In the dark

19

"Periiiiiiii. Periiiiiiiiii," a voice called out to the girl cocooned in the bed. Only the top of her head was visible. The only sound that could be heard was a low grumble from under the blanket. "Peri, wake up," he called again softly.

"Nnnoooo"

"C'mon, Peri. I got up early to see you. Remember, Monday or bust? I thought we could make breakfast to start your lessons."

"Can't operate heavy machinery until coffee."

"Thought you might say that. There may be a fresh cup waiting for you in the kitchen."

"Tooo faaaaarrrrr"

Jin had to laugh at her antics. She was just as bad as his younger brothers. Hoseok and Namjoon usually weren't too difficult to wake up, but the others were difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. He had very specific tactics to wake them. "Either you get up, or I get you up."

"Ha! you can't touch me, so there is no way you are dragging me out of this bed, Kim Seok-jin."

"OH! Full name being called out. Well then, I will have to accept your challenge!" he scoffed before he leaned in and hovered right about her head. He was being careful not to get too close. "I can get you out of this bed without ever having to touch you, Peri," he whispered.

Peri pulled back the cover enough to let her one eye come out and look at Jin. His flawless face was without emotions. His eyes were narrowed, and his full lips were closed shut. Jin's raven-colored hair hung loosely and gently touched his furrowed brows. He was dangerous looking. Peri couldn't decide if she was turned on or scared. Either way, she was going to see what Jin was capable of. 

Jin disappeared from Peri's view, and her skin tingled with anticipation. He was going to play a little game with her, and Peri needed to be on defense. Her head came out from under the covers a little more, and her eyes darted around, trying to catch him in her peripheral. No luck.

Just as she was about to tilt her body up, she felt a sharp tug on the blanket by her feet. She giggled as she grabbed the other end and pulled it back toward her. In her scramble, she didn't see what he did. Peri felt one side of the bed rise higher and higher. She tilted over and rolled off of the bed. Her feet caught her body, and she stood up straight. She heard the bed flop back down with a huff, and she turned in shock to see what Jin did. The blanket was the distraction, and Jin had lifted the mattress with her in it, rolled her off the bed, and onto the floor. He never touched her. 

'Fucker. Manly, hidden muscle man, fucker' she thought as she glared at Jin, who was laughing on the other side of the bed. "You're up! Let's make breakfast!" he said as he continued to laugh out of the bedroom and down the hall. 

Peri eventually followed him into the kitchen, where she saw him taking a sip of his coffee mug. He slid Peri's cup over to her, and she grabbed it. "How did you sleep, Peri?" he asked with a smile.

"Ugh." she groaned as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Are you going to be mad at me because I got you out of bed?" he asked with curiosity.

"No. It's just. Nevermind. What are we making for breakfast?" Peri asked. She didn't want to admit she had another nightmare. He would ask about it, and that would lead to a further conversation she did not want to have. 

"In honor of spring, how does strawberry donuts sound?" Jin told her. He heard the nevermind clearly. It didn't sound like a good "nevermind," like something else was going on. Would she tell him if he asked, was the question that was rattling around in his head. 

"Yes, please!" Peri resounded and threw her hands up into the air, and gave her fingers a little wiggle.

Jin laughed again at Peri's animation. She was so cute. She could be entertained and excited easily. It reminded him of his childhood days when his mom would bring him into the kitchen for his lessons. "Good," he told her. "I have all the ingredients to make them, and when we are finished, if you want, I have a soup dish we could make. It's straightforward, but the soup takes a long time to make."

"You want to hang out with me all day and cook?" she asked, feeling a little flutter in her heart. She saw Jin nod, and Peri smiled. She was happy that he wanted to hang out with her all day. She was delighted she was with him. "So, where do we start?" she asked when she was satisfied with his answer.

They both got to work slicing strawberries, sifting flour, and mixing the other ingredients into a thick batter. They may have been at separate workstations, but Jin and Peri still worked well together. 

Once the donuts were made and cooled, the two began decorating. Well, Jin tried to decorate, but Peri kept trying to steal the bowl full of frosting and dip her finger in it for a taste. "Looks like you have a sweet tooth! You are going to ruin your breakfast if you keep that up!" Jin said to her, trying to contain his laughter. 

That's all he could ever do with Peri. They would laugh with each other. They were playful and maybe low-key flirty with each other. He wondered if that was just her nature, and maybe he was reading too much into it, or perhaps there was something a little more. 

Peri was getting antsy as Jin was putting on the decorations. He could see she was more than ready to devour the donuts they had made. Jin teased her by slowly dropping the sprinkles onto the shiny strawberry glaze of the donuts. He could hear her starting to whine. She was hungry and dying for a bite of the sweet little cakey donut. 

He finally finished his torment and brought the donuts over to the table. Peri grabbed their coffees and sat down together to enjoy the breakfast they had made together. The two forgo'd their manners and took giant bites of the donuts, trying their best to get as much of them into their mouths as possible. Another round of giggles followed when they saw that they both had the same mindset. 

"How was your concerts?" Peri asked as she swallowed her bite and took a sip of coffee.

"The first day was a little nerve-wracking, but after we completed the first set of songs, we could settle back into our normal rhythm. It's always like that on the first one. Days two and three were good. I forgot a few steps here and there, but it was pretty good overall."

"Namjoon told me the first day is always a little unnerving, but I am happy everything went well. Don't worry about the steps; I am sure no one noticed them. ARMY was just happy to see you all on the stage. I am sure you put on one hell of a show!"

AN:

SO glad I did a double post the day before! Yesterday was a day full of cooking for me. So, in honor of that day, I decided to add it to the story with some liberties.
I was trying to upload pictures so you guys could see what I made, but my computer decided it wasn't going to play nice. I'll fight with it later.

Yes, I did make donuts. Yes, I did make soup. Yes, I did cut my finger on the onion.
Stay tuned to see how Namjoon is going to react!