Two days, thirteen hours and five minutes is exactly the amount of time left before the deal with the madam would go through. That is exactly how bored he is. Heck, he even knows the seconds to the deal. Twenty seven, twenty six, twenty five…

His stomach growls, all this boredom is making him hungry. He could really go for some ramen right about now. His stomach rumbles again as if agreeing to that idea. It has been a while since he last had the unhealthy noodle and he did work out for over two hours, so why not? Deciding to indulge on his craving, Changwook leaves his room and heads for the kitchen. To his surprise, the living room light is on. The man frowns, double checking the clock on the wall. It’s already two in the morning, who could be up at this hour?

Considering that K1 hasn’t sounded the alarms, he half expects it to be J1 and finds Yoona standing by the sink, filling a pot with water instead. The sight of her back in a simple white t-shirt and plaid shorts reminds him of the past when she would get up to make breakfast, he would get up midway, snuggle her from behind and takeover the cooking. Changwook’s scowl deepens. When did he get so sentimental? Neither of them needs him to start trudging up the past. He clears his throat and asks. “Hungry?”

Yoona jumps and whirls around with a spatula in hand, ready to attack the intruder. Realizing who it was, she releases a breath and sets down the cooking utensil. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.” He walks closer and spots the bag of ramen on the table. “By the way, a spatula won’t save your life.”

“Yeah well, it’s the only thing I had close by.” The woman glares at her bodyguard. “And yes, I had a sudden craving for ramen. What’s your excuse?” She moves the pot onto the stove and turned the knob. There’s clicks but no fire. “How do you do this?” She turns it again and still gets the same response.

Changwook takes another bag of ramen out of the basket and walks over to Yoona’s side. “Here let me do it.” Turning on the gas valve, he nudges her to the side so that he’s in front of the stove instead.

“Hey!” She protests.

“Remember the food you used to make?”

“I’ve gotten better,” Yoon grumbles in annoyance but nonetheless gives up on getting control over the stove. She watches as he opens both packages, placed the noodles inside along with with the vegetables and sausage she prepared inside the pot in one fluid motion. “I was a pretty bad cook.” She admits a moment later. Before she met Changwook, most of her meals were bought and food at home meant junk food. It wasn’t really her fault that most of her meals came out half cooked half raw and with an odd color. She shudders at the memory of burnt ramen that stuck to the bottom of the pot while the top half was still raw.

“I still have nightmares about your cooking.” Changwook teases.

“Shut up.” Yoona fists her hand, aiming to punch him in the arms but he easily avoids it. Their eyes meet and they both fall quiet. They’ve been on friendly terms recently, even almost like friends. Occasionally one of them would end up accidentally making some comment that crosses the lines between friends and flirting. And that leads to an awkward silence where one of them would walk away. Like now.

“I’ll go set the table.” She busies herself with grabbing some side dishes and leftover rice from dinner out of the refrigerator. She keeps her head down, knowing he is staring at her.

Can past lovers ever be friends again? He thought so. Minho on the other hand. “Why would you want to be friends with an ex?” Minho pauses and eyes Changwook suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about that Yoona girl. It’s been two months man. She’s probably over you by now.”

Changwook hides the cringe caused by Minho’s insensitivity. Just the thought of her name makes his heart ache. “I don’t know.” He hesitates, choosing his words carefully. “It’s not like I’m expecting to pick up where we were or for anything to happen. I just want to know how she’s doing. Being friends wouldn’t be so bad.”

Minho shakes his head, he could see the struggle his friend was going through. “If it was so easy being friends, there would be more of them. There’s just too many memories to deal with. You’ll remember the happy memories first and think this time it’ll work out. Then something happens and it’s all over again. Trust me on this Wook, what’s in the past is in the past. And there’s no such thing as keeping it platonic between a man and a woman.”

Minho may have been right on not being able to become friends again. But he’s glad to see the Yoona now. Grown up, capable of taking care of herself and even a mother. The feel of heat under his hand reminds him that he was still cooking. “Noodle’s ready.”

Yoona hands over two bowls and he divides the contents of the pot evenly. The two of them moves over to the dining table and sits across from each other, bot