Hyungwon frowns as he stares down the pot of kimchi jjigae simmering on the stove. He hasn’t tasted it yet. Honestly, he’s a bit scared to taste it. It doesn’t smell right, and he should know. He may not be able to cook, but he’s an authority on the taste and aroma of food.

 

The stew swirls around in the pot, bubbling, boiling, steaming, and Hyungwon sniffs again. Yep, there’s definitely something wrong with it. As he stands in the middle of the kitchen debating whether to try to fix the stew or switch off the stove and back away, he hears his phone buzzing in the living room. It’s not just a few short buzzes to indicate a text message, but repeated, long vibrations that rattle the glass tabletop and make the phone glide across the surface like a puck on an air hockey table.

 

Hyungwon reaches the phone just as it tips off the edge, catching it a few inches from the ground and hurrying to answer the call before it transfers to voicemail. “Hello?” he nearly yells, whining a bit when he accidentally smacks the device against his ear.

 

“Hey, baby,” the voice on the other end purrs, and Hyungwon melts. Nothing in the world can turn him into a puddle of goo faster than Minhyuk. “I’m sorry to call so late, but my boss just asked if I can stay an extra hour. It’s just until Changkyun shows up. It may not even be a whole hour, but I wanted to let you know I’ll be getting home a little later than we planned. I might miss dinner.”

 

“Oh.” Hyungwon positively deflates. “Oh, that’s okay. It’s no big deal.” It is a big deal. Today is Minhyuk’s birthday, and Hyungwon had hoped to surprise him with a romantic dinner, a nice bottle of wine, candles, and an offer to do whatever it takes to help Minhyuk really relax. Hyungwon already ruined dinner, and now Minhyuk will be home late. He’ll probably be so exhausted from the extra hour at work that he won’t even want to celebrate.

 

So yes, Hyungwon is disappointed, but he does his best not to let Minhyuk know how upset he is.

 

“I’m so sorry, baby. I know you took the night off to spend my birthday with me, and I’m probably ruining all of your plans.” Minhyuk’s sweet voice is an odd combination of high and raspy, and despite his current mood it makes Hyungwon smile. Hey, he thinks, maybe this is a blessing.

 

“Really, it’s okay. I’ll just wait a bit longer for dinner,” and now he’ll have time to figure out something else to cook for Minhyuk. He’s already making a mental list of possibilities.

 

“Okay, baby. I have to go now, but I’ll call you when I’m on my way home.”

 

“Okay. Be careful. I love you.” He hears Minhyuk laugh under his breath, and he can imagine Minhyuk’s face, the light dusting of pink across his cheeks and the unbearably cheerful smile.

 

Hyungwon’s pouty lips lift in a smile as well when Minhyuk answers back, “I love you too. Bye, baby.”

 

Hyungwon immediately returns to the kitchen, quickly setting aside the mess from the ruined stew and searching the fridge and pantry for something he’s capable of cooking… that isn’t ramen. Of course, that’s not much.

 

He decides stir fry should be hard for even him to screw up, and he noticed some pork in the bottom drawer of the fridge.

 

An hour later Hyungwon’s phone is buzzing again, but there’s no possible way he can answer it as he is currently battling a sticky skillet full of burnt pork. The sauce recipe Kihyun had texted him contained bourbon and honey and had caught flame as soon as Hyungwon poured it over the pork. Okay, so it might have had something to do with the placement of the pan to the side of the gas burner which he had turned up way too high, but he’s not admitting fault here. Kihyun should have warned him.

 

The alcohol had burned off and extinguished the fire before Hyungwon could retrieve the actual fire extinguisher from the hall closet (they should really move that to the kitchen), and the rest of the sugary mixture had been reduced to a caramel consistency, gluing the meat to the bottom of the pan.

 

Hyungwon can’t hear the apartment door opening and closing over the sound of the spatula scraping the pork into the trash. He’s seriously considering trashing the cookware as well. It doesn’t look salvageable.

 

“What are you doing?” Minhyuk asks, and Hyungwon jumps a whole foot in the air, dropping the skillet to the floor and pressing his palm against his chest.

 

“You’re home,” he says, his voice cracking. Minhyuk nods, and it’s obvious he’s trying to hold back a laugh. Hyungwon chooses to ignore it. “I was trying to make you dinner, but…” Hyungwon trails off as he gestures around the kitchen at the sink full of dishes, the countertop completely covered in ingredients, the fire extinguisher sitting next to the stove, and finally the pan on the ground, now dripping sauce onto the tile. “Anyway, Happy Birthday.”

 

“Aww, you made all this mess for me?” Minhyuk teases, and Hyungwon pouts.

 

“It wasn’t supposed to be a mess. It was supposed to be kimchi jjigae,” Hyungwon replies petulantly.

 

“Well, whatever happened to it I’m sure it was delicious.”

 

“No. It was awful. That’s why I tried to make the pork, but who knew pork was so flammable.” Hyungwon groans as he points to the rice cooker. “Even the rice is crunchy. I’m sorry I’m such a failure in the kitchen.” He leans against the wall and slides to the floor. Delicate fingers gently lift his chin, and he raises his eyes to find Minhyuk crouched in front of him.

 

“Baby, you’re not a failure. You’re the sweetest, most thoughtful boyfriend ever, and I’m so lucky to have you.” Minhyuk leans in to press a kiss to Hyungwon’s forehead. “Thank you so much, not just for trying to cook me dinner tonight, but for always putting me first. I love you.”

 

Hyungwon sighs and lets Minhyuk pull him up from the floor. “Sorry about the-” he attempts, only to be silenced by soft lips against his own.

 

“I love you, Hyungwon, and it’s my birthday. Forget about the mess and turn on the oven. We’re having pizza.”

 

“Frozen pizza? You don’t wanna order?” Hyungwon asks as he turns the knob on the oven to preheat it.

 

“Nope. Can you get the pan out of that cabinet?”

 

“But it’s your birthday. Don’t you want something a little nicer than frozen pizza?”

 

“Nope. Here, when the light goes off stick this in the oven and hit start on that timer.”

 

“Wait, me? No, I’ll just screw this up too.”

 

“Don’t be silly, baby. Can you tell when the light is on or off?” Hyungwon nods. “And can you put the pan in the oven without burning down the building?”

 

Hyungwon glances at the fire extinguisher still sitting on the counter. “Uhm, if there is a fire I can handle it. I think.”

 

Minhyuk smiles sweetly, flashing his teeth. “Then I have complete faith in you.” He turns to leave the kitchen, but Hyungwon catches him by the hand.

 

“Wait, where are you going?”

 

Minhyuk grips Hyungwon’s fingers, bringing them up to brush his lips across Hyungwon’s knuckles. “Shower. I’ll be right back. Remember… light, pan, timer.” Hyungwon nods and watches Minhyuk disappear down the hallway.

 

There’s a click from the oven, and when Hyungwon looks the light is off. He takes a deep breath, picks up the pizza pan, and opens the oven only to find a cookie sheet already sitting on the rack. Without even thinking about it he reaches out to remove the cookie sheet, and suddenly there are two pans clattering against the tile. Cheese and vegetables scatter everywhere as Hyungwon curses his way to the sink to run cold water over his fingertips.

 

This is why he doesn’t cook! What on Earth made him think he could do this? The water is helping, but he can’t clean up the mess or even call the Chinese place around the corner for delivery with his hand stuck under the faucet.

 

When he opens the freezer in search of a bag of frozen vegetables to soothe the burns his eyes fall on the last remaining frozen pizza. He groans and decides to give it one more try.

 

By the time Minhyuk makes his way back into the kitchen, refreshed from the shower and bleached locks still damp and falling across his forehead, Hyungwon has swept up the mess of pizza toppings and cleared enough space on the counter to cut the pizza. The timer is down to the last few minutes, and Hyungwon is tempted to spend the time murmuring apologies into Minhyuk’s skin. Instead he finds himself being babied by Minhyuk who immediately notices the ice pack he has attached to his hand with a kitchen towel.

 

“Baby!” Minhyuk exclaims as he carefully unwraps the towel to examine Hyungwon’s fingers. “What happened?”

 

“It’s nothing. I just wasn’t thinking,” Hyungwon promises, and truthfully it doesn’t hurt much anymore, especially with Minhyuk’s cool hands on his skin.

 

Minhyuk settles Hyungwon on the couch while he finishes preparing dinner, and after a few minutes he appears carrying a tray with paper plates of pizza and plastic cups of wine. “I found the bottle in the fridge. I hope you don’t mind.”

 

“Of course not. I bought it for you anyway.”

 

Minhyuk chooses a movie, and they spend the next couple of hours snuggled on the couch together. After the movie they share the cake Hyungwon had begged Kihyun to bake for him. Minhyuk feeds Hyungwon bites from his own fork, claiming that Hyungwon is far too injured to feed himself, and Hyungwon doesn’t argue because Minhyuk truly enjoys pampering Hyungwon and Hyungwon is usually far too stubborn to allow it.

 

Hyungwon returns the favor with slow kisses and gentle caresses, pressing his lips to Minhyuk’s, into his mouth, trailing his good hand along the smooth skin over Minhyuk’s spine with a touch light enough to raise goosebumps in its wake. Their pace is unhurried because the path isn’t leading anywhere. This, togetherness, is their destination.

 

Eventually their movements become lazy, and Minhyuk interrupts what must be the thousandth kiss with a yawn. “We could move this to the bedroom,” Hyungwon suggests.

 

“Only if by ‘this’ you mean sleeping,” Minhyuk says as he attempts to stifle another yawn.

 

They help each other remove their clothing between more sleepy kisses peppered across newly exposed skin. Minhyuk peels Hyungwon’s shirt over his head, and Hyungwon slides Minhyuk’s sweatpants down his long legs. Both of them eventually end up in nothing but boxers, and they decide this is ideal attire for cuddling.

 

When they’re situated between the sheets, Minhyuk’s head tucked under Hyungwon’s chin and one arm slung around his waist, mindlessly tracing random patterns into Hyungwon’s back, Hyungwon attempts to apologize once more.

 

“I had a plan, you know, for tonight?”

 

“Mmm? Sometimes things work out better when they’re not planned,” Minhyuk mumbles, his words slurred from exhaustion and maybe just a touch too much wine.

 

“But I didn’t get to give you the special birthday you deserved, the food and the candles and all that. I wanted to make it memorable, not just another day.

 

“Hyungwon, baby, every day with you is special and memorable. It doesn’t matter what we eat or do or where we go. All that matters is that we’re together. And besides, I think tonight was pretty memorable. I’m not likely to ever forget your disastrous attempt to cook me dinner.” He chuckles, and Hyungwon smiles, his pouty lips curling and stretching into something rare and beautiful, a full grin, the kind almost no one ever sees. No one except Minhyuk.

 

Minhyuk sighs, happy and relaxed, his warm breath washing over Hyungwon’s shoulders like a breeze blowing in from the ocean. He pecks Hyungwon’s neck and whispers, “Goodnight, baby. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hyungwon replies. “Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”