Defence

28

- - - - -

Tuesday evening after work Taecyeon stopped by the store to stock up on groceries. Walking down the aisle he found some cookbooks on sale. He grabbed one and looked at it. Easy directions and the food looked good. Taecyeon dropped the cook book into the cart and checked out.

Along the drive back to the apartment it appeared in his mind again.

"I never imagined jealousy. You're showing something which I know as jealousy. I see it a lot from where I came from." Victoria expressed. "Why? Do you feel shame that you feel that way?"

He chuckled a little while unbuttoning a button at the top of his shirt so that he wouldn't feel so choked up. Him liking Victoria? Taecyeon couldn't quite imagine it.

Victoria looked up when he set the cook book in front of her at dinner.

"A book?" she asked looking up.

"Cook book," he corrected.

Victoria grabbed it and looked through it.

"You want to cook but can't cook so I bought you a cook book." he explained. "I don't have the time to show you so you can read the direction and do as follows. If you need any ingredients text me and I'll get them for you on the way home from work. How does that sound?"

Victoria thought his words over, "Good."

"No thanks?" he asked.

She stared at him.

"I don't use that word...ever." she stated.

"Psh! Who are you kidding? Have you never learned manners?"

"I know manners," Victoria replied. "The place where I come from, the word 'thanks' is not appreciated so I stopped using it. Anyway I'm not saying it."

"Look at you," Taecyeon snorted.

Victoria pressed her lips into a smile and glanced through the book some more.

- - - - -

When Taecyeon left in the morning Victoria set right to experimenting with the cook book. How well would things turn out? She didn't know. He had sarcastically warned her that morning not to burn down the kitchen and because of that as she opened the book she began to feel nervous.

It was quite different from being nervous about holding a weapon and being worried about whether she'd hit the target or not. Because all that was about how carefully you aimed and how you adjust yourself. Cooking, however, relied on experience and skill, which she had none of. It was practically her first time cooking.

Her first dish was cooking chicken in the oven. Even though the directions were very short and brief she still found it difficult. She rinsed the chicken and rubbed so hard that the skin began to become weak and fall off. Victoria had never touched an oven in her whole life but she recalled watching Mrs. Kim, her nanny, use it all the time.

Opening the cover she pushed the tray in and adjusted the heat. And...that was all, right?

Victoria waited and waited.

"When will it be ready?" she wondered then quickly glanced back into the book. "It should be done, right?"

She opened the oven and reached her arms in only to feel a wave of heat burn her fingers. Victoria was left howling while cursing the oven and quickly ran cold water over her hand. The doorbell rang as smoke began to rise from the oven.

"Aish!! What do I do?" she wondered from where she stood in between the door and the oven. "Ahh..." the idea slowly hit her and she turned off the faucet hurrying toward the door.