v
No More PrincessOnce the morning's sunlight streams from the window at the perfect angle to hit Kai's eyes, he groans into his pillow. Squeezing his eyelids tighter doesn't help much, so he slowly turns his head, still half asleep.
He can't tell what time it is based on the brightness of the suns' rays, and he's so tired he doesn't give a damn, even if it's 1:00 in the afternoon.
Damn, he hopes it isn't 1:00 in the afternoon. He has to do, a guest to look after.
You're an idiot, he thinks. She's eighteen years old; she doesn't need him around the clock. She's probably still asleep, anyway.
But the aroma creeping into his room tells him otherwise.
French toast? Kai questions and pushes himself from the bed. She's making french toast? What time is it, anyway?
8:27. He sighs and puts his phone back on his nightstand. A little earlier than his regular schedule, but it's okay. Especially if there's french toast welcoming him.
Trudging into the kitchen in sweatpants and graphic tee, Kai mentally pats his back that it is, indeed, Jihyun making french toast.
Her back is to him, her hair pulled into a bun, and he notices under the apron tied around her waist (which he assumes she dug out the closet since he sure in hell never uses it. Why does he have it, anyway? Oh yeah, his mom), is a different outfit. One of his, actually. A pair of his skinny sweatpants and a black t-shirt.
"Good morning." He says as he approaches.
She turns to him just as she's about to stick her spatula under a piece of coated bread. "Oh, good morning." She looks back to the skillet to flip, then to him again. "You must be wondering why I'm wearing your clothes."
"Just a little bit." He takes down a coffee mug to fill with smothered glee. Fresh coffee in the morning and breakfast, all without the labor of making it. He might just keep her around.
"I'm so sorry I didn't ask first, but I don't think it's very healthy to keep wearing the same clothes for three days in a row."
"I agree."
"I found a pile of clean clothes you had folded, sitting on your washer." She pauses. "I really hope this is okay."
He laughs at her apologetic face and sets his coffee down to get a plate for the slices of bread that's almost finished. "It's okay, Jihyun, really. I was planning on taking you out to get you some more clothes, anyway."
"You were?" She raises her eyebrows. "You're being very generous."
"This breakfast pays me back."
With a smile, Jihyun plops a piece of frech toast on his plate. "Fine with me. I'll make the rest of the breakfasts from now on."
"Fine with me," He echoes. "I didn't know you could cook."
"I can't, really. Just breakfast foods, is all."
"Ah, I see the reason behind your end of the deal."
"The truth comes out."
"What did you usually eat for breakfast at the castle?" Kai takes his food and coffee to the table.
"An egg-white omelet."
Kai waits for her to continue, to keep listing different, exotic foods. He glances at her in question when she doesn't. "That's it?"
"Yes,"
"Everyday? What--Oh, the princess diet thing?" He cuts his slices into big pieces.
"Mhm," She answers and plates another two pieces of french toast, puts two more on the griddle.
"That must ."
"You get used to it," Jihyun smiles and hands him another plate of food when he comes up for more. "Besides," She points to the two pieces cooking. "I'm being ambitious."
"If you eat the same thing every morning, why do you know how to make some awesome french toast?"
"My nanny's recipe." She pats some cinnamon out of its jar onto the yellow hue of the bread. "She got sick once, with the flu. In bed for a week. She wanted french toast every morning that week, and said she wouldn't get better until I got it right." Jihyun's face softens in rememberance. "She taught me most of my recipes."
"It sounds like you and your nanny got along well." Kai sits back down.
"We did, very well. Baekhyun, too. She practically raised us, since my parents were so busy."
He doesn't know how she can't sound very sympathetic about the fact that her parents weren't around much as a kid. He guesses thinking about her nanny makes up for it.
"How is she?" He asks.
Jihyun flips the bread, stares at it for a moment before adding more cinnamon. "I'm sure she's wonderful."
Kai is about to ask about the 'sure' part, but before he can open his mouth, she elaborates.
"She died a while ago. In 2008."
He stares at her back, watching as she loads her serving on a clean plate, drizzles it with syrup. "She sounds like a lovely lady."
Jihyun appreciates his use of present tense, because she wants to believe her nanny really isn't gone. She'll always be here. After taking the griddle off the heat, Jihyun joins Jongin at the table. "She is." Straight as a needle, Jihyun cuts and closes her eyes, savoring her first bite of french toast in a long time. "How nice," She comments. "So many memories come back with such a simple food."
"A lot of memories can come back with anything, really."
She considers the idea for a moment. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I am." He takes a sip of his coffee, which is unfortunately getting colder and colder. "I have a plan for today."
"Which is?"
"Well, I don't have any work, so we can get a lot of stuff done. I'm taking you shopping for clothes, because God knows you need them."
"Is that supposed to take up the entire day?" She laughs when he doesn't go on.
"It could. It depends on how annoying of a shopper you are. And since we both have no idea when you'll be returning to your princess duties," He leans his arms on the table, smiles at her. "I think we should make you look not so much like a princess."
After cleaning the mess from breakfast, Kai tells Jihyun to sit again at the table like she usually would.
"Normally?"
"Normally."
Jihyun nods and pulls out a chair, runs her hands down her before it hits the surface, and folds her hands on her lap. She turns her head to Kai and smiles out of embarrassment. "It's a little weird when you're watching me like that."
"It's part of the process." He tells her. "Why do you smooth the clothes on your bottom like that? You're not even wearing a dress."
"Out of habit." Jihyun shrugs.
"And why don't you pull your chair back in so you're closer to the table?" He points at the distance between her and the polished wood.
"I was always taught to pull out a chair just far enough so you can still sit down and eat from the same spot. It's lady-like."
Kai chuckles, "Well I can't argue much with that. It's very lady-like." He his head. "It's weird I didn't notice this stuff before. Okay," Kai pulls the chair on the opposite side so it's right next to her, sits down. "Try pulling the chair in like this, because you want to be as close as possible so you can lean over your plate."
Before he could demonstrate, Jihyun interrupts. "Why am I leaning over my plate?"
"So you don't drop any food on your clothes. Do it like this," Lifting his and placing his hands underneath his chair, Kai takes a small step and pulls himself as close as he can that's comfortable, and plops back in the chair, smiling at Jihyun. "Try it," He encourages.
"Alright," Mimicking her host, Jihyun pulls herself closer, but not as close as him.
He shrugs, "Close enough. Next task." Kai grabs some untensils from the kitchen and places them on the table: fork, spoon, knife.
"This is how you'll usually see them set out. You're familiar with this, right?"
Jihyun stares at him blankly, a small smile playing on her lips. "Jongin, I grew up in a castle, not a cave."
He blushes, embarrassed about his previous question and also the use of his birth name. "Right. Sorry. So then I guess I shouldn't really tell you how to eat with these. But there's a small thing to remember, because you seem to always want to use these when there's any type of food in front of you. Only use these when you have a salad, soup, pasta, or something like that. If you can pick it up with your hands, then pick it up with your hands."
"Like a Baozi Burger?"
He smiles. "Like a Baozi Burger. You're catching on," He wags his finger at her and stands from the table.
"What next?" She asks, following his movement.
"Uhh," Kai racks his mind for another aspect of hers that's princess-y. Her walk is a big feature, but he likes watching her walk, so he decides against it. Sitting, though, is a different thing. "Come sit on the couch with me."
Jihyun follows him the short walk to the living room and sits beside him when he places himself on the tan cushions.
"There it is," He points at her posture. "You sit as straight as a damn pole. There's not much to tell you here, just try sitting like this." Kai pushes his forward so most of the top of his back is hitting the back of the couch. He crosses his arms and puts a good distance between his knees.
Without a word, and after studying his position, Jihyun tries her best to copy him. Kai chuckles as she steals glances of him for confirmation their postures are the same.
"Am I good?" She asks.
"Perfect."
"I feel like my back is going to hurt after a while."
"Just sit like this when you're around someone that's not me. And if you get tired of sitting like that, sit like you normally do, but hunch your back a little."
"It's a bit much to remember,"
"It's okay," He grins. "I'll be here to help. This will be it for now, because with the other stuff, people will just think you're really really nice."
Jihyun smiles at him as an idea pops into her head. "Maybe I'll help you, too. Your posture is a little messy, if you ask my opinion."
Kai furrows his eyebrows. "I don't like that look you're giving me."
"I'm just gonna teach you some proper posture. The way I learned."
"And what way was that?"
Jihyun chuckles. "It's not some torturous way, if that's what you're thinking, and it looks like that is what you're thinking. It's like this,"
She tells him to sit with his bottom against the back cushion, and moves his torso back and forth until she's satisfied. "Your legs and torso need to be at a ninety-degree angle." She tells him. Then, she pushes on his chest to 'bring it back in' until it's nearly equal with his stomach. "Feet together, hands folded on your lap." She orders, and once he's done it, she nods. "There you go, that's it. You have to stay like that for an hour each day to have proper posture."
"This?" His face contorts. "My lower back is hurting already."
"That's because you have bad posture."
"Well, I didn't grow up in a royal family."
"That's very true, but it still wouldn't hurt to do some yoga or something."
He glances in her direction, eyes playful. "I get enough of that from my mom, I don't need it from you, too."
Their lessons get interrupted by Kai's apartment doorbell ringing. He springs up, happy to be able to get out of that terrible position. "I'll get it," He says, although he's already halfway to the door.
When the door opens, Jihyun sees a cute boy standing on the other side, hands in his pockets and a relaxed look on his face. "Hey, Kai."
"What's up, Sehun?" They do that hand slap/shake guys do (Jihyun never knows what it's supposed to be), and Kai let's Sehun inside.
Over at the couch, Jihyun remembers what Kai told her, and leans back on the couch, crosses her arms.
"Game today at Luhan's." Sehun says. "Did you forget?"
"Oh, right." He runs a hand through his hair. "I can't today."
"Why not?" Sehun asks, and smiles at Jihyun in the living room when Kai points to her. "Oh, I see." He says in a tone that makes Kai punch his arm.
"It's not like that."
"Then what's it like?"
He hesitates, trying to think of the best way to explain it. After a few seconds, he gives up, mostly because he knows Sehun won't believe him anyway. "It's a long story." He ends up saying.
"Hey, I'll tell you what." Sehun reasons. "Why don't you just bring her along? The guys will like her, and they won't mind, you know that."
Kai contemplates the idea for a minute, longer than he thought about telling Sehun Jihyun's reason for being there, and looks at her on the couch. "How do you feel about watching soccer?"
This past week I've become a BTS fan . . . . mostly a Jimin fan lol. And Taehyung. But mostly Jimin. I've watched probably all their little episodes on BANGTANTV haha. And omg Jimin's voice when he sings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anyway, Exo's having a comeback??? And Baek's gonna be in the center with Luhan???? SHIRTLESS????????? WHHHATT?!??!?!!!??!
Comments