Madleine watched how Youngbae helped the brunette with his pancakes. She saw how affectionately he cut his breakfast into small bites after pouring some maple syrup on it. Jiyong was protesting against his educator's stinginess concerning the sweet sauce, which ended with Youngbae giving him a lecture about healthy eating. 

"If you keep eating too much sweet stuff, your teeth will become bad, Ji."

"No, it's not true! I brush them always.", said the younger boy, pouting. 

"Stop sulking and eat. Your pancakes are getting cold,hm?" 

The educator decided to end their little argument and handed a fork to his protégé, not forgetting to tap his nose in order to show him that he was not being completely serious with him. It was important for Youngbae to remain a friend for Jiyong rather than a third parent or teacher, Although he could not avoid instructing and commanding him sometimes, he still wanted to make sure that the brunette could be comfortable with him. And after all the time they had spent together now, he luckily was. 

Madleine smiled amusedly at the scene in front of her, mirroring the same kind of smile that Youngbae gave to Jiyong while the latter was eating his breakfast grumpily. However, since the educator didn't bother to avert his eyes from the younger boy, the brunette woman tried to grab his attention. 

"Puh!", she sighed, patting her non-existent stomach in the process. "I must say Youngbae, even though this was an easy dish, your cooking skills are not bad!" 

Youngbae chuckled, finally facing his old friend. "Eh? Don't say you expected some fancy meal from me. I am not that good, you know." 

"Pff, what a lame excuse.", Madleine grinned, putting her elbows on the table and leaning her chin on the back of her hands. "You could have at least prepared something traditional. Yes, a traditional Korean dish for example! You are so boring." , she said playfully and stuck her tongue out. 

"You are being funny. Even I haven't eaten food from my country for ages.", Youngbae revealed bitterly. 

"But this is a Korean household, right? Don't you eat dinner with Jiyong's family?"

"I do, but Mrs. Kwon barely has time for cooking. So we always end up eating out. Besides, there is a certain stubborn someone who is very picky when it comes to food." 

Madleine watched again how Youngbae shifted his eyes from her in order to raise an eyebrow at Jiyong, who just kept eating silently. The look soon turned from accusing to warm, tender and loving and the young female soon saw that familiar smile plastered on Youngbae's full lips again. It was strange. No matter what she talked about, he would always lead their conversation to the brunette. When Madleine had eyed herself in the mirror before coming to the Kwon's residence, she had had to admit to herself that she looked exceptionally pretty today. Yes, she looked great. Her hair was great. Her make-up was great. Her dress fitted her well. There had been several guy's whistling at her on this sunny day.

But Youngbae? 

He hadn't even given her one glance. Not once did he stare at her cleavage or her coloured, glossy lips. Madleine knew that he was not one of those guys, hell, he had never been. Nevertheless, wasn't he still a man? Didn't his body have to react automatically to her charms? Even if Youngbae was not interested in her, how come he did not even flirt with her for a split second? 

The young French pursed her lips as she watched him fool around with Jiyong again. Kwon Jiyong. She wondered how his personality would be if he wasn't, well, different, how his life would be right now, if he had not met Youngbae. Madleine studied the younger boy's face and almost got jealous of his fine facial features, his lightly droopy brows, almond-shaped brown eyes and plump and pink set of lips. She hadn't been able to make out all those small details at her first encounter with him, but now that she sat across of the table, she saw his attractiveness. Madleine was sure that, if Jiyong was 'normal', he would have a large fanbase consisting of females and males. But even in this state, he somehow managed to grab the attention of a gorgeous man like Youngbae. Note that he is sitting there in plain jeans and a blue hoodie. 

"Want more juice, M'leine?" 

"What? Oh, yeah, thank you." Madleine smiled to herself. He still called her like that. She remembered how bad Youngbae's French was back then and how much difficulties he had had with the correct pronunciation of his newly learned vocabulary. Even saying her name was difficult for him at that time and so he came up with this nickname instead. 

Youngbae was done pouring fresh orange juice into the female's cup when he noticed a slight tug on his shirt. 

"Bae, I am full. I can't eat more." , Jiyongs said, rubbing his - also - non-existent belly. The educator really felt fat among his slim friends. 

"You sure you don't want to finish this?"

"No. I will explode like a bomb if I do that.", the brunette said smiling cheekily. 

Youngbae chuckled. "Okay, then you can go ahead and brush your teeth."

"Will you you come with me?" 

"Oh, I will brush mine later, okay? I have a guest, remember?", he said, pointing at Madleine. 

"Hm.", Jiyong did not look very amused but nevertheless nodded. 

"Gosh Bae! Jiyong must hate me now because of you.", the young woman joked, laughing loudly. "I am sorry!", she said apologetically. 

However, the brunette didn't reply. Nor did he smile, laugh or show any sign of emotion. He quietly made his way to the bathroom, not liking how Madleine had called his educator 'Bae' just now. Only he was allowed to do that and no one else. Jiyong frowned. 

Youngbae shook his head, laughing to himself as he and Madleine collected the plates and put them in the sink. "You must excuse him. Normally, he is very talkative and cheery but when he meets people he doesn't know, he immediately becomes quiet. I mean, it's not like he dislikes you or anything, he is just unsure of how to act in front of you." 

The young French nodded, secretly gazing at her friend's thick biceps as he wiped his hands on a dishtowel. He had always been in a nice shape, but it seemed like his muscles had become even more defined. "I already noticed that. The way he talked to you was so much different though! He is really  cute when he interacts with you. What a contrast." 

"At first, it wasn't easy for me either. You should have seen him back then, when I first met him. His eyes were always blank and lifeless and he would cry over everything and nothing. It was really a tough time, but in the end, we became really close." , Youngbae said contentedly. 

"Say Youngbae, how close would you say are you and Jiyong?" 

"What do you mean?" , the educator asked confusedly. 

Madleine took the dishtowel from her friend's hand and started wiping her own fingers on them before looking deeply into his eyes, trying to invade Youngbae's mind, soul and body. "What I mean is, what is Jiyong to you? You certainly don't take care of him only because of money, do you?"

"Of course not. I mean, yes, the Kwon's are paying me well and all but I applied for this job because of other reasons. I was ... touched by Jiyong's bitter fate, so to speak. I couldn't  see why a different person shouldn't have the right to be happy like every other individual in our society. I just wanted to ... put life into those dull eyes of his." 

"You have succeeded. Congratulations." , Madleine smiled. "His eyes are literally sparkling when they meet yours. But you have to be careful." 

"Careful about what?" 

"He might fall in love with you if he hasn't already." 

"Don't be ridicilous, M'leine.", Youngbae said, laughing, but not without getting the seriousness in her statement. "Jiyong cannot love me. At least not in that way." 

"Okay, but what about you? Don't you think you could fall for him?"

"Thats-" 

"You love Jiyong, don't you?"

"No! I mean yes! But - that's - "

"Shh.", Madleine interrupted his nervous talk by putting a finger on his parted lips, lightly pushing the educator against the sink. Gazing into those chocolate brown eyes that she had always adored, she read confusion written in them in bold letters. She could read it all, because Youngbae was a man of emotion. He was bad at hiding his feelings. He had always been. "Stop fooling yourself and , above all, stop fooling me, my friend. I know who you are and I know how you look at people who are special to you. But I must warn you, Bae, you are in the process of causing a lot of trouble, not only for yourself but also for Jiyong. Right now, your relationship to him is reduced to innocent affection. However, as time passes, you will find yourself desiring more. You will long for a kiss maybe and after that, you will yearn for another and so on. Say, how do you think you'll be able to control yourself?" 

"What the hell! I would never do that to him!"

"You will. Desire is often stronger than love, Bae."

"Well, no ! Not in our case." 

"Our." , Madleine smiled. "You finally admitted it."  

"Listen, M'leine, I don't get what's wrong with you right now but I am old and mature enough to have control over my feelings. You don't have to lecture me and above all, you cannot predict my future. What I feel for Jiyong is something I have to deal on my own and I am definitely not some ɦогɳy bastard that would take advantage of him! How can you even think of me like that? I thought we were friends!"

"That's right, we are friends! And as a friend, I am only trying to make you aware of something you might regret later you !"

"What is there to regret? My feelings? Tell me!" 

"Jiyong is not normal! He might look like an adult, but deep down, he is still a child! This is реɗорɦιlia, Youngbae!"

This is реɗорɦιlia, Youngbae!

A/N: Dear readers,

Before you think that I am a freak, let me enlighten you about something: Jiyong is an adult. He and Youngbae are the same age, so they are both in their early twenties!

I wanted to clarify that, because I want you to know that I would never ever support this kind of relationship. So don't get me wrong, okay? Think of Jiyong as an adult whose mind has a little defect. You will soon discover that Madleine is not 100 % right with what she has uttered just now. The very last line of this chapter is supposed to create tension but oh, I don't want to tell you too much ^^ 

Unfortunately, there is not much response for this story :( I hope you are not bored with it, because I personally have much fun while writing it! :) 

Take care of yourselves and thank you for your support <3

Hatsumomo.