side, so she turns around to see who it is after she washes her hands.

"i'm cooking dinner- woah!"

the girl instinctively backs up against the counter at how close wooyoung's face was from hers. also surprised by her reaction, he throws his hands up as if he is surrendering and takes a step back. putting her hand over her heart, she takes in a deep breath to calm herself down.

"please let me know ahead of time when you stand that close to me," the female huffs before returning her focus on the food.

he flashes her a cheeky grin at how cute she scrunches her nose a little in frustration. "sorry for scaring you, princess. you just looked so adorable in that little apron, i couldn't help but approach you."

why is he randomly complimenting me? she asks herself, suspicious of his actions, while looking down at her apron. it's just a plain black apron, what is so special about me wearing this?

a glimpse of last night then plays in her mind, making her realize the motive behind his words.

not wanting to awkwardly be standing near him, she manages to say something to him. "thanks... for the compliment."

and she zooms away from him almost immediately after her comment.

but like a little duckling, the black-haired boy happens to trail behind eunbi and watch her turn on the stove, a blue flame appearing. she grabs the pan that was on the counter and places it over the fire . pouring oil into the pan, she goes over to the refrigerator and takes out a few eggs with her hand.

that is when she realized that she forgot a step.

her eyes glance at seonghwa, who is currently playing uno with the remaining guys, before she looks at wooyoung. she really does not want to bother the older male since he's busy having fun, so she ends up asking the latter to help her.

"wooyoung-ah, can you-"

she notices how wooyoung is already at the stove, putting a bowl of mushrooms into the pan. he turns on the kitchen hood with his free hand, the other holding a wooden spoon, and stirs the chopped ingredients around.

hm, never knew he could do that.

swiftly, she cracks the eggs against the counter and separates the egg whites and the yolk into two different bowls. after beating them with a spoon, she brings the two bowls to the counter beside the stove and sees her friend moving the vegetables around in a weird motion. her hand subconsciously reaches over to his and guides him along with the pan.

"you have to do it like this," she instructs, moving his hand so the wooden spoon scrapes the edges. "by doing this, you're recollecting the sauce that is stuck on the sides and frying them evenly."

hearing a small 'okay' from the male, she releases her grasp and drifts away from the stove to prepare dessert. she searches the kitchen for the ingredients to make the sweet delights and settles them before her.

as she creates the batter, she feels a small tap on the shoulder and peers over her shoulder to see wooyoung holding a large bowl of noodles piled with vegetables and meat.

"i finished frying," he says. "so what do i do now?"

she takes a look at the food in the bowl before she opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of tongs. "you can mix them together."

when she gives him the tongs, eunbi resumes mixing the batter together, her arms moving at the speed of light. some of the mixture splashes onto her face, but she ignores the gooey sensation on her face and remains her focus on the formation of cookie dough.

a finger brushes against her cheek once she finishes whisking, and she playfully glares at her companion. "yah, i'm not a baby."

the male puts the noodle dish aside and gently squishes her cheeks. "you're not a baby, you're my baby!"

"i'm no one's baby!" she pouts as she places her hands on her hips.

from afar, the remaining boys watch their interaction, smiling at how adorable the two of them are together. a soft sigh slips from their mouths before they nudge each other and whisper to one another. jongho, on the other hand, grabs a part of the couch to chuck it at wooyoung, but everyone convinced him to put it back down and resume their 5th round of uno. san simply rests his gaze on the pile of cards in the middle of their circle to distract him from the scene.

he should be the one cooking with her.

he should be the one teasing her.

he should be the one standing beside her.

he should be the one doing everything with her.

although his eyes are still focused on the ground, he can hear their laughter bouncing off the walls of the house. a war cry breaks out between them and the sound of flour being thrown around echoes into his ears.

he can feel the tears fighting their way to the surface.

why isn't he there with her at this very moment?

because after reflecting on those late night conversations he had with his best friend, listening to him talk fondly about her and seeing the dreamily expression on his face on the screen of his phone...

he decided to give her up for him.

because he realized that he is a coward simply reaching for someone unattainable.