An awkward smile plasters on Junhoe's face as he stands beside the door of the car's passenger seat. He holds the door open for me to get in. Exchanged greetings are left unuttered as I slide inside. The door closes with a sharp bang, the air-condition calming my skin under the warm May weather.

The new car smell reminds me it's my first time to experience Junhoe driving. It's nothing fancy, but considering how most people our age are still in school, it's something.

It's a white pick-up truck, a surprise gift from Junhoe's grandmother for his imminent graduation. His parents are the least pleased because he's always spoiled with things like this. In her defense, with the Goo patriarch's health weakening with , it's natural for Junhoe to assume his father's position someday. It's more symbolic, handing down bigger responsibilities on Junhoe's head more than him receiving it as a gift.

Junhoe goes around to take his place on the driver's seat. As I place my shoulder bag on my lap, he straps his seatbelt on. He settles his hands on the still-bare steering wheel. Our mundane conversation about him buying its cover brings to memory.

I have half the mind to offer buying one for him, but I bite my tongue, remembering the nice words he left for me earlier. The car starts moving away from the complex's parking lot. Alarmed at the numerous times we're hurled forward as he maneuvers out of the lot, I sit up straight and cross my arms, but I don't dare look at his direction.

A relieved sigh comes from the both of us when the car approaches the main road. As he turns the blinker on, Junhoe takes one quick glance at me. "Wear your seatbelt."

It's the first thing I hear from him today ever since our conversation on the phone. The reason behind the thought is endearing, but I don't find it in myself to think that now.

"I was going to do it anyway even if you didn't say so," I grumble under my breath.

Instead of snapping at me, he says as leveled as possible, "Guide me towards Jennie noona's place since I don't know where it is."

As I lean my head on the window, watching the surroundings blur by, I hum a noncommittal response. Besides me saying directions, there's not much to talk about. The air inside the cramped space makes me feel stuffy.

It becomes short-lived, however, when Junhoe, the one more uncomfortable with silence, speaks up and calls my name. Given the numerous times he glances my way, I know he's trying to breach the topic between us.

"Chaeyoung."

My lips pull to a frown, never budging from my place.

"Chaeyoung," he tries again. "Are you still mad?"

It only takes one question like that for the fire to spark within. With his inability to assess the situation, I send him dagger-like stares. It must be too much because he glances at me, face looking uncomfortable every second. He knows then too, what's about to happen.

"If you were so impatient, you should've went ahead. What's the use of waiting for me?"

"You said two, so—"

"I told you," I say through gritted teeth, "to wait for five minutes, right? Isn't that too much to ask?"

"Chaeyoung, your five minutes became thirty!" Junhoe leans forward as the car hurls to a stop, stoplight turning red, when we arrive at the intersection. Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he turns to me. "Do I turn left or right?"

I glance at the intersection in front. "Left. And that's why I told you! I can take public transportation instead if you can't wait for me."

"How can I do that?" he says with a scoff.

Ignoring his words, I continue, "I was panicking trying to finish my make-up as fast as possible, and with you telling me to hurry up doesn't make things easier."

"I don't get why you're the one angry between the two of us." He glances at me, this time longer. "Weren't you the one who said I have to be there at two?"

I stay silent, partly because he's right and partly because I'm thinking of a comeback.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't give you the right to say bad things to me!"

"What bad things?"

"I can't understand why you need make up. You look uglier anyway," I repeat that in a mocking tone. My face changes when the stoplight turns green. "Turn right here."

"I didn't say anything like that." He turns right. "I said, it doesn't make much of a difference."

"That sounds way worse!"

If he didn't give up his habit of rolling his eyes a year ago, he would've done it on the spot. "Whatever. We're not having this conversation now."

"Oh," I throw my hands up. "Classic Junhoe. Are you getting tired of me?"

He sighs. "No. I don't want to have this conversation right now because clearly, you're not in the right headspace for that. We'll make Jennie noona upset if we arrive there at this state."

I'm certainly losing this argument. Crossing my arms, I make my counterattack. "Why are you driving so slow?"

His watchful eyes keep on shifting on the road. Without much thought to it, he replies, "Precious cargo."

The ends of my mouth twitch and it's taking all my willpower not to smile. I shouldn't smile, not when I'm supposed to be angry at him!

"Go left. You'll escape the traffic."

Instead of following my words, he goes straight, making my heart drop.

"I told you, Junhoe. You have to make a left!" I say in exasperation as my gaze follows the street where we should've been.

He doesn't say anything. Instead, he turns his blinker on as he goes through a drive-thru. The sight of bright red and yellow, along with the trademark golden arch welcomes our sight.

"Why are we here at McDonald's?"

I know why we're here but I still ask.

Junhoe lifts the brake as we wait for the car in front of us. Turning to me, he asks, "What do you want to eat?"

"What?"

"What do you want to eat?" he asks again as if I didn't hear him the first time.

"No. Why are we here?"

My boyfriend runs a hand through his hair. "Aren't you hungry?"

A biting response is coming but I realize it's futile if I continue arguing with him. Instead, I settle with, "How did you know I'm hungry?"

"If you being mad at me isn't any indication, then I don't know what is." He continues when I stay silent. "What do you want to eat?"

"Are you paying?"

"Yeah."

After biting the insides of my cheeks, I reply, "Big Mac Pack."

"The one with the Shanghai Wrap, French fries, and Corn Pie?"

I nod. "Upsize to large. Get me an Oreo Sundae too."

Minutes later, we get our orders, the smell of fast food filling the car. I almost dance in my seat, not until I remind myself to act cool in front of the man I just screamed at earlier.

"Chaeyoung." Junhoe points at his opened mouth, eyes still trained on the road.

Without any complain from me, I feed him some fries and feed some for myself too. When I start eating my burger, Junhoe removes one hand from the steering wheel and brings it in front of me.

Without any explanation whatsoever, a smile breaks out on my face. I respond to his invitation by weaving my fingers through the gaps of his, leaning my chin on his shoulder in between chews. "I'm sorry. I love you." As an attempt for him to forgive me, I let him take a bite out of my burger. He then sneaks in a kiss on my forehead.

When I lean away from his shoulder, he says, "Man, hunger does bring out the worst in you."

A chuckle comes out of my lips. Well, he's right about that.

🌺🌸🌺

"Can you pass the plate, Chaeyoung?" Yunhyeong asks, the smell of grilled meat wafting through the air as he flips burgers one after another, his other hand fanning the smoke with a fan.

I pick up the clean plate sitting beside my side of the grill and hand it over to him. "Sure, oppa."

The charcoal embers of fire glows as oil trickles down from the meat. Without much thought, I toss the already turning tan hotdogs with tongs. Some almost roll out of the grill if Yunhyeong didn't stop them with his own tongs on time.

"Careful," he reminds and takes one look at me, "is Junhoe bothering you again?"

Does he get that with one look at my face?

"In more ways than one," I reply with a frown, remembering another petty fight we had after arriving in Jennie's house. It didn't involve food this time, but directions because Junhoe thought he's smarter than my road knowledge. He thinks his dumb GPS is so much better. Just in case he forgets, I'm always at Jennie's house for so many times I lost count. How is that any different?

Shaking my head, I focus on grilling the hotdogs beside Yunhyeong. The smoke clouds get bigger, the sizzle of meat making my mouth water, when he places another batch of uncooked burger patties.

With the way he uses the grill, he can be mistaken as an expert when it's the first time he's doing this. As far as I can remember, Yunhyeong always has Jennie's back when it comes to cooking, especially during our hangouts with each other. Eleven people who all love food is no joke.

Two years ago, we wouldn't have thought this was possible. My friends aren't acquainted with Junhoe's friends after all. Jennie's birthday party gave us the opportunity to know each other. Since then, because of similar age groups (and because the unnies think Junhoe's friends are hot), our circle of friends grew.

Being in here in Jennie's backyard also reminds me it's where Jisoo and Bobby met. Little did we know, they'd be much acquainted with each other, much more than we can ever know.

"Woah, you're good at this," I comment as I look at the grill marks on the patties he place on the serving plate.

"I really like cooking. Also because if I don't do this, Jennie will kill me." Yunhyeong's gaze flits towards the backyard door leading to the kitchen. As if on cue, we hear Jennie cursing inside. The fried chickens must be causing her too much trouble.

Warm hands wrap around me all of a sudden that I step back with a shriek. Instead of being intimidated, the person behind me tightens his hold and leans his chin on my shoulder.

As my body melt under his embrace, I mutter, "Junhoe, you scared me..."

"How are you doing?" Junhoe asks in between chews. He must be eating another burger patty again.

"Hey, stop eating what I'm cooking!" Yunhyeong scolds as he hits Junhoe on the shoulder with the fan. My boyfriend barely avoids the hit as he sidesteps with a laugh.

"Why are you here?" I ask, "if you're here to steal hotdogs, then leave us alone."

"The lovebirds' annoying me," Junhoe sulks. Glancing over my back, I see Bobby, arm wrapped around Jisoo. They're sitting together on the long table behind us, flirting with each other as if they're the only people here, "besides, I'm getting jealous."

Yunhyeong clicks his tongue and waves him off. "That's it. Go away. You're not much better than Bobby."

Junhoe steers away from Yunhyeong and with me still under his arms, I move too. "Don't mind the old geezer."

I stifle a laugh.

"Old geezer? Continue fixing the table, you idiot!"

With a chuckle, Junhoe steps away and removes his arms around me. He moves to my side, angling his torso in a way for us to face each other. The way he's staring at my face makes me uncomfortable so I push him away with my forearm. "Ah... why are you bothering me?"

"Chaeyoung, did you roll on the ground without me knowing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're drenched in sweat, your make-up's melting and you look really dirty. Do you want spare change?"

Beside us, Yunhyeong snickers. "That's not a good thing to say to your girlfriend, Junhoe!"

His comment gets ignored as I frown. "Really? But I made it pretty today!"

Junhoe clicks his tongue and keeps me in place by holding my upper arms. "Don't move."

I drop the tongs on an empty plate beside the grill. "Why?"

Without a word, Junhoe gathers my hair behind me and smoothes out the strands with the back of his hand into a messy ponytail. He holds the hair together with a hair band around his wrist, something that he must've acquired from Jisoo.

"There, better." He places a chaste kiss at the top of my head. "I'll finish fixing the table before Jennie goes berserk. By the way, you smell!"

I pinch the front of my loose white shirt to my nose, frowning when I catch the smell of charcoal and grilled meat on my clothes. I should've brought an extra shirt if I knew this would happen.

There's a meaningful look on Yunhyeong's gaze as he watches Junhoe doing his assigned task. After a while, he focuses his attention on the patties, pressing down the tongs on some once in a while.

"You know, he was a lot selfish before," Yunhyeong says after a beat.

Picking up the tongs again, I push the hotdogs out of their places to focus the heat on another side. "He still is though..."

"No, I don't mean it like that," he answers with a chuckle, "back in the old days, he doesn't care what anybody thinks as long as he voices his opinion. He got in trouble a lot with that attitude. Nowadays, he thinks about what he says. It's still a surprise for us."

His words sound familiar but I can't remember where I heard it before. "Or so I've heard."

"I'm serious. Your influence brought a change in that kid," skipping a beat, he continues, "this is why he can't help but pro—" Catching himself at the last minute, he brings a hand over his mouth, eyes widening as he faces me.

Alarmed, I stop what I'm doing to face him. "What is it, oppa?"

"N - Nothing!" He turns away from me to call over Bobby. "Hey, watch the patties for a second, will you? I'll go to the toilet for a second!"

Before anyone can understand him, he rushes inside the house. Bobby removes his arm around Jisoo's shoulder, something that makes Junhoe sigh in relief who's sitting across them. After sending a wink towards Jisoo, Bobby goes to my side to pick up the tongs Yunhyeong left beside the grill.

He looks at the backyard door, mimicking the same clueless expression on my face. "What happened with Yunhyeong?"

That's the thing I want to ask him myself. What happened with him?

~🌸tbc.

Double update again! I'm pacing myself towards everything so really, when this chapter's supposed to be longer, I decided to cut it into the next one instead. And also because I procrastinated enough by binge-watching Hotel Del Luna hahaha! I haven't finished watching it yet so I'll get back on it after I post this.

There are a lot of discrepancies, I know. Ugh. If I had more motivation to continue this fic, I would built the pinkon interactions w/ each other. They're really planned to be closer because of Junhoe and Chaeyoung, but limitations prevent me from doing so haha (fervently hoping it doesn't sound forced...)