Taecyeon

It's morning, my head is completely beating like it's about to explode. I think I overslept and I groan loudly. Eyelids drooping like syrup over pancakes, I lazily move my legs to the right side of the bed, getting ready to drag myself out of it. I yawn then rub my eyes and prompt my back up, then clamber out of bed gingerly, ignoring the lonesome ladder that attached to my upper bed. My sister's bed is empty and tidy as well as the room, which is surprising. My room is never clean and tidy, ever. The drawers in my closet actually closed and the cupboards are nicely shut. I blink several times and then shake my head awake.

The clock says it's seven am and my forehead gets invaded by disapproving creases. Walking around outside the room and reaching the bathroom, I scan the dorm thoroughly in search of my sister but she's nowhere to be seen and I scratch my head, "Yumi?" I call out.

"Taecyeon!" Her voice is high pitched and it's coming from the bathroom.

I mentally thank God for not busting the door open and greet her, "Morning,"

"Good morning," her voice is closer to the door as I near my ear to it, then suddenly it slits open and half of her face is apparent. "Listen," she says nervously, "Um, where do you exactly put the toilet paper?" her cheeks are slightly flushed as she asks.

I chuckle and then indoctrinate her, "When you're sitting on the toilet, you reach your hand into a cabinet hammered to the wall. Slide it open and you'll find it," she nods and is about to ask a question but I quickly add, "It's on your right,"

She dandles her head then gently closes the door. She makes me wait for a few seconds then I hear the flush of the toilet and then water pouring from the faucet. I lock my arms over my torso and tap my foot on the floor while pursing my lips, my mind drifting away with questions like how can she uses the toilet on her own? Does she feel the toilet before sitting on it? Don't girls use pads for their monthly period? Does she have a monthly period? Is she going to bring them into this bathroom? My eyes bulge in horror and in the exact same moment, she yanks the door open and stares at nothing while I stare back at her.

She's wearing pink pajamas with white rabbits printed on them, her bangs are slightly parted and she has pulled her hair into a skewed ponytail. Her eyes showing a meager worry and she asks as if to confirm, "Taecyoen?"

"I'm right here," I tell her, unable to look straight into her eyes after thinking about their .. period.

She itches her forehead with her index finger and then moves to press her nostrils together in anxiety, "Ni-san," she begins and a smile forms itself on my lips. It's been such a long time since she called me that, seven years if I'm right and I sense her building worry.

"What's wrong?"

"I … I … I …," she says repeatedly then her fists are clenched and she grits her teeth together, showing determination, "I … don't know how to wash my hair," she smiles proudly at herself, leaving me dumbfounded.

"I beg your pardon?" I say impassively, my head moves forward, as if dislocating my whole body from it.

She holds her ponytail and reiterates, "I don't know how to wash my hair. Momma always washes my hair then lets me take a shower," water creeps out and lingers in the rims of her eyes, "I'm sorry, Ni-san,"

I'm still flabbergasted but I push her inside the bathroom lightly and I enter myself. Widening her eyes, Yumi searches for me and I put my hand over her head and force it in my direction. Then I grab a towel rested on top of the shut toilet that I guess belongs to her and open the tab.

She hears the water rippling and I run my hand through it to check the temperature. A bit warm, I ask her about her preferred temperature and she extends her hand, I take it and let her fingers dance in the water. She smiles happily in approval and then I stop, no ideas popping into my head on how am I going to help her wash her hair. My hand cupping my chin as I think, Yumi gets down to her knees and bends her head near the streaming warm water, relieving me from the stress of thinking.

I splash water over her hair and for some reason I'm amused as a stupid smile plasters itself on me. Placing the water in good position so as to leave it falling on her head directly, I run my fingers in her hair gently but awkwardly, afraid of pressing too hard yet ignorant to how am I doing.

Silence is played and the water mixing with her long dark hair creates a light music. It trickles down her neck and reaches the collar of her pajamas, wetting her back and I assume it reaches the front. I apologize to her immediately, pushing the water away and she just laughs it off.

"So how come you don't know how to wash your hair?" Curiosity insatiable.

She stutters at first but then answers truthfully, "My first 'alone' shower was when I turned thirteen. I insisted that I was old enough to wash my own hair and body without mother placing me in the tub and rubbing my back. So, momma being the nice person she is leaves her stupid daughter struggling with the shampoo that stung her eyes," I remember what Mrs. Carcax said to me about Yumi, she said whenever she's angry at herself or disappointed, she speaks in third person, completely resenting herself to the point she doesn't want anything relating her to the action she's done.

I nod thoughtfully and she continues, "So after she wails, momma comes hurrying, her heart was about to leap out of and then she forbade me,"

Thirteen,I think. Then slowly, I realize that I'm not sure how old Yumi is. She looks thirteen or fourteen but I'm not sure, so I shake my head and squeeze shampoo into my palm and start massaging her head, foam bubbling up. Yumi-chan, mother used to call her; I reminisce about her childhood as she works on stabling herself.

"Yumi, how old are you?" I blurt.

A laugh bubbles out of and she says, "Juu-Roku,"

I scrunch up my face, my mouth set in a disappointed, helpless grown while my eyes shut for a second. Recalling Japanese numbers, I count loudly then I reach it. I gasp; regarding her figure and physic she looks nothing like sixteen. And she's very quiet to be in that age, aren't sixteen years old girls wild and crazy? Billion boyfriends? Drugs and cigarettes? Or maybe, a boyfriend for her sweet sixteen? She's got to be ually active, isn’t she?

"You're kidding," I exclaim.

She shakes her head as I take the water closer to her, washing the foam away. "I swear it,"

"You're like … three years younger than Chansung and Junho!" my tone bleached with surprise.

"Yup, I know,"

Finishing with the rinsing, I place the towel on top of her head and wrap her hair inside it. She straightens her back and bows to me, thanking me respectfully, "Arigatou,"

Her face looks better today. The black shadow beneath her eyes has lessened and her eyes are no longer puffy from the crying. Despite getting rid of all that, her skin remains pale and a bit unenergetic. But I'm pleased nonetheless, I pinch her cheeks monstrously friendly telling her to get out of the bathroom so as to leave me to take my rest.

I open the door to allow her to exit only to find Wooyoung's oddly expressive face stares at me and then at Yumi, then a look of worry mixed with wonder enfolds him, "What were you guys doing in there?"

"Wooyoungie!" I exclaim, trying to change the subject. It would be weird if I told him I was washing my sister's hair. "Morning, bro!"

He lifts his chin up as in response and eyes me carefully, "Hurry up, I need to pee,"

Yumi gets out from the bathroom and bows to Wooyoung, completely out of direction; her towel falling out of her head as she does so and she tries to collect it, lowering her body to the ground and flailing her arms out on the floor as she arbitrarily searches for it. 

Wooyoung seizes it and hands it over to Yumi who smiles gratefully and starts piling it up on her hair like a child. He laughs at her then puts the towel accurately over her head. I don't know why but I chock, after finding out that she's a teenager, an adolescent soon-to-be an adult, I feel the urge of gripping Wooyoung's hand and ing it away. Sixteen year old girls are valuable, aren't they?

Still, I find a twinkle of amusement in my heart as I understand Wooyoung's acceptance. He is not as hostile as yesterday, perhaps I should thank Khun for that.

"Wooyoung," I say sternly, though, catching myself acting extremely bizarre and out of character, "Yumi's sixteen,"

Swiftly decoding the message, he takes his hand away from her and apologizes then turns to me and says, astonishment lifting his eyebrows high up his forehead, "I thought she is a child,"

I shrug as I too thought she is only thirteen. Although we both acted weird towards finding out she's sixteen, we have no idea why we cringed away like that. She is still younger than us but somehow, it makes her more … aware? … or gives her a bigger account of respect and surely, she has her period.

…

Finishing with the bathroom, Wooyoung follows in and then it's time for her to take her shower. She runs to the room, her hand attached to the wall and comes back with a bag in her hand, she's clutching it close to her almost flat torso. Hair still dripping wet, she enters the bathroom and locks it this time, conscious that the men will be waking up soon.

She spends half an hour in the bathroom then comes out wearing a knee-length white dress, her hair piled up in a bun and her fringe covering her forehead. The bag looks more stuffed and ruffled than before but it still shows her neurotic side.

I'm in the kitchen, cooking breakfast for the guys. Traditional Korean one that is and wonder if Ma cooked Korean meals back in the US. She courses to the room, places her bag there and comes back, fixing her dress.

It's a fluffy white tunic with long sleeves, small sunflowers made out of wool threads are sewed in the brims. She looks even more like a child but I keep reminding myself she's not. She approaches the kitchen and I am surprised yet proud of her memorizing ability, which kind of makes things easier for me. She lowers her back mildly, putting both hands behind it and clasping them, she says, "I smell Kongnamul Bab," stretching each vowel in the sentence, belling the last.

"Yeah," I chuckle and heave a relieved sigh, "You like it?"

"No," she answers as a matter of fact but then smiles widely, her eyes directed to my ear, "It's Momma's favorite for breakfast,"

I can't fight the small frown that comes over me but I soon smile, "How about a cold cucumber soup?" reaching for the pot I left the soup in.

She shakes her head and almost gags, "I hate Korean food. Momma cooks a lot of those but I make my own meals, so don't worry,"

"You can make your own meals but can't wash your hair?" I ask indifferently, nearly dumbfounded.

She giggles and presses her fingers to her lips, "It's true. But I promise, I'll do my best, I won't ask you to wash my hair ever again,"

My eyes bulge, what was that for then?. "Conspiracy," I comment, using a thick Cinema voice to enthrall the situation. "What will you be eating?" I ask as she turns around and enters the kitchen. She says as she stands behind me, "Okayu,"

I'm confused, "I thought we already said that,"

She gives me a light bash from the back and says, "That's Ohayo, Ni-san. I'm eating Okayu: rice porridge," she starts rinsing her hands and asks me to hand her a glass.

"Morning," Nichkhun greets, his hand raised in the air, "Hey, Yumi,"

She smiles and says, "Good morning, Nichkhun-san,"

He smiles at her and sits in a chair opposite the counter and asks, "What's for breakfast, manager Ok?" in English, minding Yumi, I suppose.

"Usual Korean breakfast," I point at Yumi with my thump as she measures the water in the glass I gave her earlier using her index finger and say, "She's making rice porridge,"

Khun purses his lips and a look of worry reveals his thoughts, "Can she do that?" asking that in Korean.

I shrug my shoulders and reply, "I'll watch,"

Yumi starts off with washing the rice. She obtains a bowl and scoops the cup of rice in the water lapping in it. She begins washing it, renewing the act several times and then cleaning the water out. I peek a glimpse and see that the water is transparent, which means the rice is clean.

Skillfully, Yumi ignites the stove and she takes the cup of rice and pot filled with water near it, careful not to touch the fire, she nears her fingers to the source, feeling the heat rising from it, she smiles absentmindedly, she looks up and searches the air with her eyes and I ask her what she needs, she tilts her head to one side and says, "Saucepan,"

I fumble through the cabinets, eager to see how she's cooking so easily. Hurriedly giving her, she puts it on the fire, then pours the water and rice into it. Yumi sighs and tucks a strand behind her ear and folds her arms against her chest, Khun and I are watching her every step like little kids mesmerized by a new shiny toy.

Junho and Wooyoung appear, they're laughing together, sending one another friendly punches and come sit right next to Nichkhun. They both don't notice our abducted attention and Wooyoung's stomach growls, "I'm hungry,"

Neither Nichkhun nor I answer, we just stare enthusiastically at Yumi. Junho  grimaces and glances over to Yumi who puffs her fringe away from her eyes, completely unaware of our burning gazes. Chansung trails behind Junsu and both sprawl their bodies languorously on the couches, Chansung stating, "I'm very, extremely hungry,"

"Aren't you always?" Wooyoung laughs.

Yumi leaps suddenly, like she's waken up from a daydream, hearing the bubbling water and puts her fingers near the heat as she slowly tries to lower it down, only that results in turning the fire to a more fierce state. Quickly, she turns it the other way and the heat is torpid.

"What time is it now, Ni-san?"

"It's 9:14," the digital clock announces and I voice its news.

"Can you please tell me if it reached 9:46?" she cordially asks and I believe she's trying to be polite in front of the others.

"Sure,"

Meanwhile, the boys group around the counter as I put the food in front of them and they start digging. Eating everything up, Chansung burps and I notice Yumi stifling a giggle but I scold him nonetheless, "Watch it, we have a lady on board,"

"That kid isn't a lady, come on," Chansung smiles, brushing his fingers through his hair.

"Believe it or not, she's sixteen," Wooyoung says, his mouth full of food.

Everyone's head turn to Yumi who's again oblivious to our attention. She scratches her arm as she waits for her meal to simmer. Again and again does she bite and release her lower lip and she starts amending her ear piercings, each earring is checked and scanned by her fingers. Finishing with that, she begins with her dress, smoothing it down and pulling the sleeves down to cover her wrists.

Junsu breaks the silence and laughs idiotically, "Yeah, right,"

"It's 9:40,"

Yumi's head shoots up and she glances over to us, "Is it?"

"Uh-huh," I confirm and she signals for me to come closer to her. I do and when I put my hand over head indicating that I was near her, she asks me to check the rice and it looks and smells real good.

"Let's wait those six minutes," she suggests and gives me a light, unmistakably cute, tilt of the head.

"What's she doing?" our youngest asks, smelling the faint scent of the cooked rice.

I answer him and I can sense the eagerness, Chansung and food!

Yumi's six minutes are finished and she requests a bowl from me and a Japanese spoon which I inform her we don't posses but I vamp it up with giving her a big spoon so that she can pour the thick liquid in her plate. I can't really deny how delicious it looks, a nice pearly color of the rice sends my already filled stomach into a frenzy of growls and I clutch it in the folly attempt of her not hearing it. Howsoever, my sister chuckles at me and says, "You want to taste?"

She doesn't wait for me to answer and offers her spoon to me and smiles, "Did I inherit your cooking powers?"

Nichkhun laughs at that and inquires if he can have some too. She nods keenly and walks over to the counter and places the plate on it, "Bon appetite,"

Chansung grabs his spoon and wolves the bowl down but thankfully, both Nichkhun and I get a share and the three of us exclaim, "Awesome!"

"Oishii," Khun says as he skillfully steals a another spoonful from Chansung who glares at him and takes the bowl away protectively.

Wooyoung stares at Chansung and lifts his brows up and pouts, "We want some too," indicating to the Jun brothers and himself.

Yumi bows in our direction and says, "Kamsahamnida," then  her cheeks turn red and she looks at the floor, "It's the only Korean word I know,"

I pat her back proudly and stimulate, "Don't worry, I'll teach you,"

Her eyes move to my direction and she clasps her bun, "I sort of bought a book that teaches Korean behind Momma's back," heat rising up not only to her cheeks but her whole face, "I got it with me, so you don't worry,"

"Thumps-up," I tell her as I practically do it.

"Taecyeon-hyung," Chansung's best cute voice –which isn't really- calls me and I turn to him as he says, "Tell her to make more, please,"

They all laugh at him and so do I, Yumi just stares widely and smiles. Wooyoung snorts and Junho chants, "Pig, Pig,"

The other man slaps Junho and Wooyoung on the scalp and hisses, "You didn't even taste it, you'd do the same if you did,"

"Well, you didn’t give us the chance to, Pig-sung," Wooyoung retorts and smirks.

"Ah, Yumi, Chansung ate your meal," Nichkhun begins, "Do you think you can make another one?"

Yumi nods once more and says, "Sure. Does he want more?"

Understanding that, Chansung nods, his mouth falling open and his eyes gleaming at Yumi. "Female cooking is far better than male cooking," he says.   

"Shut up," I hiss.

My sister gets back to work and performs the same thing she did but with a bigger quantity, tripling all the ingredients and using larger cookware. Chansung waits impatiently for her to finish and she keeps telling me it's not ready yet. The boys retreat from the counter and some enter their rooms and prepare themselves to go to work. I have to finish too so that I can go to 'Family Outing 2' and film the delayed episode so I excuse myself which leaves Chansung, Wooyoung and Nichkhun alone with Yumi. I'm kind of relieved that Khun is there but I'm still worried, which makes me wonder why do I worry so much.

The Okayu finishes and she pours it in a huge bowl, this time I warn Chansung not to eat too much and leave her something to eat. He nods apologetically and asks me whisperingly, "How do you say Thank you in Japanese?"

"You can just thank her in English," I answer back.

"No! Isn't she a Japanese person? Saying it in Japanese would make it more profound," his tone's serious and I strenuously fight the mocking laugh that threatened to erupt from me. I tell him the word and he bows to me in respect and thanks. Leaving that, I enter my room to change my raiment.

"Dig in," she puts the bowl on the counter and calls, "Chansung-san,"

Chansung jumps from his seat and swiftly sits in front of his rice porridge, tongue lashing out from his lips. Wooyoung follows behind him, slowly approaching the seat next to him. Yumi has taken a small portion of the meal and put it in a soup bowl, vapor touching her skin, she says whisperingly, "Itadakimasu,"

Nichkhun stares at Wooyoung who creeps from Chansung's shoulder and stares at the rice, the smell hitting him finally. Saliva forms in his mouth and he requests cutely, "Can I taste?"

"Absolutely not," Chansung says stolidly, his mouth full.

Yumi looks up from her bowl and she asks in English, "Nichkhun-san, who's in the room?"

"Chansung and Wooyoung,"

She nods notably, then asks, "Did he taste some?" clearly asking about Wooyoung.

Nichkhun chuckles and says, "Chansung wouldn't let him,"

Yumi's face is mixed between a smile and a grimace, her fingers cup her small bowl and then she directs her question to Wooyoung, half-confident that Nichkhun will translate, she pushes her bowl forward as she asks, "Would you like to taste?"

Wooyoung stares at her, flabbergasted, "Huh?" is the only thing that comes from him. Khun translates and Wooyoung shakes his head, slightly uncomfortable. He looks at Yumi again and says, "I no like," in English.

Her chin moves up in acknowledgement and tries to bring her bowl closer to her, her features falling into a debatable state, like she's hiding her sudden wistfulness. Dramatically, Wooyoung exclaims in English, "Wait,"

He takes her spoon that's already dipped in the rice and he eats a spoonful. The likeness appears on his face as he tries to enjoy that one mouthful take, not even wanting to swallow it and he says, "It's delicious,"

Nichkhun translates and Yumi grins widely, "Yay," she says excitedly and chuckles. Wooyoung smiles as well and pushes the bowl back to her so she can eat.

Chansung on the other hand stares at Wooyoung moodily then gets back to his plate. When he has finished, he clasps his hands together and bows to Yumi, "Arigatou,"

Yumi's thin eyebrows elevate and she entwines her fingers together, "You're welcome," she says in English, knowing that he wouldn't understand if she answered in Japanese.

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Hope you like it ^ w ^

This is an Okayu by the way: