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It's been two days since Kyungsoo got Jongin's number and they've been texting for hours each day, getting to know more about each other like acquaintances do. Currently, a nice November breeze is blowing outside as Kyungsoo walks from a bus-stop to his home. He only had two classes today (with one of them being a course for his major of theater arts) and his group finally performed their play both without a hitch and with all of their members present.

Soo-Jung had to skip class on Tuesday because she apparently ran out of iron pills. And for someone as anemic as her, if she had come to class as low on iron as she was that day--she would've fainted during their play. She'd told the rest of her members as much, and about how she couldn't even move from her bed until her mom picked up some iron pills for her.

Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, and Jongdae had looked at her with amazement before Kyungsoo thanked her for coming to class today while Jongdae about finally not dishonoring her family. So, the play went well, with everyone in good health and spirits, and all of those hours of writing, directing, and rehearsing for this class project thankfully didn't go to waste.

With a grin on his face, Kyungsoo finally reaches his home and lets himself in through the front door with his key. The place still smells like fermenting kimchi and it once again gives him a nostalgic feeling as he thinks of his parents' home. Then, as he takes off his shoes and places them near the door, he looks around at his home and wonders what to do first with all of this free time. (He does have things to study for but he likes to put that off until the evening.)

Remembering that he's wearing his backpack, he then takes it off and carries it to his bedroom to drop it off near his bed. Then, he goes to the kitchen to get a snack to eat and sees a sticky note written by his uncle on the fridge. He leans in closer to read the Hangul that turns out to be a written request for him to make his classic kimchi spaghetti for dinner. A tiny doodle labeled pork belly is included in the bottom corner and he squints to make out what it is before opening the fridge and seeing a tray of thawed pork belly on the middle rack. A corner of his mouth lifts and he makes a mental note to start cooking around five o'clock later.

His eyes then peer over at the counter to the right of the fridge and he sees the container of fermenting kimchi. It's been fermenting since Tuesday, when he bought some napa cabbages and daikon radishes (among other things) at their local Korean store. His uncle had washed and packed the kimchi into a container and then left it out to ferment at a room-temperature since they need a new kimchi fridge. One of these days, when he finally gets a job, he'll surprise his uncle with a new one if his uncle doesn't buy one first.

He hates feeling like he's mooching off of anyone, especially his kind uncle who took him in after he graduated high school. Kyungsoo's college is many towns away from his parents' house, and his uncle, who had been living by himself in this town for some years now, offered him a room in exchange for him getting great grades at school and cooking dinner for him. The arrangement works since Kyungsoo has no evening classes, and is almost always home by at least the late afternoon. Heck, he never even really sees his uncle besides the night-times and on Sundays when the elder always gets a day off from work.

Kyungsoo continues to stand around the kitchen, thinking about how his next college semester will go and about how the fall semester ends just next month. Maybe he'll get a part-time job then and can become part of the working world. With the money he'd make, he'd be able to buy his uncle all the things he needs but is too stubborn to buy and could finally buy groceries, help with repairs, and other miscellaneous things without having to get money first from his family. And then...eventually he can start paying off his student loans.

With a sigh, he takes out his phone to ask Minseok how the latter can work full-time at a flower shop, deal with what must be tons of customers, and stay sane. Minseok's working right now though and probably won't be able to see his text until his shift is over, so Kyungsoo decides to watch some TV in the living-room in the mean time.

Around ten minutes later, he's given a fright when his phone starts to ring while he's watching a reality tv show about people suing others in a courtroom. He quickly pauses the television using a remote nearby and takes out his phone to answer the call. When he sees who's calling, a grin creeps up onto his face and he presses the answer call button, now leaning forward on the couch. A stoic yet warm voice greets him in Korean and Kyungsoo's eyes all but disappear with how hard he's smiling.

"Hey, In-sungie..." Kyungsoo responds back in Korean.

"How's my favorite cousin doing?" In-sung asks.

"Ha--doing fine~" Kyungsoo sings back.

Kyungsoo's always liked talking to his older