ephemeral | Jenlisa [COMPLETED]

Chapter 12

"Sehun, you're not putting in enough salt," Lisa's mom commented, tsking under her breath as she stood next to Lisa, leaning against the counter, as they watched Sehun cook from across the room.

He was making one of her original pasta dishes for dinner, and – as it has always been – Lisa was finding great entertainment in their mom's critique. She wasn't critical, as in, she didn't ever yell or make disdainful comments.

But she always – always – was vexed at Sehun's seasoning. It had been an ongoing battle, ever since they'd been little, because she was insistent that all of her kids know how to cook. Which Lisa appreciated as an adult, because she often believed her mom's basics helped her have a better understanding of flavors, as she learned recipes from around the world.

Somi had taken to it like a duck to water, which was no surprise. And Sehun was a pretty decent chef himself, unless you asked about –

"I already compromised on the butter," Amy's voice was exasperated and Lisa snickered along with Somi, who stood on her other side, when Sehun whirled around to point the mixing spoon he was using at their mom.

"You wanted me to drop two cups of butter in here. Come on! That's – no," he muttered, shaking his head as he went back to stirring.

"She did compromise, Sehun," Lisa sing-songed in, unable to hold in her laugh when Sehun turned to shoot her a dark look.

But it just made her laugh harder, especially when she saw her brother crack a smile before he turned back to the sauce he was making. It was similar to the looks she'd gotten in the last week – like the little tides of their relationship had started turning since she'd gotten home on Saturday.

Even though he'd been clearly feeling a little awkward about it at first, he'd even stayed home a little later than normal to have breakfast together before he went to the clinic during the work week.

Lisa didn't care about his awkward little moments, though. She cared that he stayed to have little bits of morning chatter about what was going on that day or about Ella – and, really, she cared a lot.

It almost made her not want to take the ten day break she was going on to scout out the potential towns for the list.

Almost.

She was still pretty excited to head out, admittedly.

"You're the one who wanted me to make the sauce, so you're gonna get it in a way that doesn't clog every artery," Sehun informed their mom. "I'm a doctor, Mom! I can't feed my family like that in good conscience."

"All three of my kids are still alive and well, and I fed y'all like that in good conscience," their mom echoed, huffing out a breath before she sipped on the wine she'd opened and poured for all of them at the beginning of this whole experience, nearly an hour ago.

Her mother sighed again as she watched Sehun very lightly salt the sauce, before she very deliberately turned to Lisa. The smile on her face matched her siblings' smiles almost down to a T.

Lisa had to admit, it was a comfort, a happiness she hadn't quite experienced in a while, having her parents here for the last couple of days. The cooking, talking, laughing. Especially with Sehun now willingly chatting with her.

For reasons she didn't regret, especially after she'd cried over them to Jennie only last week, she'd left this behind. But Jennie had been wrong to say that she didn't want these times with her family when she'd left. No, she'd never exactly missed them; Lisa didn't really miss anything when she was gone.