The Bet | Yuta Nakamoto ✓

chapter fourteen

"Wow, you must really love her." Yuta nods and smiles at me. He takes my hand and places it on his laps. "You know, I kind of lied to you about the reason why I join NCT." Is he finally opening up to me? But why now? I heard his story from Jaehyun, but I  him to say it. Coming from his mouth originally cause some people can twist your own story.

"I didn't join NCT because of whatever I said to you in the past, I join because I was-"

"Afraid of loving someone else and being in NCT makes you, you. I know, Jaehyun told me about you, Kiko and Arthur. I know exactly how you feel about scared of falling in love." Yuta smiles and pulls me in for a side hug, he brushes my hair off my face and rested his head on top of mine. "You know my story, I don't know yours." I look down and sigh. I am not ready to tell him. I just don't feel like telling him. Really I don't. But if we are a fake girlfriend and boyfriend, at least he needs to know why I set those rules for the bet.

"This Arthur that stole Kiko from you, he was my ex-boyfriend." Yuta sits up and looks at me, "Your what? Did you say ex, boyfriend?" I nod and manage to give him a smile.

"Arthur, he used to abused me 8 years ago. I lost my memory temporary because of him. When I woke up, I couldn't remember a thing about what happened but my mind always seeks for Arthur. After being told what Arthur did to me, my family decided to move so Arthur won't find me ever again. And that its best for me to move on from him." Every single time I share my story about Arthur to someone, my tears would always come out of their hiding spot. I didn't realize it until Yuta wipes away my tears. Yuta hugs me and I cried even harder than before. His warm embrace made me feel safe, his two arms wrap so tightly around my body it's as tho he doesn't want to let me go.

"I thought I suffered worst. But you suffered way more. I am sorry love that you had to go through this." Yuta calms me down my stroking my hair gently and I rested my chin on his shoulders. "Everything is going to be alright. I am always here to protect you. I promise" I nod and bury my face into his chest. Will everything ever be alright?

It is now sunset and the two of us decided to head back home to have dinner at his house. Since today it's a Wednesday and every Wednesday is where we have dinner at his place. The reason why we didn't go back to my house its because both of us needed to clear our minds off. We reached Yuta's place in about 45 minutes, his place is huge. It's like a dream house. It's like a mansion! Yuta saw me admiring the house cause I heard him chuckle and waited for me at the front door. "The main thing you should me admiring is me and not the house" I roll my eyes and punch him lightly on his arms.

"Mum? Dad? Sisters? I'm home!"

"Sisters? Don't you call them by name?" Yuta shakes his head and put his bag down at the backpack area near the shoes, he told me to put my bag there. "Nope, they don't like when I call them by their name so they came out with a nickname Sister 1 and sister 2." I laugh at how silly his family is. Now I understand where he gets his sense of humor from. His mum came down the swirling staircase and she flashes me the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. Okay Yuta, curse you for having such a beautiful family. His mum came towards me and give a bow. I didn't know what to do so I ended up bowing with her.

After bowing, she gives me the warmest hug that I have ever received. "You must be Lana! Yuta speaks fondly of you. Always brags about how beautiful you are and just adorable you are. I can see why he is madly in love with you," I look over at Yuta who is now scratching his head in embarrassment. Yuta? Is madly in love with me? Am I madly in love with him?

"You have such a beautiful home Mrs. Nakamoto" She smiles and agrees with what I say, "Indeed I do, Mr. Nakamoto will be out shortly. Girls! Would you come down and meet our special guest?" His two sisters come down the stairs and look at me. They bow and gave me a hug. "I am sister 1 and this is sister 2. Sorry, we don't like other people to know our names except for families and relatives." I nod and smile, "Understandable,"

Yuta slips one of his arms around my waist and pull me close to him. Mrs. Nakamoto gestured us to come and sit with them for dinner. I took the seat infront of the sister and Yuta took the seat next to mine closer to the main seat. "Yuta! You are back my son" Yuta stands up and his dad ruffles his hair, "You brought home a girl. Welcome to the Nakamoto residence. Pleasure meeting you- what is your name lovely?"

"Lana, and the pleasure is all mine. I love the architecture and layout of the home Mr. Nakamoto" He smiles and shakes his head, "Designing is not my job Lana, my wife here did all the layout. If you want to design your home in the future, you can come here anytime" I nod and eat the dinner that they had prepared for us. They prepared a lot for a family of 5 and they prepared Japanese food for me to try.

"The first dish is Udon noodles. I bet you never had one before right?" I nod, "Great! Tell me how does it taste like?" My face lit up when I tried the noodles, it's chewy and thick and the flavors of it just matched up with each other. I love it! "Oh my, this is absolutely amazing! What is next on the menu?" They laugh and ask me to take my time to eat. Wouldnt wants to get a tummy ache if I ate too fast. "Next up is Sashimi," My face squinted when I saw the dish, they serve it raw? I don't think I can eat this.

"What is a Sashimi?" Yuta looks at my smile, "Sashimi is raw fish or meat that has been cut into thin slices and typically it comes served with daikon radish, pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce. Sashimi is different from sushi is that all sushi is made with vinegared rice and does not always contain raw fish, while sashimi is almost exclusively raw fish and is never served with rice." I nod and look at the raw fish with my fork. Since I am not very good at using chopsticks, they ask me to use a fork cause I would never get the food in my stomach if I use a chopstick.

"Third meal on the menu is none other than Onigiri and Chawanmushi." The two dishes look absolutely mouthwatering, Sister 2 gave me two of the Onigiri which is shaped like a triangle with seaweed in the middle and she also gave me one of the Chawanmushi. Mrs. Nakamoto looks at me and gave me a lecture about these two dishes. "Onigiri are portions of Japanese rice and is normally with a filling in the center, that has been molded into triangular or cylindrical shapes before being wrapped in nori seaweed. While the Chawanmushi is a steamed, savory egg custard is made by pouring seasoned, beaten eggs into individual cups already filled with different meats and vegetables, and then steaming the cups in a pot or steamer until they have solidified and become similar to pudding in texture."

I should really try and make this at home. It really tastes so good that I want to have a second portion but unfortunately, I am very full. The food is by far, the best that I had ever tasted. I have never been to Japan before but the food they made makes me feel like I am in Japan, enjoying all the authentic food there. Yuta gave me a look of if I want to go home, I nod and the both of us stands up leaving the dining table. "Let me help with the dishes." The females in the house nods and I carry all the dishes to the kitchen and place them in the dishwasher.

"Thank you for stopping by Lana, Yuta came out of his shelf now huh. You know, you are the first girl he brought home ever since Kiko. He must have really like you,"