❝ chapter twelve

e r i c ’ s

It feels strangely nice waking up today with someone on your arm. She looks amazing, even without makeup, she still looks exactly the same. I never realize that I actually missed sleeping next to her ever since our Dubai trip. Somehow, I end up sleeping next to her that night but none of us complain and none of the staffs know anyway. I smile, moving a few strands of her hair from her face and gently moves her so I can get up and wash up without waking her. 

When I came back outside, she’s still asleep and I smiled, remembering our flight to Dubai when she passed out completely on the plane. Well, at least she had a reason back then because of the champagne. I told her she didn’t have to drink it because she can’t take them well but she still did, saying she wanted to know how champagne tasted like and little did we both know, she passed out throughout the whole flight and ended up missing all the meals. 

Her fridge is fill with vegetables for someone who hates vegetables and can’t really cook. I grab some broccoli, a bag of chestnut, some eggs and one tomato. No matter what you do with broccoli, it still gonna tastes the same and it tastes the best when steamed and dip with ketchup so I decided to just steam it. Yongsun will still dislike it no matter what I do to it anyway. Surprisingly, there are bacons in her fridge and bread on her kitchen counter so I fried a few pieces then simply scrambled some eggs.

    “What are you doing?” 

I turn around and she walks over, eyes half-opening and her hair a complete mess. 12 months ago, she would scream and flush out of embarrassing if she ever walked out like this in front of me. Subconsciously, she stands next to me and tilts her head and rests it comfortably on my shoulder. 

    “American breakfast?” She asks. 

    “Will that be too heavy for you?” 

    “Excuse you, Eh Yoondo-nim. We once went to Dubai together and you saw how much I ate from the breakfast buffet.”

I laugh and place all the food onto a plate and she takes them from me to the dining table. We sit across each other and surprisingly, she doesn’t complain about the broccoli and sliced tomatoes in front of her. She definitely still doesn’t like them, she still left those out last night. 

    “Why are your fridge fill with vegetables? I thought you hate them.” 

    “My fridges are always filled with vegetables when I’m on a diet.” She said and bites onto her toast. “That’s the only way I would close the fridge as soon as I open it.” 

    I frown. “So basically, you’re skipping meals?” 

    “I ate hard-boiled eggs, and a few pieces of broccoli or any other vegetables.” 

    I sigh a little. “Please eat. The last thing I want is you starving yourself.” 

There’s suddenly a click from her door and we both turn to see almost immediately. Half of me is completely convinced that her mom is going to walk in on a man in her daughter’s home, possibly after staying a night but then several voices blasted at once from the door and we both sigh in relieve. At least it’s not her mom. 

    “YO, RIC HYUNG!”

They come, running into the kitchen and slide into the empty seats next to us, all dressed up in comfortable clothes without makeup but there are these smug looks on their face that make both of us want to dig our own graves. 

    “Wow, American breakfast.” Hwasa grins, her attention no longer on us but on Yongsun’s food. “We haven’t have our breakfast yet, can you make us some?” 

    “You guys are really shameless.” Yongsun whines, but still feed a piece of broccoli to Byul. 

    “But, you still love us.” Byul shrugs. 

I laugh and get up to make scramble some more eggs, fry some more bacons and put some breads into the toaster. We still have the broccoli and tomatoes left in the pot so it doesn’t take long before I place them all on the plate and give it to the girls. They chorus a thanks and happily dig in. Yongsun watches and just laughs, and I get the leader vibe coming from her immediately.  

    “So, did anything happen last night?” Hyejin asks. “Nothing too fun, right?” 

We both choke on our drinks.

    “Are you sure you’re shy?” I asked. “You said you’re really shy with new people yesterday.” 

    “I’m shy but you’re not new, Ric hyung.” She nods and bites onto her toast. “So, did you?” 

    Yongsun smacks her arm. “No, geez.” 

    “Honestly though, even if you guys decide to, we won’t judge.” Hyejin shrugs with a grin then proceeds to placing a piece of her bacon on her toast and top it with some scramble egg. 

    “Come on, Hyejin. They just start dating the day before yesterday. And you told me off when I asked her if she’s going to marry him.” 

    “Marriage is marriage. This…” She waves her hand in the empty air. “This, you can do it even before marriage.” 

Oh my god.