Confession
Same, but DifferentI set down my chopsticks and lean back on the chair.
“I’m so full…” I groan but looking around the table, I see the guys still eating. Auntie was right about them being able to eat a lot, Jin especially.
“You’re done?” Yoongi, who’s sitting beside me, asks. “But you didn’t eat a lot.”
I give him a look, showing him my empty rice bowl as evidence. “I feel like I just ate a whole cow.”
“So you don’t want almond pudding?” Auntie appears at the door, in her hand a bowl of said dessert. I smile.
“You know I’ll always have space for almond pudding.” I drag my heavy stomach over and receive the pudding from Auntie. “Thank you, Auntie.” Patting my head, Auntie returns back to the kitchen.
“Pudding?” Taehyung’s gaze follows me as I pick up the spoon. I narrow my eyes at him and we end up in a staring competition.
“Stop it, children,” Jin waves his hand between us, breaking the contact. I blink away and dig into my pudding, ignoring Taehyung’s hungry stares.
“I’m going to get another one from Auntie,” Taehyung announces, standing up.
“She won’t give you any,” I warn him. Sticking his tongue out at me, he runs off and returns a couple of minutes later – with another bowl of pudding.
“Auntie!” I frown at Taehyung. Auntie, who is just walking past, pokes her head into the room. She notices me staring at Taehyung’s pudding and laughs.
“I happen to have made an extra one today,” Auntie explains. “And he was too cute to reject.” Like that, she walks off. Pouting, I turn back to my pudding. I stab my spoon into the dessert and scoop out a big mouthful.
“Oh, pudding.” I smile and nod to myself at the deliciousness of the pudding.
“Your expression changed a bit too quickly,” Yoongi says, looking at me. I stick my tongue out at him. On my other side, I notice Namjoon leaning closer, a spoon in his hand reaching for my pudding. With my spoon, I stop him from stealing my pudding.
“Just one bite,” he pleads, blinking puppy eyes at me. I falter for a moment but come back to my senses quickly. Almond pudding! I must not be in my right state of mind to be sharing almond pudding.
“Do you want to die?” I quickly slurp up my pudding, cleaning the bowl in one shot. Yoongi smacks me in the back of my head again.
“That’s no way to talk to someone older than you,” he scolds.
“Alright,” Auntie comes back in the right time to spare me some potential nagging. “Who’s paying?”
“This oppa over here,” I answer, pointing at Yoongi. He shakes his head at me in defeat as I stick my tongue out at him.
“I’ll pay,” Yoongi says, taking out his wallet.
“Yay! Thank you, hyung!” The kids at the table cheer.
“Thanks, oppa!” I flash Yoongi my widest smile. He shakes his head but smiles, handing Auntie some notes for change. The guys stand and stretch when Auntie leaves.
“Taehyung oppa, let’s come back for more almond pudding next time.”
“Oh, yes. This oppa will definitely come back with you,” Taehyung replies with emphasis on ‘oppa’.
“What about us?” The other guys look between Taehyung and I. I shrug.
“Auntie likes Taehyung oppa. She’s never given my almond pudding to anyone before.” I send a wink at Taehyung.
“But Byeol-ah,” Hoseok calls my name. “I’m oppa too, right?”
“You’re the same age as Namjoon oppa and Namjoon oppa is oppa, so you’re oppa too, no?” I raise an eyebrow at the weird question. “Which makes Jimin oppa, oppa too.”
“How about calling me oppa too?” Jungkook asks out of nowhere and I roll my eyes at him.
“How about you just call me noona instead?”
“Thanks, but no thanks.” He laughs and disappears behind his hyungs. In the corner, Namjoon fumbles with the curtains to look for the doorknob. He finds it after a while but instead of opening the door, the pulls the knob out.
“Here comes the God of destruction,” the guys sigh.
Holding the doorknob up, he smiles apologetically. “It just came off on its own…”
Laughing, I go over and take the knob from him. I hold the curtain out of the way and easily attach the knob back.
“This door is pretty old so it happens sometimes,” I tell him. I push open the door and the guys step out.
“Aren’t you coming out?” Namjoon asks, tightening his coat around him. Cold wind blasts into my face and I shiver involuntarily.
“I’m going to stay to help Auntie close the restaurant,” I tell him. Reaching over, I pull out the scarf he hangs for show and wrap it properly around his neck. “What’s the use of the scarf if you’re not going to wear it properly?”
“It’ll be too late to go back alone,” Namjoon says. I stop him when I see that he’s about to come back in.
“I’ll be fine. Your members are waiting. Hurry go back and rest.” Pushing him, I make sure that he walks to the van before shutting the door. Then, slowly, I stack the plates and carry them outside. There are no leftovers so the dishes are fairly easy to clear.
“Your friends have gone back?” Auntie asks, taking the plates from me. I nod before going out to the main restaurant. Most of the customers have gone and the part-timers have knocked off so it’s not as noisy as before.
“You should go back too,” Auntie calls out from the kitchen. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”
“Not in the morning,” I tell her.
“But your boyfriend is waiting outside for you.”
“What boyfriend?” I freeze for a moment, thinking that he’s outside. That stalker.
“One of the guys from just now, that really tall one. You brought him here a few times, didn’t you?”
Namjoon…? “Only once, Auntie.” The second time he came on his own.
“That’s a lot to me.” Auntie takes the wipe cloth away from me and passes me my bag – when did she get this from the room? “Don’t make him wait too long. It’s cold outside.”
“Okay…” Furrowing my eyebrows, I wonder if it’s really Namjoon outside. I told him to go back, didn’t I? I tighten my coat as I step out, bracing myself for the wind. It wasn’t this cold in the day and I’m regretting my choice of outfit now.
“I knew that dress wasn’t a good choice,” Namjoon nags, stepping out of the shadows, my forgotten teddy bear in his arms.
“Don’t tell me you stayed just to return this to me.” I take the furry toy from him and hug it tightly in an attempt to not so obviously cover myself from the cold. Namjoon sighs audibly and strides over, draping a long padding jacket over me.
“This is Yoongi hyung’s. And there’s no way I’m letting you go home alone this late.” Wrapping an arm around me, he brings us to the roadside where he flags for a cab.
“Won’t Jin and Yoongi oppas be worried? Don’t you have schedules in the morning?”
“Yoongi hyung is probably more worried about you, and Jin hyung… he knows.” As a cab stops, Namjoon opens the backdoor for me. I climb in first, him after.
“Know what?”
Namjoon contemplates for a while, his gaze burning through me even in the dark.
“That I like you.”
A/N: SBD has reached 20 subscribers! Many many thanks to everyone for supporting Namjoon and Byeol~ ♥
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