Worlds Apart - Taekook - Book 2

Chapter 226 - Innocence

"When is he coming? Billy?" Sukmin was standing in the doorway to the kitchen at the diner. "Will it be soon? Will Jungkook-hyung be here soon?"

Billy looks up from the hot plate where he is flipping some bacon over. "Yes, he said he would be here soon."

"Ash-hyung said he is coming too? Ash said we could go shopping when Jungkook-hyung is free?"

"If Ash said that then I'm sure it will happen."

"Is Taehyung-nim coming too? Ash said he was!"

"Yes, Taehyung is coming after work. I think Tom is bringing him here so he can drive his car home."

"Ash has to give the Audi back today. Ash said we would go to McDonalds in the pink car next time. Ash said Heeju would drive."

Billy looks over at the young man in his jeans and polo shirt. His hair was short now, longer on top with a fringe that naturally sloped to one side. "Maybe Ash will want to get his own car now?"

"I can help him choose. I love cars." Sukmin hears the diner door chime, "I should go... can I help Marsha? Jara said she isn't working today."

"If you would like to help out, you can. Jara is in tomorrow."

"Jara said that I can help Ki-Joon draw a picture of the zoo."

"Do you like zoos?"

"I don't know."

"Have you been to a zoo before?"

"No."

Billy sighs, he's not surprised but he wonders how much more there is to find out about this sheltered boy who seems to have missed out on so much. "Instead of drawing tomorrow, why don't we take Ki-Joon to the zoo?"

Sukmin's eyes light up, "You mean... a real zoo?"

"If you want to go?"

"Yes! Yes... a real zoo! Will there be penguins? I'd like to see a real penguin... will there be elephants? Do you think they really use their trunk to drink water like a straw?"

The excitement and enthusiasm was tangible. "We can have a look at the website later and see what animals they have. I need to make sure that Marie will be okay here as she will have Si-Jin so let me arrange everything and we can plan it later, okay?"

"A real zoo! Are we really going to go?"

"Yes, we are really going to go... if we can't go tomorrow, we will make sure we fix a date for another day."

Sukmin frowns, "Even if I mess up some drinks today? If I make a mistake... will we still go?"

Billy sighs again and his heart switches quickly from being so full to being broken. "You can make a hundred mistakes today and we will still go to the zoo." He takes the food off of the hotplate so that he can walk over to where Sukmin is loitering. He opens his arms to offer a hug and Sukmin accepts instantly. "Remember yesterday when you made a latte instead of a cappuccino?" He asks.

"Yeah." Sukmin says sadly.

Billy pulls back from the embrace so he can see Sukmin's face. "What happened afterwards?"

"We went to the shop to get popcorn and we watched the football match." He recites.

"Did you have a good time last night?"

"Y-yes."

It was the simplest of errors and easily rectifiable but Sukmin took it badly. Marsha tried to reassure him that it was okay but Marie found the young boy wrapped in his blanket in the corner of his bedroom.