When Ai returned to the condo after spending her day in the library, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside to see what was going on between the brothers. She hoped that things would have taken a good turn.
Her nostrils twitched with a familiar smell in the air. She craned her neck more and saw Jun serving something to Jin on the dining table.
At Jin's side, he kept staring at the plate of chicken spaghetti with barbeque sauce sliding towards his side. After agreeing to help Jun to uncover the truth of past life, Jun insisted for him to stay some more time so that he can cook for him.
Jun cleared his throat and sat opposite him on a chair. "Help yourself."
Jin looked up at him with a complicated expression. "Spaghetti?"
"There was a lot of spaghetti in the house. I don't know why Ai brought so much," he loosened the shirt at his neck to breathe.
Ai, who was listening to them outside - "..."
She pursed her lips.
How could Jun falsely accuse me like that? When did I stuff the house with spaghetti?
Jun then quickly clarified himself. "I didn't make any more spaghetti for her. She wanted to learn the recipe with my help. It was just my help. She has trouble with cooking so...Thankfully, she didn't ask for my baking help. It's...it's not a good sight to see."
Ai outside - "..."
Jun, I know you want to patch up with Jin but are you sure you want to offend your girlfriend for that?
"Achoo!" Jun sneezed.
It's not even cold. Why did I sneeze?
Jin hummed after a pause. "You don't have to defend yourself."
He nervously tapped his finger on the table. Seeing Jin still not touching the food made him even more jittery.
Damn, I shouldn't have put him in an awkward position like that...
"There are also foods other than spaghetti here. Do you want me to cook something else for you?"
Jin slowly whispered. "No need."
He took the chopsticks and dug into the spaghetti. He took a bite and as he tasted the pasta after a long time, tears couldn't help but fill his eyes. He chomped on the bite and the childhood memories came to his mind like a warm, gentle tide of the sea.
It still tastes exactly like before...
A tear slipped across his cheek, but he quickly wiped it off.
Under the table, Jun clasped his palms together which were slightly shaking and trembling. He silently waited for him to eat but when he saw his tears, he panicked. "Do you not like it?"
"...I like it," his voice was hoarse and cracked with the moistness that refused to leave his eyes. "It's like how you always made it for me..." a very faint smile bloomed on his lips. "It's just that I feel...I am eating this dish after such a long, long time..."
Jin took another bite past his quivering lips. When the delicious taste of the sauce exploded in his mouth, his heart exploded with innumerable and immeasurable emotions too.
His fingers clutched onto the chopstick as he said in a broken voice, "E-Ever since you left home in the past, I never ate this dish again. I hardly even saw you. Those five years...those years were so painful without you. You...you were not there to play the piano with me. You were not there to tease the twins with me. You were not there to make me my favorite dish. Five years went so miserable..."
Suddenly, he felt his head pull against his chest in a warm hug. Jun's eyes reddened and his cheeks were stained with tears just like Jin. "I am sorry, Jin. We missed out on a lot of things because of my stupidity. I was really an idiot. I cannot completely blame Cai Guiying or Cai Lingyun or whoever planned against us. In the end...it was my fault that they succeeded to break everything apart. None of that would have happened if I had been in my senses."
Jin pushed him away but not by exerting too much strength. He threw a glare at him but returned to gulping pasta down the throat.
He widened his eyes. "Don't eat so fast! You will make yourself sick."
Jin sniffled and rubbed his cheeks. "I don't want your girlfriend to eat any of this."
"She won't," he replied with all his sincerity. "This is for you only. I told you I won't make spaghetti for her again."
Jin pursed his lips and slowed down. He said after a long time, "The spaghetti is delicious."
His ears perked up, and Jun's expression brightened like the sun. Though there was still a faint trace of hostility towards him, this was also the first time in months that Jin properly and genuinely talked to him without a fake smile on his lips.
He rushed into the kitchen and made more servings for him. Seeing two more bowls of spaghetti made Jin speechless.
"How am I supposed to eat so much?"
Jun blinked. "You always used to eat this much only. Don't you remember how Mom always scolded you for overeating though you never listened to her?"
"Th-that was because the twins always managed to steal the spaghetti somehow. Then Grandpa and Uncle would join them too and I would be left with nothing!" His gaze blackened.
Jun grimaced. "Let's not ruin the atmosphere with the mention of those hyperactive people."
Jin snorted. "Those people always act like they never got food to eat."
Jun sneered. "I wonder if they died hungry in any of their past lives?"
"Do you remember Grandpa gobbled my entire cake on my twelfth birthday?"
"How can I forget that? Grandma barred him from entering any birthday parties before the cake cutting ceremony was done."
"He is crazy. He is becoming even more of a baby now."
Jun sighed. "I pity Grandma."
After several moments of silence, they burst into soft laughter after which Jin whispered. "I really missed you, Bro."
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