Whoah, I totally did not mean for this to be long. But extra character = extra length, haha.

Enjoy!

I entered the kitchen to be greeted by D.O.-hyung and the sweet aroma of his pesto sauce as he stirred the basil leaves and oil together. Hyung’s pesto pasta wasn’t nearly as famous as his kimchi spaghetti, but it was a dish that everyone welcomed (with open arms and open mouths). There was something in the way Hyung cooked that turned simple pasta dishes into culinary treats; and boring ol’ pesto became mouth-watering under Hyung’s expertise.

“Are we having that for dinner, Hyung?” I asked, peeking over his shoulder as he busied himself with spreading some bread with his special garlic-butter mix.

“Yup,” he answered simply, gaze concentrated on slathering the slices of bread with his yellow concoction. “And don’t you dare eat some junk food!” he warned me. Hyung’s all-seeing eyes (with eyes as big as Hyung's, anyone could see everything) were at it again as he prevented me from opening the pantry, my hand already on the knob. He turned to me, eyes glazed with his usual bored look, “You’re going to ruin your appetite.”

I rolled my eyes. “But, Hyung, what do you think I came here for? To watch you cook? No.” I responded, standing my ground. “I want some junk food.”

It was Hyung’s turn to roll his eyes. “Fine, be that way,” he said, untying his apron as he made his way to the wall phone by the doorway. He smirked over his shoulder, knowing full well that I knew whose number he was going to dial.

Uh-oh.

“Noona! Se Hun’s going to eat junk food before dinner again!” he said. A few seconds later, he was nodding his head, “You’ll be here in a minute? Okay, thanks!” He put down the receiver and grabbed his apron. “See, Se Hun, you should’ve listened to me in the first place; but you have forced me to call on Noona.”

“That was low, Hyung,” I seethed, propping myself up and sitting on the counter.

“Please, I know you like it,” he quipped, wrapping the long ends of his apron around his torso. “I mean, just the mere mention of her name has got you obeying like a cute puppy. I can use that against you, you know.”

“You , Hyung,” I said, sticking my tongue out.

Hyung’s smug smirk returned and he shook his head, going back to his work. I, on the other hand, decided that it was just better to watch him, rather than have Noona scold me for eating chips before the all-important meal that was supper.

After a moment of silence, with me simply watching as Hyung mixed the pesto, D.O.-hyung spoke. “Hey, Se Hun,” he turned to me, waving his silicon spatula in the air, “I’m curious: will you ever tell Hyung about, well…you know…” he trailed off, gaze falling onto his pesto.

The kitchen ambience had suddenly turned…stale.

“No way,” I quickly responded; it was an automatic answer. “There’s just no way, Hyung. Besides, I still have to sort it out. I’m…at a standstill, myself.”

“I don’t believe you, Se Hunnie,” he said, restoring his pace at stirring, “Because I know you’ve had that figured out ages ago. What you haven’t figured out is whether you’re giving yourself the chance, or you’re giving it to Hyung.” Hyung sighed. “If I were you, I’d do it,” he mumbled.

Great, Hyung, how am I supposed to answer now.

In the end, Oh Se Hun, you are just a kid. And even though you know what you want, you don’t know if and how you can get it.

You are just a kid, Oh Se Hun.

 I am just a kid, and it , because Noona doesn’t ne—

“You wanted me here, Kyung Soo?” Noona asked, casually breezing inside the kitchen with her giant manual of rocks in hand. She closed the book and looked up at us, eyebrow raised. “Se Hun, you okay?” she said.

“I, uh…”

“Noona!” Hyung sang, dropping his spatula on the counter and sauntering towards her. I watched as he smiled shyly at her, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. Noona was as tall (or taller, I think) as Hyung, so their height difference (or lack thereof) was a running gag among us. I mean, I would feel humiliated, too, to have a girl taller than I am (no, world, I’m not being ist; that is just the way Oh Se Hun thinks). Hyung really did look adorable next to Noona—which, for me, is a pretty bad thing considering my heart’s predicament. That aside, the way Hyung’s haughty side mellowed in front of Noona was a classic.

“Tch, like a cute puppy, huh,” I murmured, “I can use this against you, you know, Hyung.”

“Se Hun, you’re talking with yourself again,” Noona chuckled as she and Hyung strolled towards me.

“A-am not!” I stammered, hopping off to meet them halfway. “You have an exam again, Noona?” I asked, switching topics as soon as I could.

Noona’s tiny smile found its way on her lips as she shrugged and showed me her manual. It was everything a kid like me wouldn’t understand: thick, old and intimidating. “No, just a quiz.”

“Anyway,” she placed her manual aside, and then poked me on the chest.

Inner Se Hun reaction center:  (´ ▽｀).。ｏ♡

“D.O. said you were going to eat chips before dinner again. You know that you shouldn’t,” she scolded me, crossing her arms.

“But, Nooooonnnaaaa,” I whined, showing her my clean hands, “I got nothing! Can’t believe you’d believe Hyung just like that.”

She deadpanned. “Se Hun, we all know that the only reason you’d be here is when you get some of your chips.”

Caught red-handed.

“But I’m clean, I swear!” I defended. I shot Hyung a glare, to which he responded with an evil chuckle. I didn’t even know chuckles could be evil.

Noona tittered, “Okay, okay I believe you. But had I not gone down, you would’ve gotten away with it.”

“Okay, that, I admit to. But what’s important is that I didn’t actually do it.”

“Right, and congratulations, Se Hun,” she greeted, giving a quick pat on my head. “And you, too, Kyung Soo, for telling me,” she turned to Hyung and he replied with an appreciative smile.

“Anytime, Noona. Well, I have to go back to cooking. Sorry to bother you from studying!” he apologized, bowing slightly.

Hyung, you should’ve thought of that before calling her for something petty. I rolled my eyes.

“It’s no problem, really,” she assured him. Noona took a quick sniff of the aroma wafting through the kitchen. “Pesto?” Hyung grinned at her and nodded. Noona’s eyes lit up as she walked to the counter to take a look at Hyung’s array of ingredients. Her sight fixed on a bunch of basil leaves inside a white plastic bowl. “Hey, you still have some extra! Mind if I take them, D.O.?” she requested.

“Sure!” Hyung agreed—a little too quickly, if you’d ask me. “What for, Noona?”

“Want some tea?” she said, grinning at the both us.

~

We all seated ourselves around the small, circular table at the corner of the kitchen as we waited for the noodles to cook (because cooking pasta enough for 30 people—many of whom can be counted as two—was not an fast, easy task). Noona settled herself in between Hyung and I, and poured some tea into our respective cups. I frowned at the steaming green liquid that flowed out, remembering the taste of Green Tea. “Basil tea doesn’t take a lot to prepare, unlike those fancy-schmancy tea that come from fancy-schmancy trees and shrubs,” she said, sliding me my cup, “But basil tea is a good source of antioxidants. Plus, it’s a great de-stresser, and you both know how much I need that.” Noona laughed at herself, “I seriously need a de-stresser.”

“This tastes great. Thank you, Noona.” Hyung chirped, taking a slow and cautious sip of the tea after giving it a few blows.

I, meanwhile, continued to throw daggers at my teacup. Noona, who was always quick to notice things, set down her cup and turned to me. “The green color is icky isn’t it, Se Hunnie?”

“…Yes.”

Noona chuckled, fanning the steam away from my cup. “It’s not Green Tea—“

“Yes, it is.”

“Literally, it is. And honestly, okay, it’s a bit bitter, but it has a nice sweet aftertaste, too. It’s a nice, simple tea during a nice, simple night.”

“Yeah, Se Hun, give it a try,” Hyung pitched in, batting his big- eyes at me. “Noona brewed this especially for us. It’d be rude to object.”

I scoffed at Hyung’s words. “Now you make it sound like it’s an obligation, Hyung~” I teased, “Are you sure you weren’t just being respectful when you said that it tasted great?”

In an instant, Hyung’s ruddy face paled and he turned to Noona to shake his head and deny my accusations. He insisted that he really did like the tea, and that he didn’t drink it only out of respect. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, Noona!” he sputtered, fiddling with his fingers. Hyung’s saucer eyes trembled as he tried to correct his blunder.

Noona chuckled, ruffling Hyung’s hair as she told him that there was nothing to be worried about.

Great, now I feel like a jerk.

“And no, Se Hun, you’re not being a jerk,” she said, shifting to me.

“…Oh, did I say that out loud, Noona?” I grinned sheepishly.

She laughed in response. “Yes. Now, going back to my basil tea: won’t you give it a shot? It tastes nowhere near like Green Tea, you know. And besides, didn’t you say that you were starting to appreciate the bitterness of Green Tea? This should be easy-peasy then.”

I looked at Noona’s deep, expectant stare and then at Hyung’s big, pleading eyes, and back again to Noona’s gaze. How could I say no when I was sandwiched between two of EXO’s most persuasive individuals?

Noona used Expectant Leer! D.O.-hyung used Puppy Dog Pout!

Both are Super Effective!

I did not just compare my life to a Pokemon battle.

“Fine,” I surrendered, gingerly taking the cup. I took one last, disgusted look at it before taking an eensy-weensy sip.

And surprise, surprise.

“It’s good!” I exclaimed, shocked as the sweet and soothing liquid gushed down my throat. There was that slightly bitter taste that Noona mentioned, but overpowering that was the light, almost honey-like taste of basil which was a stark contrast to the usual herbal flavor of pesto.

“I told you,” she said, patting my head. “Would I brew tea you wouldn’t like?”  

“No!” I answered cheerfully, and then returned to finishing my tea.

As I brought the cup nearer to my lips, we heard a very audible gasp coming from the doorway. And lo and behold, there was Xiao Lu, a hand dramatically clutching his chest. “Tea without me? I want some, too~” he cooed, skipping merrily towards our little tea party. He bent down to get a quick sniff of the aromatic scent of basil tea. A dreamy smile appeared on Hyung’s face as he continued to take in the lovely smell, his eyes closed in bliss. “Smells good. Basil tea, right?” he asked his roommate. Noona flashed him a tiny smile—the kind that seemed different from her other tiny smiles, the kind that seemed cryptic, that kind only Hyung would understand—before giving a curt nod.

“But,” she said, “We ran out. Tiny kettle, you know,” she pointed at the small pot beside her.

Hyung narrowed his eyes at her. “You drank a second cup, didn’t you?” To which Noona averted his glare and smiled. “Ouuuch! That’s not nice,” Hyung cried. A split second later, however, Hyung was all smiles as he pulled on the ends of Noona’s sleeve. “Well then, get coffee with me! I have to stay up late tonight, and I need my shot of some espresso!” Hyung continued to pull at her sleeve, urging her to stand up.

Laughing, Noona rose from her seat to stop his pestering. “All right, all right! I’ll get coffee with you. But we talked about the dangers of espresso, Lu Han. I don’t want you getting some heart ailments because of too much caffeine.”

Hyung chortled, too, “Okay, fine, I’ll lower my caffeine intake. But as compensation, you also have to stay up all night to wake me up when the tiny amount of caffeine wears off!”

“Yes, yes. I will. I mean, no one in the dorm would know how to wake you up anyway. You only have me to depend on during such crises. Anyway,” Noona, finally realizing that D.O.-hyung and I were still here, turned to us, an apologetic look in her eyes. “Sorry, kids, this roommate of mine needs adult supervision when he’s buying coffee. Will it be okay if I leave the kettle and cups to you?”

Hyung looked up to them, “Don’t worry, Noona. I’ll be sure to dump them in the dishwashing pile so that this night’s washers can take them. Will you be having dinner here?”

“Definitely,” Noona said, “Won’t miss your pesto pasta for anything, D.O.”

And, before I could stop my stupid mouth, I slipped, “Not even for me, Noona?”

You deserve a moment of awkward silence, Oh Se Hun.

Noona’s smile widens to an impossible proportion, and soon, she’s laughing and reaching my hair. “Oh, then that’s a different story, kid—“

“Come on!” Hyung interrupted, pulling at her sleeve before her hand could even reach my head. “We gotta go now if we don’t want to be late for dinner!” he says, dragging her across and outside the kitchen. “See you later!” Hyung bids us goodbye, but he and Noona are already in the lobby.

I didn’t even get to say goodbye, Hyung. That’s not fair. You don’t go depriving your favorite dongsaeng his favorite Noona. What kind of Hyung does that.

 :(

It’s a minute later that D.O.-hyung pokes my cheek. “See, Se Hun, I’d take that chance if I were you.”

I could only pout at Hyung’s words and stare at the pale green tea in front of me. The sweet subtle aroma of basil had faded to almost nothing, and I could feel through my fingers that the tea wasn’t as hot as before, losing its rich taste. “Easier said than done, Hyung.”

Author's Note:

Yay! A surprise appearance by D.O.!  Sometimes, when I watch interviews, I feel that D.O. is actually a snobby diva from the way his eyes seem so bored or are in the verge of rolling. Am I the only one who sees that? :)) 

Anyway, I love EXO's comeback! Thank goodness SM finally realized the errors of their ways with Wolf and came back strongly with Growl. Knowing them, however, the next comeback will most probably be...meh. It's like a cycle of good and bad songs in SM. I don't get it. 

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