Baekhyun had been living with Jongdae and Kyungsoo for almost a week now. He didn’t want to get his hopes up but he believed that he was going to be a permanent resident soon. Kyungsoo had been giving some signals, promising to take him to a certain park, asking about his favorite things and food to cook in the future, buying a couple of toys for Baekhyun (and for Jongdae too, so the cat wouldn’t get jealous). 

And surprisingly, he felt like his relationship with Jongdae was getting better. Really slowly but he could see a difference compared to the moment he first stepped into the house. They had developed some kind of routine. Jongdae would wake up late, grab his breakfast and then watch TV with Baekhyun, each on their own couch. During lunch time Baekhyun would offer to cook something and Jongdae would make a snarky comment before following him to the kitchen, observing intently from Baekhyun’s side. At the beginning, he almost accidentally slapped Jongdae when he got too near while he was mixing a sauce, but after the near incident he got used to the other invading his personal space and being careful to not hit the kitty. 

Jongdae would sometimes go outside for a couple of hours after lunch time, but always returning before Kyungsoo got back to the apartment. It was a mystery where he went to but Baekhyun was still not comfortable enough to ask him about it. The only thing he knew is that Jongdae often smelled like coffee and sweets when he came back.

Baekhyun had finally gathered the courage to start greeting Kyungsoo when he arrived from work too, albeit not as effusively as Jongdae. Kyungsoo seemed to be glad to see Baekhyun was slowly getting comfortable to interact with him so Baekhyun tried his best to show he was happy too.

By now, Baekhyun had already mapped most of the big apartment. The kitchen was more than well equipped just as he had expected, having some expensive ingredients he didn’t even know were sold in Korea. The only room that he hadn’t dared to enter yet was Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s room. He was curious, but he was afraid if he entered while the other two were outside of the apartment they would still find out he had been snooping around and get mad or something. 

It was Sunday today, and this meant Kyungsoo didn’t have work. Kyungsoo had also informed him yesterday night that Chanyeol would be coming today to see how the puppy had adapted to the change in atmosphere. It looks like Chanyeol had been bombarding Kyungsoo with daily updates about the hybrid, trying to make sure he was not being mistreated. Baekhyun was glad that the other one had been looking out for him and was a bit excited about seeing him today. 

Since Chanyeol was coming for lunch, Baekhyun offered to cook a meal for all of them. He also wanted Kyungsoo to finally try his cooking. Since the human worked during lunch time everyday and they usually ordered take out for dinner or had stuff from Kyungsoo’s restaurant, he still hadn’t been able to show off his cooking skills. He was quite confident on this, probably the only thing he felt he was good at.

After taking a quick shower, Baekhyun put some of his new nice clothes. A pair of black skinny jeans and a fluffy gray sweater. The sweater had been one of Jongdae’s extra choices for him and it was probably his favorite out of all of his new wardrobe. It was a bit big on his frame, so he could hide his hands inside keeping them warm. It totally had nothing to do with how Jongdae had eyed him appreciatively when he first used that sweater.

He went out of his room, passing besides Jongdae who was lying on the stripe of light coming from the window. It was still kind of early, so the cat was still on his lazy mode. 

When Jongdae felt someone pass near him he started waking up, curving his back and stretching his muscles. “Are you cooking the lunch now?” He asked following Baekhyun to the kitchen. 

“Yes, I think I will cook tonkatsu, how do you feel about that?” Jongdae nodded excitedly. Baekhyun had been searching for new recipes on Kyungsoo’s laptop so he could make different things everyday for lunch. He always asked for Jongdae’s opinion making sure to show him the recipes in case there was something he disliked. He decided to do it after cooking shrimps and getting surprised that Jongdae didn’t like seafood. What kind of cat doesn’t like seafood? Jongdae still ate it, because in his own words it was ‘good enough’, but Baekhyun only wanted to make things he was sure the others would enjoy.

Without even having to say anything, Jongdae started putting the rice on the rice cooker and helping Baekhyun with taking out some ingredients. Baekhyun was really happy he finally had a cooking partner. He liked to call the kitty his little helper. But of course he would never say it out loud, he was sure Jongdae would choke him in his sleep or something. 

They continued cooking in a comfortable silence. Baekhyun giving out small tips here and there and Jongdae nodding along following all of the puppy’s movements. 

Baekhyun glanced at the clock. In around 1 hour Chanyeol would be arriving. Probably 1 hour and a half, since in the shelter Chanyeol was known for always getting late everywhere, Baekhyun just figured out he was the same in his private life. “You should start taking a bath, I will take care of getting the rice out and cooking the rest of the pork, most of it is done by now” Jongdae nodded glancing at the clock too and leaving the tongs against the pot. Baekhyun heard the steps getting away from the kitchen and finally the bathroom’s door opening and closing. He let out a sigh, relaxing a bit more. Cooking with Jongdae always got him a bit tense, he felt as if he couldn’t make any mistake in front of the other one so he had to be very precise with everything. He still enjoyed it though, but he still had to get more used to it.

Kyungsoo arrived 40 minutes later, bringing with him a bag with what looked like a cake. After his week here Baekhyun had already noticed that Kyungsoo and Jongdae seemed to be addicted to pastries, always bringing bread or cakes to snack on during the evenings. 

“It smells really good! What are you cooking over there” Kyungsoo said dropping the bag on one of the counters. He went to hug Baekhyun’s back with one arm while peeking at the pot over his shoulder. Baekhyun brought a spoon with the sauce towards Kyungsoo’s mouth who hummed contentedly.

“This is seriously so good! I don’t know how you learnt to cook like this. Should I make you one of my chefs soon?” Baekhyun laughed hitting Kyungsoo lightly with his elbow. Kyungsoo took the drinks he brought and started piling them up in the refrigerator. “Chanyeol should be here anytime now. He said he was coming after picking some stuff out so he will probably arrive earlier” Baekhyun nodded absentmindedly, covering the cooked meal so it would keep the warmth. “I will go and change my clothes, can you start setting up the table?”

“Sure! Let me take care of it!” Baekhyun started getting out the plates from the cabinets over the sink. Kyungsoo smiled looking at the puppy moving around in the kitchen. He seemed to be really comfortable in it by now, even arranging some of the things differently to how Kyungsoo had them before. But he let him be, he was happy that Baekhyun had a place in the house where he felt comfortable and on his element.

Just like Kyungsoo said, Chanyeol arrived just 10 minutes later. Jongdae was already all dressed up, with a sweater that seemed to similar to Baekhyun’s own but in a wine red color. Baekhyun had raised an eyebrow at the other hybrid’s choice of outfit but Jongdae had ignored him jumping over his couch and stretching, with an adorable blush covering his cheekbones.