Dappled Light [2yeon]

Chapter 5

Room A1, Polaris co-op

Ms. Im stared at the rectangular mirror right above the water basin after having her morning routine done, her eye bags were much more swollen than usual and her eyes were bloodshot, she looked so worse till the point she thought she was ill. It's been so long since I had insomnia, fuck Yoo Jeongyeon. Ms. Im rubbed her eyes roughly as if they were Jeongyeon because she was feeling dizzy due to lack of sleep, and she blamed it all onto Jeongyeon for causing adrenaline rush to her yesterday night. She had no choice but just let out a long sigh, patting her face lightly and went out of the bathroom to get changed.

Ms. Im pulled the door wide, only to meet Jeongyeon passing by her room towards the staircase all dressed up, the younger did not notice her presence yet she was focused on her way down to the ground floor. The older's eyes were attached to Jeongyeon, following her back until it was no longer visible, she wondered what was the younger up to when it's not even 6.30a.m. yet. "Now what is she up to...." Ms. Im sighed, making up her mind to follow Jeongyeon in case the newcomer was up to something bad so she could knock her out cold immediately. Her steps were wide but light, it was like angel walking on grassland, but a fallen angel to be exact and she thought she had moved on about it, not until Jeongyeon appeared.

Huh? She disappeared. Ms. Im clinged onto the newel as she was really drained from lack of sleep, felt down since her brain was not at one piece today and was thinking whether to put sugar into Jeongyeon's lunchbox instead of salt and pepper. She shook her dizziness away, massaged her temples while heading to the refrigerator to get her ingredients ready for nine servings of breakfasts and four specially made lunchboxes since Mina, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and the jerk(she meant Jeongyeon) are staying in the house with her. The tomatoes and lettuce leaves were rinsed with cold water, well the water was always cold but Ms. Im realized the water was colder than yesterday. Swiftly chopped the tomatoes up, mixing in all the necessities for an original flavour batter, kneading and crushing the meat into bite pieces, it all completedly without a sign of slacking off but she still thought Jihyo persuading her becoming a chef is a joke. Ms. Im was bathed in the sunlight dappled by the curtains Sana gifted from last year's Christmas and she liked the simple designs with some touch-ups, even Chaeyoung had no opinions to go against.

She peeked the time and it shown 6.40a.m. , which meant she had to start cooking rice for lunch and also prep the ingredients to go with rice. After a few seconds of scavenging the overloaded refrigerator, her braised pork trotters with turmeric powder and her original sauce was secured in the deepest part of the cooling section. "Gosh, they should refrain from sneaking in junk food and more beers." Ms. Im judged the packets of sweets and beer cans with total disgust on her face as they were the sole cause of overloading the refrigerator, the thought of increasing the monthly tenant bill had planted its root in her mind. "Something's interesting in there?" The sudden interrupt of peace had Ms. Im jumped and slipping over, crashing her head into the refrigerator as well as her arms flinging in air because of panic. Someone actually managed to hold onto her waist and pulled her arm over and she came face to face with the interrupter. "Sorry hehe." Ms. Im grimaced, she knew that jolly voice too well and she did not expect the person to appear at the most unexpected timing. Jeongyeon blinked so many times, checking whether Ms. Im has gotten any scratches or bruises while still holding her wrist not knowingly, her grasp on her wrist made Ms. Im uneasy.

"Why are you here?" She was rather rude for some reasons, maybe her insomnia last night really worn her out physically and mentally, Jeongyeon as a whole really got her on her nerves in just a span of weeks, almost a month while being here. "My company rented a room here." She answered nonchalantly, eyeing Ms. Im's crown since she had her eyes on Jeongyeon's feet, she was unable to catch a glimpse of her face, it worried her. "Did you hurt somewhere?" Jeongyeon reached out for her forehead, but was swatted away, greeted with an intense glare which she noticed the red in her eyes. "I'm fine." Ms. Im replied, slowly pried Jeongyeon's hand away, turned around and picked up the bowl, while Jeongyeon took it all in her eyes. She did not flinched nor back away as she was used to Ms. Im's behaviour, she wanted to believe there is a reason behind that. Her eyes calmly followed Ms. Im's shadow as she walked away to the kitchen counter, still glued to the ground, Jeongyeon has confirmed Ms. Im was not in her best state today after a moment of observation.