☁︎
Namjoon
Anna's mother was so warm, I couldn't help but wonder exactly how it was possible for Anna to be so cold. And Mrs. Geum Shin was beautiful. Maybe more so because of how genuine her smile was. It made all the nerves in my body dissipate, my heartbeat slow. I also wondered how Anna would look if she smiled like her mother.
The thought made my heart flutter again.
I shook my head, forcing away the strange thoughts.
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Geum Shin," I said with a bow.
"Please, Namjoon-ah, call me Eomma," she insisted, drying her hands on a towel.
Anna let out a sigh, maybe slightly embarrassed. I couldn't comprehend why though. If I had a mother like this, I would show her off to everyone I knew.
"Are you two hungry? I'm making some egg bread, though I'm not sure how it will turn out..." Miss Geum Shin murmured, glancing towards the oven.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, mom," Anna told her mother. "Anyway, we should be getting upstairs."
"Oh? I'm slightly hungry," I admitted, more in spite of Anna, honestly.
But I also really was quite hungry. I hadn't eaten since that morning in the cafe. Anna sent me an icy look as her mother lit up.
"Wonderful! Have a seat then, Namjoon," Miss Geum Shin exclaimed. "I wanted to chat with you anyway, so this is perfect."
She hurried to the back of the kitchen, and Anna sank to the mat below us with a huffy air. I glanced back and forth between her bustling mother and her, still trying to figure out how they were so different.
"Aren't you going to sit?" Anna asked me.
"Oh, right," I replied, kneeling down across from her.
It had been a long time since I'd been seated at a traditional table. Last time I'd found myself kneeling across from someone for dinner, it'd been at my grandmother's. But she was gone now.
"You're gonna regret this," Anna murmured. "My mom isn't the best cook."
"Wait, what?" I replied in surprise.
For some reason, I'd found myself assuming that Mrs. Geum Shin would be a good cook. I just felt like all normal mothers were. I wouldn't know about my own. She barely stepped foot behind the kitchen counter.
Anna smirked, pleased with my surprise. But before I could respond, her mother slipped a plate of something onto the table before me.
"Enjoy, Namjoon-ah," Anna told me condescendingly.
☁︎
"You should give your mother more credit. Her cooking wasn't that bad," I said, gulping down some water.
"Tell that to your fourth glass of water," Anna replied, pulling out her history textbook. "And I never said she was bad. Just not the best."
I couldn't respond, too busy trying to quench the thirst her mother's salt-rich snack had given me. But when I was done, I couldn't help but feel a certain ache in my stomach. And it wasn't because of her mom's cooking. It was more of a yearning, I guess.
"Anna, your mother is really nice," I said suddenly.
Anna glanced up at me, her features softening. Then she let out a slight snort.
"Yeah. I guess so," she murmured.
Anna sat down across from me on her smaller bed, leaving only a bit of space between us. I could tell she was slightly embarrassed about not having a desk or anything. Her room was pretty small, only holding a short bed and a dresser, along with a bookshelf and a closet. I didn't care about the size or lack of furniture. But I was too timid to tell her that.
"What chapter were we on?" Anna was asking me.
I blinked, looking at her. I couldn't even remember at this point. I barely remembered what'd happened in the last class. I actually couldn't remember.
"Anna..." I said suddenly.
She let out a casual sigh and flickered her gray eyes up to mine.
"Yeah? Do you remember?" She asked.
"No...no, I don't," I muttered, looking down.
I'd forgotten how piercing her gaze could be. I licked my lips, trying to form the words I wanted to say.
"Namjoon, is something up?" She asked.
Her voice was strangely soft. Maybe it always had been. Why had I always been so adamant on convincing myself she was exactly how everyone said she was?
"It's not really that important," I admitted.
"Well, you're acting very dramatic about it," she said with a scoff.
"Right?" I murmured, standing again.
I wandered a bit around her small room, trying to think of a way to articulate what I wanted to say. I wasn't sure why I felt like I needed to tell her. I just did. And that was all.
I scanned the pictures hanging on her walls. She didn't really smile in any of them, especially not in the ones with her school friends like Hye and the others. I figured she hung these up just for show. But then there were others, picturing her with a man and her mother, along with another young man.
"Wait..." I said suddenly, momentarily forgetting what was weighing on my mind. "Who is this?"
Anna glanced up from flipping through the history book. Her eyes followed my pointed finger to the boy in the photograph.
"Oh, my brother," she said simply.
"Oh? You had a brother?" I asked in bewilderment. "Since when?"
"Since always. He's in university," Anna told me, looking slightly amused at my confusion.
"You never even mentioned him, though," I protested.
She had a sibling this whole time? It's strange how little you can know about someone, even after you feel like you have them all figured out. With Anna, however, the fact that she had a brother was only a passing surprise. Because with her, I didn't think I'd ever reach the depths of her person. She was too much of an enigma.
"You never asked," she responded. "I haven't even talked to him for a few months, anyway."
"Ah..."
Tilting my head at the situation, I moved on from her family portrait and wandered back over to the bed where she sat. When I was seated, Anna looked at me, this time her eyes stayed unmoving.
"I have a feeling we aren't going to get anywhere with this tutoring session. Thoughts?" She asked me.
I shrugged.
"I suppose you're right. What do you suggest then?"
But I knew exactly what her inquisitive look meant. It was hard not to know.
☁︎