" No, the mixture has to form bubbles on top ! " I nagged as we were busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. " Make sure to combine the flour and the sugar first into the blender. "

" Um, so the salt goes last ? " Joshua scratched his head. 

I swated his hand away, " No, the butter goes last. Just let me do it. " 

" Then who'll be handling the waffles ? " 

" Oh no ! The waffles ! " I shoved the batter to him and skittered towards the stove where the waffles were cooking. Ugh, I suppose my skills became rusty after not entering the kitchen for a while. 

I turned off the gas and peeped, I sighed in relief. I took out the the waffles from the waffle pan. " Get the plates ! " I told Joshua.

I carefully put the waffles in each plate, and passed them over to Joshua. " You can decorate them with these strawberries, cut them in half and put them on top . Oh! And remember to add butter and syrup. "

He just shook his head and followed what I said, " I'm honoured that I have this job. Decorating waffles. "

I wiped my flour covered fingers on his cheek, it caught him off-guard. " Hey ! " he crossed his arms.

I didn't know what got into me, I stuck out my tongue playfully. " Two can play at this game ! " and he planted his palm onto the table covered with flour and wiped it all over my face.

" Ahh ! " I exclaimed and ran around, the bowl of batter still in my hands. I pointed at him with the batter spoon. " Don't you dare ! "

He merely laughed and kept chasing me around, and we were running around the kitchen like a bunch of kids. I completely forgot about breakfast and I was focused on having fun with Joshua Hong. I couldn't win by bringing that bowl around... I grabbed a handfull of flour from the packet and tossed it at him, staining his clothes with white powder. 

He looked bewildered, but got over it quickly and returned an attack. I was positive my clothes were already dirty, but I didn't mind and continued tossing flour at him.

" Yah! Take that ! " I said and laughed as I saw his face covered in white. " Why hello, Casper . " I .

" You look like a geisha. " he cracked up. 

I puffed out my cheeks and glanced at the table, reached for the carton and grabbed an egg. " Don't make me ! " I warned him. " Or you're yolked ! "

He lunged at me and and back-hugged me from behind, I tried wringgling out but I just kept giggling. I was extremely ticklish, I couldn't stand it.

" Ahhh ! Joshua ! " I yelped and moved about to escape his arms. " It tickles ! " and I was just swallowed down by laughter.

" I'm never gonna let you go ! " he said while he tightened his linked arms around me. " Not a chance, Jeon Minju."

There was something funny happening to my heart, it wasn't skipping a beat ; it was literally doing jumping jacks. I didn't care much, I grabbed some of the batter in the bowl and spread some on his cheek playfully. That was where he stopped fooling around and stared at me with those eyes of his again. Do you know the feeling when the chorus is going to suddenly drop and all the music stops for a microsecond but you get those hanged feelings? Like you were waiting for the next thing to happen ?

" Whoops, shouldn't have done that..." I used my fore finger and scraped off the batter on his cheek, I was blushing out of embarassment. " Here you go, it should be in your mouth..."

What I didn't expect, he leaned in closer and opened his mouth to taste the batter. I was kind of scared that my fingers might touch his lips or something. They don't, but barely.

" Oh my gawd, that was sooooo adorable ! " we both heard someone squeal from behind. Our heads whipped towards that direction.

Jane.

" Jane ! " both of us scolded. Then we realized both of us were still in each others arms, we let go of each other. 

Joshua cleared his throat, " It's not what you think, we were preparing breakfast. "

Jane was hiding her smirk, " Okay, then. Continue ' preparing breakfast' then..." and she skipped off, humming some tune.

I was blushing like crazy now... But I had some kind of happy feeling inside me, what was it? It was like I was happy, in the absolutely strangest way possible...

I looked at Joshua and giggled, he frowned.I just shook my head and took a step closer to him, reached up and wiped off the tint of batter at the corner of his mouth. He looked surprised, but in a good way. I plopped the leftover batter into my mouth, to be honest it was really tasty.

" Mmm." I made a gesture. " Cinnamon, it's really good ! "

Joshua shook his head, rolled his eyes and continued decorating the waffles.

Mr and Mrs Hong yawned as they came downstairs. That morning, she was wearing a plain white blouse and blue jeans. As soon as she saw the food we had settled on the table, she stared in awe.

" Oh my god! " she exclaimed in delight. " This- this, did you make this, Minju ? " 

" Joshua helped too ! " I tugged at Joshua's sleeve, and he nodded eagerly. " I would never had done it alone. "

Mr Hong sniffed and let out a satisfied sigh, he looked at us and made a face. " Well, that explains how both of your clothes are covered in flour. As long as you two didn't break anything. "

I looked at myself self-consciously, and looked at Joshua as well. Indeed, our clothes were covered in flour, even there was some flour present in his hair. I doubted I looked any better, my cheeks were bound to have at least one white mark that Joshua gave me during our little brawl in the kitchen. I think he knew what I was thinking, because he returned my grin and both of us snickered.

All of us settled at the table and we ate the breakfast Joshua and I had made for everyone. We made pancakes, crepes, waffles ( I was in-charge of the complicated baking ) while Joshua was on bacon and eggs. We decided to try something new rather than plain milk or orange juice, so we made banana smoothies.

Mrs Hong stuck her knife in the pancakes and slowly chewed, for some reason I was getting nervous. She was closing her eyes, like she was a real judge evaluating me on the Asian Food Channel.

" This is the most delicious breakfast I've ever had ! " she praised. " You're a better cook than me, Minju. "

My stomach was having butterflies already...

" Unni, this is sooooo good ! " Jane kept saying with a mouthful. " How are you born this talented ?!!! "

I chuckled, " I learned the hard way, but thank you for liking it ! Trust me, I could never do it alone. " I glanced at Joshua, he was hiding his smile, but I could see the corners of his mouth going up.

Mr Hong nodded in recognition and cut through the eggs and bacon, " These eggs and bacon are cooked just right too, well done. "

" Oh that would have to be Joshua's, he made that. " 

Jane choked, " Mwuh ? Oppa, is Minju unni joking ? I don't think I've ever seen you cook..."

Joshua glared at her, " Well, low and behold, your dear brother knows how to cook. "

Jane played with the eggs with her fork, " Hmm, the eggs and bacon do look a bit burnt..."

Joshua stabbed a piece from his sister's plate and ate it. " Well you don't have to eat it, you ungrateful girl. " he started pulling away her plate.

" Hey ! " and Jane pulled it back. " I never said I wasn't going to eat it..."

I laughed and kept on eating my breakfast.

" Dear, have you heard of the news back home ? " Mr Hong suddenly threw in the question.

" No, what is it ? " Mrs Hong frowned.

" It's all over the newspaper. " he said. " Jeon Dongwoo has divorced . "

I stopped eating, my hands were already turning numb. Jeon Dongwoo, that name kept ringing in my head. I looked down at my plate, so no one would notice my expression.

" Isn't he that famous CEO in our country ? " Mrs Hong asked. " What about him ? "

" Something about his relationship with his wife, tabloids are digging for the story. " he said. " There were rumours that he already had an affair years before, only now the cat is out. "

An affair before ? Was it about my mom ? I had so many questions that were making me uncomfortable, my hands were shaking. Don't care, just don't care. He has nothing to with you, Wonwoo has nothing to do with you. I kept saying in my mind.

" Isn't his son one of your friends, Joshua ? " Mrs Hong had to mention him...

" Yes, Jeon Wonwoo. We're not close, but I hang out at his table during lunch. " he answered.

Why did he have to mention his name ?!!!!!! I had no idea why I was so affected just by mentioing his name, but I felt like my head was about to have a migrain. I didn't  notice I knocked down my spoon. Everyone looked at me.

" Sorry about that..." and I ducked under the table and picked up my spoon. Now my hands were under the table, and they were still talking about Wonwoo and his family issue. Seriously, I was about to explode.

Then I noticed Joshua grabbed my hand under the table and held it, he gave my hand a squeez. Somehow, I felt most of the weight was coming off my shoulders. I felt relieved for some reason.

" Oh dear, what now ? " Mrs Hong asked. 

" Well, it said he gave up on the company. His property, everything. Now hi ex-wife's taken over the company, I'm not sure if she'll even let him work there anymore. He moved out. "

" And what about his son ? " 

" There was a rumour he left the house as well. But it's still just a rumour, I wouldn't believe it. I mean, he's just a teenager and he has never experienced this sort of thing. There's no way his mother would let him do that. "

Wonwoo leaving ? To be honest I wasn't sure what to decide, he wasn't the kind of person who could endure sadness that easily. Then I thought again, he endured our breakup pretty quickly. So maybe he could get over his parents' split as well. As for his dad, it was better I didn't even give a damn about him...

Like I said, they weren't worth it.

I pushed the thought of them away, and drank my banana smoothie. Suddenly, Joshua stabbed a piece of his waffle with fork and offered it to me. I stared at him blankly.

" Thank you for making breakfast with me, eat up. " he brought the fork closer to my mouth.

I opened my mouth and swallowed the waffle. I didn't know why, but the piece he fed me ; it felt ten times sweeter than usual, tender to the bone. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. I figured it was only fair if I did the same, I cut out a piece of bacon and offered it to him. He ate it. 

I laughed out loud when I spotted some froth from the smoothie stained the corner of his mouth. I took a napkin and touched his face. 

" Hold still. " I said while laughing breathlessly, and gently wiped it off. He realized it and just grinned at me, his smile always did that to me. 

That strange butterfly effect.