Chapter 26

"Ken-ah~" N purred as he snuggled closer to the idol's back. "Wake up, Ken-ah~ You need to visit Leo today, remember? And I also have to get ready for the day!" He shook Jaehwan's shoulder a little and he earned himself a soft groan from the idol. N pinched his cheeks and told him that he was 'cute,' but later took it back and said that he was 'disgusting' instead when Jaehwan still would not budge.

"Good morning, hyung..." Jaehwan finally greeted him when he heard the playful insult. He rubbed his eyes and stuck his bottom lip out slightly just so he was pouting. "I was having a nice dream... But you woke me up..." The idol grumbled.

And instead of the sympathy that he wanted, he received a hit on the arm from N. "Sure you were! You think that I don't know that you were awake the entire time?" N tugged at Jaehwan's hand and tried to pull him off of the mattress. "Aishhh, this kid! You want to be pampered? You want me to pay attention to you? Well, I'm doing all of those right now so you better get up!" After a few tugs, Jaehwan was standing up with his own feet after N's help. The latter gave the Jaehwan's cheeks a pat, "Now that you're up, you need to get ready, alright? You told me that you're meeting Leo in the afternoon and after that, you have an evening schedule. I'm sure that you don't want your manager calling you constantly and asking where you are!" He huffed, "Living as an idol is so difficult! I'm not even an idol myself but seeing you..." N shook his head and smiled. "Your hard work is going to pay off! I'm sure of it!"

"I know..." Jaehwan whispered and shut his eyes close. He kept N's hand on his cheek, reveling in its warmth. "And seeing you makes me feel at ease. When I see you, I forget that I'm actually an idol... I –"

N chuckled. "What's with you? I thought you came here to see eomma?" He drew back his hand from Jaehwan's hold. 

"It's partly because of eomma but –"

"Exactly! Now come with me~ I prepared breakfast for you and for them already!" N exclaimed and entwined his hand with Jaehwan's. He dragged the idol all the way to the kitchen and immediately handed him a glass of orange juice as soon as they got there. "I'm still trying to learn how to cook from eomma but I'll get there!" He giggled. "Soooo... What do you think~?" N presented the table to Jaehwan and the latter's eyes widened at the sight. N had definitely stepped up his game because the last time that Jaehwan visited him, N only managed to properly cook some eggs – and that was pretty much it. But right now, he made more side dishes and they were cut decoratively too.

Jaehwan gaped at each dish. "You seriously made all of these?"

N nodded, a proud grin evident on his face. "Mhm~ They're just the basics as eomma kept telling me... But I hope that you enjoy the food!" He picked up a piece of flower shaped carrot from one of the plates and shoved it straight inside Jaehwan's mouth, past his lips. Jaehwan took a step back but munched on the orange vegetable anyway.

"You know... I haven't brushed my teeth yet..." The idol mumbled as he chewed. The carrots were surprisingly sweet so he stole another one from the plate. "But I could just do it after I eat, right?"

He did not get an answer right away so he stopped snatching carrots from the plate to look for wherever N had run off to. Jaehwan found him preoccupied with preparing 2 lunch boxes, his back turned at him. And just when he was about to ask who they were for, N faced him with a wide smile spread across his face. "I made you a lunch box, Ken-ah~ Here's one for you..." He placed the Spongebob lunch box on the table for the idol to see. "And I have another one for Leo!" N opened the other lunch box that had cats as its design. "I made cookies for him because I thought that they go well with coffee! You said that he likes coffee, right? I hope that he likes them better than the last time!"

Jaehwan's smile dropped at the mention of the former's lifelong friend. He remembered the last time that he offered the cookies that N made to Leo and he said how 'disgusting' they were after one bite. Jaehwan was most definitely upset that Leo said that when he knew that N did his best to make them. When he asked for an explanation, Leo simply said that he did not like burnt cookies. Jaehwan himself did not even notice that the cookies were 'burnt' because he was preoccupied with the thought that N made food for him. Still, despite that kind of reaction from Leo, Jaehwan made sure to tell N that the former loved his cookies and would like to have more. Now, he regretted having lied to N because he was certain that Leo would reject them like he did the last time.

"Yeah... I'm sure that he'll love them," Jaehwan said solemnly. "Leo-hyung will love them because you made them –"

"He doesn't know, right?" N cut him off suddenly, worry written all over his face when the idol spoke of him in the same sentence as Leo.

Jaehwan shook his head. "No. I keep secrets well, hyung! You know that~"

N rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right. I'm just... You know... Worried that he'll find out and he'll lash out on you..."

"Don't worry!" Jaehwan comforted him, "Leo-hyung can't hurt my face. I'm an idol remember?" He shut the cat lunch box and placed it on top of the Spongebob lunch box.

"And that makes it even more tempting to punch your face!" N teased, now back to smiling as he was earlier.

"Mhm," The idol replied, quickly picking up another flower shaped carrot from the plate.

"What time did you say that he would be coming here?" Wonsik asked, watching Leo as he did his routine.

Leo, however, just carried on running on the treadmill. He wiped the sweat dripping on the sides of face with the towel that was around his neck. Leo very well heard what Wonsik asked him but he did not really feel like answering the question.

This, of course, annoyed Wonsik but he should have known better than to feel that way since Leo had been hostile for years now. Seeing the change happen to him was such a . Wonsik sighed an