Arranged Marriage | Taekook Fanfiction |

Ramen

All my life, I thought of love as some kind of voluntary enslavement. Well, that's a lie: freedom only exists when love is present. The person who gives him or herself wholly, the person who feels freest, is the person who loves most wholeheartedly.
~Paulo Coelho

28.

Kook woke up to the smell of something burning. He immediately went down to the kitchen. He saw Tae showering the pan with water. Kook rushed to help only to see that Tae had it under control. Tae put the pan in the sink and turned to face Kook, 'I am sorry, I woke you up.'

'What happened Hyung?' Kook couldn't help ask.

'Um... It's been long since I cooked something. I guess I forgot how inflammable oil is.' Tae said ashamed.

'Ah! That's okay Hyung. We will cook a grand dinner together. Let's just have ramen for now. You go freshen up. I will cook.' Kookie said while taking out packets of ramen from the pantry.

'Okay.' Tae said and rushed out of the kitchen. Kook laughed to himself.

As he was finishing and pouring the ramen into bowls, Tae came down.

'Let's eat hyung.' Kook said as he took the bowls to the couch.

Tae nodded and moved the curtains aside so that they could have a view of the setting sun from the French windows.

Kook set the bowls and when he turned he was mesmerized by the view. The orange sun going down reflecting in the waves of the sea was a beautiful sight. You couldn't see these sights in Seoul.

'How did you learn to cook Hyung?' Kook asked wanting to know more about his husband.

'Oh! I didn't learn... I kinda knew .. When I was young, I would come back from the school and sit on the kitchen counter to see Eomma cook. She would tell me about her day and I would tell her about mine.' Tae answered softly. Kookie guessed he was thinking about the past.

Kookie liked the smile he saw on Tae's face. Kook had noticed that Tae smiled a lot when he talked about the people he loved. Otherwise, he had a preety unreadable face. His expressions never betraying what he was feeling inside. Kook liked to see him smile. So he decided to ask more questions.

'Were you and Eomma always close?' Kook asked. Tae was a bit shocked at the question thinking that wasn't every child close to their mother. But then, he had seen Kook with his family. So, he simply answered, 'Yes. Since I was an only kid, and dad was usually very busy and almost never home... So, eomma and me always had each other.'

Tae wanted to know more about how Kook was brought up. So he asked the same question. 'What about you Kookie?'

By this time, they had finished eating and set their bowls aside. Both knowing they needed to be kept in the kitchen, but both unwilling to break the thread of the conversation or lose the view in front their eyes. So, they just shuffled closer to each other. Kook had a lot of ways to answer the question but he decided to be honest, 'It's a bit complicated. We used to be closed but then I went for my MBA to the states and when I came back, things had changed so much that we couldn't start from where we left off. My break up didn't help nor did my constant drinking and staying out at night which she disapproved of. So, we are.. I don't know. I love her and she loves me but.. I guess I created a wall unconsciously that I kept waiting for her to break through and she, I guess, didn't know how to or was too caught up taking care of home, dad and Namjoon hyung.'

'Does it make you angry at Namjoon Hyung? Tae asked cautiously. He didn't want to offend the younger but also he wanted to know.

Kook laughed, 'Aaniyo. Namjoon Hyung .. he needed Eomma more than me. Hyung left his dream of a music career for the company and became the CEO at my place. He was young too that time and he had no support. He wasn't in any relationship or something that he could have someone's support and my father is not really an expressive man when it comes to feelings. To handle a huge company when you don't even want to was a huge deal. Eomma was his support. I never felt jealous. I was glad Eomma was there for him.'