voice | kim mingyu

six

The sun doesn't wake him up. His alarm doesn't wake him up. The smell coming from the kitchen does.

Almost jumping out of bed, the boy had smelled a strong scent from the kitchen and he knew she was cooking. For every moment he was awake, he couldn't forget the fact that the girl he had saved was in his house right now.

It wasn't a burnt smell but something nicer yet he still worried over her, afraid she might burn herself or cut her finger on accident. He rubbed his eyes as he walked out of his room and sleepily trudged to the kitchen.

She didn't hear him coming as she turned the stove off and grabbed a bowl to scoop the soup into. Hyein had only seen him when she turned around, almost scaring the life out of her. She walked past him and placed the bowl of soup on the island where other foods were already displayed there.

Amazed and intrigued, he watched as the girl grabbed another bowl for herself and sat down at the island before motioning to the boy to sit down. She wrote in her notebook once again, I'm sorry. I wanted to make you breakfast but you didn't have much in your fridge.

Mingyu knew what she meant. All he had was mostly take out so the food in front of him was mostly a little vegetable here and there. But he loved it. He looked at her and smiled, "Thank you. I'm sure I'll enjoy it anyways." And he did. Her cooking skills were beyond what he had imagined.

It was like his mom's.

Almost.

She was glad he liked it. Even though he didn't say it, it was obvious he liked it. Hyein slowly started eating her food after watching him devour half of his. Mingyu looked up at her and let out a small breath, "Where did you learn how to cook like this?"

She stopped eating and it made him feel a little guilty for interrupting her like that. Pen on paper, she wrote out , My mom taught me before she. And she crossed out the last two words before showing it to Mingyu. He nodded after reading it, ignoring the crossed out words.

They ate slowly and exchanged glances every few minutes. It was like a silent communication. When they finished, Hyein wanted to wash the dishes so he let her do so as he received a call. Walking to the living room, he picked it up, "Mom, I know already."

"Come to work, Mingyu," his mother demanded, "Why are you late?" He sighed as he looked up at the clock, "I'm coming. I just need to put on my shoes and leave." he lied as his mom stayed silent.

"Mom?"

"Yeah, son?"

"Thank you," he smiled, "Thank you for this job." There was silence again. His mom was utterly confused, "I thought you didn't like the fact that I forced you into this job. What's going on with you?"

The boy looked at the girl who was washing the dishes diligently before saying it once again, "Thank you, mom. I never knew I would love my job so much."