Waterfalls || Yeonbin

chapter 11: ruined

December 27, 1939

"A crossword puzzle?"

"Yes."

"You want to hire two people for a secret military mission to save us from this war... with a crossword puzzle in the newspaper?" Yeonjun asked, a bit confused by my idea.

I sighed, "You're making it sound worse than it is."

"How else am I supposed to think about this? Soobin, we're fighting Hitler."

"The only people who are going to be able to figure out this puzzle are individuals with an extremely high intelligence. We all made it, not just me..." I paused, looking into his eyes, "Please, trust us."

Yeonjun sighed, pondering for a moment. I was giving him what you would call 'puppy eyes' trying to get him on my side. He hesitated, "Fine... But what's going to happen when they complete the puzzle?"

I smiled, taking my wanting eyes away, "They're going to come here, and we'll give them another test. The crossword is merely an entrance fee."

"And what test would this be?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We have an outline of it, but it hasn't been created yet."

Yeonjun sighed again, thinking about our idea for another moment before saying, "I will get it in the paper by tomorrow, but nobody can come here until the new year. Deal?"

I nodded, giving him a smile as I whispered in Korean, "May I have a kiss before I go?"

I finally saw Yeonjun smile, seeing the small crinkles on the corners of his lips. He stood up from his desk chair, leaning over the desk and closer to me. I placed my hands on the edge of the bureau, slowly moving towards him. I feel like time stops whenever we kiss. I promise, it never gets old.

He brought his hand up, placing a finger under my chin to pull me closer. His lips softly pressed against mine; even in the dead of winter, his lips are so soft. He pulled away, and I wanted to go back in for another kiss, but he held my chin firm, making it impossible to move forward, "Your house for supper, yes?"

I smiled and nodded, feeling his grip loosen on my chin. We both leaned forward for another kiss, lasting a bit longer than the first one. His lips are an addiction, swear to the Lord. We both pulled away, smiling at each other as I whispered, "I'll try to make you a proper meal, but no promises that it'll go well."

He lightly chuckled at my comment, whispering back, "I'll catch you when you fall, darling. Don't fret."

. . . . . . . . . .

I was panicking. My mother would be so disappointed in me that I can't make a single meal without ruining something. And to make matters worse, Yeonjun was going to be here any minute. It's just fried rice, and yet it looks terrible. I took my tie off ages go after it had gotten in the food; silly me. I rolled up the cuffs of my shirt, sweating in December from the heat coming off the stove.

I smelled something burning, but I didn't know what it was. I was trying to cook the vegetables that I had terribly cut up; the knives I have are awfully dull to be cooking in this capacity, but I almost never use them. I put the spatula down that I was using to cook, trying to find the source of that horrid smell. I looked in the oven, even though I hadn't previously put anything there.

My attention turned to the rice, praying that it wasn't the part that was burnt. When I opened the lid, a puff of smoke immediately hit my face, giving me my answer as I coughed from the foreign gas filling my lungs. I looked back at the pot once the smoke was cleared, realizing that I had forgotten to turn the burner off after the rice absorbed the water. Really? Rice is in the name of the dish and I can't even cook that properly?!