Episode Eleven

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Jin cleaned up all of the apple mess and surveyed the kitchen. It was spotless. Nothing else to do here.

He wandered around the house looking for something to do. He ended up in the laundry room and saw a heaping amount of laundry that clearly needed washing.

Glancing about and surveying what he had for supplies, he then began sorting the laundry. It was a skill his mother had made sure her boys knew. There were clear guidelines for laundry washing, and to preserve one's clothing through proper cleansing was to preserve one's dignity.

As he pulled materials from the laundry hamper, he saw something black, and lacy.

Before he knew it, he had pulled the item out of the pile and gulped as he held it up to eye level, staring at it. With his mouth slowly dropping open, he realized he was holding a pair of black lacy underwear, presumably belonging to Minji.

His hands trembled in horror, and yet a weird curiosity passed over him. After a few seconds, he clamped his mouth shut, swallowed thickly, and dropped the undies like they had just caught fire in his hand.

He leaned back against the washer and stared at the laundry pile. This was a necessary thing. It had to be done. But would Minji really appreciate her underwear being exposed to a stranger like this? Wouldn't she be embarrassed?

He waved the thoughts away with his hand and frowned. Who cared? It's underwear. Everyone wears it and everyone has to wash it at some point. Nothing to be embarrassed over. It's a pure fact of life.

Right?

That's what he kept preaching to himself every time he came across another pair. Pink, red, cream, several white pair, and a deep purple one all making his mouth go dry.

He began to wonder if he had an underwear fetish but felt that was just too weird a road to go down at the moment, or any future moment for that matter.

Keep it strictly professional.

With a firm nod, he loaded the first load of laundry into the machine. With a nervous glance towards the delicates pile, he shivered his whole body and exited the room.

With nothing pressing to be done, he walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Laying his head back, he folded his arms across his stomach and his eyes slowly closed as he tried to think of anything other than underwear.

* * *

Taehyung watched as Minji frowned at her screen, the tip of her tongue poking between her lips as she concentrated on her work. It was endearing.

He had a healthy respect for his new employer. She liked to keep work rolling, and there was hardly any down time. But they still weren't making fast enough progress to meet the deadline.

He had done some thinking while he did the line work she had sent to him. Perhaps it was time to bring in a third set of hands.

"Hey, Noona?"

Minji seemed to ignore him for a few seconds but then her head popped up and she put on a smile. "What is it, Taehyung?"

"We're not making fast enough progress, you know that, right?"

Minji frowned and her shoulders dropped with a heavy sigh. "Yes. I'm aware."

"Well, I was thinking...I have a friend who's great with artsy stuff. He has actually done some freelance inking work for a few manga artists in Japan. He could be a huge asset to us right now."

"Wow, Taehyung, I really appreciate that offer, but to be painfully honest, I can't afford to pay another assistant right now." Her cheeks blushed red and Taehyung through it was truly adorable.

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