Not Her || HAOBIN

Ch# 14 - SWEAT

The sun had climbed higher into the sky by the time the others in the farmhouse began to stir. The peaceful silence was soon broken by the creaking of doors and the groggy shuffling of feet.

Matthew stumbled out of his room, his eyes barely open, yawning loudly as he stretched his arms above his head. He shuffled forward blindly, not noticing Taerae emerging from the room next door. Taerae's eyes were just as bleary, and neither of them seemed aware of the other's presence until—

BAM!

"Ow, shit!" Matthew winced, rubbing his forehead where it had collided with Taerae's shoulder. "Dude, watch where you're going!"

Taerae blinked, looking just as confused as Matthew. "You're the one who walked into me!" he shot back, his voice groggy. He rubbed his own arm where it had taken the brunt of Matthew's hard head.

"Well, you should've moved," Matthew grumbled, though there was no real anger in his voice. He gave Taerae a playful shove before trudging toward the kitchen, still half-asleep. Taerae rolled his eyes but followed him, muttering something under his breath about "zombies in the morning."

Meanwhile, the sound of movement had woken up Gunwook, who groaned as he rolled out of bed, his hair sticking up in all directions. "What's with all the noise?" he grumbled, scratching his head. He glanced over at Yujin, who was still buried under his blankets, only the top of his head visible.

"Get up, Yujin," Gunwook called out, his voice a little louder. "Time to make breakfast."

Yujin made a noise that sounded somewhere between a groan and a whine, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. "Five more minutes..." he mumbled, his voice muffled.

Gunwook shook his head, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You're gonna be late for your shift in the kitchen," he teased, walking over to Yujin's bed and yanking the blanket off.

Yujin gasped at the sudden chill, his eyes snapping open as he glared at Gunwook. "You ass!" he snapped, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Fine, I'm up."

Gunwook chuckled, tossing the blanket back on the bed. "That's more like it."

As they joined Hanbin and Zhang Hao in the kitchen, Gunwook glanced around, spotting Taerae already pulling out a frying pan. He walked over, grabbing a couple of eggs from the fridge. "You need any help?" he asked, trying to keep his tone casual as he set the eggs on the counter.

Taerae looked up, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, sure. Can you crack these for me?"

Gunwook nodded, feeling a flutter in his chest as he watched Taerae smile. He tried to focus on cracking the eggs without making a mess, but his mind kept drifting back to the way Taerae's eyes crinkled when he smiled like that.

As they worked side by side, Gunwook couldn't help but glance over at Taerae every now and then, his heart doing a little flip each time their eyes met. But every time he felt that little spark of happiness, it was followed by a pang of something else—something that felt a lot like doubt.

What if Taerae was hiding something from him? The thought gnawed at Gunwook, even as he tried to push it away.

Matthew was clattering around in the kitchen, his movements clumsy as he tried to find a spatula. "Where the hell is everything in this damn kitchen?" he grumbled, rifling through a drawer and finding nothing but a whisk.

Hanbin chuckled from where he was standing by the stove, already flipping a pancake. "You're just looking in the wrong place," he said, pointing to the cabinet above Matthew's head. "Check there."