Chapter 53
“What did you see?”
Hyojun glanced at Hyoyoung before answering, “I realized how much she loves that space. She painted murals on the walls and the basement room was spotless. She kept all the old dolls and they even still looked brand new. It looked like… a castle well-kept by a princess who was trapped in it and wanted it to look its best. It looked… really neat and well-decorated. I was really surprised.”
“So, Hyoyoung must consider the basement more important than her own bedroom… She must feel very different about it.”
“Yes, it really is her castle. It may be isolated, but she must find it comfortable and cozy. Anyway, it took a month to soundproof the place and it is also well insulated and heated. She even asked for an entire wall to be fitted with mirrors. And once it was completed, she once again stopped anyone from entering.”
“Oh, so that is why you know so much about your basement, Hyojun.”
“Yeah. It used to be storage for the whole family, but once it was given to Hyoyoung, we had to throw out a lot of junk from there. And ever since then, it has been her castle.”
Suddenly, Hyoyoung reappeared in front of the guys. She asked bluntly, “What are you guys doing? You are at a dining table, so you should be eating. You guys are such gossips. This is unacceptable. Eat NOW.”
She added more plates to the table. Stir-fried vegetables, steaks, fish, curry, kimchi soup, Korean pizza, and it went on and on…
Hyunsuk gaped and asked, “These… did you make all these? Just now?”
Hyoyoung replied, “I made most of it, but I bought some too. These dishes use similar spices, so it didn’t take me long. Eat up.”
Hyoyoung left the table, leaving the members stunned. They all stared at the food.
“Hyoyoung seems to have problems controlling portions…”
“We have to eat all of this? All?”
“Let’s start eating and see what happens. We better eat as much of it as possible, or else, she is going to be pissed off…”
“Isn’t Hyoyoung going to eat with us?”
“I think it’s best to leave her alone for now. She will come to eat if she wants.”
Jiwoo agreed with Hyojun, “Yup. I think Hyojun is completely right. Let’s just eat! Hurry up!”
They were about to dig in when Hyoyoung walked by and said to them, “I will be cleaning my castle all night, so do NOT come near me until I tell you. Also, after dinner, you all better do the dishes.”
Hyoyoung left, and the members nervously looked at each other again.
“Cooking, and now cleaning too…”
“It looks like her level has gone up to 11…”
“Should we look for another practice room?”
“Now? After all this? If we tell her we don’t need her basement anymore, she is going to explode.”
“Let’s eat first and think later. We can’t worry about what hasn’t happened yet. Now… huh?!”
“Wow…! The food tastes amazing!”
Hyojun explained, “I told you. She cooks whenever she gets stressed. She may be a good cook, but our family could never enjoy her food because we would be nervous around her.”
The guys ate hurriedly and greedily. It had been a long time since they had a home-cooked meal, and the last few days had been so traumatic that they truly enjoyed their time at the dining table. It was comforting, and the members felt happier and more relaxed.
At first, Jiwoo and Hyunsuk hesitated because they were worried about their diet, but once they started eating, they couldn’t stop.
It was an amazing meal.
“That was the best dinner I have ever had.”
There was enough food for 20 people on the table, but the four members of The M polished it all off in only an hour.
“Hey, it’s been about 3 years since we ate like this, right?”
“3 years? For me, I think it has been 10 years! I am surprised that my stomach could handle this much food.”
“You know what? I… feel really happy.”
“Me too. I feel like I am on a peaceful vacation.”
“Do you think this is what Hyoyoung wanted?”
“What do you mean?”
“She may have been stressed, but I think that maybe… she just wanted to cook us a nice meal.”
“Perhaps?”
Jiwoo agreed, “Yes. I can see Miss Hyoyoung doing something like this for us.”
“How nice of her.”
“By the way, we better do the dishes, right?”
“Gosh, this is going to take forever to clean.”
Hyunsuk pointed at the kitchen and added, “And look over there… the kitchen looks even worse. She must’ve used all the dishes in the house.”
The other members became speechless. Just as Hyunsuk said, the kitchen was filled with dirty dishes and pots.
“This is going to take us all night…”
The guys started to clean up, but Kiwook secretly left the kitchen and headed towards the basement.
He knocked on Hyoyoung’s castle door and whispered, “Hyoyoung, it’s me.”
***
“Hyoyoung, open the door. It’s me.”
Kiwook kept knocking, but no one answered. After a few minutes, he hesitantly turned the knob.
“Huh? It’s not locked?”
He opened the door slowly. As soon as he opened it, he could hear loud music and singing. It was a sad ballad.
“I didn’t beeeeeelieve in foreeeeeeverrrr, but if youuuuuuu were going to leeeeeave like thissssssss, youuuuuuu should’veeeeee neeeeeverrrrr!”
Hyoyoung was singing the sad song like a rocker and cleaning the basement. She didn’t know Kiwook came in. She continued to vacuum and sing at the same time. From time to time, she would also dance adorably.
When Kiwook realized Hyoyoung didn’t notice he was inside, he slowly moved to hide behind a column; he continued to watch her quietly.
Hyoyoung started to take down posters of various artists, both national and international. She put them in a box as she apologized to them, “I’m sorry, so sorry! Please stay in this box for a while! I will let you all out soon, I promise!”
She talked to the posters like they were real people, and she kept apologizing to them.
Kiwook thought secretly, ‘Gosh… she is too cute.’