Chapter 2

"Overcooked"

"Miss Yoo Jin, you have a very impressive resume," said the middle aged man sitting in front of her, "you meet all the qualifications for the position."

"Really?" asked Yoo Jin, still feeling the sweat dripping off her body as she nervously moved in her seat, "I was quite nervous about this interview."

"Well, there's no need for that, you did well," said the man with a smile as he looked at Yoo Jin through his round glasses. 

Yoo Jin looked back with a smile as well, a more awkward and less confident smile, but a smile indeed, as she waited for the man to continue, but after what seemed like an eternity, Yoo Jin was starting to get worried.

"So..." Yoo Jin said while looking at the man who was still sitting with the same smile plastered on his face.

"Should I just start on Monday, or what?" Yoo Jin said in a semi-sarcastic voice while she let out a nervous laughter.

"Sir?" Yoo Jin asked and waved a hand in front of the man's face.

"No!" the man suddenly yelled and Yoo Jin quickly drew back her hand, "no, don't do that!"

"What?" yelled Yoo Jin in return, startled by his sudden outburst.

"No, the hamburger is on fire!" yelled the man and stared at Yoo Jin with large widened eyes.

"Sir, I don't understand?" said Yoo Jin while looking around, trying to get a hold of the situation, but as she turned her head, everything around her started fading away bit by bit.

"What in the world...?"

"No! Taehyun, you ruined the hamburger!" Yoo Jin sat up when she heard the voice of her younger brother yell out loud again.

"I told you it was on fire!"

"Sorry, I'll do better," said Taehyun in an apologetic voice.

Yoo Jin threw herself backwards and let her body land on the bed as she let out a loud sigh. She nearly rolled her eyes all the way back in her head, before she forced herself out of the bed and walked down the hall with firm steps.

"Okay, now this time you-"

"Hey!" yelled Yoo Jin as she stuck her head inside Yeonjun's bedroom, catching the attention of the two boys who were camping in front of the computer, "could you two PLEASE keep it down?"

Yeonjun and Taehyun turned around and looked at the grumpy woman standing in the door with one leg inside and one out. Her hair on the left side was hanging flat, while her hair on the right side seemed to have a party on its own. Even her pink pajamas were crumbled, probably after Yoo Jin had been tossing and turning all night in her sleep. Her entire appearance was enough to make Yeonjun fight to hold back laughter.

"Noona, you weren't up yet?" asked Yeonjun, still trying to suppress his laughter.

"No, what time is it anyways?" asked Yoo Jin before letting out a big yawn, completely forgetting to cover her mouth.

"It's past 11," said Yeonjun with a sigh.

"Really? It feels like 6 in the morning."

"How you got a master in mathematical economics is still a mystery to me," said Yeonjun, "I mean, how did you even graduate from Uni?"

"I didn't sleep," said Yoo Jin without breaking eye contact, "that's why I'm making up for all the sleep I lost in those 5 years." Yoo Jin looked to her right and got eye contact with Taehyun who had been sitting in quiet, trying not to make anything about this situation worse.

"Yo, magic boy," exclaimed Yoo Jin, and Taehyun quickly sat up straight as she continued, "why are you here like... everyday? Do you really have nothing better to do in your summer vacation besides playing games all day."

"Actually... we haven't been playing games all day," said Taehyun while rubbing his neck, "we went out for a run this morning." Yoo Jin swallowed, trying to think of some way to save her dignity, but before she could come up with anything, Yeonjun took the word once again.

"Yeah, so why don't you give us a break and let us have some fun?"

"Well... I never said you couldn't have fun!" said Yoo Jin firmly, "I just said to keep it down."

"You-"

"Yeonjun, why don't we just go downstairs instead? We can watch some TV and then we won't disturb Noona." Yeonjun looked at Taehyun in disbelief, while Yoo Jin was still trying to get over the fact that she had to get used to having two brothers around the house.

"Fine," said Yeonjun and turned off the computer, "you can go back to bed now, Noona, we won't disturb you."

"Thank you," said Yoo Jin and walked out of the room, Yeonjun and Taehyun following right behind her.

"Actually," said Yoo Jin, just as she was about to go inside her room, and both boys stopped on their way down the stairs, "I'm a little hungry, so I think I'm going to make myself an omelet, do you two want one?"

Taehyun was just about to accept the offer when Yeonjun beat him to it.

"I'm not sure if it's safe for me to say yes."

"Yeonjun, aren't you being to harsh on your sister?" whispered Taehyun as he watched the color of Yoo Jin's face turn red as a tomato.

"You're just saying that because you don't have any siblings," said Yeonjun, "but alright, I guess I'll accept your kind offer."

"Wonderful," said Yoo Jin with a huge fake smile plastered onto her face as, "I'll be down in a second."

Yeonjun took a step forward and put his arm around Taehyun while saying:

"So, what do you think now that you've seen the monster?"

"What do you mean?" asked Taehyun while walking into the living room.

"I mean, that thing that just walked into my room," explained Yeonjun.

"Are you talking about Noona?" asked Taehyun and Yeonjun nodded, "I don't know, I think she was just cute, walking in like that." Yeonjun stared at his friend for a second, before he just shook his head and grabbed the remote.

"You're really weird sometimes," said Yeonjun.

While scrolling through the channels, Yeonjun and Taehyun discussed whether to watch a movie or simply sit back and relax with whatever was on air at the moment. The sound of firm steps suddenly echoed behind them and Taehyun turned around to find Yoo Jin walking down the stairs and then into the kitchen. The pink pajamas had been switched to her usual attire of grey sweatpants and a large T-shirt, today in the color black. Her hair had been combed too and was put up in a ponytail, probably to keep it away from her face while she was cooking.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" asked Yeonjun and Taehyun quickly turned around again.

"Ah, no," said Taehyun in all honesty, "sorry, can you repeat that."

"I was saying-"

"Magic boy," yelled Yoo Jin all of a sudden, making Taehyun turn around again, "is there anything you DON'T want in your omelet? Any allergies?"

"Um... no... nothing," answered Taehyun, "I'm fine with whatever you decide."

"Great," said Yoo Jin and started taking out the ingredients from the fridge.

"Alright, can I finish my sentence now?" asked Yeonjun, but as if on cue, he was cut short again, this time by the ear piercing sound of porcelain smashing onto the floor.

"What was that?" asked Taehyun in surprise, while Yeonjun hadn't even budged by the sound.

"That right there, that is the reason my sister hasn't been able to keep a single part time job, for any longer than a few months," said Yeonjun, "she's simply too clumsy."

Yoo Jin internally cursed at herself while looking at the floor where the white plate now laid scattered in front of her.

"Noona, are you okay?" Yoo Jin looked up and saw Taehyun standing in the entrance to the kitchen.

"I'm fine, thank you," said Yoo Jin, "I just need to clean this up. I'm sorry, but it'll take a little longer before your omelet is ready."

"That's okay, no rush," said Taehyun with a bright smile and Yoo Jin instinctly send one back, before she walked towards one of the kitchen cabinets to find a small broom and a dustpan. Whilst watching Yoo Jin clean up the mess she had made, Taehyun stayed in his spot, not saying or doing anything.

"Noona," said Taehyun all of a sudden when Yoo Jin got back up and got ready to wrap the pieces from the plate in a newspaper.

"Yes?" said Yoo Jin.

"Is it annoying to you when I hang out here?" asked Taehyun, "because I can just ask Yeonjun to hang out at my house instead."

"No no, there's no need for that," said Yoo Jin quickly, "I'm sorry about earlier, I'm just a spiteful old woman who's depressed, she had to move back home, because she failed at growing up and making her parents proud."

"Also, don't get so tense everytime Yeonjun and I fight a little," continued Yoo Jin, "Yeonjun said you don't have any siblings so that must be why you get so worried. Siblings fight, that's just how it is."

"I will try not to worry so much then," said Taehyun, "but Noona, you shouldn't worry so much either. Things will work out in the end."

"Thanks," said Yoo Jin and chuckled, "I wish I was still young and optimistic like you. But after growing up I've come to realize, life isn't a dance on roses."

"I know that, and I know I don't know what it's like to be a grown-up," said Taehyun, "but I do know things always work out, one way or another, they just do. In fact... things can turn up... when you least expect it." As Taehyun worded the last sentence, he did a sudden movement with his right hand and a playing card appeared in front of Yoo Jin, making her laugh loudly.

"Alright, I think that's enough from you, magic boy," said Yoo Jin after she had stopped laughing, "now go and have fun with my brother, I'll try to cook the omelets without breaking the entire kitchen."

"Noona, fighting!" said Taehyun and Yoo Jin chuckled, before gently patting Taehyun on his head.

"So small and cute," she said, making a frown appear on Taehyun's face.

"You've said that before, but I'm really not that short."

"Is that so?" said Yoo Jin in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes, I'm a normal height!" insisted Taehyun, "and I'm pretty sure you're shorter than me." Yoo Jin just looked at Taehyun before saying:

"If you say so." Taehyun was about to say something again, but when Yeonjun called out to him from the living room, he decided to let the argument be for now and walked back into the living room.

After finally having three omelets lined up in front of her, Yoo Jin let out a sigh of relief and started carrying the two of them to the living room. She nearly left the living room again, when Taehyun made the suggestion of watching a Drama together, since nothing good was airing at the moment. At first Yeonjun was against the idea, but after looking into the huge deer-like eyes of his best friend and watching the look of anticipation on his sister, he couldn't bring himself to do anything but accept.

So that's how it went. All three sat in living room with a Drama playing in the background, while they peacefully ate their food. Laughter filled the room at the stupid and funny moments, the sound of cringe echoed whenever one of the leads did something worthy of secondhand embarrassment, and the tears pushed on when the emotional scenes unfolded. They didn't even realize how long they had been binge-watching the series, before the sound of a door opening became audible and all three heads turned around to see a woman enter.

"Mom, you're home," said Yeonjun and paused the Drama.

"I'm home," said Jeong-Yeon as she entered the house and took a look around, first spotting the paused video on the screen, "so that's what you spend all day on? Watching TV?"

"No, we went for a run in the morning," said Yeonjun, but the look on his mother's face was nowhere near impressed.

"I know it's your summer vacation, but you should still spend some time on studying," said Jeong-Yeon, "how else are you going to get into a good University like your sister?" Jeong-Yeon then turned her look to her daughter and continued:

"And you," she said, "you should rather be spending your time on finding a job instead of lying around the house."

"I already sent out my resume to every single position I could find," said Yoo Jin to her defense, but Jeong-Yeon just let out a sigh.

"Taehyun," said Jeong-Yeon and the young boy quickly got up from the couch, "don't you think you should go home for today? I'm sure your mom would like you to spend some time studying too."

"Yes, of course," said Taehyun and walked to the hallway to put his shoes on, "thank you for today, Mrs. Han." After politely bowing to Jeong-Yeon, Taehyun walked out of the door and closed it behind him, leaving the rest with a heavy silence stuck between them.

"Yeonjun, my son," said Jeong-Yeon, "you really shouldn't spend so much time with Taehyun."

"Why, what's wrong with Taehyun?" asked Yeonjun while Yoo Jin followed the conversation closely from the sideline.

"First of all, his family is so eccentric," started Jeong-Yeon, "I mean, his mother is a painter and then there's his father with that bakery that never really sold well. They probably don't even care if he studies or not. Or if he gets a good education or not." Yeonjun took in a deep breath before walking towards his mother.

"Mom, don't worry so much," Yeonjun said, "my grades are fine, I'm working hard, so there's no reason to be scared of Taehyun having a bad effect on me."

"Alright then," said Jeong-Yeon and walked out of the living room, leaving Yoo Jin and her brother behind. After their mother was completely out of sight, Yoo Jin took a few steps closer to Yeonjun and whispered:

"Do you even want to go to a University?" Yeonjun just looked at her with an expression impossible to read, but before Yoo Jin could ask any further, a loud and unsatisfied outcry was heard from the kitchen.

"Who on earth made the kitchen into a war zone?"

"Good luck," said Yeonjun before he ran upstairs leaving Yoo Jin alone, ready to face the wrath of her mother.

Hello everyone

I hope you enjoyed reading chapter 2. I am having a lot of fun writing a cute and simple story after writing such a serious and at times depressing story I wrote before this one.

I hope you are having as much fun reading this story as I am writing it. Please leave a comment down below and let me know your thoughts.

Love, Annalise~