Flowers and Broken Hearts

Sausages

Jeon Jungkook, 25, Present day

Burning.

It smelled like burning.

Within a heartbeat, Jungkook was out of the bed, onto the floor, and out the bedroom, pulling up a random pajama he found slumped on a chair. The clock read ten minutes after nine, but the grey skies outside his window suggested six am.

"Shit!" A panicked voice rang out in the silent apartment then a clatter of what sounded like pans followed. He stopped, shoulders slumping in relief as the familiar noises registered. From the sound if it, Chin was cooking up something, and that something was burning.

Typical Thursday.

Jungkook sighed, thanking God his house was not burning.

At least not yet.

Almost grinning, he stumbled into the kitchen, topless and scratching his back. "What now?"

Chin was obviously in a good mood, as she was frying up some weird mix of burnt bloody red kind of hotdog. Or maybe it was Jungkook's fingers. He checked his fingers in alarm.

"I'm cooking," explained Chin, who cursed once more as a spittle of hot oil landed on her bare leg. She rubbed it with the hem of the shirt she was wearing. It was Jungkook's. "Or at least trying to."

He peered at the pan, closing in behind her. She could feel his body heat, and suddenly her body was high with alert. His hands fiddled with the red spot where the hot oil had splashed, gently rubbing and kneading to ease the pain. And to distract Chin. Her muscles tensed.

"What are those, fingers?" He asked. He was really curious, not a shed of sarcasm could be found in his tone.

"These . . . " Offended, she turned to him, ready to poke him on the stomach hard, only to stop when she realized he was topless. Tanned chest stood out before her. Her face flushed, but she poked him anyway. Extra hard, making him back away in laughter. " . . . are sausages, you idiot. Taiwanese sausage."

"Hmm. Sausage," he repeated in amusement. Then his eyes glittered mischievously. "Not my sausage?"

"What-" She whirled back at him, face flushed red with embarrassment and shock at his failed attempted dirty joke. "Jungkook! That was really lame and totally not funny at all! Come here, let me hit you back to sanity."

Laughing, the said boy backed away, to where Chin couldn't reach him. "What? I was just asking if that was my sausage-"

The handle of a spatula landed smack on his head. "Alright! Alright!" Giggling madly, he shielded his head with his arms. "I meant: are those sausages for me?"

Chin harrumphed, focusing once more at the pan and nothing but the pan. "No."

"Aww." He was pouting, but Chin turned away so he couldn't see her smiling. "But I wanted some."

She pretended to sigh, still hiding her glee. "Fine. You can have a few. Those were for Jinhee though."

Jungkook, who had turned away to rummage through the fridge for a banana milk, swiveled back, eyebrows raised so high it reached his hairline.

"Jinhee?" he cried incredulously. "Chin, Jinhee could fry up her own sausages better than anyone in this city could, without burning anything, may I add. Did you somehow suddenly forgot she has a degree in culinary arts?"

"Yeah, but its the effort that counts." She frowned at him. "And anyway, she hasn't been really eating much since Jimin broke up with her, so I might as well try persuading her to try my burnt shit."

He shrugged, placing a juice box on the counter then slid it to Chin. She pounced on it. "I guess. So long as you leave some for me."

She turned off the heat, and started placing the slightly blackened sausages on a steel container, leaving some for Jungkook on a plate. "Don't you have classes?"

"It's Thursday. No classes for me. I'll go catch up with my guy though. Jimin's out of it again."

"Meaning?" Chin went to the bedroom, shoving the juice into her bag, Jungkook following her heels. He was still sipping from his banana milk juice box.

"Meaning he's like his old self again. Not talking, not eating, staring into nothingness . . . I'll have to keep track of him time to time. I'm scared he'll do his, you know, his acts again."

She opened a drawer, pulling out a pair of jeans and a blouse. "Well, if you're going to Jimin, I'll be off to Jinhee." She took her towel off the rack. "Seriously, what's the matter with those two?"

Jungkook stared deep into her eyes. "Nothing good, probably."

Jananghae did the cover for this icky book, which is the most undescribably, amazingly, effing GORGEOUS cover. Ugghhh 😭❤