HIRAETH TAEJOON。

-4-

Turning on the stove, I glanced over at Tae. He was on the edge of a meltdown, so I turned the cooker down to low and went upstairs to find anything comforting.

Rummaging through the closet. Searching under the bed. Opening up the attic.

In a box of unpacked remnants of my childhood, I see the head if a plush lion. Grabbing it, I make my way towards the lounge again.

I gently placed the lion in his arms, and a small smile crept onto his face.

I walked back to the kitchen and started again on the soup.

Serving it into bowls and putting the rest away in to the fridge, I shuffled over towards the lounge room, trying not to spill anything.

I put both servings down on the coffe table and flicked on the television.

Picking up Taehyung's bowl, I remembered he couldn't use his hands, so I scooped some soup onto his spoon and blew on it, to cool it.

"Say 'Ah'"

He opened his mouth to let the smooth, vegetable infused liquid travel down to his stomach.
Tae started beaming, which is good, because I'm a terrible cook.

After I finished with Tae, I started on my slightly cold soup.

"Hyung."
Tae's voice was rather soft.
"Hm?"

"Thanks...for helping me."

"S'okay, everyone has their days." I shoved another spoonful into my mouth.

His attention turned back to the cartoon animals on the TV.

He started laughing. His voice, even though deep, was rich and smooth. He started to move aswell, but I tried to reatrain him from hurting himself. Which ended up with me, spilling my soup all over the floor.

And more laughing.