Boy Next Door ✔

Chapter 14

Behind the masked smile he usually wore on his face, there was sadness and shock. He anxiously shifted his gaze to the side and wiped his tears before standing up with that smile still plastered on his face and walked to Soo Yun. 

"You didn't change the pass-code."

"Are you okay?" Soo Yun asked. "Did those men come again? Do you want me to call the police?" He made for the door not knowing exactly where he was headed, red fury in his eyes. "How do they beat up a kid? We paid everything you owed them. Cowards!"

The hand appeared from nowhere and tightened on his wrist, white knuckled, strong. He looked  up and came into contact with Kris Lu's eyes. They were darting back and fourth, shining in the sunlight. They were a deep, earthy brown - the color of the earth after torrential rains. But there was something else in them, something glistening. 

Glistening like an old copper penny being examined in the warmth next to powerful flames that were licking the safety glass door of an old fireplace. They held secrets, the same way a pot holds layers of deep soil- cradling- because it is essential to keep the plant safe. The roots are held in place the same way his dark, teary eyes held so tightly onto his secrets.

"It's not them, I'm fine." Kris stretched out his hand over Soo Yun and pushed the door shut, hearing it click before he put his hand back down. 

Soo Yun breathed in his scent which was nothing like anything he'd sniffed in a while. In his own home there was no aroma, or at least none he ever noticed. Just the stale smell of the hospital which he brought home with him, stuck on his clothes and his person.

Yet the fragrance on Kris took him back to the meadows outside their old home, running around with Soo Beom. Even with his eyes wide open he could smell it, inhaling deeply like each breath was a time machine, and just for those few precious seconds he was twelve all over again with buttercups in his hair and dirt in his hands.

Kris Lu, still with his hand on Soo Yun's wrist pulled him into the living room and pushed him onto the couch, sitting down beside him. "It's not them." He said, "Can I bunk here for a few days? I don't want to go to my place."

Soo Yun didn't understand what difference it would make. They were literally next door neighbors, but he didn't voice it out. He also didn't ask why. When Kris was ready, he would talk about whatever the issue was. He nodded and stood up to go take a shower. The long walk back had made him sticky and uncomfortable.

When he came back downstairs, the living room was empty. He wondered if Kris had changed his mind and went back to his apartment. He was about to go back upstairs And then Kris emerged from under the kitchen, pink in the face, his black bangs pasted to his forehead with either steam or sweat. 

He was child-like in his proportions from where he was crouching and he smiled in the way inconvenienced people do. Likely he was looking for something under there and he hadn't found it. His fingers were being crushed in the rhythmic grip of his other hand. 

"Do you have bigger pots doctor precious?"

Soo Yun walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet under the sink, pulling out a huge pot and placing it on the sink. He walked back around the counter and sat on one of those stools. He was really interested in what Kris was about to do.

"You keep your pots under the sink?" Kris took out a few vegetables from the fridge, washed them and placed them on the chopping board. Separating them and then began to chop.

Soo Yun shrugged. He had no idea how to cook, other people had cooked for him all his life. Besides, he had recently moved back to this apartment. "I'm busy at the hospital, no time to cook." He lied.

The left side of Kris' faint red lip tugged upwards creating a sinister smirk on his god like face; casting a spell of lust to eyes that dare look his way. The smirk grew over his face like a lazy teacher's check mark, the faded "red ink" stretching up into his dimple. It was obvious he knew Soo Yun was lying. 

"I know how to cook."

Kris chuckled.

"It's true!"

"Alright, I believe you," Kris said. "Let me cook for you though, as payment for bunking here."

He picked up the chopping knife and cut the vegetables into perfect matchsticks in the time it took most people to just peel the carrots. Every motion was precise from intense repetition and he prided himself on the machine-like perfection of his shapes.

Everything was even, uniform, perfect. He looked over at the Soo Yun and smiled at his amazement. He seemed to enjoy having someone watching him cook. He added flare to all his moves, grinning from ear to ear when Soo Yun applauded him.

He moved as if he had his own personal opera playing within. At times he moved as though he were the bow of the cello, steady and deep. Other times he was the violin in some rapid dance. Yet whatever rhythms flowed in his soul from minute to minute, be them tranquil seas or tempests. 

He served the food and pushed the platter towards Soo Yun, standing there as he took a bite. The big man and his vulnerable childish heart, awaiting Soo Yun's facial expression and sound. Kris cared about his words, but less so, he was looking for the truth in that reaction of awe and pleasure.

Soo Yun licked his lips and grabbed a spoonful, directing it into his mouth. If he could have opened his mouth any wider he would have eaten the whole plate in one bite. As it was he took a spoonful at a time, his eyes opening wide every time the food landed in his mouth.

He ate like food was going out of style. He crammed it in thick and fast, consuming a meal that had taken two hours to prepare and cook in a matter of minutes. Kris didn't seem to mind, he enjoyed watching him appreciate his hard work, adding more food to his plate every now and then. 

When he was done with his food, Soo Yun slurped the remaining soup like some kind of vacuum cleaner. Then, showing no signs of embarrassment, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and belched. 

He took his plate and stood up, walking to the sink. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to start doing the dishes but suddenly tensed up when he felt a warm body on his back. Kris reached out from behind him and opened the tap. He pulled Soo Yun's hands to the sink and let the water run over them, gently scrubbing before taking a towel from the sink and wiping them.

"A surgeons hands are for making art doctor precious, not doing dishes." He moved Soo Yun to the side and began cleaning the dishes. 

Soo Yun stared at him for what seemed like hours until he finally dropped his gaze, "You're not a local are you?" His voice was quieter now, less sure. 

Kris turned to look at him but hurriedly lowered his gaze back to the sink when he noticed the pink hue on Soo Yun's face. "Why?" He laughed. 

Soo Yun shook the  feeling that had him rooted to the spot off and walked back to the counter, content with watching the young man bustling about in his kitchen.

"Soo Yun means perfect lotus blossom not precious lotus blossom."

Kris turned to him and flashed a smile that seemed so genuinely sweet, with just the right touch of cockiness that sent an unexpected warmth through Soo Yun's body.

"Doctor perfect or Doctor Lotus blossom, what do you want me to call you? Pick."