Chapter 6:

Morning Sunshine,

You owe me dinner for carrying your heavy to your bedroom. I made you coffee because I know you can’t fully function until after your first cup. By the way you drool when you sleep. I took a picture.

Love ya, Zico

“That little .” I grumble, placing the note down. I’ll murder him before he even considers about leaking that photo. I stumble into the kitchen and serve myself from the fresh pot of coffee Jiho made for me. I notice toast in the oven and I take that out as well. Still warm. Jiho must have left not too long ago.

A knock at the door interrupts my morning breakfast. Did he forget something? I wonder. Well, at least I can delete my picture from his phone now.

“Give me your phone.” I extend my arm to demand for Jiho’s hand phone the moment I open the door. Except it wasn’t Jiho. “Oh, Taewoon. I thought you were someone else.” I slowly retract my hand back to my side.

“Why? Did someone spend the night here? Your boyfriend?” He enters the apartment, with a standard Woo brother ribbing smile stretched across his lips.

“No. Of course not, you know I don’t have a boyfriend.” I scrunch my nose and try not to sound panicked. This kind of teasing confuses me. “Jiho took a picture of me when I was sleeping and-”

“Jiho spent the night here?” Taewoon interrupts.

“Yea, he crashes here sometimes.” I try to read the look on Taewoon’s face. I managed to catch a glimpse of disconcertment but it vanished within a blink of an eye, replaced by his individualized frivolous appearance.

“I shouldn’t be surprised the two of you are close after all.” There is a hint of displeasure in his tone. I pretend it is not in my imagination and Taewoon is jealous of my relationship with Jiho. How shameless am I, countering brothers against each other in my mind?

He stands there and smiles. He literally radiates sunshine. I favor his dimpled grin more than anything else. They form into his features like two small craters, one more prominent than the other. It isn’t until he fully smiles the chiseled indents underneath his cheekbones both making their appearance. His cheesy grin and raised eyebrows finishes off the breathtaking effect.

“Don’t tell me you’re having coffee for breakfast again?” He takes the cup from my hand and dumps it in the sink.

“But I’m having toast too.” I interject.

“Go hurry and get dressed. I came here to take you out for breakfast anyways.” He authoritatively counters. I scurry to my room and do as I am told.

Taewoon is sitting on the couch, his eyes closed shut, and with the sleeping kitten on his lap when I return. I wonder if he has fallen asleep or he’s just resting his eyes. I remain silent and utilize the moment to study him carefully. The dark circles underneath his eyes mirror the one’s I’ve seen on Jiho. Their exhaustion is more evident when bare faced. I know with their unique schedules rest is minimal. My eyes unconsciously roam to his full mouth and my face heats up at the wild thoughts sparking in my mind.

“We won’t have time to eat if you just stand there and stare at me all day” His eyes open wide and I jolt at his smirk. The other Woo brother is infamous for these but I’ve never personally witnessed one from Taewoon. “I am the handsome Woo brother after all.”

“Actually, I was wondering how are we going to portrayed in public? You're in torn jeans, a hoodie, and a beanie while I am in suit.” I compare my formal attire to his casual wear.

“What are you embarrassed of me?”

I simply shrug my shoulders and grab my handbag. Taewoon laughs; the noise and movement wakes the sleeping cat, she jumps frantically off his lap. While he stands to brush off the cat hair off his pants, I glimpse at the mirror next the door entrance to examine my hair once again.

“Enough of that. You already look perfect.” An arm latches around my waist lifting me centimeters of the ground.

“Taewoon! Heels!” I shriek. I despise rash movements when my feet aren’t planted firmly on the ground. My panic mode kicks in for those few seconds. Taewoon and Jiho really like testing my patience.

“Relax.” Taewoon steadies me back on my feet. His arms linger around me until he is sure that I am capable of standing alone. Honestly, I wasn’t so sure that I wasn’t going to topple over after having him so intimately close. “What is the point of wear those if you're still shorter than me.” He jests about my footwear.

“What fault do I have on your unnatural height?” I grumble.

We eat in a compressed, rustic cafe run by an elder woman. Taewoon calls the woman Mama Shin. The moment we entered the restaurant the woman rushed enthusiastically to greet him. She pinches his cheeks and asks him if he’s been eating well. Mama Shin reminds me a lot of the Woo brother’s own mother.

“Is this your wife?” Mama Shin turns to me. She takes my arm and pulls me in front of her. I feel nervous underneath the older woman’s gaze. “She is very pretty but too skinny. You need to feed her more.” She chides Taewoon and smiles sweetly at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you too. Take a seat. I’ll be back.” She points at an empty table and disappears inside the kitchen entrance. We take a seat and I look around for a table menu or for one taped to the wall, there is nothing but ink paintings.

“They don’t bother with menus here. Mama Shin brings out whatever she thinks you need.” Taewoon informs me.

“What about food allergies?”

“She sort of has a six sense to those sorts of things. Besides, I would have told her if you had any food allergies.” He reassures me.

“So, I’m your wife?” I wasn’t able to react earlier due to being under the scrutiny of Mama Shin.

“Mama Shin really wanted to marry me with her 30 year-old daughter.” He shares rather embarrassed.

“Older woman not your type?” I .

“A year younger works just fine for me.” He smiles, his nose scrunching in the process and my favorite dimple appears. I really hope my face isn’t as red as it feels.

Mama Shin returns with various plates of traditional Korean breakfast. She pesters us to eat and even sits down with us to supervise our consumption of food. She questions me about my job and I briefly tell her basic information about the company. I don’t reveal any names but the older woman seems to be only interested in conversing. It isn’t until she questions me if we are planning a future with children. I have trouble swallowing the rice on that one. Even Taewoon had an issue answering the question as well.

Due to Mama Shin’s orders we clean out the delicious food we were served. She urges Taewoon to visit again and to bring me along. The older woan also insists we bring back good news with us when we return.

Once we leave the restaurant, Taewoon helps me hail a cab. He was still holding my hand after Mama Shin’s insistence that couples should publicly demonstrate their affections to one another.

“There’s one.” Taewoon squeezes my hand and walks me to the stopped vehicle. “Sorry, I can’t drop you off.” He apologizes. I shake my head. He has a schedule to get to. We both have jobs.

“Thank you for breakfast.” Taewoon opens the cab door for me and I slip in.

“Anytime.” He grins. “Bye wife.” He waves goodbye.

“Bye.” I wave, while we drive off. My stomach is set in a lopsided turmoil after this morning events. I smile idiotically to myself. How is it that one person can cause this much fluster?