Alex woke up refreshed compared to Jin, who was curled up in bed like he was suffering from a severe stomach ache.
"Jin... feeling sick by any chance?" Alex asked.
Jin didn't reply. Alex tapped his shoulder to wake him, but Jin remained still.
Maybe I should check his temperature, Alex thought.
As he neared Jin and reached out his hand to uncover his head, a low grumble reached his ears. Alex stopped mid-move.
"I'm hungry," Jin said in a muffled voice from under the blanket.
"Okay,let me go cook something,but don't oversleep," Alex said, then stood up and headed out of the room.
In a big restaurant filled with customers laughing, gossiping, and some quietly eating, waiters quickly served food orders. Meanwhile,the aroma of the chefs' hard work through their cooking filled the room, bringing out its liveliness.
"Koff, where is Jin?" an elderly woman asked her.
"Not sure," Koff said while frying rice in a pan.
"Are you really not sure?" the woman asked.
"He's healthy, you shouldn't be worried. Jin is just at home taking care of his injured friend," Koff replied.
"Thank goodness," the woman breathed out in relief. She resumed peeling the shells off boiled eggs and dipping them into hot soup bowls.
After a few minutes, a young female waitress came rushing into the kitchen towards Koff.
"Koff! Koff! Koff, have you heard the news?" she asked.
"What about it?" said Koff.
"A little girl from the children's orphanage just passed away this morning," Maria said. "Children's homage or orphanage? "Koff asked. "Orphanage or homage,I've got gossip. "Maria happily said.
"You shouldn't believe every rumor, Maria," Koff said.
Maria pouted in annoyance. "It's not gossip! I heard it from the table where I served the widows."she said.
"That's very good for your ears, but your legs need to get to work by serving other customers their food. Now, off you go." Koff said, pointing at the plates of food on the counter.
"If you don't believe me, then go ask those widows yourself," Maria said, then walked towards the counter and took the plates of food.
Koff became curious. "This is now the second death of a girl from that orphanage... if Maria isn't lying."she thought.
"Koff, would you be a dear and check on that man with spices?" said the elderly woman.
"But he greeted me this morning and told me to use his spices wisely," Koff said.
"If it's the man with a red scarf, then that's the baker because I haven't seen anything. So hurry up and get the spices for our food." the woman said, urging Koff to hurry out of the restaurant.
"This might be my chance to ask about that news."Koff thought while walking out of the restaurant. An hour had passed with Alex in the kitchen preparing food. He completed cooking and started setting the table.
"Jin! Time to eat," he called out.
Alex was about to serve the food, but he decided to check on Jin first since he didn't answer. He left the kitchen and headed towards Jin's room.
"Hey Jin, didn't you hea—" Alex stopped mid-sentence when he opened the door.
Jin wasn't inside. It looked like he had left earlier, as the room was neatly organized and cleaned.
Maybe he's in the shower? Alex thought, heading over.
Alex knocked eagerly on the bathroom door. "Are you in there?" he asked. "The food's getting cold and we need to eat."
Silence greeted him. Alex grew confused.
"Jin... are you okay?" he hesitantly asked.
Hearing no response, he nudged the handle and the door clicked open.
"So he isn't in the bathroom at all... Where is he then?" he said to himself.
Then a faint scent reached his nose. A vanilla fragrance coming from the kitchen. Alex arched a brow.
"The kitchen! But how?"he whispered.
Alex tiptoed back to the kitchen and slowly entered then froze in shock. His eyes widened as he saw Jin casually seated at the dining table, drinking water.
"Oh! You're here. Let's eat already," Jin said calmly.
Alex was taken aback by his behavior. "Since I've been calling your name. You could have come to me if you were too lazy to answer," he said.
Jin tilted his head slightly. "But I didn't hear you. Besides,you even passed right by me in the kitchen when I entered," Jin said, pointing at the recipe book in Alex's hand.
Alex looked down and saw the book held in his hand.
"What!" he said in disbelief. "But how? I've been in the kitchen for an hour or two, and I didn't see you or this book."
"It's fine, don't stress about it," Jin said, waving his hand to dismiss the matter.
Alex felt puzzled by his blank memory of meeting Jin to get the recipe book. He walked forward and sat down at the dining table with a sigh.
"Come on, let's dig in," Jin said happily, serving food for both of them.
Alex gave a short smile and started eating. "Something doesn't feel right? "Alex thought.