The Porridge

The Olive Branch

When the doorbell rang and Jaejoong ran to get the door, he was surprised to see Yuri panting and coughing. She sniffed the icy air and almost glared at the puzzled boy. Jaejoong bit his bottom lip nervously and looked at her with a hint of uncertainty.

"Um, hello Yuri," Jaejoong greeted her. "If you haven't heard, Yunho doesn't want to see you right now--"

"That's not what I'm here for," she said, stepping inside the room without a care. "Where's Jessica?"

"She's upstairs with Yunho," he replied, unconsciously letting her in. He closed the door behind him and followed Yuri to the kitchen. She stared at the clean room, wondering if anything was ever touched. She opened the wooden cabinets, only to find nothing except for cereals and a few spices. Closing the cabinet, she walked over to the kitchen sink, where there was nothing except for a black mug. She looked over to the cooking range, where there was no pots or pans.

"What's she doing upstairs?" Yuri asked him.

"Um, she's giving him a lot of water and is warming his forehead with a towel," he answered.

"What about the medicine? Did he eat any?"

"He said that there was medicine in the cabinet, but there wasn't any--What are you doing?" Jaejoong stared at Yuri, who found a large pot from the lower cabinet. She sighed and put the pot over the cooking range and the fire. Now that Jaejoong had time to examine her, he realized that she was holding two plastic bags in her hands. She lifted them up on the kitchen counter and rolled up her sleeves.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm making porridge," she stated. "Does he gave rice around here?"

"No. Yunho and I usually eat out," Jaejoong explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's a good thing I brought a box of rice myself," she muttered. She glanced over at Jaejoong, then narrowed her eyes. "Can you cook?"

Jaejoong blinked his eyes and stared at his hands. "Um, I don't know. Like I said, I usually go out and eat--"

"If I say that you can go, are you going to go upstairs where Jessica is?" Yuri asked. Seeing Jaejoong turned red, she heaved a sigh and shook her head. "Okay, never mind. You're going to help me cook."

"But what if Jessica needs my help?" he pointed out. "Yunho doesn't want to see your face, remember?"

Yuri grimaced. "T-That's fine. Plus, I'm sure she'll be doing well. Anyways, let's get things started. You are going to wash these abalone and chop it all up, while I go and soak the rice."

She took out two light-pink ear-shaped shells. Jaejoong widened his eyes and stared at the abalone. He poked it with his index finger, then shuddered after withdrawing his hand.

"You want me to chop these up?" he asked, his eyes glued to the abalone.

"Yes. After that, I want you to chop up these carrots and green onions," she said, pulling out the vegetables. Jaejoong bit his bottom lip.

"Can't you just chop these abalone first? I mean, soaking the rice isn't that hard--"

"I said that you are going to chop these abalone, carrots, and green onions. Understand?" she snapped, glaring at the whining boy. Jaejoong groaned, then walked over to the kitchen sink to wash his hands.

"Yes, yes," he muttered, disappointed.

 

"I don't need to drink water," Yunho insisted, coughing. He knocked off the water from Jessica's hand, causing her to spill the clear liquid all over his thin blanket. She gasped, then widened her eyes.

"O-Oh my gosh!" she stuttered. "Your blanket it wet! Let me get you a new one!"

Yunho sneezed twice before pointing to his cabinet. "I think that there are some blankets in that cabinent."

When she opened the brown door, she gasped as a tower of clothes fell on top of her. Yunho slightly chuckled at Jessica, who was buried in all of his clothes. After a few minutes, her head finally popped out of the stack. 

"Not so funny now, is it?" Jessica snapped, holding up his boxers. Suddenly, he flushed his cheeks as he tried to get up.

"S-Stop!" he stuttered, embarrassed. Jessica smirked, then looked at the tag behind the boxers.

"Wow, you even wrote your name in this," she muttered. "Are you that proud of your boxers?"

"Those were--Achoo!--really expensive! My aunt bought them for me!" Yunho defended, getting up. Seeing this, Jessica dropped his clothing and rushed over to his side. She pushed him down the bed, where he gasped for air.

"No way, mister! Yuri said that people with fevers need plenty of sleep and water," Jessica said. "It's already frustrating to know that you don't even have any medicines at the cabinet. You know, Yuri had some medicine with her. Why don't you let her help you?"

Yunho groaned and put his arm over his eyes. "I don't like her."

"Why not? What did she ever do to you?"

"Humiliate me, that's what!" he exclaimed, widened his eyes. "Don't you remember how she stole that trophy from me? It was so frustrating!"

"Why don't you just bribe the judges with money? Doesn't Jaejoong do that to you?"

"Jaejoong pays me. I never asked him to be my friend or the money. The cash is just a bonus," he explained. He heaved a sigh, then coughed. "Besides, I have my pride, too. Dancing is probably the only thing where I won't use money to bribe anyone. Plus, there's this one judge who focuses on 'raw talent,' whatever that means."

"You can't blame her, though. She did try her best. Did you see how flawless and gracefully she danced? Maybe it was a hip-hop styled dance, but she did put some originality into it," Jessica said, getting up. She walked back to the closet, grabbed a thin blanket, and switched it with the current one Yunho was using. Yunho shook his head.

"You don't understand. I promised to BoA that I would be the best dancer she would ever see. I promised her that I would dance for her and to surpass others who stood on my path. Yuri is the current obstacle that I can't pass through!" Yunho uttered, curling up his fingers into a fist.

"Why don't you just embrace the obstacle, then?" she suggested. Yunho stared at her with wide eyes.

"Embra... What? How can I 'embrace' her? You mean date her?" he asked, slightly turning red.

"No, like... Just accept her. Follow her, and let her guide you through whatever you're trying to seek for," she explained. "Plus, isn't it time that you've given up on BoA?"

"I can't give up on BoA, nor can I be behind Yuri and let her 'guide' me."

"Whoever said that you had to be behind her if she was going to guide you? You can always stand next to her. You know, like a friend."

Yunho paused, then stared at Jessica. "You... You really don't understand my situation, do you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I can see your situation, but I probably can't understand it. I'm just pointing out the obvious. You're just looking for excuses."

He shook his head and rested his eyes. "You just don't understand. What excuses am I looking for..."

With those final words, he began to drift off into sleep, replaying what Jessica had said right after he had fallen asleep.

Three hours later, Yunho woke up and found the room empty. He saw that the mess Jessica had made was cleaned up, and that she had folded the wet blanket next his bed. When he tried to stand up, he groaned and began to feel dizzy. He groaned in pain, but managed to get up and walk out of his room. He slowly made his way to the kitchen, only to find a note, a small pack of medicine, and a large pot that he had hardly used on the stove. He dragged his feet towards the kitchen counter and picked up the note, reading the messy handwriting with difficulty.

"'Yuri came over just before you slept to help out. Sorry that I let her in! Jessica left early, so I made the food with Yuri. There's porridge in the pot, so heat it up if you're hungry. Ice cream is in the fridge, and there's plenty of water bottles in there, too. Medicine should be on the counter. Yuri said to take two pills right before you get to bed, but you should eat the porridge before you take them. Hope to see you at school soon! From, Jaejoong.'" Yunho stared at the note, then smirked. "Idiots."

He walked over to the pot, opened it, and found steam coming out of the pot. Too lazy to warm it up, he grabbed a bowl and picked up a silver ladle. With the ladle, he scooped up some porridge and dumped it into the bowl. He closed the pot, grabbed kimchi from the refrigerator, and brought his meal the table. He sat down at his seat, and with another spoon, he picked up his eating utensils and began to chew on the porridge. As he ate his dinner, he nodded his head and stared at the note.

Pretty good, he thought, unconsciously staring at Yuri's name on the note.

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500sunny500
8/11/13: Hey guys! I start school tomorrow, which means that there will be MONTHLY updates instead of weekly updates. Yep... Thanks for understanding!

Comments

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500sunny500
#1
@DylonShinka: I'm like you enjoyed the fanfic! :D I felt that I kind of rushed it too much, but I'm still glad that you liked the ending. ^_^
DylonShinka #2
Chapter 31: Ahh so happy ending~!
really makes those who read it untouched and curious.
Thank you for your story, it was fun ^^
500sunny500
#3
@ErinKrystal: Well, I'm probably not going to do a sequel (and if I was, it would probably highlight their marriage life or maybe one of their children's life), so yeah. ^^;;
ErinKrystal
#4
Chapter 31: I hope you do another sequel! This story so interesting! :D
500sunny500
#5
@roxxi1993: Well, I added the epilogue, if that makes you feel any better. :3 I was going to leave it as a cliff-hanger, but I thought that it would be nicer to add an epilogue instead. >_<
roxxi1993
#6
Chapter 31: Awww I was hoping for one more chapter before it truly ends!
But its so cute how it all ended!
Yunho finally had the courage to kiss Yuri!
And Jaesica got together after a long time of separation!
Thank you for completing the story!
500sunny500
#7
@Glamgirls: Aha, thank you! ^o^
Glamgirls
#8
I love your foreword and description ><
500sunny500
#9
@rapunsyoo: I was planning on having a cliff-hanger, but I decided to just end the story with a short epilogue. :P Thank you for reading! ^_^
rapunsyoo
#10
Chapter 31: OMG THE EPILOGUE >___<
Yes it's kinda unclear for me but still better than hanging the story tho.
Good job author ^^