They came to an agreement after a few moments of polite small talk.

Hyunsik had kindly shown her where to locate what she required in the kitchen after she shared with him what she planned to cook. He seemed mildly impressed when she summarised what she had planned so she found herself sharing with him about the period when both Eunkwang and herself were raised by their grandmother. Both their parents were working full time and the children were not of the age to be left alone at home. Their grandmother was amazing in the kitchen and Eunbi always suspected that was the cause of Eunkwang’s nit-pickiness with food. Eunbi regretted not spending more time in the kitchen with their grandmother when she was still living in Korea. She was too young then. She had thought there would be plenty of other opportunities. Their grandmother used to remind Eunbi that a woman needed to be a good cook to feed her family. The elderly lady would drag her into the kitchen to give her a crash course on Korean cuisine whenever Eunbi returned for a visit. She would complain that Eunbi spent too much time with her head in books and that men wouldn’t like a woman being too smart. Looking back, Eunbi suspected it was just the grandmother’s way of wanting to spend more time with her. By the time Eunbi truly reached the age of appreciating the limited time she could spend with the elderly, they had moved across the globe. And now, the matriarch of the family had passed and Eunbi relied mostly on her memories of what authentic home-cooked Korean food should taste like.

She didn’t explain the true extent of how much she missed the elderly lady to Hyunsik of course. But she sensed that he could tell she grew quiet after she told him that she picked this interest from their late grandmother. He didn’t probe, instead Hyunsik simply nodded and offered to help. He did give her the disclaimer that he cooked mostly for survival purposes, especially after he suspected he had food poisoning fore from Eunkwang’s cooking. She had laughed before noting his deadly serious expression realised that he was not joking. Some things were simply not genetic, Eunbi concluded.

Eunbi excused him from helping and explained she didn't mind preparing dinner by herself and that Hyunsik shouldn't feel obligated to stay around. She was used to it after all. Eunbi wouldn’t have any idea about delegating tasks to someone else in the kitchen. Hyunsik however, looked slightly conflicted. While he was a little less anxious than before, he was clearly worried that she would find him burdensome if he imposed his company on her further. Eventually, he agreed that he wouldn't be too useful and informed her to let him know if she changed her mind.

"Do you mind if I worked though?" Hyunsik asked after a moment’s hesitation, as he pulled out a hard drive from his backpack before pointing to his bedroom. “I really do need to complete and send out this file by today."

"Hyunsik?" Eunbi replied the man, crossing her arms as she glared at him from the kitchen.

"Yes?"

"This is your house."

He laughed in response before he nodded at her statement and finally returned to his room. Eunbi realised later, that maybe she should have asked what exactly did Hyunsik do for work. She knew Eunkwang mentioned it had something to do with music production, but that was all. It took a moment before Eunbi caught herself still staring at Hyunsik’s closed doors and she shook her head before starting to prepare for dinner.

Her head was clearer now. Hyunsik’s presence had provided her with a good distraction. She was pleased though, despite her earlier frustration, Eunbi did manage to get all the right groceries and condiments. Food was a source of comfort for Eunbi. She celebrated with food. She comforted herself with food. She enjoyed spending weekend afternoons in the kitchen. What she really would love to master was baking, but never managed to. Cooking allowed her some freedom, but she enjoyed working within the precision required with baking. She didn't have much of a sweet tooth personally, but she always enjoyed a good pastry or a dessert to end the meal. Pity she never had the time for it. it would be nice if she could get an apartment with an oven, Eunbi thought to herself, wondering if that was common in Seoul. That would be something she had to check with Eunkwang.

She was finally looking forward to house-hunting in Korea.

…

By the time Eunkwang returned two hours later, she had a hearty pot of spicy pork stew, braised ribs, chives pancake and kimchi fried rice all ready to serve. Her cousin's eyes rounded when he noted the amount of food on the dining table the moment he opened the door to their apartment.

"I could smell this down the corridor. But isn't this way too much food for the two of us?" Eunkwang exclaimed as he stepped into the kitchen where she was digging for the right utensils from the kitchen drawer.

"Hyunsik is here," Eunbi replied without looking up. "Although, his room went awfully quiet like half an hour ago. I suspected he had fallen asleep actually."

She could hear music from Hyunsik’s room earlier in the afternoon and she had quite enjoyed the background music as she cooked. When it went dead silent, she figured it meant the boy had managed to meet his deadline after all. Her cousin raised an eyebrow at her statement before marching off to his friend's room. She could hear his loud voice down the corridor before Eunkwang reappeared,  dragging out a yawning Hyunsik who caught her eye sheepishly.

"Why on earth were you sleeping and letting Eunbi prepare all this food by herself?" Eunkwang shook his head with a look of exasperation. It didn't seem to bother him though, as Eunbi noted that he had not questioned Hyunsik's sudden return. 

"But you always complain about my cooking…” Hyunsik grumbled under his breath before taking a closer look at the amount of food on the table. "Wow! Eunbi, this smells amazing."

"It's nothing. Just a simple meal to thank the both of you for your hospitality." Eunbi answered as she placed the cutleries down on the dining table. "Give me honest feedback please. I have been away for so long that I feel like my cooking is never quite authentic enough."

As both boys took their seats, Eunkwang nodded at her approvingly. "It's so unfair that you excel at everything you do, Eunbi. Meanwhile, I am always just trying to my best to make sure my food isn't raw."

She simply hummed in response as she took the seat beside her cousin. Eunkwang helped himself to the ribs first as Eunbi waited anxiously for his verdict.

"This tasted just like Grandma’s!" Eunkwang exclaimed with his mouth full, his eyes widening in surprise. “I didn’t know you had her recipe.”

Eunbi found herself beaming at her cousin’s approval before helping herself to the food as well. It was all the reassurance she needed.

"This is really good, Eunbi." Hyunsik said after he took a sip of the spicy pork stew. "You have to teach me one day."

"As though you have Eunbi’s talent!" Her cousin shot a teasing look at his friend.

"I am a decent cook, and you are in no place to comment." Hyunsik answered simply.

"You always overdo on the spices.”

“You poisoned me.”

“He tells everybody I gave him food poisoning, Eunbi! It’s completely unfounded accusation. i demand a trial!”

She found herself giggling throughout dinner as the two boys bickered back and fro endlessly.

The atmosphere throughout dinner was light and full of laughter. It was clear as day they were old friends who were extremely comfortable with each other. Whatever awkwardness that she had felt from Hyunsik earlier today, was gone completely. There was a playful glint in his eyes, as he explained to Eunbi in details, the memorable meal that her cousin prepared for them once that sent him to the doctor’s the following day, as Eunkwang scowled at his friend like an angry cat.

“You keep lying and I won’t let you move back in.”

“How long have you two been housemates? Since after college?” Eunbi turned towards Eunkwang. She vaguely remembered that the two friends knew each other from their university days.

“No, I lost touch with this idiot when he enlisted after we graduated. It was only 4 or 5 years ago we met up again. He happened to be looking for a place to stay then, and we have been stuck with each other since.”

There was an odd look on Hyunsik’s face when Eunkwang was explaining  but when Eunbi turned to him, the expression was gone in a flash.

“Come to think of it, we know each other for how long now? I think I haven’t even turn 20 when I first know you from Acappella.” Hyunsik questioned, while clearing the bowl of rice in front of him with alarming speed.

“And you are turning 30 next year.” Eunkwang shuddered at the thought before turning to Eunbi. “Hyunsik’s your age. We ended up in the same batch because I enlisted after high school.”

Eunbi nodded absented mindedly. She had remembered Eunkwang had enlisted at 19 as he needed to retake his university entrance exams. He was two years older than her, but they had started University in the same year, albeit in different countries.

“Well, I suppose there are worse housemates. Do you know the keyboard in my room? Hyunsik bought that for my 30th birthday. He's rolling in royalties now. This man here is an up and coming famous songwriter!” Eunkwang said, with a rather pleased expression.

“I am not rolling in royalties. Also, you needed an upgrade,” Hyunsik replied easily. “Your old one suffered quite a bit from our busking days.”

“Oh yea! Eunbi, remembered when I told you I tried busking few years back? It was just the two of us- Hyunsik plays the guitar and I played the keyboard. It was terrifying.” Eunkwang let out a hearty laugh at those memories. “I don’t know where I found that courage. I like our arrangement now so much better, playing in the bar with a regular crowd. Being out on the streets is for young people.”

“You clearly enjoyed it.” His friend retorted. “Remember that fancam of you singing with 500K views. You were basking in the limelight for months.”

“Yes, the peak of my singing career.” Eunkwang replied while pretending to wipe a tear from his left eye. “But I don’t have the energy for busking any more. We used to get out there 3 times a week and sang 2 to 3 hours every night. I have a day job and it was exhausting.”

“I am sure you are glad you experienced it though.” Eunbi commented.

“Yea, I guess we are all a bit more adventurous when we are young. But Hyunsik and I both agreed eventually we didn’t need that side income that much that we would lose sleep for it. Anyway, about 3 years ago, we got to know Changsub. We were trying to convince him to join us as a drummer, so we could play a wider genre of music, you know? He managed to get us a gig at his friend’s pub instead, although it may be because he wasn’t keen on the idea of busking... Anyway we are all just getting together now because we enjoy performing, not really to trying to make a career of it. So it’s great that we have a more comfortable routine, playing for regulars instead.” 

“You used to say you wanted to be a singer.” Eunbi remembered fondly. “Weren’t you planning to go for auditions if you fail the university entrance exam the second time?”

“I say a lot of unrealistic things when I was young, Eunbi. You used to say you wanted to be a doctor, but you ended up majoring in Finance and have thriving and climbing that corporate ladder since.”

She rolled her eyes at his words. “Not any more. I am happily unemployed.”

“I say enjoy the break! Honestly your working hours were insane. Trust me, your body will suffer for it when you are older. Working 12 hours a day isn’t sustainable. You are going to be 30 soon and you will be surprised at how fast our health can deteriorate.”

“I am still 28.” Eunbi grumbled in annoyance.

“Your birthday is in less than 2 months.”

“Yes, so I’m turning 29, not 30.”

“You are such a child.” Eunkwang was barely containing his eye-roll as Hyunsik laughed brightly at the two of them.

A couple of hours passed easily. It was comfortable. The three of them chatted, laughed and cleared all the food on the table. Eunbi realised she truly did miss having company during mealtimes. Th