Even after that day, Hyunjoong still couldn't think of anything. He dug hard into his memory and his knowledge.

"Hyung... Let's just send him to the hospital... He'll recover that way," Hyungjun told him repeatedly.

"Be quiet, let me think!" Hyunjoong exclaimed as he sat on the couch. Youngsaeng was upstairs in his room, playing with a rubrix cube, though everyone thought he was asleep.

Hyunjoong fell silent and thought for a bit.

"Food alone makes people feel happy. It can trigger tears, anger, and sometimes love."

"... Love...?"

"That can be felt through food no matter how bad it tastes. What matters is the feelings and hard work that the person put into making it. It may be burned to black or may be bitter or sour but if that person tried their hardest, none of that matters."

The older boy shot up from his seat and looked at Nara. "Are you good at cooking?"

Taken aback, the girl's tongue rolled over her words. "I-I'm okay..."

"Do you know how to make seasoned fried chicken?"

"Yeah."

The boy headed to the kitchen. "Teach me. I'm going to make some for Youngsaeng."

"But even if you do, he's not going to accept it. He's probably going to puke again," Hyungjun exclaimed.

Hyunjoong, with a fire of determination in his eyes, put on the apron. "No. If this doesn't work, then his aunt will come. If it does, tell her that it's okay. Youngsaeng once told me that even if the food tastes bad, as long as a person can feel that it was made just for them, then nothing will matter. His heart will be able to accept something that was made solely for him."

"Are you going to cook this alone?" Jungmin asked.

"I'm going to try," Hyunjoong said. "Now what ingredients to we need?"

-----------------------

A few clanging of pots and clumsy spills later, they were finally finished a plate of seasoned fried chicken. Nara fell onto the couch, exhausted. Kyujong and Jungmin had barely helped, but Hyungjun did the best he could. All Harry did was sit on the couch and watch in amusement as they yelled at each other. Hyunjong was sweating by the time they finished. Nara tasted it and froze.

"How is it?" Hyunjoong asked worriedly.

Nara stuck her tongue and made a grossed out face. "It's so sour..."

"What are we going to do?" Jungmin groaned. "Even Nara thinks it tastes horrible..."

"What did we do wrong?" Hyungjun muttered as he squatted on the ground, clearly confused.

Hyunjoong sighed. "Youngsaeng would know upon taste. He's an expert at this."

"I don't think we should feed him this..." Kyujong grumbled as he took a pair of chopsticks and ate a piece of chicken. "I must admit, it really does taste bad..."

"What tastes bad?" a hoarse voice croaked from the stairs.

They whipped around to see Youngsaeng stepping down at the bottom, holding the melted ice pack to his forehead as he swayed. He gripped onto the wall for support. Hyungjun ran over to him as Hyunjoong quickly hid the plate behind his back, smiing nervously.

"We... We were just talking about the time Jungmin tried to make something and it tasted really bad," Kyujong lied quickly.

Jungmin elbowed him in the ribs but played along, nodding with a big smile. "It really tasted terrible."

"Are you okay? You're still really warm with the fever," Hyungjun murmured.

Youngsaeng nodded as he approached the group. Harry sighed and stood up, grabbing the plate of chicken from Hyunjoong's hands and walking over to Youngsaeng.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Nara exclaimed in a start.

"What the hell!" Kyujong yelled at Harry. "Give that back!"

Youngsaeng looked wearily at Harry and then down at the plate of chicken. "What's this?"

"They made it for you," Harry told him. "They tried it and said that it tasted bad so they didn't want to give it to you."

The otter gazed at it for a few seconds before taking it into his hands and placing it on the table. Youngsaeng reached out his hand, his palm facing up as if wanting something. They stared at him.

"Fork," he grunted with a cough and a sneeze.

"Don't eat that," Hyunjoong told him. "We're serious. It tastes really bad."

"Ya!" Harry suddenly interrupted as he grabbed a fork from Nara. "You're the one that said that if you tried your best, the receiver wouldn't care if it tastes bad. Now you're going back on your words."

"But..." Hyungjun trailed off.

Youngsaeng took the fork from Harry and stabbed it into one of the chicken, bring it up to his mouth. The group watched and swallowed their spit in nervousness. Harry huffed. "What are you guys so tense for? Youngsaeng's just eating something. What's the big deal?"

There was no reply as the boy slid it off the fork with his teeth and chewed it slowly, one hand supporting him on the table. To their surprise, the boy didn't seem to need to rush to the washroom and puke. Instead, he just swallowed and smiled gently. "It's really good."

Everyone was silent in shock for a few seconds before suddenly jumping out of their seats and high fiving each other in success, cheering.

"Yes! I'll go phone his aunt now!" Hyungjun exclaimed and ran to the phone.

Kyujong, Jungmin, and Hyunjoong linked hands, skipping in a circle as they sang in joyfulness. Nara threw herself onto Youngsaeng, hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad you're better... It's a relief..."

Youngsaeng took another piece of chicken and popped it into his mouth, coughing at the same time. Nara looked at him in surprise. "Saengie, you don't have to force yourself to eat that."

The otter smiled. "But I want to. It's good."

Harry sighed and sat back on the couch. Nara dragged Youngsaeng over to him and smirked. "You were worried, too, weren't you?"

Harry scoffed. "Me? Worried? No way."

Youngsaeng, who was holding the plate of chicken, was eating hungrily, stuffing himself with seasoned fried chicken. Harry looked at him. "Is that actually good?"

The boy nodded and stabbed another piece with his fork, pointing it to Harry. "Want to try it?"

The latter took the fork and bit it but immediately gagged. "Oh my... You think that's tastes good?"

Youngsaeng smiled and sneezed. "I think all seasoned fried chicken's good."

Hyungjun tapped the otter on the shoulder. "Auntie wants to speak to you."

"Ah, neh," Youngsaeng said as he took the phone. "Annyeonghaseyo."

"Saengie! Do you know worried I was?" the woman exclaimed directly. "My goodness. I was going to leave tomorrow to take care of you."

"Mianhaeyo..." Youngsaeng pouted. "I'm fine now, though."

"Are you sure? I don't have to go over there?"

"You don't have to," he answered with a smile. "I"m okay. My friends are taking good care of me."

"That's good," there was a smile in her voice. "Alright then, take care of yourself, okay? Don't do that again or else Auntie's going to die from heart attack."

Youngsaeng chuckled. "Neh~"

"Arasseo. Annyeong Youngsaeng."

"Annyeong."

His aunt hung up and Youngsaeng put the phone back on the shelf. Someone wrapped their arms around the boy from behind, hugging him tightly. Youngsaeng recognized this warmth. He closed his eyes and stayed there for a while before pulling away slightly and turning around. "Thanks for doing all of this for me."

Hyunjoong blushed. "Y-You're welcome."

Harry went over to the two boys and grabbed onto Youngsaeng's arm, pulling him somewhere else.

"Ya! Where are you taking him?" Nara exclaimed from the living room.

"We need to talk," Harry replied as he closed the door behind him.

"What is it?" Youngsaeng asked curiously.

The latter dug into his pocket and pulled out the pictures. "Here's the truth."