Chapter 42
You Said Remember Me II
Heating up the stove he filled up a small pot with water and set himself to work. He couldn’t cook, but there was one thing he’d often made when he was young. Yuri often got sick during the cold winters and when her parents weren’t around he’d learned how to make rice porridge for her. While waiting for the water to boil he filled up a bowl with warm water and found a clean towel somewhere in one of the drawers. Heading back up the stairs he dipped the towel into the water, squeezed it dry, before placing it upon Nana’s forehead.
She inched away however, “What are you doing?”
“Why?” he asked. “This is supposed to help cool you down.”
She frowned, “I don’t have a fever.”
“Oh? Do we only do this when you have a fever?” Changmin asked suddenly confused.
Nana made a face at him and he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ok, sorry for the misunderstanding,” he apologized before retreating with the bowl.
Walking back into the kitchen he found Victoria looking around.
“Are you making something?” she questioned.
“Oh…yea,” he replied dumping the water into the sink. “Some rice porridge.”
“Rice porridge?”
“Nana caught a cold,” Changmin answered.
“Is it bad?”
“She says it’s fine, I’ll give her some medicine after she eats,” Changmin explained.
“If you had an apron on you’d look like a nurse,” she joked.
“What?” he blanked out.
Victoria laughed and walked out of the kitchen.
/ / / / /
“Where’d you go?” Donghae asked.
“Kitchen,” Victoria explained.
“Why?”
“Because something was boiling, so I thought forgot to do something.”
Donghae frowned but nodded.
“Changmin’s actually making rice porridge for Nana,” Victoria said.
“Really? Is she sick?”
She nodded, “I think she caught a little cold.”
/ / / / /
After he’d finished with the rice porridge he headed upstairs with a tray and walked into the room. He found Nana lying down looking like she were asleep, but as soon as he set the tray down onto the bedside table she suddenly opened her eyes and pulled herself up.
“Did I wake you?” he wondered.
Nana shook her head.
“Eat it all,” he urged when he handed her the rice porridge, “don’t worry about making a mess, Yuri will wash the sheets.”
Nana ignored his small joke and ate away.
“Mmm! It’s good!” she exclaimed.
“Be honest, you thought it was going to be burnt and taste plain,” he crossed his arms.
“Yes,” she nodded her head guiltily.
“Everyone always looks down on me,” he shook his head. “Alright, I won’t talk anymore so eat up the rest.”
“No, no, keep talking. It’s going to be awkward if it’s quiet,” Nana said.
“Really? I’m always told that I talk a lot.”
“Because you do,” Nana pointed out, “but in this case it isn’t anything bad.”
“Ah…”
“I’m done.”
“You’re fast.”
Changmin took the bowl from her and handed her the glass of water and medicine he’d promised. Once she took the medicine and drank some water he took the cup from her and set it on the tray.
Sitting on the ground with one elbow propped on his kneecap he said, “So, the other day when you left, what were you planning to do?”
Nana looked at him before averting her eyes and set herself into deep thought.
“I wanted to look for a friend,” Nana replied. “He’s one of the people I trust the most right now.”
“And who’s that?”
“Someone I’ve known for a long time,” Nana said, “he’s not a childhood friend, but someone who took care of me when my brother couldn’t. My brother…he…he couldn’t be there for me after my parents were killed. He was too busy with his new job and worked hard to send me to school, so this friend took care of me when he couldn’t. I was mad at him earlier, but now I just want to look for him.”
“You don’t have a family?” Changmin felt surprised.
He didn’t know. He had no idea.
“My brother was the last,” Nana replied. “That’s why I think I would be the most lucky if I’d grown up with someone like you or Yuri. You two are really nice.”
“I get that a lot,” Changmin purposely bluffed and found Nana laughing at his joke. “But what is there about Yuri that you would envy? You should envy me instead.”
They were silent for a second.
“Lets say,” Changmin started, “if you get better by tomorrow I’ll take you out.”
“Really?” Nana found herself asking.
He nodded, “You need some air to let loose. Stress can get a person sick, you know? So, if you’re better tomorrow, I’ll take you to the amusement park. Or we can go to the zoo, no one’s ever too old to go to the zoo.”
“I haven’t been to the amusement park in a long time,” Nana commented.
“Tomorrow, I don’t have anything to do. So rest a lot today, we’ll head out tomorrow morning. Ok?”
“Ok,” Nana smiled, the real smile she hadn’t meant to show anyone.
/ / / / /
Yuri had left her office earlier than she’d meant to. Tired of her colleagues she just wanted to head back home and rest. When she walked in she found that the living room was empty and that Victoria and Donghae were in the kitchen. Heading up the stairs she discovered the room to Eunhyuk’s door closed and started toward her room. She stopped, however, beside the door when she heard talking inside.
Changmin and Nana were chatting surprisingly. She hadn’t talked to the girl like she’d promised herself to and had least expected Changmin to start talking to her. The laugh from Nana sent a smile across her lips. Not once had she heard Nana laugh when she first walked through the door.
Deciding to leave the two alone Yuri turned around and felt her heart threaten to jump out of . Eunhyuk had been eavesdropping as well.
“You scared me,” Yuri put a hand up to her heart and let out a sigh of relief.
“Sorry,” he apologized.
She smiled and walked around him. Eunhyuk followed her downstairs and took a seat on the single seat adjacent to the couch. Yuri leaned back and propped her feet on top of the coffee table.
“I didn’t think Changmin would be able to get anything out of her,” Yuri honestly commented. “Not once have I heard Nana laugh like that.”
“Nana caught a cold.” Eunhyuk told.
“She did?” Yuri suddenly leaned forward in her seat. “No one told me…”
“You just got back,” Eunhyuk reminded, “I think she’s had too much running through her mind, so her body’s telling her to take a break.”
“You think so?” Yuri asked wondering if Eunhyuk was showing worry.
/ / / / /
Victoria promised dinner that night, so Yuri didn’t do much to remained in the living room with Eunhyuk. Donghae became her assistant and she made him run out the trash, fetch this and that for her, and made him do more chores. She hadn’t had a chance to play with him since…a long while ago.
“Throw this in the sink, will you? And wash it too,” Victoria said handing him the cutting board without looking at him.
He silently cussed from behind her back and took the cutting board from her. She heard the faucet go on and assumed he was doing as told, but was surprised when he suddenly lifted her and spun her around pinning her against the fridge.
“Yah! Aren’t you being mean tonight?” he asked.
“Because you’re too spoiled, so I have to discipline you once in a while,” Victoria answered.
“Tsh…”
Patting his shoulder she leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips.
“Get back to work. We have dinner to fix up,” she reminded.
She started to walk out of his grasp but he pulled her back. Wrapping both hands around her face he continued with the kiss. He was just so impulsive that Victoria couldn’t find it in herself to push him away.
“I just want to kiss you forever,” he smiled.
“You’re too mushy,” she commented bluntly before kissing him again.
After a minute or two Victoria finally gave him a final kiss on the lips before returning to her work.
“If we have a daughter some day,” he started off, “I hope she’s beautiful like you but has my intuition.”
Victoria snorted, “Oh, please. Your intuition isn’t that great. I don’t want my daughter to be a heartbreaker.”
“What?” he mused. “That just means she’s too good.”
“You’re going to end up spoiling her,” Victoria stated, “then she’ll become like you.”
“And what’s bad about me?” he asked scrubbing the cutting board.
“Everything.”
“Just you wait,” he muttered.
Dinner was casually fun that evening. Victoria enjoyed listening to Changmin’s story about the animals at the zoo. Turning off the stove midway through the meal she poured the porridge into a bowl.
“I’m going to bring up Nana’s food, I’ll be right back,” Victoria told Donghae.
“I’ll do it,” Eunhyuk offered.
They quieted and Victoria felt almost shocked with his offer.
“It’s fine,” Eunhyuk assured, “you should eat with Donghae. I won’t be long.”
“Why…aren’t you different today,” Victoria eyed Eunhyuk handing him the bowl. “Be careful, it’s hot.”
/ / / / /
He smiled an acknowledgement and started toward the stairs. Heading down the hallway he paused for a second before walking into the room. Nana was sleeping soundly. Deciding not to wake her he walked back out and into the kitchen.
“She’s sleeping,” Eunhyuk reported.
“I’ll bring it to her later,” Yuri offered.
Assuming that there wasn’t much else for him to do he returned to his seat and finished the rest of his food.
/ / / / /
Yuri took a glance at Nana that night. Eunhyuk hadn’t responded to her at all. He was still treating her the same way he had before she’d said anything foolish and she didn’t despise it. Yet, for some reason she felt like his attention was pining toward Nana. As if he knew something she didn’t. She was still a bit curious about what had happened between the two the day he’d found her.
spring semester ends this friday and i'm off for summer break :D i'll get back on track with YSRMII
Comments