It Takes Two (Kim Namjoon)

Fed

"So you have the noodles and then add the lettuce and then..." I stared at the food in front of me, useless.

"Viv, you're never going to be the good wife of a Korean man if you can't figure out how to cook these meals," Seokjin said with a smile. The rest of the boys laughed from behind us at the table.

I tugged tighter on my apron strings. "It's not my fault. Give me something American to cook and I can do it. Besides, maybe I don't want to marry a Korean."

Jin rolled his eyes. "You're telling me that you wouldn't want to marry someone with a face like mine?"

I smiled. "No, oppa. I would only ruin the bloodline."

"That you would. But you still need to impress his mom while you're dating him." He plopped a spoon into my hand. "Now, pay attention. Stir this, and when the noodles begin to separate, you're going to add this," he said, shoving something I didn't recognize into my hand.

"No! I give up."

"Here, let me take over. I'm hungry," Kookie said, helping me out of my apron faster than I could protest. He gave me his handheld camera and began working in the kitchen with Seokjin.

Slowly all the boys took turns with the camera, to the point where I was neglecting the duties of my job.

"So why are you so bad at cooking, Viv?" Taehyung finally asked.

I shrugged. "I didn't do much of it growing up."

They all looked at me oddly. Even I could admit it was weird for a Mexican girl not to know how to cook basic things.

"Your mom didn't teach you?" Jimin asked. "I mean, stereotypes aside, I think we all learned how to cook a little bit. It's tradition."

I shuffled my feat. "Yeah, it's pretty traditional for Mexicans too..."

His soft eyes still held a question, and I looked down at the counter, unable to meet the emotion there. "Um, well, it was just my mom and I growing up. We grew up pretty poor even though she was working three jobs, and so the two most valuable things to her were time and money. Teaching me in the kitchen required time, and dealing with my mistakes and slowness took time, patience, and money she didn't have, so she just preferred to do all the cooking herself."

"But was she home to cook a lot?"

I shook my head. "No. But since I didn't know how to cook anything, I would just prepare something simple or just go to bed hungry if she came home past midnight."

I stared into several pairs of pitying eyes, unsure of what I'd said to warrant the emotion expressed out of concern for me. They all had it hard too, surely. I had seen them work tirelessly on producing the best performance possible until they were aching and near tears.

"Um..." I wasn't sure of what else to say to ease them.

Suddenly Taehyung threw his arms around me, holding me close. Jin came next, followed closely by Jungkook and Jimin. "We'll teach you how to cook then, Viv," Jungkook promised. "I mean, Tae won't, and actually I won't either, but Jin definitely will."

Seokjin laughed at that, shaking the group hug. "Of course."

I giggled a little. "Thanks."

Just then, the rap line walked in from their writing session and witnessed the hug pile with me in the center.

"What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay, Viv?" Hoseok immediately asked, throwing himself onto the rest of us.

"Yes, I'm fine," I promised him.

"Also, thank you for those cards you made us," Hoseok added. "Your Hangul was beautiful, and I can't believe you've already been here two months!"

I beamed at Hobi widely, but he may not have been able to see it beyond Jungkook's brown head. Namjoon looked at me knowingly, and I gave him an even bigger smile, quietly thanking him for his lessons over the past weeks.

Yoongi lingered on the outside before Kookie dragged him in, and Namjoon nestled in near Jimin. "What are we hugging for?" Yoongi asked. "Is it a boy problem, Viv? Do we need to beat him up?"

I could feel Jimin tense near me. "You don't have anyone you're dating, do you?"

"Oh jeez, no. I haven't had the time to meet anyone here yet! I'm with you guys every second of every day," I told them.

"Good," Jimin said, putting his fluffy blonde head on my shoulder. "You're ours. No dates."

I laughed. "I'll try and keep it that way." I was lying, but they didn't need to know that.

"Well then, what are we hugging for?" Yoongi asked again. "And can we be done now?"

Seokjin's laughter broke the circle apart to give him more room to fall over.

"Nothing, really. Viv just doesn't know how to cook and we promised we would take care of her." Taehyung patted my cheek for emphasis.

Yoongi smiled then. "Yes we will. I'll always buy you those snacks you hate."

I wrinkled my nose. "Thanks, oppa."

Taehyung still held onto my shoulders and gave me another quick hug. "You're part of the family now."

I smiled widely, trying to hide the tears that sprang to my eyes. "Okay."