Jung Soojung stirred in her sleep,

feeling droplets of something

cold hitting her face. She opened

her eyes when she couldn't take

it anymore. Squinting her bleary

eyes, she managed to make out

Sejong's seemingly innocent grin.

"Rise and shine~ "

"It's Sunday. What are you doing,

waking me up this early?"

"Jongin's coming over and you

need to cook. Up. Now."

He dragged her out of her bed

and pushed her into the kitchen.

With no other choice left, Soojung

gathered her hair up into a bun

and started the cooking process.

Hours passed and all the family

could hear was the sound of

knives hitting the chopping board,

along with the sizzling of the

ingredients. What they couldn't

hear was the inner thoughts of

the chef.

Why must he come here again?

I do not want to see him. He is rude,

overconfident, irritating, all of the

bad adjectives I can think of.  This

better be the last time I ever have

to encounter him.

She was in the midst of taking

out the dish from the oven when

the doorbell rang, indicating the

arrival of the dreaded human

being. From the kitchen, Soojung

could hear Sejong, Sooyeon and her

father welcoming him warmly.

Soojung almost gagged at the

praises being shot at Kim Jongin.

"Unnie, Jongin's here! Come out

from the kitchen."

Sooyeon stated the obvious.

Soojung gave an excuse, something

about watching over the food and

making sure it doesn't burn.

"Oh that's okay. Jongin, go to

the kitchen and greet my sister."

Sejong pushed the older male where

Soojung was sighing. 

Kim Jongin seemed disoriented at the

sudden shove. He took a good look

at the female in front of him. It

was clear she didn't change into

more, presentable clothing.

"Why did you agree to this?"

Soojung broke the silence first.

"I didn't. I got forced to."

"My father wants to see me happy.

So, since this is probably going to

be the last time we ever see each

other, could you pretend that we

actually are fine with each other?"

There was no need for "bush-beating",

she got straight to the point.

"What if I don't want to?" There was a

taunting tone in his voice that made 

her almost snap.

"You have to. You've have no idea

how happy my father was when he

found out that there ws finally a

'potential candidate' for his daughter.

All he wants is to see me happy, then

he will be satisfied. Please?"

He stared at her, not able to comprehend.

She was willing to feign being happy with

a man just to see her father smile? 

Somewhere deep inside him, made him

agree.

"Fine. After all, this is the last time."

Soojung clearly did not see it coming,

for she looked at him with such shock,

before mumbling "thanks".

----

"I'm so excited to eat." Sooyen clasped

her hands and rubbed them together

eagerly as her elder sister gingerly

put the dish on the table.

The rest chorused in agreement, only

Jongin was gazing at the food with

an unfathomable look. Why was it that

the aroma of the food brought back

memories with her ? He shook the

feeling off. Maybe it was because

he hadn't had a homemade meal

in such a long time, right after

their breakup.

"Our Soojung doesn't cease to amaze

us with her culinary skills."

Her father beamed as they all dug

into the wonderful mini feast that

Soojung had come up with.

She merely blushed at the compliment.

One bite was all it took for Jongin to

get more memories. The taste was vaguely

familiar. He took another bite and

was sure that this was her favourite.

"How is it?"Sejong nudged his

best friend.

"It's nice. Well done, Soojung."

He smiled at her.

"Thank you."

They fell silent again, earning questioning

looks from her father. Soojung noticed

this and kicked Jongin, who was sitting

directly in front of her. Jongin winced

and gained his composure before

any of them could notice.

"Where did you learn to cook like this?"

Soojung wanted to hit him at his

attempt on starting conversation.

"My cousin taught me. This was the

first dish I learnt."

"Speaking of your cousin, I heard

that she was coming back to Korea.

We should invite her when Jongin

comes to visit again." Mr Jung smiled.

"What? You want him to drop by

again?"

"Of course. We will give you a call when

my niece comes back." He smiled

at Jongin.

Both of them made eye contact, and

as if they had some sort of telepathy,

they strangely knew what each other

was thinking.

I thought this was the last time.

The lunch went by quite smoothly,

with Jongin and Soojung putting on

an act. It didn't reach the extent of

having skinship, but it was still

too awkward.

"We'll see you next time ,Jongin.

Take care."

Jongin smiled at all of them, with

the exception of Soojung, to whom

he stared at, trying to convey a

message through his eyes.

See you next time. We'll have to

put on an act in front of your cousin

as well.

He knew that she had understood when

she gave a slight nod of her head and

looked right into the orbs of his eyes.

----

Jung Soojung felt an immense amount

of gratitiude towards the man. She had

known that he had an unpleasant attitude.

It had not crossed her mind that he would

have agreed so easily to her request. She had

been ready to let go of her ego and plead him

had he not agreed, but, he surprisingly did.

She allowed herself to crack a smile, which

faded when she remembered what happened earlier.

It was, strange. It was almost as if they had a

connection - the way Jongin gazed into his

eyes, - the way they didn't need to convey their

messages verbally. Soojung shook her head vigorously,

trying to get the image out of her mind. 

----

Kim Jongin was confused beyond words.

Why had he thought of her when it was

clearly Soojung who had created it?

He needed to stop comparing them. Rubbing

his head, his mind wandered to the moment

their eyes met. It was, strange. It was almost

as if they had a connection - the way Soojung

gazed into his eyes, - the way they didn't need to

convey their messages verbally. Sighing, Jongin

swung his arm over his face and closed his eyes,

trying to relax his mind.

---

The day had once again arrived. Soojung was more

frazzled that day, for her sophsiticated cousin with

standards as high as Mount Everest was to visit

them and have dinner at their house. She woke

up, panicking almost instantly, beating eggs

in one hand, sautéing mushrooms with other

vegetables in another. Thank goodness Sejong

had called Jongin over, seeing the state his

normally calm sister was in. He was pretty sure

she hadn't brushed her teeth yet. Jongin warily

glanced at the family sitting in front of the television.

"Jongin, could you help my sister in the kitchen?"

"Sure, but pardon me asking, why don't any of you

help her?" He tried his best to sound as polite as

he could, fearing that he might insult their

father.

"We're all going to make her crazier. These

people cannot tell an onion from a spring

onion." Mr Jung did not take offense at the

question, answering it with humor present

instead.

Therefore, Jongin walked to the kitchen,

how bad could it be? The answer was

directly in front of him, along with some

splatters of oil. It was terrible.

"Uh, do you need help?"

Soojung's head flew up. Relief was evident

on her sweat-covered face. She appeared

not to have cared about the fact that it was

Jongin in front of her, she was just delighted

that someone could be of help.

"Yes please. Could you cut this broccoli into

florets?" She handed him a broccoli.

Jongin stared at her cluelessly. She was too

busy frying to have noticed it. He moved

towards a knife on the counter and picked

it up. She felt like she could now breathe, 

with someone beside her. The moment she

felt like she could relax, reality hit her in the

face. Jongin let out a yelp and she swivelled

to face him.

"Are you serious? And here I thought you

could help me." She rushed to him and

saw the blood oozing out. She grabbed

his finger and put it under running water.

Without thinking, she had initiated the

skinship. Jongin could do nothing but

stare at her. Then he realised what he

was doing and quickly pulled his hand

back, saying,

"I can take care of myself."

Her gesture had reminded him of her  

so much. He needed to stop.

Obviously offended by his response,

Soojung had coldly replied,

"Whatever floats your boat,"

and went back to cooking.

---

After the whole fiasco, the doorbell

rang and Soojung stiffened. Despite being

affected from the earlier incident, she

rushed Jongin out of the kitchen.

"Quickly, my cousin is here. You need

to be polite. Go." She went out after

him, contrary to the popular saying,

"Ladies first". 

Jongin was wondering why everyone

was so hurried and nervous, especially

Soojung. He looked at his outfit while

walking out of the kitchen.

"Jongin, this is Nayeon, my cousin."

Soojung introduced from behind him.

He looked up and his eyes widened.

There stood Soojung's cousin who

looked exactly like his old flame.

Joy crept into his heart as he smiled.

She was back. Finally. He could be with her

once more. The joy was replaced by shock

and his smile faded when another person

entered the house.

" Hello again everyone. This is Dokyeom,

my fiance."

Hello everyone. I apologise for this late update. I

couldn't think of anything to write, and no words

seemed to flow from my heart to my fingertips,

so it was a bit delayed. This might not even be up

to your standards and I apologise for that too.

Did any of you expect this? I didn't. It just appeared

as I typed it. Comment ~I want to know what you

guys think of this. BTW, you guys better thank

A Walk to Remember, because it gave me the feels

to write. If you watch it, I must warn you. Bring tissues.

Don't forget the 3 things~ Thank you!

-thorny_bush