I spin around to see my eldest son staring at Emmie, a perturbed look on his handsome face. As I glance back at Emmie, I see that all the blood that had rushed into her face when I entered the room has now just as quickly fled to other parts of her anatomy. She is as white as a ghost, her eyes two astonished circles in her face. Once again, she is speechless. In fact, I question whether she’s actually still breathing. Is she going to faint? Will Kookie have to come to her rescue too?
I’m wondering how much he overheard. I’m wracking my brain to replay the conversation of the last few moments. Did he hear me say I would give it back to him? Or did he hear only her admission that she had taken it?
He comes ambling into Janna’s room and reaches out to take his sweatshirt from me, his eyes intent on Emmie’s face.
“Hey, twerp. Why’d you steal my hoodie?”
She gapes at him, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound being emitted.
Janna comes to her rescue. “She was cold, Kookie. You left it in my room, and she found it. I told her she could wear it.”
The events of the morning seem to have been forgotten by both of my children as they face off over Kookie’s hoodie.
“You told her she could wear it?! Since when are you in charge of my clothes?! That’s my favorite sweatshirt, and you thought you could just give it away!?”
“I didn’t give it away. I told her she could borrow it.”
Janna is now lying through her teeth, which doesn’t make me happy. But I recognize that she’s trying to protect her friend from embarrassment and them all from an extremely awkward situation.
Kookie pulls the sweatshirt over his head, tossing the hood up to completely swallow up his entire forehead. Only the bottom half of his face is visible now. I can’t even find his eyes. Which is, no doubt, a good thing in this moment. For they are surely shooting lasers at Janna right now.
I’m personally disappointed that I didn’t get to see Emmie wearing his sweatshirt. It must have reached her ankles and made her look twice as wide as she actually is. I’m sure the hood would have completely engulfed her entire head. But she would have looked so cute! For years now, I’ve been secretly rooting for her. But Kookie has yet to notice how adorable she is.
“Jungkook, is your lip okay?” Emmie’s quiet voice cuts through the heated atmosphere like a lance.
My son calms down immediately as he recognizes the concern in her voice.
“It’s fine, twerp.” But he says it softly, and for the first time I notice an intriguing edge to his voice. Was that a note of affection I heard? Is it possible that Kookie has a soft spot for Emmie, after all?
“Yeah, he’s fine, Emmie. It’s his badge of honor, you know. He got it defending me.”
“I know,” Emmie says breathlessly, staring up at Kookie with stars in her eyes. “I saw him.”
Is my son blind? How can he not see that this girl adores him?
I smile as I watch them. He’s nearly a foot taller than her. She has to look a long way up to find his face. Honestly, I’m surprised she can see his eyes beneath that ridiculously large hoodie! He suddenly grins at her, and I’m surprised I don’t have to pick her up off the floor. I can just imagine what all those shining, white teeth are doing to her insides.
“Next time consult me before you use my clothes to dress your friends!” He tosses the words at Janna before dramatically spinning on his heel and striding towards the door. The only thing he forgot was the laundry basket.
