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No More PrincessAlthough Jihyun only knows mostly breakfast dishes, it doesn't mean she can't learn to make other meals. With Jongin leaving to go to work five out of the seven days in a week, Jihyun is left to have dinner by herself when his shifts cover dinner time. Earlier, she figured she couldn't eat egg dishes or pancakes for dinner, so it was time to learn how to prepare the meals she sees on TV.
Kai helped her with her first attempt, and she did fairly well for just starting out, Kai had told her. The second night, since he wasn't there to help her or be a taste-tester, Jihyun tried it alone. It wasn't as good as the other night's, but it wasn't bad, either.
Now on her fourth attempt, while waiting for Kai to get home from his morning shift, Jihyun makes a dish that Kai had mentioned is one of his favorites, and is doing pretty well, in her opinion.
She has actually gotten used to waiting around for him to get home, cooking in his kitchen and doing the laundry (whether Kai protests or not, she still cooks and cleans). Without doing it, she feels like she isn't "paying back" what Kai gave to her: a roof to live under, hot meals, and a friend.
Or even, perhaps, a first love. Ever since the kiss they shared, Jongin has been more close to her, without being embarrassed about it. He mostly does just little things, like pulling her hair back for her while she's cooking because she forgets or laying his arm behind her on the couch when they watch TV, sitting a little closer than he used to.
Smiling to herself, Jihyun can definitely confirm that she feels something different when she's with him.
She's adding chopped vegetables to her soup when Kai walks in. She turns to greet him, but stops, seeing the frustration on his face when he comes into the kitchen.
He throws the newspaper he had in his hand on the table, tossing his keys with it and turning to his room, not saying a word.
Curious, Jihyun leaves the stove to glance at the newspaper. Kai never before brought home any type of news or magazine or anything of the sort because he had said his friends told him enough, so why would he bring one home now?
Finding nothing on the side she is looking at, Jihyun flips the thick stack of paper over to the front page, her heart beating faster as she reads the headline.
ALCEA PRINCESS MISSING
Beneath a picture of her is a short article--to the point but packed with all the information she needs.
Alcea's beloved princess, Byun Jihyun, has been recently reported missing. After hearing a loud explosion, a witness says, he saw Ms. Byun fleeing from the palace in a car, being pushed from the scene by her elder brother and soon-to-be heir to the throne, Byun Baekhyun.
Surprised, Jihyun stares at the picture someone had captured of Baekhyun pushing her into the black Subaru. Hesitantly, she continues to read.
It has been reported that the bomb was set off in the preparation room beside the kitchen, but thankfully no one was fatally injured when it exploded. Soon after the explosion, Ms. Byun fled, her brother following shortly after. After investigating the scene and cancelling suspects, police has captured the inside spy, who had originally planted the bomb, Seo Donghyuk. Now, nearly three weeks after the incident, with her brother finally returning home, questions are being thrown toward the prince: Where had Ms. Byun gone? What threat was being posed that they had to flee so quickly? Will the princess come back?
Donghyuk. Donghyuk. Jihyun can't match the name with a face, but she recognizes it. She remembers when Baekhyun had told her about the few servants that were recently hired, and someone named Donghyuk creeped him out, but neither of them thought anything of it.
Then, relief washes over her. Baekhyun was true to his word when he said he was leaving right after her, and now he is back home. He's okay.
Jihyun lifts her head when Kai comes back out, changed from his uniform to jeans and a sweatshirt. He walks to the cabinet for a bowl, takes a ladle from the drawer.
"Is this done?" He asks, the first words out of his mouth since he's come home.
"Uh, yeah, just about. I still need to add some spices, though--"
"It'll be fine." He doesn't wait for her answer and ladels soup into his bowl. After setting it down on the table, he fills another and grabs two spoons. He hands one to her as he sits.
OK, I guess it's time for dinner, Jihyun thinks. She takes the chair across from him and watches as he fills his spoon with soup, shoving it in his mouth over and over. Finally, Jihyun decides to try her soup, and smells it on her spoon before taking a sip.
She shrugs. Not bad. It can use the spices she still wants to put in, but she'll do that when Kai's done.
When he's halfway done with his soup and she not near that far, Jihyun glances at the newspaper again, which is still on the corner of the table.
"They're looking for me?" She asks, just for confirmation that she isn't imagining what she read and to also fill the silence that's taking over.
It takes a few moments for Kai to answer, and when he does, it's emotionless. "Apparently."
Jihyun notices that he hasn't gone back to his food since she's asked the question. He's just pushing the leftover vegetables and meat around in the sauce, and she wonders if he's making pictures out of them because he's so focused on it when he speaks again, interrupting her thoughts.
"If they find you, are you going to go back?"
Jihyun in a long breath, mulling over the question, trying to find the best way to answer. "Well," She starts. "I guess . . . I should, since they are my family, and I have a title to live up to. I'm sure they need me." Now she's the one playing with her soup.
She sees him nod and he pushes his chair back, taking his bowl to the trash and emptying the rest of his dinner, then putting it in the sink.
"I'm not very hungry," He says and returns to his room.
Jihyun sits still. Either her food isn't that great (it's the damn spices!), or he's in a really bad mood. She eyes the newspaper.
"It's your fault, isn't it?"
She doesn't get an answer (why will she?), so she sighs and stuffs it in the trash. After actually finishing the soup the way she wants it, she keeps the burner on simmer and ops for the television when she can't think of anything else to do--talking to Kai is out of question, all the food they need is stocked in the cupboards and fridge and there isn't much laundry to be done, so why not a marathon of Spongebob to try and lift her mood?
Jihyun keeps the volume low, wanting not to disturb Kai more than he already is. She thinks back to the article with a frown. The last question keeps popping into her head: Will she ever come back?
God knows she wants to, and needs to, but He also knows she wants to stay here, with Jongin, just as much. Lost, she looks up at the ceiling. "So what do I do?" She mumbles.
She spends the next half an hour or so staring blankly at the screen, watching it but not really. Near the middle of the second episode that's airing, she hears Kai's bedroom door open.
It's silly, really, but she feels as if her heart stops, wondering if he'll still be in a lousy mood, nervous about if he'll talk to her or not.
He comes by the couch and looks down at her, his face showing little sign of his attitude earlier.
"Wanna go on a walk with me?"
The sun is setting, dimming the light as they walk on the sidewalk, around and through everyone else who decided to stroll along the streets. The slight chill causes Jihyun to pull her jacket closer, and Kai stuffs his hands into his pockets. The streetlights are making up for the loss of natural light, illuminating parts of the street and shining down on them as they walk by each one.
"I'm sorry for earlier," Kai says as they pass the grocery store they usually make many stops to. "I tend to go silent when I'm upset. I saw the newspaper when I was leaving work and it just . . . hit me, you know? That you had to go back." He kicks a stone he sees onto the street. "You've been living with me for a while, and I kinda forgot that you were a princess, so it was a little shocking."
Jihyun stares at him, able to see his face thanks to the streetlight they're passing. He really forgot that she was a princess? So he really kissed her before because he liked her, nothing else? Not because he liked her and the fact she was a princess?
The thought makes her ten times happier than when she actually got the kiss.
"I'll tell you what," She says to him and gestures to a yogurt shop. "You can make it up by buying me dessert."
Then he grins, the first smile she's seen on his face all evening. "I'd love to."
Kai tells her to get only a little yogurt in her cup, because the fun's in the toppings. "We're going to be holding a judging competition after we pay, so tap into your creative side." He tells her.
Jihyun focuses on her topping-art, studying the bar full of goodies while she tries to figure out what to make. Kai is grabbing stuff with the tongs with no hesitation, leaving Jihyun standing dumbfounded.
Finally, when she notices Jongin is almost done, she gets to work. When Kai tries to sneak a peek, she does her best to cover it. "Not yet." She tells him.
Once they finish and they pay for their yogurt, they sit at a small table by the door and begin the judging.
Without much of an effort to criticize, Kai wins, his yogurt sporting an "island" look, with mostly blue, orange, and green boba acting as the scenery, oranges and half of a banana making up the palm tree. It beats Jihyun's attempt at a tulip by a landslide.
"I feel like you've done this many times before." She tells him, talking about the yogurt masterpiece he's eating.
"I have. How do you think I came up with the idea so quickly?" He smiles with his lips, holding in the yogurt he just shoveled in his mouth.
She takes a piece of strawberry from her cup to throw at him. "Cheater."
He laughs and stands from his seat. "Let's finish these babies on the way back."
Jihyun silently agrees, carrying her yogurt out of the store and falling into step beside him.
"You know," She says, taking another bite. "This is kinda like ice cream."
"Kinda." Kai glances at her. "You've never had frozen yogurt before?"
"No. I heard about it, but I never tried it until now. Before, I thought it was legit like you put a tub of yogurt in the freezer and when you take it out it, wa-la, frozen yogurt. My brother and I-"
"Baekhyun." Kai remembers.
"Yes. Baekhyun and I tried to do it once, but the texture was weird when we took it out. We were like, 'If this is what frozen yogurt is, I don't like it.'"
He chuckles. "So then why did you ask me to take you to get some?"
She shrugs, "I didn't think it could be as bad as Baek and I made it out to be."
Kai is silent for a few heartbeats, staring off toward the street in thought. He moves his gaze to his feet, feeling strangely uneasy by his question: "Do you miss your brother?"
Jihyun pauses for a long moment, then sighs. "Yes." She doesn't say more than that, and Kai doesn't press her.
Despite the sudden mention of her family, they returned back to the apartment much more relaxed than when they had left.
"How about a movie?" Jongin asks as they kick off their shoes.
"I'm up for a movie."
He gestures to the stack of DVD's next to the TV. "Go ahead."
Jihyun feigns shock. "I get to pick? My, my, what have I done to earn this priveledge?"
Kai holds back a smile and moves to the kitchen to start on the popcorn. "For making all the meals."
"Go me." She praises herself and pulls a DVD from the stack, shakes her head, and looks at some more.
As Kai pours the popcorn in a lightweight bowl, he hears Jihyun call from the living room, "What's Blu-Ray?"
"Just like, high-definition and more storage data and stuff like that. I don't know, I just know it's better."
"Can we watch this, then?"
He walks closer with the bowl in his hand to look at the movie she was holding up. An American movie, Avatar. He's already seen it a bunch of times, but it's such a good movie, he could watch it a bunch more. "Sure, I love it. But the Blu-Ray's set up in my room. I like to watch movie's when I fall asleep." He explains at her questionable look and pops a couple pieces of popcorn in his mouth. "If you wanna watch it, we have to watch it in my room."
She considers it a moment, then shrugs. "Okay."
He raises his eyebrows. "Okay? Before, you didn't even want to step foot in there."
"That was before I knew you as well as I do now." She reasons. "Let's go."
She sits on his mattress on top of the covers and slowly picks at the popcorn as he puts the movie in and skips the other movie trailers. As soon as he pushes play, he joins her on his bed and takes a handful from the bowl.
Just like the other times he's watched Avatar, Kai stays completely engrossed in the movie, sometimes forgetting the food that still sits on Jihyun's lap, sometimes grabbing a more. He catches glances of Jihyun when he goes for more, who has re-positioned herself to laying and stretching her legs out, noting she's interested with the movie, but sleep seems to be slightly more appealing.
Kai's surprised she's sleeping through the fighting scene. A whole bunch of action is packed into those fifteen minutes, and she's sleeping through all of it! How doesn't she wake up?
Since he's seen it so much, Kai decides to abandon the movie (or at least a part of it) to look for a light blanket for her, since it'll be too difficult to pull the comforter from under her.
He finds one nestled in his closet that his sister had given him when he moved out. He didn't think he would ever need it.
After moving the near-empty popcorn bowl onto his dresser and covering her with the blanket, he lays back down beside her to watch the rest of the movie, ignoring that sleep was getting the better of him, too.
So I read The Fault In Our Stars last week. I told myself before that I wouldn't read it lol. I didn't like one of John Green's other books, so I really didn't want to set myself for this one and be disappointed again, but a classmate of mine took it out of her bag when I mentioned I've never read it and said, "Here. Give it back to me when you're done." I was like . . . okay, thanks??
I read it in a day and a half.
And I cried. I sobbed, seriously. Nobody was home when I was finishing it, so I was alone, crying my eyes out (which I preferred; I don't want anyone asking what's wrong and me crying even more) and my dog was getting all nervous and trying to comfort me but was really awkward about it lol it was really cute.
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