Jongin gaped at the vast array of food in front of him. There was everything from pasta to roast chicken to salads and it was all very overwhelming. He held his empty plate to his chest, staring intently at a rice dish.

“Would you like my meat?”

Jongin leapt in the air as a voice spoke directly into his ear. He spun around quickly to face the perpetrator, a small man in a chef’s uniform sporting a wide smile.

“I-I’m sorry?” Jongin breathed, clutching his plate harder and resisting the urge to hide behind it.

“I’m Kim Joonmyeon, head chef here. I highly recommend my meat.” He gestured towards the roasted chicken and beef, his smile never dropping.

“Oh, um.” Jongin laughed nervously, not sure what to say. “Well, that’s-”

“Meat and two veg, can’t go wrong.” He interrupted, and Jongin swore he saw him inch closer. “Or you could try my sausage.”

“That sounds nice.” Jongin said, eying the tray of pork sausages.

“It is.” Jongin marvelled at how he still managed to smile. “Very nice. Or so I’ve been told.”

Jongin nodded at Joonmyeon, reaching for the tongs of the sausages. Before he could pick them up, though, Joonmyeon’s voice interrupted him. “Or, you could have my soup.”

Jongin looked at the sausages mournfully, but didn’t want to be rude, so he turned to Joonmyeon. “Your soup?”

Joonmyeon gestured to another row of food, presumably where the soup was. “I have the creamiest broth around.”

“Well, I do really like soup. And cream?”

Joonmyeon chuckled slightly. “Well, you’re in luck if you like cream. In fact, why don’t you come out back and I could show you my very own specialty cream?”

Just as Jongin was about to politely decline – I mean, it was dinner time not dessert –, a young teenager spun around to face them. “Cream?” they exclaimed, “Where? Is there a desserts area?”

Joonmyeon jumped back in shock, the smile dropping right off his face. He pointed to the other side of the food area with a grim expression, and Jongin took that as his queue to leave. He quickly loaded up his plate with some pasta and rushed towards the dining area. He pretended not to hear Joonmyeon calling out to him and tried not to feel too bad about it. He was really hungry, okay? Plus that guy was a little weird…

Sehun looked up questioningly as he plopped down into the seat with a relieved sigh.

“I just had the weirdest experience.” Jongin explained with wide eyes. Jongin’s mother, who was also at the table with Sehun’s mother, laughed at his expression.

“What happened sweetie?” she asked, pausing from her eating.

“Well, I couldn’t decide what to get, and this chef guy comes over and starts suggesting all this food.” The rest of the table snorted.

“That’s not really what I would call weird.”

“But then he started recommending his cream? He said that he had the best cream around if I wanted it. And he said he could take me out back and make me his specialty cream and-”

He was interrupted by Sehun choking on his mouthful, coughing violently and gasping in air. The mothers seemed to be in similar - slightly more dignified - positions.

“What!?” Sehun choked out.

“Are you all okay? Is the food okay? Be careful when you chew Sehun.” Jongin stressed quietly, thumping the back of his chest as gently as he could.

The boy nodded mutely, and subtly glared off in the direction of the kitchen.

“What did you say to the chef, Jongin?” Sehun’s mother asked curiously.

“Oh.” Jongin blushed lightly, looking down at his plate. “I ran away.”

The mothers erupted in laughter, Jongin’s mum patting him fondly on the shoulder. “You did the right thing, sweetie.”

“Yeah.” Sehun muttered. “Run away from anyone that makes you uncomfortable, okay?”

Jongin beamed at him. “That’s why I have you, right? You talk to people so I don’t have to.”

Sehun scoffed at the statement, but agreed with a smile. “As long as you want me to.”

“I’ll always want you, Hunnie!” Jongin reassured him, before digging in to his pasta.

Sehun smiled happily and started eating again, very pointedly not looking in the direction of his smirking mother.