Sungyeol sat in silence, observing the bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of him.

True to his word, Myungsoo had indeed taken him to his house and started up a big pot of soup. He made chicken noodle soup – which he considered his ‘specialty.’ Sungyeol had been sitting at the marble counter, watching him cook in curiosity. Myungsoo would sometimes catch his looking, and give a smile. Sungyeol would smile back.

Maybe it was because it was just the two of them, but Sungyeol felt warmer when Myungsoo cast him his kitten-like grin. He felt like they were almost friends.

Almost.

Picking up his spoon, he pushed a few of the vegetables in the soup around, trying to detect anything suspicious. He constantly glanced back and forth from the soup to Myungsoo.

Myungsoo, who was leaning on his countertop, watched his with an amused smile.

“Yeol, I didn’t poison it, so just eat it.”

“How do I know that?”

Myungsoo shrugged. “You can either choose to believe me or not, but let me tell you – soup works wonders when you’re sick.”

Cautiously, Sungyeol picked up the spoon, and brought it up to his lips. He nearly spit it all out a second later.

“HOT!” he screamed, fanning his tongue. “That’s so hot!”

Myungsoo rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Lee Sungyeol, I swear – you are the epitome of stupidity. It’s fresh soup, Yeol, how could you expect it to not be hot?”

Sungyeol pouted, looking down at the bowl. “I don’t know…” he mumbled.

Myungsoo rolled his eyes again and picked up Sungyeol’s spoon. He lifted the soup up to his own lips and blew on his, cooling it down. Then, he held it up to Sungyeol’s mouth.

“Eat,” he ordered.

Warily, Sungyeol sipped at the spoon being held at his mouth. Smacking his lips, he sipped again, liking it. Then, he took the spoon himself and began eating – blowing before putting it in his mouth, of course.

“See?” Myungsoo said, “I told you that soup was my specialty.”

Sungyeol nodded. “It’s good,” he commented. “I like it. I never knew that you could cook.”

He shrugged. “Most people don’t. Be honored that you get to taste my cooking, Yeol,” he teased.

Sungyeol raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so nice to me, now?”

Myungsoo’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

“I mean, at school, you’re kind of cocky, but here, you’re really nice to me.”

“What are you talking about?” Myungsoo asked sarcastically. “I’m always nice to you.”

Sungyeol rolled his eyes as Myungsoo chuckled.

Myungsoo shrugged. “I guess it’s more comfortable when I’m in my own house. Plus, at school, your reactions are funny, and embarrassing you is fun, so I tease you at school.”

Sungyeol scrunched his nose as he ate some more of the soup.

“Annoying or not, your soup is good,” he said.

Myungsoo smiled and ruffled his hair. “Thanks, Yeol. I mean, your compliments don’t really mean anything to me, but they’re nice all the same.”

Sungyeol glared. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Normally, a person would say ‘that means a lot coming from you’ or something like that, right?”

Sungyeol nodded.

Myungsoo continued, “Well, it doesn’t really mean anything to me, so I don’t care.”

Sungyeol glared at him again. “Yeah, well, I don’t care about you either,” he murmured, shoving another spoon into his mouth.

Myungsoo chuckled as he took his apron off (which was red with plaid pockets, for the curious ones) and draped it over the back of his chair.

“I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” he called over his shoulder as he plodded up the staircase.

As he sat alone, he thought about earlier that day. Were he and Myungsoo only acquaintances? Or could he consider them friends? He certainly didn’t hate him, that’s for sure. He shook his head, shaking away the thoughts. Such complicated thoughts would give a sick person like him a headache.

Sungyeol only chuckled as he glanced around the house. In the center of the counter there was a vase of white lilies and a few picture frames. One picture was an old photo of Myungsoo graduating elementary school. Despite his age, he wore a mature smile with kind eyes. His hair, however was big and fluffy, which didn’t really suit him. Another frame was a formal portrait style photo with a middle-aged woman, a girl in her early twenties, and Myungsoo in his teens. From the quality of the photo, it looked to be a few years back.

What surprised Sungyeol though was that there was no father in the picture. No sign of a father anywhere in the house, actually.

“I’m back!” Myungsoo announced upon his arrival.

“Welcome back,” Sungyeol chuckled sarcastically. “What were you doing up there?”

“I needed to pee.”

Sungyeol snorted and a spoonful of soup went flying onto his pants. Myungsoo just rolled his eyes and called him an idiot before tossing a napkin towards him.

“Thanks,” Sungyeol chuckled.

“So,” Myungsoo continued, “what were you doing while my godly presence was missing?”

“While you were gone,” Sungyeol said, “I looked around. I like those pictures that you have. The one with you graduating kindergarten is just impeccably attractive,” he joked. “Especially with your two front teeth missing.”

Myungsoo snatched the picture off of the counter and held it possessively against his chest. “Who said you could look at that?” he cried, flustered. “I looked terrible as a five-year-old! My hair was explosive!”

 At that, Sungyeol immediately cracked up, nearly spilling all of his soup on the counter. Myungsoo, who was glaring, couldn’t fight the infectious laugh that the choding had caused. Soon, he was laughing along as well.

“Well,” Sungyeol sighed, calming down, “at least I don’t feel sick, anymore.”

“That’s good,” Myungsoo commented. “That means you won’t get yelled at by Sungyeon and I tomorrow for coming to school sick.”

Sungyeol rolled his eyes. “I swear, Seungyeon is my mother and you’re just an annoying brother. What’s the matter with you two?”

Myungsoo just shrugged as he smiled, placing the picture back onto the counter. Sungyeol noticed, however, that the normal glint in his eyes seemed missing. Quickly, he decided to change the subject.

“So, who’s the girl in the picture,” he asked, pointing at the family portrait.

“Oh her? That my older sister, Jessica.”

“You two don’t look that similar,” the choding noticed.

Myungsoo smiled softly. “She’s… adopted. It’s a long story, so I’ll save you the trouble,” he whispered.

He raised an eyebrow. “Adopted? Okay, I won’t ask then. So… what about your dad?”

Myungsoo his heels and picked up a random dish and brought it to the sink for washing. Sungyeol stared curiously at his back as the sound of running water filled the air. He could have sworn, that when Myungsoo turned away, there was something bitter in his eyes.

“Myungsoo?” he called hesitantly. “Are you… alright?”

His back still facing Sungyeol, Myungsoo turned off the water tap and placed the dish on a towel next to the sink.

He sighed. “I’m fine,” he stated.

“Are you sure?” Sungyeol asked again. “I’m sorry if I upset you by mentioning him – I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything.”

Myungsoo his lips and turned around, one of his crooked smiles on his face. “No worries,” he said. “Let’s just… not talk about my father, okay, Yeol?” he asked, adding a bit of a mocking tone.

Sungyeol smirked, trying to ease the tension. “Whatever you want, Myung.”

Myungsoo laughed, wiping his damp hands on his shirt. “My gosh, I never thought we’d actually use the nicknames we picked for each other!”

Sungyeol shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with them. They’re cute!”

Myungsoo scoffed and crossed his arms. “I, Lee Sungyeol, am not a cute person.”

Sungyeol sat there, scrutinizing his facial features. After a few minutes, a light-bulb blinked in his head.

“Well, if you ask me–” Sungyeol started.

“Which I didn’t,” Myungsoo cut in smugly.

The choding rolled his eyes and continued. “If you ask me, you kind of look like a cat.”

Myungsoo stood there, looking shocked. “A cat?!” he repeated, dumbfounded.

“Hmm, actually no – you look more like a kitten!” Sungyeol said happily.

Myungsoo groaned, knowing what he was going to say next.

“I should re-name you Eddy!” he squealed ecstatically.

Myungsoo almost choked right then and there.

“Eddy?!” he repeated, a panicking tone in his voice. “The Pororo character?!”

“Yep!”

“Stupid – Eddy is a fox not a cat!”

“So?! Eddy’s face is like yours! So, I think I’m going to call you Eddy from now on! It’s cute, too!”

“No.”

Sungyeol pouted. “Why not?”

“Because that name is degrading,” Myungsoo concluded.

“It is not! It’s cute – super cute!”

“Haven’t I told you that I’m not a cute person?!”

Sungyeol stood up with his empty bowl, walked over and placed it in the sink. He turned back to Myungsoo, a cheeky smile lighting up his eyes.

“You’re cute to me~!” he cooed, pinching Myungsoo’s cheek.

Myungsoo turned a shade of apple red for three seconds, staring at the choding with wide eyes.

Then he punched Sungyeol in the gut.

“OW!” he cried, clutching his stomach while falling to the floor.

“Jeez, can’t you take a punch?” Myungsoo asked in pure curiousity. “You’re a man, aren’t you?”

“Yeah – a sick man, remember?!” Sungyeol yelled from the floor.

Myungsoo looked up for a moment, contemplating. After a second, he planted a stupid cat-like grin on his face.

“Oh, yeah!” he remembered.

Sungyeol just grunted from below, a sure sign that he was annoyed. Myungsoo chuckled and stared down at him, thoroughly amused by his pain.

“Say,” he began, staring at Sungyeol, “from this position, you’re cheeks look chubbier. In fact, you kind of look like Keroro or… Ah! You look like Dooly the Dinosaur!”

…

The next day at school, Sungyeol came to school perfectly healthy.

“Oh, good,” Seungyeon sighed happily, “you’re not sick anymore. What’d you do – acupuncture?”

“No,” Sungyeol replied, “Myungsoo dragged me to his house and made me soup. After that, he made me promise to sleep a lot with a warm blanket even if I had to staple it onto myself. So, I did.”

“You stapled a blanket onto you?!” Seungyeon nearly shrieked.

“No! I slept and made sure the blanket stayed on! I had to get Daeyeol to tuck in the side of the quilt. I could barely move.”

Seungyeol laughed. “Oh, that’s what you meant! Good for you, then! I’m glad Myungsoo made sure you got better. He’s a nice boy.”

Sungyeol snorted. “Definitely nice,” he replied sarcastically.

At that moment, Myungsoo entered the classroom, a few girls flanking his sides, repeatedly asking for his number.

He spotted Sungyeol. “Hi Dooly!” he yelled across the room.

Sungyeol glared at him before forcing an eye-smile. “Hi Eddy~!” he called back.

Myungsoo frowned. As he reached Sungyeol’s desk, he gave the choding a flick on the head. Sungyeol glared up at him and Myungsoo stared right back. They stayed like that for a couple minutes, just staring.

They both burst out laughing.

The two of them laughed so loudly, every corner of the class turned their heads to stare at the two briefly.

Seungyeon raised an eyebrow. “What’s up with you two?”

Sungyeol was laughing hysterically. “Did you see the look on his face?! It was hilarious!”

“You should’ve seen the look on your face!” Myungsoo countered, laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach. “You are the personification of the word ‘derp’!”

That set the two of them off again into violent fits of laughter.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, had ever seen Kim Myungsoo laugh so hard. In fact, they had barely ever seen him laugh at all. It really surprised the class the Lee Sungyeol could make the chic and icy Kim Myungsoo laugh.

Seungyeon shook her head. “You two have got the be the weirdest set of friends I have ever met.”

She left to go to her own desk as Sungyeol and Myungsoo finally calmed down. They looked at each other, snickering a few times.

“So,” Sungyeol started, “do you really think we’re friends like Seungyeon said? I mean… I kind of met you a week ago, but we’ve spent so much time together.”

Myungsoo thought for a second, his kitten-like smile returning to his face.

“Yeah. I think we can be friends. It’s better than being enemies.”

Sungyeol smile genuinely and stuck out his hand. “Friends?”

Myungsoo took his hand and grasped it firmly. “Friends.”

“Then welcome to the Lee Sungyeol friendship club!” Sungyeol said ecstatically.

“Friendship club? I have to be a part of a club?”

“Yes.”

“…That’s stupid. We’re not friends anymore.”

“Hey! We can’t just proclaim our friendship and then end it!”

“Yes, we can, because I just did.”

Sungyeol pouted. “No. We can’t end our friendship unless both of us are unhappy with it. You’re unhappy but I’m not.”

Myungsoo looked him dead in the eye, and prepared himself for what Sungyeol what do after what he was about to say.

“Coffee is disgusting.”

“Our friendship is through.”

WHaaa!!! I finally updated!!! Yayyy~!!! Do you likey the chappy? :3 I like it xD it's cute! ps: as for the Eddy and Dooly reference -

Eddy & Dooly:

Yeah, well, that's all for today folks~! xD

Quinnie - OUT!!! B]

EDIT: 1/4/12

SOOO! I realized yesterday that I updated without editing WHICH, by the way, is practically a SIN to me! So, you could probably tell that part of the last chapter was there and the '...' scene breaks weren't big and bold as usual. SO, I went back and edited, because it irked me and maybe it irked you all too, so don't be surprised that the chapter's changed. AND!!! I forgot to add -

Myungsoo's explosive hair as a child:

YAY! Okay, now I can leave happily =3

Remember to subscribe&comment to keep me motivated and to give you more chapters~!!!

I LOVE YOU LIKE SUNGYEOL LOVES MYUNGSOO COFFEE!!!

~Quinnie