"They left the door open again?". Taemin's eyebrows furrowed. He pushed the door open with his foot, a bag of ingredients and small decorative trinkets taking up what little space he had in his arms. 

He walked into the dorm, kicking off his shoes carelessly before stepping further inside. A face peeking out from one of the occupied bedrooms startled him, the only thing stopping him from dropping delicate eggs and flour onto the floor being his quick reflexes. 

"Ah, you scared me," he breathed, gripping the bag tighter. 

Hair messy and eyes squinted in attempt to see the intruder better, Jinki simply yawned before his body slowly fell to the floor. "Don't make too much noise, I'm sleepy," he mumbled. 

Taemin watched in familiar amusement as the older of them both proceeded to fold his body into a fetus position, body halfway in and out of his room. Jinki really could sleep anywhere. 

"I bet you've been sleeping all day. Does Minho know?" Taemin asked, putting aside his bag of goodies and coming to lean down beside him. He hadn't seen Minho yet. Was he even here? 

Jinki gave his incoherent reply, one eye peeking open to look at Taemin. It was safe to say that yes, he probably had been sleeping all day. What else was there to do on a free day? But he wasn't ready to actually do anything yet. He hoped he could get at least a few more hours of peaceful sleep. 

Taemin smiled when Jinki closed his open eye. He could take a hint. 

"Fine fine, sleep some more, but I need to use the kitchen." He poked at Jinki's cheek. "You should probably go back to your bed so you don't get disturbed by the noise."

Heavy with protest Jinki sluggishly sat up. He blinked at Taemin once, looking from the spot on the floor that he found rather comfortable, to the bed he'd previously arose from. It was just so far away. 

"Yah, you can at least make it over there. Or you could help me out in the kitchen?" Taemin reasoned. 

Since neither a good spot to sleep in nor chicken was offered in what Taemin said, Jinki suddenly found that his bed really wasn't that far away. In fact, it was so close, he only had to crawl a little. 

Taemin laughed, "I guess that's a no then!" He stood, watching as Jinki literally crawled over to his bed. They were both terrible at baking though, so not receiving his help was probably a good thing. Remembering that he had a schedule to stick to Taemin picked up his things and made his way to the kitchen. 

If he remembered correctly Kibum had left behind a few cooking books after he moved out. He didn't want the remaining two to live off the free food they got during their schedules, so by leaving them he hoped that they would eventually attempt to cook their own food. By the amount of dust that had gathered on the books however, was a definite answer that these guys definitely did not cook (anything but ramen anyway). 

Taemin picked up the only baking book he could find in the kitchen, blowing off the dust and reading the title skeptically: Baking for Dummies. 

Shouldn't be that hard. 

He flicked through the pages, stopping at the recipe that he thought looked the easiest. All cakes used the same ingredients, right? 

Taemin knew that making a simple sponge cake would be the easiest. All he had to do after that was to stick a bunch of sprinkles on and write something pretty. Maybe he should write 'Princess Kibum' on it?

He started to sort out the things he brought with him. Eggs, check. Flour, sugar, check. Ah, butter and milk, I don't have it.

Hopeful that they would at least have these simple things, Taemin got to rummaging around the refrigerator. The milk was easy to find, but moving around all the boxes of side dishes to find butter was a harder task. 

"What are you doing with my kimchi?" A deep voice asked, startling Taemin so much he jumped and hit his head on the top of the refrigerator. 

"Aish, Jinki!" He cried, rubbing his head delicately. "Stop scaring me!" 

Jinki stood at the opening to the kitchen, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he yawned. He stretched, a small patch of skin above his pubic bone catching Taemin's attention. "You were too loud," he mumbled, voice noticeably deeper since he just woke up. Taemin coughed. No time to think about that. 

He closed the refrigerator door, motioning to Jinki the stack of ingredients he had. "I'm missing butter, do you have any?".

Jinki cocked his head to the side, arms coming to rest by his side. "It's over there," he directed, pointing to the stray tub beside the sink. 

"Why do you keep it here?" 

He watched as Taemin turned to the direction of said butter before moving to stand behind him. "Because it's convenient. But why do you need this, Tae?" he then asked, reaching around the boy to grab the tub. 

Taemin stiffened a little, the sudden warmth of the other's chest pressed against his back confusing his senses. He could even smell him, something that he wasn't expecting to warm his stomach with need. He let out a visible breath of relief when Jinki moved away, not knowing when his fists had clenched tightly but still relieved when they relaxed. "I-I'm making a cake," he quickly explained. Why did his voice shake? 

"A cake? What for?" Passing the butter to Taemin, Jinki started to walk out of the kitchen. "Never mind, I need to shower!" he called, still sluggish and sleepy. It was only when he heard the bathroom door close that Taemin relaxed fully. Was his body always this stiff? 

Before he could even begin to think about the coldness of his back now that Jinki's chest was gone, or the fact that his neck still tingled from when his breath bushed against it, he caught sight of the clock. He only had 2 hours to finish everything before he had to finish up and head to dinner with Kibum. Maybe he should have came by earlier... damn. 

Armed with an old pink apron (he knew Minho secretly liked to wear this thing), and a few pots and pans he noted that he needed, Taemin set about attempting to make the cake. It all seemed quite easy. The instructions were clear; measure the flour and sugar, break the eggs separately, etc. etc. but when the 'batter' in Taemin's large bowl resembled a lumpy white liquid he just knew he had messed up somewhere. Whenever Kibum used to make stuff like this the mixture was never as runny as this, and it smelled nice too. Taemin reasoned the only was to test if the mixture was good enough was to taste test it. He scooped up a fair amount with his fore finger, bringing it to his mouth and tentatively it off with his tongue. 

He regretted it immediately.

Was that salt? 

Taemin internally cried at the taste in his mouth. It was overbearingly salty, with a hint of bitterness from the flour. After quick examination of the ingredients he brought with him he noticed, and to his horror, he didn't buy sugar but salt instead. "How does someone mistake sugar for salt!". Was he really this incapable of doing anything? The situation would have been better if he was able to actually find any sugar in the dorm, but it seemed after everyone moved out Minho and Jinki became lazy and didn't bother organizing anything. Taemin wondered whether Jinki would know where the sugar was. And almost automatically he began to head to the bathroom, standing outside the door hesitantly. 

It wouldn't matter if he walked in, right? He'll be quick, so Jinki wouldn't mind... you couldn't even see through the shower door anyway, so it wouldn't be awkward... He'll just quickly walk in there, ask about the sugar, then walk back out. Simple, right? 

Well it would be if his feet would actually move. 

He just stood there, hand lingering beside the door handle. His heart was beating so, so fast. It almost felt like it was trying to jump from out of his throat. 

It'll be fine... I'll be fine. 

Right. 

Before he could think any more he quickly pushed the door open and walked into the bathroom. Since when he closed his eyes, he didn't know, but when he opened them again with the intention of calling out Jinki's name, only a squeak managed to escape his mouth. He felt like he'd been winded; like someone physically punched him in the chest. His hand was still holding onto the handle, and just like that, he froze. 

Jinki wasn't in the shower. 

Rather, he was standing quite literally in the middle of the bathroom, just after stepping out of the shower to retrieve a towel. It wasn't until the sound of Taemin's squeak hit his ears that he even noticed someone had opened the door. But when his eyes caught sight of Taemin both males had absolutely no idea what they should be doing in that moment. They couldn't even say a word. 

After an intense minute or so of staring at each other, Taemin trying to resist the urge to look downwards and Jinki trying to resist, well, reacting to the thought of Taemin looking downwards, they both suddenly realized the situation they were in. Almost as if he didn't want to, Taemin reluctantly closed his eyes tightly. He felt a little light headed, like he had caught a sudden fever. Every muscle in his body was tense, his skin red and radiating heat. 

"S-sugar - I need sugar!".

Jinki snapped out of his daze also, tugging the towel from the floor and hurriedly wrapping it around his waist. His hands were clammy with nervous sweat, and the towel only added to the painful heat his body was experiencing. His gaze flickered to the floor, quite embarrassed that Taemin just saw... well, him. "Beneath the sink." 

Taemin's eyes clenched further shut. Jinki's voice sounded so close and husky. It gave him goose bumps. 

He didn't even the question the strange place they kept the sugar, but rather let go of the door handle and ran back to the kitchen, as if staying there any longer was dangerous.

But it was dangerous. For Jinki at least. 

It was dangerous for him, because as he watched the back of Taemin running away from him, a jolt of excitement ran through his body. 

He wanted to chase after him, to see the redness of his face and feel the heat of his skin. Jinki's body warmed at the idea of feeling Taemin close, of watching as his lips curled around words that he didn't want to listen to, but just wanted to watch the animated movement of his mouth. And he wanted to make Taemin feel the overbearing heat he had felt when Taemin was watching him. He wanted to watch Taemin, carefully absorbing his face and body and burning them into his mind. 

Was something wrong with him? He didn't think so. Rather, he felt curious. The heat in his stomach intensified just thinking about Taemin. 

Jinki's lips had become dry, and he them slowly. He didn't bring clothes with him into the bathroom, so he had a excuse to go outside in just a towel. His curiosity told him to see what Taemin was like right now. Was he flustered? Was his face still red? 

And Taemin was; he was extremely red. It felt like if he was to touch his own skin with his fingers he'd get burnt. What was he here to do again? Even looking at the assortment of baking equipment and forgotten batter on the kitchen counters didn't jog his memory that he was actually here to do something. But just as he was calming himself down a hand came to land on his waist. He shivered, feeling the heat even through his t-shirt. 

"J-Jinki?"

"Did you find the sugar?" Jinki asked, bringing another hand to rest on his other waist. 

Almost animatedly Taemin shook his head, not exactly sure what was going on. The heat of the person behind him made his mind completely blank. 

Jinki smiled to himself. He moved closer to Taemin, his head coming to rest on his shoulder. Just a slight movement of his head meant that as he spoke his breath directly brushed against Taemin's ear. 

"Do you need any help?". A rather innocent question, Jinki had presumed. 

But Taemin didn't hear anything innocent in that question. His whole body felt sensitive to the others touch, and his ears burned brightly with red tint every time Jinki's breath caressed them. He definitely wasn't thinking straight, because if he was, he most certainly wouldn't have done what he was about to do.

Before either of them could register what happened, Taemin spun around, lips crashing forcefully on to Jinki's. They both stumbled back, Jinki's towel unraveling in the process, stuck between the two bodies that were pressed tightly together. When his back hit the cold surface of a wall it didn't even register in Jinki's mind, hands coming up to grip Taemin and pull him even closer instead. 

And just like that, the sole purpose of Taemin coming to the dorm today was forgotten. Even Kibum received a rather abrupt and short phone call later that day informing him that Taemin couldn't make it. 

At least Taemin didn't have to actually make the cake anyway. 

---

A/N: WOW OKAY WHAT IS THIS? I started writing this with lots of fluffy stuff in my mind but... I have a dirty mind, so that obviously didn't work out well... 

Please tell me if I made any mistakes and feel free to give me criticism! Tell me what you think~ Thank you!!