Tear

~3~

Ae Ra flung herself onto her bed. She covered her face in embarrassment. Replaying what had happened earlier, she buried herself under the covers even deeper. Of course something like that would happen to her of all people. She shrugged out of her flowing blouse and slacks and into sweatpants and a tee. It was definitely more comfortable.

"Ae Ra?! Can you come wash the dishes?" her mother called.

The girl pushed up her sleeves and headed to the kitchen. Her father was busy doing laundry, and her mother was throwing something together for dinner. And of course, neither of them ever asked her brother to do anything, but then again, he was in the process of writing essays and applying to universities all over the country.

"How was your day?" Mrs. Hwang asked while tossing some carrots into a stew that was bubbling on the stove.

"Pretty good," Ae Ra lied. Except for the fact that I embarrassed myself in front of all those people.

"Learn anything new?"

Ae Ra laughed. "Who wants to become the businesswoman? You or me?" she joked. "We learned about how to write a proposal to another company. It was pretty interesting."

Mrs. Hwang sighed in relief. "Good. I'm glad you're enjoying what you study. I hope your brother takes after you."

"I'm sure he will," Ae Ra mumbled under her breath. She held back a curse as soap splashed onto her t-shirt. If this wasn't karma, then what was?

Pretty soon, dinner was ready, and the family gathered around the table for food. Ae Ra practically inhaled her stew with rice and excused herself to go study. She sat down at her desk, flipping through the notes she had taken during the day. Her handwriting looked so neat, it could be a font. She tried to focus on her notes but soon enough, her mind began wandering to how humiliating it had been to stand up in front of that whole auditorium and tell Professor Lee that she had been left out. Even better, she had said her full name. Now everyone would know who she was.

Taehyung slammed the door to his room shut and sunk into his bean bag chair as he tried to process what had happened to him in the hallway. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he grew. Had he expected her to stand there and gawk at him like the other girls did? As annoying as his fan club was, he had grown used to the constant attention. It felt weird to be totally ignored by a girl.

He could still feel Namjoon's reassuring hand on his shoulder and Jimin's subtle sneer as they had walked past him. Taehyung covered his face with his hands and tried to forget the demeaning memory. A feisty little girl wasn't going to drag him down.

Slowly, he got up and wandered into the kitchen to see what smelled so good. Like usual, there were plates of food on the table with one empty one just for him. His father would most likely be working his late hours at the company, and his mother had probably already grabbed something to eat. Which meant just like always, he would be eating all alone. It didn't feel sad, though. Eating alone was all Taehyung had ever known. He had no concept of family dinners nor did he care. He simply ate what he wanted and then locked himself in his room to play video games and text the guys until he fell asleep. He didn't need anyone else.

"Hey, cousin!" he heard a voice, and Taehyung immediately whipped around with a mouthful of carbonara.

"Baekhyun? What are you doing here?"

The older boy smiled, taking a seat opposite Taehyung. "I'll be staying with you for a few months. My father is going abroad to work out some contracts. Something about outsourced products. Anyways, that means you're stuck with me for a while."

"What do you mean stuck with? You're my favorite cousin!" Taehyung laughed.

"Needless to say I'm the only cousin you actually know."

Taehyung immediately forgot about the girl that had been consuming his thoughts. Baekhyun and him had been raised together and looked so similar people mistook them for brothers. He was the only one who really knew him. Even the boys didn't know things Baekhyun knew.

"Eat up, and then we can go set up the guest room for you," Taehyung smiled. He had always eaten alone, but he didn't realize how much he craved the company of others until someone sat down with him and shared a meal.

The two boys quickly gobbled up their dinner and eagerly started unpacking Baekhyun's suitcases.

"You only have one suitcase of clothes?" Taehyung scratched his head in wonder.

"Some of us don't need an outfit for each day of the year," Baekhyun snorted while fluffing up the pillows on the bed. "So tell me, anything interesting going on?"

"Wha-what do you mean by interesting?"

Baekhyun smiled innocently. "Classes, friends, hobbies... girls?"

Taehyung sighed. "I don't like anyone if that's what you're trying to get at."

"Still an ice queen, I see," Baekhyun mused. His laugh was stopped short when he felt his trousers land on his head.

Taehyung flashed his rectangular smile that both he and his cousin shared. It felt so good to smile like that. At school, it was always just a smirk as he tried to maintain his cool image. He suddenly remembered how that silly girl had walked right past him. A pillow hit him square in the face, and he tumbled backwards in surprise.

"Gotcha!" Baekhyun giggled but noticed the different look on his younger cousin's face. "What're you thinking about? You worried about something?"

His heart nearly leaped into his chest when he heard a knock on his door.

Madame Kim cracked it open, a frown painted on her pale face. "Taehyung dear, I'm afraid we need to talk about something."