Karma ━━ Jake Sim

𝟮𝟬 ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀Sweet Revenge

At the center of it all, Jungwon and Riki are scrambling to pick up pans, trays, and miscellaneous pieces of cutlery from the hardwood floor. The reason behind the earlier crash, Sujin's guessing. Jay stands over them wearing the agitation of a school teacher, brows drawn to a tight line while a hand comes up to massage his temples.

Sora clears her throat, and all three boys' attention snap toward the doorway.

"Finally!" Jay exclaims, stern expression morphing into one of glee as he approaches the two girls. He expertly scoops the paper bags from their arms into his own with little to no effort at all, "Did you get everything?"

"We tried." Sujin shrugs, arms raised in mock-surrender, "It's in God's hands now."

Jay snickers at her words before dumping the groceries atop the dinner table. He rummages through the bags with a quiet hum, skimming through all their contents carefully.

"Looks good to me." He grins, an appreciative twinkle in his eyes, "Thanks, guys."

Sujin and Sora share a breath of relief.

Phew.

"Jay, are you sure I shouldn't just- Ah, you're here!"

Sunoo emerges from another doorway, previous train of thought flying out of his head as soon as his gaze lands on the two girls.

"Hey, Sunoo." Sujin greets, "Where'd you come from?"

"I've just been getting started on the dumplings next door." He dusts his hands off with a sigh, "Which reminds me, Sora -" He spins around to face the other girl, "- You've gotta get over there and teach me how to fold them properly again. ASAP. I'm making such a mess!"

"It can't be as bad as it was last year." Sora suppresses a laugh.

Riki similarly snickers as he rises to his feet,  carefully placing the stack of baking trays balancing on his arms atop the counter.

"They were hardly even dumplings anymore, dude." He gives Sunoo a teasing smirk, "Pancakes, more like."

"It's not my fault I have butter fingers! They were so slippery!" Sunoo whines.

"Uh huh." Jay interjects humorously, "Sora, go help the guy with his damn dumplings."

"On it, Chef Jjong." Sora pairs the nickname with a playful and overexaggerated salute, both of which elicit a roll of the boy's eyes. She gives Sujin a final wave before letting Sunoo drag her into the other room.

"Alright," Jay claps his hands together decidedly, "Riki, Won; you guys can stay here to help me prepare the mains." The two youngest trade an excited high-five. "And Sujin -" He picks up all the trays Riki had just placed atop the counter and walks toward Sujin with them in tow, "- How do you feel about black forest cake?"

Sujin frowns, "It's alright, I guess."

"Good enough." Jay shrugs, pushing the utensils into her hold, "You can help Jake and Hoon with dessert upstairs, then."

"Uh..." Sujin bites back a bitter laugh, "Yeah, about that-"

"Yeah, yeah. You've got that weird little ego battle thing going on with Jake right now." Jay tsks, airing out the fact as if it were this morning's weather report, "It wouldn't kill the two of you to push it aside for a day, y'know."

Riki and Jungwon burst into fits of giggles in the background.

How the hell...

"How do you guys-"

"Thin walls." They chide in unison, meeting her shocked expression with deadpan ones that scream, 'Obviously!'

As much as Sora and Sunoo have been hearing Sujin's endless complaints about Jake throughout the week, the three of them have also been catching wind of the recent tension between the pair - only, from the other end of the story. They wouldn't say they're nosey, per se, but they'd be lying if they said the entire saga hasn't been incredibly entertaining to observe from a distance.