Talk Nerdy to Me

Chapter 8: First Day At Work

Summary:

In which Ra attends her first meeting with the staff.

Chapter Text

Ra studied the knife wounds in Chris' side as he stood in the kitchen fixing breakfast. He was shirtless. This was apparently normal for him, as Changbin hadn't said anything. Ra was used to a very pious lifestyle, in spite of her artwork's content.

"If you keep staring like that, you'll make me think you like seeing me topless," Chris teased.

Ra's face flushed pink. "Sorry. I was just wondering how well you were healing, that's all."

Chris glanced down at the long wounds, which had been covered in antibiotic ointment to hopefully keep it from scarring. "It's healing. It'll probably be good for the first show on Thursday, though I won't be flashing Stay anytime soon."

Ra's blush deepened. She had been watching Tiktoks that Felix sent her to prepare her for the show. The ab-flashes were popular.

"Hey," Chris touched her shoulder to get her attention. "Don't worry about it."

Ra cautiously smiled. "I can't help it. I keep picturing one of your fans coming for my jugular."

"You got OT8 behind you," came Changbin's voice from behind her.

Ra glanced at him, her eyes falling to the spot where the bat has hit his head. Thankfully, his goose egg had fully gone down now, a bruise that seemed a thousand times bigger than it really was in its place.

"Makeup will cover it," Changbin said dryly. He stood, putting his phone in his pocket, padding across the living room to her. "Come on, let Chan breathe."

Ra followed the other man out of the kitchen, though her gaze lingered on the wound.

"How's yours healing?" Changbin asked, pulling his phone back out.

Ra stuttered. "Um ah it's fine. It'll be fine."

Changbin's eyebrow raised in question.

Ra sighed, but still didn't answer. "Did I pack enough? Or is it too much? I don't know what to bring."

Changbin opened his mouth to press her further about her own knife wounds. Chris put a bowl of oatmeal in his hand, covered with the last of the mangoes he'd had on the counter.

"Ra, do you like strawberries on yours?"

Grateful for the distraction, she nodded. "Sure."

A moment later, she had a bowl of oatmeal with sliced strawberries and brown sugar. Chris sat down with a nearly identical bowl.

"I have enough to make bulgogi tonight, and I can freeze everything else."

Ra nodded, but she was caught up in the delicious taste of strawberries to really pay any attention. Her tiny happy dance didn't go unnoticed by the boys.

"You must really like strawberries," Chris said after a minute.

Ra froze, going perfectly still. "Oh, um. Yes. They're my favorite." The happy dance was gone, replaced by a tense, inward crumbling.

"It's okay to enjoy good food, you know," Chris said, keeping his tone light and conversational. "Especially when it's your favorite."

Ra glanced up and smiled shyly. "Okay." She took another bite of berry, forcing herself to savor it, and the tiny dance returned, subtle at first, and then a little bit more.

Chris and Changbin exchanged a look. Anyone with eyes could see that Ra was sensitive to how others perceived her. It was a dangerous thing, in their kind of work. Han had begun to overcome it, but he hadn't been nearly as timid as Ra was. After the week she'd had, both were surprised she wasn't absolutely destroyed. She didn't seem to be. In fact, it almost seemed to them that it was just another thing tossed into a pile of many similar things.