Chapter 2: Dark Brown

Sojung got home from her university at a little late than she usually would. Taking off her shoes she noticed a familiar pair of converse shoes next on the shoes stand.

The house appeared neater than when she left it that morning. Someone found the television remote control (that she lost a couple days agos and pretty sure it was somewhere under the couch) on the glass table. Someone vacuumed the rug and replaced the wilted flowers on the vase with flesh looking yellow and pink tulips, Jessica favorites. Someone must have been cooking in the kitchen because Sojung could smell the wonderful flavor floating in the air and hear the sizzling noises.

And she had a very good feeling who that very someone was.

"What are you cooking?" Asked Sojung entering the small kitchen.

"Food," Kris chimed without looking up. Holding the handle he flipped the pan and catched the flying colorful chili peppers back into the pan.

Sojung always amazed at how he could do that and never had she caught him failed to catch everything back into the pan. Kris said that everyone who can "cook" can do the same thing he did. He and even offer teach let her or let her try to do it if she would like to. She could only shake her head and pouted, "You only want to see me fail miserably and then make fun at me when the food landed on my head."

Kris chuckled amusingly, and preceded by praising her sarcastically, "You're pretty smart."

...

Sojung heard him clearly, but she made a decision not to reply. She knew she wasn't smart.

She knew he knew she wasn't smart either.

She knew his comment meant no harm and it was just a simple joke.

But she couldn't help but starting to think what would happen if she was just a little smarter than the she right now and she back then.

Would she had suffer alone with these suffocated feelings?

Sojung let him alone to do what he was best at. She instead of coming up to her room and take a cold shower, stayed and settled herself on the dinner table of four. She rested her small head on the palm of her hand and sat quietly watching Kris showing off his cooking skills.

 

About fifteen short minutes later, Kris placed two dinner plates of rice, steak and fried vegetable. Afterward, he came back into the cooking place and disappeared behind opened refrigerator door.

He got them each a glass of orange juice and some pieces of ice cubes.

They ate well. Kris cooking always at a chief level to Sojung, but he told her once that he actually wanted to study hard and become a doctor.

'That's a lot of commitment' she remembering thinking. He said that he knew but he had his mind on it because of after everything that had happened. Although he didn't directly say it, she knew.

 

"What color do you think my eyes are?" Sojung asked the older one at the dinner table.

"Just eat your food then go study," Kris suggested finally get to sit down on his chair.

"Really Kris," Sojung said in a pleading voice and opened her eyes widely eyeing him, "what color are they?"

Kris took a deep breath and was about to sigh but instead he let it out slowly. Leaning across from the table where Sojung was sitting and examined her eyes closely. She for some unclassified reason was forced to hold onto her breath. And her heart startled, and it had been quite a while since she felt that way toward him.

"May I ask why you're asking this out of the blue?" Kris asked while squinting. He made a wobbly eyebrows and he looked more confused and decisively by the second.

"Someone asked me the question today at the bookstore. I told him my eyes are brown but I wasn't sure."

"I would say they are dark brown," Kris told her.

"Are you sure they are not just brown?" Sojung questioned almost sounding like she was disappointed that they weren't brown.

"You asked for my opinion and I think they're dark brown," Kris said and chewed his food.

"Perhaps they're only appear darker because of the light," Sojung reasoned and glaring at the low hanging chandelier. "Perhaps they're brown or even light brown in mid-day light."

"Perhaps," said Kris while taking a heartedly bite out of his spring wrap.

"What color are your ey-" Sojung eyes only followed up to Kris oily lips and was about to search for his eyes when he cut her off.

"Just brown," he murmured upon his mouthful of grains.

"How about Jessica?" Her voice sadden and she tried hard to retreat her memory of them.

"Chestnut brown," Kris told her with a slight hesitation. WHY WOULD HE HESITATE?

"We all have a different shade of brown pair of eyes," Sojung realized out loud.

"Oh," Kris breathed and paused momentarily. "Yeah," he acknowledged, "I guess we do."