#89 Illusion
Illusion
WC: 740
Notes:Based on the following.
Sukira: Ryeowook cooked eggs and thought he saw something floating. He was scared it was a chick and screamed, Hae came running (cr: 曺敏贞_LN)
...
It’s a quiet morning. Donghae has no schedules until this evening and he is perfectly happy to spend the day catching up on the sleep he’s been so bad at getting these last few months. He rolls over and burrows more comfortably underneath his blankets, content to doze back off until someone wakes him for breakfast. Or, he hopes silently, they’ll forget about him if he’s quiet enough and he can sleep until lunch. The warmth of his blankets, cocooning him completely, matched with the gentle hum of his ceiling fan is enough to lull him back asleep. His mind hazes and the beginnings of dreams waltz just out of reach.
His peace is shattered by an ear-splitting shriek. Even in his half-asleep state, Donghae knows that scream anywhere. Tearing himself out of bed, tripping over blankets and sheets wrapped tightly around his legs, and without even bothering to grab a shirt, he bolts out of the room. He slips and slides down the hallway on socked feet. Following the sound of quiet whimpers, he bursts into the kitchen area.
There on the floor, leaning against the refrigerator, is Ryeowook. He’s still wearing his pajamas, sweat pants and a shirt four sizes too big (probably one of Kangin or Shindong’s), and his bangs are pinned back with a pink butterfly clip. To Donghae, he appears to be his normal six-in-the-morning-self. Apart from the tears steadily making their way down his cheeks. Figuring the danger must still be lurking, Donghae kneels down by his side and wraps him up in his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, still looking around the kitchen for the axe murderer.
“I killed a baby,” Ryeowook whispers, tiny hands gripping Donghae’s biceps so tightly his knuckles turn white. “I killed it, hyung.”
Now, Donghae is credited among Super Junior to be the one to spout ridiculous nonsense. His mind wanders sometimes and he is caught mumbling about aliens and monsters, but the thought that Ryeowook, precious, innocent, baby Ryeowook, could kill-could even harm-anything was impossible for even him to conceive.
“What?” is all he can think to say. He pulls Ryeowook around to face him, thumb working quickly to brush away the tears he can’t stand to see running down his face.
“The chick,” Ryeowook wails, pointing to the stove. Donghae follows his gesture and sees that the stovetop is glowing from a burner left on. He pats Ryeowook on the head and stands up to investigate. When he steps up to the stove, however, all he sees is a frying pan with a very over-cooked egg bubbling away.
“It’s just an egg,” Donghae says, confused.
“No!” Ryeowook protests, climbing to his feet and latching on to Donghae’s back. He peers around Donghae, through the gap between his side and arm. “I saw something floating. It’s the chicken.”
Donghae turns off the heat and grabs a fork out of the sink. He sets in dissecting the egg, even as Ryeowook begins whimpering behind him again. Finally, he discovers something solid. He frowns, weren’t store-bought eggs supposed to be chicken-free? He digs a little deeper and pulls the solid thing out. His face splits into a grin when he holds up the bit of eggshell.
“Is this what you saw?” he laughs.
Ryeowook peeks over his shoulder at the offending shell and chuckles nervously. “Oh! I was so worried, what a relief!”
“You goof.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryeowook mumbles. “I shouldn’t have screamed and woke you up.”
“It’s fine,” Donghae insists. “What are you doing awake this early, anyway? You don’t have anything until tonight, right?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come back to bed. You’ve been just as sleep-deprived as the rest of us.” With that, Donghae drops the fork back into the sink and wraps his arm around Ryeowook’s waist. He drags him off to his bedroom, ignoring Ryeowook’s half-hearted protests. He picks the blankets off the ground and flops onto the bed. He tugs Ryeowook down with him and spreads the blankets out over them. Ryeowook grumbles, because the covers are bunched up and cockeyed, but he snuggles up to Donghae’s side easily enough. Donghae smiles and closes his eyes. It’s quiet again and now he has the added warmth of Ryeowook’s belly against his ribs. It’s a good morning.