Minseok poked his head into the kitchen, eyes roving about in search for a certain brown-haired man with a perpetual wide-eyed gaze who walked around the house in nothing but boxers and a toothbrush in his mouth every morning. He had no idea why, but that man was just weird in almost everything he did.

Said man appeared from behind a door wearing, as usual, only a single article of clothing. "Good morning Minseokkie!!!"

Minseok didn't want to admit that that nickname had seemed to grow on him after a while. He waved a book at Luhan's face. "Why are your texts so weird?"

"What?" Some toothpasty foam dribbled down his chin, and he didn't bother to wipe it up. Minseok crinkled up his nose in disgust.

"Your texts. They are made of some weird material."

"It's paper." Luhan replied, finally going to the sink to spit out the foam. "I know your texts are made of bamboo, but that doesn't mean our texts are, too. Bamboo rots too easily."

Minseok frowned in displeasure. Does paper not rot as well?

Luhan started scrubbing his face in the kitchen sink with some strange flower-scented foam from a tube. He threw the tube over his shoulder at Minseok, who neatly sidestepped it, and it crashed loudly against the cabinet.

"I was giving it to you!!" Luhan gurgled in exasperation, sticking his bubble-covered face out to glare at Minseok. "You really should start a proper skincare regime while you're here, Minseokkie."

"My skin is good as it is." He deadpanned, patting his flawless skin.

"Not for long!!" Luhan scampered over to the tube and picked it up, leaving a trail of dripping water from his drenched face. He waved it at Minseok's face with a flourish. "This unclogs your pores and removes dirt and blemishes!! Listen, you'd be sprouting pimples in no time if you don't learn how to cleanse properly. Without advanced skin formulas, the 21st century air will totally destroy your beautiful face!"

Minseok draped him a dishcloth over his head, without so much as a speck of interest in Luhan's shameless advertising. "Clean the water off your face." He walked out of the kitchen.

Luhan groaned in defeat. "This is for cleaning plates!!"

---

Baekhyun almost jumped onto Yifan with utmost relief when he came in that morning, with a large packet of cookie dough.

"Wait. Why cookie dough?"

Yifan dropped his bag onto the couch and plopped the cookie dough into Baekhyun's arms. "Well, you said you were feeling awkward with Jongdae. So I suggest baking with him to break the ice!!"

Baekhyun sighed and raised the packet of dough up, inspecting the thick cream-coloured paste with slight apprehension. "Doesn't mean that I'm Baekhyun, means I know how to bake."

"That's a poor joke..." Yifan eyed him amusedly, a smirk threatening to break onto his face. "Now tell me what happened yesterday."

"Nothing!!" Baekhyun protested, and Yifan's eyebrow rose up even higher on his face. "That idiot Chanyeol went to buy us movie tickets to an NC-17 show and..."

"Holy !! Are you serious?!" Yifan's eyes were blazing with amusement. "What did Jongdae say?"

Baekhyun bit his lip hesitantly. "He said... was this how people kissed... something like that."

"That's all? Nothing about the actual part?" Yifan sounded incredulous and way too interested for Baekhyun's liking.

"Hyung, he probably didn't really know what was going on..."

"What IS going on??" Jongdae tottered out of the bedroom, still clad in Baekhyun's alpaca pajamas, rubbing his eyes sleepily with a cute yawn. Baekhyun bit his tongue to hold back a very unmanly coo threatening to escape from his throat.

Yifan laughed, and Jongdae's eyes flew wide open. "Oh, hello Yifan hyung!" He bowed politely at the man, a bright smile adorning his face. "It is nice to see you again!"

Baekhyun fought the urge to scowl. So he is calling Yifan his hyung now, huh. While I'm still just a Bae Hoon to him. Why on earth does he even call me that?!

"We are baking today!!" Yifan grabbed Baekhyun's arm which held the dough packet and raised it up for Jongdae to see.

Jongdae tilted his head in confusion. "Is that soil?"

Yifan burst into laughter, letting go of Baekhyun's arm abruptly. The packet of dough was nearly sent hurtling to the floor in the process. "It's dough!"

"Dough...?"

"Yeah! Go shower and get ready, we will be starting soon!"

Baekhyun set down the cookie dough and followed Jongdae into the bathroom with a sheepish smile.

Yifan groaned. "Don't tell me you still haven't taught Jongdae how to fill the bath!!"

---

Minseok stood frozen in front of the mirror, more of staring at himself than watching Luhan. Luhan badly felt like he needed to grab the scholar's face and make him look in the right direction, but his hands are full of foam, it wasn't really a good idea.

"Put the foam on your T-zone." Luhan started to spread the foam on his forehead, nose area and chin. To his utter surprise, Minseok started to draw little 'T' shapes all over his face.

"Look at me Minseok!! Here." Luhan drew a large T shape on his own face. Minseok stared, and nodded with a slightly embarrassed laugh.

"Ahh..." He spread the soap in the right area, but got a terribly huge amount of foam in his eyes in the process. The man squawked and quickly dumped his face into water, trying to wash away the stinging in his eyes.

Luhan shrugged helplessly, washing his foam off as well. "Good try for your first time," he grinned as Minseok struggled to glare at him through the dripping rivulets of water running down his face.

---

Baking, it turned out, was a pretty good remedy for Baekhyun's awkwardness with Jongdae. Watching Jongdae make an utter mess of himself in the kitchen, what with dough on his face and hands and even neck, was an extremely hilarious sight. Not to mention that Yifan was absolutely flabbergasted at how clumsy Jongdae was. The usually calm and collected Yifan with a look of frantic horror on his face was enough to leave Baekhyun in fits.

Baekhyun found himself losing concentration and he couldn't chop the walnuts any longer, instead leaning on the counter and watching Jongdae mix the dough haphazardly.

"How can you be the same person who made all that flower ornaments?!" Yifan groaned in exasperation as another glob of dough flew out and into Jongdae's hair.

"I am not good at mixing..." Jongdae pouted, amusingly unaffected by the mess he was making. He simply plucked the dough out of his hair and dumped it back into the mix. Baekhyun was half-glad that Jongdae just took a shower.

Yifan sighed and nudged Baekhyun aside, taking over him with the chopping. Baekhyun stumbled over to Jongdae in a self-induced high, and hooked an arm around the boy's shoulder.

"How can you be so adorable?" Baekhyun gushed with a ridiculous smile. Jongdae turned his head slightly to eye him disdainfully.

"I am not adorable."

"I BEG to differ!" Baekhyun replied, closing his hand over Jongdae's as he stirred the bowl with a whisk. "You stir like this, round and round, not up down left right front centre back, understand?"

Yifan snorted in amusement. "You sound like you're a prodigy."

"Of course!! I'm the Baek-King of Baking!!"

The oldest male sighed. "That was lame, Baekhyun..."

As a result of watching the two and not paying attention to the chopping, Yifan accidentally brought the knife down on his pinky. He shrieked and dropped the utensil, raising his little finger to inspect the damage. Blood oozed out from the cut on the pad of his finger, dripping down in mini streams.

Baekhyun gasped and Jongdae screamed. "Yifan hyung!!"

"Oh sheesh, nah I'm fine I just..."

"Stop the bleeding!!" Jongdae yelled, as Baekhyun quickly dashed out to grab tissues and band aids.

"Yeah, I'll be okay, Baek's going to get the-"

Jongdae lunged forward, grabbing Yifan's wrist and pinching the veins on his wrist. Yifan startled, and tried to wriggle loose of his tight grip. "Jongdae, I-"

Jongdae closed his mouth over Yifan's injured finger, around the angry-red cut, and began to . He the blood away, pressing the tip of his tongue against the flap of skin that had burst open. Yifan hissed at the sudden wet warmth surrounding his wound, but didn't pull away, more like because Jongdae had such a firm hold on him that he'd probably end up hurting himself again.

"Jongdae...?"

Jongdae lifted his eyes to look at Yifan. The latter was staring at him with a mixture of shock and bewilderment, but he wasn't the one who called his name.

Baekhyun stood by the island, watching in complete surprise at the scene that unfolded before his eyes. He suddenly felt weak in the knees, and he clutched the table for support, the medical supplies slipping out from his grip onto the floor. Jongdae withdrew his mouth slowly, aware of what his sudden move had done to the atmosphere in the kitchen.

"Umm, I am sorry, it is just... something I do when I get hurt, I mean..." The two older men stare at him with dazed looks. "It was bleeding and... I just wanted to get it to stop and..."

Yifan placed his good hand on Jongdae's shoulder with a hesitant smile. "We don't really do that, Jongdae. We use this." He walked out to the box of plasters on the floor and picked it up, along with the wad of tissue that had fallen down.

"See this? It wraps around my finger all snugly."

Jongdae blinked at it with awe. "Oh... That looks nice."

Baekhyun wasn't aware how hard he was biting his lip until he tasted blood. As he watched Yifan and Jongdae laugh about a box of band aids and Yifan letting Jongdae put on the bandage for him, he felt this bitterness swell in his chest. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, and it made him feel hyper-conscious of himself. He almost felt an urge to pry Yifan and Jongdae apart, but that would have been absolutely awkward and childish of him. Am I jealous?

The light-hearted mood in the kitchen was restored, but Baekhyun was feeling anything but light-hearted. Mumbling an excuse about a sudden headache, he crept out of the kitchen and slunk back to his room to mope to the four walls.

---

Minseok wasn't sure how it happened, but the innocent face-washing session had turned into a full-blown soap war.

Eyes squeezed shut, palms armed with bubbly foam, he charged towards the professor, or at least the general direction which he thought the professor was. Turned out that he was completely wrong, and he almost toppled straight into the bathtub, if not for Luhan grabbing his waist and pulling him back.

They were both all drenched and soapy, fringe wet and half-covering their eyes, not like it mattered though, since there was soap everywhere and they didn't really opened their eyes that much.

Luhan laughed straight into his ear. "You're such a gummy, Minseokkie!"

"What is a gummy?"

"Something squishy and yummy?" Another loud laugh, and Luhan was smearing freezing cold soap on his neck.

"You are so ertic and childish!" Minseok shrieked, spinning his body around to attack Luhan's cheeks with the foam in his hands.

Once again he miscalculated, and the foam smacked Luhan in the eye. "Ahhhhh..." He clutched his hurting eye and doubled over. Minseok panicked and tried to pull him up, examining his face through the ugly-looking wince he was making.

"You're childish too..." Luhan moaned, as his hands reached out, trying to grab something.

Minseok understood at once, and he went to unhook the shower head, turning the water on and aiming it directly at Luhan's face. The latter wasn't expecting it at all, and the freezing jet of water effectively jolted him, reducing him into a spluttering mess.

"Aaaaaaaaaa-gurgle gurgle gurgle" Luhan responded, scrubbing his face.

Minseok turned off the shower, looking extremely pleased at himself. The entire bathroom was legitimately wet by then, and he was feeling not in the least bit remorseful.

Luhan grumbled to himself, and began to shake the water from his hair like a puppy. Minseok squealed and tried to dodge the water droplet missiles, but it proved ineffective in the tiny confined space of the bathroom.

So, the end result was two very wet grown men, standing and staring at each other in a bubbly soapy wonderland.

Minseok froze.

Luhan opened his eyes and looked straight at him, water trickling down his face, clinging onto his eyelashes. They almost seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent bathroom light, or maybe it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

Luhan stepped closer, a smirk spreading on his face. On instinct, Minseok took a tentative step back. They kept doing this until Minseok felt his back hit the wall with a dull smack.

"Minseokkie..." Luhan murmured, making sure to purr his name in the most seductive way possible. Or maybe it was just his ears playing tricks on him.

The scholar felt tiny goosebumps sprout on his skin as Luhan advanced even closer. The gap between them was lessening, along with the increasing amount of goosebumps on his skin. I am just cold, he figured. Or maybe just his skin playing tricks with him.

One of Luhan's hands shot out, and Minseok flinched back automatically. The hand hit the wall beside Minseok's head, effectively half-caging him in Luhan's arms. Luhan blinked slowly, almost ally, and he swiped a tongue across his bottom lip. Cheeks glistening and lips red, the professor smiled, slowly, and he leaned forward, slowly...

No, my heart is definitely playing tricks with me, that's for sure-

"Hey Minseokkie. What's that look for? Think I'm gonna kiss you? Heehee." Luhan whispered into his ear before pulling back with a triumphant grin. "Gotcha!! Muahahahaha..."

What?!

The scholar shook his head once to clear his head of his thoughts, and he glared angrily at the other man, now literally rolling on the soapy floor in fits. "Oh gosh, you sick ert!!"

"What did I do?!" Luhan gasped in-between raucous laughter. "I didn't even touch you!!"

With an agitated huff, he stepped over the helpless professor and made his way out of the bathroom. The moment he stepped out, he leaned heavily against the wall and tried to regulate his erratic breathing.

Nope, definitely playing tricks.

---

Jongdae poked a head through the room door about an hour later, looking concerned. "Bae Hoon?"

Baekhyun looked up at him, mumbled something incoherent, and buried his head back in his pillow again. "Go away."

Since when does Jongdae ever listen to me, anyway. As expected, the younger pattered into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. He could smell a delicious aroma from his current position. "Yifan says you are a big grump. What is a grump, anyway? Are they cute?"

Baekhyun almost choked himself to death on his saliva. Raising his head to gape at the boy, he almost squeaked when he came face-to-face with Jongdae's huge eyes, peering intently at him.

"Hyung!!" He reached out and pressed a soft, clammy hand against his forehead. Baekhyun shivered involuntarily at the touch. "Are you still feeling sick?" Jongdae withdrew his hand almost immediately, and Baekhyun wanted to kick himself for almost whining at the loss. He managed to shake his head with a wan smile, and Jongdae grinned cheerily.

"The cookies!!" Jongdae produced a box from behind his back, together with a small tumbler of fragrant tea. "It was fun making cookies..." Baekhyun felt his heart sink a little, "but not as fun as when you were around." Baekhyun brightened up considerably.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Jongdae was all smiles, and it was so endearing that Baekhyun could literally feel his heart squeeze in the warmth of that radiant beam.

Suddenly, his smile dropped and he leaned forward, worry creasing his forehead. "Hey, your lips are bleeding!"

Ah. Baekhyun's hand flew up to graze the cracked bloody spot, formed due to the endless chewing and gnawing for the past hour.

"Do you need a band aid?" Jongdae's voice was so curious and innocent that it made Baekhyun feel like shoving his head into a rainbow and wailing.

Blame it on Jongdae for making me think such weird thoughts. Who ever thinks of wailing in rainbows???

"Uh nuh, people don't stick band aids on lips... In this case it's more practical to it better," he replied nonchalantly.

Oops.

At the sudden realization of his words, Baekhyun's eyes bulged from their sockets and he sputtered nervously, trying to reverse the meaning of that sentence. "I mean, umm, no you can't , not literally, you just, umm..."

Jongdae was giggling at him, a hand over his mouth as he watched Baekhyun flail his arms around like a ten-year-old fangirl. "I guess Yifan calls you a grump because grump means cute. You are sooo cute!"

"No!!" Baekhyun certainly wasn't blushing bright-red like a tomato.

"Cute!! Heehee," Jongdae happily danced away from Baekhyun's agitated hands, ones that were intending to strangle him and stop that mischievous laughter. "You are cute. And OH..." He suddenly paused and leaned back down to peer at Baekhyun's swollen lips. "Do you want to it better yourself, or do you want someone to help you?"

Baekhyun's brain could have exploded if not for the skull in his head that held it in place. "What?!"

"Just kidding, you take things so seriously Bae Hoon." Jongdae patted his head with a cheeky grin. "I am going outside to send Yifan hyung off. Go rest Hyung. And eat the cookies. There is no blood traces in them, I assure you."

With a fond crinkle of his nose, Jongdae ruffled his hair and skipped out with light footsteps.

Baekhyun collapsed onto the pillow, willing himself to just melt into it and disappear into a land of fluffy unicorns and rainbows. Yes, he definitely needs a rainbow to wail into, like, right now.

A/N:
Some xiuhan progress!! I swear xiuhan is going to progress like a bullet train because Minseok is secretly a pushover when it comes to Luhan xD once Luhan has gotten Minseok under his wing, he's gone case :P

As for baekchen... Let's play it out a little longer ;) (with er Yifan)
(I did mention in an earlier chapter that Yifan is straight, right? Well, lets see how that goes)

i found this picture somewhere. HOLY IS THIS JONGDAE. SOOOOOO CUUUUUTE~~~ *haemorrhages and dies*