♦ A/N: Please always take note of the date, it's really important and also to avoid any confusion of the timeline. Happy reading! ^^ ♦

→ April 8, 2018 - SUNDAY

Over the weekend, Jaemin has been practicing on how to cook the perfect bulgogi while trying not to burn down the kitchen. His mother insisted on helping him, by just guiding him on how to do this and that correctly, but he trusted the step by step procedure on youtube even more.

He wanted the bulgogi to be completely self-made by him. Call him an idiot, but he is doing this for the guy that he likes. The first dish is what every first timer would call the first trial. It was a mess. He added too much soy sauce making the meat salty. The second one was even worse than the first, as the pork tenderloin was overcook and there was some sort of fluid coming out from the meat, making the dish look like a soup. And finally, the third one was close to what he was expecting. The meat is a bit undercook but one would overlook that fact as the sweet and salty sauce goes well with the meat, overall it was good.  

The narrator on the youtube vid said that the total preparation time for bulgogi would take about thirty-five minutes. But for Nana, it took him about half a day to finish. He cannot even belive that future Jaemin volunteered to cook for Jeno. He doesn't even know how to in mince a garlic clove, heck doesn't even know what 'mince' means. Future Jaemin was way above his head when it comes to Jeno. 

But, if this is the only way for him to talk to Jeno and ask about his quandaries, then he would gladly do so. Saving Jeno is a must. In the end, he settled with dish number three and prepared two sets of lunch boxes for tomorrow.

"Why did you prepare two?" His mom asked as he was about done cleaning up the whole mess in the kitchen.

"I always get hungry after second period so I figured it would be best to take two." Jaemin lied, making it easier for him to do so as he got his back turn towards his mom because he was doing the dishes.

His mom snarled. "You just wasted a three-days worth of our meat Nana!" 

"I told you, I'll do the groceries next week using my own money." 

Mrs. Na just let out a sigh and said, "Oh, you better be not planning to give that lunch to a girl." Then, heads out as she cannot take another second looking at his disarrayed kitchen.

"You're right mom..." Jaemin whispered to himself. "I'm not giving it to a girl." 

→ April 9, 2018 - MONDAY

Giving the lunch box to Jeno is a lot harder than cooking it. He couldn't come up with a perfect alibi as to why he brought an extra lunch today. More importantly, he's getting anxious on what Jeno would think about the food. Will he like it? Will he be surprised? Will he it up and pretends he likes it? It's been bothering him since he left this morning. And the extra weight on his shoulder coming from the two lunch boxes is a grim reminder that he needs to give it to Jeno first. 

But still, no alibi. The best excuse that he can think of is that his mom made him two lunches because she wants to fatten him up. But then again, he's worried about the taste of the food, what kind of mother would make a low-class bulgogi? Jeno would definitely think that it was him who cooked it. Renjun suggested last night as they were chatting to just tell Jeno the truth. He thought about it all night, even consider doing it, but the rush of embarassment consumes his confidence.

"Good morning." A person suddenly greeted him, making him startled. It was Jeno. "Wow, you seem far off again today. Are you okay?" Jeno asked and then places his hand over to Jaemin's temple, checking if he was sick. And the latter's action made Jaemin blushed. At the contact of Jeno's hand, Jaemin just sat there, frozen solid.

"I'm alright." Jaemin said, removing Jeno's hand from him.

Jeno then proceeds to sit, placing his backpack below him. "So, what are you thinking so deeply?" 

The question lingers around the air for a while as Jaemin doesn't know what to reply. But eventually, "I brought two lunches today." Jaemin gasps, then closes his mouth, completely going berserk as he just said out loud what he was thinking!

"Okay..." Jeno started, doesn't seem to know where the conversation is going. "Is...that a bad thing?" 

"Yes...I mean...No...It could be both but you know...I'd get fat...BUT I'm not saying it's a bad thing to get fat it's actually good than being skinny and I'm sorta skinny too but not THAT skinny so...I-uh-I want to eat more so in the end I brought two lunch boxes. Did you get me?" Jaemin said mumbling a bunch of words out of nervousness. 

"Kinda?" Jeno responded ambiguously.

Jaemin sighs. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not making sense." He paused for a bit, gathering his stength and then, "Can you...help me finish this lunch?" 

At his statement, Jeno showcases a cunning smile, starting to understand now where this is going. "Na Jaemin...are you asking me out on a date?"

"WHAT?!" Jaemin yelled, but immediately shut his mouth close as he caught the attention of his few classmates. Thankfully, his other friends haven't arrive yet or else they'd burn him on the spot, especially Donghyuck. "It's just a normal lunch." This time he said it a bit calmly compared to earlier. 

Jeno kept his smug face making Jaemin a bit annoyed. "Alright then, just lunch." He teased, then leaned on over to him as he whispers the next sentence, "See you in the rooftop then."

The latter's action left Jaemin on a dazed, like for a moment someone push the pause button on him. Contrarily, he cannot believe that he just did that. He was wondering where the hell did he got that courage. He looks at the bag containing his lunch boxes and whispers, "Boy, the food better be great." 

History is their fourth period class just before lunch break. Not even an hour since class started, Jaemin is already jittering on his seat, like literally his feet is shaking both out of excitement and nervousness. He tried to calm himself down but the sound of Jeno's hoarse voice replays on his mind, tickling his body in unexplainaed areas. He doesn't give a about Mr. Junyoung's discussion of the Joseon era, he's completely stuck on Jeno's era. 

Ever since this thing with Jeno, he hasn't really paid much attention at school, but it doesn't mean he has neglected his studies. He still reviews at home and he can just hit up Jisung whenever he finds something difficult to understand. 

Ten minutes left before the break, Jaemin started acting like he's writing down the lecture, but really he's making it look like it he's not looking forward to their "just lunch". He can feel Jeno's presence beside him, through his peripheral vision, it appears the guy is staring at him. At that realization, Jaemin started to get uncomfortable and soon enough his heart is beating tremendously. He was just about to truly take down notes when all of the sudden Jeno extends his arm swiftly and drops a note on the corner of his table. 

Apparently, they're doing the secret note thing now. It made Jaemin flustered but quickly slams his palm on his desk and slowly slides the note towards him. When he was sure Mr. Junyoung cannot see him from his angle, he opens the note quitely and read.

It's just the two of us, right?  

Although it was short, the feeling that he got by just reading it excites him - most particularly at the word us. Since Jeno's the one who instigated this secret note thing, it appears that the guy is really pushing their lunch together, exclusively him and Jaemin only. Of course, Jaemin doesn't look at it that way, it's just a friendly lunch, nothing more. On the side note, Jaemin doesn't really know what to reply. He clearly did not think this through. The six of them are use to going lunch together since the first day, by being just the two of them would arouse their friends' suspicion. Sure they can fool Jisung, Mark, and Renjun, but Donghyuck? What kind of an excuse that would work on their ever so clever friend? 

He writes down his reply just below t