In order to not disturb Youngjae sleeping — though Jinyoung was convinced that the male was too drunk to wake up any time soon — it was decided that dinner would take place at Youngsoon’s.

Youngsoon quickly took out the necessary ingredients and equipment. She paused however and titled her head while staring at Jinyoung thoughtfully.

“Do you want to…” Youngsoon uttered softly while motioning her hands around the kitchen. “I can teach you…?”

Mentally filling in the gaps of her sentence, Jinyoung nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m warning you though, I’m a bit of a klutz in the kitchen.”

“I’ve cooked with Mark so I think I’ve already experienced the worst,” Youngsoon chuckled.

“How bad could he be?” Jinyoung countered, disbelief in his voice.

Taking out two chopping boards and knives, Youngsoon signalled Jinyoung to imitate her and chop the onions and carrots finely for the meat sauce.

“Once he decided that it was more efficient to boil milk in an electric kettle,” Youngsoon sighed loudly. “He even added cinnamon in it for the extra flair. Needless to say the kettle met an early demise; a fuse blew up and the electrics of the kitchen got all messed up.”

“He… huh?” Jinyoung gawked, torn between being impressed by Mark’s out-of-the-box thinking or horrified at how lazy he could be.

“Oh and he tried to toast bread by putting it directing on top of the electric stove….” Youngsoon added as an afterthought.

Jinyoung froze, knife still in mid-air. Processing what Youngsoon had said, Jinyoung choked on the large gulp of air he had inhaled. This triggered a coughing fit and Youngsoon patted him gently on the back, a sympathetic look in her eyes.

“Should he really be trusted to lead TF Group’s venture into the South Korean market?” Jinyoung rasped, barely recovered.

“He’s smart,” Youngsoon hummed. “Just not kitchen smart.”

Despite saying that, she did not look too convinced herself. As if sensing Jinyoung scepticism though, Youngsoon stopped what she was doing and flicked a piece of onion towards Jinyoung, almost managing to score it into his mouth.

“Don’t worry, as a boss he is more than qualified.”

“Hmmm.” Jinyoung nodded solemnly.

Suddenly there was a shift in his gaze, and a glint of pure mischief took over. Grabbing a handful of sliced mozzarella, Jinyoung forged his way towards Youngsoon with heavy steps. Anticipating Jinyoung’s attack, Youngsoo grabbed a silicone spatula and waved it in front of her.

“Stay back, I’m armed.”

“Wow. I’m so scared,” Jinyoung deadpanned.

Silence ensued and the two neighbours fell in a staring contest; one holding a spatula like a sword and the other one holding mozzarella as though it was a hand grenade. Seeing Youngsoon’s utterly serious expression, Jinyoung broke eye contact first, a chortle escaping from his mouth before eventually doubling over in laughter. The roaring of his voice was contagious and spread to Youngsoon as well who had to lean against the kitchen counter to keep herself standing.

“Truce?” Youngsoon giggled, extending her hand towards Jinyoung.

“Truce,” Jinyoung sniggered.

The two sealed the agreement with a firm handshake and proceeded to focus on dinner preparations. Youngsoon gave careful instructions every step of the way and Jinyoung listened attentively. Once the lasagna was in the oven, Jinyoung was filled with a sense of accomplishment, as if he had levelled up as a human being after having learnt how to make a complex dish.

“Now it’s just a waiting game,” Youngsoon exhaled, washing the pots and knives and spatulas that had been used for the prep work.

“A waiting game huh?” Jinyoung echoed the words

Youngsoon gave Jinyoung a side glance, taking note of the ghost of a sad smile haunting his face while he wiped the kitchen counter with a damp cloth. After some hesitation, Youngsoon breathed in deeply and asked the question that had risen in her mind.

“Something bothering you?”

Jinyoung paused. Turning towards Youngsoon he saw that she was done with the washing and had a hand extended out, her eyes foc