Euphoria

5~Tea

Jae's POV

I pause at my front door step. I hear shouting and screaming. Great. My parents are home early. I slip into the room quietly, running up the thick cream carpet. Thank God we don't have creaky floorboards. I rush into Bada's room and I don't see her anywhere. Then, I hear a sniffle from underneath her princess bed. Aha.

"Hey, Apple." I whisper and wriggle inside with her. It's not very roomy so I have to squeeze myself in. Her face is shadowed and gloomy.

"What's up?" I say even though I know exactly what's up.

"Do Appa and Amma even like me?" She whispers, as though it's a terrible secret she's been holding onto her chest for a long time. My heart aches for her.

"Of course they do, Bada." I whisper back "They're just- they're having a hard time right now."

"Oh."

She looks at me again "Are Appa and Amma going to divorce?"

I'm shocked "What? Who told you that?"

"Dylan. He's in my class. He said that his mommy and daddy were fighting a lot too and one day they started living in different houses."

"Well, Dylan is wrong." I spit out angrily "They're not going to divorce. They-they can't."

"Okay." She shrugs, pausing "But Dylan is always right."

I gape at her as she slides out of the bed and walks away. What? My mind is a mess. I mean, I know Amma and Appa are going through some hard times but they'll get through it, right? They always do. But...

But. Why does there always have to be a but.

I wiggle out of the bed banging my head harshly in the process. I hide behind Amma and Appa's bedroom door. They're both crying. They're both crying...

"Ha-joon, we both know this isn't working." I hear my mother's voice choke out.

"I know, Ji-Woo, I know." My dad's voice trails out.

"I think we should split up."

"Ok. What will we tell the kids?"

No. No. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. I try to breathe in deeply but all I can taste is my own panic. Scrambling for my phone, I message the only person I can think of right now.

"P-parker?" I shudder into my phone. He's the only one that knows.

"What's the matter?"

"I-I'm having a panic attack-" Tears come flooding down my face. I run out of the house and into my car. I hear Mina yelling at me but I can't stay there right now.

"Fuck. Ok, come to my house. You know the address." He scrambles the words out of his mouth. They're distant and blurry but I can just about make them out. I hit End Call and drive towards the house. My breathing fastens as I drive, slightly offbeat.

As I approach the giant house, Parker runs up to my car and lifts me out gently. It's kinda embarrassing. My heart skips lightly.

I laugh shakily as I stumble onto my feet.

"I'm- I'm sorry. You didn't have to do this. I can find my way home." I falter nervously. His dark eyes glare at me.

"You're not going. Not in this state."

"Stupid."

"Idiot."

I'm starting to recover from my attack. We go inside. It's bare empty, different to what it looked like at the party. Though I'm not saying it's nicer. It doesn't seem very... homey.

"You want some tea?" He asks

"Do you have any coffee?" I say, my eye twitching when I say coffee. I kinda maybe sorta have an addiction to coffee.

"No."

"Whyy?" I whine, panicking. I need my coffee.

"Coffee makes your anxiety worse." He states matter-of-factly.

"Fine." I grumble "I'll take an oolong."

"I'm not a fucking barista, Lake," Parker groans "also we don't have oolong. Also, I have never heard of it."

"Then I'll have a green tea?"

His face lightens up "That I have heard of. But we also don't have it."

I narrow my eyes "What do you have?"

"Um... We've only got earl grey tea." He blushes.

"Why even bother ask me?"

"I dunno? It seemed polite."

He walks away and I bring out my phone and find the camera. My hair's a weird mess, like the humidity of my tears made it poofy. I try to brush it with my fingers but it just makes it fluffier.

"Ugh." I groan. I'm disappointed with you, hair. My hair isn't the only poofy thing in the room. My eyes are sore and bright red. Have I really been crying that long?

"Here you are." He places a cup of pale weak tea down. It's very amateur. There are clotted pieces of milk bobbing in the water because it's too hot. The sugar hasn't fully dissolved into the water. I sip it carefully. I wince.

"Lovely."

"I know it's awful. I'm not a cook. Crap, I can't even make a cup of tea right." He says shamefully. I brush it away.

"Nonsense, Jones. No one's a bad cook. You just need practice. I'll show you."

I walk into the kitchen and look in the cupboards.

"Wow, there really isn't much here is there?"

"We usually eat takeout."

I grab the small teabags and I boil the water.

"We don't have any more milk."

"That's fine, we'll buy whatever we need."

"I'll get my car."

I see the familiar grey BMW drive up onto the pavement. I scramble in. It's got that familiar musty forest smell. We sit in an awkward silence, both of us glancing at each other nervously. My breathing has gone back to normal now and I feel ok. I try not to think about my parents.

"My parents are getting divorced." I blurt out, shaking my head hesitantly.

What was that about not thinking about it? Great.

"Wow. That's... bad." He mutters.

"Of course it's fucking bad, Jones!" I yell angrily, my face flushed "Fuck, I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." He says "I was being stupid."

We get to the shop and Parker parks the car.

He hugs me, his lanky pale arms wrapped around me. I struggle for a second before giving up. I don't feel nervous or panicky. I just feel safe.

"Thanks, Jones." I murmur. I grab my coat and we walk out of the car. We buy some organic milk and we head out.

"Why organic milk?" He asks, buckling his seatbelt.

"Do you really want to be drinking milk where the cows have been chained up and pumped out what you're drinking?"

"Ok."

We get back and I teach him how to make the perfect cup of tea.

"You see, you can't have too much sugar otherwise it won't ask dissolve and it'll taste too sweet." I explain, demonstrating

"There's such thing as too sweet?"

"Duh." I laugh "Try it."

He sips the tea carefully. His eyes widen and I grin smugly. Told ya I was a good cook.

"How did you get it so... velvetly and pure?" He struggles to find words that describe it

I smile whispering in his ear "It's a rare talent."