Bland!

Completely and utterly bland!

No matter how much spice Eunhyuk had poured into the so-called stew he was brewing, the whole thing still tasted flavorless. Eunhyuk’s brows scrunch together in a confuse frown, his small eyes slanted at the stew like he was threatening it to taste better on its own or else… Eunhyuk let out a frustrated sigh, making his soft bangs to rise and fall.

Eunhyuk had spent a better part of his day searching for a recipe, from an online resource, in order to create a flawless- in other words, a reward worthy- dish for dinner, tonight. Especially after the fiasco in the morning, now Eunhyuk was hell bent in making sure Donghae would not be able to outsmart him this time around.

Eunhyuk’s hand tightened around the spoon he was holding when Donghae’s victorious smirk from earlier that day flashed through his mind… reminding him of ignominy he faced in the morning…

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.

Eunhyuk tapped his foot on the linen floor, impatiently, his rubber gloved hands- still slightly wet- folded across his apron adorn chest and his mouth set in an angry pout, as his eyes tried to drill holes in the smirking jerks head.

“Can you at least try to drink it fast?” Eunhyuk demanded, finally exploding with frustration as his eyes skipped to the wall clock, whose hands mocked him with a clear 07 34, time read. “Hyukjae already left… I am gonna be late for school.”

Eunhyuk’s whinny tone earned him another amused smirk, as Donghae raised his lukewarm cup of coffee and took a luxurious sip from it, all the time keeping eye contact with fuming younger twin, his reddish hair giving an impression of fire sizzling with hate.

“Nope… it’s hot,” Donghae’s lame excused made Eunhyuk swear like a sailor, making Donghae to chide at him to use proper language.

“Fine! I am leaving then.” Eunhyuk announced before tearing off the rubber gloves and apron. “You can clean your cup, later.”

“But it’s your duty to do dishes in the Morning, remember?” Donghae reminded the latter, his voice edging toward stifled laughter. “I thought you wanted the reward for good work… didn’t you?”

Eunhyuk could only glare at the teasing elder, a vein popping in his forehead, but kept walking toward the main door. The younger knew very well that it was all elder’s plan to make sure Eunhyuk would not be able to get the reward he so desperately wanted… and unfortunately Donghae was successful in pissing Eunhyuk off.

Eunhyuk slammed the door behind him, as he hastily started running toward his school with his backpack flying behind him.

“This is war, Lee Donghae… and I am not gonna back down without a fight,” Eunhyuk swore under his breath as he slipped pass the gigantic iron wrought gates of North View High, before the gate keeper could close them.

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“I am so going down without a fight,” Eunhyuk groaned loudly, seeing as his impeccable dinner was inclined toward a fiasco dinner. “Moreover, I have lost before the start of the war.”

“Hey, Hyuk aren’t you coming for tuition at Mr. Cho’s house?” Hyukjae’s sleepy drawl drifted into the studio Kitchen as the slightly elder twin came out of his temporary bedroom.

“Nah, I am busy,” Eunhyuk replied shortly, pouring his concentration on a recipe tab open on his smart phone.

“Oh,” Hyukjae inhale of disappointment was quite transparent in his tone.

“Aren’t you glad you would be all alone with Mr. Cho, though?” Eunhyuk inquired teasingly, turning around to give a suggestive wink to his brother. “Especially after what you did the other day, I don’t think Mr. Cho would want me to come between you two anymore.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Hyukjae all but shouted in amazement. “I don’t think I would ever be able to look him in the eye, after that day. I think Mr. Cho is also avoiding me. Didn’t you see how he rushed out of class after today’s lecture, not a single student had moved but he just threw his things and left and I swear he literally ran away when he saw me coming from opposite side of corridor after lunch.”

“Well, you can confront him today, right?” Eunhyuk mumbled distractedly as his portion started boiling and rising. “Oh no…” the younger twin mumbled under his breath before turning the stove off as quickly as possible.

“Nah,” Came Hyukjae’s reply as he went to sit on the couch, LED’s remote controller in his hand, not aware of the trouble his twin was going through. “If you are not going then I am not gonna go as well.”

“Great!” Eunhyuk exclaimed, giddily turning around to face his twin, who was lazily sprawled on the sofa. “Then you can help me with the dinner.”

“I don’t think so,” The slightly elder of two replied, eyes fixed on the animated moving that was being shown on the screen. “Donghae Hyung had strict orders that the person assigned the chores would have to do the chores himself,” Hyukjae turned his face to give a smirk to his fuming brother. “Remember?”

“Brat!” The other muttered under his breath, mentally killing Donghae and Hyukjae a couple of times before his attention was stolen by the a-little-too liquidly stew he had created.

O-o-o-o-O

“I am afraid to try this,” Hyukjae said out loud while pouring a spoon full of the stew back in the dish, making it fall like a waterfall. “Why is it too runny and why is the color too red? Did you make it extra spicy?”

Eunhyuk slowly shook his head, keeping his lips seal because he didn’t wanted to be the one to inform them about the actual taste of the thing Eunhyuk would like to call ‘dinner’. He was hoping that somehow the taste of this terrible food will be able to satisfy Donghae’s palate… because in all honesty, who cares what Hyukjae think? Donghae is the one who will hand out the reward, right?

“Maybe it tastes better than it looks,” Donghae muttered encouragingly but his crunched up nose- in displeasure- gave away the fact that the man hardly believe his own words. “Let’s start the dinner.”

Two plates of stew were filled to the brim… a few moments passed, with Donghae and Hyukjae staring at each other, like daring the other to try first.

“You both can try at the same time you know,” Eunhyuk grumbled in annoyance seeing how he was being look down upon as a cook, rightfully so but Eunhyuk would be damn to admit it out loud. “It really isn’t as bad as you may think.”

Maybe it was the hint of hurt that laced Eunhyuk’s words or the sad expressions he had on his face or the consequence of his words, but after another second of contemplating, both Donghae and Hyukjae took a bite of their food and showing unity they held, they both spit it out at the same time.

“You said it wasn’t as bad!” Hyukjae accused the laughing Eunhyuk while coughing loudly. “Did you do it on purpose?”

“As unbelievable as it may sound but trust me, I tried my best to make a good dinner,” Eunhyuk said in his defense, trying to tone down the laughter bubbling inside him because of the look his twin and his current lust interest had the moment they put a spoon full of stew in their mouths.

“I can’t eat this even if I am starving,” Hyukjae huffed, pushing the plate away and turned to give Donghae- who was still coughing with his eyes lightly bulged out- his puppy eyes. “Can’t we order pizza, Donghae Hyung?”

“Rather than ordering in, how about a proper dinner at a restaurant?” Donghae suggested, pushing his own plate at a safe distance and disregarding the furious expressions Eunhyuk had on his fair face. “That way you don’t have to do the dishes tonight.”

“That would be awesome!” Hyukjae exclaimed before getting up and running to his bedroom while throwing a quick “Let me grab my jacket,” over his shoulder.

“Hey! But what about these two plates you guys dirtied?” Eunhyuk whined like a toddler, inside fuming because of how easily Donghae had dismissed the dinner Eunhyuk had spent hours working on. “Hyukjae should do these dishes and a few that are sitting in the skin, as well.”

“No,” Donghae shook his head, eyeing Eunhyuk’s flushed face with satisfaction and internally patting himself for how he would make the other even more red in anger for what he is about to say next. “You should do them. Consider it your punishment for making such a terrible dinner… I know it must be another one of your prank.”

“No it’s not,” Eunhyuk tried protesting but was left cursing under his breath when Donghae went to get his wallet and jacket from his room. “That’s so unfair! I didn’t prank anyone all day long!”

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While on the other side, a smirking Donghae was watching Eunhyuk wail and shout to an empty room.

“Well, I learned pranking from the best,” Donghae muttered under his breath, recalling how he had replaced the spices in his kitchen with tasteless edible color powders while the twins were at school. “The war has just started Eunhyuk, I hope you don’t back out just yet.”

O-o-o-o-O

“That’s not fair,” Eunhyuk protested, yet again, with a deep pout around his plush lips as he glared at the offender, who had literally thrown him out of the house before hurling Eunhyuk’s school bag at him. “Hyukjae didn’t go yesterday when I was busy making dinner so why can’t I skip when Hyukkie is busy, huh?”

“Because…” Donghae dragged out the last syllable in a teasing manner while luxuriously leaning against the door frame. “Hyukjae told me all about your little prank; you know, how you landed him and yourself in this private tutoring session with your teacher. Clearly, Hyukjae is a topper… you, on the other hand, in Maths, so you have to go attend the lesson while I would permit Hyukjae to skip for one more day.”

“That’s still not fair,” Eunhyuk tried whining again, making his eyes to grew wider and as pitiful as possible.

“Life isn’t fair, ma boy,” Donghae snorted before slamming the door shut, at Eunhyuk’s face.

“Jerk!” Eunhyuk hissed under his breath before turning around to face the greying sky. For last couple of days, in evening, the sky grows cloudy and it won’t be long before rainy days start. Eunhyuk just hope today isn’t that day, even though that would be the last nail in the coffin to ensure his bad luck… which wouldn’t be surprising.

Slowly but steadily, the poor kicked out boy started making his way to his tutor’s house, ment