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Chapter 35

A hand waved in front of my face, snapping me out of my stupor. 

“You’ve been out of it all morning,” Concern was clear in Wooyoung’s voice without the need to look up at him, “you know you could share a piece of your mind.” Wooyoung continued whilst chopping up ingredients. 

Since San decided he couldn’t supervise me whilst working out, he passed me onto his best buddy Wooyoung. He was busy preparing the harvest from his farm. Half of the yield was stored in the fridge whereas the other half was planned to be frozen for upcoming months. I resumed dicing the carrots for boiling then shocking.

Wooyoung was skillfully ploughing through various vegetables whilst I was starting on my third carrot. I glanced at him from time to time, taking note of the beauty spot underneath his eye. 

“Am I that pretty?” He joked.

My eyes darted back to the chopping board. I have been caught. I kept my head down and focused on the task at hand. The only sound remained was the crunching of the plants under the blade, the ghost of their screams subjected to their helpless ends. 

“Look, I don’t hate you. I never did.” The blade in Wooyoung’s hand slowed but never stopped. I hummed in response, unable to relax the tightened vocal folds at the moment. I grabbed another and chopped more. 

The chopped pieces were transferred to a large pot where they were cooked for one minute before being immediately dunked into an ice bath. I kept the vegetables moving, occasionally replenishing the ice baths whilst Wooyoung dried and packed them into freeze bags and containers. The last of them were packed away and the cleaning was left. 

“I’ll take care of it.”
I tried to oppose the decision.
“I know you want to help and all but just sit at the table.” He pushed me out the door. 

I sat at the dining table alone, a little weirded out because it was always full. Wooyoung emerged moments later, carrying an airtight container. He flopped in next to me and ripped open the lid. The container slid towards me, his nonchalant face. I peered at the contents before I took one and inspected it under the light.

Saccharine pieces clumped against thin orange strips. Light deflected off the clumps which made me question whether or not it was edible. He took a handful and snacked on them loudly. I raised it to my lips and bit the tip off. It was orange peel but not bitter like the first time I tried an orange when I attempted to eat the whole thing, peel and all. 

“They’re good right?” 
I nodded, reaching for another one. 
“I formulated the recipe to perfection.” Wooyoung puffed his chest out with pride. 

I simply smiled in response, reaching for another one. We sat in comfortable company, sharing the candied treats. 

“Did you know me years ago?” I broke the silence. 

Wooyoung raised an eyebrow at the question.

“No. Why?”

“I saw you before, in a dream. You look the same.” 

“Cromer?”

I hummed in affirmation. 

“Hongjoong used to have such a hard time adjusting when the dreams first started. That cursed hourglass. He had uttered some insane stuff about alternate timelines and had gotten angry at us for the things we did in his crazy dreams. His short temper is something to reckon with.” Wooyoung shook his head at the memory. “So what happened in your dream?”

“I joined a revolting group and you were there with the others.” 

“Sounds about right.” he seemed amused at the idea. “Anarchy am I right?”