raven ღ na jaemin

17

preparing dinner was an interesting ordeal. taeyong mainly cooked the dishes while haechan and you helped. mark was not allowed anywhere near the stove, but he helped to set the table and get taeyong the ingredients he needed. after hours of cooking, the four of you collapsed onto the chairs, exhausted, with steaming food laid on the table.

suddenly, you heard the front door open. the sound of footsteps and male voices carried into the kitchen.

"mm! that smells good!"

"heavens, i'm so hungry i could eat an entire cavalry of horses."

"taeil, don't throw your coat on the floor. you know taeyong hates it when we do that."

four men stepped into the kitchen. they all froze, one by one, at the sight of you sitting at the table. you gave them a small wave and an awkward, close-lipped smile. "hi."

they looked at each other, then at taeyong. "hi," one of them replied in the midst of the awkward silence.

"sit down, you four," taeyong said, gesturing them to sit.

"but she's in my seat," protested another one, pointing to you.

taeyong rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "for heaven's sake, doyoung, just sit somewhere else."

"no, it's fine, i'll just move," you offered, standing.

before taeyong could insist for you to sit back down, the man named doyoung, clearly satisfied that he was getting his seat back, said, "you can sit there. that's winwin's old seat."

you obliged and sat down at the chair he had pointed you to, in between mark and haechan. you looked around the table, noticing that the mood had shifted. everyone looked a little sad; you realized it was due to the mention of winwin.

taeyong cleared his throat, asking "where are johnny and yuta?" you figured they were who the two empty seats belonged to.

"they said they had some things to do," answered doyoung, shrugging.

"can we eat yet?" asked another man, who was eyeing the dishes hungrily.

"alright, jaehyun. but remember to leave enough for the two of them."

at taeyong's words, all of the other guys picked up their utensils and started to dig into the food. you picked up your chopsticks, but hesitated. taeyong seemed to have noticed because he picked up some meat and piled it onto your plate.

"thank you," you whispered.

"so," said the guy who sat across from you, his mouth full of food. "who are you?"

"don't be rude, jungwoo," reprimanded taeyong.

"i was just asking!"

"jungwoo's right. we could really use an explanation here," said jaehyun.

you looked around the table. the four men you had just met were all staring at you. their gazes weren't unkind, but rather curious.

taeyong heaved a sigh. "taeil, jungwoo, jaehyun, doyoung, this is jieun."

he launched into an explanation, starting with how haechan had brought you there. you were extremely grateful that he hadn't made you explain yourself, but you ate your food quietly as you pretended not to notice the stares that were pointed at you.

"so, she's our ticket into the palace," said a man whose name you learned was taeil. your stomach prickled with discomfort at his words. you didn't like lying to them.

"she's gonna try to get us as much information as she can from the inside," explained haechan. "and all she asks for in return is for us to help her search for her family."

you looked over at him. it was the first time he had spoken since dinner had started. he met your gaze, giving you a wink. you looked back at the table and found six other pairs of eyes looking at you.

"we'll help you find your family, don't worry," doyoung said softly.

you hadn't realized how tense you were, but you found yourself relaxing at his kind words.

"i, uh," you began, immediately regretting speaking up when you saw all of their attention put on you. you had to resist the urge to shrink into your chair in embarrassment. "i'm not sure that i can pull this off for you guys... "

"we also can't guarantee that we'll be able to find your family," replied taeyong. "but whatever happens, we'll accept you into our family."

"if she survives the mission, that is," haechan's voice came from beside you. his mischievous grin was back in full force.

"don't scare her, haechan," scolded taeyong.

"oh, i almost forgot! haechan got into trouble with taeyong because he told jieun that he was gonna sell her organs," said mark, drawing many laughs and "no way!"s from around the table.

they launched into cheerful conversation. you were asked questions from time to time, but mostly you ate your food and observed the men around you laughing and joking with each other. they couldn't be any further than what jaemin told you they were supposed to be. they felt like... a family.