The first time Younghyun bought Jieun a mint-chocolate flavored ice cream, he thought he had won her heart, and he knew it was the best decision ever. He never expected she would be falling for something so simple, but by the time that new flavor touched her tongue, her eyes fully rounded, and they glittered, full of excitement. Like Sungjin’s eyes, her eyes were always clear and sharp, although warm at the same time, but her eyes rarely glittered. So when he saw how excited and how surprised she was, he kind of felt proud of himself for introducing mint-chocolate to her. It was as if he had helped her find a treasure that she didn’t know she needed, not to mention just how many times she had thanked him for that.

 

Little did he know, this mint-choco thing had evolved way bigger than how he had thought earlier.

 

It had only been a few weeks after he bought her that mint-chocolate ice cream, but it seemed like she had claimed how she loved mint-choco on every occasion she could: in her interview, her talk shows, her daily conversation. She’d buy mint-choco ice cream yesterday, mint-choco yoghurt today, mint-choco drink the other day, everything. She just wouldn’t stop buying mint-choco everything to the point that Younghyun started to wonder if it was the right thing for her to know mint-choco after all. She didn’t seem to get tired of it, which was strange. Seeing how frequent she had consumed mint-choco flavored food and drink, he supposed she should have reached that maximum satisfaction point and she should get tired of it already. She didn’t.

 

What was even scarier would be how she insisted everyone to love mint-choco as much as she did.

 

It was one time when Younghyun visited her house to watch a movie in between his and her schedule. They were going to buy some ice cream, and seeing that there was a new flavor, Younghyun figured he’d give it a try. Jieun, of course, looked at him in horror.

 

“Why aren’t you buy mint-choco? Are you tired of it already? Don’t you like mint-choco now?”

 

For someone as mature as Jieun, those questions sound absurd even in Yonghyun’s ears, but her eyes were so sad and cute at the same time, and Younghyun couldn’t help but to feel guilty.

 

“I... I just want to try the new flavor, Jieun-ah...” He even stuttered.

 

Her eyes were teary. She pouted too. “Don’t you… like me now?”

 

“Wait, no, of course no! What do you mean?”

 

They bought two cones of mint-choco ice cream that day.

 

“But, Younghyun-ah,” Jieun wondered as they finished their ice cream and movie, and now were sitting on her house balcony. “Don’t you think it’s kind of disloyal to switch your ice cream flavor? Can I trust that you’ll be loyal to me when you can’t even be loyal to mint-choco?”

 

Frowning and blinking in indescribable expression, Younghyun couldn’t really answer her question. What in the world would be sufficient to explain the association of liking mint-choco and the longevity and loyalty of a person in relationship? For God’s sake it was just ice cream flavor…

 

These days, too, this mint choco issue had become quite a concern. People were divided into two big groups: those who liked mint-choco and those who didn’t. He knew this because when he was doing a live session, he was asked if he liked mint-choco or no. He didn’t think it was as an issue at first, so he let it slide between other questions. But then he realized it wasn’t only once or twice, but every time now. He had been doing live almost every day as he went to or back from his radio station, and in all those time, the same question always popped up to the point that he didn’t know what to respond anymore. In fact, Younghyun quite liked mint-choco flavored ice cream too, but not to the point that he’d stick to the same flavor for every occasion. It wasn’t like because he liked it, he would only like it. He just liked eating in general, and ice cream was included too – be it mint-choco, red-velvet, vanilla oreo, peanuts, everything. There was no way he would limit himself to one flavor only, and he could never understand why people would become so fanatic about it, to the point that they fought over it.

 

“How can you not like mint-choco? It’s the best flavor in the entire universe!”

 

“How can you like mint-choco? It tastes like a toothpaste!”

 

It was such a minor issue, but why did it become so big? Of course, it was what he thought before he witnessed that his girlfriend Jieun had become one of them.

 

“Oh, and you know Jukjae oppa, right? I really can’t understand him. He said he didn’t like mint-choco! How can someone not like mint-choco, Younghyun-ah? He even said it tasted like a toothpaste! What a wicked thing to say!”

 

What was even funnier was: Jongin, Jieun sister, was just as fanatic as she was about this, though Jongjin was on the other side. Younghyun had seen how they fought over it, which didn’t make sense even for the childish Younghyun.

 

 

---

 

It was one of the rare days that Younghyun got a free day, which by chance, was the same day that Jieun asked him to come over. Of course, both being idols, they couldn’t freely hang out outside, so he mostly come over to her house, talk with her parents and Jongjin, or the other way around, she’d come over to his dorm, hang out with him and the rest of Day6.

 

“I’ve got sooo many choco-mint gifts! Let’s eat them together!”

 

She called him early in the morning, waking him from his sleep.

 

“Ugh…” Younghyun softly moaned, before yawning and stretching his body. He blinked a few times before asking, “Right now?” 

 

“Hm, mm!” She said, knowing it all too well that he’d be sleeping through the day otherwise. Even without looking at her face, he could see her smiling broadly ear to ear, her eyes glittered. “Therefore, quickly, quickly!”

 

Jongjin was the one who greeted him when he arrived at their house, just like every other day.

 

“How many of ‘soooo many’ that she meant, by the way?” Younghyun asked as they were waiting for the elevator. The younger man, Jongjin, scoffed, eyeing him with a crocked smile.

 

“You’ll see,” He said, then he let out a heavy sigh. “But hyung, don’t you think she needs to stop at this point? She’s gone crazy.”

 

Younghyun chuckled at the comment, shoving Jonjin’s shoulder softly. “Don’t you think you’re just as crazy as your sister?”

 

Jongjin rolled his eyes. “I really don’t understand why someone as amazing as you would end up being with my sister.”

 

“I don’t understand why someone as amazing as your sister would end up being with me either,”

 

As they entered the house, boxes of mint-choco treats were the first thing that caught Younghyun’s eyes, and he blinked, jaw dropped, flabbergasted.

 

She was definitely joking when she said ‘so many’. It was obviously not ‘so many’. It was abundance.

 

“Younghyun-ah, how have you been?” It was Mrs. Lee, Jieun’s mom, who took him back from his thought. She smiled at him and hugged him, and he hugged her in return. “You look so tired! Have you been eating well and sleeping well? Did Jieun-i insist you to come in your day off again? You should have a proper sleep!”

 

“I do, I do, Mrs. Lee. Don’t worry.” Younghyun said reassuringly. “You know that sleep and eat are my priorities.”

 

“Even more than our Jieun?” She teased; her eyes were as warm as autumn.

 

“Well, that’s always modifiable,” Younghyun laughed, earning a pat on the head from Mrs. Lee. She told him that Jieun’s father was working, so he nodded and sat on the living room with Jongjin while she called Jieun.

 

“Also, I’ll cook you some side dishes so you can eat with the rest of the band later. I’m going to buy the ingredients first, so don’t go home before I come back, okay?”

 

Jieun’s parents always treated him like their own son, and it was how he knew where Jieun’s friendly attitude originated from. As soon as she introduced him to her parents, they had always been like that – and not only him, but also towards other members too. Even when Jieun wasn’t home, he’d sometimes visit them just to have a chat with Mr. Lee, or to have a lunch made by Mrs. Lee (Mrs. Lee loved cooking, and Younghyun loved eating, so they got along pretty well). Jongjin was no exception either. He was perfectly a copy-paste, male version of Jieun, which was endearing, and Younghyun had a feeling that Jongjin was comfortable around him. Could it be because Younghyun was a people person after all? Jongjin even told him about his crush, how burdened he felt sometimes to have a famous sister (which everyone knew, but he couldn’t complain to his sister, obviously), how he struggled in college, and everything else that he couldn’t talk with her sister. Being the only child, Younghyun couldn’t expect anything better.

 

Now, now, going back to Jieun, she came out of her room after about five minutes afterwards, in her oversized T-shirt and sweatpants, her hair put into a bun just like any other day (and Younghyun still fell for it), she smelled like peach. She must’ve just taken a bath, as always, and even in those casual, home outfit, he still found her beauty radiated, as always.

 

“YAY!” She cheered, rushing to sit across the table in front of him. “I’m so exciteddd!”

 

Younghyun looked at her in awe, with a big smile plastered on his face, as she bounced excitedly in her seat. Her being all child-like like this was something he could only see off screen, and he had no expectation about this prior to their meeting, but he found it endearing, over again, nevertheless. “Hey…”

 

“Ah, I really want to try them all in instant, but I think you’ll be sad if I eat them all alone...” She said, then smirked at his brother. “Now, we can eat in peace. Leave Jongjin alone because he hates mint-choco.”

 

“Whatever,” Jongjin scoffed. “Just keep it low because I’m doing my work here and let hyung help me.”

 

“Whatever.” Jieun rolled her eyes.

 

“So, shall we start?”

 

Jieun began examining each box. There were mint-choco cheesecake, soft cookies, sandwich cookies, pie, bread, fudge cake, brownies, cupcakes, and so on. Younghyun wasn’t sure that both of them could finish them all, but since some of them were packed food, they could save them for later. Instead, she took some boxes of ice cream and yoghurt from her fridge (of course, they were all given too), eating them before anything else.

 

“Ah, it’s really delicious.” She squeaked, swaying her shoulders left and right, and Younghyun chuckled as he watched.

 

Why do girls always jump and dance in her place when they ate delicious food, anyway?

 

As much as Jieun commented how delicious her ice cream, Younghyun ate them faster than she did. He had already eaten two cones of ice cream and 1 cup of yoghurt (while she barely finished her ice cream) when he nodded at the cupcakes.

 

“Can I eat them now?”

 

Jieun rolled her eyes for the second time today. “How can you eat so fast?”

 

Shrugging, Younghyun opened a box of cupcakes and ate them in silence.

 

“Is it good?” Jieun looked up to observe his expression.

 

“Well, it’s creative,” He said, earning a frown from her. “Have you never tried these ones?”

 

Jieun shook her head, and Younghyun proceeded to try another dessert. It was cookie this time. He ate two cookies before trying a bread with choco-mint filling.

 

Jieun, on the other hand, was just taking a bite of cupcake, but this time she didn’t squeak, nor did she jump in her place.

 

Younghyun paused, not because she saw Jieun stopped dancing, but because the flavor of the choco-mint filling bread was so strange in his mouth, but he couldn’t describe it. It was edible, but it was strange. Being a big eater he was, he would still finish it, but because it was so strange, he might ask for Jieun’s opinion about this. He really couldn’t point out why it was so strange.

 

“Hey, try this.” He said, shoving the bread to Jieun.

 

Jieun raised her eyebrows, but opened , nevertheless. Younghyun fed her, waiting for a response.

 

Now, now, Jieun looked at him with her puppy eyes, as if trying to tell something he couldn’t get.

 

“How is it?”

 

Jieun gulped slowly. She looked at Jongjin, who was sitting next to Younghyun, from the corner of her eyes, and then back at Younghyun. As she didn’t say anything, Younghyun raised his eyebrows.

 

She blinked.

 

He frowned. Were they talking in telepathy? But he couldn’t.

 

Then, she stood up and sat next to him (the other side from Jongjin), pulled his arm until he leaned closer to her, and she leaned closer too. She put both of her hands to Younghyun’s ear and whispered, “It tastes like toothpaste…”

 

There was a moment of silence, and Younghyun was left speechless. He couldn’t even look at her because it was so funny, but it was so sad, but it was hilarious, but she sounded so sad.

 

Slowly, Younghyun turned his head towards Jieun, who looked at him with both eyes teary. She pouted too. Both of her hands held Younhyun’s hand tightly.

 

She mouthed, “Please don’t tell Jongjin…”

 

For a moment that felt like forever they were both silence, eyes to eyes. Younghyun tried his best to hold his laughter, but he really couldn’t help it that he laughed so hard he was rolling on the floor.

 

Jongjin, of course, having no idea about anything, looked at him in confusion.

 

Younghyun was laughing for a good three minutes without a stop, and he had to stop to catch his breath, but he continued laughing for another two minutes that tears started to stream down his face.

 

He never expected Jieun would say such thing. It was something that mint-choco haters would say, and being the leader of mint-choco lover, there was no way such thing would come out of .

 

When he finally stopped and sat back, he saw Jieun glared at him, but it sent only another set of laughter.

 

“Hey, what happened, hyung?” Jongjin asked, getting annoyed now.

 

“Your sister...” He said in between his laugh, earning a kick from Jieun, but he continued, “Said it tasted like… toothpaste.”

 

Of course Jongjin laughed too, just as amused as Younghyun was, leaving Jieun the only one sitting in silence. Jongjin didn’t mock her like he always did, he was just laughing because it was so funny.

 

“Aren’t you guys done yet?” Jieun stood up angrily.

 

Younghyun quickly stopped, and he grabbed her hand so that she wouldn’t go anywhere, and he sat where he was seated before and pulled her so that she sat across from him.

 

He looked right at her eyes, doing his best to hold his laughter, and said, “I’m sorry, okay?”

 

Her eyes wavered.

 

“Well, it can happen, right? Mint choco is great, but it may not be great everywhere, right?” He reassured her. Honestly, he didn’t understand why he himself took this seriously too, because it was so absurd, but she looked so disappointed that he couldn’t help to try to be in the same shoes as her. “It makes sense, Jieun-ah. Trust me. In fact, I kind of think it tastes strange too, that’s why,”

 

He stood up to bring a glass of water and gave it to her, which she gulped down in a second.

 

“I like mint chocolate ice cream and yoghurt.” She stated, then, her eyes were full of wonder, and Younghyun nodded. (Jongjin was still laughing)

 

“But why don’t I like mint chocolate cupcakes and bread?” She asked, and Younghyun wondered too.

 

“Why do I feel so betrayed…” 

 

Younghyun couldn’t help but to laugh again, but before she got upset, he put his arms around Jieun, hugging her. The fact that she was so sad for something as small as mint-chocolate, and how she turned 1800 from how she was in the morning, and how she still looked adorable nevertheless, was something he couldn’t comprehend, but he loved it.

 

He patted the top of her head softly. “It can happen too.”

 

They ended up leaving the whole mint-choco desserts on the table, and instead had a lunch made by her mother earlier. Jongjin whole day and only stopped when Jieun threatened that she’d stop giving him monthly allowance. Younghyun fell asleep on the couch afterwards, while watching Jongjin did his work. Jieun fell asleep too, on the other side of the couch.

 

---

 

He woke up when both Mr. Lee and Mrs. Lee had come home. Jieun was helping her mother with the dinner, while Mr. Lee was reading some newspaper on the dining table, his back facing him.

 

They had dinner together, talking about her new hobby to collect scrunchie (she was trying to show off her new scrunchie, but Younghyun didn’t notice), Jongjin’s plan to go exchange, and Younghyun’s new favorite food and his camping experience with the members. Mr. Lee asked how Sungjin was doing (he was a fan of Sungjin), and Jongjin asked if Jae could help him preparing his English (to which Younghyun commented, “Why do you need Jae when I can do it for you? My English isn’t bad, you know, even I was the one who translated things for him.” and Jongjin rolled his eyes – he just needed an excuse, because he thought Jae was much cooler than Younghyun, and Younghyun knew it). Mrs. Lee said it would be good to have everyone come over someday, because it got lonely sometimes when Jieun and her father were at work.

 

“But really, we eat a lot.” Younghyun said.

 

“Then I’ll be even happier,” She smiled. After his mother and Jieun, Mrs. Lee must’ve been his favorite woman.

 

After dinner, Mrs. Lee gave him the side dishes she had promised earlier, and Younghyun thanked her, and Jieun gave him all the mint-choco desserts she believed she wouldn’t like (which made the entire house laugh and Younghyun smiled endearingly). It was not a problem because Younghyun would definitely eat them anyway (because he practically just ate everything, and plus, they were free too). She spared her ice cream and yoghurt though, for she believed she still liked them.

 

As they stood in the door frame, Younghyun ruffled her hair, and she looked up, smiling.

 

“Thank you for coming,” She said.

 

“Hm mm.”

 

“And for taking those mint-chocos home and eat them for me.”

 

Chuckled- “Hmm mm.”

 

“I think I’ll stop eating another form of mint-choco except for drinks and ice cream.”

 

Younghyun laughed. “So Jukjae hyung isn’t wicked after all?”

 

Jieun pouted and rolled her eyes.

 

“Alright, I’m going home. Good night and sleep well tonight.” 

 

He bade goodbye and once she closed the door, he chuckled, taking a peek at the plastic bag he carried – full of mint-choco treats.

 

He shook his head in amusement, his smile never left his lips. Still, he wasn’t sure if introducing mint-choco to her was a good decision after all, but well, Jieun learned something today.

 

Now, now, how was he going to finish them all?

 

 

 

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