How My Brother And I Kidnapped An Assassin

11. Apple, Tea, Apple Tea

Donghyuck and Mark walked back to the house, with Donghyuck proudly carrying all the apples that Mark had knocked off from the trees for him. He had run out of cheese to eat, but apples were another favorite snack of his, so he didn't mind one bit, plus, he had even gotten these for free! Johnny surely couldn't complain about that.

"I love apples," he proudly said, skipping gleefully next to the weird robot assassin guy next to him, Mark, who was walking casually next to him while Donghyuck skipped everywhere. "I could surely use an apple pie right now, or apple roses, god, I love apple roses."

Mark turned to look at him, titling his head in confusion. "I can remember what an apple pie is," he said, remembering how Jaehyun's assistant Jaemin always brought in desserts from the kitchen, always having a 'sweet tooth', according to Jaehyun. "But I don't recall having heard about an apple rose before."

Donghyuck slowed down his skipping, making sure not to drop any apples. They probably should have brought a basket, he thought to himself. "It's just something my mom used to make, she made it up," Donghyuck said softly, smiling. "Sometimes she would make a caramel dip for us to eat it with."

Mark nodded, still not knowing what an apple rose was. "Sounds... sugary," he said.

"Heck yeah, it had a lot of sugar," Donghyuck said. "I wasn't allowed to eat sweets before bedtime because I would get 'hyper', apparently, but it's obviously a big lie, I always see Johnny eating cakes from the palace right before he goes to sleep," he explained.

They reached the back of the house, where they could see the two Chinese working in the fields, one raising a hoe above him shouting he was the worm king, the other shouting at his friend to go back to what they were doing.

"That looks like fun," Donghyuck said. "I want to help hoe the fields."

Mark opened the door for Donghyuck to walk in, grabbing some of the apples to help him out. "You have to be careful while doing field work," he warned him. "Constant sunlight for hours without protection can harm your skin-"

"Yada yada yada, the sun can fight me." Donghyuck stepped into the house, struggling to carry the apples, while shouting, "JOHNNY!!! I BROUGHT APPLES!!! CAN WE MAKE APPLE PIE?!"

"I thought you wanted apple roses," Mark reminded him.

Donghyuck shrugged. "Only my mom knew how to make them. I would try but I'm not good with knives-"

Johnny came into view, frowning. "Where did you get those apples?!" he yelled at him.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, predicting another lecture coming. "I went exploring with Mark here, he's like a human compass," Donghyuck explained, holding out the apples. "We can make apple pie-"

"Haechan, that's dangerous," Johnny scolded him. "And I told you to call me Youngho while we're here, now go put those apples back, you don't know what dirt or insects they can have."

Johnny (or Youngho, if he wanted to play these stupid games) walked away, adding, "And don't leave that far from here, we don't know anyone in this town."

Donghyuck stared at the apples in his hands, sighing. "If only mom were here," he muttered to himself. "She would make me an apple pie or rose."

Mark stared at Donghyuck, a new feeling washing over him, one that he couldn't exactly pinpoint. Sadness, if he remembered correctly from Jaehyun.

Yeah, sadness. It was pretty sad to see Donghyuck with the rejected apples in his hands, a tear falling down his face.

"I can help you make an apple pie," Mark suggested, watching how Donghyuck immediately whipped his head up to look at Mark. "Or an apple rose, though I don't know what ingredients are to be used-"