“Have you ever cooked before, Sehunnie?” Zitao asks as he sets a pot on the stove to boil.

Sehun guffaws, causing him to clutch his sides in pain because of his laughter. “No. Honestly, I’d probably burn water.”

Zitao rubs his eyes tiredly, puts a hand on his hip, and stares at him expressionlessly. “Then why did you wake me up at 1 in the morning, demanding that we make mac n’ cheese together? Never mind the fact that I have an early schedule tomorrow- oh wait, I mean today.”

“I was hungry, and I’m too afraid to wake Kyungsoo up, Joonmyun isn't that good of a cook, I don’t trust Chanyeol….” Sehun looks directly at Zitao and laughs again, “do you want me to go on?”

“Whatever you tell yourself to feel better about your dependence on me,” Zitao smirks as he distractedly reads the macaroni box.

“No, I think it’s the other way around,” Sehun takes the box from Zitao who was obviously struggling to read some of the smaller text. “You’re dependant on me. Do you actually know what the box said?”

Zitao crosses his arms and scrunches his face in disgust, “Actually, yes I did. But, it’s dark in here, and I couldn’t read some of it.”

“I can read it just fine,” Sehun raises an eyebrow.

“Your vision is also way better than mine, and you are Korean so of course you would understand easier than me,” Zitao presses his lips together and turns back to look at the nearly boiling water.

Sehun hums and smirks. “See this is why we make a good pair. I read the instructions, and you do the work.”

“Once again, it sounds like you’re more dependent on me than I am on you. Get the butter and the milk out of the fridge and hand me the box.”

Sehun hugs Zitao from behind and whispers in his ear, “What’s the magic word?”

“Is it, ‘get the butter before I pour boiling water on you’?” Zitao singsongs as he turns around and steals the box from Sehun.

Sehun huffs but does what he’s told. “That’s obviously more than one word, Taozi.”

Zitao ignores him, in favor of rereading the instructions, hoping he’s doing the right thing. Assuming he’s correct, Zitao pours the box of macaroni into the boiling water and sets the stove’s timer for eight minutes.

Sehun returns with the items and playfully shoves the butter into Zitao’s side, before whining, “Zitao, this is taking too long! How much longer until it’s ready?”

“Maybe nine minutes?” Zitao responds from where he’s stirring the macaroni every few seconds.

“Nine minutes? What will we do for nine minutes?” Sehun wraps an arm around Zitao’s waist and sighs.

“Didn’t you say we were cooking this together?” Zitao pulls Sehun closer with one arm while his left hand stirs the macaroni, “You could be helping me right now.”

Sehun looks up from where he has burrowed his head in Zitao’s neck and pouts. “And how could I help you?”

Zitao dramatically sighs before bumping hips with Sehun and laughing. “You said earlier that you’d read the instructions and I’d cook. Why aren’t you doing that now?”

“Didn’t realize you’d actually need my help,” Sehun mumbles.

"You make no sense,” Zitao giggles.

Sehun clicks his tongue and asks, “Is it done yet?”

Zitao glances asquint at Sehun and snorts, “Do you think it’s done?”

Sehun lifts his head from Zitao’s shoulder and crosses his arms. “How am I supposed to know?”

“You’d know if you read the box like I thought you were going to do.”

Sehun groans and returns his head to Zitao’s shoulder. “This is supposed to be simple food. We probably could have made ramen quicker than this.”

Zitao continues to stir the pasta and distractedly responds, “Yeah, probably.”

“Is it too late to make ramen?”

“Yes.”

“Fine,” Sehun exasperatedly sighs. “How much longer now?”

“Maybe seven minutes?”

“This is so boring…. Can we play a game?”

“Sehunnie, I’m in the middle of cooking,” Zitao deadpans. “How could I play a game?”

“We could play I-Spy!” He looks to Zitao for approval, and once he sees Zitao’s head nod and cute smile, he says, “Okay, I’ll go first. I spy with my little eye something that is….. Very special.”

Zitao hums, looks over at Sehun’s impatient expression, and laughs. “Is it in the living room?”

“Nope,” Sehun accents the ‘P’ and smiles.

Zitao huffs, “Is it in the kitchen?”

“Yes.”

“Is it a type of food?”

“No.”

“Is it close to you?”

Sehun tilts his head thoughtfully. “In more ways than one.”

Zitao looks bemused, “Are you sure it’s not food?”

Sehun rolls his eyes and smiles sleepily. “Positive.”

“Okay,” Zitao pauses and stares at the macaroni cooking, “is it…. me?”

Sehun sweetly giggles and sighs contently. “Maybe.”

Zitao beams at the other and pulls him even closer with his arm wrapped around Sehun’s waist. “Are you always this corny late at night?”

Sehun narrows his eyes until Zitao turns his head and presses a kiss on Sehun’s cheek. “It’s my turn now. I spy with my little eye something that is….. Adorable.”

Sehun raises an eyebrow but goes along with it. “Does it belong to Chanyeol?”

Zitao’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. “Thankfully no.”

“Is it a type of food?”

“Is food adorable, Sehunnie?”

“Well, I mean,” Sehun reasons, “Kyungsoo made those cute cakes that one time….”

“I don’t see those cakes anywhere.” Zitao snorts.

“Whatever. Do you need it in your daily life?”

Zitao looks away from Sehun and stirs the macaroni. “Maybe.”

Sehun teases, “Are you sure it isn’t food?”

Zitao crinkles his nose and mockingly says, “Positive.”

“Well,” Sehun says as he wraps his arms around Zitao, “is it me?”

Zitao yawns and leans his head against Sehun’s. “What do you think?”

“And you said I’m the corny-” The timer on the oven buzzes, and in fear that they will wake up the others, Zitao moves away from Sehun and turns the alarm and the burner off; then, he reads the box again and says to Sehun, “Will you get the strainer?”

Sehun lethargically reaches for the strainer in a higher cabinet, revealing a glimpse of his hip bones due to his low-waisted sleep pants; when he gives the strainer to Zitao, he smirks as if he knew exactly where Zitao was staring two seconds earlier. Zitao distractedly pours the pasta into the strainer, and once the macaroni is drained, he adds the butter, milk, and cheese packet to the pasta and stirs, all with Sehun’s chin hooked over his shoulder. Once he sees that Zitao is finished, Sehun hurriedly grabs two bowls and a large spoon and hands them to Zitao.

After Zitao scoops out enough macaroni for both of them, he hands the bowls to Sehun who brings them into the living room. Zitao follows and sits beside Sehun on the couch and watches the other boy take his first bite.

Sehun is unresponsive for a few seconds until he moans, “This is the best mac n’ cheese I’ve ever had!” as he shovels more into his mouth.

Zitao crinkles his eyes in joy and puffs his cheeks with a smile. “That’s because it was made with love.”

Sehun hides his giggling behind his hand. “You’re crazy.”

“Crazy for you.”

“Stop,” Sehun whines between giggles.

“You have to admit, you set yourself up for that one, I mean-”

Sehun rolls his eyes and leans forward to kiss Zitao on the cheek and then on the lips.