It had been three weeks since the divorce had finalized. Suho received the papers through the mail letting him know that his marriage had failed. Not that it was his fault, he was a faithful husband, he couldn’t say the same about his ex. The letter in the mail seemed like the final nail in the coffin, but the tiny bundle in his stomach would always be a reminder of the man, he sighed.

But despite everything, he was getting along well, in his new apartment that was across town from his former residence. He was the one that refused to stay in that house. The same house that he and his ex-husband moved into after marriage, those rooms were filled with memories of the two, and Suho didn’t want the reminders of them. He also didn’t want to sleep in that bedroom either, the bedroom where he and his husband spent their first night together, happy and hopeful with big dreams for the future. One of which included the small baby kicking at his stomach time to time.

That bedroom was the place that he’d found out about his husband’s deceit. The man’s secretary seemed to know the bedroom of their home all too well, and it was just Suho’s unfortunate luck to have came home at the wrong time and found the two entangled with one another on the sheets that Suho had just replaced that morning before setting out for his daily routine of grocery shopping. It felt like a ton of bricks had hit him upon witnessing the scene, and while he cried and screamed at his husband, it brought clarity too.

The man that promised to love and cherish him until death do them part had betrayed him.

Suho never returned to that house since that day. Sending over friends or loved ones to pick up his things, he didn’t want to face that man, nor darken the doorway of that house ever again.

What hurt even worse was just earlier that same week, they’d been in the stores, buying all sorts of items for the nursery. And they seemed like a happy couple then. At least, Suho believed they did.

He believed that they were happy when his ex-husband leaned down and kissed his round stomach, he believed they were happy when his ex-husband showed the teddy bear to his stomach and asked the little one if they liked the teddy bear or wanted a different toy for their room. But maybe that was all lies?

After all, since he moved out and gotten settled in his new apartment, the man never did contact Suho again about the wellbeing of the child. But rumor had it that the secretary was also pregnant, and if the man didn’t love Suho anymore, then surely, he would only be focused on who he was in love with now, and who was carrying his child now.

It hurt, but Suho shook it off as he prepared his own nursery for his child, with all the items and necessities that he believed the child would need. It did scare him to think that he would be raising his child alone now, but he knew he could do it too. One way or another, he would have his happy little family even if it were just the two of them.

That was his life now, his reason for waking up every morning.

Although one thing that he missed terribly about his ex-husband was the fact that the man could cook a decent meal. Suho could cook… some things. Noodles, simple pastas, and… does meals with directions on the back count as cooking too?

It didn’t help that the pregnancy was making him want to eat more, despite how much he hated seeing all the weight gain from it. One of his baggy sweaters had become a second home to him, if only because he didn’t feel as fat in it.

Right now, he was currently in his recliner with his laptop, trying to finish one of his freelance projects as well as checking out one of the menus for one of the local restaurants. Suho’s thankful that he hasn’t had any weird cravings so far, he imagined it’d be hard to order ice cream with pickle chips in it from some place or chicken fingers with melted fudge as the dipping sauce. So he could still enjoy normal meals like he had before the pregnancy.

But while he was there, back and forth between the document and the website, a sudden whiff of garlic and another spice that he couldn’t place but smelled absolutely heavenly. And apparently the little one inside him caught the whiff of it too because suddenly he felt a small kick and felt a rumble through his stomach. He was hungry and whatever that was filling his apartment with that smell had him craving it.

He’d smelled different things through the vent system when he first moved in but paid little mind to it, but this time, he couldn’t help but set aside his laptop and go on a hunt for where that smell was coming from.

Walking out of his apartment, he figured that the only person that could’ve been cooking anything to create that aroma would’ve been the person to the left of him since Suho had the last apartment on that hall near the end of the building, the only other person would’ve been across the hall but the smell stopped as soon as he stepped outside of his apartment. The hall didn’t smell like it, and when he leaned towards the door across from him, he couldn’t caught the scent at all.

So the person to his left. Considering that Suho hadn’t lived there long, he hadn’t met all the tenants that were his neighbors, there was an elderly lady down the hall that he’d ran into the other day but that was about it. So he didn’t know who lived to the left of his apartment.

The rumbling in his stomach snapped him out of his wondering mind.

“Hang on, baby, I’ll get you some food,” he murmured quietly, running a smoothing hand over his round stomach. He walked up to the door, a gold-colored plate had the numbers sixteen greeted him. He raised his hand to knock, he knew this was ridiculous, but he was hungry and the baby inside him wanted food. Preferably whatever was smelling so good inside his apartment.

He knocked and waited.

Honestly he didn’t know who he expected to open the door, he didn’t even know what he’d say, but the growling of his stomach kept him from quickly scurrying back into his apartment.

A second or two later, a tall black haired male opened the door, wearing a pink and turquoise apron over his black sweats. Definitely not what Suho had expected. He was a lot taller than Suho, he had to look up to see the man’s confused face, and when he did, he couldn’t believe how handsome the man was. The confused and curious expression on the man’s face looked almost comical.

“Can I… can I help you?” The man’s voice was deep, it suited that face and the way he towered over Suho.

There were a million things that Suho could’ve responded with, and maybe he was just lost in his awe at the man, but as soon as he caught the whiff of that heavenly aroma coming from the apartment, he couldn’t stop himself from inhaling deeply and breathing out, “What are you cooking that smells so good?”

The guy looked a bit more confused, before his gaze finally lowered to Suho’s round stomach that was still visible despite the baggy sweater he was wearing. He guessed the guy was putting two and two together, and instead of being rude, telling him off, and closing the door on him, the guy cracked a smile, a bit gummy, that almost made him look adorable. Suho held back from cooing.

“It’s just some pork dumplings and fried rice and cabbage…” he trailed off to the growling of Suho’s stomach. He bit his lip as if to hold back a smile, “I have extra… do you want to join me for dinner?”

The kick to his stomach kept Suho from hesitating, “Please?” He rubbed his stomach again, as if to try and calm down the baby.

His neighbor stepped aside to allow Suho in and once the door was closed, that smell was all that filled the air it seemed. Suho could’ve drooled from how good it smelled. The thought of food even deterred him from checking out his neighbor’s apartment. The only thing he was focused on was following the man towards the kitchen where the smell was getting stronger.

“I’m Kris, by the way,” the man spoke up as soon as they got to the kitchen where he went back to stirring up the rice in the skillet along with the cabbage. He motioned towards the stools in front of the small island for Suho to sit down at. “I’m guessing you’re the new neighbor?”

Suho sat down, watching the man cook, “I just moved in about two months ago after filing for my divorce… I’m Suho.”

Kris seemed surprised to hear about that little bit of information, but he smiled nonetheless, “Nice to meet you then, Suho, and…” he looked towards Suho’s stomach, “baby? Have you got a name for them yet?”

“Sehun, it’s a boy,” he smiled softly, placing a hand on top of his stomach.

“Sehun,” Kris repeated, seeming to like the name. “I’m guessing Sehun must’ve smelled my cooking and couldn’t resist wanting some then.”

A slight pink tinted Suho’s cheeks, “Well, it, uh… it did smell good in my apartment. Better than anything I usually cook.”

Kris reached up to turn the heat off on the stove before moving to retrieve some plates to start preparing everything, “Do you not cook often or… are you a bad cook?” He guessed, especially seeing the darker coloring to the man’s cheeks, he supposed it was the latter.

“I can cook… okay stuff. Just… simple things,” Suho replied, looking over the food, eyes becoming glued to the dumplings, they looked homemade. “Especially nothing like dumplings… did you make these yourself?”

The proud grin that crossed Kris’s face made Suho jealous, it also made him envious. “My mom taught me how. They’re not as good as hers, but I try my best.”

When Kris filled a plate and handed it over, Suho had to refrain from immediately digging in but everything looked so good, he almost couldn’t himself. Plus, it just came off the stove so he had to let it cool. But when he finally took a bite of the dumpling, he could’ve almost moaned at the flavor.

“I take it you like them?” Kris asked, teasingly. He took a bite of his own, humming in approval, “But still, they’re not as good as my mom’s.”

Suho swallowed his mouthful, “Are you kidding? These are amazing.”

Kris shrugged, “I’ll have to ask my mom to make some so you can try them, you’ll definitely say hers are better.”

That invitation for another meal didn’t go missed by Suho, and honestly, he’d love to try both and compare them. But for now, the ones in front of him were definitely the winner of the competition.

“But these are nothing compared to the other stuff that I cook too,” Kris boasted with a wink and a grin.

Suho hummed, mouth full of food as he slowly chewed and savored the flavor of everything. He swallowed again, deciding to tread the waters, “I guess I’ll have to come back over again and try more of your cooking?”

Kris looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling, “I guess so. Just give me a heads up on what little Sehun can and can’t have so I can accommodate.” His gaze falling to Suho’s round stomach again before shifting back up to Suho’s with a gentle smile.

A soft kick came the baby inside, almost as if to say that he liked that idea. It earned a small smile from Suho too, one that felt a little shy. “I think Sehun would like that.”

“And his mother?” Kris’s eyebrow cocked upwards in question, that soft smile still on his lips.

“Maybe another dumpling could persuade the mom?” Suho looked up at him with fake pout before a teasing smile tugged at his lips.

Kris chuckled before offering another dumpling, “The mom can have as many as he wants.”

Suho grinned, taking the offered food, “Good man.”

“So tell me more about you and little Sehun,” Kris replied, slowly wanting to make more conversation over the meal.

And as the two continued eating, throwing remarks back and forth, Suho believed that the opening of that apartment door with the gold colored numbers: sixteen was a fortune event. And he had to thank Sehun for being a hungry little tike, and for the heavenly aroma that set his hunger on a mission. Maybe there was a little bit of light at the end of this tunnel? He figured it wouldn’t hurt to travel it and explore. Especially if there were promises of more good food.