Jihoon peels his eyes open, annoyed by the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows. Someone had left the curtains half open, the sun’s rays illuminating half of the room – almost angelic, like heaven. If only there were angels singing in the background to celebrate a whole new miracle – Jihoon’s in his own comfortable bed when the last place he remembers is being in his dark studio late last night, pulling an all-nighter matching beats to melodies and lyrics.

Seungcheol must’ve brought him back to the dorm, because he has no memory of walking home last night. Jihoon pushes his blankets aside – another clue of Seungcheol’s doing, since Jihoon’s always too tired to bother with the covers. He sits up in his lower bunk bed, still confused; his blond hair in a mess, sticking out in all directions.

It’s another day off for Seventeen, since all his roommates are missing, and no one even bothered to wake him up. The rest of the dorm is unusually quiet – someone (read: BooSeokSoon) would be yelling in the living room, bickering over food or the television remote. Jihoon would’ve gone back to sleep, oh precious sleep, but his throat is parched and he doesn’t want to die of dehydration (which would be highly unlikely, but as a vocalist, he’d better protect his vocal cords).

Jihoon reluctantly drags himself out of bed, padding towards the kitchen. There’s no one in the living room, save for Wonwoo, who’s immersed in a book, curled up on the couch. Jihoon walks past as Wonwoo turns a page of his book. Comfortable silence. Jihoon doesn’t ask where the others are – they’d probably be running riot around Seoul (maybe not to that extent, but it seems like a nice day to go out, judging from the brightness of the sun. For Jihoon and Wonwoo, it’s a better day to stay inside).

Jihoon remembers the last bottle of cola he’s got stashed in one of the kitchen cupboards, right next to the bottle of soy sauce that Mingyu uses for cooking. His mouth starts salivating at the mere thought of the fizzy drink – it’s his absolute favourite: the kick of the fizz, and the conveniently copious amount of sugar and caffeine that the drink is loaded with; useful for all-nighters when he composes. He knows that cola isn’t breakfast appropriate, plus he hasn’t eaten since yesterday – the gas would probably mess with his stomach, but there’s no one to stop him from drinking his favourite drink.

His bandmates have called out his addiction to cola (he’d rather call himself a cola enthusiast instead of a cola addict; besides, a few of the guys love the drink as well, though no one can top Jihoon in terms of consuming cola). So that’s why Jihoon keeps secret bottles of cola in random places in the dorm, just in case he needs an emergency cola fix. Like right now.

Jihoon knows exactly where he’d placed the cola bottle – it’s in one of the lower cupboards. He gives himself pride for hiding it in such an ingenious place, since no one would touch the bottle of soy sauce, having no use for it. Mingyu doesn’t cook much these days, so he wouldn’t notice the odd bottle of cola sitting next to his soy sauce. The uncanny resemblance of the two bottles make it even funnier, as a grin spreads on Jihoon’s sleepy face. Besides, Mingyu’s too tall to bend down and peek into the lower cupboards for no reason. See, Lee Jihoon’s a genius!

Jihoon opens the door, already anticipating the bubbly drink. Between all the other random bottles of sauces belonging to Chef Mingyu, Jihoon spies the soy sauce...and no cola. His senses are awakened, noticing the missing cola bottle – it had only been two days ago when he put it there. Jihoon frantically searches through the other sauces, just in case, but his precious bottle of cola is gone.

Gone.

Someone must’ve found it.

Jihoon suspects Seungkwan at first, knowing that the younger has a sweet tooth. But then he remembers that Seungkwan’s trying to lose more weight (how can he forget, when the boy keeps doing burpees in between recording sessions, right inside Jihoon’s studio), so Jihoon crosses Seungkwan off the suspect list.

He lets out a little cough, as if his body’s reminding him that he’s absolutely dehydrated; that his throat’s drier than the Sahara Desert. Jihoon has no time to blame anyone, so he turns the kitchen upside down searching for his bottle of cola.

It’s not in the fridge, which is full of Hansol’s chocolate and Soonyoung’s fruit juice (which are certifiably gross; those organic healthy mixtures of tropical fruits and peach and kale). The freezer is jammed with meat that Mingyu doesn’t have time to cook; and there’s nothing but dust on top of the fridge. Jihoon crawls under the kitchen sink and finds a few cleaning products,a plunger and a spider, which he quickly bats off. He checks all the lower cabinets, then the upper ones.

Upon opening the second cabinet door, he spies a familiar flash of red product packaging. It’s his bottle of cola, and of course it has to be on the topmost shelf of the upper cupboard, which is practically on the ceiling. 

In this dorm, no one else is that tall except for Kim Mingyu.

Jihoon curses under his breath and grabs one of the dining chairs so that he can climb onto the kitchen counter to reach that top shelf.

For someone so tall, Mingyu thinks with his feet.

Jihoon can’t justify why Mingyu would do this to him. Did that giant forget that he, Lee Jihoon, made him, Kim Mingyu, drop to the floor in fear just by chasing him with a guitar? That’s how much of a tiny terror Jihoon is. Why would that giant hide his cola on the highest shelf, anyway, unless he wants to face Jihoon's wrath. Well, once he gets back, it's not going to be pretty.

Jihoon nimbly steps onto the chair, then climbs onto the kitchen counter on his socked feet (right now, he doesn’t care how hard Minghao scrubs the counters weekly; his priority is his cola). The counter’s a bit narrow, so he has to be careful not to fall off. He grabs onto the cupboard door for safety, though the strong grip he has on it might just pull it off its hinges. Jihoon looks up – there’s his cola, shining like a beacon, with the sounds of heaven chiming in as Jihoon gets closer to his goal.

Jihoon has underestimated how high the top shelf his, since he can’t reach it on his tiptoes, even when he’s standing on the kitchen counter. His bottle of cola is just there waiting for him to rescue it, if only he could reach it…so this is what it’s like to be as tall as Mingyu!

He berates himself to focus on the mission on hand – the cola is within reach, and his throat is in dire need of rehydrating. He’s shouldn’t be imagining what it’s like to be as tall as the bumbling Mingyu, since that idiot was the one who caused the whole thing to happen in the first place.

Another attempt to obtain his cola. Jihoon stretches his body as much as he can – the bottle brushes against his fingertips; just a bit more…

Maybe he could try jumping, even if it’s dangerous to do so on the shiny kitchen counter, wearing socks. But Jihoon’s desperate, so he bends his knees to launch himself for the jump; still awkwardly holding onto the cupboard door for dear life. It’s a bit unsafe, but one giant leap of faith and he’ll be reunited with his cola!

“Jihoonie, what are you doing?” Seungcheol appears from nowhere, right when Jihoon’s about to jump.

Jihoon almost falls off the kitchen counter in shock, but grabs onto the cupboard door - his lifesaver. Seungcheol rushes over in a split second; ready to catch Jihoon from falling from his haphazard position. Jihoon manages to stabilise himself in time, but that doesn’t stop Seungcheol from reaching out to support him, placing his hands on the younger’s back.

“I wasn’t about to fall.” Jihoon rasps nervously, correcting his stance. “I thought you went out.”

“I’m here now.” Seungcheol replies, still supporting the small blond. “Whatever you’re doing, it’s dangerous, so get down from there.” Seungcheol’s voice is gentle, but still authoritative. There’s a look of concern on his face as he slowly pieces together Jihoon’s little predicament, spotting the bottle of cola on the top shelf. He’s known Jihoon for so long that he can figure out what’s going on even without the younger telling him. If Jihoon rebels and insists on standing on the countertop for whatever reason, Seungcheol's ready to physically haul him down - after all, he'd carried a sleeping Jihoon all the way back to the dorm last night; and his back is still aching. 

Jihoon sits on the kitchen counter instead, a little pout on his face. He doesn’t feel like arguing with Seungcheol, given the laughable position that his hyung had found him. It must’ve looked ridiculous, and in retrospect, Jihoon’s embarrassed at his outrageous actions.

But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do; and Jihoon would do anything for cola.

A smile creeps upon Seungcheol’s face as he suppresses a snicker. As serious as Jihoon can be, sometimes he also does cute little odd things…like this. Especially when it involves food, or cola, but mostly the latter. Seungcheol suspects that Jihoon probably cares more about cola than their members.  

“What?” Jihoon snaps, slightly miffed at Seungcheol’s cheeky grin, hopping down from the counter. He’s mortified that of all people, it had to be Seungcheol who’d found him hopping on the kitchen counter in his pyjamas, trying to get a bottle of cola.  

“You want the cola?” Seungcheol nods up to the top shelf. Jihoon’s precious bottle of cola is still up there after his failed attempts to retrieve it.

“No.” Jihoon deadpans; though his ears are turning redder by the moment.

“You sure?” Seungcheol pours out a tall drink of water and hands it to the blond. “Here. Your voice sounds scratchy.”

“Thanks.” Jihoon avoids eye contact as the gulps the water down, quenching his thirst. It’s refreshing; soothing his dry throat. He still wants his cola, though, as he sets the glass aside. Seungcheol’s still staring at him with a fond smile on his face; watching his every move.

Jihoon simply wants Seungcheol to leave the kitchen so that he can climb back up and grab his cola before everyone else gets back. If the older man starts questioning him, this is officially the worst day of his life.

“That’s funny. A random bottle of cola on the topmost shelf of a cupboard we barely use.” Seungcheol comments, folding his arms as he leans against the kitchen counter, keeping his eyes on the blond.

“It’s mine.” Jihoon mutters, stopping himself short of slapping Seungcheol’s face with a piece of lettuce.

“Were you trying to get it, Jihoonie?”

Jihoon hangs his head in embarrassment, nodding. Exposed!

“You could’ve asked for my help.” Seungcheol tiptoes and effortlessly plucks the bottle off the shelf. “Here you go.”

Jihoon scrutinises the bottle of cola Seungcheol’s offering to him. Now it looks taunting, like it’s making fun of Jihoon’s efforts earlier, and the thought instantly makes Jihoon turn sour. “Put it in the fridge. I’ll drink it later.”

“You never say no to cola.” Seungcheol complies, sticking the bottle next to one of Soonyoung’s fruit juices in the fridge.

“No appetite.” Jihoon mumbles.

Jihoon’s stomach retaliates with a loud rumble, of course, it’s been almost twenty-four hours that he’s gone without food.

Seungcheol hums, with a knowing look on his face. “Go get ready. We’ll go for brunch, my treat.”

*

They go to a nearby café for brunch, and settle down at a table. A waitress flits over, ready for their order.

“Cola, Jihoonie?” There’s a playful glint in Seungcheol’s eyes as he glances over at the younger man.

Jihoon clears his throat, trying to keep a straight face, but his lips tug into a small smile; his ears burning red.

“Just water, please.”

-끝