Part 1

Xiumin paced up and down the kitchen, his brow knotted with thought, worry and nerves. He wrung his hands together in furious motions and turned swiftly when every time he reached a wall. He wasn’t usually the type of person to pace (and mumble to himself), but dinner with Luhan was making him nervous. He stopped.

Aloud, he questioned himself, ‘Why am I so nervous?’

He spent nearly every minute of every day with Luhan, so why was he nervous on this occasion? Perhaps it was because he had never been into Luhan’s house before. It seemed strange because he had seen it many times and knew it well, but the thought of actually entering it was somehow now a daunting one.

‘What is the matter with me?’ Xiumin moaned in frustration. He decided to try and put it out of his mind, it was time to leave anyway. He feared being late, so quickly grabbed his coat and red scarf – it was beginning to get very cold outside - and left the house hurriedly.

Part 2

Luhan busied about the kitchen preparing the food. He was very proud of his cooking and had often been complimented by others for his abilities. Yet today, he was feeling unsure of himself. There was a small doubt at the back of his mind that told him, this time, he would not be good enough. Something was telling him that nothing he could ever cook would be good enough to impress his Baozi.

Despite this, he cooked. And it seemed to be going very well! All deadlines were on schedule to be met; nothing had burnt, so why was he so stressed out? Slumped on the floor with his back against a cupboard, Luhan twisted his apron over and over in his hands. Negative thoughts suffocated his mind: what if Xiumin hated the food? What if he hated his house? What if he decided he hated Luhan and stormed out of the house?

‘THIS IS RIDICULOUS!’ He yelled to no one, getting up off of the floor. After brushing down his apron and managing to regain some composure, he went back to cooking and focused all his attention on that so that there was none to feed the hunger of his worries.

Part 3

When Xiumin arrived at the house, it was beginning to get dark. He stood dead still on the doorstep with his finger poised over the doorbell.

‘Ring the doorbell.’ He told himself. He didn’t move a muscle.

‘Ring. The. Doorbell.’ He spoke again, this time his finger jolted forward reluctantly and the doorbell chimed clearly.

His stomach growled and he wasn’t sure if it was due to hunger or nerves. It was probably both. The door lurched open to reveal Luhan’s smiling face and glistening eyes. At the sight of him, Xiumin’s worries fell away and he beamed back in return.

Part 4

Luhan stirred the sizzling beef and lifted the lids of a few pots to take a peek. The scent of the cooking filled the room and his nostrils. He was starving. The ring of the doorbell made him jump violently. Hurriedly, he straightened his apron and raked a hand through his messy hair before making his way through the house to the front door. He paused before opening it and then smiled down at Xiumin, who beamed back at him.

Suddenly, he felt more nervous. He imagined Xiumin’s excited, happy face turn to an angry frown, as he tasted the food. He pushed this out of his mind and looked at the floor as he stepped back to allow Xiumin to enter.

‘Come in, Baozi.’ He said, waving a hand towards him.

Xiumin stepped inside and took off his scarf and then his coat, hanging them each on a hook. The food could be heard cooking from the hallway and the smell had filled the house.

‘Wow, it smells amazing!’ Xiumin exclaimed excitedly, ‘and the house looks incredible! You would never know that it had been practically abandoned when you bought it. I am very impressed.’

‘Oh, thank you.’ Luhan met his eyes and smiled broadly. Xiumin’s kind compliments made him feel more relaxed. He moved into the room on the right, which was the dining room and told Xiumin to take a seat at the table whilst he brought in the food.

He had cooked a range of his favourite dishes, including Baozi for his Baozi, and brought them in one by one to set on the table. He brought the Baozi in last to which a surprised Xiumin giggled. Luhan then sat down to eat with him at the small table that was not nearly big enough for the amount of food he had cooked.

Part 5

‘Luhan, the food looks incredible.’ Xiumin told him, as his large eyes darted around the table, taking in the awe of the meal in front of him. He had no idea what to try first, it all looked amazing, so he asked, ‘What should I try first?’

‘Just eat!’ Luhan laughed.

They both began to tuck in to the food and soon everything was almost gone.

‘Luhan, what the hell?’ Xiumin said angrily, his wide eyes bore into Luhan’s, which looked back at him nervously under a frowning brow. They had both eaten so quickly that they had barely talked at all.

‘Are you trying to kill me with your endless quantities of amazing food?’ Xiumin’s angry tone dispersed and he began to laugh. Tricking Luhan was too easy.

‘Sorry, Baozi,’ Luhan replied, laughing back, ‘Favourite dish?’

‘Easily the beef, the chicken, the kimchi and, of course, the Baozi,’ he smiled. ‘What was your favourite?’

‘I liked making the Baozi for my Baozi,’ Luhan replied.

Part 6

Luhan and Xiumin sat together, each with a tea, in front of a large fire that Luhan had made. It crackled loudly and the amber flames flickered brightly against the black of the fireplace.

‘This is going to sound really, really stupid.’ Luhan began, breaking the silence, as they stared into the light of the fire. He sipped his tea and then looked down into the cup shaking his head.

‘Go on,’ Xiumin encouraged, ‘Nothing you can say will sound stupid to me anyway.’

‘Well, when I was cooking today, I felt really nervous and thought that you wouldn’t like the food.’ He continued to look down at his tea, which he had begun to swirl around with his hands. ‘And that maybe you would hate it, hate me and leave.’ He stopped moving his tea and looked up at Xiumin.

Xiumin laughed, ‘you’re right, that does sound really, really stupid.’

‘Hey!’ Luhan laughed and punched his arm, ‘I thought that nothing I said could be stupid!’

‘You didn’t let me finish!’ Xiumin protested, ‘I was going to say that maybe you are not so stupid. I felt nervous too! Maybe we are just both stupid.’

They both erupted into laughed, and Luhan suddenly realised that any last tension in the air was gone.

‘Oh, and by the way,’ Xiumin added, once his laughter had calmed, ‘You punch like a girl.’ His laughter started again as Luhan shoved him over and playfully punched him some more.

‘I do not!’ Luhan scoffed as he hit him, ‘I am really manly and my punches are great – aren’t they?’ He punched a little harder.

‘Ouch, yeah, yeah they are,’ Xiumin replied and Luhan stopped punching.

‘You are really manly,’ Xiumin said as he sat up pouting his bottom lip and rubbing his sore arm, ‘I am sorry that I didn’t see your manliness.’ He then smiled at Luhan and Luhan smiled back.

‘That’s right, and don’t you forget it!’ Luhan nodded before looking concerned, ‘I didn’t actually hurt you, did I Baozi?’

‘No, of course not!’ Xiumin grinned and shoved Luhan over in revenge.

The rest of the evening was spent play wrestling or fighting and Luhan could not say that he was complaining. Their laughter rose through the house like the warmth of the burning fire and all the nerves of the day were completely forgotten.