DHIRI |
DEAL
"JAEBUM, COME on," Amina whined childishly as she tugged on the plain sleeve of the taller man's shirt. "He wants to meet you. Please?"
"Have you told him my name yet?" Jaebum placed the previously dried dishes in the cabinets above the counters and he spun around to have Amina lean on him.
"No but—"
"Then we should keep it that way," he nodded more to himself than to Amina. "We didn't start off on the right foot."
Amina tilted her messy hair and raised her brows up. "At his welcome party?"
"No, no, I didn't even think of letting him see me there," Jaebum chuckled, waving the assumption off. He had faced every wall and turned around at every door in order to avoid catching Aminé's eyes. For he knew Aminé wouldn't have hesitated to choke him despite the occasion. "We're acquainted from college."
"Really?" Amina smiled a little. "That's a good thing though. What happened?"
"Nothing to worry you about, darling, okay?" he stroked her hair gently, tilting her head by her chin which made her giggle. "Just know your big brother would kill poor Jaebum. And death is a permanent thing."
Amina hit his side with a dish towel. "I'm not a baby, fuck's sake. And you're still meeting him because just how long could you keep avoiding him for?"
"Until we get married?" Jaebum thought aloud. "Yeah, that'd be swell."
Amina's smile faltered and she felt her slender eyes narrow at him. "Married?"
Jaebum's laughter ceased too and the room fell quiet. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Huh? No, no," Amina shrugged casually, when in reality she was shaking. Whether it was joy or fear, she couldn't tell but her facial expressions made it seem like she was feeling the latter. Amina mentally shook her head, shrugging it off and replacing her frown with a small smile. It was a slip of the tongue. He was just being strange. "You're just so weird, that's all."
Jaebum let out a brief, strained chuckle and he pulled at the neck of his shirt. It was suddenly hot to the point the heat bit at his skin, leaving a red flush across his whole face. "Yeah. I don't know why I said that. It's such an... Odd thing to say, right? Um, yeah, help me set the table."
Amina took the glasses off the airing rack and bounced along to the kitchen isle, not seeming to notice that her fear transferred to Jaebum so quickly.
"Jae?" Amina brought her face closer to Jaebum's as he poured them water to drink.
"Yeah?" he brought his head back due to the proximity and felt his face grow darker in shade. Why was he so nervous? She wasn't patronizing in the slightest so why did she make him feel like a deer so suddenly?
"You blushing is really cute," Amina quirked, looking up to him from the rim of her glass. "You look like the baby this time."
"Stop it, Amina," Jaebum's hand darted to cover as much of his face as he could. "And nobody hears of this, okay? Especially not Mark."
"Meet Aminé and I'll forget I even came to visit you today," Amina sang. "Deal?"
"Deal! Now be quiet and eat, God."