My Hybrid's Duality [ KTH ]

Chapter VIII. Zero O'Clock

You decide to get ready for work before going out of your room and facing Taehyung. You pull on a long-sleeved top, making sure the mark on your wrist is covered.

'I can't have Taehyung asking about it. I don't think I can lie to his face.'

You step out to sizzling sounds and a toasted smell filling the living room. Taehyung calls out to you from the kitchen.

"Breakfast will be ready soon! Please wait a moment."

"Ah, don't worry," you call back, "I have time."

Taehyung hurries out of the kitchen, carrying a plate stacked with nurungji.

"I woke up later than usual for some reason," he explains, contrite, "so I started on breakfast a bit late." He hands you the plate. "I decided to make nurungji out of some leftover rice."

The nurungji has been toasted to a nice golden brown, sugar sprinkled on top. You take the top piece and bite into it, crunching the crispy rice in between your teeth. A toasty sweetness explodes in your mouth.

"Waaa, Taehyungie! This is so good!" you exclaim, "Where did you learn to make it?"

"Is it?" Teahyung replies, sounding pensive, "It's not even half of what it should be... the nurungji from my memories..."

"From your... memories?"

Taehyung nods.

"I think... my mother used to make it for me," he says, brow scrunching, "I don't remember her face or anything else about her, but..." he closes his eyes, "I remember the nurungji, the smell, the crunchiness, the taste..." He opens his eyes once again, and there is sadness in them, a longing for something lost. "For me, nurungji evokes the feeling of a mother's love. Is that... is that strange?"

You wonder about Taehyung's mother, what she must have been like, this woman who made him memorable nurungji, who must have loved him very much... A mysterious woman who left the note that Taehyung keeps with him at all times.

You shake your head, eyes stinging with the threat of tears.

"Ah! Please don't be sad for me," Taehyung pleads, alarmed at your expression, "I might have lost memories of my past," he smiles, "but I have an entire future ahead of me for making memories with you. Right?"

"Taehyung... you're going to make me cry!"

"Eh? No! That's the opposite of what I intended!"

Laughing together while eating the nurungji of Taehyung's childhood, you think that this will definitely be among the memories you will always hold close to your heart.

'Taehyung-ah... let's make lots and lots of memories together!'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As you settle into your desk at work, the reality of the day ahead sets in. Away from Taehyung's sunny smile, you remember V's mysterious one.

'I still haven't decided on whether to tell Hobi-ssi about my encounters with V.'

At that exact moment, your phone vibrates. You check the screen.

'It's Hobi-ssi! Did he somehow sense that I was thinking about him???'