home. | Nishimura Riki

Chapter 2 - 🍚

    ——————————————————

——————————————————

    Iseul had been studying for a good three hours straight after coming home from school and Ni-ki was only half fazed. On one hand, she did this everyday and it was normal. On the other hand, she did this everyday and it shouldn't be normal. He wondered if she even ate dinner these last few days. He walked into her room crunching on his kimbap loudly.

    "Get out."

    "I didn't even say anything. I was just eating my kimbap."

    "Exactly. I don't need your eating sounds distracting me."

    "It's just like that asmr you watch, but whatever. I just have one question."

    "Alright. Ask quickly."

    "What did you have for dinner these last few nights?"

    "It doesn't matter. Now leave." He flopped onto her bed.

    "I'm not leaving until you say what you ate." Iseul had her eyes stuck to her workbook, but this frustrates her enough to look up.

    "I've been busy so I haven't had time to eat. Don't worry about it too much."

    Ni-ki bounced up off the bed and said, "Ok, bye." He left the room.

    He had been waiting for this day. The day where he cooked something by himself. Obviously he had practice. Jay didn't want him to starve if there was an emergency, so he taught him how to make kimchi fried rice made from leftovers and a little bit of chopping. Even within those twenty minutes of learning, he had gotten scolded about a hundred times.

    "Remember, you can't just take out ingredients if there's too much," Jay explained.

    "That's just common sense."

    "Yeah well after seeing you try to make bungeoppang, twice, and failing both times, I thought I should remind you."

    He whipped up a concoction of kimchi, leftover rice, and spam. This took double the amount of time Jay took and the rice was a overcooked, but otherwise it seemed like it was edible. He decided to fry an egg to cover it up. With two other eggs in the trash, he finally made one that was acceptable. To add a little bit of healthiness to the meal, he decided to chop up some green onion.

    "Ah! fu-,"

    Of course he couldn't cook something without a few battle scars.

    When he entered the room, Iseul had headphones on, probably listening to brown noise. He sat the bowl on the table while getting comfortable on the bed. Iseul glanced over quickly but went straight back to studying. He took a scoop on his spoon and blew on it to cool it down. He held the spoon upto Iseul's mouth and without thinking she ate the food. When she finally realized she had something in her mouth, she slowly looked towards Ni-ki, then to the bowl of food, and then back at Ni-ki.

    "If mom is at work and I've been sitting here since we got back...did Jay come over?"

    "No!"

    "It has spam...Heeseung?"

    "No! I made it."

    Iseul looked concerned. "I didn't hear any firefighters? Are you sure the kitchen is still intact?"

    "Yes. Don't worry. The only thing slightly scarred is my finger. Owieee." Iseul smacked the backside of his head.

    "Don't act like a child."

    He rubbed that part of his head. "But it tastes good right?" She opened her mouth signaling she wanted another bite. He blew on the spoon before placing it in her mouth.

    She chewed carefully and decided, "it's a little burnt." She went back to taking notes, but opened her mouth again after finishing that bite. She didn't feel hungry, but she kept eating and Ni-ki blew on every bite before feeding her. She finished the bowl quicker than she expected. She opened her mouth but nothing came this time. Iseul looked to her side and saw Ni-ki smiling at the empty bowl in his hands.

    "What are you smiling at?"

    "You finished it, that means you like it. It took a long time, and determination, but now I know it was worth it." Iseul rolled her eyes and walked to the bathroom.

    She came back a few minutes later and said, "I'm going to sleep now. Are you sleeping here too?" Ni-ki nodded his head. Ni-ki's apartment was right next door to Iseul's, so they would just sleep over. More often Ni-ki would be at Iseul's since she had a semi-permanent mattress set on the ground for him. Her room was more cozy anyway.

    And he liked that she never used the big light.

    A minute passed since they got in bed. Iseul broke the silence and said, "Thanks for making me dinner." Ni-ki was about to boast but Iseul cut him off, "I've made food for you more times than the score on your math test today. Don't expect any special treatment."

    "Good night to you too, Soul. And sweet dreams," and a few moments later, "I bet you'll dream about my cooking tonight." Iseul let out a large sigh.

    Damn this kid.

——————

Word Count: 956 words
Published: December 28, 2022

A/N: Surprise! An update. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year tomorrow! This was a short one but I still really enjoy this chapter. I would give a longer chapter but I'm on a vacation currently and time is limited. What are your thoughts?

QotC: What would you rate your 2022 year as a whole?

I think probably an 8/10. I spent the first half of the year just doing nothing but I set a bunch of goals during summer break. I haven't accomplished all of them just yet, but I have been taking care of myself much more and I've been much happier. I hope next year starts with a bang!

——————————————————

——————————————————