Sweet Devil [BL]

Chapter 138. Breakfast Time

The sound of rushed footsteps echoed from the corridor in the otherwise silent bedroom. It was barely audible at first but soon grew louder as whoever was running through the house drew nearer. From the sound of it, Jake predicted they'd reach his bedroom within the next few seconds, maybe even less.

'It's already past eight,' he thought, glancing at the half-finished sentence he had been writing. 'Looks like I don't have the time to finish writing what I had in mind today again. Well, I can always continue later, I guess.'

With a sigh, he then shut the diary. The pen was left inside as he swiftly hid the notebook under his pillow—not the best hiding spot, but better than nothing. That done, he sat on the bed and lifted his head, his gaze landing on the door just as it was kicked open.

"Good morning," Jake said, unfazed. "You could have knocked first, though."

"Can't, my hands are full," Misha snorted, showing off the breakfast tray he was holding. "Anyway, it's breakfast time."

Jake's mouth twitched as he glanced at the tray, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Too much, there was way too much food! He could never eat everything on the tray, lest he wanted his stomach to go on a strike. Besides, he never had a big appetite, and if you added the heartburn caused by the painkillers wreaking havoc in his chest.....

Yeah, he wasn't hungry. Honestly, if it were up to him, he'd rather skip breakfast and dinner altogether. However, fasting wasn't something he could do, not with Misha dead set on feeding him. Jake had to eat a bit whether he liked it or not, if only to satisfy the teenager and avoid an earful—he wouldn't repeat the same mistake he did a few days ago, when Misha brought him the breakfast tray for the first time. Refusing to eat wouldn't end well for his ears; he was now well aware of that.

"Thank you," Jake deadpanned after Misha placed the tray over his legs. "It looks delicious. Smells wonderful too."

"It's also tasty," Gabriel smiled, entering the room with another breakfast tray. "But don't you think you exaggerated a little with Jake's portion, Misha? Do you want his stomach to explode?"

"If he can't eat it all, you can always help him finish."

Gabriel glanced at Misha's smile that wasn't quite a smile, then lowered his eyes to look at his tray, also filled with food. Right. Misha's pettiness wasn't anything new. Oh well, as long as it wasn't worm-flavored pastries, everything was good.

"I'm not even sure I'll be able to finish my own breakfast, Misha," Gabriel admitted with a light chuckle. "Unlike your sister, my stomach is not a bottomless pit."

"What? Are you insinuating that Masha is a glutton?"

"I'm not insinuating anything: she is a glutton. In any case, I'm just letting you know that it's humanly impossible to eat dozens of pastries in addition to the copious breakfast you made. I can't eat that much, lest you want me to die of stomach pain."

"Stop being a drama queen! You won't die from overeating a little."

"Still can't eat it all."

"Tsk."

"If needs be," a voice traveled to their ears, drawing their attention to the door, "I can't always sacrifice myself and eat half of your breakfast, Gaby."

"What are you doing here, Stephan?! Weren't you supposed to arrive later, like, in the afternoon...?"

"Good morning to you too," Stephan laughed, leaping next to Gabriel. Then, in a well-practiced manner, he discarded whatever Misha said and rambled on, "Oh my gosh, the pastries look so good! And the smell...! You surpassed yourself today, Mish'!"