A/N:

Hi! It's finally us, we're sorry for the delay, the blame goes entirely on naps, Christmas decorations, and wine. But here we are on another installment. I hope everyone has had a fantastic Thanksgiving if you celebrate, and a nice break from school!

We hope you enjoy this chapter and hope to see you again soon!

Until the next time!

-Arya and Hannah.

...

A few weeks later, Kyungsoo is in class, cleaning up his station and packing his stuff, while the teacher talks yet again about an event they will have in a few nights, informing them to be in their best shape and to be ready since it was a very important event, therefore, their performance had to be impeccable.

“I will be forwarding some adjustments to the menu to you guys soon,” The teacher informs. 

Kyungsoo’s station partner, Youngmin, leaned a little towards him.

“Let’s kick some Hyung,” He whispers and Kyungsoo just elbows him playfully. 

The teacher keeps updating them about how the event is going to go, how important it is to make a good impression on the people organizing it. There are a lot of pressure and expectations set before the class ends and the teacher dismisses them. 

“Should we get together to build a strategy?” Youngmin was at least two years younger than Kyungsoo, and so full of the most contagious energy with a lot of desire to learn. 

Kyungsoo finally turned to him, Youngmin was tall, with dark brown hair, styled to look messy, bright eyes as well and often wearing a half-smile. He wanted to give that cool vibe, with stylish earrings and necklace. However, his cute facial features didn’t help him that much.

“Let’s do that, I’ll text you when I’m free, yeah?” Kyungsoo finished packing his stuff. 

 Youngmin nodded, waving at him as he made his way out. Kyungsoo was supposed to meet with his friends around the outdoor common area, from there they would locate a place to eat, before the afternoon classes.

As soon as Kyungsoo arrives, he spots them sitting at a table, Jongin and Sehun included. He smiles as he approaches them. Sehun and Baekhyun are sitting on one side, while Jongin and Jongdae are sitting on the other. Jongin is looking at Jongdae intently, while the other reads a book.

 Kyungsoo is confused as he stands next to Baekhyun. “What’s going on?” He questions. 

 Baekhyun shaking his head. “Jongin is waiting for Dae to finish the book so they can discuss,” He answers and Kyungsoo looks back at the pair, Jongin is barely blinking as he watches Jongdae finish the last few pages of the book.

“And you guys have just been watching them do that?” He can’t understand why this is entertaining.

“We were waiting for you, so there was nothing more to do,” Sehun says, of course, him knowing Jongin, already knows how his friend can get when talking about books. They wait a few minutes until Jongdae finally closes the book, his mouth falling open and a hand flying to his chest, he just turns to Jongin.

“Please tell me this is not how it ends,” Jongdae sets the book on the table. 

Jongin’s lips are pressed on a thin line. “What do you think?” He’s not saying much until he hears Jongdae’s thoughts about it.

“Are you kidding? That was amazing, but I just know there should be another book,” Jongdae puts a hand to his heart. They keep discussing characters and plot twists and other stuff the remaining three can’t understand.

“Can we go eat now?” Kyungsoo says once the dialogue comes to a pause, he can feel his stomach complaining already, the unsettling feeling rising.

“Of course, Jongdae is going to be a good Hyung and will pay for lunch,” Baekhyun smiled, wrapping an arm around Sehun and Kyungsoo at the same time. This brought Jongdae back to reality, he just glares at Baekhyun.

“Hey! Who said that?” He stands up, grabbing his bag.

“I just did, are you refusing to buy food for Jongin and Sehun?” Baekhyun lifts his eyebrows, making Jongdae sigh, his eyes going back to Jongin.

“Fine,” He groans, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo cheering in the background and Sehun just laughs at the way he got tricked. Jongin also stands up, a little alarmed.

“You don’t have to buy food for me,” He immediately receives a look from Baekhyun, Jongdae chuckles and squeezes Jongin’s arm slightly.

“It’s fine Jonginnie, I don’t really mind,” He gives Jongin a curly smile and that’s where that subject dies.

The five work their way into a local sandwich shop for lunch, Jongdae as promised waiting for Sehun and Jongin to give their orders. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun stepping eagerly forward to do the same. They all move to one of the tables, Sehun claims a spot next to Kyungsoo making Jongin pout a little before sitting next to Jongdae.

They have an animated chat while they eat, Kyungsoo is even glad to see Sehun has blended in so well with his friends, just making jokes and laughing. He’s even surprised to see he and Baekhyun have a lot in common. 

Baekhyun leans forward enthusiastically. “Jongin, Sehun. Do you want to hangout with us this friday night?” the blonde shoots Kyungsoo a pouty look. “Our ever diligent chef isn’t able to hang with with us.” 

“The grind never stops.” Kyungsoo replies, taking a bite of his sandwich. “And it's a maybe, I don’t even know if we’ll get a spot.”  

Baekhyun’s gaze returns to the other two eagerly, sipping his drink, while Jongdae on the other hand peers at them as well but not as intensely. 

Jongin gives the pair a sorry smile. “Sorry, but both of us have something that night too.” 

Sehun nods in agreement, letting out a slight sigh. “As much more fun as it sounds to hang out with you guys.” He taps his fingers on his cup. “We have the more fun duty of entertaining our parents friends and the rest of our ‘community’.” 

Jongdae finishes the last of his sandwich, wiping the crumbs from his hands. “It is really different world isn't it?” 

Jongin nods. “Yeah, sometimes it feels like it.” 

Kyungsoo leans back in all of his own seats. “I’m guessing its not all glitz and glamour, I’m sure it's a lot of calculated small talk.” 

Sehun nods. “You’d be correct, hyung… really annoying too.” 

Jongdae offers the now pouting pair a smile. “I’m sure you’ll get through it, at least you’ll have each other there.” 

Kyungsoo checks the time on his phone swiping through a few of his notifications one of which is from Youngmin, asking if they could meet soon to go over their plan for the event. “As much as I hate to say it, I think that I have to go.” 

Jongdae looks up as Kyungsoo puts away his phone. “Culinary stuff?” 

Kyungsoo nods in the affirmative. “Yeah, we need to prep our recipes and make sure everything is going to run smoothly.” 

The group nods in affirmation sending Kyungsoo off with a smile. 

“Wait, do you need one of us to walk with you?” Jongin asks before Kyungsoo can get completely out of sight. 

“No… I’ll be alright, thank you though. Baek and Dae make sure that I always text them whenever I get to the kitchen.” 

The pair of friends nod. 

“He knows we’ll nag him to hell and back if he doesn’t.” Baekhyun mentions. “Not right away, of course, we’re good parents.”

“Now get along before you’re late, the sun is getting low.”  Jongdae waves him off, earning a nod and wave from Kyungsoo as he walks out of the establishment. “Let’s hope he doesn’t stress too much about this.”

“You know he will, but it’s part of the game called life, he’ll be fine,” Baekhyun says. “Ok, so… what about Saturday night?”

…

“Kai, Sweetie hurry up!” Mrs. Kim yells at the stairs, waiting for her other son to finally make an appearance, hoping he did soon so they wouldn’t be late. 

She cleans the imaginary dust from her husband’s suit as they wait. Jongin was standing by the door, all dressed in a black shirt with a wine red suit, the theme for the event was entitled Rouge Rendezvous, so just as he was, his father was wearing a red suit, his mother displaying a beautiful one shoulder, silk red dress,  and he assumed Kai had gotten his as well. Jongin sighs, not looking forward to the event at all but he had some friends he couldn’t disappoint.

Kai finally made it downstairs, wearing his three-piece suit, his tie hanging loosely over his vest. Jongin approached him, helping him with his tie before he forgot and left looking like that. Once he was satisfied with how it looked, he took a step back.

“Finally, we’re going to be late,” Their mother gives him a look, grabbing her purse and making her way to the garage. Kai chuckles.

“Relax mom, I already talked to Minseok-hyung, most people haven’t arrived yet.” While waiting for his parents to enter the car, Kai looked at his reflection on the side window, making sure his hair looked acceptable at least. He barely had the time to get it properly done, with the constant nagging he had to get it done in less hours than he usually takes.

“Are we most people sweetie?” She asks, sliding in the back, and Jongin following right after. Kai rolls his eyes but smiles anyway.

“No, we’re not,” after being all inside the car, their chauffeur closes the door.

“Exactly, besides Junmyeon is putting a lot of effort into this so the least we can do is to be there early,” She reaches out to fix Jongin’s hair.

 Kai decides to remain silent since that’s better than continuing to provide any arguments against his mom. He pulls out his phone, looking for entertainment. Apart from the usual people he knew would be there, he was sure there would be new attendants considering the fact that Junmyeon had promised a different theme for the event, starting by making them all dress in red, which he had no complaints about, but he was intrigued as to what would happen next.

These types of events weren’t necessarily Kai and Jongin’s favorite, they were always filled with businesspeople, talking always about numbers, sales, and stuff they couldn’t care less at the moment. Their father always insisted on it being good to practice for the future since Kai and Jongin would be the ones taking over the company after he retired but the boys found the formalities rather bland and would prefer to do anything else.

If Sehun and their hyungs weren’t there, they would be bored to death.

Once they finally arrive at the venue, Jongin and Kai went in a separate direction from their parents, a few more people had arrived and the room was filled with low chit chat, laughter and the sound of champagne glasses being passed around. 

Jongin scanned the room, finally finding Minseok on the far end, talking to Sehun, of course, both of them dressed in red, Sehun was wearing a silky dress shirt with black trousers and Minseok had a suit similar to Kai’s. Jongin grabs his brother’s arm, dragging him to where he had already spotted Minseok, squeezing themselves among the people until they finally reach them.

“Hyung,” Jongin greeted him with a smile which Minseok returned immediately, his black hair was carefully brushed to the side, a half-empty glass in his hands.

“Hi Jongin, Kai, I haven’t seen you guys in a while, is this the way to treat your Hyung?” Minseok lifts an eyebrow and points at a tray behind them, filled with champagne glasses, only missing a few which Jongin assumed were in Sehun’s and Minseok’s hands. Kai grabbed one and Jongin declined.

“Sorry Hyung,” They murmur in unison. With classes and other stuff, they hadn’t had any time to properly hang out with Minseok or Junmyeon.

“I’ll forgive you,” Minseok says, ruffling the twin’s hair, getting an instant complaint from Kai. Minseok puts his glass down, smoothing some strands back into place. “You look fine.”

“I don’t know what he’s so proud about, it looks like he just woke up,” Jongin chuckles and Sehun does the same, both gaining a glare from Kai.

“That’s the style Jongin,” He remarks.

“Anyway, glad you guys could make it,” Minseok grabs his glass once again.

“You know our mom wouldn’t let us hear the end of it if we skipped, I’m here because it’s Junmyeon-hyung.” He took a quick sip, doing a recognition scan around the room.

“Junmyeon-hyung wouldn’t let you hear the end of it either,” Sehun laughed. Oh, they were very sure he would scold them. Regardless of anything the place looked really good, Junmyeon had indeed put a lot of effort into the making of the event, just as everything he did, it had to be flawless.

Kai almost chokes on his champagne, looking over his shoulder briefly. “Shoot! Mr. Choi is coming this way,” he looks at Minseok. “Is he walking here with someone?” 

Minseok looks over Kai’s shoulder and nods. “Yeah, he’s coming over with a girl,” Minseok frowns. “That’s not his daughter.”

“No, because after I said I wouldn’t date his daughter, he has been determined to introduce me to the rest of the female members in his family,” Kai set the glass down on the tray, still unfinished and takes a deep breath. “I’ll be back.” He says before fast walking towards the nearest exit. 

Minseok shakes his head and Sehun tries to hide his smile by taking a sip as they observe the man notice Kai is now gone and frown as he looks around the room, taking the girl somewhere else.

Minseok chuckles, finishing his glass. “ to be him.”

Junmyeon finally approaches them, wearing a red velvet suit, his black hair styled in his infamous comma hairstyle, glass in hand and smile on his lips. He wrapped an arm around Jongin as soon as he reached them, looking around and frowning possibly because Kai wasn’t around.

“Where’s Kai?” He asks.

 Jongin smiles, shrugging. “He is running away from businessmen,” He replies. 

Junmyeon chuckles, imagining his friend being chased by rich men trying to marry their kids into rich families. Kai wasn’t the first one and would not be the last one to experience this.

“Mr. Choi again?” Junmyeon knew this was a recurrent thing during most events, it seemed like Kai couldn’t get a break. The rest of them nod and he just laughs, shaking his head. He glances at his wristwatch noticing is time for the second part of the event. “We’re having a special dinner presentation today, so you guys may start moving to the outdoor area, your seats have your names on it,” He had to move and announce it to the rest of the guests.

They didn’t have time to ask any questions as Junmyeon moved quickly to make the announcement. Minseok and Jongin then turn to Sehun, who seemed very unhappy.

“I see you opted for a quiet strategy this time,” Minseok bites his lips, trying to hold back a smile, giving Sehun’s shoulder a nudge, who just glared at Minseok.

“Whatever,” Sehun rolled his eyes walking towards the outdoor area. Jongin and Minseok exchange knowing looks before following him. It didn’t take long for them to find their assigned seats. They watched as the rest of the guests also made their way outside and found their places, Jongin’s parents were not so far from them.

“Do you think Kai will make it in time or he’s still hiding in the bathroom?” Minseok grabs another glass from a passing waiter, taking a small sip.

“I might have to go get him,” Jongin sighs.

“No need,” Kai says sitting down next to his brother with a smile. “I was successful. So, what’s going on?” Kai looks around, admiring the outdoor kitchen setup. Junmyeon had really outdone himself and probably everyone else when it comes to these fancy events.

“Junmyeon setting a trend.” Minseok states, they all knew it was only a matter of time until other people started doing the same.

“I hope the cooking is good,” Sehun says.

“I’m sure it is, you know Jun only gets the best,” Minseok had no doubt it would be only good quality food.

“I didn’t eat much today, so I hope it’s good.” Jongin pouts, watching as the chefs made an appearance, getting ready on their assigned stations. Some of them looked really young.

“Hey, Youngmin! Have you…” The words trail off as Kyungsoo finds himself in front of them. There’s a moment of silence while they lock stares, Jongin gasps, his eyes lighting up when he finally realizes it’s really Kyungsoo standing there, in his uniform, holding a knife and a knife sharpener in his hands. 

Sehun waves at him happily and Jongin follows his lead, Kyungsoo gives them both a small smile and waves back with a knife in hand. Kai doesn’t do much besides staring, a smirk forming on his lips. The night just got interesting. Kyungsoo turns to Kai and just shakes his head, throwing his knife on the cutting board so it gets stuck, he then bows slightly to greet Minseok.

“Yes, Hyung?” Another voice joins them, and Kyungsoo turns his attention to his station partner. Their voices drift off as they walk and talk. Minseok watched the whole exchange with interest, noticing both Jongin and Kai seemed a little… captivated, to say the least.

“Do you guys know him?” He asks, watching how Jongin finally takes his eyes off the moving figure of Kyungsoo. Jongin nods, smiling.

“We’re friends.”

“He’s a really cool hyung from college,” Sehun adds, “I didn’t know the chefs today were students, that’s why they look so young.”

“I see,” Minseok’s curiosity was piqued.

Jongin tries hard to keep his smile contained, however his excitement is obvious on the way his fingers are tapping on the table. The event took a new and interesting turn and he couldn’t wait to see Kyungsoo cooking, he had never done that or tried his food before, so he was happy. Of course, seeing him there was a shock at first, he never thought the event Kyungsoo had talked about was the same event he was going to attend, however, he felt like he was lucky it turned out that way. Soon the pair of students return to their station as they finish prepping initial details.

Junmyeon approaches the center of the improvised kitchen, introducing the main chef, who did his part in introducing his students. He gave a short speech that seemed more directed to the students than to the guests, ending it with a smile.

“Do your best!” He exclaims, turning to his students.

“Yes, chef!” They exclaim back. Youngmin wraps an arm around his station partner.

“We’ve got this Hyung,” He says with a confident smile. Kyungsoo pats his hand softly.

“We do, just please don’t lose a finger tonight, you’ll slow us down,” He jokes.

“I’ll try my best,” Youngmin lets go of Kyungsoo to get started.

They soon start working on the appetizers, falling into a fluent workflow. Jongin and Kai both are hypnotized, watching Kyungsoo work, he is so focused, asking for things here and there, a slight frown forming on his face. It’s fascinating. The appetizers get served soon, the servers explaining what they are before placing two plates in front of them, one plate per two people. Minseok and Jongin eat from their plate, Jongin thinks the food is really good so far, although he has barely tasted it. Minseok shakes his head, smiling.

Kyungsoo and Youngmin start working on the main course, Kyungsoo handles the meat while his partner handles the side dishes. They’re still working on it when Junmyeon stops by.

“How’s everything over here?” He asks, glancing at the working students.

“A perfect event as always Jun,” Minseok praises, the rest nod in agreement. Junmyeon wraps an arm around Minseok and Jongin.

“Well, I’m glad you guys are enjoying it,” He chuckles, “This wasn’t easy to pull off.”

“It’s been great so far,” Jongin reassures. Junmyeon looks at him, noticing Kai also agrees. They aren’t the type to praise an event, usually they both just complain until the moment they’re allowed to leave, so to hear this from them is beyond surprising.

Sehun grabs a bite from the appetizers, “They only say that because a friend of ours from school is here,” Junmyeon raises his eyebrows.

“Really? Which one?” Junmyeon looks around, his eyes landing on the two kids working on the station right in front of them.

“The one handling the meat at the moment,” Minseok slightly gestures to Kyungsoo cutting into the strips of meat.

“Ah, that explains a lot,” He looks down at Minseok with a smile, one that Minseok returns with a short nod. Junmyeon watches them work for a moment. “Do you guys want to say hi later?” He meets three excited faces.

“We can do that?” Jongin’s eyes widen slightly.

“I can make it happen,” Junmyeon shrugs, he’s the host of the party so it’s only natural.

“Sure, if he has time to stay.” Kai is quick to say and Jongin nods.

“Great, I’ll let you guys know.”

“Thank you,” Jongin responds.

“Okay then, I have to keep moving,” Junmyeon lets go of his friends, turning to walk away.

“Uh, Hyung!” Sehun calls, he’s been wanting to talk to him a little, but it seemed like every opportunity wasn’t right.

“I’ll come back later Sehunnie,” He says before walking off to another table. Sehun sulks in his seat, and Kai pats his shoulder.

“Try again when he’s less busy,” Kai advises.

Suddenly Kyungsoo stops moving, he draws his hand back, pursing his lips to keep a curse from escaping. He puts the knife down, replacing that with a towel that begins to become stained red. “Youngmin-ah...” he calls calmly.

“Yes hyung,” his partner turns around, his eyes instantly flying to the red towel on Kyungsoo’s hand, his eyes widening. “Are you okay?” Kyungsoo leans into his ear.

“I’ve cut myself; I don’t know how deep it is. Can you finish cutting up those onions and peppers and getting the sauté started in the pan for me?”

“Sure, I’ll take care of it,” Youngmin says, getting to it right away. 

Kyungsoo smiles at him before disappearing out of sight, heading to get the wound treated with a medic they brought for these kinds of cases. Jongin who followed Kyungsoo with his eyes keeps staring at the corner where he disappeared. He frowns, not knowing what happened and why he stepped away.

“What happened?” He asks, despite knowing no one would give him an answer.

“Maybe he went to get something,” Minseok mentions, however, Jongin is still uneasy about it.

Kyungsoo is gone for a few minutes, returning to his station, wound tended, luckily it wasn’t deep enough to need stitches. He now wears a tight non-latex glove on that hand. He immediately pulls out a new knife, taking over from Youngmin. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Youngmin smiles, going back to his assigned duty. Soo finishes searing the stakes, putting them in the oven. “Behind!” he yells loud enough for his fellow students so they didn’t bump into him as he passes to put the steaks into the oven.

He then goes back to help Youngmin with the sides, and initial plaiting. Stepping away to only let the steaks rest for a moment before those are served. The group notices Kyungsoo looks very comfortable while cooking, like the place he is really meant to be in.

Kai and Jongin feel like they break away from a spell when the food is served, it looks really good and they are dying to try it. The first bite is glorious especially for Jongin who didn’t eat much throughout the day. Jongin looks at Minseok, curious about how it tastes for him since he’s the only one who didn’t know Kyungsoo previously.

“How is it Hyung?” Jongin asks, Minseok nods.

“It’s actually not bad,” He takes another bite. “I’m impressed.” 

The four of them finish their individual plates and soon Kyungsoo and the rest of their class are moving on to the desserts, however, he and Youngmin had to make a change to their plans. The younger of the pair having to now work with the pastry dough, while Kyungsoo, in turn, has to work with the chocolate. 

One of his least favorite things to do, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t, he just wasn’t particularly fond of it like Youngmin was. 

“What if I mess it up, Hyung?” The younger culinary wrings his hands a little nervously as he begins preparing the table to begin the process of preparing the light pastry.

“You won’t. You’ve been practicing right?” 

Youngmin nods. 

“Okay, then. We’re both out of our comfort zones right now.” He states filling the small piping bag with chocolate. 

“The only difference being that you are good with working with chocolate. You just don’t like to, Hyung.” 

“We all have our challenges, Young-ah. Now get to kneading the dough.” Kyungsoo begins to pipe out his own chocolate designs so that they would have their time to solidify in the small blast freezer. 

The four watch the pair of chefs work, watching as they worked with the desserts, the air soon filled with a variety of sweet and savory aromas. All four of them glancing enthusiastically into the station, trying to see what they were making.

“What do you think they’re making?” Jongin asks, he was a sweets enthusiast and they all knew it. Minseok chuckles, looking at his friend.

“If what they’ve done tonight is any indicator, then I’m sure it’s good,” Sehun states, the remaining three nod in agreement.

“I know Jongin will like it regardless,” Minseok squeezes Jongin’s arm slightly, making the younger blush slightly. Jongin cleared his throat, sitting back, trying to hide his already evident excitement.

After a few minutes, the desserts are served, Youngmin and Kyungsoo watching expectantly for them to take the first bite. Kai is the first one to try it and he nods, looking very pleased, meanwhile, Jongin makes a happy sound. The chefs exchange a satisfied look as they watch them finish their desserts, happy they were able to go through the night despite the casualties.

Once dinner is over, the main chef gives another speech, and a bow to thank the guests, the students imitate him. Soon after the guests are directed back inside. Kyungsoo lets out a relieved sigh, while they clean up and gather their things.

“We did it Hyung,” Youngmin smiles as they finish packing. Kyungsoo nods, he was still somewhat nervous about their performance, but judging by the look on their faces he could tell they somewhat enjoyed their meal.

“We did.”

“Also, I wonder who was the one to almost lose a finger today,” Youngmin leaned against the station, just slightly closer to Kyungsoo who just chuckled punching his arm playfully.

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo laughed, it was a mistake he wasn’t used to make, but what was important was that they still managed to do everything on time.

“Do Kyungsoo?” One of the servers makes his way out again, looking around the group of students. Youngmin and Kyungsoo look at each other.

“That’s me,” Kyungsoo says.

“Your presence has been requested by the young master,” The server says. Kyungsoo is now nervous, he couldn’t think of any reasons as to why the host would request to only see him.

“Can my friend here join me?” He points at Youngmin, the server glances at Kyungsoo’s station partner before nodding. They both follow the server as he makes his way inside, navigating through the guests that were still hanging around.

“I feel way underdressed,” Youngmin whispers and Kyungsoo couldn’t agree more. The post cooking look wasn’t exactly the most fashionable. The server leads them to a room, opening the door for them. Kyungsoo thanks him softly before going inside, meeting five pair of eyes.

He sighs in relief at the familiar faces.

“Do you know them Hyung?” Youngmin whispers. 

Kyungsoo smiles. “Yeah,”

Jongin is the first one to approach Kyungsoo.

“Hey, Jongin,” Kyungsoo greets. Sehun soon flies over too.

“Hi! It’s nice to see you here,” Jongin tries to hold back his happiness.

“This is such an amazing coincidence,” Sehun says behind him. Kyungsoo nods, because it’s true when they talked about it, he never thought the two events could be the same event, although it should've been obvious.

“It is... I didn’t really think about it, though it would make sense for you all to be at an event like this.”

“We are lucky enough to know the host,” Sehun looks over his shoulder at Junmyeon, just slightly. Jongin beckons Minseok and Junmyeon as he introduces them.

“This is Minseok-Hyung and Junmyeon-Hyung,” He points at both respectively. Minseok wraps an arm around Jongin.

“Our boys were very excited when they recognized you.” He informs.

“Hyung!” Jongin protested, making his Hyungs laugh. Kyungsoo bows politely to greet them with a smile.

He pulls Youngmin closer as well, “This is my cooking partner in crime, Youngmin,” the boy imitates Kyungsoo, also greeting them politely.

“But I’m the better half,” He added. 

Kyungsoo elbows him. “Sure Kid.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Minseok says, “Let me just say the food was really good.”

“Thank you, that was about to be my next question. I’m glad it was satisfactory. I hope everyone else enjoyed it too.”

Youngmin scoffs, “I know Insoo and Yinlee were here at a station tonight so I don’t know if that happened,” He remarks.

Soo gives him a look, “Youngmin-ah!” The rest of the group laughs.

“Well, it’s a good thing we didn’t get them,” Kai mumbles, Junmyeon playfully smacks the back of his head, gaining a protest from him.

“Come on you know it’s true, Hyung. I’ve seen the way you look at them sometimes. You know they shouldn’t have been here tonight,” Kyungsoo just shakes his head and sighs, though he was partly right. “I’m sure we out cooked them, even though you cut your finger.”

“That’s what happened? Are you okay?” Jongin frowns at this piece of information, his eyes searching for his hands, landing on the one wrapped in a glove.

“I didn’t think anyone saw, but yeah,” he pulls his bandaged hand out. “Luckily it wasn’t too deep though, I won’t need stitches. I am curious though, did anyone complain about anything being under or overcooked Junmyeon-ssi?”

“Oh, I think a few said something about the steak being undercooked but I haven’t gotten full feedback yet” He smiles. “And just call me Junmyeon, since you’re such good friends with Jonginnie and Sehunnie.” Kyungsoo smiles looking at the pair in question.

“Okay, Junmyeon.”

Youngmin draws in a breath, “That’s going to reflect on those surveys they had you fill out. Watch us have to practice, again.”

Kyungsoo points at him with his index finger “Don’t even say that.”

Youngmin throws an arm around Soo’s shoulders, “Let’s hope the chef is kind and just has them practice.”

Minseok and Junmyeon watch the exchange, noticing Jongin had a slight frown, and while Kai pretended to only be half interested, they knew his full attention was on the pair as well. This was very interesting to them, since they had never seen the twins like this.

“Oh, and how was dessert?” Youngmin is the one to ask. 

Minseok notices a pout on Jongin’s lips. This is quite refreshing.

“It was really good, you guys did great,” He replied.

“That’s a relief, we had to switch what we were doing, Hyung got the easy part with the chocolate and caramel decorations,” he laughs. “He says he doesn’t like it, but he’s practically a god in the kitchen.” 

This comments earns him another light elbow him. “Why do I keep you around, again?”

Youngmin smiles, “Cause I’m cute... oh, and I like working with chocolate.” 

The older student playfully glares grabbing his cheek and pinching it. Youngmin pouts, rubbing the spot afterwards.

“Anyway, we’re not going to take more of your time, you guys must be tired, and the kids here only wanted to say hi,” Junmyeon is quick to jump in. Minseok nods, exchanging looks with him.

“Sure, Youngmin-ah why don’t you go back, and I’ll join you in a second, make sure everything is properly packed please,” Kyungsoo says. He nods, unwrapping himself from Kyungsoo giving everyone else another bow before departing the room.

“That kid, I swear,” Kyungsoo laughs.

“He seems nice,” Sehun says, glancing at Jongin.

Kyungsoo smiles a little fondly. “He is... a lot of potential.” he sighs, looking again at Junmyeon. “Thank you again for this evening it was lovely, and nice meeting you.” He looks at Minseok too then. “I’ll see you three at school then?” he turns to look at the twins and Sehun.

“Definitely Hyung,” Sehun declared for the group. 

Jongin and Kai only nod and Kyungsoo leaves with one last wave to go help clean up and break down.

Junmyeon turns to his friends with a knowing smile. “He seems really nice.”

“He is nice,” Jongin mumbles, he doesn’t know why he is slightly upset, he takes a deep breath, trying to get himself back into a good mood. Sehun just laughs at his friend.

“Green is a scary color on you Jonginnie.” Jongin glares at him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He denies even though he doesn’t fully understand what is happening inside of him.

“What about you?” Minseok asks, looking at Kai. “You have been abnormally silent today.”

“I’m good,” He smiles. “Thanks for today Hyung, I had fun.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Junmyeon nods, if these three had fun then the event was a success. Minseok then turned to Sehun, pulling him away from the rest, he looks over his shoulder to make sure the others are not close enough to hear.

“Sehun, you’re going to have to make sure there aren’t any murders at school,” He whispers. “I’m trusting you.”

“I got you Hyung,” Sehun gives Minseok a thumbs up. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t very entertained by the situation, so he was sure going to keep an eye on both. If he was lucky it would get way more interesting.

And that’s something he really hoped for.