Chapter 4

"Is dinner ready, aru?" Yao asked, entering the room with Xi Chu in his arms. Yong Soo followed in, still sleepy eyed while being led inside by Yao because he had grabbed the hem of Yao's mandarin jacket. Nihon followed right after with Li in his arms. The Japanese man's face was rose colored as the Cantonese child in his arms grabbed the baggy sleeves of the older boy.

As I put the last dish on the dining table, I bowed at the entering men and said, "Yes, the food is ready, da gege. Please take a seat." Courtesy always won me over whenever someone was entering the room I was in.

"Nihon, why don't you take the seat next to Mei, aru?" Yao suggested, pointing at the side where I had already taken my seat at. Nihon nodded obediently and placed Li onto the open chair that Yao had pulled out. Then, he took a seat beside me. Yao placed the panda on the other side of Li and sat on the vacant side. "Wake up, Yong Soo, aruyo," he commanded, flicking the Korean boy's forehead.

"Gaoh!" the Korean booy exclaimed in pain.

"It's time to eat, aru," the Chinese elder demanded as he looked at the Korean boy who was rubbing his forehead with his sleeve-covered hands.

"Al-ass-eo," the Korean boy pouted as he took a seat beside the elder Chinese man. When he looked across the table, he saw Nihon and instantly kicked back his chair. "Who are you?" he asked, gripping a fork in his sleeve-covered hand.

Yao took the metal fork away from the Korean boy's grasp and placed it back on the table. "These are dangerous, aru! Don't wave it around recklessly, aru!" Korean opened his mouth to complain about the stranger across the table when Yao said, "That's Nihon, aru. This is his real age. He just grew overnight, aru. Anyways, take a seat and eat—Mei made dinner for us, aruyo."

Pouting, the Korean boy took a seat. His eyes beamed with delight as he found the spicy noodles on the table in front of him. "Kimchi! Uri nara mansae!" he shouted in delight as he held up the spicy hot noodles in the air with his sleeve-covered hands.

Smiling, I handed him his chopsticks. "Pull up your sleeves before you eat. Otherwise you'll taint the white sleeves of your hanbok. He didn't listen to me but just kept the bowl of kimchi in his hands as he sniffed it. I left my seat and walked over to him and grabbed the bowl out of his hands. "No kimchi for you until you roll up your sleeves!"

"Mei~" he whined, sitting himself down in the seat. Even though I was younger than him, he always acted younger when it came to game and food. He rolled up his sleeves obediently and I placed it back on the table in front of him. "Yay, da-ze! Thank you, Mei!"

"No problem," I said, returning to my seat opposite of him.

I hadn't noticed Nihon's awareness of my actions until he said, "You have the aspects of a mother, Taiwan-san." I winced at the country stated and the pleasure left my face, "You'll become a good wife."

"…Thank you, Nihon-kun," I said with my manners as I picked up my pair of chopsticks. My face was a light shade of pink, and it would have been darker if he hadn't mentioned my country name. Being with my family reminds me that I have peace here while being a country gives me the feeling of superiority over others which I do not like. I also am given responsibility over a large population even though I can't take care of myself much.

"Mei, aru," Yao said when he found me absentmindedly staring at the food. "Why are you not eating, aruka?"

I blinked rapidly and smiled, "Oh, I'm sorry." We ate in silence and forgot all about my unusual behavior. I continuously felt conscious because of the Japanese man beside me. Wait… how old was he…? He surely was older than me and Yong Soo. But by how much? I never knew eating could make you so conscious.

Thank you for reading A Plum's Life! It seems that there are a few people enjoy this story and want it to be continued so I promise you I will and I'll try to upload it as fast as I can. I hope you enjoy and maybe you don't mind leaving a review. Thank you!

Today is also Hong Kong and Canada's birthday! I'm making a chapter for every story except for A Trip to Soul Eater (because Sorae can't come online as frequently), so I hope those constant readers who read all my stories will be happy that I am writing new chapters. Thank you again!

~Yui Lathens~