The doorbell rang and Ken ran down the stairs to the front hall. “I got it, mom!” He opened the door and grinned when he saw a shivering busboy in front of him. “Hi kid!”

“H-Hi,” the younger stepped in the house, rubbing his cheeks to keep them warm. “Dang, it’s cold.”

“Jaehwan-ah, who is it?” A lady came up to them and Hyuk recognized her as their regular. “Oh! If it isn’t Sanghyukie!”

“Hi Banshee,” Hyuk bowed, his backpack rustling nosily as he did so. “Sorry for intruding.”

Ken’s mom chuckled softly. “It’s quite alright, dear. What are you here for? You two are playing together?”

“Mom!” Ken whined childishly. “He’s here for a school project, stop embarrassing me.”

“Jaehwan,” she laid a worried hand on his shoulder. “Did you forget? You’re not in preschool anymore.”

“Mom!”

Hyuk smiled awkwardly at their close relationship. “I came to be tutored by a professional.”

Banshee grabbed her son’s cheeks and coddled. “Aw! My son is a pwofessional!”

“MOM!” The blond chef groaned and pulled Hyuk to the kitchen. “Ugh, she’s a handful. Anyway, what was your project about?”

“I took home economics as a random fill-in course,” the student pulled out his sticker covered textbook. “But the thing is, I failed it twice. They won’t let me graduate this year until I earn at least one credit, so I’m a little desperate for your help.”

Ken nodded in understanding. “So what do you have to make?”

“Um... Cheesecake, with a graham cracker bottom,” Hyuk squinted at the page in his book. “I brought all the ingredients, but the instructions totally confuse me. Like, how long are you supposed to pre-heat the oven? How much is a quart? What the hell is a springform pan? I don’t understand...”

“Uh, funny story,” the other laughed nervously. “I have a degree in culinary arts.”

Hyuk looked at him blankly. “Yeah. And?”

“I majored in culinary arts, kid. Not baking and pastry arts. I cook, not bake.”

“... You mean there’s a difference?” The kid cried out of exasperation. “So you know nothing about baking?!”

“I know a quart is four cups!” Ken tried earnestly.

“BUT HOW MUCH IS A CUP?!”

Dumb and dumber eventually decided to hack at it anyway. If they failed, then the worst that would happen to Hyuk would be summer school.

Ken was mixing the filling while Hyuk was attempting to make the graham crust. “I’ve always wondered something.”

The younger looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“What kind of student are you?” The chef subtly the whisk in his hand. “I mean, not everyone I know fails the same subject twice. Are you a gangster?”

Hyuk groaned again. “No, I actually try very hard. I just tend to do poorly at things I don’t like doing.”

“Oh, I get it.” Ken grinned mischievously. “You’re one of those people who study all night but still fail. You’re a nerd!”

“I am not,” the kid protested. “Just because I don’t have friends, am obsessed with anime, and study for fun doesn’t mean I’m a nerd!”

“Aw!” Ken came over to him and gave him a suffocating hug. “It’s okay, Hyukkie! I’ll be your only friend!”

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING!” Hyuk yelled, trying to get away. “YOU’RE GETTING BATTER ON ME! AT LEAST PUT THE MIXING THING DOWN!”

Somehow they managed to get the cake safely into the oven. With the timer set to three hours, Ken suggested that they invite the other employees over. So he took a picture of Hyuk posing awkwardly in front of the baking cake and sent it out to the others.

Hongbin replied, ‘how cute. I’ll be over in a few. :}’

Ravi said, ‘lol you guys are losers’.

N texted, ‘omg awwwwwww!!!!!!!!! I’d love to have some cake from you cutesypoos! <3 I’ll come right away!!! >3< ‘

And of course, Leo didn’t reply.

Within thirty minutes, Hongbin and Ravi arrived on the chef’s doorstep.  

"Ooh..." Ken smirked, as if he knew something. "You two were together?"

"Yeah, I was at his house." Ravi had replied, ignoring the chef's teasing looks. 

"But we're not together," Hongbin added suddenly. "Like a thing. Nope." He laughed nervously, making the awkward rise. They stood there in silence until Ken's mom came down the stairs.

"Hongbinnie! It's so nice to see you!" Banshee gave the bartender a quick hug. 

"And it's nice to see you when you're sober for once."

She let out a giggle. "Oh, you joker, you. Where's N-goon?"

"He said he was coming," Hyuk started when the doorbell rang again. "Ah, that must be him."

Ravi opened the door, and there was their boss, standing on the doorstep by himself. To Hyuk, he looked incredibly smaller than usual. He knew something was wrong as he had on a smile, but his eyes were sad.

"Hi guys," N greeted, casually walking in. Hyuk exchanged glances with the other employees; they too knew something was off.

Ravi pointed it out first. "Where's Leo-hyung?"

"Yeah, I thought you guys were attached at the hip," Hongbin commented. "This is weird, seeing you without him."

N didn't laugh. "Um, I couldn't contact him. So I don't think he's coming." He waddled into the house, leaving his employees in silence again.

"Is he going to be alright?" Banshee asked, glancing back at him like he was her son too. 

"I don't know," Ken looked at Hongbin in concern. "I thought Leo-hyung was free during the day."

"He was, but not anymore," the brunet was eerily calm. "He's been occupied with something for the last little while. It’s the same reason why he's been so tardy for work."

"And what would that be?"

Hongbin smiled evilly. "I'm not going to tell you." He then skipped down the hall, humming. 

"... Let's watch a movie to cheer him up," Ken suggested. "Spiderman, anyone?"

They gathered into Ken's living room and popped Spiderman 3 into the player. After the movie was over, the cake would be done by then and they'd eat.

Hyuk would take occasional glances at their boss throughout the movie, noticing just how sad his eyes were. Hongbin and Ken were too absorbed in the movie and Ravi was too absorbed in Hongbin to notice N leave the room halfway through the film.

Overly worried, Hyuk excused himself to the washroom although no one was listening.

He found N in the kitchen, sitting alone on top of the counter. In his hand was his phone. "Hyung? You alright?"

The boss looked up at him with a solemn smile. “I’m fine.”

“We know you’re not,” Hyuk sat across from him. “You can tell me if something’s wrong. I’ll listen.”

N waited a moment before he finally spoke. “... Well... Taekwoon and I... We knew each other for a long time. At least since kindergarten.” The busboy vaguely thought that Leo must have a really high tolerance for idiocy, if he suffered for that long. “I tell him everything. He tells me everything. There’s no one in the world that I trust more than him. But recently... He’s been acting a little distant. I know, he’s always distant, but somehow, it just hurts when he’s ignoring me now. He’s hiding something. But he’s not telling me! I—“

“Cry if you have to,” Hyuk murmured softly. “It’s okay.”

He sobbed, and soon tears rolled down his cheeks. “... I-I don’t think he trusts me anymore. If he can’t tell me what he’s been up to... H-He keeps coming late to work and he doesn’t answer me during the day. He’s not even home sometimes! What... Wh-what if he’s seeing someone else?” The words pained N so much, he cried even harder. “What if he leaves? What if he quits his job and leaves me?! I-I won’t be able to handle it. I-I’ll... I’ll die.”

“N-No, no, no, you won’t,” the kid moved and sat next to him, giving him an awkward side-hug. “N-hyung, please. I barely know you guys and what your relationship is, but if I know one thing... I know Leo-hyung won’t leave you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and... Trust me, he won’t leave. He’s too cool to do that. Trust me.”

It took him a while, but the boss steadily started to calm down. Wiping his last few tears away, N uttered with a shaky laugh, “he is too cool, isn’t he...?”

Just then, a loud beep emitting from the oven startled them both. The other guys suddenly burst into the kitchen. “It’s cake time!” Ken chimed, grabbing his pair of oven mitts.

“It’s not like we were listening in the hall or anything,” Hongbin chuckled. “But rest assured, boss. Taek-hyung’s not going to leave you.”

N finally showed off a bright smile. “Thanks guys.”

“If you’re thankful, give us all a raise.”

Hyuk reminded them that the cake had to cool first before they could eat it, but they ignored him and ate it anyway. At least he knew that his baking skills weren’t so terrible, as they sputtered about how delicious it was with their mouths full.

Once they had cleared the dessert, the employees decided to head home. Ken bid Hyuk, Ravi, and Hongbin goodbye as they left his abode. N left last, waving ecstatically at the chef as he walked away into the evening. Ken then shut the door, deciding to go to the kitchen to clean the rest up. It wasn’t even a minute later that the blond heard desperate and loud knocking.

“Did N-hyung forget something...?” He mumbled to himself as the knocking seemed to get more frantic. He opened the door again to find a sweaty and panting red-headed singer. “Leo-hyung! What’re you—“

“Hakyeon,” he breathed out, clutching onto the door frame to steady himself. “Where’s Hakyeon.”

“He just left—” Ken blankly watched as Leo sprinted away, nearly slipping on wet leaves on his pursuit.

Leo ran and ran down the sidewalk, his throat just burning for air. But he had to find him; there was no time for breathing.

Finally, he spotted him just a short distance away and sprinted the fastest he ever sprinted in his entire life. Leo wrapped his arms around N tightly, taking the shorter by surprise.

“What— Taek?! What are you doing?” N stumbled backwards against him, a bit flustered at their embrace.

“I... I’m so sorry,” he started, panting really loudly. “My phone was off and I didn’t get your text. I’m sorry.”

The boss couldn’t help but grin widely. “It’s... It’s okay, Taek. It’s fine.” Leo hugged him even tighter and they stood there for a while, hugging in a comfortable silence. “... Taek... You know you can tell me anything, right?” N murmured after a moment.

“I know,” Leo replied. His breathing was slowly starting to stabilize.

“Then...” N turned around to face him. “Can you tell me what you’ve been up to lately? Like... It kind of not being in the loop, you know?”

“... I can’t.” When the shorter made a look of dejection, Leo suddenly kissed his lips. “... But I’ll give you a hint. I’m... It’s a surprise gift. For you.”

N looked up at him in astonishment. “For me?”

“Of course, you dimwit.” The singer hugged him once more. “Just for you. So don’t ruin the surprise.”

“Okay.” They lapsed into another silence before N spoke again. “Leo... Would you ever leave?”

“Leave where.”

“Me.”

Leo whipped his head down, staring at N as if he were the stupidest person in the world. “I would never leave you. Why would you think that.”

“Uh, no reason.” N happily returned their kiss. “What do you know, Hyukkie was right.”

/sigh/ so i was searching through tags and there are 3000 vixx fics and 85 000 exo...
not that I have anything against EXO fics, but
don't you guys know that variety is the spice of life? =v=" 
anyway, some of N's backstory is revealed! ohohoho there is still more to be learned~
If some of you noticed I added the 'Hyuken' tag to the fic; who knows what I have in store
ps. check out this writing contest!