This lighthearted scene was unfortunately Too Dumb for me to put in the real thing in chapter 43 What's in a Name. So here you go. But be warned, it's kind of dumb.
Coughing Fit
Frankenstein gasped awake and bolted upright. For a few moments, he just sat there, his chest heaving. He knew what he had to do, knew that Raizel was awake and real and only metres away from him, knew what he had to do would change everything. Frankenstein closed his eyes, swallowed back hard, squeezed his covers. Then his body just moved, getting up, forcing a wave of aura down his body causing a neat, black suit to materialise. He marched down the corridor while tying his bow, taking notice of the open doors of empty rooms. The household already knew and were probably there. Frankenstein was proven right when he heard chatter in the living room ahead, and he—
"—What about bibimbap?"
"Boss' Boss?"
A pause.
"We can't eat ramyeon for every meal, Raizel-nim. You can eat other things that aren't ramyeon. Not everything needs rameyon. Ramyeon isn't a breakfast food. Besides. You've had enough, we had it everyday in the mansion with you."
"…Then I will oblige," came a deep, soft-spoken voice, "With your expertise."
Frankenstein stopped, midstep. The realness of this driving into him, as sure as a chill. All of a sudden he was so profoundly aware that not only had he been caught totally off guard by Raizel's awakening, he had not been at his side when it had happened. He wasn't prepared for this. Frankenstein sighed sharply. How could he ever be? What had happened the last time Raizel had walked back into his life, him not even noticing who exactly it was in front of him until he lifted his head?
Frankenstein swallowed again. He began frantically touching his hair, pressing down flyaway strands only to reach his bow and discover the heinously asymmetrical loops. Frankenstein gasped sharply again and began retying the bow.
"You didn't miss much. Regis' Grandpa came by. You should probably text him, let him know you're up. Oh, we got a new door. It's like the old one, but…different."
"Don't worry! We'll teach you how to open it — it's even easier than the last, just need your fingerprint. Newest tech, and all."
"What he means to say is that you no longer need to memorise a passcode to enter, Raizel-nim. You need only a fingerprint, of which you have on your person at all times."
"…No! It's got nothing to do with cutting your finger! It's not a blood sample! What the hell, Raizel."
Frankenstein was still retying his bow for the third time. It still wasn't right, it still — he restarted again. What was he doing? All he had to do was tell the truth. All he had to do was step out. He would step out and Raizel would be there, all he had to do was —
"Plus, it would be good if you could act sick. We've been telling Shinwoo and Yuna and them that you've been sick. It's not that hard. Just cough a little. Like this."
The sound of someone dying via a coughing fit echoed in all directions. As Frankenstein approached, the first thing he could see was Tao sprawled all over the coffee table, hands legs in the air as he feigned a medical emergency.
"Don't touch me!" M-21 growled, batting Tao's hand away from him as he reached for help, his other hand clutching at his neck.
"Don't cough on me!" Takeo sighed, and shrugged a half-heartedly apology to those opposite him.
"Your technique is off," Regis folded his arms. "I've seen humans cough. It certainly doesn't look like that. It looks like this." He covered his mouth and made an inelegant noise.
"That's a sneeze," M-21 muttered under his breath, his nose crinkling. "And you didn't even do that right."
"What?! M-21!" Regis turned his nose up. "If you have something to say, perhaps you should have the decency to share it with the rest of us."
"That's a sneeze," M-21 said with a rise in his voice. "And people do that at things they're allergic to. Like you."
"What?!"
"Regis, calm yourself," Seira turned to him. "If he says it's not right then it's not right. M-21 is human." She turned back to M-21 and Takeo sitting on the table. "It is important to get it right, especially if Raizel-nim is to effectively feign sickness to validate our cover story."
M-21 turned away, grinning. "…Yeah."
"Does no one care that I am going to lose my lungs coughing for Sir Raizel?!" Tao suddenly, the coughing fit miraculously cured. "I was acting my heart out!"
"You were dying from tuberculosis," Takeo corrected. "There was nothing we could do for you."
"So much for no RK left behind. What is this, anyway? M-21, you couldn't hold my hand as I coughed to my death?"
"No."
"What — we can cure tuberculosis!"
"It was late stage," Takeo said.
Regis scoffed from the other end. "Fine. Show me how it's done. What does this so-called 'coughing' look like, if not a physical reaction to the cold."
"Or allergies," Seira added.
"Or allergies."
"Fine." M-21 covered his mouth. "Here." He coughed twice, unconvincingly. Frankenstein thought it sounded like choking.
"…Believable," Seira said. She sat up and clapped for him, causing Takeo to nod and clap along as well.
M-21 smirked, letting it easily go to his head. "But the reason that I had to cough isn't because of a disease. You can cough at allergies too."
Regis growled. "What are you saying, M-21?!"
M-21's eyes darted to the side, catching someone else's eye. "I'm saying I'm allergic to people who try to talk over Sir Raizel."
Regis gasped, turning his head at the speed of light to the one seated next to him.
"I…"
Frankenstein, listening from the corridor, braced upon hearing the voice.
"…I know how to cough," Raizel said from the couch. "I have personal experience…on 'coughing.' You need not concern yourselves so much." But there was nothing but admiration in his eyes as he looked over the children.
"Wait a minute. You couldn't have stopped me there before I gave an oscar-worthy cough performance, Sir?" Tao asked.
Raizel took a moment to answer, but the household was used to his lapses and the small silence upon them wasn't uncomfortable at all. "I did not wish to interrupt."
"Yeah." M-21 looked down at his hands. "He didn't want to interrupt. Unlike some people."
"M-21!" Regis started again, falling for M-21's taunts every time.
"Regis. You let him do this to you every time." Seira brushed her skirt twice, sighing. "And M-21…you should refrain."
"Hm…" M-21 shrugged guiltily.
"Alright, now that we've got that out of the way, we should talk about our next point of contention." Takeo scrolled through his phone for a few seconds before looking up. He addressed Raizel. "We told Shinwoo, Yuna and them that while you were getting treatment for your tuberculosis—"
"—Wait, that sounds way too bad, we can't tell them he got that. That's too sad."
"It's just a stand-in for now because of you, Tao. Anyways, we kind of told them that…you were living with your Aunt overseas," Takeo finished.
A bout of silence followed.
Takeo sat straight, getting serious. "In other words, we have to make up Sir Raizel's non-existent Aunt."
"I think…" Raizel started. "That is enough for today. They are all waiting for you, Frankenstein. When will you show yourself?"
Tao flipped around, his eyes going wide as saucers, "—Frankenstein!"
Everyone turned to look. It felt so long ago when Frankenstein had once left this house every day for work and come home to nobody, almost alien. M-21 and Takeo leapt up from sitting on the table as if it had burnt them, like children caught redhanded doing something they shouldn't have. They'd done it to sit closer to the others currently huddled in a tight circle.
Tao followed their example and scrambled to get up as well. His face lit up with a large, toothy grin. Directly opposite, Regis and Seira got up from the couch, just obscuring the one seated next to them.
"Chairman, you're here," Seira greeted.
"Principal!" Regis said, eyes twinkling.
"Finally," M-21 rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face betrayed him.
"Sorry, didn't want to wake you. You were finally getting more than a few hours of sleep a night," Takeo explained, taking a step towards him. "Someone might have…tinkered…with your alarm."
"Frankenstein," came the voice on the couch, and all eyes shifted back towards it.
Slowly, Raizel rose, stepping between the household and thanking each of them with a small nod.
There was Raizel. He was wearing uniform again, a white Yeran jacket with a cravat. There were a few strands of black hair dangling between his eyes, tousled from turning to look.
"Good morning," Frankenstein smiled.
He slowly turned his attention to Tao. "…I hope you are going to sanitise the table you coughed all over, Tao." His brow twitched slightly, and unable to stop himself, Frankenstein summoned a few sparks of beige aura behind him.
Tao's smile wilted a little. "You…heard that? Haha, it wasn't real…I'm not sick, I swear. I mean, yes, of course I'll clean it."
Frankenstein crossed his arms. "M-21, Seira's right. Stop taunting Regis so much, it's going to make him impulsive and hot-headed like you are."
"I think he was already like that."
"HEY—" Regis started again, and Seira had to hold him back.
"No. He's like Gejutel." Frankenstein looked to Regis, seeing the anger fade from him in an instant at that mention, and smirked. "Only, Gejutel knows when to pick his fights, Regis."
Regis's face looked like he was taking it all to heart. "I see…Gaju-nim does know when to…I see."
"Seira. Don't feel the need to encourage these three when they're spewing microbes all over my furniture, and that was clearly not a convincing cough. And you three…" Frankenstein sighed, "There are seats in this house for you to sit on. Do you expect the noblesse to eat cookies from a table you have acquainted your rears with? Do you expect him to drink tea over a table you have grievously mistook for a couch? You can shift the seats and the couch closer if you must!"
Takeo's face seem to light up, getting a revelation. "Wait, you would have let us move your stuff around?"
Frankenstein nodded. "If it averts this," he said, gesturing to the table, "Then, yes."
"Frankenstein," Raizel said, his voice a little louder than average.
Frankenstein stopped, his face going soft as he looked to Raizel.
"You are in a good mood," Raizel started, "But…the household does not know that. Do not mislead them."
"Yes, yes, Master," Frankenstein said. He turned to the rest of them. "You're noisy…but that's why I was in a good mood."
Tao looked at Takeo. Takeo looked at M-21. M-21 was staring at Frankenstein. "What?"
"I should apologise knowing how you all dislike to be interrupted. But I wish to speak to my Master," Frankenstein said. "If you all could…"
"Oh, that's easy," Tao said, going past Frankenstein and slapping his shoulder. "Alright, we'll hit the supermarket buying what we discussed, Sir Raizel," Tao said happily.
"Yes. I will cook a big meal today. Please wait until we get back." Seira bowed slightly before gesturing for the rest of them to follow. She stopped suddenly as she remembered something. "Lunark and Lord Muzaka went out shortly ago…I am not sure if they will come back. But if they do, it will be late."
"I'll find Rael and Rajak-nim," Regis said as he put on his shoes. "They're out patrolling, I'll have them join us at the supermarket later."
Then household filed out of the house, eagerly shepherding one another out. "Hey, Prof?" M-21 glanced back before closing the door behind them, and Frankenstein thought back to what he'd said to him on the veranda. M-21 opened his mouth to say something, but then decided against it. "Nothing, Prof," M-21 smirked, shook his head vigorously, and shut the door.
The only ones left in the house were Raizel and Frankenstein.
It might be dumb but I love writing the Frankenhouse as a Frankenfamily.
I'm sorry I haven't been able to write more, I just haven't the inspiration. I've got one chapter left written for Monster and then I will have to go on break to finish it. Thank you for reading.
