CHAPTER NINE

The Unsettling Silence

   It was a Saturday morning after the day they finally made up with each other but of course, the love-hate sibling relationship still remained untouchable as they would still bicker once in a while; however, this time, these insults or bickers were no longer genuine and instead they turn out to be just mere playful remarks.

   It was a cloudy day and Soojin had some work to do.The usual routine. Except this time, she decided to tie her hair up into a neat ponytail and she applied light make up over her face. She went down the stairs afterwards, clad in a moss green high-low sweater, as well as a white skater skirt. To top it off, a pair of brown strappy sandals.

   By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs she turned to the mirror right beside her and she grinned to herself. Huh, she did quite a good job in picking her outfit for the day. However, the glee ended just when Woohyun passed right behind her.

   “Still ugly,” he casually said to which Soojin scoffed to.

   “Says the person who is ugly himself.”

   “Well, at least I look better. You look like crap,” he grinned.

   “Language, Woohyun,” Soyeon said as she stepped down the stairs right behind Soojin. “Your sister is a beautiful young lady.”

   “Yes, yes,” Woohyun chuckled. “Of course she is. She got your beauty.”

   Soyeon chuckled watching her eldest enter the kitchen before turning to the young lady right behind her.

   "Good morning, Soojin", she greeted.

   "Good morning, Mom", her daughter greeted back with a hug,

   "Going to work?" Soyeon asked her daughter and Soojin nods. “Love the outfit”.

   Soojin took sight of her mother’s working clothes. "You too?"

   "Yeah. Sorry, dear. I was supposed to have a day off right now. It's just that something suddenly came up, so I just had to".

   "It's alright, Mom".

   "You sure, dear?” she Soojin’s hair. “I mean I’d really love to spend time with you”.

   Soojin nodded. "Certainly. You should go now. Tardiness is not acceptable in your work place. Remember that".

   "Thanks, sweetheart. Because of you, I'll make sure to make yours and Woohyun's favorite desert for tonight".

   Instantly, a smile made its way up to Soojin’s lips as she kissed her mom’s cheek. “Thanks, Mom”.

   "No problem, Sweety", her Mom chuckled stepping out the door.

   "Bye, Mom~"

   Soyeon came closer to her daughter to give her a peck on the cheek. "See you later". She left afterwards and Soojin decided to go to the kitchen to cook breakfast but when she got there, her jaws fell open.

   "What are you doing?" she asked her brother who was now skillfully cooking right in front of her; a side that she wasn’t aware of till now.

   "Cooking", he answered not turning away from what he was doing.

   "Shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked him and Woohyun stopped what he was doing before turning to her with a frown.

   "You don't want your brother to cook you breakfast?" he questioned her as he looked directly into her eyes making her stumble on her own words.

   "Ugh, sorry. It's just that you always sleep in till noon during the weekends” she apologized earning a small smile from Woohyun."Just continue before you burn the house down", she added before heading to the living room to read some books stacked on the shelf.

   It wasn’t long till she lost her interest in them that she went back to the kitchen just to find Woohyun setting the table.

   “Uhmm. Woohyun—“

   "It's Oppa", Woohyun corrected.

   “Riiight…” she mumbled. ”Are we expecting visitors? ", she asked eyeing the eight plates on the table.

   “Nah~ It’s for the cats”, Woohyun replied.

   “Woohyun—“.

   “It’s Oppa”.

   Soojin grunted. “Oppa, we have cats in this house?” She eyed the eight plates placed on the table suspiciously thinking about how cats were supposed to eat in their own bowls but then her stupidity had slapped her in the face when Woohyun made his reply.

   “Of course not stupid!” he let out. “The boys are coming for breakfast. Wait—You actually--”

   "Friends?” Soojin cut in to avoid further embarrassment. “Oohhh~  You mean them with the weird personalities?", she remarked but stopped when Woohyun shot her a glare.

   "Soojin, that's not a nice way to call my friends".

   "What? I'm telling you the truth. They’re all weird. Heck, even you’re weird.” Hearing this Woohyun pouted.

   "Hey... I thought we're good now. Did you forget about yesterday?"

   Soojin let out a laugh. She's been holding it in since she started the ‘he’s friends are weird’ topic. Well, they are weird. They’re just bearable. "No, Oppa. I didn't forget. I'm just kidding with you!", she laughed out.

   Woohyun stared at her dumbfounded.

   "Oh, come on, Oppa. It's just a joke,” Soojin chuckled.

   "I know. It’s just that I had no idea how much I missed you when weren't here,” Woohyun sighed making Soojin let out an 'Aww' as she nudged his arm playful.

   Ding dong

   "Oh! That’s them. I'll go get that. You sit down over here", he said leading her to her chair. He immediately went for the door and opened it.

   "Hey, Woohyun!" Infinite greeted as they poured themselves into their humble abode.

   "Hey, guys!" Woohyun smiled giving each of them a brotherly hug. "Great day, huh?"

   "Yeah, I know! It feels so good that I feel so energetic!" Dongwoo said stretching his arms over his head. Everyone nodded in agreement with his comment.

   "Let’s go. Breakfast's all ready ", Woohyun told them before running to the kitchen.

   Infinite followed him into the kitchen cheering in excitement for the delightful recipes that Woohyun usually makes them. When they entered the place, Sungjong's smile grew brighter as he runs towards his seatmate.

   "Soojin!" he beamed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder hugging her tight. “Morning~”

   "Good morning, Sungjong!" Soojin giggled while hugging him back. Her thoughts roamed back to how he wasn’t able to attend the last remaining classes after PE. She was about to ask him about it when a pair of arms separated them rather harshly for Sungjong and gently for Soojin.

    “Hands of my sister, Jongie”, Woohyun hissed before grabbing the pitcher of iced tea from the counte