Melodies Of Betrayal: The Toxic Encore ✓

Chapter 6: Exhausted

Chapter 6: Exhausted

MAL set the food that she bought from a nearby restaurant on their dining table, then took her seat beside her boyfriend. Junwon sent her a sincere smile, reaching out to grab her hand from under the table.

"Thank you, noona, so much..."He muttered, resulting in a similar, genuine smile to erupt from her.

"For what, baby?"

For the food? For her patience? For the unimaginable amount of love she gave him everyday?

"For everything," he replied, stars shimmering in his eyes as he stared at her. "I'm so grateful for having you by my side."

She rested her hand on his thigh, rubbing the area gently with her finger.

"I'm grateful for you too, Jun. You have no idea, honestly."

The two turned to the food, their mouths watering at how delicious its smell was. The girl then handed her boyfriend the plate of food and grabbed her own, a soft smile on her face. The couple then took their chopsticks from the plastic bag the food came in with and began eating in silence, both trying to cherish each moment with their significant other.

Until the regular question crossed Mal's mind.

"So, how did it go today, sweetheart?" Her soft voice filled Junwon's ears, causing him to look up at her once again.

"I..." He hesitated, trying to remember the events that happened that day to come up with a precise answer. "It went well, I think. No one really bothered me today. Except the staring, and the whispering."

She nodded her head, and there was a pause of comfortable silence before Mal's eyes widened as a familiar thought crossed her mind. "Oh! Well, I have news!"

Junwon looked up from his plate to encourage her to tell whatever went on in her mind.

"Some of my co-workers suggested that I be the presenter in your upcoming interview, so I spoke with your manager and he agreed. Something about a huge opportunity for you guys."

Junwon nodded his head, a relieved smile crossing his face. "Yay! So I get to see you there without hiding?"

She nodded once again. "Also, Santa and Yacht are sending their greetings and hugs. They're here to finish something, and once you're not busy, they'll come to visit us."

"That's cool! I miss them a lot."

A sad, side smile spread across Mal's face, thoughts running through her mind while she silently took small bites of her food.

She knew that both Santa and Yacht loved Junwon a lot. She always wondered if both of them debuted in her lover's group, what would've happened? Would everything be alright like they both imagined?

She would've loved to see her best friends regularly, instead of seeing her boyfriend coming home crying and heartbroken because his group members didn't like him.

And she would've picked being biased to her friends and debuted them in that group instead of Junwon's heartbreak and sadness at any given time.

But unfortunately, it wasn't up to her. Or up to Junwon, really.

"I miss them too."

She sighed before taking another bite.

"Also, Rajwan says hello. He called me today and said that he'll be in Korea soon."

Junwon sent her a sincere smile at the mention of his girlfriend's brother. Her favorite brother, to be exact. He knew that his lover cherished Rajwan, one of her three younger brothers, and her two younger sisters very much. She never mentioned her two other brothers, or why she didn't talk to them like she talked to Rajwan and her two sisters.

But he didn't like to interfere either.

"Send hyung my greetings! Only until we meet each other."

She let out a small giggle and nodded. "Sure thing, sweetheart."

As soon as the couple were done with their food, they stood up from their seats, then took their turns in washing the dishes and cleaning up the area after them.

"I'll do the dishes, noona!" He began, heading towards the sink and pulling up his sleeves, staring at the piles of dirty plates filling up the sink to its surface.

"And I'll clean up the table," she spoke, glancing at the table that was filled with disposable aluminum plates and wooden chopsticks. She reached out her hand and grabbed a black plastic bag from under the sink to throw all the trash in.

After the area was spotless, in their respected opinions, Mal wrapped her arm around her boyfriend's waist and led him up the stairs, a wide smile on her lips.

"I can't wait to sleep," Junwon groaned, resting his head on Mal's shoulder. "I'm so tired."

And it didn't take a detective to know that she was too.

Once the couple shut the gigantic bedroom door behind them, Junwon hurried towards the bed with a relieved smile, and soon enough, Mal followed.

"Good night, sweetheart."

Junwon sighed heavily as his back hit the soft, rather expensive mattress, his muscles relaxing almost immediately. Turning his attention to his lover, who sank into the mattress with a soft squishy noise, he stretched his hand out to grab her own, his cheeks turning light pink in the process.

"Good night, noona..."

And it didn't take long for him to drift off into the darkness.

. . .

Mal made her way toward the kitchen refrigerator, opening its two doors in one swift move. She sighed and scanned the groceries inside, each package was set neatly on each shelf. A plastic plate of strawberries, kiwis, oranges, tomatoes, five different types of cheese, potatoes-everything she could think of.

She thought for a moment, her fingers reaching out to rub her chin as she did so.

Would Santa and Yacht appreciate homemade food when they visit them at their house? Or would takeout suit them more?

She mentally rolled her eyes at the question, knowing that it was too early to decide such thing. After all, she and Junwon were busy to the point of exhaustion, and so were their friends. They only showed up in Korea so they could work on a project, as far as Santa told her.

Everyone was busy, and she wasn't the least bit happy about it.

With Junwon's decreasing mentality and her exhausted self, she knew that they both needed some timeout.

But when?

Her mind was expanded with thoughts, each one after the other like there was no tomorrow.

Maybe she could invite her friends over after she was done with her interview, the one with Junwon and his group?

She sighed, shaking her head once again while she shut the refrigerator door.

She was exhausted.

And she could only hope it was only the same for Junwon, not worse.