The aroma of cooking chilies and peppers permeated your small apartment, getting into your hair and clothes, saturating every article of furniture, and hung in the air like a spicy curtain. You danced around the kitchen in your favorite pair of socks, checking the sizzling pan that kept making loud popping noises and working on cleaning and chopping the lettuce and tomatoes on the counter.

The stereo was blasting one of your favorite songs and you hummed along to the lead vocalist, occasionally singing the words where you knew the lyrics.

“I see you again and you, you are my love. I see you a hundred times and I, I am your love…” you harmonized with the lead, swaying to the chorus, unaware of the front door of your small flat opening and closing quietly.

You gave a high pitched scream and nearly jumped from your skin as a pair of arms wrapped around your waist. The culprit leaned closed to your hair and sniffed and hugged you close with a laugh.

“You smell spicy, jagiya.”

Attributing your pounding heart to the life or death fright you had just been given, you wriggled from his arms to add the finishing touches to the frying beef in the pan and begin to wash your cooking utensils.

“Yah!” you shrieked. “Lee Hongki!”

Hongki pouted and hopped onto the counter to watch you finish the preparations for the lunch you had planned. He eyed your socks and smiled and hummed along to the music mindlessly. You had to smile when your back was turned. The live thing sounded so much better than the CD.

When you finished with the vegetables and side dishes, you moved them to the table and slapped Hongki on the arm as you went. “Off my counters.”

Hongki complied quickly and moved to the table. He looked at the food and his eyes lit up. “You made foreign food?” he asked excitedly. You smirked and returned to the stove to pull the beef chorizo from the burner and take it to the table.

Hongki eyed the chorizo warily and then glanced at you. “Y-yah…jagiya, what is that?” You grabbed one of your homemade tortillas from the hot plate and scooped some chorizo into it carefully in your palm, added some tomatoes and lettuce and then added some guacamole and sour cream and some of the homemade salsa your mom had brought when she had visited the month before.

You rolled it into a burrito and handed it to Hongki.

“Beef chorizo - it’s just a fried spicy beef. You eat it in burritos or with eggs for breakfast. Here,” you offered the rolled tortilla and Hongki took it gently as if it was a trigger sensitive bomb.

He waited until you made your own burrito, this time with more guacamole and salsa, and took a bite. When he saw that you were enjoying it, he bit into it carefully and you waited for his reaction. It was a few seconds after he swallowed his first bite when the flavor finally caught up with him.

“Yah!” he exclaimed, eyes wide. “That’s spicy! Really, really, really spicy!!!” He reached for his glass of water and drained it quickly. You smiled as you happily munched on the burrito chorizo. Hongki narrowed his eyes.

“Yah!” you exclaimed back. “Aren’t you Korean? I thought spicy food was your specialty!”

Not to be outdone, Hongki tried another bite of the chorizo, this time straight from the pan, as if the other ingredients had made it so spicy. He shot up from his chair and went for the fridge and grabbed the milk before taking huge gulps of the pale liquid and staring at you as you laughed from the table.

He moved back to his seat in a pout. “Jagiya, it’s spicy!!!” he whined, pointing at his lips. You chuckled and finished your own burrito before moving to clean up the leftovers. You paused when his hand rested on your wrist.

He looked up at you with a pout. “…kiss it better?”

You laughed and leaned down to place a small kiss against his lips, but as you pulled away his hand reached behind you head to pull you back down and inspire a longer, deeper kiss. Your breath hitched, but Hongki’s gentle hand behind your head relaxed you. Your eyes fluttered shut as his lips moved against yours.

You stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, his lips soft and gentle on yours, as you leaned over him, one hand bracing on the table and the other shakily leaning on his shoulder. He pulled away and exhaled, his breath warm against your face.

“Jagiya…” he whispered breathless. You could hardly open your eyes, heart thudding dully in your chest and roaring in your ears. You mumbled a vague reply.

Hongki’s lips teasingly caressed yours. Shivers ran up your spine and down your arms and you trembled as his hand reached around to your waist to pull you closer and he finished his thought, a barely coherent moan against your mouth.

“…you taste exotic.”