Chapter Four

Ms. Darren spooned a helping of the orange, cylinder-shaped food into a blue bowl. She followed suit with two others and placed them in their respective places along the kitchen island. The two rambunctious teenagers waited patiently, though they fidgeted on the inside, and their mouths watered at the smell filling their senses.

"What is this?" Jaekuk asked, looking up curiously. He raised an eyebrow as he looked over the food once more, confused.

"It's called macaroni," Claire explained, leaving the area and quickly returning with three forks. Emily nodded, and Jaekuk stared down at the food, still a bit confused.

"It's made of cheese and noodles," Emily said. She picked up her fork, and Jaekuk watched her before copying her movements carefully. He had used forks in his home country occasionally, but not very often. He wasn't very good with the utensil, and he also had no idea what the Darren's dinner customs might be. 

Nonetheless, Emily scooped a small forkful of the food into her mouth. The warmth filled her taste buds, and she sighed happily. Jaekuk copied his movements, silently thanking whomever must have been watching down on him when he managed to not drop the food onto his lap. The group ate happily and in silence, enjoying their meal and occasionally stopping to take a sip of their tea. 

"Emily, would you like to help Jaekuk unpack his bedroom when you're both finished?" 

Both of the teenager's head snapped up from devouring their meal. Emily frowned slightly, and Ms. Darren shot her a warning look. Much to Emily's dismay, she agreed quietly. She had planned on studying for her upcoming Italian test, but now she had to help this odd foreign boy unpack to live inside of her home.

The whole idea was confusing to Emily, and very strange. Never had she imagined she would be housing a boy from a completely different country, and never had she imagined someone would speak English as fluently as he did, but not know what macaroni was.

Jeez, she thought to herself. If he wanted to come here, it would have been helpful for him to get to know the foods we have here, seeing that kimchi or whatever isn't very common.

As they finished, Emily directed Jaekuk on where to set his bowl. She quickly rinsed them and placed them inside of their dishwasher. When she turned back to him, he was looking around the room curiously. That's all he had seemed to be ever since they arrived home - curious. He didn't seem so perplexed by anything in the school building, or the students, at that. Emily knew that the people here must be highly different from where Jaekuk is from if boys his age comfortably dressed the way he did. 

"Come on," the girl demanded. She began leaving the kitchen, and a slight pause followed before Jaekuk stumbled after, jogging a few feet to catch up to the fast-paced girl. They walked up the white-carpeted staircase and into the long hallway that separated the rooms of the house. 

The walls were a pale turquoise, something that Emily had insisted would look beautiful with the carpet, and her mother had agreed after three days of consistent pleading. It had turned out quite well, and Emily was proud that she had been right.

The first door on the left belonged to Ms. Darren's room. The second on the right was Emily's, and the first on the right would be Jaekuk's temporary residence. The second door on the right was a bathroom, and next to it was a second smaller bathroom that Ms. Darren had allowed Jaekuk to have to himself for privacy reasons. 

Emily opened the door to Jaekuk's room and stepped inside, nearly blinded by the aesthetically-pleasing room. She turned back to the boy who shrugged. 

"I didn't have much time to decorate," he said. He shuffled over to his bed where a large, brown cardboard box sat. He opened it with large, careful hands, pushing the flaps to the side. Jaekuk dug his hand into the box, and soon pulled out a large quilt.

He had to step back to fully remove the blanket, seeing how long it was and that it had unfolded in the flight here. It was a grey comforter with multiple random patches along the blanket. One in particular caught Emily's eye.

"The Bangtan Boys?" She questioned, her eyes drifting over the black patch. Jaekuk looked up immediately, a large grin across his angelic features.

"You know them?" He asked.

"They're practically my life," Emily said, shaking her head with a small grin. "I have so much merchandise it's unreal."

"Same here. Who's your bias?"

"Seokjin."

"I should have known - you seem like a Jin type of girl. Mine is Jungkook, though Jimin can make me question my sanity."

"You're gay?"

"No," Jaekuk said, laughing. "I'm in fact straight."

"Oh," Emily said, not even slightly embarrassed. She nodded her head, feeling informed. "You just dress more . . . flamboyant than other boys I've seen," Emily added, explaining herself.

"We're only fourteen, I didn't think I needed to start dressing like a grandfather to get a girlfriend. Do you?"

"So you're looking for a girlfriend?"

"That depends. Are you looking for a boyfriend?"

"No, but I think those girls at school with the straight, bleached hair and short skirts might be. You should try them out for size; good measure."

"Aren't you something special," Jaekuk said, not really asking anything. He was just stating what he thought, and Emily looked taken aback. Her reaction was overall surprise. Most boys hated her sarcasm and witty comebacks; boys would just rather have bubbly girls who giggled and didn't say anything or share their opinion whatsoever.

"I beg to differ."

"Begging isn't necessary."