jaemin was sleeping when he felt a weight shift onto his bed. he opened his eyes to look up and saw jeno. the older boy began to tell him that taeyong wanted him to help cook dinner.

“me?” jaemin asked sitting up. jeno nodded his and wished jaemin luck because taeyong was in his scary mode.

taeyong was known for being well an oddball. he either was the softest cinnamon bun or a cold-blooded killer. generally, he was caring, kind and overall a great person.

however, there were times when his eyes stared into your soul and you just wanted to shrivel up and disappear because even when you turned away from him you could feel his eyes bore into the back of your head. in those moments, no one dared to misbehave even donghyuck.

and here jeno was telling jaemin taeyong was in his scary mode asking for him when everyone knows that taeyong likes to cook dinner by himself.

when jaemin walks into the kitchen, taeyong is crouched over a cutting board with a butcher’s knife in his hand as he cuts the meat for dinner. in jaemin’s opinion, taeyong is cutting up the meat rather aggressively

“so doyoung tells me you’re trying to confess to hina,” taeyong begins as he places the knife down and wipes his hands on his apron. “i can help. i have a great idea.”

jaemin feels relieved. how could he have doubted taeyong like that? the older male was just trying to help.

“but first, do you see this garlic clove?” taeyong asked pointing to the chopping board. jaemin moves his eyes to look at the garlic clove. taeyong turns his knife to the side and smashes down on it. its juices splash onto jaemin.

“that’s going to be you if you decide to do anything farther than give hina a hug. don’t get me wrong. i have nothing against you two being together. no, that’s adorable. i just need to remind you that hina is a girl and you’re a boy. you’re a teenage boy to be exact which means you’re a disgusting hormonal creature who isn’t worthy of a sweet angel like hina.”

jaemin is sure his eyes are watery because of the garlic juice and not intimidation.

“now onto your confession. you’re going to buy two ice creams one for you and one for hina because you two will not be sharing.”

thankfully taeyong wasn’t there for the restaurant incident, or he would have gone insane.

“you give her the ice cream and you eat yours. you ask her if she knows what you like better than ice cream and you say her. you tell her you like her. and that should be that.” taeyong points the knife at jaemin. “also, if you like your hands attached to your arms, i suggest you don’t even think about hurting her.”

“now that that’s out of the way, let’s start cooking,” taeyong says as he put the knife down. he turns to look at jaemin, “aw you don’t look so well. you’re so pale. you look like you have a fever. come here let me help you.”

right after practice ends the next day, taeyong excuses jaemin and himself. they walk to the nearest ice cream shop with taeyong leading and jaemin following behind as he keeps a good distance. when they arrive at the shop, taeyong abruptly stops causing jaemin to crash into his back.

jaemin by reflex glares and groans but stops when taeyong swings head back to give him a look. inside the shop, there is no one but a small child and her mother. watching the child making a mess and enjoy her ice cream, taeyong paused to coo over her. jaemin takes the minor distraction as a chance to take a breather.

he walked up to the different ice creams and smiled remembering the last time he came to the shop.

he and hina had finished practice and claiming they were tired and would go home first. they actually ran to the shop checking behind them every now and then to make sure their members were not following them.

when they came inside they realized they didn’t have any money. the two were ready to turn around and exit just after they had entered, but then hina came out with a plan. she walked to the employee with a sweet smile on her face and asked if they gave samples. the employee nodded and told them to pick whatever they would like. hina looked at jaemin with a mischievous smile.

they proceeded to in fact try every flavor of ice cream available. every two flavors they would scrunch their face together as if they were contemplating what flavor would be better. when they were finished going through all the flavors, the employee asked them what they would like to have.

hina leaned over and whispered to jaemin to get ready. he gave her a confused look. she grabbed his hand and started to run. the employee shouted after them but did not leave his spot. the two ran never look back. stopping at the girls’ dorm, they caught their breaths as they stood hunched over. when they straighten up, they look at each other and laughed in disbelief they had gotten away.

that was probably one of the first moments jaemin started falling for hina.