The Brothers Kim

Chapter 6- Chance to Choose

"You would think that she'd be full by now."

"Isn't that her fourth bowl of rice?"

"Poor girl, she must have been starving!"

The maids peered through the crack in the door to look at Gyuri, who was stuffing herself with all the food she can lay her hands on. Madam Zhou was watching her from across the table, silently judging her table manners with her lips pursed into a slight scowl.

The maids heard a soft chuckle and their eyes darted from Gyuri's gorging to Namjoon, who was leaning against the kitchen counter, observing Gyuri with mirth exuding from his eyes. Seeing the slight smile playing on his plump pink lips made the maids swoon from afar.

One of the maids sighed. "Oh, my!" she said in a dreamy voice. "Master Namjoon's smile is ever so dazzling!"

"Do you think it was the new girl who made him smile?" enquired another.

"No way!" another maid replied. "How can she be the reason for his precious smile?"

While the three peeping maids quarrelled quietly amongst themselves, Mayu watched what was happening from afar.

"She's a funny one, isn't she?" Mayu heard someone say from beside her. She turned to her left and saw that it was Pho. Pho gave her a toothy grin as she continued, "Did you see her chase the Young Master yesterday? It was quite the entertainment!"

Mayu smiled at her friend. In a quiet voice, she responded, "Yes, it was indeed."

"I heard from Kalyani that she will be staying with us." She smirked, "Kalyani was obviously annoyed when she found out about it."

"You know what Kalyani's like" Mayu replied. "She already finds our room crowded with three people sharing."

Pho shrugged. "Well, I can't wait to find out more about her. I think that we'll be great friends."

~*~

Gyuri continued to chow down the food, only taking a break to sip on water so that she could eat even more. She didn't know what came over her, but it was like she had lost control of her body and the one pulling all the strings was her stomach, rather than her brain.

Gyuri chomped away at her fifth bowl of rice, grains flying everywhere. She reached out for the grilled mackerel and started picking at it so that she could chew bitesize portions of the meat, before stuffing her face again with more rice and slurping at the chicken broth soup. She continued this cycle until she heard a light cough which made her look up.

Madam Zhou was staring at her with an unimpressed expression. Her lips were thinned into a narrow line, her eyes twitching ever so slightly at the sight of food all over Gyuri's face.

Gyuri, realising how she must appear to Madam Zhou, laughed lightly, embarrassed at her current appearance. "Er... it's really delicious" she stated awkwardly. "Compliments to the chef!"

Madam Zhou breathed in slowly, but she refrained from berating her which Gyuri found odd. It was only when she realised that they were not alone, did she find out why. Gyuri looked behind Madam Zhou and saw that Namjoon was eyeing her from the back. He was grinning at her, a lot wider now, which revealed his unmistakable dimples.

Gyuri's jaw dropped open, causing the contents inside her mouth to spill down her chin. She cursed herself once she realised what she'd done. Damn it, Subin! Now's not the time to get distracted by that guy's killer smile! She rushed to wipe away the food that had dribbled down her chin with her sleeve. All the while feeling embarrassed that she had made a fool of herself to not only Madam Zhou but to Namjoon too. Gyuri heard Namjoon chuckle as he joined them on the table.