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39. BARBECUE
バーベキュー

KASH BALANCED THE tray in her hands again. "honey, hurry up!" her mother said over her shoulder as she whisked her way to the kims' backyard. "yes, mama." she sighed with a quick roll of her eyes.

someone snatching the tray of food out of her hands made her eyes go bigger with shock. she lunged, ready to attack the thief until her gaze fell on kaleb's smiling face. his cheeks were rounded out and he looked like a happy little child. her eyes shut and she breathed a sigh of relief.

he glanced at the tray, humming a bit. "hm, do you have raisins?" his doe-eyed gaze shifted back to her. "no, sorry." she shook her head. "how about a date?" he grinned. kash's eyes shut for a different reason, resting her head in her hand. "i should have seen that coming." she mumbled, walking ahead of him.

"i just think you're barbe-cute! it's not my fault you've stolen a pizza my heart!" he called after her, following her hurried movements. "and now i cannoli have eyes for you!"

"oh my god!" she glanced back at him with mortification, glad her parents had already gone ahead. "this may be cheesy but i think you're grate. can't you see that we're mint to be?" he fell into step with her. "kaleb, please." she hid her face, feeling warmth travel up her neck. he grinned, leaning in. "you-"

"kay!" hodan waved excitedly, making both of them turn to her. she held her camera in one hand, making kash wonder if she'd taken a picture of them. "oh, right. you're both kay's. interesting..." her lips pursed, eyes narrowed in fascination. "k-two it is." she beamed. "k-two? what's k-two?" apollo appeared, cathryn hot on his trail. "it's kaleb and kash's new ship name."

apollo's gaze moved to the two who seemed to be blushing and he smiled, giving a short wave. they smiled back, returning the gesture. "that's actually really cool. what's our ship name?" he turned to his girlfriend who was happily welcoming her friends. "hm... catpollo? apon? apothryn? catholo?" she hummed, looking up at him.

"y'all ain't cute, ha! that last one sounds like it belongs in shakespeare." hodan teased, sliding away from cathryn in case she tried to hit her. "ooh, i thought of cute ones!" she added when apollo pouted. "there's callo, and rynllo or lloryn, and apollyn and aryn. i like aryn and lloryn."

she chuckled at the way apollo's face instantly brightened. "god of the sun, indeed." she mumbled under her breath, lifting her camera and taking a snapshot of the couple. "and you said we weren't cute." cathryn smiled begrudgingly at her.

"ho!" a yell came from inside. "lia needs saving?" kash raised a brow, pointing kaleb to a table he could drop the tray before introducing him to everyone. hodan let out a sigh. "but she has jungkook!" she whined like a child. "i had to go through this last year, why do i have to get an extension?" she sulked. "cat, go help her, huh?" she pushed out her bottom lip.

"sorry, ho. barbecue is going to be at my house next year, i don't need a headstart. besides, i already slaved my ass over the grill with uncle jai earlier on this hot day."

sighing, hodan made her way inside the house. "what is it?" she asked, pushing the kitchen door open. her eyes went wide when she saw the mess. "what the hell happened?" she stared up at five innocent looking faces.

she pinched the bridge of her nose when they each pointed at some other person. "jimin, what happened?" she turned to the blond boy. "i honestly don't even know. i had my back to them for five seconds." he shook his head.

"i can tell you." namjoon spoke up. "kook-li over here were having some stupid love play instead of helping me and val. i don't know what she did-"

"she tickled him." valeria supplied in a small voice. "yes," namjoon nodded. "and he jumped back, bumped into me and made me drop the tray." he finished. "more than half the drinks are spilled all over the floor." hodan pressed her fingers to her forehead and mumbled something in somali.

"okay, you love birds clean up this mess." she pointed to lia and jungkook who had doe-eyed looks on their faces. "val, could you distract the adults? especially, uncle jai. your dad might lose it if he walked in on this. jimin, please help her. namjoon and i will go get replacements." she instructed, pushing a strand of her hair that had peeked out of her scarf away from her eyes.

"sure, c'mon, val." jimin beckoned for the girl with a friendly smile, holding a hand out for her. with flaming cheeks, she took his outstretched hand and let him lead her outside.

"let's go, namjoon." hodan called, heading in the opposite direction. the tall boy instantly followed, sidling up to her. she glanced back suddenly, eyes narrowing. "you two better clean this up fast. no loving up until you do." she warned. "is that clear?"

the couple spotted matching blushes. "crystal." lia replied, watching the two disappear out the door before grabbing jungkook's hand. "she'll kill us if we don't get this done on time." she stated. "i'd never have guessed." he replied with mild sarcasm.

she shot him a dirty look, shoving him lightly. "hey!" he laughed. "this is what got us here in the first place." he grabbed her arms, pulling her to him. "now let's clean this up." he grinned. "how are we supposed to do that when you're holding me like that?" she lifted a brow, looking up at him.

"right." his smile turned shy as he pulled away from her. she giggled, grabbing a towel and tossing it at him. "i'll go get a mop."

• • •

lia and jungkook had gotten most of the mess cleaned up and the kitchen was almost back to what it was. jungkook tossed a broken shard of glass neither of them had seen earlier in the trash and sighed. "the beef smells so good." he let out on a whine, glancing out the window where he could see everyone having fun.

"you'll get to eat soon, we're almost done. this is all that's left." lia replied, wiping the marble top clean. "you okay?" she glanced at him after a second. "hm?" his eyes moved from the window to her face. "you didn't get much sleep last night and social gatherings make you nervous." she pointed out.

his expression softened into a smile and he took a step closer to her. "i'm fine." he assured. "no headaches or microsleep or sleepiness at the moment." he stopped at the other side of the kitchen island. her hand had stopped wiping as she observed him. "honest. i'm comfortable. my friends are here, your family's here and most importantly, you're here." his voice was soft and low. it was warm out but lia's face had gone incredibly hot and red.

"lia!" charlie's voice made her jump and snap out of her flustered daze. "he's-" the older girl cut herself off at the sight of her sister's boyfriend. "oh, hey, jungkook." she smiled. "hi," he returned the gesture.

"can i borrow lia for a bit?" she asked as her sister quickly wiped the rest of the marble top. his eyes rounded a bit before he nodded. "go have some food. i'll meet you in a few." lia smiled at him, knowing he might a bit uncomfortable in such a large gathering. "and stay away from darryl." charlie added. chuckling, he nodded again. "i'll be with jimin."

he watched as charlie hurried his girlfriend away, whispering feverishly. lips pursing, he walked out into the backyard. "hey, son! want something to eat?" lia's father called over to him, tongs snapping in his hand. jungkook bowed his head. "yes, sir. i'd like that."

his eyes followed jai kim's movements as he dished the grilled foods cooked to perfection. he bowed again when the man handed him the plate. "thank you, sir."

jai patted his shoulder. "such a good kid." he chuckled. jungkook smiled, ears reddening a bit as his free hand rubbed the back of his neck. he was turning around to find jimin when he caught something in the corner of his eye.

he did a double take and his brow rose higher in a mix of confusion and surprise. forcing himself to move along, he found his way to where jimin was seated, talking to apollo and a boy who looked a lot like hodan.

but his mind was going wild with curiosity. who was that guy and why was lia whispering so closely with him?

☀️☀️☀️

*slurps kool aid* so anyone got cool ship names for hodan and namjoon?
we have eleven chapters to go, guys. let's enjoy the rest of this ride! it's going to be so fun, i'm really excited!