Seunghyun lifted him up on the kitchen counter, kissing him right on the nose. The counter was made out of some kind of marble, it looked expensive. Daesung felt like if he moved, he was risking a very expensive disaster. “Sooo... what are you in the mood for?” Seunghyun asked overly enthusiastically. He wasn't sure if he was just that hyped up, or if he was still trying to forcefully change the mood. He shrugged. He wasn't really in the mood for anything right now. He was most in the mood for him taking his hurtful words back, but he doubted that was on the menu.

There was no way Seunghyun hadn't noticed how dejected Daesung was, but he carried on like he was the blindest person on the planet, playing house all by himself. He opened the fridge, which was roughly the size of Daesung's room, and almost disappeared into it, head first. “Let me seeee...” he chanted merrily. “This... and this.. no, no that.. ooo definitely this...” he mumbled to himself as produce started flying out of the fridge and somehow ending up on the counter. A lettuce head came flying towards Daesung, heading straight for his face. He barely managed to catch it before it could make lettuce out of his own head, so to speak.

Seunghyun's head popped out of the fridge with a grin. “Don't worry, it's not going to be like last time, you don't have to change into your hazmat suit just yet... there is ONE thing I can cook!” he announced proudly, adding in a whisper “..and one thing only..”. He closed the fridge and started putting on a very feminine pink apron. If the situation had been different, Daesung would have died, cause of death: the giggles. The apron alone would have been enough, but wearing it with boxers on and nothing but boxers, it was a sight for sore eyes. It was frustrating how ridiculously cute he looked, it was melting away all the anger, requiring ten times more fuel to keep the fire going. Daesung was going to need it if he was going to confront him. Without the fire, he would cave in under two seconds.

“I have total confidence this will be the best.. no wait... the most edible... or just edible?..”. While making his not so very decisive declaration, he danced around like an idiot in front of Daesung, trying to cheer him up. Daesung had to use all his strength not to smile. His anger had already subsided, eaten away by those nasty Seunghyun cooties that ran you over like a plague of locusts, leaving nothing but happy feelings behind.

“I am going to make...” Seunghyun used a can of spray cream and a ladle to play a drum solo, building up anticipation. Daesung tried to look aloof, but he had a hunch his eyes were giving him away. He really was curious what it was he was planning to make, and very very skeptical of whether it would come close to being fit for consumption.

Seunghyun popped under the counter, ominous sounds of pots and pans crashing into each other filling the kitchen. Daesung decided to let Seunghyun do the initial tasting, he did not fancy a week in the hospital, throwing up his insides. No amount of lovey dovey feelings were going to get him to eat what Seunghyun so haphazardly called food.

“WAFFLES, TA-DAng!!!”

Seunghyun held up a huge waffle iron. The cocky grin on his face indicating he actually believed he could pull this off. Daesung was less convinced, especially looking at the assortment of ingredients he had pulled out of the fridge. Lettuce?

Before things got more out of hand, Daesung decided it was time. He had been waiting for the perfect time to bring it up, but he realized there was never going to be such a time. He needed to do it, he had to be brave. Their relationship was in his hands now, and Daesung wanted to be able to imagine an unlimited number of such crazy mornings in the kitchen with Seunghyun, not just a handful.

“I wanna..” he started, but his voice was a mere whisper, getting lost in the hustle and bustle of Seunghyun's dodgy waffle making. He cleared his throat, trying to breathe away the gigantic knot that was holding his insides hostage.

“Can the waffle maestro wait a second and send Seunghyun out, I kind of need to talk to him!” he all but shouted. It had been a bit too loud, the words still echoing in his chest, shaking the foundations of his entire being. Seunghyun immediately stopped what he was doing, turning off the running water and putting some utensils away. He acted like he was just tidying up a bit, but he was obviously avoiding his gaze, trying to buy himself some more time.

When there was nothing more he fake-needed to do, he finally looked at Daesung. Was his hand shaking? Slowly he edged closer, putting his hand on the counter, right next to Daesung's thigh. He looked into his eyes, a worry-crease forming on his forehead. “Please don't say we need to talk.” he pleaded. His voice was soft and sincere but it had an edge to it. It was almost like it was trembling. “But we need to talk.” Daesung insisted, standing firm even though seeing Seunghyun so nervous and unraveled was tearing him apart.

“I don't want to have that talk..” Seunghyun said, sounding like a stubborn five year old trying to get out of having to take a bath, even though he knew he would never be able to. Then his demeanor suddenly did a 180°. Jumping back and theatrically putting a couple of animal potholders on his hands, he sang “Daesungie, uri uri Daesungie..”. It was probably the cutest performance Daesung had ever seen. It was tempting to give in to the happy-go-lucky atmosphere, joining the joke, but he was not that easily fooled. He could be stubborn too.

“If this is ever going to work, we need to communicate.” Daesung calmly said after Seunghyun's performance had run out of steam. He felt so grown up all of a sudden. Instigating a mature relationship talk, craving a real discussion without all the theatrics. Seunghyun instantly changed back into himself, “Wait.. you're not breaking up with me?”. His brows furrowed, he was genuinely surprised. “What.. no! It's you that wants to break up with me!” Daesung objected, not getting how he could have thought for a moment that he wanted to break up with him. He was trying to save their relationship.

“That's so not true!!” Seunghyun protested loudly. “Not now at least..” he quietly added. “And I didn't say I wanted to then either, we just..” he continued, but Daesung cut him off. He was having no more of this discussion before he had had a chance to put his two cents in.

“Look.. you can't just decide something like this by yourself and then simply notify me like you're the law and I'm some lowly citizen getting orders from above. It takes two to tango, you know! ..and.. like.. to do other stuff too..”. Ah, why wouldn't his thoughts come out more eloquently. In his head he sounded like the leader of the debate club, but somewhere on the way from his head to his mouth, the words got all tangled up and lost most of their power. It was not fair. Seunghyun was so much better at talking than him, he didn't stand a chance. Which was twice as frustrating since Seunghyun hardly talked at all. But when he spoke, his words were always so to the point and completely overpowering.

“I was just trying to be honest. Instead of lying or saying something vague, I told you exactly what was on my mind. Shouldn't I have? Should I rather have told you some beautiful lie about a future I couldn't believe for two seconds that we had?” Seunghyun complained with an air of feeling like he was being treated unfairly.

“Well..” Daesung paused. Rats! Of course he wanted him to tell him what was on his mind, but that wasn't the point. Wait what was the point again? Man, this was harder than he had anticipated. He was no match for Seunghyun when it came to wording things logically. And the visual wasn't helping either. A very serious, very handsome model-like statue standing in front of him, wearing nothing but boxers and a frilly pink apron, half-pouting at the unfairness of the universe, ready to defend himself.

“I guess it is a good thing that this is all surfacing now and not coming out of the blue at the end of the school year, you can have that. But you still can't make unilateral decisions that only make sense in your own head without even discussing it with me beforehand. You're not alone in this relationship.. I'm here too! And I refuse to be invisible!”. Daesung could feel his voice quivering. He wasn't sure if it was out of frustration or nervousness. But he had at least put his foot down. Finally something came out right. Ha ha! Daesung 1 : Seunghyun.. well, Seunghyun 1 too. It was a tie. But it wasn't a competition. He didn't care who won, he cared about the outcome of the conversation.

Seunghyun came all the way up to him, using his body to smoothly part his legs wider so he would fit in between them, putting his hands on the outside of his thighs. Daesung's heart started pounding even harder, was this a psych out technique? How to overcome your opponent 101 - First rule of combat: Overpower with overwhelming attraction. Daesung still had the higher ground though. Sitting on the counter, he was about a head and a half taller than Seunghyun, so Seunghyun had to look up to face him. Which he did. He was so close. Daesung's pounding heart skipped a beat. Those mesmerizing eyes threatened to swallow him whole. He wanted to get lost in them forever. He wanted to stop talking and taste those perfectly shaped lips again. He missed them. He felt so far away from them, even though they were right there in front of him.

Interrupting his thoughts, those lips parted. “I see you.” they mouthed with a whisper sneaking out. He felt like the breath had just been knocked out of him. He could tell he meant it. And he did feel seen. That had never really been the problem. “I know there's nothing wrong with your vision, but your hearing on the other hand..” Daesung smirked a bit, trying not to be overly proud of himself for coming up with that line on the spot. Normally he had to prepare what he wanted to say in advance for it to make sense, so he was allowed to be a tiny bit proud. He ran his hand down Seunghyun's upper arm, trying to communicate that this wasn't a fight, this was a plea to find a solution together.

Seunghyun's eyes became softer. His arms pulled him in tighter, moving him to the edge of the counter. The warmth of the embrace made Daesung feel better. It felt like even though they didn't see eye to eye, they were connected. There was an invisible bond between them and it felt less fragile now. It felt like even though Seunghyun was trying to pull away, the bond was stronger than him. Even if he tried to leave, it would just pull him right back. They belonged to each other, and there was nothing either one of them could do about it.

“Okay. I'm listening. I promise. What do you want to do? What are your thoughts?” Seunghyun said, with a straight face no less. Daesung melted into goo, Seunghyun's hands the only things that were holding him together. He bit his lower lip. It was time to lay it all on the table. “I disagree with you. I don't think this will be some major disaster that warrants a pre-break up ahead of time. I don't want to base our decisions on fear, and fear alone. We have something here. I can feel it. Maybe if you give it a chance, you could feel it too.”. Never ever had he spoken so openly about what was in his heart. He was so used to keeping it locked up like a vault, guarding all that made him him, that now he was pouring its contents out so nonchalantly, like it was milk on cereal, he felt vulnerable. This was a new level of ness.

“I know we have something. Something amazing. That's exactly the point. And it's scaring the heck out of me.” Seunghyun replied. He was being even more honest than Daesung. Ah, he always had to one up him, even in this. “It's my heart, so can't I have a say in what happens to it?” he continued. Thankfully it was a rhetorical question since Daesung had no idea how to even begin to answer it.

“You wanted open and honest communication, so just remember this was your idea, okay?”. Daesung nodded, what a disconcerting statement. Seunghyun adjusted his position, like he was preparing to say something lengthy and important. Daesung tried to prepare himself for what was to come, but he was too restless. He could feel the fear of something big creeping up behind him, waiting to pounce.