Valentine's Day. It’s crept up on me so fast that I’ve barely had time to prepare anything I’d originally planned at the market before Alex rudely interrupted myself and Khun and I’m feeling rather guilty as I stand in the middle of the kitchen at the restaurant, on the phone to Ji-eun. I know she’s supposed to be resting, but she’s constantly been texting me all week as if she’s just been fidgeting at home with nothing to do, and from her voice she sounds well.

“Just let me help you, Woo.” She whines down the line, and I have to pull the phone slightly away from my ear, “I’ve got nothing to do here and I think It’d be cute to see your plan, anyway.”

“Fine, fine,” I mumble. I’m unable to control what she wants to do, after all, “Just get here soon, I hear this dish takes a lot of preparation.”

“Oh, yeah, it does!” She laughs, “Bouillabaisse takes ages, I used to watch Khun make it all the time.”

I sigh, but I chuckle too, “Then get here quick!”

An hour later, myself and Ji-eun are still standing in the middle of the kitchen, this time squinting at a recipe on my phone screen. I really wish I was more prepared, because I have only ever made this dish a few times, and Ji-eun considers herself a bouillabaisse newbie - so we’re dumb out of luck unless a miracle happens.

“Salmon, monkfish, sardines… Why is there so much seafood in it? Why does this have to be his favourite?” I groan at the prospect of all of the preparation ahead of us. It’s not that I hate the thought of cooking today, but I do hate the fact that we only have a few hours in which to complete our task.

“Well, Khun does like fish…” Ji-eun chuckles, nudging my arm with her elbow.nd

“I can see that,” I say sarcastically, my tone of voice dry and unforgiving. I’m not sure if I’m even being sarcastic, or just moody at this point. Ji-eun glares at me playfully, and I back off, deciding that it was me who ultimately decided to do this and should therefore accept the consequences.

“Khun is lucky I love him,” I mutter, grabbing a large pan from the cupboard near the sink, “I wouldn’t have the patience to cook this in such a short amount of time if it were anyone else…”

As I begin to prepare the ingredients for the broth required for the dish, Ji-eun asks, “What about decorations? Have you decorated the restaurant yet?”

I stop in my tracks. “No? Why would I do that?”

“Woo, you idiot!” She almost yells, “It’s Valentine’s day, I thought you were trying to be romantic!” She pushes my head with her fingers, as if to point out that I had overlooked something apparently quite important.

“Well, of course I’m being romantic. I’m spending all my time doing this for him, aren’t I?” I say, continuing to add components to the broth I’m creating without looking at Ji-eun. I hear her sigh, and she moves away from me.

“Everything’s still got to look the part. Look, you do this and I’ll go and sort out decorations.” I look at her now, and she smiles to punctuate her offer. Seeing that I really have no other option, I agree hastily, and I’m eventually left alone in the kitchen again.

It’s a Sunday, so the restaurant doesn’t open today. I’m not scared about Nichkhun discovering my surprise by walking in unannounced, since he rarely ever comes here on a Sunday. He doesn’t even know I’m here. Come to think of it, I don’t think I even told him where I was going when I left this morning, so I hope he isn’t feeling too bad not knowing where I am. I shoot him a quick text, pretending that I’ve gone to visit Ji-eun. It’s half true - she is here with me.

After three hours of endless chopping fish, boiling vegetables and simmering it all in a pan until delicious aromas floated around the kitchen, I finally end up with plates of food that, to my surprise, actually look edible. Perhaps putting in all this hard work in the kitchen following Khun's every move has paid off then, because I feel a sense of pride at producing this all without his help.

Whilst I'm staring at my dish, contemplating whether or not its a grand enough achievement to take a photo of, I hear Ji-eun shuffle into the kitchen behind me. I turn, and she's leaning on the doorway with a smile gracing her lips.

"Looks good, Youngie," she compliments, eyeing the steaming plates on the countertop. She then chuckles, looking at the amount of food left in the pot on the stove. "Did you accidentally make too much though?"

I shrug, passing her the recipe which was still open on the browser of my phone. "It said for four people, so I just followed that. You can take some home, if you want..." I watch her face light up.

"I love your cooking, Woo, that would be delightful!" She exclaims, clasping her hands together in front of her as her smile reaches her eyes. If there is one person who appreciates my cooking more than Khun does, it's Ji-eun. She loves being the first person to taste the dishes I practice in my spare time, when Khun isn't around. She motions at me with her hands then, standing up straight. "Come on, come and see what I've done."

I follow her into the main area of the restaurant, not really knowing what to expect considering I've never done this before. Once we step out near the bar area, I gasp in awe at what I can see. Where the bright overhead strip-lighting usually illuminates the whole place, Ji-eun has dimmed them and a soft glow emanates from two dozen or so candles dotted around on shelves and tables. Around the large mirror along one of the walls there is tinsel, a crimson color appropriate for this time of year, and a rose sits in the middle of the center table, covered in a white linen tablecloth.

"Aw, Ji-eun this is so sweet..." I sigh, moving further into the room. I run my fingers over the cloth covering the table, not quite believing how much of a genius my friend really is, "Thank you so much..."

She laughs at my reaction, "It's perfectly alright. I knew you wouldn't have time to cook and do this so I thought I'd help where I could." She looks at the clock on the wall above the mirror and says hurriedly, "I better leave you to it, Khunnie will be here soon and you don't want me cramping things." It's true, I'd called Khun not too long ago to tell him to come here, much to his confusion. I just hoped he wasn't panicking too much, thinking that something was wrong!

She gives me a friendly kiss on the cheek goodbye - she seems to have picked up more on Parisian mannerisms in our time here more so than myself and Khun - and leaves almost as quickly as she had arrived in the first place. I'm left to bring in our food and set the table, complete with red napkins and silver cutlery Ji-eun had dug out from somewhere in the depths of the restaurant's storage. I finally take a seat, nervously tapping my foot as I wait for the man I love to appear in the doorway.

No more than five minutes later, I finally hear the bell above the door chime as he makes his entrance. Khun's head pokes around the door before the rest of his body does, and even in the semi-darkness created by only the candles lighting the room, I can see his confused face.

He spots me almost instantly, and I wave him over, gesturing for him to take a seat. I watch as he stares about the place in amazement and I wonder if this is how I looked when Ji-eun called me in earlier on. I finally hear him let out an audible breath as his eyes land on the food in front of him and he realizes what it is.

"Wooyoung, this is my-"

"-your favourite, I know!" I laugh, placing my hand over his arm which rests on the table. "I worked hard over this all day, so I hope you enjoy it!"

He intertwines our fingers, which still manages to make my heart flutter, and taking his fork, he finally tests out my food. Nervously, I squeeze his hand, waiting for the verdict of the bouillabaisse master. If it doesn't impress him after all the effort I put in, I think I'll probably cry, but I hope it doesn't come to that.

He raises his head after a time, and I swear I can see the cogs turning in his mind as he settles on a judgment. Thankfully after he swallows, he breaks out into a wide grin, and gives me a thumbs up. "This is delicious!" He blurts out. I see him wriggle in his seat, dancing happily as he takes another forkful from the plate. I can't help but think he looks really cute when he's this happy.

"I'm so glad you like it," I breathe, not realizing I had been holding my breath. I slouch forward, finally relaxing, and pick up my own fork to eat the dish in front of me before it goes cold.

When we're almost finished with our meal, I hear Khun ask me, "Youngie, why are you so nice to me?"

I look up in surprise to see his contemplative expression. He looks happy enough, his mouth curving into a small smile and his eyes stare back into my own with that loving look I've only managed to glimpse a few times. I love that look, and I anticipate each and every time I find it in his eyes, when they light up with joy and affection.

"Because I love you, isn't that obvious?" I say, resting my chin in the palm of my hand as I take in the sight of the man in front of me. Like always, I find him to be incredibly attractive with his clean cut facial features and brown fluffy hair, but today there just seems to be something more that makes him even more loveable. I can't quite put my finger on it, but whatever it is, I'm grateful for it.

"Of course it's obvious," he chuckles, "But I was just wondering. Because I've never had someone care about me this much ever... Romantically, I mean..." His face takes on that wistful expression I used to see when I first met him, and I wave in front of his eyes to get his attention again.

"I care about you, that's why. I told you, I want to make you the happiest man alive, and that's what I intend to do! I still want to show you that there's more to life than what you had to go through, Khun..." I stand up now, walk around the table and wrap my arms around him, my chest to his back. I place my chin lightly on his shoulder, breathing in his trademark scent - a mixture of his shampoo and cologne that seems to calm me instantly when I smell it.

Khun leans his head back, resting it against me, and I see him close his eyes. "You're way to good to me, Wooyoungie. You spend so much time thinking about me..."

"You deserve every minute of it," I say, kissing along his jaw and the side of his face, "Don't ever think you don't deserve it Khun, you know I'll always put this much effort into everything I do for you."

He lets out a short laugh, finding and squeezing my hands with his own. I feel blissful, in this little bubble of ours, and I hope we could stay this way for a long time. I know we have to go out there and face our problems - with the restaurant, which is still in a slight state of disrepair, and with Alex - but for now, I just enjoy the feeling of Khun relaxing into my arms, feeling at peace with the world, for once...

A/N: I feel like we needed a nicer, fluffier chapter after all the turmoil of the last few lol... Thank you to everyone who is still reading, I love you! ^_^ Look forward to future updates in the next few days!