Blood Brothers

22 | ATTENTION

Taehyung and I stroll along the pathway to the courtyard, watching as Jungwoo runs in the grass with a toy airplane in hand. He waves the plane in the air and makes loud chopper noises, not sparing our ears one single second of peace.

"Boom boom boom," he then chucks the airplane five feet into the air.

Jungwoo scratches the back of his head after realizing that he'd thrown it on top of one of the hedges. He turns around in confusion and looks at us as though we'd be able to solve his dilemma.

"Let's go inside," Taehyung insists. "I'm getting hungry."

Jungwoo's lips curve into a wide grin and he nods his head excitedly. Taehyung then links his hand with Jungwoo's and they walk back to the house, but stopping mid-track after realizing he'd just left me standing there. Taehyung backtracks and grabs my hand as well- it wasn't like the usual times he'd done so where he'd take my hand by force and lead the way. This time, we were walking together.

"Auntie Ara, are you cooking for us?" Jungwoo glances up at me and bats his eyes. "I don't like when the maids cook for me," he frowns. Even at home I remember Jungwoo always preferring his meals cooked by people he knows.

But the thing is- I don't know how to cook for shit.

"Uh," I nervously look away and ponder what I could possibly whip up.

"I've never seen you step foot in the kitchen," says Taehyung.

"You don't even go in there yourself," I shoot back. "How would you know if I've ever stepped foot in the kitchen?"

"You must forget that I have eyes and ears everywhere," he grins. "And I mean everywhere."

"So does that mean yes?" asks Jungwoo.

It was hard to deny him what he wanted- it was hard for anyone to do so. I suppose if it's what Jungwoo wants, it's what he shall get. "Okay," I tell him.

Jungwoo lets out a bout of cheers as we enter the house. He kicks off his shoes before running off, probably up to no good once again. I would only hope that he'd break something of lesser value than the limited edition vase Taehyung had imported from Taiwan.

Taehyung follows me into the kitchen where Jia and few of the other girls are sitting on barstools, mouth gaping as they watch us enter. I wasn't sure whether or not it was because they saw Taehyung or the fact that he was actually in the kitchen for the first time in forever. He doesn't acknowledge their presence and follows me to the fridge instead, watching as I pick out ingredients.

"What are you making?"

I could hear the faint gossiping and snickering in the background as I set the items on the island, my gaze flickering their way for a split second before returning my attention back to Taehyung. "Soup, I guess," I bite my lip at the unlikely array of ingredients.

"A soup for people with no taste buds?" He asks, picking up one of the cans of mushroom.

I let out a huff and yank the can away, earning a cheeky grin from him. "I'll be waiting in the dining room."

"I'll take a while," I warn him.

"I'm great at waiting," he says.

Jia leaves the room in discontent before Taehyung could even do so. I remain in the kitchen for the next thirty minutes, trying to figure out how to cook with only a youtube video to aid me. The girls sit there and watch- or laugh, rather- as I fail miserably.

After a while, I hurriedly put everything together just to be done with it. The housekeepers brought it to the dining table where Taehyung was waiting as promised. Jungwoo enters the room shortly, all dressed in his iron-man pajamas.

"This looks so good, auntie!" His eyes widen as they spot the steaming hot bowl.

"Then eat it all," I tell him as he climbs onto the chair.

Taehyung looks hesitant but he takes the first sip and his expression goes blank for a moment before smiling at me. "It's good," he says.

Jungwoo takes a huge gulp onto to spit it back into the bowl. "It tastes like shit!"

"Jungwoo!" I gasp.

There was no doubt he'd been around his father and his men for so long. I wanted to slap the vulgarity out of his precious mouth right then and there, but he was too adorable. I'd feel worse than he would've. "Don't say such bad words," I warn him.

"Then don't cook such bad foods," he retorts. "I want my daddy," he whines. "Daddy Hobi always cooks me good food!"

I look at Taehyung who is still forcing down the soup. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Okay, I'll make you something else," I sigh.

Taehyung brings Jungwoo upstairs and I follow shortly after the chef was done with the meal. I walk into the bedroom, dinner tray in hand, to find Taehyung sitting next to Jungwoo who was sprawled in the middle of the bed with another book.

"This one is Uncle Joon," he points to the T-Rex.

"This one is Yoongi," Taehyung points to the baby rhino.

"This one is Auntie Ara," he points to the mother dinosaur. "And this is baby cousin," he points to one of the little babies.

Taehyung grins even wider than Jungwoo and ruffles his hair. "I'll give you lots of cousins," he says.

I let out a cough to gain their attention as I set the table on the bed. Jungwoo reaches for the sandwich and takes a bite, cocking his brow as he looks up at me.

"Did you really make this?" He questions.

I nod. "Yes," I tell him as I take a seat. I pick up the other sandwich and lift the top piece of bread. "Look, I even put my heart into it." I point at the heart-shaped cheese.

Jungwoo still looks at me in disbelief but devours it anyway.