บท 19: Afternoon Tea Time (Pt.4)
It turns out that 'tea' for the Kims did not hold the same definition as the 'tea' Gyuri was accustomed to.
Gyuri blinked in surprise as she was led to the main house where the Kims dined together every week. As the family normally ate in their own quarters, a gathering was often seen as a special occasion, especially in the presence of the lord.
Gyuri watched in silence as one by one, the Kims sat down in their designated seats along the long, rectangular table that was filled with a multitude of dishes. A savoury odour wafted to her nostrils, causing her rebellious stomach to grumble in protest and her mouth to water in anticipation.
They call this tea?! Gyuri was gobsmacked as she eyed the exotic delicacies hungrily. And I thought tea time was just a couple of sandwiches and a cuppa.
"Is everyone here?" Gyuri heard a gruff voice ask from the head of the table. She turned to face the owner of the voice and found that it belonged to an elderly man with pronounced wrinkles and a long, wispy beard, peppered with silver hairs.
"Not yet, Father" Gyuri heard a kind voice reply. She soon discovered that it was Minseok, the elder brother, who was seated on the right-hand side of the man he called 'father'. "We are missing Junmyeon and Jongin."
The old man hmphed and Gyuri noticed his gnarly face contort into a displeased expression.
"I believe cousin Jongin has been ill as of late" Gyuri heard a familiar voice point out. She craned her neck slightly and saw that it was Namjoon who answered. "And I believe cousin Junmyeon had been summoned to the palace so he may be returning late—"
But just as Namjoon said that the door abruptly opened and in came a dishevelled Junmyeon. Strands of his black hair escaped his hair bun and his cheeks were rosy as if he had been running. "I apologise for being late, Father—"
"Just hurry and sit down, boy" the old man commanded sharply.
Gyuri jumped at the old man's sharp tone.
With his gaze averted, Junmyeon hurriedly took his seat which was farthest away from the old man. As Gyuri watched him humbly sit down, she couldn't help pitying him. It was a stark contrast to the scary brother she first encountered a few days ago since compared to the true alpha of the household, Junmyeon was like an obedient, mewling cat.
In silence, Gyuri watched the Kims eat their food noiselessly. Only the sound of chopsticks clattering against porcelain dishes could be heard against the faint chewing sounds coming from the Kims' mouths. It didn't take much for Gyuri to conclude that dining together was considered by the Kims as a formal affair, one which they were obligated to participate in rather than something they did out of their own volition.
Gyuri shifted uncomfortably in her standing position as she waited for the Kims to finish eating. The atmosphere was tense and suffocating—nothing at all like the tea times she had with her family. As surreptitiously as she could manage, Gyuri peeped at the Kims.
At the head of the table sat the sharp-tongued old man who had the dignified air of a lord. He wore majestic dark garments, like the other Kims, and his long silver hair was bound loosely in a neat bun. He ate quietly, his ailing body poised straight emitting an aura of pride despite his sickly complexion. Gyuri knew without a doubt that the old man must have been Kim Hyesung, the current head of the family.
"Where is the tea?" Hyesung's voice boomed from the table.
With quick reflexes, the maids quickly moved from their position to serve the freshly brewed tea. Gyuri, not being accustomed to the speed and precision of the movements, lagged behind by a few seconds.
"Here it is, my lord" Ada replied, taking care not to meet Hyesung's intense, dark eyes. She poured the tea with grace and elegance, her hand barely shaking at all.
Gyuri watched in amazement from afar.
"Ahem."
Gyuri turned her attention to the person sitting in front of her and saw that it was Taehyung.
"I want my tea," he said bluntly, a sliver of a smile playing on his lips.
Gyuri bit her tongue to avoid saying anything back. Just my luck, she grimaced inwardly. It had to be the cheeky brat I must serve.
Gyuri gave her best polite smile but only succeeded in giving a forced one that made her look unflatteringly like a Cheshire cat. "Here it is, Young Master" she replied as she poured out his tea.
Once she was done, Taehyung took a tentative sip and sneered. "Ugh!" he exclaimed. "You gave me the wrong tea!"
Flustered, Gyuri glanced back at the teapot to check on the leaves. She inhaled the vapours. "No, I haven't" Gyuri answered back. "I served you jasmine tea."
Namjoon, sensing that Taehyung was up to no good again, took a sip of his tea before Taehyung could object. He looked up at Gyuri, "You are right. This is jasmine tea." He turned to Taehyung and scowled at him. "Quit horsing around, Taehyung."
Gyuri nodded towards Namjoon's direction thankfully.
"I was just having fun" Taehyung muttered, evidently annoyed at his cousin for spoiling his prank.
While the rest of the Kims continued with their tea, Taehyung looked up at Gyuri who was still hovering nearby. She turned to look at him and quickly stuck out her tongue.
Taehyung was aghast that she had dared to act so impudently in the presence of his father. He turned to look at the others, ready to publicly humiliate Gyuri, only to find that no one had witnessed her childish behaviour. Everyone was occupied with sipping their hot brew.
She smiled at him smugly as she pulled another face at him.
Taehyung responded by narrowing his eyes.
"Is everything okay, Taehyung?" Minseok asked from the other end of the table.
"Y-yes, brother" he fumbled in reply.
Minseok eyed him suspiciously. "You were just giving me the evil eye just now."
"N-no I was not" he turned to Gyuri and saw her stifling a giggle. "I just had something in my eye, that is all."
Minseok nodded before continuing with his drink.
"Do you want some more tea, Young Master?" Gyuri asked, gloating a little.
Taehyung curtly replied, "Yes."
As Gyuri poured out the tea, Taehyung tried to devise a plan to humiliate her. He didn't forget what happened last time they saw each other and as petty as it was, he wasn't going to let bygones be bygones. Messing with Gyuri was too much fun to pass on and as much as he hated to admit it, he found her somewhat entertaining.
He smirked when he finally realised what he could do.
Once Gyuri had finished filling his cup to the brim, Taehyung watched as Gyuri slowly backed away from the table. But as she was doing so, he sneakily stuck out his leg from behind her, causing her to trip.
Taehyung chuckled under his breath as he watched Gyuri fall but unexpectedly, she fell sideways, landing on Namjoon and spilling hot jasmine tea all over his garments.
A shriek escaped Namjoon's lips as the hot tea stained his clothes and touched his skin. Havoc arose on the table as Namjoon jumped, spilling his tea in the process and surprising the other Kims who were midway drinking theirs.
"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Gyuri fervently apologised as she grabbed a nearby napkin and proceeded to dab at Namjoon's lower garments.
The maids rushed to find other cloths and napkins which they used to clear the spilled tea while the Kims spluttered and coughed at having drunk theirs far too quickly.
All the while, Taehyung watched in amusement at the mayhem he caused and the grin on his face only grew wider when he saw a panic-stricken Gyuri. However, his grin was soon replaced with a surprised expression when he saw what Gyuri was doing.
Silence befell the other Kims when they spotted the spectacle before them.
"Gyuri!" Ada hissed after a few moments of silence.
Gyuri looked up from her hunched position, only to be greeted by stunned faces with jaws agape.
"What are you... doing?" Kalyani muttered.
"I'm trying to clean Master Namjoon's lower garments—" she stopped midway her sentence when she saw the baffled looks of the other maids. "Oh."
From an onlooker's perspective, Gyuri being hunched down, at crotch-level with Namjoon, appeared suggestive of something other than her innocently trying to get rid of a stubborn stain near his groin. Alongside the rapid motions of her hand and Namjoon's flushed face, Gyuri realised what the others might have mistaken her intentions for.
Her face grew crimson with embarrassment.
Everyone stared back at Gyuri, speechless at what they'd witnessed. It was a scene so unexpected that they didn't know how to react.
"Er, excuse me—" briskly, she ran away from the main house with her gaze averted in humiliation.
Once she had left, Taehyung glanced at his cousin who was equally pink with embarrassment. "She is pretty 'handy', huh?" Taehyung murmured to him while stifling a devious chuckle.
For that comment, Namjoon glared at him before playfully smacking him on the back of the head.
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