paroxysm // jikook

four

A spicy, delicious smell wafted through the corridors of the old apartment building. The tantalizing scent forced the small omega to walk faster, mouth drooling as he got closer to his apartment. Jimin worked the supermarket job today, and had only eaten a bag of chips and a donut. A whole truck load of new products were shipped in from America, and all the employees were busy that day, stocking the shelves and updating the inventory. There wasn't much time for a break, since there was a lot of work that had to be finished.

Jimin was getting hungrier and his tummy growled louder by the second because of the smell. He assumed that one of his neighbours, perhaps Mrs. Choi, was cooking up a meal for her triplets. She always made good food and those kids ate alot for their age. They were only 7 years old and ate almost 4 times a day (and that wasn't including snacks).
A couple weeks ago, she had asked for Jimin to babysit. He agreed, but only because she paid 10, 000 Won an hour, which was amazing. Sounds shallow, but Jimin's situation wasn't the best and he could use any money he could get his hands on.

Sura, was the only girl triplet, was very independent and never asked Jimin for help for anything. Most of the time, she sat quietly and coloured in her architecture colouring book. If Sura wasn't colouring, she was reading the kids' version of the dictionary.
The boys, Hyunwoo and Kunwoo, were absolute trouble. There was never a time when they weren't fighting, whether it was over a toy doll or who gets the last fish cake. One time, Jimin tried to sit with Kunwoo and help him read, but Hyunwoo would run in, steal his brother's book and run away. Hyunwoo had learnt to read earlier than Kunwoo did, so he always bullied him about it. Jimin would run to chase him down, Kunwoo would sit and bawl, while Sura would read her dictionary quietly in her beanbag chair like nothing was happening. That was a typical babysitting night of the Choi triplets for Jimin. He'd always leave their house with a hammering headache and maybe a scratch from an angry Hyunwoo. Midkey, Jimin hated it. But at the same time, kids were kinda cute and Jimin really didn't mind them that much. And...there was money, so Jimin wasn't complaining at all.

Jimin finally reached his front door, the delicious scent intensifying. He opened the door swiftly and walked in. To his surprise, his grandma stood near a large pot that was on the stove; back towards him and stirring it quickly. The smell of spicy goodness hit his nose again, and a large smile grew on his face.

"Grandma." He said, walking over to her.

"Jiminie, hello!" She replied, reaching up to give him a hug. His grandma was much tinier than him, and had to get on her tiptoes to see him eye-to-eye. "You're home early today."

"Yeah, I wanted to drop by and say hello because later I will going straight to help out Uncle Heechul." Jimin said while putting his bag on the floor.

"Where is all this food coming from?" Jimin asked.

"A friend of Uncle Heechul's dropped it off." She said with a bright smile.

"Wow."

"You sound surprised." Her smile faded quickly.

"I am surprised. I forgot that he actually cared about his mother." Jimin said coldly, going to the cupboard to get bowls for ramen out.

"Don't be like that. He does care, but time is not on his side." His grandma replied, not looking up from the pot.

"Why do you just go with that excuse? His 2 jobs can't hold him back so much from visiting his own mother at least once a week." Jimin was getting angrier, his hungry fueling his emotions slightly. He couldn't believe that his grandma just accepts that his uncle 'doesn't have time' to see her.