Junhong thought he would get homesick on the first night sleeping in the dorm. He’s never slept anywhere other than his bed in his family’s house in Mokpo, and he hasn’t shared a room with anyone since his brother moved out a few years back, so it would only make sense that sleeping in an unfamiliar bed with another person’s breathing filling the room from the bunk below his would make Junhong miss the comforts of home, right?

It actually didn’t on the first night. Junhong was so overwhelmed by how surreal it all was. He could barely wrap his mind around the fact that this is really happening, he’s really going to live in a dorm and be a member of an idol group, he’s really going to release song with Yongguk-hyung in a couple of weeks,  he’s really going to debut! He was too excited to be homesick, and after he finished unpacking the major essentials, he climbed up the ladder to the top bunk he had claimed as his to lie down. No more than five minutes after his head hit the pillow, he was asleep, and his dreams that night were filled with visions of his and Yongguk’s debut stage, the crowd loudly chanting their names throughout the entire song.

The second night in the dorm wasn’t that bad either. It turned out Yongguk snores, and the sound was so loud Junhong had to sleep with one pillow over his head to muffle it out, but he still managed to get to sleep in under an hour.

The third night is when the homesickness kicks in. Junhong’s lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, the same way he has the past two nights he’s spent in the dorm, only this time he can’t get to sleep. He keeps thinking about his mom, and how he hasn’t spoken to her since he left home to move into the dorm. He’s so busy practicing during the day he doesn’t have a chance to call her, and by the time he and Yongguk get back from practice, it’s late at night and Junhong doesn’t want to disturb her sleep.

He didn’t think he would feel this way, but he misses her. A lot. All he wants is to hear her voice or have her holding him in a warm embrace. It’s kind of embarrassing for a fourteen-year-old boy to admit, but it’s true.

After lying there for nearly an hour, Junhong determines that he isn’t going to get any sleep like this, so he climbs down the bunk bed ladder and heads to the kitchen in search of some comfort food. The fridge isn’t very well-stocked, as he and Yongguk have only lived there three days and haven’t yet had time for a proper grocery trip – there’s no need, really, considering they spend most of their time practicing at the dance studio, and they get the majority of their meals from the cafeteria there – but there’s a pint of strawberry ice cream in the freezer that Junhong made sure to get when Yongguk took him to the convenience store down the street the first night to pick up some snacks for the dorm.

Strawberry’s his favorite flavor, and ever since he was a kid, whenever he was feeling down about something his mother would get him a bowl of strawberry ice cream and crush up some cookies to put in it. Then they’d sit at the table together, and after a little while, Junhong would tell her what it was that was bothering him, and she’d do whatever she could to make it better.

Junhong’s hoping the familiar treat will make him feel a little less homesick, so he takes the ice cream out and puts it on the table before heading to the pantry to get some cookies. But when he opens the pantry, he realizes there aren’t any. He forgot to buy them when he and Yongguk were at the convenience store.

It’s like the missing cookies are a trigger that sets off every emotion Junhong’s been holding back, because as soon as he sees that there aren’t any, he sinks to the floor, burying his face in his hands and crying loud, childish sobs. He knows it’s silly, but he misses his mom so much, and now he can’t even have the one thing that reminds him of her.

“Junhong?” He hears Yongguk’s voice, full of concern. Junhong hadn’t even realized his hyung was awake, and for a moment he feels guilty, worried that his crying woke him up. Then he feels the weight of Yongguk’s hand on his shoulder and Yongguk kneels down next to him. “Junhongie, what’s wrong?” he asks. “Why are you crying?”

Junhong knows Yongguk still thinks of him as the scrawny twelve-year-old he was when they first met, and while he didn’t have a problem with that before, now that they’re going to be debuting together as a duo, Junhong doesn’t want to be treated as a kid but as an equal. So instead of admitting that he’s homesick and misses his mom, Junhong wipes his eyes with the back of his hands and innocently says, “W-we don’t have any cookies.”

Yongguk resists the urge to laugh at his childlike response and instead looks into Junhong’s eyes. “Why are you crying about that, Junhongie?” he asks softly.

Junhong takes a deep breath, trying to stop the tears that are still threatening to spill from his eyes. “Because… m-my mom would crush up cookies and put them in my ice cream whenever I was feeling sad.”

Yongguk is silent for a moment, just staring into Junhong’s tearstained eyes while he takes in the younger boy’s words. Then he brushes a lock of blond hair out of his face and says, “Try and calm down, alright, Junhongie? I’ll be right back; stay up and wait for me, alright? I’ll be right back, I promise.”

Junhong nods, weakly, drying his tears with the back of his hand. Trusting that Junhong will be alright on his own for a few minutes, Yongguk stands up, grabbing his coat and keys from the bedroom and heading out the front door. Once Yongguk is gone, Junhong gets up, putting the carton of ice cream back in the freezer so it doesn’t melt before sitting down at the kitchen table to wait for Yongguk.

About ten minutes later, Yongguk bursts through the front door, panting, doubled over, but triumphantly clutching a package of cookies in his left hand. Junhong jumps out of his chair and rushes over to him, throwing his arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

“Thank you,” he whispers, because tears are pricking at his eyes again and he doesn’t want Yongguk to think he’s a crybaby. He can’t believe Yongguk really ran down to the convenience store in the middle of the night to get cookies just for him.

“I didn’t know what kind of cookies your mom used, so I picked the kind I liked best when I was your age. I hope that’s alright.”

Junhong just nods. He’s still worried he’ll start crying again if he says anything. He’s never seen the kind of cookies Yongguk got before, but they could taste like steak and onions and he would still eat the entire bowl, he’s just so touched Yongguk did this for him.

He takes the cookies from Yongguk and goes to the freezer to get the ice cream before opening the cabinet to get a bowl. He grabs one and then turns to Yongguk and asks, “Do you want some too, hyung?”

Yongguk grins, taking off his coat and moving to join Junhong in the kitchen. “Sure, why not. If you don’t mind sharing, of course.”

Junhong grabs a second bowl and two spoons and places them on the table for him and Yongguk. “Of course not,” he says.

Yongguk gets the ice cream scoop from the drawer and scoops the strawberry ice cream from the container into the bowls before opening the package of cookies and crushing up a few for each of them. As soon as Junhong takes a bite, his whole face lights up.

Yongguk smiles at him. “Is it good?”

Junhong nods, fervently, swallowing the spoonful of ice cream and cookies. “It’s even better than mom’s!”

Yongguk laughs, before digging in and trying a bite of his own for the first time. His eyes go wide and Junhong chuckles. “It is good!” Yongguk exclaims.

“I told you!”

As they sit there and eat their ice cream and cookies together, Junhong feels a lot better. Of course he still misses his mom and family back in Mokpo, but living in the dorm without them won’t be so bad after all. He’s got a new family starting here: just him and Yongguk-hyung, for now, but in a few months four other boys will be joining them, and Junhong thinks it’ll be hard to get lonely with five other boys around all the time. And even if it was just going to be him and Yongguk for the rest of the time, Junhong thinks that might be alright too.