Secrets and Hidden Thoughts

Hyuk watched Yeo Ri as she breathed in and out deeply in her sleep.

Her head was tilted to his side, so he could see the entirety of her face. She was so beautiful, he thought. He briefly wondered if she had always been this beautiful.

His mind flashed back to a few years prior. Back then, she was just a scrawny little kid who was barely half his height. She grew so big in just a few years' time.

Her hand laid by her side, palm up. For a second he wondered what it would feel like to hold her hand. He was tempted to touch it, but he fought off the urge. What if she woke up, he thought.

He didn't want her to think of him as a creep. It was good enough that he could be by her side so closely like this. If she knew what he truly felt for her, then...

Hyuk closed his eyes, sighing and gritting his teeth. Even he himself felt ashamed of his true feelings.

Unwilling to torture himself any longer, he flipped to the other side, facing the door. However, he soon realised that not seeing her was worse. Defeatedly, he turned back around, forcing his eyes shut after looking at her profile to his heart's content.

The next morning, Yeo Ri was the first to wake up, as usual.

She quietly got up, making sure not to disturb the two sleeping princes. She tiptoed her way to the door, but before she left, she glanced at the two brothers.

Gun always slept like a piece of log; facing the ceiling and unmoving for the entire night. If not for the obvious sign of breathing, one might mistake him for a corpse. Hyuk, on the other hand, had a habit of curling up in his sleep and hugging his pillow. It made him look cuter than he usually was. She remembered many instances where he could not find his pillow in his sleep and ended up hugging her instead. Of course, since she always woke up earlier than him, he never found out about this habit of his.

Remembering the little piece of memory, Yeo Ri could not help but smile. He seemed so innocent and child-like when he was asleep. How cute, she thought. If Hyuk knew what she was thinking, he would probably be fuming.

Yeo Ri tried to be as silent a she could as she slipped out of the room. With a small bucket filled with an assortment of toiletries in one hand and her clothes in another, she made her way to the bathroom.

The bathroom was not attached to the house, and it only had cold water. It was unfortunate that they didn't have a water heater, especially during the winter.

She quickly finished washing herself up and changed into her uniform, shivering in the cold morning.

After washing up, she continued with her morning routine. With a large bucket in hand, she filled it up with water and dragged it over to the kitchen.

She carried it up on the stove and turned it on to heat it up. In this way, the next one to wash up could enjoy hot water for the morning.

If Gun was the next one awake, he would considerately leave some of the water for the next person, but if it was someone else, then all the water would be used up.

While the water was heating, she proceeded to make breakfast.

With practised ease, she washed the rice and turned on the rice cooker. While the rice was cooking, she took out a container of kimchi and scooped out some of it into a small bowl. She made a few other simple side dishes and laid them all on the dining table.

When the rice was finally cooked, she took out three rice bowls and filled them up. There were some leftovers left so she made them into riceballs and wrapped them up so Gun could have something to eat while he studies.

"Yeo Ri?"

"?!"

Yeo Ri's heart skipped a beat. She almost dropped the chopsticks she was holding but immediately recollected herself.

"D-dad? You're home? I thought you wouldn't be back from your business trip until later this evening," she sighed from the fright but still flashed a smile to the newly arrived man.

The man smiled, laughing, "Work ended faster than I thought. What's this, you made breakfast already?"

"Ah... sorry, I'll get another bowl." Since she expected that there would only be three of them, she did not have any rice left for the man. With the intention of dividing the rice from the three bowls, she went to search for another bowl.

"No need. I had a drink with the supervisors all the way 'til morning, and now I'm tired."

"Then, shall I make some hangover soup?" Yeo Ri put down the bowl she was holding, and instead took out a stew pot. There was enough ingredients in the kitchen for her to make a simple version of a hangover soup, she recalled.

"Will you?" Dad laughs good-naturedly. He moved closer to her and patted her shoulder, "As expected, only Yeo Ri cares about me."

Yeo Ri received his words with a slight smile, a peculiar look flashing across her face for a split second. However, acting as if nothing was wrong, she moved to the fridge to look for the ingredients.

"Then, I'll leave it to you."

"Mm. Have a good rest, dad." Yeo Ri smiled as she sent him off.

Once the man was gone, her smile faltered. She paused her hands, staring at the direction the man had gone to. Many thoughts flashed in her mind, but she soon snapped out of it and got back to work.