11. Beautiful morning

Morning dew drops.. from the tips of the fresh leaves in Kim Hyungtae's yard. A gentle breeze brushed against the cheeks of the girl who was sleeping on the most comfortable mattress she had ever slept on. Slowly Aera's eyes opened, a second, two seconds, she gathered consciousness from her long sleep last night. When she is almost fully conscious, Aera realized something strange is bothering her.

"Where is this? Why is it like deja vu." Aera asked herself.

"Gosh, this isn't the blanket I'm used to." Her hands brushed the thick cloth that covered her body.

"This is Hyungtae's room. Do I oversleep? God, how can I sleep here? Where am I?" Aera panicked. She tries to look herself if there is anything wrong with her body. No, fortunately, there is no problem at all.

A few seconds after Aera straightened the bed, she intended to leave the room. She sees Hyungtae who is fast asleep on the silver sofa opposite the bed where she is sleeping.

"Haaa, so you sleep here." Aera is relieved, she finally finds the man who owned this room. Actually, she is worried about sleeping in the same bed with Hyungtae, but luckily the man is gentler than he seemed and sacrificed himself to sleep on the sofa like this.

Aera lifted the blanket that is slightly lowered and fixed the position of Hyungtae's hair that covered his handsome face. "Look how handsome you look when you're sleeping and still like this." timidly she backed away so that Hyungtae will not be disturbed by Aera's movements.

But… when Aera backed away and kept her feet away. But she accidentally stepped on a beer can and creating a bit of noise. Luckily Aera can calm Hyungtae who is almost awake.

••

"Mr. Park, isn't it time for Kim to wake up soon?" Aera is cooking breakfast after waking up. She immediately cleaned herself, then she is now in the kitchen.

Because the last time she had been in the kitchen of this house, she had memorized a little where the ingredients she needed for cooking were.

"That's right, Miss. In about five minutes, I will wake the master." Mr. Park explained to someone who had been busy in the kitchen since the early hours of the morning. Aera forced to take over the job of the maid in charge of cooking. Now 6.25 in the morning, minutes before Hyungtae wakes up, Mr. Park always checks into Hyungtae's room at half-past seven. Sometimes Hyungtae wakes up and is in the bathroom, but not infrequently he still has sweet dreams on his favorite bed.

For the sake of everyone's welfare, Hyungtae must not be late. Once, Mr. Park is late to wake him up because he has business with his stomach-churning. As a result, Hyungtae is furious and punished the servants for working overtime all day. He is known to be a competent person at work so he felt very angry. That's him with the punctuality of his waking hours.

Behind Hyungtae's discipline, there are dozens of servants who are threatened with overtime every day. That's where the burden feels so heavy for old Park because it is in charge of waking its host.

••

"Are you ready, Kim?" asked Aera as her morning greeting for Hyungtae. "Yeah, you're wearing an apron?" Hyungtae asked back because he was surprised that she should have been wearing the beautiful clothes both agreed on last night. "Yes, I cooked breakfast this morning. In a moment, I want to take the rest that I haven't brought here," said Aera as she stepped away from the kitchen, where she prepared breakfast for the two of them.

"Mr. Park. I set aside a little for you. You can eat it later when we leave. So just heat it up for a while and it's edible," whispered Aera as she passed Mr. Park. Don't get the wrong opinion. Aera feels she has to be kind to Mr. Park once in a while, apart from being able to last all this time serving Hyungtae, she is also grateful for being nice to Aera and treating Aera like his own child.

"Okay, Miss. Thank you," replied Mr. Park very slowly, his thumb and forefinger forming the letter "O" as a code for Aera. Hyungtae has been sitting faithfully, waiting for Aera come back from the kitchen, unaware of any conversations and interaction codes between Mr. Park and Aera.

When Aera approached, her hands were covered with bowls of food. Hyungtae watched his eyes sparkle, and his smile broke out very wide. After a long time, his neat teeth also peeked because his heart warmed. Imagine how happy it would be to see Aera preparing breakfast for him every morning.

"Your eyeball almost fell off Kim," said Aera breaking Hyungtae's daydream.

"You're just annoying. I imagining good things, you know," Hyungtae replied. His eyes had left Aera, but his heart that blooming does not subside.

"Why do you suddenly want to prepare breakfast? You said you don't want to because you are treated like a servant." Hyungtae asked surprised. He remembered the last time Aera cooked for him. He vehemently refused when Hyungtae begged to be cooked. But it's surprising that even without being asked, Aera is seen happily preparing breakfast for him.

"I want to thank you for entertaining me by taking me to see it. Even though I don't really enjoy horror movies." Aera explained to Hyungtae. That she got goosebumps when she remembered last night's movie. Her hand moved to take Hyungtae's rice bowl to be filled with rice and placed it back with its owner. "Really? If you're grateful, you shouldn't be half-hearted. Try feeding me too." Basically, Hyungtae doesn't know how to be grateful. He's always given a heart and asking for a heart.

"Tak!"

Aera hit Hyungtae's arm, not too hard. But Hyungtae acted like his arm was about to be crushed, his hand reflexively rubbing the sore spot. "Always getting hit." Hyungtae grimaced, now turning to act in tears. "Open your mouth quickly." Unexpectedly Aera obeyed Hyungtae to feed him.

"Aaaa .." don't wait long Hyungtae immediately opened his mouth wide.

"Is this what it feels like to be beaten, before being given medicine?" Hyungtae babbled to himself while his mouth chewed Aera's fried rice. "It tastes so good. I won't be late for a meal if you take care of me like this. Whatever you cook, it melts in my mouth.

" Hyungtae praised once again, exaggerating. "Never mind, don't overdo it. I happen to be making a cake. Do you want to be the first taster?" Aera asked excitedly.

"Of course, I'll spend it all if I need to," Hyungtae replied with enthusiasm. "Ummm.. then, accompany me shopping for the ingredients at the supermarket when I get home from work later, okay?" asked Aera hopefully. "Yes, you can shop for all the things you want."

Breakfast this time really feels different for the two of them. So far, they enjoy breakfast because there are no friends with whom they can have breakfast and talk together like this. Mr. Park, who watched from afar, is happy to see the people he cared about looking happy together.