{ 04 }

Even though she detests to admit it, Jung Jinyoung does know his way around the kitchen. He mostly did all the work while Sulli was the one who did the simple tasks, like cutting the vegetables and putting it in the pan.

An hour later, the house was filled by the enticing aroma coming from the kitchen. Of course, Baro was the first one to sniff it first, securing himself a seat in the middle of the table where everything’s reachable with his hands.

Sulli could only shake her head as Baro started tasting the foods. He was about to get his hands on another bowl of soup when Jinyoung slapped his hand away. “Yah, Cha Sunwoo!” He exclaimed, his leader-like aura emanating.

Baro quickly stopped trying to abuse the food, not wanting to get on Jinyoung’s bad side. After all, the two worked hard to prepare it for CNU who needs to recuperate from his black eye and other cuts.

Sulli stepped into the living room to call Gongchan, Sandeul and CNU over. “Hey, you guys should head to the kitchen now or else Baro will empty it all.” She said.

The three laughed as they exited the living room. Sandeul and CNU headed towards the kitchen but Gongchan put on an act, sitting on the sofa and putting on a pained face. “Aigoo, my knees, I think I broke them. Ahh, I wonder who landed me to detention today… And Mr. Horvejkul’s bad mood was the reason why we ran for 15 laps.” He started complaining as he touched his knees back and forth for added effect.

She was a bit surprised hearing that he ran 15 laps, but otherwise, she wanted to laugh at Gongchan’s lame acting. She sat next to him and patted his back in mock seriousness. “Gongchan-ah…” She called out.

Gongchan’s eyes fluttered to hers and he smiled sweetly. “Yes, Ssul-ah?”

“Your acting’s ty.” She explained and started bursting in laughter. When she looked at Gongchan, she saw that his face was contorted in annoyance. He crossed his arms over his torso and glared at her.

“Really, Choi Sulli, if you love me a lot, you’re surely not making me see it.” He told her, clearly pissed off that she wasn’t buying his act.

“Seriously though, Chan Chan, I feel bad for you. Because of that, I’ll really buy you a drink tomorrow.” She answered and smiled. She stood up. “C’mon, I don’t want Baro hogging all the food to himself.” She said as Gongchan followed her to the kitchen.

When they got there, only CNU was eating like a normal human being. Sandeul, Baro, and even leader Jinyoung were all slurping the soup and stuffing their faces like they hadn’t eaten for months. “You boys could totally win a beggar award,” Sulli commented in disgust as she sat next to CNU. “Why don’t you guys follow Dongwoo oppa? Tsk.”

Jinyoung coughed and straightened himself, “Sunwoo! Junghwan!” He roared, calling them by their real names. “Stop acting like kids and eat quietly like CNU hyung!” He commanded, his voice even deeper than his usual one.

Baro and Sandeul snickered before eating normally while Sulli only raised her brow at Jinyoung who was smiling at her. She desperately wanted to throw the whole pot of soup at him, but since the pot’s almost empty, leaving just enough for one serving for her and Gongchan, she figured that she should just eat well and smack the out of him.

They ate in silence except for occasional idiotic comments from either Baro and Sandeul. Gongchan ate like a madman, while Jinyoung was acting like the food he cooked wasn’t able to reach to his standard of refined tastes. Sulli wanted to roll her eyes at his pretension, but decided to just focus her attention on CNU who was having a bit of trouble chewing because of his purplish bruise.

“CNU hyung,” Jinyoung suddenly said in the midst of silence. CNU’s head went up to look at his dongsaeng. “Hyung, how do I get to be like you?”

There was silence for a few seconds until Gongchan, Sandeul, and Baro burst in laughter. Even the injured CNU let out a low chuckle while looking at Jinyoung with an are-you-serious face. “No, hyung, really.” Jinyoung added, looking determined, but Sulli was sure that he was only doing this to piss her off.

“Really, Jinyoung, stop it.” Sulli’s sharp voice stopped the jolly laughter in the table. She glared at Jinyoung scathingly, and everyone silenced. They know that it wasn’t just mere annoyance anymore.

“What did I do, kitten?” He asked innocently.

“Stop messing with me, Jung Jinyoung!” She stood up and yelled. “You’re an .” She angrily spat before leaving the kitchen, Jinyoung trailing behind her.

He grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. “Kitten, look–”

“Stop calling me kitten!” She screamed and made use of Jinyoung’s surprise to run upstairs towards her room.

She locked her door, knowing all too well that he would try to open it up and talk to her. Jinyoung’s aggressiveness was a big help for his leader aura, but otherwise it was just completely annoying.

She heard him pound on her door but she wasn’t having any of it. She lay on her bed and placed a pillow on top of her head to muffle his noises. After thirty minutes or so, it finally stopped. He’s really annoying.

Why does he have to do this to me? She silently thought to herself. When she first met the boys when she was in primary school, Jinyoung’s indifference drew her in. Gongchan was really the one who met her– they had been classmates then, up to now– and he introduced her to his friends. That time, Soojung was her only friend, and having more of them are fun.

The other boys instantly fancied the two girls except for their leader Jung Jinyoung. He was civil with them around, but Sulli experienced his coldness more than Soojung did. Soojung doesn’t live around the boys and Sulli’s block, so it was mostly the latter and the boys playing together.

It took Jinyoung almost a full year before he mellowed down, but when he did, all Sulli thought was that it was worth it. He was the one who gave her the nickname “kitten” to which the other members followed. Jinyoung was just as funny and goofy as the others, but he has this soft side to him, mostly because he was a leader and he takes care of s.

Sulli didn’t fully admit her feelings until middle school, when Jinyoung started to hang out with girls other than Sulli and Soojung. All the boys dated, even Gongchan did, but none of it mattered until she saw Jinyoung did it. It broke her young heart, and she acted impulsively by confessing to him.

He didn’t take it seriously, rather, he continued treating her as his younger sister. This enraged her of course, but she couldn’t do anything. Until Byun Baekhyun came and changed her heart about Jinyoung.

Jinyoung started showing signs that he likes her, but she was sure that he was only doing it to piss her off, mocking her for another unrequited love in Byun Baekhyun.

That was the reason why she hates Jinyoung’s advances. She never once believed it was real, and the other boys’ reactions are one of the evidences she has. They only laugh at his attempts while she was always telling him off.

When she felt that she already spent an hour inside her bedroom, she gingerly walked towards the door. Her backpack was still downstairs, and her let– MY LOVE LETTER! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD.

She was about to run to the stairs when Gongchan emerged in front of her. “Hey.” He greeted, holding her backpack in front of her. Sulli felt a wave of relief. “Wanna study together?”

“Not now, Chan Chan.” She answered. I NEED TO FIND MY LETTER!!!

He sighed. “Look, Ssul, I’m sorry for Jinyoung hyung’s behavior. But I really need your help for the test. Help me study, okay?” He said, even resorting to twinkling his eyes like a child.

Sulli couldn’t help but to laugh. Among everybody else, she feels that Gongchan knows her the most, even though Soojung was the girl who had been her friend first. Being with Gongchan lulls her into a sense of security. She may not be able to talk to him about bra sizes or tampons, but having a guy best friend is almost the same as having a girl one. Most of the time, Gongchan’s vanity exceeds hers.

“Aryt,” she conceded and let him inside her room, momentarily forgetting about her missing love letter.