Taekwoon knew that not everyone in the group was currently ditching their diet plan like him. He knew one person in particular was restricting himself to one meal a day, which was the lunch, and the probability of him skipping the dinner was extremely high. That didn’t stop him from making dishes enough to feed six, preparing plates and dining utensils for six as well, all while being prepared to have Wonshik not touching anything he cooked at all. Not even pizza and fried chicken could tempt him to ditch his diet, so why would he do it for Taekwoon’s cooking? He’s sure that the younger man would only drink water and called it a dinner.

So when Wonshik actually picked up his plate and put generous amount of Taekwoon’s pasta dishes, Taekwoon raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Hyung, what happened to your strict diet?” laughed Sanghyuk off as he took a portion for himself as well.

“I’m allowed to take cheat days,” replied Wonshik nonchalantly as he shoved some pasta into his mouth to avoid speaking further.

The dinner was lively as usual, with lots of laughs and VIXX-style violence. The dishes got cleared out quickly, with them being hungry beasts all the time. After a heated round of rock-paper-scissor, Hakyeon brought the dirty plates to the kitchen with a series of complaints, managing to somehow rope in Hongbin to help a little.

With the buzz dying down along with the ticking clock, Taekwoon found Wonshik checking his phone at the quiet corner of the apartment, right in front of the window that framed him with the city lights as the background. The image made Taekwoon’s heart skipped a beat from just how beautiful it looked, a dream-like scenery.

When Wonshik raised his gaze to meet his, Taekwoon just had to inhale deeply to calm his hammering heart.

“Hey, Hyung. Not resting yet? Tomorrow—well, today, I suppose—you have a torch relay event, don’t you?” asked Wonshik with a wide smile. Taekwoon only nodded in reply, not quite trusting his voice to speak just yet. His feet brought him to stand side by side with Wonshik, observing the night skyline.

“Do you have anything to do tomo—today?” asked Taekwoon, almost saying ‘tomorrow’ as well. The clock had long passed the midnight already, but since none of them were sleeping yet, he still forgot that the day had passed. But then again, looking at the man beside him, he could say that the concept of time itself was a lie.

“Dunno, probably practicing or just mixing something in the studio. Also maybe working out to compensate for tonight’s dinner. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to watch your torch relay,” replied Wonshik with a grin, figuring that Taekwoon probably wanted to ask him to watch the relay. He’d do it without even needed to be asked, though. He had set several reminders for that.

With the topic of dinner being brought up, Taekwoon couldn’t hold back the curiosity that flooded back to him. “Shik… Why did you eat dinner tonight? I mean, even at the recording for Christmas Home Party, you didn’t touch the pizza and chicken at all,” asked Taekwoon, looking outside to avoid direct eye contact with Wonshik.

“Well, it’s your cooking after all, why would I want to skip it?” replied Wonshik as he shrugged nonchalantly. His expression then dropped as he asked, “Wait, do you actually not want me to eat it? So that everyone can eat more?”

“No, definitely not!” denied Taekwoon hurriedly, facing Wonshik directly, not wanting to cause any misunderstanding. “I’m just… curious. I mean, my pasta versus pizza and chicken.”

“I’ll choose your pasta, at any day,” replied Wonshik without even batting an eye. Taekwoon felt taken aback, and it must have shown in his face because Wonshik continued, “Hyung, it’s your cooking. I’ll be a fool not to choose it over anything else.”

Taekwoon was so very touched, there was a whole minute of silence before he could come up with a smartass reply, “Even more than your mother’s cooking?”

Wonshik laughed hard, and Taekwoon found it hard not to laugh as well. “Okay, that’s tough choice. Is ‘both’ an option?” asked Wonshik, still giggling. Taekwoon was still laughing, and he knew that the question didn’t really need to be answered. Still, the implication warmed him so much inside.

“I’m going to sleep now. Rest well, Shik,” said Taekwoon, still smiling widely. Wonshik nodded in return, flicking his hand to shoo him away jokingly.

But just before Taekwoon turned towards his room, Wonshik’s words stopped him.

“I can’t choose which one I like better, between your cooking and your smile too,” said Wonshik with a cheeky grin.

Taekwoon’s face was burning red as he ducked into his room, heart thrumming loudly in his ears.