In My Arms (Hometown Cha Cha Cha fanfiction)

Chapter 23: Dumplings

Hye Jin's POV

"I feel bad for Ju ri." I sigh as Du Sik and I finally reach home. It was a long episode of comforting Ju ri and listening to her gasp in horror over and over again at the boy who doesn't know of DOS. It was an even longer ordeal sending Ju ri back to Chun jae...

"One day she will find a nice boy who likes DOS." Du Sik says finally.

He pulls me closer to him and kisses me on the forehead briefly. I smile at him.
"I'm hungry. Let's make dinner." I say.

"Okay." Du Sik says. "What do you feel like eating?" He says as he looks through the cupboards.

"Oh! I memorized this entire recipe from the internet. I want to cook something for you!" I say happily. Du Sik eyes me suspiciously.

"Are you going to burn the kitchen down?" He smiles.

"Of course not! I feel like I'm getting better and better at cooking these days." I say proudly. Du Sik laughs softly and pushes his fringe back.

"Really?" He asks jokingly. "What do you want to make? I can help you." He offers.

"Jiang!" I pop the printed recipe out of the pocket of my apron. "I was watching one of Seong hyun's shows and the dumplings looked so delicious on screen. So that's what I'm going to try to make." I say happily.

"Okay. I'll get the fire extinguisher ready." Du Sik jokes.

~

"Ah jeez! Why is this so hard!" I complain as I take the rolling pin and start whacking the dough that is supposed to serve as the wrappers for the dumplings.

"Ah! Ah! I don't think you're supposed to be beating it to death for it to work." Du Sik laughs as he takes the rolling pin away from me. "Come, let me see." He says as he positions himself to roll out the dough. The dough remains hard and stiff.

"What?" Du Sik says as he tries to exert pressure against the dough. The rolling pin doesn't leave a single dent in the dough. "What... what is this..." He says confused as he tries to poke the dough. "Ah, it's like a rock." Du Sik laughs softly.

"Really? Aish, but I really did follow the recipe this time." I say, feeling disappointed.

"It's okay. It's okay." Du Sik smiles sweetly at me as he pats me back. "Come, we'll do it like this." He says as he digs into the dough and splits it into small balls manually.

"Jiang! Look! See?" He says as he presses the small balls down into a reasonably flat wrapper shape.

"Then you just scoop the filling in..." Du Sik says with full concentration.

"Ah, careful. You don't want too much filling in one dumpling. If not it'll explode in the soup." Du Sik laughs as we sit at the table, scooping the meat filling into the dumpling skins.

"Explode?" I gasp at Du Sik.

"Not actually explode." Du Sik laughs affectionately. "They will open up when you boil them." He explains.

"Ah... I see..." I say.

"Wah, don't dumplings bring back so many memories." Du Sik says as he holds up a dumpling. He looks at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What?" I ask.

"Aiyo Hong Hye Jin, have you already forgotten that day when we ate with Director Ji and you kept giving him all your dumplings?" Du Sik says and pretends to shake his head.
"Hey! When did I give him all my dumplings!" I laugh. "I didn't give him all of them... because you grabbed the last one." I add and smile.

"Tell me," I ask Du Sik with a playful glimmer in my eye. "Were you just really hungry that day... or were you jealous that I gave Seong hyun some of my dumplings?" I smirk at him.

Du sik throws his head back in disbelief.

"Jealous? Who? Me?" Du Sik scrunches his face together in his usual cute manner. "... Of course I was..." He admits. I wasn't expecting that answer, my face glows with amusement.

"I didn't think you would agree off the bat like that." I laugh, holding my hand up to cover my smiling face.

Du Sik smiles. He leans forward. I lean forward as well, in response, thinking he is going to kiss me.

"Ah!" I exclaim in shock as instead of kissing me, Du sik playfully splatters flour on my nose. "Hey!" I call out.

"That's for not sharing your dumplings with me!" Du Sik laughs lightheartedly.

"Come here you!" I say with a sneaky smile and reach for a handful of flour.
"Yah! Keep that away from me!" Du Sik hops off his chair and dodges my fistful of flour as if it were a grenade.

With hands covered in flour, I chase Du Sik around the living room. He catches me in his arms as I crash into his chest. Laughing, I splot flour on his cheek. I smile with glee as I playfully run my hands across his face, leaving streaks of flour across his face.

"Oh, you're going to regret that!" Du Sik says as he rubs his face against mine, spreading the flour across my face. I squeal in delight, feeling the smoothness of the flour across my face.

Du Sik and I drop onto the couch, overcome with laughter.

"Oh no, I got some in your hair." Du Sik laughs as he tries to fluff the flour away.

I lean forward and kiss the side of his mouth.

"I never thought that making dumplings could be so fun." I say blissfully. Du Sik smiles and pulls me closer to him.

"Then you can do the clean up later." Du Sik says jokingly and gives me a cheeky smile. I smile and pretend to punch his arm.