Wildfire And Rain

Chapter Twenty-Five

"I'm home."

This is it. It's happening.

This is not a drill, Beomgyu's mind whirls. Not a drill. His heart drops, the same way it does when you're expecting something bad to happen. "We're in the kitchen," he announces, and his voice strains a little. Yeonjun gives him a worried look that he brushes off.

Kai enters the kitchen area but not the kitchen itself, and he immediately searches the quite wide room with his eyes. He's heard about Yeonjun, from the first day Beomgyu met him and throughout their relationship. He has been there, like a spectator from day one.

Maybe that is why when he sees Yeonjun, he doesn't feel like he's meeting him for the first time although that is the case.

A sense of familiarity washes over him. But he remains indifferent, at least from the outside. "Hey, Hyung." He expects a handshake, or perhaps a wave or a smile. But he should have seen the big hug coming, Yeonjun was an affectionate person according to Beomgyu's retelling.

He feels crushed between Yeonjun's arms. It'd be rude not to return the hug, so he does with a single hand only. "I'm sorry it took so long," Yeonjun says. They break apart. "How are you?" He pats Kai's back.

"Is it too early to open the booze?" Beomgyu whispers to Soobin and the taller snorts.

"Fine," Kai answers, a little blind-sighted. He feels grateful for the warm welcome in his own house, even though it's foreign to him. He's not sure how to receive it. "Can I help?" he asks Beomgyu.

Relieved, and a little thankful they decided to cook themselves so they can be occupied with Something that is not talking, Beomgyu points at the fruit scattered on the round table. He hands his brother a cutting board and a knife.

"I'll help you." Soobin wipes his hands on a kitchen towel and walks to the table as well. Beomgyu gives him a warning look to which he mouths. "Relax already."

"So... "Soobin says. Both are glad and worried that they are semi-alone while the others are in the kitchen. But he owes it to Beomgyu to be a decent person and try to get along with Kai despite not having gotten any satisfying answers about the incident at their dorm.

He just can't bring himself to trust Kai, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy. Soobin is just a disbelieving guy and very protective of Taehyun. Both of those traits are not Kai's fault so according to that logic he should at least apologize for what he said in the car.

"I'm-" he begins. "How do you wash your hands with those on?" He quickly gets distracted and strays away from what he wants to say.

Kai looks at him as if he's the dumbest person he has ever met. "I replace them," he says in a blank tone. It is honestly jarring how vacant someone's voice can be as if it was programmed and not out of an actual living person.

"It still won't be clean," Soobin argues.

"They are anti-bacterial." Kai retaliates.

Of course they are, now Soobin feels stupid. "Well, that's not what I wanted to say."

"Yet you are wasting my energy regardless."

"I wanted to apologize," Soobin admits. "You did something nice for me and I used it to lash out at you, that was wrong. I usually speak what is on my mind without thinking twice and I should have been more considerate." A stone lifts from his chest, he grabs a knife and begins to cut a block of what seems to be a kind of old cheese. "So, I'm sorry."

Kai nods.

There is a knock on the door. "Open!" Beomgyu yells. He turns the stove to a low fire and washes his hands.