A/N: this is a oneshot i posted on my wattpad and wanted to share here !! please consider checking out my wattpad, it's linked on my navigation page !! if you liked this then please feel free to send in requests !!
The cold morning breeze blows the pungent smell of tobacco into my face, causing my body to recoil in disgust and my face contorting into a scowl. I sigh leaning against the outside wall of the convienice store for support.
“Do you seriously have to smoke right now?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “Ido-kun said we needed to get there before the sale ends, and you know he won’t be happy if your little smoke break stops him from getting that cabbage.”
“Tch..it’ll be fine. He’s the one that always tells me it’s okay for me to smoke on my break anyways .” He finishes, taking another drag of his cigarette. As he blows out, the thick smoke surrounds his face, making him look hazy.
“MEI!” Ido yells, rushing towards us with grocery bags in hand. I move from my spot and nudge Mei. “I told you he wasn’t gonna be happy with your little break.”
Ido stops in front of his older brother and lectures him for smoking once again. “You can’t be smoking here, you know it isn’t a designated smoking area! Plus stopping to smoke here is going to ruin our chances of getting the finest cabbage for our meal!” He scolds his brother for the umpteenth time.
He hunches over, his lips tightly pursed together. His usual stoic expression now replaced by embarassment.
‘I tried to warn him. This idiot doesn’t ever want to listen to me.’ I begin to walk off without the brothers, not in the mood to hear Ido’s scoldings for the thousandth time today.
I feel a cold hand clamp down on my arm, holding me in place. “Where are you going?” The older brother asks me, his face close to mine. I can feel his warm breath on my face. It smells like cigarettes and the melon soda he drank earlier.
“I’m tired of hearing you guys bickering. Plus we need to get to that sale before everything runs out.” I say removing his hand from my arm, the warmth fading as fast as it arrived.
I begin to walk but quickly stop and turn my head back. Looking at the two brothers who seem to be locked in place. “Are you guys coming or what?” I ask and continue walking, hearing two sets of footsteps running to catch up to me.
When we arrive at the market I notice all of the cabbages had already been taken. Ido and I arrived before his brother since he saw something he wanted to get and insisted he’d catch up with us.
“N..No…It can’t be...we came this far to get it too…” Ido’s head hung in dissapointment. I place my hand on his shoulder, rubbing it soothingly.
“Hey it’s okay Ido-kun, we can always get something else for dinner. I’m sure you can make something just as tasty.” I try to assure him, feeling bad about being too late to get the ingredient we needed.
Mei soon joins us, walking up while holding a white plastic bag in his hand.
“Uh oh, it’s sold out? I guess we’ll have to change tonight’s dinner from cabbage rolls to something else.” He says unbothered
I cock my head to the side questioningly. “What’s in the bag Mei?” I reach for it wanting to see what’s inside but he snatches it away and hides it behind his back. “Don’t worry about it! It’s none of your buisiness anyways.” He turns his head to face his brother, only now realizing the trouble he’s in.
Ido raises his head, his eyebrows knitted together in frustration. “You said that you wanted to smoke just one cigarette. Yet you smoked two while I wasn’t looking so we didn’t make it in time!”
“I apologized for that earlier. Don’t get so angry.” Mei says avoiding his little brothers accusatory glare. Ido crouches down, grabbing onto the case that used to hold the cabbages. His knuckles turning white from gripping the edge so hard.
“What should we do now? Master said that we were going to have cabbage rolls today…”
Mei stands beside Ido, looking down at him, his hand still behind his back. “Then it should be okay to buy a different one. There’s a lot of other good cabbages.” He says looking around trying to find a different stall selling the needed ingredient.
Suddenly Ido jumps up pointing at the empty bin. “But this fresh, high quality, cabbage is good!”
“But it’s sold out so we don’t have any other choice.” Mei crosses his arms, getting embarassed that he’s getting scolded by his little brother. “This is because you smoke! If you wouldn’t have smoked then we would’ve gotten here in enough time!” He yells getting frustrated with his unconcerned brother.
While the two were bickering a soft voice breaks between them. A beautiful woman offers her cabbage. “You can have this one if you want!” She says with a bright smile. “Eh…is it really okay? You won’t have ingredients for your dinner.” Mei questions, feeling a little bad for taking this woman’s ingredients. “I could pay you for it if you’d like ?” I offer, feeling bad about taking it from her.
She waves her hand dismissively and insists we take it. Explaing that they changed their dinner for today.
Mei offers the woman a coupon for a free side dish in return. We begin to walk off but before we’re out of earshot I hear the little girl. “Why are they wearing maid uniforms if they’re men?” I chuckle to myself because I’ve been wondering the same thing since I met them.
As we walk back to prepare dinner I attempt to make conversation with Mei since Ido is still talking about how good his dish will be with the premium cabbage. “So…are you gonna tell me what’s in the bag now?” I smile and bat my eyelashes at him, trying to convince him to tell me.
“Why are you so nosy today?” He scoffs but reaches his hand into the bag and rummages around. His hand emerges from the bag, bringing a soft F/C cat out with it. He hands it to me but keeps his eyes on the ground.
“Don’t tell me you don’t like it because I know that’s your favorite color.” I lightly touch the plush taking the image of it in. ‘It reminds me of my old cat’ I think to myself, petting the top of it’s head. The fabric is soft and silky, it’s eyes look so realistic, and the collar around it’s neck is made of a velvet like material.
Before I know it we’ve made it back to the lair, and a hand grabbing mine breaks me out of my trance. Mei looks at me questioningly. “Don’t get the wrong idea, I just saw it and it reminded me of you.” He looks away takes my hand and leads me inside.
‘He can be such an asshole sometimes. Though other times, he can be the biggest sweetheart. He knows just how to get under my skin. Just as much as he knowb how to make me soft.’
Everyone raves about the cabbage rolls that Ido had made, stating that they had a different taste and texture. All of them ask for seconds since it’s so delicious. ‘I do have to agree they were really good.’ I find a spot on the floor, still holding the cat plush Mei had given me earlier.
Once Mei had finished washing dishes and cleaning up after everyone he clears his throat and sits next to me. “Is…is it okay?” He asks while looking at me, awaiting my answer.
A soft smile graces my face. “It’s more than okay…It’s perfect. It reminds me of my old kitty.” I say, playing with the headpiece that goes with his uniform. He acts annoyed but leans into my touch just enough for me to notice. “Tell me about them.” He says
I start reminiscing about my old pet, bringing up fond memories of my life before I started working as a bodygaurd. He listens closely and hardly says a word other than an occasional hum to let me know that he’s listening. My eyelids get heavy and darkness begins to engulf me.
Mei’s POV
Their words start slurring together and I can feel their breathing begin to slow down. I soon feel a weight on my shoulder, I look over to see them peacfully sleeping. “I can’t believe you’re already tired.” I scoff, picking them up and taking them to their room.
I lay them down onto the bed and place the plush in their arms. I cover them up with the blanket sitting on the bed. As I turn to leave a soft hand grabs my arm and stops me.
“stay…please.” Their voice is small, so much so that I can barely hear them.
I want to argue but I don’t have the strength to. So I sit on the edge of the bed and hold their hand, watching as they drift back to sleep. Once I’m sure they’re asleep I get up and plant a small kiss on their forehead. Fixing my uniform, I head back to the kitchen quietly shutting the door.
