The moment he walked in, he was dragged out, hooked arm in arm with Kyungjin.

“Do you have a kitchen?” she asked excitedly with a grin on her face.

Minseok, who was walking backwards awkwardly, struggled to get out of her hold. When he succeeded he brushed himself off of invisible dirt and stood his ground, forcing Kyungjin to stop and wait for him.

She looked at him curiously, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly.

Minseok turned to look at her with a displeased expression. “Can’t you tell me what’s happening and not abruptly drag me somewhere without telling me anything? Like a normal person?”

She tsked, shaking her head. “We,” she articulated slowly as if she was talking to a small child as she pointed to herself and then at Minseok, “Are going to bake cookies. Thus a kitchen is needed.” She looked expectantly at him. “So, kitchen?”

He blinked back at her, wondering how she could come up so many random tasks to do, and finally nodded.

She grinned, once again attempting to grab onto Minseok’s arm; however, this time Minseok managed to evade her attack, much to her surprise. She looked at him in wonder as he walked briskly past her while she snickered behind him, laughing internally at child-like action. And she followed behind him, skipping along the way.

“You have a nice house.”

“It’s a house.”

“Still, a nice one. I know.”

“Right. And you know because you snuck in my house uninvited before. I call that trespassing.”

Kyungjin blanched a little before smiling guiltily. “Water under the bridge,” she muttered. “What’s done is done, right?”

Minseok gave her a wary look as he unlocked the front door of his house. He paused and glanced behind him. “Tell me why we aren’t doing this at your house? I’m sure you have a kitchen.”

She snorted. “Really now? You ask me this now while we’re about to step inside your house?”

He shrugged.

“My mom wouldn’t approve,” she simply gave out.

Minseok nodded, remembering that her mother didn’t know about her little escapes from the hospital. What he wanted to know is how her mother didn’t hear about it from other people, people who saw Kyungjin wandering outside of the hospital. But he decided that it wasn’t much to think about. If she was caught, then she was caught. And if she wasn’t, he wasn’t going to say anything about it.

He pushed open the door, gesturing the girl inside, who, without a moment of hesitation, hopped in, pulled off her shoes, and ventured inside.

Minseok blinked after her, carefully putting his shoes aside, pulling off his jacket, and following after her.

He found her standing in the kitchen. It was a rather small kitchen, with the refrigerator to the left of the walkway, the stove and oven in front, and the counter to the left. She spun around, rubbing her hands in glee.

“I haven’t cooked, baked, or set anything on fire in ages. This is so very exciting.” She nodded, pulling out her notebook that she carried with her. She set it down on the counter, pulling out a loose-leafed paper she had stuck in earlier.

“This,” she said waving it in front of Minseok, “Is a very special recipe.”

“Because it can grant you magical powers?” he replied, nodding with satisfaction at his own imagination.

She blinked at him with wide eyes, unable to believe that Minseok would say something so uncharacteristically like him. She didn’t realize that he had an attraction for fantasy, but she knew she shouldn’t be too surprised with the boy who could hear people’s thoughts.

She shook her head. “Well, not that special. It’s a recipe that has been passed down in my family. So I guess that it’s special enough in that sense? But everyone who eats them becomes happy!”

“I’m sure there’s another reason for that.” He shook his head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Luckily, Minseok’s mother had stocked their kitchen with the necessary ingredients as well as Minseok knowing where they were.

The cookie recipe was nothing special, except for the fact that it called for chocolate stars. Kyungjin was worried at first that he didn’t have it, but when he pulled out a package, she was satisfied knowing that they had all their ingredients.

Minseok, who didn’t even know that there was a difference between regular chocolate chips and chocolate stars, didn’t seem to care. What really interested him was that there were at least seven different kinds of chocolate hidden in the pantry. He never knew his mother was a big chocolate eater.

He never really considered his mother’s interests, or rather his family’s interests. He had always kept to himself, not bothering to care for anything out of his own interests. Some might call him selfish and self-absorbed, but Minseok never considered it like that. It just happened that he doesn’t bother with anything unless it directly affected him. He wasn’t the type of person who went out of his way to satisfy his own needs. Instead, he only went to the trouble to do something when it directly correlated with him. That was just how he lived through his life.

But now he was directly met with what could possibly be something he really never thought about. What his mother liked.

He knew what his mother did. She was an accountant. He knew that his mother was a sociable person; she liked to talk to others, even to strangers. He knew when her birthday was, when his father’s was, and even when his parents’ anniversary was. But he didn’t know what her favorite color was, what she liked to eat, or what she wanted to be as a child. The same went for his father.

And the more Minseok thought about it, he realized that there was a feeling of wanting to know. He was actually interested in what his parents were like. He might have similar feelings a long time ago, back when he still wasn’t corrupted, but over the years, Minseok simply stopped caring for others and their preferences.

But the more he thought about it, he understood that those sentiments stopped there. He might have been interested in his parents, but he didn’t have any opinion on anyone else.

Minsoek then turned to look at Kyungjin who was diligently measuring out the ingredients and putting it in a bowl.

He wondered if he was interested in what her preferences were. He stared at her, letting himself ponder on that idea. Did he actually care about what she liked, how she was growing up, or what she thought about the future?

He was abruptly brought back to the present when Kyungjin pushed the bowl of measured ingredients in front of him, and then brought a hand held mixer closer to him. “Please mix,” she ordered.

Minseok stared at her, looked down at machine, and delicately picked it up. And for the next seven minutes as he mixed, he convinced himself that he didn’t have any interest in Kyungjin except when he had to become involved.

After adding the dry ingredients and mixing the concoction together, Kyungjin instructed Minseok to put the bowl into the refrigerator for thirty minutes.

He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of having to wait thirty minutes. He knew that the one of the two of the following would occur, either Kyungjin would continuously attempt to manage a conversation with him, or they would sit and wait awkwardly without speaking.

But fortunately for him, Kyungjin seemed occupied as she pulled out a clear bag, a small piece of paper, and finally some colored pencils. And so for the next thirty minutes, Minsoek alternated from looking at the clock to Kyungjin who was engrossed in her drawing.

She still wasn’t done when the thirty minutes were up, but she paused in her drawing to help roll the cookies into round balls and stick them into the oven. When the cookies were almost ready to be taken out, she reached over to Minseok, shoving the picture in his face. “You like it?”

Minseok moved his head back, giving her an unimpressed look, and finally taking the picture from her hands. Stars littered the backdrop of the night sky with a bear and a rabbit on the bottom where both seemed to exchanging pastries.

He looked up at her. “I don’t get it.”

She yanked the paper back from him, frowning slightly. “You don’t have to. I was simply just asking if you liked it or not.”

“I suppose.” He paused. “For fun?” he asked.

She looked down at it. “No, there’s a reason why I’m doing this.”

“Which is?” he prompted.

She smirked at him. “Can’t you just hear my thoughts?”

He blinked at her, letting her thought out words flow from her mind. He shook his head. “It’s too vague. All I know that it’s for someone. The cookies too. They go together for someone.”

She laughed. “That’s because that’s all I thought.” She touched the tips of her fingertips together, giving him a leer. “I have understood your ability,” she cackled. “You don’t know what I’m thinking until I say something. Also, it has to be the most prominent thought I have at the moment. If I’m thinking too many thoughts at the same time, or they are all the bare minimum of what I’m thinking, you won’t know everything.” She tapped her temple and pointed at Minseok. “I got it all figured out.”

Minseok stared at her. “I could have told you all of that.”

She dropped her hand and brought her hands in an exasperated position. “Why can’t you let me have the little things?” The timer went off, indicating that the cookies were done cooking. She playfully glared at Minseok as she went to take the cookies out of the oven.

Minseok frowned slightly when he heard her thoughts. “Know-it-all?” he revealed.

She paused, looking back at him. She scoffed. “I didn’t think that. I thought ‘Idiotic know-it-all fool’. Get it right.” She shook her head. “You need to work on that mind-reading skill of yours.”

Minseok simply shook his head in her teasing.

After Kyungjin dropped the chocolate stars on top of the freshly baked cookies and let them cool, she set delicately packaged them in a small clear bag along with her drawing with the help of Minseok. She still hadn’t revealed what or who the package of cookies and the drawing were for, but Minseok wasn’t really bothered it, He was curious, but not curious enough to ask.

With the finishing touches, Kyungjin delicately tied a ribbon around the bag and took off with her things without a word, clearly excited to do whatever she wanted to do with the cookies.

Minseok considered letting her finish whatever she had planned without him; she never explicitly told him to follow her. But with a second hesitation, he took his jacket off the chair and followed her out the door.

She hadn’t ran off too far, but she was still a far distance ahead. She wasn’t running, but walking rather quickly. However, Minseok managed to catch up with her. Upon observation, it seemed that she was resisting the urge to run, telling herself to “Calm down”.

He followed her down several blocks until they reached a small neighborhood and she stopped in front of a house. She looked at Minseok, who was diligently following her, and pointed at the house. “My house,” she explained.

But instead of going inside, she went next door and set the bag of cookies on the front door step. She ran the doorbell and hastily dragged Minseok to the front of her house where she pushed him down as well as crouching down along with him. She peeked over to the next-door house. Minseok glanced at her, going along with her erratic actions. He was slightly interested in what was happening and also looked over to see the front door open.

A boy around their age stepped through and looked around to see who ran their doorbell. He had a blanket around his shoulders and was wearing sweats. He frowned when he saw no one there and started to cough violently.

Kyungjin looked concerned at him, gripping the porch fence in nervousness. But she smiled slightly when she saw the boy look down and pick up the bag of cookies. He narrowed his eyes at the bag in confusion before opening it and taking out the drawing. He observed it silently and smiled softly. He looked around once more, and his gaze settled on her house before retreating back into his own house.

Kyungjin clapped her hands in glee and pulled out her notebook. She crossed out one line and closed it. But not before Minseok read the line she crossed out.

“Bake Yixing cookies.”

“Yixing?” Minseok asked.

She looked at him in surprise and looked at her notebook. “You saw?” she grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. She nodded toward the house. “That’s Yixing. He’s been my neighbor for a few years. He came here couple of years ago for the supposedly fresher air.” She smiled sadly. “He’s what I call my comrade-in-arms.”

Minsoek looked at the house. “He’s sick,” he stated.

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s not life-threatening or anything, but it makes him fatigued so he has to stay home most of the time. “

She stood up abruptly. “Yep. The cookies were something we share a connection with,” she explained vaguely.

Minseok didn’t push it any further and stood up as well, walking down the steps. Kyungjin jumped down and together they walked back to the hospital.

“Thanks for today,” Kyungjin thanked cheerfully.

Minseok nodded absently.

Kyungjin was about to walk into the hospital, when she heard barking.

Minseok and Kyungjin turned to look at Kyungsoo walking up the path with a dog.

Kyungsoo was trying to settle the dog when he looked up and saw Kyungjin and Minseok, resulting in a scowl.

He walked up to them and looked both of them up and down.

“You,” he muttered distastefully, looking at Kyungjin. He turned to Minseok giving him a small nod in acknowledgement which Minseok gave back a small one in return.

“So, another ‘adventure’?” he asked Kyungjin, putting up air quotes for the word adventure.

She grinned. “Yep! I went to see Yixing. Well, sorta.”

Kyungsoo grim expression turned soft at the name. “Ah. I see. I like that kid. Maybe I should go see him as well.”

Minseok turned his attention to the Border Collie and crouched down as he scratched her behind the ears. “Is this the same dog I walked last time?” he asked, his attention still on the dog.

Kyungsoo looked down. “Huh? Oh, Kimi. Yeah. The same.”

“Her name’s Kimi?” Minseok mused. “Cute.”

Kyungjin smiled slightly at the sight which Kyungsoo caught sight of. He snorted softly when he suddenly remembered that he wanted to tell Kyungjin something.

“That’s right. Kyungjin,” he called out.

“Hmm?” she asked, still looking down at Minseok and the dog.

“I got a letter from that brat.”

“Brat?” she asked in confusion, putting her attention of Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Your partner in crime. The only person I dislike more than you.”

She widened her eyes. Minseok stood up, feeling the sudden change in atmosphere.

Kyungsoo continued. “He also wrote that he was going to send something to you. Not sure when, but…”

He stopped when Kyungjin grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged him. She smiled widely. “Thanks for telling me!” she shouted as she ran towards the hospital. She stopped mid-step and turned to look at them. She waved as she shouted, “Bye Minseok! Bye Kyungsoo!”

Kyungsoo looked down at himself with disgust, brushing himself roughly.

Minseok looked at the now gone Kyungjin and blinked at the sight. “You hate someone more than Kyungjin?”

Kyungsoo stopped brushing himself and glanced at Minseok. “Yeah. Her best friend. He’s worse than Kyungjin.”

“How come I’ve never heard of him?” Minseok wondered to himself out loud.

Kyungsoo snorted. “Really? Never mentioned him to you? Well, I guess it’s to be expected. He doesn’t live in this town anymore.”

“I see.”

“Yep. Oh Sehun. The devil’s reincarnate himself.” He shook his head. “Well, I got to get back. See you.”

Minseok nodded as Kyungsoo left him to himself.

He stared at the hospital and tilted his head.

He changed his mind.

He was slightly interested in Kyungjin.

And he had a feeling that he wanted to know more.

A/N: Baking is a serious process. I know from experience. You have to do everything correctly or else failure is in the near future. From scratch though. I got the pre-made stuff down pat.

I should have no excuses. I could have updated this earlier, but distractions, distractions. Next week is Christmas! We’ll see if I update next week. But what about you guys? Any plans?

Thanks for reading!