"Ugh! These damn onions!"
Rai wiped his eyes again and again while slicing the onions, which somehow seemed to get more and more spicy as he went on.
Maybe this was the worst pain he had ever felt in the kitchen.
Rai put the knife aside and rushed to the sink, splashing water onto his face. He panted, feeling suffocated, sweating, completely exhausted.
He couldn't believe he had been defeated by an onion.
Well, in his defense, there were not one, but six big onions.
Rai gently squeezed his eyes shut and started walking while still half-blind, only to bump into a wall he was sure hadn't been there before. He had been careful about his steps.
Turned out, it wasn't a wall.
It was the goddamn mountain.
"Damn~ Who made you cry before I did?"
Rai let out a sigh of relief, realizing it was Zade, but soon irritation followed.
Because why the fuck would anyone stand in the way like that, silently?!
Rai had been seriously scared for a second when he felt the "wall" move since it shouldn't be the bastard as it was early for Zade to be back, and Rai hadn't even heard his car pull in, maybe because the tap was running and his face was buried under it, he thought it might be an intruder or something.
Tsk...
This fucker was enjoying watching his suffering.
Rai mentally calculated the bastard's leg and kicked him, then ran back to the sink to wash his face again, trying to cool down. Zade leaned against the doorframe, staring at Rai, who was clearly in serious pain.
"Are you dumb or what? Haven't you heard of putting a wet paper towel nearby when cutting onions?"
Zade mocked him, but Rai only groaned and refused to entertain him, silently wiping his eyes.
Seeing that Rai had calmed down a bit, Zade rolled his eyes and left, though he felt a little relieved too.
Of course...
If the chef got hurt, who was going to make his lunch?
How could he explain to his colleagues that their lunch fairy was killed by an onion?
Well… maybe by four or five onions. Rai had sliced quite a lot.
'What needs that much onion? What is he cooking? An onion curry?'
Zade muttered to himself as he came to bathroom and washed up, later getting annoyed when he saw his shampoo and body wash thrown into the sink like junk.
'So this is how he's taking revenge? Oh… seems like he used them again too. Damn it. These are expensive. And they don't suit his boring personality either. Tsk.'
But Zade wasn't backing down. He decided to use Rai's things to match the energy.
'Oh. I smell boring and annoying. Exactly like I expected.'
He smelled his hand, then threw Rai's things back where he had found them before and placed his own properly on the rack again.
Zade then came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, feeling great after using someone else's stuff, specifically, Rai's. And he just had to let Rai know.
So he walked to the kitchen, where Rai was now sitting, staring into the air, maybe waiting for whatever was on the stove to finish cooking.
Noticing Zade's arrival, Rai chose to ignore him. Obviously, he didn't want a lecture about onions and safety when this fucker always ate out and relied on store-bought frozen kits. He probably couldn't even cook.
Zade glared at Rai silently until Rai turned to him with a frown, disgust written all over his face.
"Why are you walking around in just a towel? You're not alone here. Go put on some clothes."
Rai complained.
"Excuse me. I don't take orders. If you say please, I might consider it."
Rai was just so done. He shook his head, turned back to glance at the pan on the stove, then looked at Zade again, because... he wasn't done after all.
"If you have nothing useful to do, then slice the rest of the onions for me."
Rai said it challengingly. Zade grinned smugly and, without hesitation, got to work and that surprised Rai.
Because… well. It was Zade.
Rai dazedly stared at Zade's wide back, his mind blank as he listened to the sound of the knife hitting the cutting board.
He was actually doing it. And doing it successfully...
"Done!"
Rai examined Zade's work and felt annoyed that Zade didn't seem affected at all, not even a little.
Yeah. He did most of the work anyway.
"You don't seem impressed."
Zade placed the knife down, muttering with full confidence, while Rai rolled his eyes, tired of Zade's tone.
"Get lost. I have to cook now."
Rai got up and walked past Zade, whose eyes followed him. Obviously, Zade wasn't going to "get lost." Maybe there wouldn't be extra dinner for him today, but Zade wasn't feeling kind today.
Zade walked next to him, then leaned against the counter, just standing there like a statue.
Yeah.
He was annoying like that.
"What are you doing?" Rai asked.
"Oh… just helping."
Zade shurgged.
"How exactly?"
Rai asked irritably, knowing Zade was doing this on purpose to mess with his patience.
"Just existing here."
"That's not helping. It's distracting."
Rai turned back to the onions, tossing them into the hot pan with oil and stirring.
"I know, darling. But you like what you see, don't you?"
Zade shamelessly asked, leaning closer. Rai stiffened when Zade's chest brushed his shoulder.
"I didn't know you were so desperate for validation, Zade. But you're standing in front of the wrong person."
Rai kept staring at the onions like they would disappear if he looked away, not because he was worried about burning them, but because he needed something else to focus on...anything other than the half-naked asshole next him.
"Ah, Rai. I don't need validation. Especially not from you. I have people who actually see me for the good guy I am. You're just jealous. You always have been. Because you could never be daring enough to be like me. You're afraid of not being perfect. And of not being right every time."
Rai scoffed at that.
"Really? Who wants to be like you, Zade? Maybe they're blind. Or is it because you're educated now? Your personality is still the same. You think everything revolves around you. You need everyone to change for you. Maybe you're the jealous one. You made me lose a lot of opportunities. You never won, Zade. I have everything I want in life. But have you?"
Rai's frustration spilled out in an endless, harsh outburst. It should have made Zade annoyed too...
But it didn't.
"I have, Rai. And you're lying to yourself because you haven't won. Nobody's perfect. Not me, and definitely not you. You're still the same. Just so full of yourself."
Zade pointed at Rai.
"Yeah. I am. So what? I love myself. I know my worth. I don't care if it matters to anyone else. I don't need anyone's validation."
Rai stirred the onions again, his heart racing, ears ringing.
He hated hearing people say he was full of himself.
Was it wrong to be?
He loved himself more than anyone. Maybe he was selfish at the end of the day, but all he had left was himself.
So...
No. He didn't care.
He was full of himself.
He always had been.
"You're lying to yourself again, Rai. You do need validation. You always did. But nobody cared. You know why? Because you're so fucking selfish."
Rai gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay still. He knew Zade was crossing every line just to make him lose his temper, to make him throw a punch, to prove that he cared.
But he wouldn't.
He wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
It had been fifteen years.
He had grown up.
He wasn't a stupid teenager anymore.
He shouldn't-
He couldn't-
He had to control himself...
"Everyone hated you not because they were jealous-"
Rai couldn't-
"...but because you're a piece of sh-!"
Rai lost it.
And,
He punched Zade.
Rai stared at Zade, silent, as Zade licked the corner of his lip, a bruise already forming, Rai's clenched fist throbbed at his side.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it, Rai?"
Zade stepped closer, smug grin intact. The fact that he looked almost unaffected only made Rai angrier.
"You know I'm right. You've always known it. You were just never ready to hear it. You still aren't. I shouldn't be surprised."
Zade moved closer, but Rai stayed where he was, fuming, eyes locked onto his.
"You shouldn't be so obsessed with me, Zade. It's unhealthy. Why do you care so much? Aren't you full of yourself too, thinking you've won, that you're perfect?"
"No. I don't think like you. I never think about being perfect. Or always being right. Or controlling others."
Zade finally stepped back, his eyes shifting to the stove.
The onions were burned, maybe savable a little.
Rai had noticed too. But he was just too angry to care.
Zade turned off the stove, then faced Rai again, expression blank.
"I just wanted to remind you. You did win at being an asshole to me. But you still can't handle me. You still can't control me, even after all these years. How does that feel? How does it feel to be second?"
Zade placed a hand on Rai's shoulder and Rai brushed it off instantly, his fist clenched, ready, but restrained better this time.
"Nice really. You're in this competition alone. I never tried to control you. I'd rather stay away from annoying rich brats like you. And you should seriously be concerned. Even after all these years, you're still obsessed with me and a competition that never existed. Zade, you're sick in the head."
Zade laughed, amused as he caught the familiar look on Rai's face.
Desperation...
Finally.
"Yes, darling~. I am sick in the head," Zade whispered, leaning into Rai's ear. "And… so are you."
The scent of his own shampoo and body wash, now coming from Zade, made Rai's head ache.
Zade then suddenly stepped back, grinning like an idiot, leaning against the counter.
"So… who's going to eat that?"
Zade pointed at the burnt onions in the pan.
Rai's patience snapped...again...
He grabbed a handful of the now slightly cooled onions and threw them at Zade. They stuck to his bare skin, oil dripping down.
Zade didn't react at first. He just stared at himself, covered in onions and oil sticking to his body.
"Who else?" Rai said flatly. "You."
Rai didn't even bother pretending to feel guilty. Seeing Zade's blank expression then slowly turn into disgust and annoyance was oddly satisfying.
But, the bastard then smirked.
And, that should have been his sign to rush out of there because...
Rai already knew...
But,
Before he could run, Zade grabbed him, pulling him close aggressively. Their bodies collided hard as Zade pressed against him, rubbing deliberately while Rai struggled, stuck in a painful grip.
"Ew! No! Bastard! Get off!"
Rai stomped on Zade's foot when pushing him away failed after many attempts, but it barely worked.
Zade was indeed exactly what Rai thought him to be.
A goddamn mountain.
Actually, Zade had always been taller, though not built this big before, but being trapped like this, looked down on, held in place, was intimidating.
Alas, Who can be sure that the bastard wouldn't just squeeze the life out of him?
Well. He'd been doing that for years before anyway...
"Darling~" Zade murmured, enjoying Rai's defeated red face, teasingly leaning way too close to his ear.
Then, he laughed in his ear, making Rai struggle again because, what is this behaviour?!
This is too close.
Seriously, he had never felt his personal space invaded this much before, even from that teenage Zade.
"Looks like we both need another shower. Look. Onions, on your neck..."
"Wanna go together?~"
This is exactly what Rai meant...
What the fuck is this behvaiour?!