[AQ] Cooki-Well Maybe - Mama [Ji-Soo/Andrei]

[Ji-Soo]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Cooking Mama
+ Description: The Cooking Club wants to hold a big bake sale to help fund raise some of the many clubs' activities but they're lacking in numbers. They're never going to make enough pastries and goodies with so few helping hands, especially with the ones they do make disappearing so suddenly. They have no idea where their baked goods are going but they keep making new ones only to have them stolen. In a last attempt at having their bake sale the members of the cooking club hav been going around trying to get volunteers to help them bake a big batch of snacks so they can hold their bake sale.
+ Lend a helping hand, the least you can do is try: +2 Guardians, +1 Faberge, -1 Roost
+ Take them up on their offer and show them all up!: -1 Guardians, +2 Faberge
+ Cooking's not really your thing but you wouldn't mind buying a few snacks to help out: -1 Faberge, +2 Roost
+ This definitely isn't your area but maybe you can help out and advertise their sale!: +2 Faberge, -2 Roost
+ Something's not right...where are all the snacks going?: -1 Guardians, +1 Faberge, +2 Roost
Requirements: Minimum 2 particpants, tag an X-mod if doing 'Something's not right...where are all the snacks going?'
Submitted by kingmochi

---

Over the past two days, Ji-Soo had watched his friends running back and forth like chickens with their heads cut off trying to scramble for the bake sale. To borrow some choice words from his guardian Keo, 'it was a pain in the ass.' Not only has this made Miuna skip archery practice, but the rest of his friends were too busy to hang out or worse, let Ji-Soo mooch off of the ice cream the Cooking Club always made for him. He needed his fix of ice cream and there was no way he was trekking downtown for it in the middle of the afternoon since he would never make it back for practice.

That decided it! For the next little while, he would try to help move the baking a long a little faster. That way, the rest of the club would have time ti make him ice cream again. How hard could it really be, right? Though he had never baked before...or cooked... Okay. maybe this would be harder than he had anticipated. Maybe a little help?

At that moment, Ji-Soo spotted a mess of black hair lurking outside of the Cooking Clubroom. Was that another new transfer student from his class? He didn't know for sure, but that hair was connected to hands that could help him. Time to recruit some help! Grabbing his sketchbook, the Korean boy popped out of the classroom and went to hit the teen's head with it to get his attention; only to end up chopping at his neck with it. Was his aim getting that bad?! He blamed people being so tall.

[Andrei]

Yeah, no, he tried. He really tried, but somehow things just got all....wrong...whenever he did. I mean, how could somebody go off acidentally setting a bowl of cake mix on fire? He didn't even know that was possible. -- okay well maybe he shouldn't have tried putting it in the oven as early as he did ... and throwing a match right into the mix to....'help it out.' Okay he can admit he wasn't exactly THE BEST at baking, but...he didn't expect to be so bad at it, either.

'...It's only because I fell out of practice.' he told himself, making his way down the hall to the clubroom. The others were currently outside selling off the baked goods, another fresh batch having just been prepared. He was given some 'time out' to go to the club room and 'check for inventory.' -- what did that even mean? But not wanting to piss anyone off by just getting in the way, he begrudgingly did as he was told.

He finally reached the clubroom. Expecting it to be empty, he took his sweet time reaching for the doorknob, not exactly looking forward to being the only member of the club isolated to the clubroom. But before he could even fully open the door, he was suddenly assaulted out of nowhere by a flash of white and black. A direct hit to the neck. "W-What the--?! Oy, you wana go?! YOu wanna fckin go, mate???! COME AT ME, BRO. I AM IN A /BAD/ MOOD RIGHT NOW SO YOU COULDN'T HAVE PICKED A FIGHT AT A BETTER TIME." He eagerly rolled his sleeves up, ready to release some of his pent-up frustration.

"LET'S GO."

[Ji-Soo]

That was not the reaction he had expected. The Korean boy blinked once or twice trying to process what exactly he was witnessing. Sure, Ji-Soo had missed people's head once in a while with his sketchbook aim, but it had never really gotten this much of a reaction. He just wanted ice cream honestly, and only this short-tempered boy was around to speed that process along. Therefore, if he needed to fight to get him to help, he would do just that. A quick bow in apology for his earlier miss, This time, holding the pad in his dominate left hand, he gave three swift whacks to the side and top of the tan boy's head without much warning.

He just wanted ice cream, and to get that ice cream, he was willing to volunteer and help. If one looked closely, the sketchpad had the words "I'm volunteering 2 help out w/ the bake sale, want 2 help me?" Of course that same note was what was literally whacking the other second year upside the head.

[Andrei]

Skinny. The figure in front of him, he saw, was but a little, pale skinny asian kid. Holding a sketch book in one hand and standing a tad shorter than himself, he stopped and wondered for a second if he was really gonna fight this dude. I mean, if he wanted to, he could literally snap him in half with just a flick of his arm. But with the following whacks he recieved from the same sketch pad that hit him earlier, his patience had finally snapped. "OH. MY GOD. YOU ARE F*CKING ANNOYING."

And with that, Andrei plucked the sketch pad from right out of his grubby little hands, ignoring the little doodles of text that was written in there, tossed it aside to the far end of the room with a force so great it sent a chair it collided with flying, and picked up the kid high and hung him from over his shoulder. He wasn't so violent as to actually hit a guy who doesn't look like he could stand a hair's chance against him, especially on the grounds of a school he had literally just gotten into (and for the life of him, could under no circumstances be expelled from), but he wasn't so nice either as to just take continuous hits from an absolute stranger whom he had done nothing against. Walking over to the other side of the room closest to the window, he picked the korean boy up from his shoulder again and sat him down onto one of the vacant chairs in front of him. His expression was grim, his hair a mess, and his voice unamused, he asked, "...EXPLAIN YOURSELF. NOW."

[Ji-Soo]

The whole thing happened way too fast. One moment, his feet were on the ground and the next they weren't. His hands were empty, where was his sketchbook. He had no control. Only a few moments later was he back down, sat in a chair that Ji-Soo had not noticed before across the room. The Korean boy's mind could process that he was not in a good situation, but his limbs would not move, and they could not keep up what his mind wanted him to do.

Overall, the emotion that radiated to the surface was that Ji-Soo was pissed. There have been very few times when he had been this angry in his life, but being manhandled like this brought back such bad memories for the teen. He could feel his pride slowly crumbling and tears prickled at the corner of his eyes while his bit down on his lip. Ji-Soo didn't have his sketchpad, or his guardian, anything that could get him out of this; he was basically helpless. Do not aggravate, do not provoke. The little mantra repeated over and over again. It was the only thing that kept him from violently lashing out. It took a few deep breaths before his limbs responded properly and Ji-Soo did the only thing he could at this point - he reverted to sign language.

Staring up with determined watery eyes he signed out at clearly as he could.

"Back off. Step away. Don't touch me."

[Andrei]

He was crying.
He was literally about to cry.
"Oh. Oh my god. No, wait--stop right there. Oh god please no, don't start with the water works. Anything but that." Andrei groaned in exasperation. Why the hell did this kid start crying all of a sudden? He was so full of fighting spirit just a second ago, so--what the hell just happened? Wasn't he just ready to pick a fight with him?

He pinched the bridge of his nose to try to calm down and gather his thoughts. What, so all of a sudden HE was the bad guy? Excuse you but he really didn't think he had any right to cry right now. The dark-skinned boy grew flustered over how to handle the situation and thinking about what he could do to make him stop -- when the other boy suddenly started doing these weird movements with his hands. -- What was he doing? If he wanted to say something, he should just say it, not confuse him with some more of his weird little habits.

He had this vicious, determined look in his eyes, so Andrei assumed whatever it was he wanted to convey, it must have been something serious. One problem though -- he didn't understand what the shit he was trying to say. Did he look like he understood sign language?? It was all he could do to squint at the other, hoping he would eventually get that his little finger dance was pointless on him. Not being able to bear the current situation for much longer, he simply pondered for a while until-- He slammed his fist down into his open palm, realization suddenly hitting him.

Right! MUTE! The kid was probably mute! He literally COULDN'T talk. Andrei had heard of these kinds of people but he's never actually met one until now. He looked around the room, scanning for wherever the little sketch pad landed after he threw it aside. Spotting it not long after, he did a little jog towards it and snatched it up. Then as he was about to make his way towards the korean boy, he suddenly turned back around, grabbed a pen from one of the nearby shelves, then continued making his way to him. Couldn't write without a pen, after all.

He handed the 2 items over, careful not to touch him in case he'd trigger another violent reaction. He definitely didn't need another one of those. All the while, he wondered: What ever happened to his silent, uneventful time-out? He didn't even know anymore. He hadn't mentally prepared himself for...all of this. He supposed all he could do now was...just wait for him to finish writing and say what he has to say.

He was prepared for the worst.

[Ji-Soo]

Ji-Soo was done, within the span of 10 minutes, things had just gone so wrong. Don't cry, please don't? Was he being shown pitied now? He would rather be hit and beaten up than be PITIED. He was done.

The moment the boy came back with his sketchpad, Ji-Soo took the source of comfort and looked at it for a second as if it held the answers for him. He was being childish and hoping he could stand up for himself in a situation that he couldn't. He simply took the pen and on the same page as the first note, he wrote down a quick, "I'm sorry for hitting you," underneath it. Without another word, the boy ripped out the page, handed it over and left the room without another word.

[Andrei]

Well he couldn't say he didn't see this coming. He was prepared to be punched at, kicked or maybe even hit with the sketch pad again. But instead all he got was a note shoved into his chest that had been scribbled on in blatant fury. He watched the shorter boy stomp out of the room without so much as a huff in frustration. He just looked....done.

He knew he fucked up, but how exactly, he still wasn't sure. All he wanted to know was why he hit him out of the blue like that. Granted, it wasn't a very strong hit, but it was still enough to bring his guard up and trigger his violent side. It was then that he looked over the paper to see what was written in it.

He read through the next few words with a guilt-wracked expression on his face.
"I'm volunteering 2 help out w/ the bake sale, want 2 help me?"
and with a less neater handwriting below that, a simple
"I'm sorry for hitting you"

"...goddamit. godDAMMIT." he cursed under his breath, crunching up the paper into hs fist as he stalked his way out of the clubroom, hoping beyond hope that he'd catch sight of that long, black ponytail. Why did he always do this? Why? It was never his intention to get anyone mad, but somehow that's always how things ended up. Was he just bad at talking to people? Was he so dense that he couldn't even grasp their basic intentions? -- No, that wasn't it. He knew it. He was just so used to relying on violence as a first resort, that he never bothers thinking things through. He knew that, but -- that was already part of who he was. People can't change so easily, especially if he's been through the same shit time and time again throughout the course of his whole life. He was molded into what he was now. It was never that easy -- But that's why he was here, he supposed. That's why he had been given one of these...heart's eggs. To give him the chance to change. The chance to change for the better.

--But he didn't have time to rely on that. Not right now. If he wasn't going to try and change himself now, then...when? He caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye. There he was. Now speeding up his pace to a slow run, he went after him. "....Hey....hey! wait up!" He managed to gasp out a call to him. He didn't show any signs of stopping though. Not unexpected. But he had to keep trying. "I'm...I'm sorry!" he said out loud, but not loud enough to seem like he was yelling at him. "I'm sorry for...what I did back there. I was...I was in a bad mood, and...."
He tried to find the right words to say in this situation. He didn't even know where to start.

"I...I'm an idiot, okay? I don't think things through, I'm extremely violent and have a short temper. I don't even know you and yet I've already pissed you off. People mistake me for a common thug all the time because of that. I know that. But...But it wasn't my intention to get you mad. It wasn't my intention to get in a fight, even. I just...lost my cool there for a second. I know, I know it's a lame excuse, but....please. At least hear me out. I don't....I don't want to be hated by you."

He let out a small sigh of exhaustion.

"I...know I'm probably just rambling now and I won't be surprised if you just walked off at this point, but...I just...needed to say that...I'm sorry. Really, I am." His hair was now in an utter state of dissaray and he was just a mess to look at, but still. He had to get the words out. If the other decided to just leave, then that would be that. But if there was still just that little chance...then he'd have take it.

"I'm sorry."

[Ji-Soo]

He wasn't going to look back. Ji-Soo was determined to avoid the cooking club and THAT person for the rest of the day - maybe even school year if possible. He had never felt so utterly pathetic in his life and the thought of that made the grip on the sketchbook tighten significantly. People that didn't talk or rationalize with words but rather resorted to violence and lording power over others. Disgusting was the only word that came to mind. It was surprising that such thoughts arose so quickly, but after the reminders of earlier, it shouldn't have been a surprise.

The shout echoed down the hallway, bouncing off the walls like a grim reminder. Ji-Soo didn't stop when the voice registered in his ears nor did he turn around; head held high and eyes resolutely faced forward in his direction of travel. It was a ridiculous thought lose another sense, but at the moment, he wished he could ignore the words honestly. Maybe he would have more so preferred to have been deaf than mute. The teen could not physically ignore sounds, it was impossible for him. I'm sorry, I'm an idiot. Each statement pierced right into his ear and stuck to his brain like a pitchfork. Why should he listen to the other boy's words? Because words are the only thing you have. A person who acted so disgustingly. He apologized to you, he's not them. The silent battle inside the Korean's brain waged war with several different voices trying to have themselves heard; none of them voices that he recognized as his own.

'I'm sorry.'

The last sentence froze the voices and they all fell silent at once. He's sincere, a quiet part of his mind said. No matter how quiet that last voice was, that voice was his as a child and it refused to be ignored. It repeated and echoed until Ji-Soo stopped and he hated it. A growl rumbled deep in his chest and a squeak on the linoleum floors signaled his cease in motion. Silver eyes flashed back around the meet the other boys.

A pen and the mangled sketchpad was pulled out and flipped to a clean page. Though in it's state, it wasn't usable in the future, it would do for now.

"You think that's an excuse?! You believe you can just ASSAULT people that badly because you're in a bad mood? If I didn't know any better, I would say you are just like those pompous rich people. Can do anything you want to because you have the power to do so, can't you?"

The next page didn't fare any better, filled to the brim with writing as well after a few moments; though the writing was much less harsh than the last.

"Why are you apologizing? Why don't you just leave? You didn't seem to care what I thought of you earlier. So why now?"

[Andrei]

Honestly, he expected the worst. For him to just ignore everything he had just said and keep walking away, never wanting anything to do with him again. It would have been the obvious outcome. So when the other boy actually stopped and turned around to face him, piercing right through him with his silver-eyed glare, he couldn't help but flinch a little, stopping himself in his tracks as well.

He watched him as he angrily flipped over to a new page on the sketchbook, apparently wanting to say something to him. At this, he was actually a little relieved. 'At least he isn't completely ignoring me now...' he thought. -- Though he knew what came next wouldn't exactly be...pleasant.

And he was right. Each word written into the now crumpled paper was like a new cut across his arms. "No, I know, I--" He started but couldn't finish, the other boy already scribbling away on a fresh sheet. This was utterly agonizing.

...Though the next words that came were written in a tone he didn't think he deserved at this point. He struggled to find the words to give him a proper reply. Somehow the sudden change in tone had caught him off guard even more than the first initial angrier message.
"I...I don't..." He ran his fingers through his hair. Why was just talking so difficult for him?? This was just pathetic.

"I don't...know. I didn't even know I.... Look, all I knew for sure was that....I'd hate for us to part like this. This being not that big of a school, we're bound to bump into each other again, and...well, I just didn't want to have this kind of atmosphere between us everytime we did. That would be kinda sucky, wouldn't it." He brought himself to look back up at the other, still unsure if even that would set him off somehow. "That, and I'm seriously trying to...change myself for the better. You and me both...I'm disgusted by this violent side of me, and I was hoping that...you could be one of the first to help me with that."

He licked over his dry lips.

"And look, I know it's a long-shot, but..."

bringing up a scarred, bandaged arm up, and offered him a simple handshake.

"Would it be possible to...I don't know, start over? Worst first impression ever, I know, but...I'm not saying you have to forgive me, or even forget about what happened, just....give me another chance to redeem myself. If at all possible, I'd like to...actually get along with you...please?"

[Ji-Soo]

The teen was struggling with words, he wasn't good with word. Without consciously willing it, a part of Ji-Soo became sympathetic towards the other boy. It wasn't that he necessarily used power to get what he wanted, but instead use power because he didn't have anything else to use. They were complete opposites if he thought it through. Each syllable that came out of the tall boy's mouth took an eternity, maybe even two; but Ji-Soo would be patient. He had already come this far, so he might as well hear the rest of it.

Eyes fixated on the hand reaching out to him for a truce, an ask for help, a fresh start. That hand held a lot more meaning than a single handshake should ever have the right to.

As much as he struggled to admit it, the other second year was right, this school wasn't that big after all. There was no way they wouldn't run into each other once in a while; maybe even more often considering they were in the same year. Was that really how the exchange student wanted to remember his time in Japan, avoiding a person for two years? Probably not. Yet was he actually ready to forget for what just happened. No, he wasn't. There wasn't anyway he could lie or fake his discontent for the other boy and trying to repress it would probably have the complete opposite effect.

Maybe the better question to ask himself was - if Ji-Soo'd had the chance to change people for the better back then, would he? It would have meant that no one else would have gotten hurt and went through the same thing as him. He had the choice now, and if he turned it down a second time, he might just regret it. Without another thought, Ji-Soo reached out and shook the other boy's hand.

[Andrei]

Andrei let out an audible sigh of relief as the other boy finally returned his handshake. He was starting to worry otherwise. -- But he wasn't so naive as to expect that he actually forgave him. No, something told him the other boy was going to hold on to this grudge for a loooooooonng time, and that the only reason he accepted at all was because he saw his reasoning with the whole 'we're going to run into each other again eventually' thing. -- But well, this was a start.

The handshake broke apart not long later. And while slightly happy with the turn-out of the situation, it was then that he broke out in cold sweat. He realized he had no idea what to do next. He couldn't very well just bid him 'good day' now and leave just like that, could he? No, that'd be retarded. He quickly racked his brain for a reasonable thing to do following the situation, and it was then that he remembered the note crumpled up in his hand. Right! He mentioned something about....food. Or wanting to eat or cook something...something.



...Shit. After all the tension from earlier he had completely forgotten what was even written on the note. He mentally cursed his bad memory so badly that it would have made any hardy sailor proud. But it was the only thing he had to go on right now and he couldn't very well just let it go. -- he said the first thing that came to mind.

"So, uh...could I maybe...offer you some ice cream or something as apology? Don't worry though, I'll take full responsibility for it if the cooking club goes looking for it."

If it were physically possible to kick one's own shin, he would have done so by now 10 times over. Now this really was stretching it. He was never any good at handling overly heavy situations like these and he needed a light follow-up, otherwise he'd crack. But...ice cream? Really now? His thought process had probably been something like, 'It's easy to eat and requires no cooking or preparations of any sort, so ice cream = good.'

Oh well, this conversation was long over by now, anyway. He may as well just leave right now with how well this was all going. He cringed at how bad he was failing life right now.

[Ji-Soo]

There was a moment of tense silence in between which Ji-Soo became slightly confused. The tan boy's face scrunched up and eyebrows furrowed into a tight knit between his eyes. What exactly was he thinking so hard about? Except, moments later when he opened his mouth and was tripping over his words again. It seemed unusual for Ji-Soo to be so keenly aware of such a fact, but this seemed to be the root of the problem with a lot of their communications earlier. Maybe the second year would benefit from writing out his words on paper as well? It always gave Ji-Soo a way to think through what he wanted to say before doing so, even if it was very restrictive sometime.

Through the whole sentence, two words stuck out the most to the mute boy; the first being 'apology', the second being his trigger word in a sense; 'ice cream'. Ice cream, something that he rarely had until coming to Japan brought back happy memories, memories of hanging out with friends and getting to know them better. He wasn't entirely sure where the idea even came from considering he hadn't even mentioned it or gone near it in the club room. But for some reason, whenever a problem arose, ice cream would be a constant ground for them. Would it work the same here?

It was stupid to put belief in such a silly superstition that a sugary dessert could magically help. This tall boy - whom he actually didn't know the name of - didn't really seem like a bad person, it was just circumstance that caused them to end up here right? So why not attempt again, from the beginning this time. With a few quick flicks of the pen, Ji-Soo turned over the mangled notepad with two simple lines on it.

"Hi, I'm Kim, Ji-Soo."
"And yes, I would very much like some ice cream."

With the tiniest hint of a warm smile, the boy started off in the direction of the cooking club room once again.