Bab 9: Seven
Oh Areum
I was awoken by my phone alarm, ringing at its max volume. I groaned out loud to myself before getting up to shut off my alarm. I looked at the time and it was 7:30 AM. Hoseok had texted me last night before I fell asleep, telling me that he would be here by 8 AM so that we could officially start my training.
Despite every last particle in my body refusing to wake up, I forced myself to get up and take a quick shower. After brushing my teeth, I found a pair of khaki shorts and paired them with a loose white tee. I figured Hoseok and I will be inside all day since I'll be learning about his family so I didn't even bother to dress to impress.
Besides, I'm Jung Yoona going forward.
I'll start seeing Hoseok as a real brother and ignore the fluttering of my beating muscle whenever he arrives. Remembering my vow that I made to myself yesterday, I repeated those words in my head.
-I vow to help Hoseok with my life and play my role as Yoona.
-I vow to help Grandma get her heart transplant.
-I vow to not rely on Hoseok's light.
I grabbed my phone to take a look at the time but saw that I received a text message from Hoseok.
'I'm going to grab us some breakfast first before I stop by so I might be a little late. Is there anything that you want to eat?'
'I'm fine with whatever.'
'Okay, I'll see you in a bit.'
I toss my phone aside and took a look at all the bags that were on the ground. The bags were full of clothes and shoes that I would never look at in my entire life, not to mention I wouldn't be able to afford it. I decided to organize and put them away while waiting for Hoseok to get here.
I hung up all the dresses on one side of the walk-in closet and hung the blouses on the other end. I folded all the pants and put them away inside a mini drawer that was sitting on the far end of the room. I had a bag of my own undies and bras that I brought from home and also put them away in the same drawer where I put the pants. I heard a light knock on the door before the doorbell rung. I quickly hung the last blouse up and my heart had suddenly sped up.
Hoseok was here.
I ran to the door but stopped at the mirror to check myself out first before resuming towards the door. I finally opened the door for Hoseok and he pushes past me carrying a bunch of plastic bags and then soon Namjoon follows right after with another handful of bags.
"What the hell did you both buy? I thought you were getting breakfast?"
Hoseok didn't reply until after he had rushed over and dropped off all the bags that he was carrying on the island next to the kitchen.
"I was getting breakfast. Breakfast that you, my little Yoona, will be cooking for us," Hoseok smiled brightly towards me showing off his pearly white teeth.
I watched on as Namjoon mimics Hoseok, setting all his bags down, before taking a deep breath and letting out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Damn that was a lot of stuff," Namjoon spoke out before turning around to face me with his deep dimpled smile.
"If you are gonna be Yoona, you're going to have to cook like Yoona. I remember she had amazing cooking skills. She had always made the best kimbap and oh god, don't get me started on her famous Olive Oil and Garlic Pasta. Just thinking about it is making my mouth drool."
Namjoon's face shifts into pure bliss before he's closing his eyes and who knows what he is thinking about clasping his hand tightly together as he smiles creepily to himself.
"Uhhh, okay. But just so you two know, I do live by myself and I do know how to cook. Otherwise, how would I have fed myself all these years? I wasn't exactly the type to be able to dine out every day."
I saw the sudden change in Hoseok's face and I immediately shut my mouth.
"Sorry Areum, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that Yoona has a few dishes that she liked to make for Grandma. I wanted you to know everything about Yoona."
"I'm not offended and I know you only meant well. Don't worry about it."
A small smile was shown on his lips before he moves to organized all the food that he had bought. I promptly went over and helped him sort out the groceries. Namjoon tried to help us too but Hoseok was quick to stop him.
"Namjoon, don't! You already broke the eggs. Areum and I will take care of putting the food away. Go sit over there."
Namjoon puckered his lips with a pouty face and sat down while Hoseok and I continued to sort out the food and put everything into the fridge.
Once everything was sorted, I offered to cook for the two guys and let them taste test my cooking skills. I'm not the best, but I think my cooking was decent. I mean, I haven't died yet since I started cooking for myself. They agreed and moved towards the dinner table and sat down while I started cooking away.
As I was washing the veggies to make a stirfry, the two friends got into a conversation that caught my attention.
"So, how is Somi? She still giving you the cold shoulder?"
I could hear Namjoon's deep voice chuckling as he bugs his buddy about this 'Somi.'
"She's been ignoring me and all my calls. I don't even know what I did wrong to cause her to be so upset. Girls are just complicated."
"Yeah, I can totally agree with you on that. That's why I don't do relationships."
"It's cause you just haven't found the right girl yet."
"And you're saying that Somi is your Miss Right?"
Whoever this Somi girl was, I wanted her neck to be this zucchini that I was currently slicing. I didn't even realize how hard I had been slicing until I had cut my own finger, causing me to yelp out in pain.
"Ah, ow..."
Within a sec, Hoseok was by my side.
"Yah Yoona-ah! Why do you still hurt yourself whenever you cook?! Are you seriously my sist-" Hoseok had cut himself off once he met my gaze. Both our eyes locked and neither one of us said anything. His eyes soon turned soft as he continued to look at me.
"Sorry Areum, I didn't mean to yell at you. I just- I just really thought you were Yoona for a split second. She used to cut herself all the time when she cooks for us too."
He took my hand and gently pulls me towards the sink to run some water over my bleeding finger.
"Namjoon-ah, can you grab me the first aid kit?"
Namjoon was quick on his feet towards the bathroom and soon he came back out with a mini aid kit. Hoseok grabs a paper towel and pressed it onto my cut, putting pressure on it which made me wince at the pain.
"Hold on to the towel and put pressure on it to stop the bleeding."
I took over and held down the paper towel as Hoseok took out some antibiotic ointment and a bandaid from the kit that Namjoon had given him.
"It's okay Hoseok. I can do it myse-"
"Let me do it for you. I'm sorry for yelling at you. You triggered a memory of mine that I forgot for a second that Yoona wasn't here with us anymore."
I removed the paper towel for him and he gently applied the ointment onto my cut. The sting was bearable, but not the stinging ache in my chest. It ached at the caring brother who in that short moment, really thought I was his sister. He even used an annoyed older brother's tone with me.
And this is where I drew the line. Every last tiny hope that I held in my heart for him and I had severely been cut. He won't ever see me as a woman.
"Hoseok Oppa," I called out to him and caused him to meet my gaze.
"Yell at me. Be mad at me when I do something stupid or wrong. If I have to act as Yoona, then you'll have to act as if Yoona is still alive. You have to be my Oppa. We can't have you being like this in front of your Grandma. She'll see right through us."
Hoseok nods and a small smile breaks out from his lips as he flicks my forehead once again. This time was a lot harder than yesterday.
"Ow! Yah!" I rubbed my forehead with my unjuried hand.
Hoseok let out a chuckle before putting the bandaid on my finger and then presses my finger hard and I screamed at the pain that shot throughout my body.
"HOSEOK OPPA!" I screeched at him while on the verge of tears.
"Hurry up and finish cooking for us Yoona. I'm hungry."
"I said to be an older brother to me, not be a jerk."
"This is how I treat my sister. She and I were always yelling and making fun of each other too. You seriously were like my little Yoona just now," a sad smile was shown on his face for a second before it vanishes and was replaced with his bright smile.
I return his smile and spoke out loud towards him.
"If I was able to make you think I was Yoona for a second, then I'm confident that I'll be able to help Grandma to get her surgery. You trust me, right?"
"I trust you."
"And I trust that you will continue cooking our breakfast. I am starving!" Namjoon cuts into our talk and I shoo both guys away to stop distracting me.
Once I finished cooking, I had the boys taste my skills. I waited patiently for their reactions and I let out the biggest sigh of relief when they both gave me thumbs up signaling that my culinary skills were satisfying.
"You're a good cook. You definitely passed this challenge, although we would have to work together on the special dishes that she always made for us. We can even probably just tell people that you tweaked the recipes and that's why the taste is different now," Hoseok said as he continues to devour the food I had set out in front of him. I dug into my portion of food as well since I was pretty hungry too.
When we were all done eating, I made the two guys clean up and wash the dishes since I had already cooked.
"Wow, you really are like Yoona when you demand us to clean," Namjoon deeply chuckles and Hoseok just laughs it off.
I was sitting down going through my phone when Hoseok finally comes and sits next to me when they were done with the dishes.
"It's time to go through everyone who you will possibly meet as my sister."
I sat up straighter and waited for him to continue. He took out his phone and started out with his family picture. An elderly woman who seemed to be in her late 60s sat in a chair in the middle of the picture and standing behind her to each side was a couple who I assumed to be Hoseok's parents. And then there was Hoseok and Yoona kneeling in front of their grandma. All five of them had the same bright smile upon their faces as they smiled for the camera.
Hoseok smiles sweetly at the picture before swiping to the next picture. He showed me a few pictures of people and repeated their names over and over again. I tried my best to memorize faces with names. I tried to pick out certain parts of their face or body to remember them by.
Mr. Jeon was the driver. He was handsome for a 40-year-old male and had a cute bunny-like smile in his photo. He had a son who was good friends with Hoseok, his name was Jeon Jungkook.
Mr. Kim was the Jung's personal chef, who was incredibly gorgeous. He had two strikingly handsome sons, Kim Seokjin and Kim Taehyung, who were knowledgeable about food from all over the world. Both boys were also friends with Hoseok.
Dr. Park, the family doctor had small eyes and a smile that made his cheeks more rounder. He was a chubby cute older man who looked like a cuddly bear. His son was no different from him, Park Jimin. He smiles was so wide in the picture that his eyes had disappeared. His smile was really charming though.
Mrs. Yoo was the head of all the maids and butlers. She had a daughter who is around my age and apparently Yoona was close to the daughter, Yoo Minjoo.
"Minjoo is your personal maid, but also your friend. Since you didn't have a sister and was stuck with an older brother like me, you treat Minjoo as your own sister," Hoseok points to her picture and you couldn't help but feel jealous at her beauty. Her skin was flawless and you couldn't believe that such a beauty would be your personal maid. You felt like the roles should be switched and you should be the maid of Minjoo.
You've never had a friend before. You've had acquaintances, but never really a person who you could trust and tell them all your secrets if you had any. So it made you a bit worried if you could keep up with your part as Yoona around her. If they were like sisters, does that mean she will figure you out right away?
"You'll have to wing it with her cause I honestly don't know what my sister and Minjoo do together. All I can tell you about Minjoo is that she loves music, just like Yoona did."
"But I don't know anything about music..." My voice had come out a lot softer than usual.
Hoseok's eyes widen and he gets up and starts to cursing to himself.
"Fuck! Damn it!"
"What? What is it?" I asked shocked at his sudden outburst. Namjoon finally joining us was also shocked at his friend's behavior.
"I told you before. Yoona loves music. She can play the guitar and piano. Shit, what are we going to do if they ask you to play and you can't?"
"I- I don't know. I can't just magically learn how to play an instrument!" I argued back.
"I know. I'm sorry, I didn't curse at you. It was more for myself since I didn't think it through before asking you to help me. Shit Namjoon, what are we going to do?" Hoseok asks his dimple friend.
"I thought she swore off music. Didn't she break her guitar and got rid of the piano before saying that she wasn't going to play or do music? And then she left for America."
"That's right, she did! You can just refuse to play since she swore off it. Oh god, that scared me for a second."
I nodded and a breath of relief left my mouth as I heard that I didn't need to learn music. Don't get me wrong, I love music but I can't sing or play any instrument for shit.
"How did she learn how to play in the first place?" I asked curiously as to why she swore off it so suddenly one random day when she loved it so much to learn in the first place.
I saw both their expression darken. This Hoseok who had fire burning in his eyes was different from the caring Hoseok that I had seen these past days.
"Please don't remind me of him," his voice was filled with nothing but hatred.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion cause clearly I had no clue who the hell he was talking about.
"Remind you of who?"
Hoseok let out a deep sigh. I could see the veins popping from his neck as he spoke the name out with venom.
"Min Yoongi..."
To Be Continued...
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Shookieillegirl
Shookieillegirl How is quarantine treating you all? I hope you all are safe and doing well! This was a very long chapter and Yoongi will make his appearance soon. ^_^ I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Unedited
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
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