SCENARIO VII: I SAID IT WAS TOP-RATED, NOT THAT IT WAS BETTER THAN YOURS

Among the SS501 members, there are several unspoken rules that they all abide by. For example: No one takes YoungSaeng’s games without asking him first. No one shares a room with JungMin. It’s always just assumed that he gets his own room. No one sticks peas up KyuJong’s nose for reasons that they all refuse to discuss. (They will take that secret to their graves.)

But most importantly: No one speaks badly of Leader HyunJoong’s cooking.

His cooking at times is…interesting, to say the least, but it really is rather good and all the members are appreciative of his efforts. It’s nice to occasionally sit down to a home cooked meal instead of living off of ramyun or takeout food.

The members decide one night to eat at a new restaurant near their dorm. They’ve had a long day with dance practice for their new MV and everyone is too tired to even think about cooking at home.

The members and their managers were led to a quiet table in the back that provided them with some privacy and they graciously thanked the waitress for her thoughtfulness.

They get their drinks and all order quickly, wanting to just eat and go home to their waiting beds. As they wait for their food, they all lapse into an exhausted silence and are relieved that the day is almost over.

YoungSaeng leans back in his seat with the hood of his sweatshirt covering his tired eyes.

KyuJong has the brim of his baseball hat pulled down low over his face as he rests his head on YoungSaeng’s shoulder.

JungMin has his elbows on the table as he tiredly props his head up with his hands. He lazily blows bubbles into his tea with his straw to keep himself entertained and awake.

HyunJoong has his beanie pulled down over half of his face to block out the restaurant’s lighting as he alternates between nodding off and jolting awake in his seat.

HyungJun’s current status can’t even be seen since he is sitting face down at the table.

And the managers? Well, they keep themselves busy by playing games on their phones and answering emails.

When the ahjumma waitress brings out their food, she wonders if any of the young ones are even still awake to eat.

One of the managers has to pull off the eldest’s beanie just to get his attention which earns him a sleepy, confused scowl. The waitress cannot help but be surprised when the Leader slaps the youngest on the back and startles the poor kid awake. His whining awakens the two that are slumped against each other and the one blowing bubbles in his tea just watches the scene in front of him with glazed eyes.

She sadly shakes her head at their state as she brings the last few dishes of food to their table and is grateful her son is tone deaf so he can never become a singer.

Everyone digs into the food, the table remaining relatively silent other than the sound of utensils clinking against the plates.

Maknae HyungJun is surprisingly alert now after his rude awakening from the eldest. He tastes each and every dish, not wanting to miss out on any of it. He bites into another rice cake thoughtfully and takes note of the texture as well as the flavor. The food is actually really good and he is rather enjoying it.

“These rice cakes are really top-rated! We should come here again sometime!” He breaks the silence and their Leader pauses to glare at HyungJun. The eldest is tired and grumpy so everything is rubbing him the wrong way. He’s ready to dump JungMin’s tea on his head if he doesn’t stop blowing bubbles every time he takes a drink. So the maknae’s words only irritate him even more.

“Oh really? So are you saying that my rice cakes aren’t as good? Maybe you should eat here from now on so that you can eat TOP-RATED rice cakes instead of mine.” HyunJoong growls at the youngest.

HyungJun shrinks from the dark aura radiating from the Leader and quickly tries to sooth the grumpy man.

“N-no! I didn’t mean it like that, HyunJoong hyung. I-I only said that it was top-rated, not that it was better than yours. Your cooking is the best, hyung!”

“Are you lying to me right now, because if you are, you can fend for yourself at meal times from now on.” The eldest glowers.

“Of course not, hyung! I always like your cooking! I wish I could have your cooking three times a day!” The maknae panics. He then grabs the Leader’s arm and looks up at him with wide, puppy-dog eyes.

“HyungJoong hyung’s cooking is jjang (the best)!” He coos and HyunJoong just scoffs. The youngest even does heart hands to try and convince the elder of his sincerity but the Leader only narrows his eyes and resumes eating his food.

“Why are you being so informal while trying to convince me? And if you’re going to attempt aegyo at 2am in the morning, at least put some energy into it.” HyunJoong grumbles into his rice.

“But hyung, we’ve been awake for 18 hours-”

The Leader shoots him another glare.

“Nevermind.” He hastily exclaims and quickly resumes stuffing his mouth with food.

“I don’t even feel sorry for maknae. He knows how touchy HyunJoong hyung is about his cooking. He had that coming.” Kyu whispers to YoungSaeng.

“Totally.” The latter agrees.

A/N: Story idea submitted by Garnet. ^_^ It’s a little shorter than I planned but I hope everyone still likes it. <3