Pandora's Heart | d.cx ✓

CHAPTER 18

Pandora turned down the heat on the rice in the kitchen the next morning. She had decided to do the cooking for breakfast, and everyone was surprised when they saw that she had woken up early and had actually decided to do the cooking.

'Excuse me? Is that you Pandora or I'm not seeing correctly?' Yaxuan asked as he walked into the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes then looked at her again as if to make sure if it was really her.

'Yes it's me Pandora, in the flesh.' she replied with a playful eye roll. 'I just feel like cooking today.'

'Hmm okay,' Yaxuan replied skeptically and was about to leave the kitchen, then stopped in his tracks. 'You're not planning to poison us all are you?'

'Yaxuan.' Pandora said in a playfully disappointed tone.

With that, Yaxuan chuckled then left. Pandora wasn't the best at cooking, but she felt like giving back to the people in the house because all the time they cooked for her. She didn't know much recipes as well, but she was going to make something her mom always used to make when she was younger. Because she'd had it so much and watched her mother make it each time, she was confident she could make it.

The camera crew made it there soon enough, and Pandora tried to cook comfortably even though she now felt like she was on a cooking show rather than just cooking for herself.

Many other members got into the kitchen that morning and were surprised, but the rest didn't really say anything except "good morning". Although, the looks on their faces still gave away their surprise. Jiaqi wanted to stay over and help her, but Pandora declined his offer saying she wanted to do this herself. Chengxin hadn't showed up in the kitchen that morning, and Pandora assumed he had overslept once again. That was better for her since he wouldn't be around to annoy her.

Once she was done, Pandora set the dining table and placed the hot bowls with pumpkin millet congee in front of each place. She felt proud of herself as she stuck her head out of the dining room. 'Hey guys! I'm done!'

Slowly, the two bands appeared in the dining room and took random seats.

Junlin slowly grabbed his spoon. 'Pandora, you can cook?'

'Not really, I know a few recipes though.' She shrugged then sat next to Rio.

Rio quickly took a spoonful of the food then returned the spoon into the bowl. 'I don't like it.'

Pandora frowned. She didn't know if Rio meant it or was only doing it to embarrass her in front of TNT. Pandora knew Rio very well, so it was quite plausible that she was doing this on purpose.

'What do you mean? I think it's really good.' Jiaqi said with a smile after having a spoonful.

Rio shrugged her small shoulders. 'I guess it's not for me.'

Chengxin walked into the dining room after everyone had already started eating. 'I can't believe I overslept today.'

'Just hurry up before the food gets cold!' Yaowen exclaimed in response. 'Your girlfriend cooked this morning.'

'I'm not his girlfriend!' Pandora detested immediately, she didn't want Rio to misinterpret the situation and perhaps tell Nikita. Even though Nikita said it would be okay for her and Chengxin to date, Pandora wasn't sure if Nikita meant it or she just said it to stop the awkwardness that would result between them over Chengxin. Besides, she still didn't feel like she actually wanted to date Chengxin.

'Oh you want us to keep our relationship private in front of people right? I get it babe.' Chengxin joked and found an empty seat next to Pandora while the members of TNT started to laugh.

Pandora punched his shoulder hard. 'Can you stop these jokes!? They are seriously making me uncomfortable!'

She sounded serious, so the laughter quieted down immediately. The camera men and directors also looked at each other with confusion.

'Okay, I was just trying to joke okay?' Chengxin finally said seriously and took a spoonful. 'Oh, this is actually pretty good.'

She forced a smile. 'Thank you Chengxin.'

They continued eating, except Rio who had actually left her plate still full. She decided to only be conversing with the other members rather than eating. Haoxiang was the next to put his spoon back in the plate. He had ate quite a bit, but not much as well.

'So what's going on?' Haoxiang's voice cut through the conversation. 'Just because you got Nikita paralyzed you want to take over her role?'

Everyone was surprised with Haoxiang's statement and silence greeted the table next.

'Haoxiang, that's not right...' The director reprimanded immediately.

'You're gonna edit it out,' he turned to the director then back at Pandora. 'What I mean is Nikita was the one who usually did the cooking every day so now you're trying to take over because you feel bad?'

'It's not that. I just felt like I should cook today since someone else is always doing the cooking.' Pandora clarified.

'Then why did you wait for Nikita's paralysis to cook for us?'

Pandora looked at Haoxiang silently, not sure what to say. Well, it was Nikita's paralysis that made her realize that her attitude is a problem, but it wasn't like she was trying to take Nikita's place like he claimed.

'Just like I thought.' Haoxiang chuckled. 'You already made a mistake, and you can't fix your mistake with cooking. By the way, your food isn't even that good.'

Tears started to prick Pandora's eyes as she looked at Haoxiang. Chengxin expected her to reply, but instead, she didn't say anything. He expected her to reply because she had always found something to say to him, but not at this moment.

'You always cause trouble.' Haoxiang concluded and got up from his seat.

Chengxin felt his heart break when he noticed the tears had started falling out of Pandora's eyes. Everyone wanted to say something, but no one knew exactly what to say.

Chengxin got up from his seat as well. 'What the hell is wrong with you Haoxiang!? You've been annoying lately. Now you're attacking a poor girl who just lost a bandmate? Really?'

Haoxiang stopped. 'And why did she lose her band mate? It was her own fault. Don't blame me just because your girlfriend is a crybaby. Never mind, you'd probably defend her 'cause you're a crybaby too.'

Suddenly, Chengxin rushed over to Haoxiang and grabbed his T-shirt, then slammed him to the wall. 'What did you call me?'

'Whoa guys! Stop it!' Zhenyuan walked over and tried to pry them apart.

At this point, even the director told the camera men to stop filming. The situation had escalated very quickly.

'Haoxiang you don't have to attack Chengxin. Attack me instead, don't get him involved in this.' Pandora finally spoke as she walked over, while wiping her tears.

The other members also walked over just in case things could have gone worse between their two band mates.

'It's not okay for him to attack you either way.' Chengxin clarified. If it wasn't for Zhenyuan standing between them, he would have thrown a punch at Haoxiang.

'Yeah Haoxiang, that's not nice.' Junlin commented as well. 'Just stop talking like that.'

'Okay in other words I should stop being honest...' Haoxiang started.

Chengxin couldn't hold his anger any longer as he tried to push past Zhenyuan to get his hands on Haoxiang. The others quickly joined in holding him back, while Haoxiang was still calmly standing against the wall.

'Haoxiang, I think you should get out a sec.' Jiaqi advised.

Haoxiang nodded and slowly left the room, giving Chengxin a moment to calm down.