Junhong knocked on the door of the Bangs’ apartment at exactly five o’clock that Thursday. Yongguk pulled open the door halfheartedly. He had no idea what exactly they would do at this meeting either. 

The kid had changed out of his school uniform into clothes that were too big and baggy and shapeless for his lean frame, and even though he’d only gone a few doors down he was wearing his mask and enormous winter coat. 

Yongguk grunted as a greeting, stepping aside so Junhong could enter the apartment. It was nowhere near as tidy as the Chois’. Both Yongguk’s parents worked a lot, so they weren’t home very often. As long as the house was decently clean, they didn’t really care how tidy it was. And since Yongguk’s older sister had left for college around this time last year, there was no one left who cared enough to pick up. 

Junhong didn’t comment on it, just followed Yongguk’s example by sitting down on the couch. “You can take your coat off,” Yongguk muttered. It was about a billion degrees in the apartment. He himself was wearing sweatpants and an undershirt. 

The kid hesitated, but then shrugged out of the heavy coat. He was wearing a sweatshirt underneath, which wasn’t much better. After a moment’s hesitation, he took off the mask too. It wasn’t like Yongguk hadn’t already seen the scar on his jaw. 

“So?” he demanded, setting the mask aside on top of his coat. “What are we supposed to do?”

Yongguk shrugged. “I don’t know.” 

They sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes. Yongguk had no idea what to say to this kid. Junhong wasn’t like his friends; if he made an inappropriate joke, Junhong would look affronted rather than laugh. He didn’t like when people didn’t laugh at his jokes. 

Junhong looked around the living room. “Where is your family?” he finally broke the silence. 

“My parents both work late,” Yongguk explained, fiddling with a stray thread at the hem of his shirt. “My sister’s gone to college and who knows where my brother is. Probably at the library studying.” His tone left no doubt as to his feelings about that. He rolled his eyes at the thought of his goody-two-shoes brother. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

Junhong looked down at his hands. “...No.” 

“Only child, huh?” Yongguk grinned. “Lucky.” 

The younger shrugged. “Yeah. Lucky.”

Another awkward silence stretched out. Yongguk chanced a glance over at Junhong. The bruise at his temple had turned a nasty green color as it healed, discoloring his otherwise flawless skin. The younger was fiddling with the sleeve of his sweatshirt and didn’t seem to notice Yongguk staring. The elder was grateful for that. He didn’t want Junhong to get the wrong idea or anything. He didn’t want Junhong to think he wanted to be friends. 

Finally the kid let out an explosive sigh. “Look, can we just cut the crap already? I’ve got better things to do than sit here doing nothing.”

Yongguk let out a throaty chuckle. “Well, what do you want to do? I’m supposed to be mentoring you or whatever. What do you need to be mentored in?”

“Nothing,” Junhong reiterated, a little impatiently. “I’m hungry and I’ve got homework to do and-”

“You know what?” Yongguk interrupted him smoothly. “I’m hungry too. Do you like chajang myun?” 

Junhong looked skeptical. “You know how to cook?”

Yongguk grinned as he got up and headed to the kitchen, the middle schooler following on his heels. “Your doubt hurts me to the core,” he teased. “I grew up cooking for myself. I’m sort of amazing.” 

Junhong still didn’t look convinced, but he perched himself on a chair at the kitchen table and watched while Yongguk maneuvered around the small cooking area, pulling out the appropriate pots and pans, getting food from the pantry and refrigerator. “So cooking is your amazing talent?”

“Only one of them; I have many,” Yongguk corrected, boiling water for the noodles. 

Junhong rolled his eyes when he thought Yongguk wasn’t looking. “So modest,” he muttered under his breath. 

They didn’t speak much as Yongguk cooked, and soon he was bringing plates of food to the table, along with cups of tea. Junhong looked a little apprehensive, but he picked up his chopsticks and cautiously took a bite. 

“Hey!” he exclaimed through a mouthful of noodles and sauce. “This is actually really good!”

“I told you it would be,” Yongguk muttered, secretly pleased. He’d never actually cooked for anyone other than Daehyun before, and of course Daehyun would tell him it tasted good. Daehyun loved all food. 

Junhong dug in with gusto, and Yongguk was surprised. It was as if the kid hadn’t eaten for a week, the way he gobbled up everything and then embarrassedly asked if he could have seconds. Even though Yongguk could have eaten more, something in him wouldn’t let him refuse Junhong so he gave the rest of the food to his guest. It was nice for someone to enjoy his cooking, at any rate. 

“That was really good, Hyung,” Junhong beamed, and Yongguk was taken aback at the sudden affectionate honorific. “Maybe you could teach me to cook sometime? I don’t know how at all.”

“I-I guess,” Yongguk muttered, wondering why it felt so strange for the kid to be calling him ‘hyung.’

Junhong looked around at the messy kitchen. “Should I help you clean up the mess?” he asked, glancing at the pots and pans and dishes piled on the counter. 

Yongguk shook his head. “Nah, that’s fine. I’ll do it. You’ve probably still got homework to do.” 

“Ah, yeah. I do.” For some reason, Junhong looked like he didn’t want to leave. “I-I guess we should take a picture or something. To, you know, prove we met up tonight.”

“Good idea,” Yongguk said, pulling out his phone. He dragged Junhong over to the counter, where they each held up their empty plate and forced smiles that were uncomfortable to both of them. 

Then Yongguk was walking Junhong to the door, the younger pulling on his mask and coat even though he was only going a few doors down. “I guess I’ll see you next week,” he muttered. 

            “Yeah. Sure. Bye.” Junhong hunched his shoulders up as he walked slowly back to his apartment, and Yongguk went in to clean up the kitchen before his brother came home and nagged the living hell out of him. 

Thank you to everyone who's been subbing and commenting on this story! I really appreciate it! I also really like to hear your guesses as to what's going on ^^