The Staggering Fall of Youth (sequel to SBA)

3 - Soup

Minseok was really hungry.

He had been locked in his room all day, like usual, and the only thing he has eaten was half a bag of chocolate chips that he found in his drawer from the time he made cookies with Jeongin. And that had been over 7 hours ago. 

It was tempting to send Junmyeon a text and ask him to bring him something, but that would only make him feel guilty, so he threw off his covers and put on his slippers, trudging his way to the hallway to go to the first floor. 

He could really use some of his mother's food right now. She always made this really good samgyeopsal that Minseok would always be tempted to eat all of it in one sitting. Even her rice and ramyeon, the most simplest dishes in all Korean cuisine, were to die for. He could really use some right now.

***

"Zitao, I'm so tired!" Minseok yelled, lying down on the grass. "I'll never be able to learn Wushu."

Zitao sighed, walking over to Minseok to lie down next to him. "Not with that attitude you can't."

Minseok rolled his eyes. Zitao liked to complain about his attitude yet the witch had the worst one. Zitao was sassy and wasn't afraid to speak his mind out. 

Yet Zitao is the closest thing he has ever had to a friend, besides him mother of course. When Minseok introduced her to Zitao, she immediately took a liking to the other and they hit it off. By then, his mother already knew that Minseok had been turned into a werewolf, so she was able to know that Zitao wasn't human, yet that never bothered her in the slightest. 

"You know what I'm in the mood for?" Zitao asked him, hands behind his neck as he looked up to the sky. "Your mother's braised chicken soup. I could really use some soup right now."

"Do you even need food to survive?" Minseok questioned him. 

Zitao winked at him. "That's for you to guess."

Minseok didn't know much about Zitao, only that the latter had a lot of powers and he had been alive for centuries. Minseok as well now had enhanced abilities, Zitao explained, and he would also be immortal but could still die from other causes. As a werewolf, he could change form and eat raw meat in wolf form, as well as be subjected to imprinting. 

It was a lot to take in for Minseok, but he was really thankful to have met Zitao during the first few days when he was turned, otherwise, he wouldn't have known what to do. The transformation had been painful and he was left alone in the forest for a few days, making his mother believe that Minseok had went missing and passed away. 

He really loved his mother. Minseok never met his father and didn’t want to ask his mother about it. He didn’t even know if the latte died or left her, or even if his mother knew Minseok’s dad. He wasn’t going to ask her, though. 

They lived in a small village near the border of North Korea, about 30 miles away from it. Sure, they were so close to the start of the new millennium, only a few years away, but their village didn’t have much advancements compared to the rest of the world; they didn’t even own a Nokia. There was, however, a hut with internet signal in the village, and the computer was really cool to use.