This chapter has an air of comedy and super duper fluff I cringed at writing XD I hope you all like it. Tell me your thoughts after you’re done reading.

She was going to make something really delicious, and really fulfilling in the kitchen, not so that she would eat it – it was four in the afternoon and she already had her lunch — but to give it to Jongin, who hadn’t been coming home for the last two days, staying in college to perfect his dance routine he was supposed to be performing with in their university’s talent show.

For her, she thought the whole thing was an overrated thing. Not the show in itself, but rather the idea Jongin had to practice day and night; every single hour of the day, for a local show. But then, she realized just how passionate he really was about dancing. She’d always realized that, actually; but she still would have liked it much better if he came home for a rest. Overstimulating himself would eventually break him.

“Are you..” she heard Jongdae’s voice from behind her, while she was busy meshing flour dough in her hands, attempting to make dumplings – Jongin had talked how many times about how much he loves them — and she turned to him. “…in the kitchen?”

“Yes?” She honestly didn’t know why he was so surprised. His face contorted into all sorts of expression in a millisecond, no trace of his usual cat-like (adorable) smile on.

“You’re actually cooking something?” Then, the same adorable curve of his lips that made him look ten years younger came back to grow on his face, and he quickly dug one of his hands inside the pocket of his black jeans, retrieving his phone. “Hold on, let me grab my phone to take a picture of this.”

“Jongdae! Stop that!” She shrieked, appalled at what he was going to do. Taking a picture of her? When was the last time she had captured her face in a camera? It wasn’t like she was entirely too annoyed with the fact, just.. surprised. Why would he even want to take a picture of her? She looked like how she always looked, nothing out of the ordinary except for the apron wrapped around her waist.

When she realized she had actually screamed at him, she felt the tips of her ears burn, along with her cheeks. She immediately looked away from Jongdae’s calculating eyes, his whole expression seeming to light up in mischief, his smile widening even more than possible.

“What?” He had the audacity to cackle at her. “I thought you’re doing this repentant thing where you’ll let us do whatever we want and start accepting us for it?”

“I don’t understand how that interpret with not wanting my photo taken.” She huffed, turning back to smack the soft texture of the dough, glad that it had turned out to be the same dough the picture in her phone provided. She really wanted to ignore Jongdae’s mischievous acts, since she was genuinely serious about this whole make-Jongin-food-and-bring-him-back-home fiasco, and having the older boy breathing down her neck wouldn’t help her with anything. It didn’t help that she didn’t know how to cook, her mother at home too irritated and scared with her to teach her the basics of a nice and normal meal.

“If you don’t allow me to take a picture of you, that would be you lying to us, and I’ll be sad.” Jongdae said happily, not sounding even a bit sad, his smile large and.. inviting, urging a reaction out of her calm heart. Why does he have to look so beautiful?

“You don’t want a moping puppy, do you?” He finished, coming closer to her and positioning his phone in front of his face, angling it sideways to take a proper picture of his cute little mate wearing an apron that dwarfed her frame and was spilled with drops of oil, water, and flour. She looked way too adorable for him to pass such a golden opportunity to take a picture.

“You’re taking advantage of my kindness.” She huffed again, harmlessly, and he knew she was simply flustered – which he was reveling in considering how rarely she got embarrassed or shy — he liked to annoy her, that was for sure, but he liked to annoy her even more when she was shy.

“You’re also looking super cute wearing an apron, so let me take your picture, pretty please?”

Jongdae begging and sounding like a whimpering puppy, eyes too vulnerable and too much on her weak heart, especially when it came to them (her mates) and what they wanted from her, was making her even more vulnerable. This entire get-nice-to-your-mates and opening her heart for them was something she felt would make them even closer, with the apology or not (even though she believed that sincere apology of hers was the biggest reason they were this comfortable with her) she just didn’t like it when some of them took advantage of her kindness.

Like what Jongdae was doing.

“Alright, fine.”

And she didn’t like how she was agreeing so easily to him.

Jongdae didn’t hesitate to snap the perfect picture, especially when she turned around to give him a proper look to her front, a small smile growing on her lips to have an even more perfect picture, which made Jongdae’s heart swoon at her with delight.

After he finished taking multiple pictures of her, he pocketed his phone back and easily took steps closer to her, until he was leaning right beside her on the counter, watching her hands awkwardly trying to put the proper pressure on the dough, wanting to soften it.

“Who are you even making food for?” He asked pleasantly, sounding softer than before and truly just curious, nothing mischievous or playful in his tone.

“Jongin.”

“Ah,” Realization dawned on him quickly at her answer. “You’re going to visit him and take him out of that hell hole he got himself glued to?”

“Pretty much, yes.” She answered casually

“Okay, let me help you.”

She looked at him with gratitude in her eyes she couldn’t conceal, her lips curling into a sweet and soft smile, making his stomach burst with millions of butterflies only she was able to create inside of him. She looked even more beautiful while smiling like that, if that was even possible, and Jongdae wasn’t sure if the bond was the connection that made him view her like that, or if she really was beautiful herself.

“Thank you, I owe you one.” She told him, gently, before looking down at her phone and pushing it between them too, so Jongdae could have a look on what she was trying to make.

Jongdae nodded, and went to collect the ingredients of whatever he needed to make, before coming back beside her. Quickly, without considering her surprise; Jongdae bent down towards her and stole a kiss from her cheek, making the girl’s body turn rigid instantly.

“This is you paying back to me for offering to help you, the actual help will require more of that.”

He then started to work, casually, not minding the flustered girl at the suddenness of all of this, or how shudders sprung up in her body in a violent way even he could feel it. All he really knew was that her cheek was soft and she tasted like watermelon, a fruit he loved dearly.

Later on, when he was putting the oil on the pan to start making a whole round egg, he took a sneaky detour and marched to his diligently working mate, only to dip down and smack another kiss on her other cheek.

“Putting the oil on the pan requires another kiss.” He let out a snicker at the freeze of her body, the red glowering up in her face, and the electricity he knew she’d like to produce and zap him with to leave her alone. However, she didn’t say anything like the first time, and went to work on something else, a helpless sigh released from the depth of .

“Making a part of your meal takes another giant kiss.”

Jongdae once again – idiotically – announced once he finished one of the sideway dishes, swiveling around to look at her with a giant smile on his face, a mischievous one; she realized with a startle, and started waddling towards her with his hands raised up in grabby gestures.

She let him kiss her again, on the forehead this time, because she secretly liked to be peppered with kisses all over her face like she mattered to them. She especially liked it when she didn’t have to ask for their attention by trying too hard, something she had been doing the first two weeks after that apology, because they didn’t have a clue on how to react to the sudden changes in her. But things started to get a little better each day, until two weeks became a month; and one month became two. The boys became considerably a lot warmer than before, a lot inviting, and a lot involved with her.

It was getting better, day by day, and having Jongdae throwing kisses at her like that for a nonsocial reason made her heart.. throb.

“Viola,” Jongdae once more declared, throwing his hands around him after he was done with his part of the meal, and she looked at his creation with awe. Jongdae and Kyungsoo had always been great with making food, Chanyeol and Joonmyun occasionally too; but Jongdae was probably the most elegant when it came to shaping his food in plates. He was exceptionally.. neat. “And having the meal ready—“

“Takes another kiss?” She found herself finishing with a smile unconsciously curling up in her face, and Jongdae whipped his face to her with mock awe.

“You’re really good at this game,” he told her with wide eyes, eliciting a small giggle from her lips. “You understood the rules pretty quickly.”

Then, he was once again waddling to her, like a polar bear trying to lunge at their prey, the smile on his face growing softer, gentler; and a little less playful. That expression of his was rare, the expression of absolute comfort, and so it always made her feel so giant when he gave her that, like she is special (and she liked to believe that she were, for him at least).

Instead of bending to kiss her like she thought, he lowered his hands to her hips and picked her up. She let out a yelp at the sudden gesture, until her bottom made contact with the surface of the counter top. She glared down at Jongdae, and he released a soft chuckle, wrapping one arm around her waist to pull her closer, until he was between her legs. His other hand went to her chin, and he pulled her face down to kiss her lips.

All sorts of feelings she didn’t knew she was able to feel exploded inside of her at the touch of his lips on hers, and she found herself – subconsciously – relaxing in his hold, her arms going around his neck to pull him closer, the feelings of his lips too spicy and delicious to her.

She found herself feeling that same feeling she had when she and Joonmyun had kissed in his library, or when she had given Baekhyun his kiss; that feeling of wanting more; of wanting to feel more of him, all around her, and it should make her feel embarrassed, because wanting someone to touch you in the most provocative way is embarrassing, because they are not yet in that stage.

Jongdae expertly moved his lips and goosebumps instantly invaded all of her senses, rendering her numb. She just wished she knew what to do in these kinds of things, she appeared like a newbie in comparison to him.

Feeling her hesitance, Jongdae pulled away with a soft pop, since surprisingly; she didn’t let him go as easily as he thought. He looked at her with a teasing glint in his eyes, recognizing the way she was wrapping her arms around his neck, and how she kept avoiding his stare – because did she really pull him strongly back to her when he tried to break apart? – but then he released a small chuckle, and she just had to look at him, a soft smile gracing her face.

“Oh look at you, you’re smiling.” Which Jongdae apparently took notice of. This time, she didn’t avoid his eyes, and looked straight at him. When he finished laughing soothingly, she found herself blurting out.

“I love you.” And she didn’t care afterwards, when she really realized what she told him, because this wasn’t something she hadn’t told them before, and it wasn’t like she hadn’t been trying to show them that.

“Okay, you see?” Jongdae didn’t look surprised. “This actually requires another kiss.”

So he did what he wanted, pulling her for another kiss, this time, she couldn’t hold on her flustered chuckle, right between his lips, and Jongdae found it in him to reply her confession with one of his.

“I love you too.”

-

She had been standing in front of Jongin’s large university with a skeptical look gracing her small face. This was the first time she actually went to Jongin’s college all by herself, and it was the first time to catch a sight of his university.

Outside the gates, where she was standing; she could see tons of university students coming out, exhaustion clear on their faces. It was already four in the afternoon so it was only understandable for them to grow tired from staying in their college campus all these hours. What she noticed was the students were completely diverse, from different countries and colors, she found her eyes twinkling. She had always wanted to befriend someone from a completely different country, preferably an English country to enhance her horrible English. She remembered Minseok telling her that Jongin’s university was international, which would explain the many different faces.

There was a single similarity this university had with her school (and possibly every school she’d have the privilege of visiting, maybe) the supernatural clusters were all staring at her, some of them having wide glistening, golden eyes, which meant they could smell her mate scent. Her mates – if they found out, that is – would k