The house smelled of candied apples, warm cinnamon and florals, their love just as sweet and warm. Jaehwan happily hummed along with the soft jazz playing in the background as he cooked dinner for his lover, who would be arriving in about 20 minutes from work.

“I can’t wait until he sees this.. I’m sure he’ll love it!” He thought to himself, smiling and stirring the contents inside the pot. While he let the vegetables simmer for a bit, he hurriedly opened cabinets in order to pull out fancy dinner plates, wine glasses, and of course, red wine; Taekwoon’s favorite. He set up their small wooden dinner table with all the fixings, a creamy white linen cloth, china plates, wine glasses, red napkins for a pop of color and bottle inside a bucket of ice for chilling. He pulled back for a second and admired his work, his smile growing as he thought about Taekwoon’s handsome self sitting at this very table with him. He quickly  re assessed his work and decided to add a couple of small, unscented candles accompanied with a couple of roses in a small, slender vase to the center of the table. He sighed happily and glanced at the clock, gasping and running to turn off the stove to go fix his already perfectly styled hair one more time before greeting his lover.

The sound of the front door unlocking sent Jaehwan’s heart into a frenzy, quickly running into the kitchen to begin serving the plates with a healthy serving of steamed chicken, rice and sauteed vegetables, because Leo no matter how tired he was, always enjoyed his boyfriend’s cooking.

“Jaehwan, I’m home.” his boyfriend’s soft melodic voice called from the hallway.

“In the kitchen, honey!” he called back, leaning over the dinner table and serving the plates. “Jaehw-.. Wow.. This is.. This is gorgeous.” Leo mumbled, taking in his surroundings, the overwhelmingly delicious scent of home cooked meals, his boyfriend’s handsome effort to look beautiful as ever, and the amazing sight before him of the dinner table transformed to a five star dinner date.

“Come here.” Leo whispered, gazing at Ken, who sauntered over to his boyfriend, holding back a smile. “What do you think, baby?” Ken asked, looking into Leo’s soft gaze. “I love it, Jaehwan. It’s perfect. Just like you.” he leaned in and captured those rosy, pouting lips in a tender, sensual kiss, a perfect match for the soft jazz in the background, the smell of apples and cinnamon, and the warmth radiating from their hearts.