Yunho pressed his forehead to the cool, immaculately clean, floor tiles. His former roommate and current best friend Changmin stood before him, an expression of horror, disgust and embarrassment mixed upon his face as he stared down at the older man bowing in the middle of his restaurant.

“PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE CHANGMIN!” Yunho begged from his hunched position, “I’m BEGGING you!” the older inched closer and grasped the hem of Changmin’s pant legs as he looked up at the younger as if he were the most pathetic creature to ever exist upon the planet.

A mortified expression crossed the professional chef’s face as he glanced around and took a step back from the man.
“Get up and come with me, you’re making a scene hyung.” He hissed quietly, feeling the eyes upon him and desperately wanting to get away from them. “I may consider it, but just stop before I boot your pathetic out onto the street.”

Yunho flinched at the words then pulled back to sit back on his haunches, looking very much like a well-dressed street beggar than the distinguished elementary school teacher he was.
Changmin let an exasperated sigh leave his lips as he motioned for the man to follow him as he his heel and strode quickly through the kitchen doors and Yunho was quick to follow, much like a puppy following its owner.

“So you’ll do it?!”

Once the two were safely in the sanctuary of the kitchen, Changmin turned around and directed a glare that would cause anyone other than Yunho, who was somehow immune to his glares, to burst into a ball of flames. “What the do you think you’re doing coming in to MY restaurant and putting on a scene like that?!” He snapped. “Do you have ANY idea how mortifying that was hyung?!”

“Changmin you don’t understand! I really need your help!” The older pleaded; completely ignoring the younger’s question and clasped his ex-roommate’s hands in his own. “There’s this guy… and he’s like the most attractive person I’ve ever seen! And you see… I kind of went and-“ He was cut off as Changmin yanked his hands out of Yunho’s grasp and took a few steps back.

“I understand plenty!” Changmin growled, “I am NOT your personal chef anymore, I am busy running this place and trying to actually have a normal life and maybe actually a functioning relationship with Minho.” He crossed his arms and huffed. “I will never forgive you for what you did, it nearly scared him off.”

“What? All I did was come in to ask some advice from you.” Yunho blinked as he answered innocently.
The younger’s gaze was leveled at the older and answered in a deadpanned tone.

“Hyung, you basically kicked in the door and had a very sharp knife in your hand and you were in a white apron that was splattered in who knows what. On top of that you did that right as were we’re really getting into the mood and it scared the bejesus out of both of us! You could have knocked at least!”

“Oh that… well I mean it was tomato sauce, and I didn’t want to get the door gross so… either way. This isn’t about that!” Yunho said dismissing the topic to go back to more impertinent matters. “Will you please help me Changmin? I’ll do anything to make it up to you~”

The chef was about to flat out refuse before the last statement was stated and it piqued his interest. He was quiet for several minutes before he rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“How is it my problem that you can’t cook to save your life hyung?” Changmin stated bluntly, one dark brow lifted ever so slightly at the accusation he presented before he sighed and leaned up against one of the counters. “Why don’t you just take thus guy out to eat instead? It’s bound to go a lot better that way. And not end up with someone nearly dying of food poisoning.” He added quietly.

Yunho’s expression soured at the blunt statement then he simply sighed and seemed to deflate. “I just really wanted to impress this guy.” The teacher said glumly, his voice quiet with defeat as he scuffed the tile floor with the toe of his shoe. Changmin swore for an instant he could see the drooping puppy ears and tail on his friend.

“FINE, if it means you’ll leave me alone.” He reluctantly agreed with an exasperated sigh. “Meet me at my apartment at seven o’clock and we’ll figure something out.”

At that Yunho perked up instantly and beamed brightly at Changmin as he moved forward and wrapped the chef in a tight hug, thumping him heartily on the back. “YOU WILL?! OH THANK YOU MINNIE! YOU’RE TRULY A LIFESAVER!!!”

Changmin struggled against the hug before simply giving up and groaned. “Yes, yes… fine. Get off me hyung.” He grumbled and pushed the man off of him. “I’ll text you the address when I get off work.”
Yunho took a couple steps back and blinked blankly at the mention of being texted, head tilted slightly to one side. “Text?”

“Yeah you know, where you send messages…. You know what forget it.” He snarked before rolling his eyes and grabbed a notepad from one of the drawers and a pen, quickly jotted down his address, then tore out the page and handed it to the older. “I swear you’re such a dinosaur, you need to get with the program Yunho hyung.”

“Thanks Changminnie~ I seriously owe you one!” Yunho beamed after he read the note and waved it in the air before he was all but shoved out of the kitchen by the younger.

“Yeah, you really do,” The chef stated bluntly as he escorted the older to the door of the café. “If you dare to show up unannounced at my apartment, I swear I will skin you alive and feed you to some pigs hyung.” He threatened, expression dead serious.

“Whatever you say kid,” Yunho didn’t even pause as he passed through the door Changmin held open for him. “See you later okay!”
Changmin watched him go and ground his teeth. How did he get manipulated into helping that hopeless mess of a human, again. Oh well, it was a done deal now and he did feel bad for the man, he’ll get the full story on what is happening later when they meet. But for now he had a shop to open and customers to feed.

*__*__*

“Okay so tell me exactly what happened and why you need my help, aside from being probably the worst cook in South Korea?” Changmin inquired as he closed the metal door behind Yunho and lead the elementary teacher into his home.

Yunho toed off his shoes and followed his former roommate. This would be the first time in the two years since they decided to live apart that he had visited his former roommate’s apartment and stopped in his tracks and gawk at the living room when they entered.
He had to say, it was a lot different from his own home. It was smaller, the perfect size for a bachelor and immaculately clean. The design modern and had a rather futuristic feel to it due to the open flowing concept, minimalist décor, wide windows and use of white an glass separating the living room from the dining area. It made him a bit uncomfortable, like he was in a lab or some futuristic post-apocalyptic world where the robots had taken over.
He shuddered at the thought and turned to see Changmin in the open kitchen and strode over to pull up a seat on one of the barstools.

“Would you like anything to drink?” Changmin offered as he grabbed a beer out of his fridge and paused, waiting for the older man’s reply.

“A coke would be nice if you have any please.” Yunho requested as he continued to look around at the place while the younger retrieved a can of Coke and closed the fridge. “Your apartment is really nice, I didn’t realize this was your style.”

“Thank you, it’s not much but it suits my needs.” The younger shrugged modestly as he grabbed a glass and some ice and placed it before his guest along with the carbonated drink. “Now,” he started, leaning up against the counter and took a drink. “Start from the beginning.”

The teacher his lips and shifted slightly on his stool as he cracked open the can and poured the dark carbonated liquid into the glass, watching it cascade over the ice.

“So, a few weeks ago, I came home to find the hallway full of boxes.” Yunho started. “I assumed someone was moving in since one of the apartments across the hall had been vacant… I think it’s haunted or something which is why it hadn’t been occupied.” He rambled a little but a pointed look from the younger got him back on topic.
“Anyway, I figured since we were neighbors that I should go over and greet them.” He smiled warmly. “Well turns out all of those boxes were just for one person and his cats, which are pretty cute as far as cats go. But this guy, Jaejoong is his name, he’s just… wow.” Yunho said breathlessly, staring at the cupboards next to Changmin, but not seeing him. “He’s a total knockout! Like he has the biggest, most beautiful brown eyes, and fair skin and raven hair, and tall with broad shoulders and a dainty waist, and plump lips the color of cherry blossoms.” He blinked and paused to sip his drink, Changmin giving him an exaggerated roll of the eyes at the description as he downed half of his beer.

“Oh! I almost forgot, he’s a chef too and we got to talking and I helped him get all of the boxes at least into his apartment, and since he didn’t have anything for his kitchen unpacked... I invited him over for dinner...” Yunho trailed off as Changmin nearly did a spit take at that and coughed on his drink.

“Why the hell did you do that?! Hyung, he could be a serial killer for all you know!” He exclaimed, truly worried at how friendly and incautious his friend was.

“It was the neighborly thing to do Changmin, he doesn’t seem like a serial killer, I would know if he was.” The older scoffed at him. “Anyway, so he decided to take a shower and after that he’d come over, so in a panic I basically heated up the braised chicken and vegetables you made me and well…. I passed it off that I had made it…” he admitted, shrinking slightly at the impending blow that would come from the chef.
The brunette had his drink halfway to his lips when he froze as if he had turned into a statue and simply stared at the man across the island. His hand tightened around the bottle and his lip curled up in a grimace.

“I’m sorry Changmin!” he bowed over the tawny wood of the bar. “I already had it thawed out and it’s enough for two people and… he asked if I made it and well I wanted to impress him so I kinda…” Yunho tried to explain but was cut off.

“So, you plagiarized my food.” Changmin stated; glaring at the man slumped over his pristine countertop no doubt getting it filthy with whatever germs he had carried over from the kids he worked with. He closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head, then took a deep breath to keep himself from brandishing the glass bottle in his hand and smashing it over the man’s head and instead took a long, deep drink from it, draining the bottle and set it down on the counter before he went to the fridge to grab two more bottles.

“Is plagiarizing food actually a thing?” Yunho asked, lifting his form from the counter, generally wondering if that was even a thing, when the door of the fridge closed harder than intended, the jars and bottles in the door clanging against each other as Changmin turned around, gripping the bottles tightly in his hands.

“That’s not the point, Yunho!” Changmin stated, annoyance obvious in his voice as he walked back to where he had been standing and set the beers down on the white marble counter top and reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose. “You should just tell him that you can’t cook and leave it at that.”

“But…” Yunho started before the younger held up a hand and silenced him.

“Look, I will help you this time because you seem to really like this guy and I want your lonely to be happy. But I can’t do this all the time, I’m running a business, I’m usually exhausted after work and just want to come home and relax.” The brunette explained slowly and locked eyes with Yunho. “You understand, Yunho?”
Yunho was quiet as he listened to the younger speak and inhaled a deep breath before letting it out in a deep sigh.

“I understand, thank you so much Changmin.” Yunho smiled as he sipped his drink.

“Well then… we should start planning a menu then.” Changmin sighed as he dragged his fingers through his hair and walked over to grab a notepad and a pencil, grabbing one of the stools and dragging it around to sit on as he cracked open another beer and began to jot some things down. Yunho watching him over his glass and craning his neck to see what the younger was writing.
“Okay so, this should be pretty simple, not like some four course meal from a five star restaurant. You’re a cook but you can learn Yunho, some of this can be bought premade so you wont have to really cook just heat it up, but other stuff is pretty simple, just boiling it for the amount of time and maybe using the blender or browning it in a pan on your stove.” He paused a moment. “Actually that’s a terrible idea with you so no stove top except for boiling things.”

“Hey! I can grill things you know!” Yunho pouted at the sleight of his friend.
“Last time you tried to do that you almost set the apartment and yourself on fire.” Changmin bluntly reminded the man then pursed his lips as he pressed the end of the pencil to his slightly chapped lips and thought of what the courses should be, when something Yunho said earlier popped into his head and he looked up at the teacher. “Wait, you said he is a chef right?”

The older blinked and nodded, glass to his lips “Um yeah, he is. I think he works at a hotel or something like that. His uniform was hanging up and it had some stars on it.”
Changmin listened and when hotel and stars were mentioned that seemed to click a piece of a puzzle into place and groaned loudly as he dropped the pencil and covered his face with his hands.

“You okay Changminie? Indigestion?” Yunho inquired, concern lacing his words and etched his face as he stood to go find the bathroom or anything that the younger might need.

“Yeah, just peachy.” he snarked from behind his hands, the full force of the sarcasm diminished and thus had less effect that he wished. He leaned back and pressed his head against the cupboards behind him and groaned. “I just realized something.” Changmin said, dejected as he dropped his hands and sighed heavily. “Your love interest is a Michelin star restaurateur Yunho. He’s THE Kim Jaejoong!”

“Okaaaay... and that means what exactly?” Yunho blinked, not getting it at all.

“He is one of the biggest names in the food world right now! You really are clueless hyung!” he groaned and held his head.

“Oh.” Came Yunho’s underwhelming reply as he watched the young cafe owner go through a crisis of sorts. “So…. you’re still going to help me right?”

“Yes but I can’t believe you fed my food to Kim Jaejoong posing it as your food! You’re really a you know that! I should just not help you on that principal alone!” Changmin griped as he pulled himself up and began to quickly scribble things down and then shoved the notepad at Yunho. “You should just have him teach you to cook or something when you two get together cause honestly this is ridiculous.”

Yunho picked up the notepad and read over the impromptu menu.

“Starter: Chilled spring pea soup and petite french baguettes.

Entree: Tea-smoked wild salmon, served with black rice and a small spring mix salad garnished with walnuts, feta and dried cranberries or cherries. Wine pairing: T.B.D

Dessert: Assorted small pastries from the cafe. You owe me for those. T__T”

He turned to Changmin and grinned. “Wow this sounds amazing! And so delicious! My mouth is salivating just thinking about it!”

“Well it better, I didn’t dedicate four years of my life to learning the art of cooking for it to be not utilized.” Changmin stated as he took a swig of his beer. “So now all you need to do is set a date for this to happen so i can schedule when to come over and cook this up for you, since, you’ll it up somehow.” Changmin sighed as he reached up to have the notepad back.

“Oh a date um… well we kinda have that set already…” Yunho said sheepishly as he handed back the notepad. “It’s for next Friday night, at seven o’clock.” he relayed.

“Okay that’s plenty of time to get everything. I’ll be at your place at four thirty to start cooking.” Changmin stated as he looked up at Yunho over the paper pad and had a slight twinkle in them, as if he were smiling at the man for once. “By the way it’s late, have you eaten yet?”

Yunho nodded, “That’s fine with me, I should be home tidying up the place by then, but you still have the spare key I gave you right?” At the question of if he had eaten, his stomach growled as if on cue and caused the older to smile sheepishly. “I haven’t eaten since lunch so yeah, i could go for some food.”

Changmin nodded at the question about the key then rolled his eyes. “I figured as much, you’re hopeless, hyung.” he said and pushed himself up off the stool and set about whipping up a quick dinner for the two of them, a little excited about this task Yunho had set about for him.

*__*__*

The week went by in a blur, Jaejoong surprising Yunho by inviting him over for dinner with a few of his friends to “break in the apartment” which was not exactly how it sounded but the night went well with delicious hors devours spread out on the counter and much wine and booze to go around. The evening ending with the other guests leaving and a very drunk Jaejoong plopping down next to Yunho on the couch as he sipped his beer; and simply leaned against him and profusely thanked him for everything that he’s done.
Yunho his lips, as the man’s low husky voice filled his head and felt his hot breath upon his neck, an open invitation from the raven haired chef. But with a sigh he placed his half-finished beer on the coffee table and gently placed a hand on the chef’s arm. The timing wasn’t right and as easy as it would be for him to take advantage of the offer, he declined and instead helped the younger up and lead him to his bathroom and then tucked him into bed, although Jaejoong’s slender fingers hooked into the hem of his shirt and let out a content sigh as he peered up at Yunho.

“You can stay you know…” He murmured softly from under the comforter.

“I could, but it wouldn’t sit right on my conscience.” Yunho smiled apologetically. “Besides, it’s late and i have an early start tomorrow.”

“Okay…” Jaejoong murmured softly as his eyelids drooped, dark lashes fluttering against porcelain skin. “Yunho… you’re a really good guy.”

“I know.” Yunho said as he gently pulled the chef’s hand from his shirt and hesitated for a moment before he leaned down to press a soft kiss to the man’s hair. “Sleep well Jaejoong, it was a good party.” he said then quickly stood and left the room. The younger curling up more and began to snore softly, a smile upon his face.

The next morning he awoke with a hangover the size of Korea and dreaded cleaning up, but when he emerged, he found that everything had been put away and cleaned up and stacked nicely for him. A small note on the fridge revealing the culprit and brought a warm smile to Jaejoong’s lips as he pressed them to the note; he sighed happily before he got on with his day.

*__*__*

Friday rolled around and it was pouring, Changmin showed up an hour late, drenched and cursing everything under the sun as he kicked off his shoes and shucked his rain jacket. Declaring that he was going to borrow a dry pair of clothes to work in and thus disappeared into Yunho’s closet; he returned not long later in an oversized t-shirt and loose shorts.

“Okay now that that is out of the way we can get to work.” Sniffed as he placed the semi-waterlogged backpack onto the counter, ped it and began to pull out tubs and ingredients as well as a bowl the chilled green soup already made, which he placed it in the fridge to stay cool. He then set about rummaging around the man’s cupboards for cooking utensils.
“Hyung! Where is your wok?!” he called as Yunho came in and easily located the inverted domed pan and rinsed it off before placing it on the stove for Changmin. “I don’t understand how you have such nice cooking tools but never use them, if they turn up missing it wasn’t me.” The younger commented as he grabbed two more pans and set about cleaning and preparing the fish.
“A pan is a pan isn’t it?” Yunho simply shrugged as he glanced at the recipe then leaned against the counter. “So do you need any help?”

“Nope, I’m good, thank you though” The younger said as he rinsed the fish then placed it on the cutting board and pulled out the marinade that he had prepared ahead of time as well. “Actually, can you find your rice cooker and start the rice please. I have it all measured out in a bag so you just need to pour it in and add water.”

“Sure thing.” The older chuckled as he quickly found the device, filled it, set it and walked back to the other side of the counter to see what the younger was doing. “Need any more help Chef Shim?” he chuckled.

“No, you can go do whatever you were going to do, I have everything handled.” He said as he placed the salmon fillets in a plastic Ziploc bag and hook the marinade container before opening it and pouring it inside, then sealed the bag and placed it in the fridge to marinate.

“Alright then, holler if you need any help.” he said and walked off to start tidying up the house.

Time flew by and Changmin checked the large iron wrought clock and smiled, everything was coming together perfectly, at this point all Yunho would have to do is plate everything and serve it. Thus the chef began cleaning up the kitchen and once finished he placed his now semi-dry clothes in a plastic grocery bag and threw them in the backpack.

“Okay Yunho, everything is cooked for the most part, the bread should be done by the time your date arrives. But for the most part everything is just being kept warm; all you need to do is plate it in an appetizing way and place it on the table.” He said as he shouldered the back pack and then reached for the rain jacket to pull over his head. “If there is anything that I left here, let me know and I’ll come pick it up when I return your clothes.” He paused after he had pulled the rain jacket over his head and over the backpack, giving him a severe hunchbacked appearance.
“Good luck hyung, and don’t forget, you need to tell him that you can’t cook. Also you owe me an expensive steak dinner with the most expensive wine.” he said naming his price of what Yunho owed him.

The older nodded “Gotcha.” he said then laughed as he moved to open the door for Changmin. “Don’t get washed away out there kid, I may need your services again.” he chuckled as the younger leveled a glare at him.

“Yeah over my dead body.” he said flatly then gently punched his arm and headed out, Yunho closing the door behind him. The young man let out a deep sigh and smiled, he really did hope that things would go well as he made his way towards the doors leading to the stairwell and elevators. As he neared the doors, a man a little older than himself and particularly handsome even though he was drenched to the bone, came in and their shoulders accidentally collided.
“Ah, I’m so sorry!” Changmin apologized with a bow.

The man did the same, bowing deeply.
“I’m sorry, pardon me.” he said, husky voice deep and somewhat familiar though Changmin couldn’t quite place where he had heard it but dismissed it as the man was fine and quickly moved through the doors and into the waiting elevator. He turned around as the door closed and just before they closed he caught sight of the man and cursed himself, it was Kim Jaejoong in the flesh. He could see why Yunho had fallen so hard for him, oh well, it was out of his hands now, he shrugged mentally and hit the button for the lobby.

*__*__*

Yunho fidgeted as he waited for Jaejoong to arrive, the man was late and he hoped the chef was okay and not in some horrible accident due to the rain. Thus the teacher bit his lip and tapped his fingers on the pink marble countertop, his dark eyes glancing up at the iron clock for what he felt was the 50th time in the past five minutes. He sighed and to keep himself from worrying more, checked the food to make sure it wasn’t burning for the 12th time, then went to sit on the cream colored couch in the living room to keep his fidgeting more under control.
Though as soon as he sat down there was a soft series of knocks upon his door and he jumped up as if a springboard had been hidden in the cushions and quickly walked, he definitely did not run, to answer the door.
He was greeted with a bright smile and apologetic expression and side swept raven bangs.

“You’re late.” Yunho commented, mind going blank for a better greeting at the sight of his handsome neighbor.

“I’m sorry, I got drenched on my way home and needed to freshen up a bit.” Jaejoong apologized sincerely and held up a bottle of red and white wine with a smile. “May I come in?”

“Ah… y-yeah,” Yunho stuttered as he moved to the side so the raven haired chef could enter and quietly closed the door behind him. “Please make yourself at home.”

“Mmmmm~ it smells delicious in here.” Jaejoong commented as he slipped his shoes off and strode into the apartment and looked around in wonder before turning to Yunho and smiled brightly. “Your apartment is really nice, it feels… like home. Ah where should i put these?” He inquired holding up the wine again. “Or should we crack one open? What do you think would go best with what we’re having dear chef?” he inquired, eagerly and looking pointedly at the chestnut haired man.

“Thanks, it’s a bit old fashioned but i like it that way.” Yunho chuckled and then paused as he thought about that. What did Changmin say about the wine pairing for the meal… red or white… “Um, you choose, the main course is Tea-smoked wild salmon.” he smiled, phew, dodged a bullet, he thought.
“Oooo tea-smoked huh? No wonder it smells so good in here.” Jaejoong said as he moved to the kitchen and placed one of the bottles in the refrigerator, the red wine, and turned around to hold up the white wine. “Well this has a good acidity to it and is a little on the sweeter side with a fruity finish, so i think it would go well with the smoky floral notes of the smoked fish, while the acidity cuts through the fatty flavor of the fish.” Jaejoong rattled off then paused. “So where is your corkscrew and a couple of glasses?”

The teacher gawked at the man and how he spewed the pairing information. “Sounds perfect.” He smiled and moved to grab two wine glasses out of a cupboard and located his corkscrew setting all three on the counter.
“Those are water goblets.” Jaejoong commented as he looked up from tearing off the foil wrap from the lip of the bottle and looked at the older who just blinked at him.

“They are?”

“Yeah, wine glasses tend to have a smaller diameter mouth while water goblets have a wider mouth.” He chuckled softly as Yunho flushed pink in the cheeks and turned to find other glasses. “It’s not that big of a deal though since this is an informal dinner, it just means we get more wine per glass. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.” Jaejoong smiled as he began to twist the corkscrew into the exposed cork.

“I… must have forgotten.” Yunho chuckled as he reached up to rub the back of his neck, a little embarrassed at his flub. “I’m not much of a wine drinker, my friend and ex-roommate is though, I should ask him about the finer details sometime.”

“Really?” Jaejoong said as he held the bottle between his thighs and pulled on the corkscrew, a hollow “twop” sounding as it came free and he placed them both on the counter to breathe. “You could always ask me as well, I mean, I’m right across the hall and don’t mind giving pointers” he smiled shyly, light tint of pink adorning his pale cheeks.

“Also, that reminds me, thank you for the other day; I… that was really embarrassing of me.” He his lips and shifted a bit on his feet. “Usually I have more control than that.”

The teacher admired the older man’s face and how his cheeks colored before looking away and rubbed the back of his neck again. “It was nothing… I mean. It just wouldn’t feel right to take advantage of you in such a state…”

“Ah… I meant for cleaning up the party and putting all the food away.” The chef said slowly, his face flushing a shade darker.

“Oh.” The teacher replied quietly as he felt his face heat up at the reply.

An awkward silence falling between the two, at the implications of the words and only broke when Jaejoong jerked into action to pour them each a glass of wine and handed one to Yunho and picked his own glass up and drained the whole glass in one go before refilling it.

“Shall we um… sit?” Jaejoong inquired sheepishly,

“Y-yeah, the couch is over there.” Yunho blinked, a little amazed at how well the man could drink and took of sip of his own wine, making a slight face at the sweetness, then lead his guest over to the cream colored furniture and sat. Jaejoong followed suit, having grabbed the bottle and brought it with him to loosen up the atmosphere.

The awkward atmosphere seemed to thicken as the two sipped their wine and looked anywhere other than each other.

Jaejoong broke the silence first as he turned to Yunho. “I… I want to say thank you for that too…” He said quickly, “I mean for being a decent person, not many would act that way in such a situation…”

Yunho nodded and bit his lip. “It was the right thing to do, I mean. I’ve seen it happen to friends before and I wouldn’t want you to regret it… if you’re into that kind of thing.” He said, as warm brown eyes watched the golden colored liquid swirl around in his glass. He could feel the man staring at him and felt the couch cushions dip slightly, a cool hand resting upon his cheek and gently guided his face to face the raven haired man, his breath catching at the sight. All rosy cheeks and plush, pink lips contrasting dark eyes and fair skin.

Jaejoong leaned in, those plush cherry blossom pink lips parted slightly as they gently pressed against Yunho’s in a chaste kiss. Yunho’s eyes widened in surprise, his body frozen as Jaejoong pulled back and bit his lip with a nervous chuckle. “Sorry… I… that was a bit forward.” he said and seemed to withdraw into himself as he lifted his wineglass to his lips and looked anywhere but Yunho as he sipped his drink.

Yunho’s brain short circuited, system error, 404 server not found, but one thing he did know was that he wanted to feel more of those warm lips upon his own. Thus he downed his drink in one go, set the glass upon the table and closed the distance between them to catch the raven haired man by surprise as he returned the kiss in kind. He kept it chaste, his hands resting lightly on the older man’s shoulders and quickly pulled back, cheeks a bright red as he glanced at Jaejoong, then away, then back up at him again.
“Don’t be sorry.” he said quietly, shyly.

The older blinked at him in surprise then smiled as he drained his glass and set it upon the table and moved forward to gently take the younger’s hands in his own and held them.
“You’re really cute when your flustered.” He said with a smile and leaned in again, pausing a hair’s breadth from Yunho’s lips. “May I?” he inquired, dark eyes flicking up to catch the younger’s answer.

The compliment and confession caused the blush to darken upon his face as he his lips and stared at the raven haired man.
“Yes, oh god, yes please.” He breathed, letting out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding as Jaejoong chuckled and closed the gap between them, fingers lacing themselves with Yunho’s as he smiled into the delicate kiss, the teacher reciprocating in kind, drinking in the affection is if he had been lost in some desert and found an oasis.
The gentle kiss soon grew hungry as Jaejoong smoothed his hands up Yunho’s arms and let them rest upon his chest, while one of Yunho’s hands moved up to cup one of the older’s cheeks, while the over trailed over his petite waist and cradled the small of his back.
Breaths were shared and a loud moan sounded as Yunho trailed his lips along the chef’s jaw and down his throat, focusing on the small round birthmark under his jaw and grinned at the whimpers that escaped the older’s lips.

Their make out session was brought to a screeching halt, literally, as the fire alarm blared, causing the two to nearly jump out of their skins.

“Why is the alarm going off?” Jae asked, a hand pressed to his chest as he took a few deep breaths, glancing around, obviously rattled by the sudden interruption, a scent then crept to his nose and he wrinkled it slightly. “Do you smell something burning?”

At that statement Yunho cursed loudly as he jumped over the couch and sprinted to the kitchen, finding the source of the smell and why the alarm was going off. He turned off the oven and opened it to find the baguettes Changmin had made charred logs of bread. “. , , … Changmin is going to kill me when he hears about this.” he muttered as Jaejoong rounded the peninsula counter and winced at the burnt bread.

“Was that dinner?” he asked, a hope in his voice that it wasn’t, and that he wasn’t the cause of ruining the evening as Yunho pulled the tray out of the to rest on the stovetop then pulled out the lidded wok that Changmin had placed in the oven to keep warm. He lifted the lid and checked the fish, only to find that the lightly smoked, plump fillets were now a deep amber color and rather shriveled. He let his shoulders slump and hung his head.

“Yeah…. That was dinner.” he sighed lamentfully.

“I’m so sorry, it was my fault. We should have started when I arrived.” Jaejoong apologized, feeling guilty at the teacher’s kicked puppy expression as he stared longingly at the meal he must have worked hard on. “How can I make it up to you?”

Yunho shook his head as he turned to Jaejoong and smiled a little. “No, it’s my fault for not being more attentive.” he said then paused for a moment. “There is a… cold soup in the fridge though… and salad. So it’s not a complete loss.” Yunho offered as he turned to the fridge to pull out the soup and salad with a brighter smile, “We could order some pizza to go with it or something.”

Jaejoong blinked at the sudden change of mood and laughed lightly. “Hold that thought.” He said and moved towards the door. “I just remembered I have some lamb chops in my fridge that i was going to make tomorrow, but we can have them tonight if you’d like?” He ended on a question, as if asking for Yunho’s approval.

“That sounds wonderful, and… how about you cook them here, I don’t want to jinx it again.” He laughed.

The chef gave a bit of a knowing smile as if something clicked into place and he beamed at the prospect. “That’s great, i’ll get everything and be over in a flash. Just… clean this all up and have a cast iron pan heating on the stove please.” He said, going into chef mode.

“Yes sir!” Yunho saluted, earning a laugh from the older as he opened the door to the hallway, but blinked at the specific pan. “Um… a cast iron pan?”

Jaejoong paused and leaned back into Yunho’s apartment, “Yeah, it’s that big black on hanging up on the wall over there.” He said and pointed it out, Yunho following the direction and let out an exclamation. “Oh! That pan, right i knew that.” he fibbed, playing it off coolly as if he knew all along as he pulled it down off the wall.
Jaejoong simply smiled that knowing smile and he pulled back towards the hallway. “Alright, I’ll be back in a minute, don’t burn the place down before i get back.” He teased and then was gone, the soft click of the door sounding.

Yunho rolled his eyes at the tease and once the door was closed and Jaejoong was gone he let out a deep breath that he seemed to have been holding and looked around the kitchen and the disaster on his stove. He cursed himself and tried not to think of Changmin’s reaction when he hears about his date as he quickly washed the cast iron pan and cleaned up the rest of his mess.

Jaejoong returned and began to prepare and cook the lamb chops, Yunho watching in interest at how quick and precise the man’s cuts were and how he drizzled oil into the pan and added butter, which he said was to give flavor and a good color to the meat. When a sprig of rosemary was added he was genuinely curious as to why Jaejoong had done so, to which the older explained that by cooking the herb it released the oils which in turn flavored the oils and thus flavored the meat.
Yunho ooed softly at the information, as if he were hearing it for the first time, which he essentially was, and quickly went to fetch the bottle of wine and glasses from the coffee table in the living room and returned, pouring himself and Jaejoong a glass, finishing off the bottle and handed Jae his glass.
Jaejoong smiled as he accepted the glass and sipped the sweet liquid. “Yunho, will you pop open that bottle of red i brought over? It will go well with the chops, plus i need some for a sauce.” he smiled sweetly, “Also once these are set to rest, you can probably ladle up the soup and plate the salad.”
Yunho nodded as he moved to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of red wine and uncorked it, letting it breathe as he leaned back against the counter. “So what is the point of cooking with wine? It seems like a bit of a waste.”
At that the chef paused and then chuckled. “You really don’t know how to cook do you?” he asked as he grabbed the bottle and poured some directly into the pan.

The chestnut haired man choked on his wine at the harmless accusation and sputtered a bit. “Wh-what makes you say that?” he asked quickly, clearing his throat. .

“It’s okay if you can’t, I still like you.” Jaejoong reassured him as he took a swig directly from the bottle and set it back on the counter. “Just small things that most people should know, like wine glasses versus water goblets, cooking with wine, cast iron pans.” he teased gently and grabbed a spoon and basted the chops with the wine butter sauce.

“I… okay yeah, you caught me.” Yunho sighed heavily. “I can’t cook, the best i can make is instant noodles and even then those are terrible.” He smiled sheepishly. “It was my friend’s food that we had before, he’s a very good chef. And he made what we were supposed to have tonight as well.” He sighed. “I’m really sorry for lying to you Jaejoong! Please forgive me!” He exclaimed and gave a full ninety degree bow to the chef, earning a musical laugh from the man and a light slap on his back.
“Yah, i said it was okay! You don’t need to apologize, but I do appreciate your honesty, Yunho.” he chuckled and turned the burner to low and placed a lid upon it as he leaned back against the counter and sipped his drink.
“This friend of yours, he must have been the person I ran into in the hallway earlier, about this tall?” he said and lifted his hand slightly above his head. “Boyish, yet handsome face? Very serious expression, like he’s going through some sort of crisis?”

“Yeah that’s Changmin. We were roommates through college and while he was setting up his cafe. He’s a couple years younger than us, but man can he drink, you’d probably like him.” Yunho smiled at the thought of the two formally meeting.

Jaejoong considered the man for a moment before he drained his glass and walked over to press a kiss to the younger’s lips. “You’re lucky to have a friend like that, the three of us should have dinner together.”

“Four of us, he has a boyfriend, so why not make it a double date?” Yunho smiled into the kiss, setting his glass down and let his hands fall to the older’s waist.

“Even better.” Jae smiled as he draped his arms over Yunho’s shoulders and let his slender fingertips the short hairs at the back of the younger’s neck. “When should we do this then?”

“I’ll coordinate with him when I see him tomorrow.” the teacher answered as he melted at the feel of the fingers in his hair. “So, we’re making this official?”

“I don’t see why not.” Jae purred as he gently cupped Yunho’s cheeks and leaned in. “May I?”

Yunho chuckled and nodded. “So long as you don’t burn the chops.” he teased and closed the gap between them.

*__*__*

Yunho swore he could see the steam flowing out of his ears as he stood in the kitchen, Jae perched on one of the chairs, dressed in one of Yunho’s t-shirts and a pair of sweats, nursing a mug of coffee, amused by the two men before him.

Changmin closed his eyes and brought his hands up to his face, rubbing it vigorously before he formed a pyramid over his nose.
“How… HOW… it was Fool-proof!” he asked, voice growing with each word. “All you had to do was throw it on a plate!” he said and dropped is hands to his side and simply stared at his ex-roommate as if he figured something out. “You’re cursed. That’s it, that’s the only explanation.”

At that Jaejoong laughed aloud, he liked this Changmin kid and had only known him for five minutes.

“Changmin-ah, to be fair… I kinda distracted him.” he offered.

“Jae…” Yunho started before Changmin cut in.

“Jaejoong-ssi, you need to run. He’s going to pass his curse onto you.” Changmin said, his tone serious, which earned another laugh.

“It’s okay, I have plenty of salt, I think we’ll be fine.”

With that Yunho turned to Jaejoong and would have cried if he was the type to do so, but instead leaned over the counter and stole a kiss from his now boyfriend, much to Changmin’s displeasure.

“Gross. Okay just text me with the date is for the wedding, I have to go to work.” he grimaced at the display. “Or just call, whatever, I’m out.”

“Bye Changmin, it was nice to meet you. Bring Minho next time.” Jae called sweetly, earning a wave from the younger and an “I will.” before he was gone.

“Well that went better than expected.” Yunho noted as he moved around the counter to settle next to Jae and sipped his mug of coffee.” So, what would you like to do today?”

Jaejoong turned slightly and peered at Yunho as he thought. “How about a market date? I need to buy ingredients for dinner.”

“That sounds lovely.” Yunho smiled brightly and leaned in to kiss Jaejoong. “So, what’s for dinner?”

end.