An Autumn in Seoul 

Ch.5 

By Eiryia 

The bitter boyfriend side to him won in the end and they were now preparing a soup for their guest. Seungyoon loved the soup so he was happy, but Mino had a feeling Taehyun weren’t much of a soup lover. Most people weren’t soup lovers after all. 

                "Is it strange to invite guests for dinner and serve soup?" 

Seungyoon asked while setting the table. 

                "Nah, soup is good. Original maybe, but good. It’s your favorite soup after all" 

Seungyoon checked that the bowls were aligned and adjusted the spoons to match. 

                "You know, I think I smell a hint of jealousy all the way over here" 

Mino looked up, surprised at this comment before replying  

                "Nah, that must be the soup" 

Seungyoon laughed and as usual couldn’t Mino help but to laugh as well. Of course he was jealous! Jealous, protective, territorial, in love, smitten, infatuated.. Ok brain, please? He made a small grimace at the lameness that was his own thoughts and switched his focus to the soup.

Five seconds later and his mind was back at Taehyun. He still didn’t like the way he had talked about Seungyoon. No one could claim to want his boyfriend like that, rare guitar analogy or not. Seungyoon came over to have a look at the soup probably wondering if it was done. After taking a sniff at it had he smiled before getting drinks out of the fridge. Mino could hear how he was struggling to open one behind him and smiled to himself, nothing like being handy and useful to your loved ones. 

                "Need help with that?" 

He asked and turned to see Seungyoon still struggling. Not denying that he was struggling Seungyoon handed the bottle over. Mino had no trouble opening it and gave it back with what he thought was a kind smile. 

                "What’s with the smug smile?" 

Seungyoon said and poked his biceps while making a small pout. Deciding honesty was the best option he replied 

                "I just like being useful" 

That turned the pout into a smile in no time and Seungyoon moved from poking at his arm to wrapping an arm around his waist. 

                "You are useful for a lot more things than opening bottles love" 

Love? That was a new nickname for sure. Kinda strange, but he liked the way it made him feel regardless. Let’s see how he reacted when he threw it back at him. 

                "Anything for you, love"

He said while looking directly into Seungyoon’s eyes. This eternal power struggle between them was such an amusing thing, both of them enjoyed pushing the other down a little and it kept things interesting. Although Mino noted to himself, he better watch out for his from now on because last time had taken him by surprise.

Best go easy on the alcohol for a while he decided while studying the mischievous dark glint in Seungyoon eyes while feeling delicate fingers trail his arm, moving down to his waist.

                "The soup is getting overcooked"

Mino said, without taking his eyes away from Seungyoon’s.

                "We should get around to saving it then"

Seungyoon replied before taking a step back. Mino returned to the soup to find it boiling like crazy , he regretted more and more going with this soup idea. He was too hungry! Who can satisfy their hunger on soup alone? The answer was easy, the skinny man next to him who was pouring them drinks. After having finished all the preparations was it only minutes left until they expected Taehyun to be there.

Deciding on a visit to the bathroom to fresh up his looks after standing in the steam from the food for an hour he hurried down the hall. Mino had just stuffed his hair in the sink when he heard the doorbell ring and Seungyoon hurry to open it. A few minutes later and he could hear Taehyun enter the hall outside the bathroom. 

                "Oh, for me?" 

He heard Seungyoon say and it irked him in more than one way. What kind of gift could Taehyun have brought? Hurrying to dry his hair he heard Taehyun ask

                "So are you alone? Did you end up inviting the poet?"

Snorting he combed his hair. What did he mean poet? As if poet was a bad thing, not that he was one. Bursting out from the bathroom he almost hit Seungyoon with the door. He was trembling slightly and he weren’t sure if it was from anger, jealousy, nerves or just because it had been so long since he ate anything.

                "Let’s eat!"

He announced and gave Seungyoon a pat on the arm to say sorry for almost knocking him over. Seungyoon grabbed his hand and smiled a little. All of it had gone mostly unnoticed by Taehyun who was walking ahead of them looking around curiously.

                "You are here after all, eh?"

Taehyun said while giving him a slightly skeptical look. It was obvious that he would have preferred for him not to be there. The way he stared at him almost gave him chills, who looks at people directly in their eyes like that? 

                "Actually Mino.." 

Seungyoon started speaking, but stopped because something smelled burned. He and Seungyoon had exchanged looks at that exact moment . 

                "The garlic bread!" 

They said at the same time and both sped up towards the kitchen to save it. 

The bread had been beyond saving and there was only soup, with a salad for starter to be served. Mino took big sips of his beer thinking the calories couldn’t hurt with such a sad meal. Both Seungyoon and Taehyun seemed to enjoy the soup though. Mino concluded that either had Taehyun eaten beforehand or he was a good actor. 

                "You two cooked this together?" 

Taehyun asked after they had explained about the soup. Neither got the chance to reply however, because Seungyoon’s phone went off at that moment. He got up and mouthed Seunghoon, before walking away from the table. 

                "Seunghoon as in the guy who rapped on his latest song?" 

Taehyun asked putting down his spoon. Mino just nodded as he had just taken a big mouthful of soup in his mouth. They had not been able to hear what Seungyoon was saying at first, but his voice got louder as the minutes ticked by. 

                "What do you mean you lost him?" 

And after a few seconds of silence 

                "Not again.." 

He and Taehyun exchanged glances. This couldn’t be good. Who had Seunghoon lost? Again? It couldn’t possibly be Jinwoo could it. Seungyoon kept talking on the phone for a little while longer and Mino decided it was on its place to fill Taehyun in a little.

                "Seunghoon lives in the block down the street from here. His boyfriend is Jinwoo, who also is an old friend of Seungyoon" 

Taehyun just nodded and took a sip of his wine.

                "I wonder if it’s Jinwoo who is lost" 

Mino mused while playing a little with his soup. Why Seungyoon liked this sad soup so much was beyond his understanding. He was about to accidentally drop his spoon into the soup when Seungyoon returned to the table.

                "Seunghoon lost Jinwoo, again! And to make it worse is Jinwoo more than a little tipsy this time" 

He then turned to Taehyun and apologized. Mino knew where this was leading, Seungyoon weren’t the one to abandon his friends and by the sound of things was this something that had happened before.

                "I’m going out to help Seunghoon look for him"

Seungyoon then said and took a last spoonful of soup in his mouth before heading towards the hall. Mino watched him go and quickly made up his mind as well. He weren’t about to be abandoned here with his new rival. Bouncing to his feet he followed after Seungyoon. Putting on his coat he prayed Taehyun loved his soup so much he wanted to stay behind, but soon enough could he hear

                "I’ll help"

Be said behind him. Mino turned to see Taehyun putt on his coat as well.

                "It’s not like I want to stay behind here and wait, I might just as well tag along"

Seungyoon smiled and gave Taehyun a pat on the shoulder as a silent thanks. Mino was silently cursing him, he had to make sure the two didn’t end up teaming up to go look for Jinwoo together. Who knew what kind of funky business Taehyun could come up with in a dark alley somewhere.

Shuddering more from his overdramatic imagination than the cold he sprinted after Taehyun and Seungyoon towards the spot where they had agreed to meet up with Seunghoon.

                "So I was on the phone with someone at the party right? Because Jinwoo forgot his phone there and they found it and.. I turned back around and he was gone!"

Seunghoon was pacing back and forth looking at his phone and then up at Seungyoon.

                "We left early because he was drinking too much, I guess he was bored, you know how he is.."

Seungyoon nodded. All Mino had to go on was their first meeting from the other day where both he and Jinwoo had been drinking quite a bit.  

                "I’ve been looking for him for about an hour now, we got of the cab by the super market down the block from here. I can’t find him anywhere and he doesn’t have a phone.. I think he knows my number, but maybe not in that half drunken state of his" 

They then quickly came up with a plan and split up into three groups. Taehyun had volunteered to go with Seungyoon, but he was going in a half circle, meeting up with Seunghoon at the end and so Seunghoon had suggested he should join Mino. He of course didn’t like the thought of this, but it was a way better option than having him go with Seungyoon. 

It seemed that logic worked well with Taehyun and so he tagged along easily enough when Mino left in the direction they had agreed on. He would go in a zig zag pattern, ending at the convenience store where Seunghoon last had seen Jinwoo. 

It was freezing cold outside and Mino could easily understand how Seunghoon was worried. If he were to fall asleep somewhere outside could just the cold be reason enough for things to go really wrong. Seunghoon had told them that Jinwoo was wearing a blue coat and was borrowing his green scarf so that’s what they kept a look out for. 

Taehyun didn’t say much as they walked, but dropped a few questions here and there. He didn’t ask much about Seungyoon which Mino found strange, but maybe he was tactful enough to realize this wasn’t the time to piss him off. 

                "Seungyoon mentioned that the two of you met in London, are you from there?" 

Mino shook his head quietly. He wondered that if Seungyoon had told him that much, why he had not mentioned that they were dating. 

                "I studied in London, then I got a job there afterwards so I delayed my return to Korea for another year" 

He explained while looking closely at a person walking passed them on the other side of the street. 

                "I’ve always wanted to visit Europe, I might just go when things settle down a bit. Do you recommend London as a place to start?" 

After answering that question in depth had they touched in on his favorite subject and he was soon explaining in great detail about his favorite historical sights in the city. Taehyun paid close attention and Mino had to admit he forgot for a while how he had deemed him his enemy. 

In the end had they reached the convenience store without spotting Jinwoo, Taehyun had gone inside to buy them each their coffee while he called to check with the others. Mino had just dialed Seungyoon’s number when he thought he saw something green in the lobby in the closest apartment complex. He hang up before the call went through and waited for Taehyun without taking his eyes of the green clothed person in the lobby ahead. 

Thanking Taehyun for the coffee he hurried across the street and up the paved path to the tall building. It was lucky he thought that these fancy buildings was so filled with glass. Waving vigorously as he approached the entrance had Jinwoo spotted him long before he walked inside. 

                "We have been looking for you!" 

Min