Chapter 2: Apparently Everything Burns

 

Hakyeon woke up to the sound of bickering, the bedroom he was in completely empty. With a yawn, he rolled out of bed, falling to the floor in a messy heap before dusting himself off and wandering out to discover exactly what in the world was going on. Hyuk was trying to drag Hongbin out of the kitchen while Wonshik stood between Taekwoon and Jaehwan.

 

“Can I just wake up without chaos once in a while?” Sighing in exasperation, Hakyeon walked into the kitchen and hugged the distressed Jaehwan. “What’s going on now?”

 

“They wont let me make breakfast and I’m hungry…” Jaehwan pouted, holding onto Hakyeon. “Taekwoon and Hongbin keep saying I’ll just burn the kitchen down again but it’s not fair. I’ve only burned down one kitchen! And it was by accident!”

 

“I know, Jae. I know. But it’s Taekwoon’s house so we have to follow his rules.” Hakyeon rubbed Jaehwan’s shoulders, comforting his friend. “I’ll make you food whenever you’re hungry, okay?”

 

“No. You are not his mother, Hakyeon.” Taekwoon shook his head. “You’ll be relaxing while you’re here. I wont have you catering to other people.”

 

“He can do what he wants.” Wonshik glared at Taekwoon and Hakyeon couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the two men. “You’re not his mom either. I can’t tell if you want to give him the D or an allowance.”

 

“Ooo burn!” Jaehwan shouted and Hakyeon quickly covered his mouth with his hand to keep him from getting into further trouble.

 

“You’re just angry because my will to pamper him overshadows anything you can do for him.” Taekwoon gritted his teeth and gripped his hands into fists, worry Hakyeon slightly that an actual fist fight might occur. “This isn’t a childhood game of house, Wonshik. It’s time to be a man.”

 

“Ooooo another buuuuurn!”Jaehwan had somehow freed his mouth from Hakyeon’s silencing palm, only succeeding in making the situation more tense.

 

“Seriously, you two.” Shaking his head, he played with Jaehwan’s hair. “Jae’s hungry. I’m hungry. Either one of us need to be allowed to make food or someone else needs to be in charge of feeding us.”

 

“I will.” Taekwoon opened the refrigerator and growled. “After I go to the store. Nobody touch anything while I’m gone.”

 

“No. I’m going to make breakfast.” Wonshik grabbed his keys as Taekwoon pulled on his jacket. Jaehwan squealed happily and clapped his hands.

 

“YES! A cooking competition!!” Bouncing up and down on his heels in excitement, Jaehwan grinned widely and looked at Hakyeon. “Lets have a cook off!”

 

“Yeah. Actually that sounds fantastic.” Smiling sweetly, Hakyeon looked Wonshik and Taekwoon over for a moment. “Jaehwannie and I want you two to compete. Please? Best breakfast gets a kiss.”

 

“... I’ll drive you.” Wonshik pulled on his shoes, leaving quickly with Taekwoon close behind him, both men looking incredibly determined.

 

“You do realize how long it will take for them to shop and cook right?” Hongbin shook his head, sitting on the couch with an annoyed huff. “You two are idiots.”

 

“They’re our friends and you’re not being very friendly.” Putting a hand on Hongbin’s shoulder, Hyuk tapped his foot in annoyance. “Don’t be a , Hongbin.”

 

“Ooooo Burn!!!” Jaehwan leaped over the couch to sit, receiving a death glare from Hongbin.

 

“Jae. I’m not sure that’s really appropriate considering last night…” Hakyeon sat beside Jaehwan as a sort of barrier against anyone attacking the little weirdo.

 

“Don’t bother, Hakyeon. He wont understand.” Hongbin flipped through the channels on the television. “The idiot has the brain of a goldfish.”

 

“Ooo Buuuuurn~” Jaehwan blurted out and Hakyeon groaned, covering his mouth again to shield him from his own hyperactivity.

 

“Jae, no. Don’t burn yourself.” Glancing at Hyuk as he sat down between himself and Hongbin, Hakyeon bit his lip slightly. “I am pretty hungry though…”

 

“I am too.” Hyuk chuckled and held up his cell phone. “Don’t worry. I already ordered breakfast. It should get here before they even get back. Everyone wins.” With the reassurance of impending sustenance confirmed, the group settled in to watch a movie until the competition began.

 

 

“Burn!" Jaehwan screeched as a zombie exploded on the movie they were watching and the protagonist gave some sort of witty one liner Hakyeon hadn’t been paying attention to. Hiding his face against Hyuk’s shoulder, Hakyeon was just desperately trying to ignore the fact that zombies scared the out of him. The movie had gotten so far in before the first zombie even appeared, it wouldn’t have been fair to ask them to change it at that point.

 

“Turn it off. Hakyeon can’t handle zombies.” Taekwoon demanded from the kitchen where he and Wonshik were assembling large meals in an attempt to win the cooking competition.

 

“Leave the kids alone, Mom.” Wonshik pushed by the grumpy man as Hakyeon glanced up from Hyuk’s shoulder to survey the situation. Hongbin was visibly angry as the way Hyuk was comforting Hakyeon, Jaehwan was halfway off the couch in some strange, sprawled out pose of terror and enthrallment, Wonshik and Taekwoon were glaring murder at each other any time they had a chance to look away from their work. Even though everyone seemed so unhappy, Hakyeon was glad to be there with them, enjoying their company.

 

“I’m fine, Taek.” Hakyeon flinched as another zombie lunged toward the main character, prompting Hyuk to wrap both arms around him just to keep him from falling to the floor. “I’ll just come in there and help you guys plate food or something.”

 

“NO CHEATING!” Jaehwan yelled from where he was now was on the floor, halfway curled around the coffee table. “You can’t influence the winner, Hakyeon.”

 

“I’m not going to cheat, Jae.” Chuckling, Hakyeon disentangled himself from Hyuk and almost skipped into the kitchen. “I’ll help you both equally.”

 

“No, Hakyeon. You don’t need to strain your hands helping us.” Taekwoon shook his head, refusing to give Hakyeon any instructions on how to help him. Sure the dude was hot as hell and Hakyeon loved being spoiled but this was ridiculous.

 

“For s sake, Taekwoon.” Wonshik nodded toward the stove, giving Hakyeon a stunning smile that made the man blush a little. “Would you please get the bacon off the stove for me, baby doll?”

 

“Of course~” Giving him a smile in return, Hakyeon went to the stove and picked up the pan, turning to bring it back to Wonshik just as Taekwoon turned toward the stove himself and they collided. The bacon grease splattered his hand and Hakyeon looked down at the hot liquid in shock for a moment before shrieking in pain and dropping the bacon on the floor.

 

“Literal burn!” Jaehwan shouted, scrambling toward the kitchen, concerned but unable to contain his catch phrase of the day.

 

“Jae. I’ll literally kill you if you say that again today.” Hyuk stopped him from coming closer, pulling him back onto the couch. “Sorry buddy.”

 

“Hakyeon!” Wonshik was beside him in no time at all, doing his best to wipe the burning liquid off with his . “Let’s get your hand under cold water. Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine. I was just shocked. It’s not too bad.” Trying to smile reassuringly at his companion, Hakyeon held his hands under the water as Wonshik fussed over him.

 

“Your skin is red. I know it has to hurt.” Sighing, Wonshik kissed Hakyeon’s cheek and brushed some hair out of his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would happen.” Hakyeon couldn’t really deny that it hurt like a but at the same time, he was somehow very amused by the situation and having Wonshik baby him was a definite plus.

 

“Move.” Taekwoon pushed Wonshik out of the way, laying a first aid kit on the counter. “Give me your hand.” Hakyeon quickly obeyed the demanding tone and presented his burned appendage. The surly man quickly went to work putting medication on his injured flesh, wrapping it up in a bandage. “Go sit back down.”

 

“Okay…” Pouting, Hakyeon turned to go back to the couch. “Sorry for dropping the bacon, Wonshik. I promise that Jae, Hyuk and I wont dock you points for that when we judge breakfastss. That was my bad.”

 

“You did great, Hakyeon.” Wonshik ushered him to the couch, looking him over a little for any undetected wounds. “Taekwoon is the one that ran into you.”

 

“You shouldn’t have asked him to do something so dangerous!” Taekwoon protested and the two began arguing as they finished up preparing their meals.

 

Finally, once the meals were ready and the others were called to the table, the battle of Western and Eastern breakfast began. Wonshik’s Western breakfast was delicious despite the bacon mishap but Taekwoon’s Eastern breakfast. Both were delicious and after the meal, Hakyeon retreated to Hyuk’s bedroom with the other man and Jaehwan to decide on the winner. It took a few moments but their decision was made.

 

“Okay. Close your eyes, both of you.” Hakyeon demanded upon return to the living room. “The winner will receive their kiss.” The two competitive men did as they were asked and Hakyeon nodded at the other two men and Hyuk and Jaehwan went into action, sneaking over quietly. They each chose a man and kissed their cheek. The shock when they opened their eyes to see who had kissed them sent Hakyeon into nearly hysterical giggles.

 

“I never said the kiss was from me~” Gasping for air through his laughter, he collapsed down on the couch, wiping away tears of joy. “You should have seen your faces! But you both won. Good job~”

 

“I’m glad you’re at least happy.” Wonshik chuckled, sitting down beside him. “It’s cute when you laugh. But it’s cute when you do anything.”

 

“Get away from me.” Taekwoon growled at a giggling Jaehwan as he stomped over to his chair next to the couch. “How’s your hand, Hakyeon?”

 

“Crunchy.” Smiling sweetly, Hakyeon watched as Wonshik gently kissed his injured hand, earning a glare from Taekwoon. “It doesn’t hurt. The cream you put on it really helped, thank you.”

 

“Hey, next time ask me if I’m fine with my boyfriend kissing someone.” Hongbin crossed his arms over his chest, clearly irritated by their joke.

 

“It wasn’t even anything, babe.” Hyuk rolled his eyes, sitting on the arm of the couch beside his lover. “But if you want me to ask permission for like that then maybe you can find a different boyfriend. I love you but I don’t need you.”

 

“BURN!” Jaehwan yelled, earning a punch to the shoulder by Wonshik followed by the two bursting into laughter. Hakyeon really did love his strange, stupid friends. Even if he was now the victim of a house fire and had a lobster hand. At this rate he’d be a super hero in no time. That was how super heroes worked, right? Yeah. It must be. He'd definitely be calling himself Captain Sparkles when the time came.