3.Your Favorite Food

Choosing dinner was like pulling teeth between Daehyun’s insatiable appetite and Yongguk’s choosy tastes. Daehyun always wanted to cook more than necessary and Yongguk didn’t know what Daehyun was cooking half the time. He wasn’t sure why Daehyun was so hungry all the time and sometimes Daehyun worried Yongguk didn’t eat enough. Even when they were out at restaurants, Daehyun said he’d pick up the tab more often than not because he’d order the most. Yongguk insisted it was okay, but Daehyun thought otherwise.

                Yongguk thought maybe Daehyun was a stress eater because he was up at all hours of the nights with his head in the fridge, scouring for something to eat.

                Daehyun thought Yongguk was overworking himself because he never had time to eat, or perhaps he had eating anxiety. He always looked shifty when he picked up some chopsticks.

                But that wasn’t the case. They both just had cravings for different foods at different times, all the time. Yongguk wanted salty foods that you could eat effortlessly while Daehyun preferred sweet and savory foods. He was always looking for new things to cook to combine the two in harmony, but it was a struggle. Yongguk could live off ramen for days if he wanted too, because that was his favorite.

                Daehyun was partial to cheesecake and chicken, but Yongguk didn’t have much of a sweet tooth nor did he know how to cook like Daehyun did. He wasn’t much of a good boyfriend, he thought, if he couldn’t even make his boyfriend’s favorite dish. Daehyun was a pro at throwing some noodles into a pan and adding in some powder and making Yongguk food when he had a rough day or was feeling low.

                He could have just bought those cute little wrapped up cakes, but for some reason, Yongguk never did. He thought maybe this would be his downfall if they ever got married. He had the time between slaving over paper and pencil to just walk to the grocery store and pick one up, but he didn’t have the energy. He thought maybe Daehyun would understand, but as days dragged on, Daehyun ate more and more and more and Yongguk was really starting to get troubled when he was just eating plain bread with nothing on it.

                Yongguk went to Daehyun and put a hand on his shoulder and asked him if everything was okay. He had noticed that food in the apartment was depleting at a rapid rate and Daehyun looked at him with a sly grin and said he was pregnant, and Yongguk laughed it off before getting serious again and once again asking Daehyun if anything was wrong.

                “You’re always eating recently. I’m worried.” Yongguk said, taking the bread from Daehyun’s hands and placing it on the counter. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

                Daehyun shook his head and picked up the bread again. “I’m just always hungry. Sometimes more often than not. It’s like when you don’t eat for days and you maybe have like, some water and that’s it.” Daehyun said, and Yongguk lifted a brow.

                “You notice that?” he asked, and Daehyun nodded. He said he noticed everything about his eating patterns, and he didn’t like them one bit, but he wasn’t in a place to scold him. Daehyun said that at the rate Yongguk eats, or rather, doesn’t, it’s going to ruin his health, and Daehyun said that he was sure his cholesterol was getting bad, but that didn’t stop him from eating and doing what he enjoyed. Yongguk nodded, and then he got what Daehyun was saying. He wasn’t going to tell Yongguk to eat because he was making music, and that’s what he enjoyed doing as well.

                Yongguk decided though that if it worried Daehyun though, he’d eat some more. It wasn’t like with Himchan, a friend of his, where he couldn’t eat because of a disorder. Yongguk chose not to eat, which he was sure was probably a disorder as well, or it might just be he was a workaholic. After the short conversation, Yongguk smiled at Daehyun and he went to the fridge and pulled out some juice and poured himself a glass, and then he had a better idea.

                He grabbed Daehyun’s hand and the keys and they were out the door. The younger was bickering and asking where they were going, but Yongguk didn’t say a word and he thought about putting the boy on his shoulders and just being gooey about it, but he was already going out of his comfort zone with doing this. His wallet felt light in his back pocket and he hoped he had the cash on hand for a simple slice of cake. He would have been so embarrassed if that was the case.

                When they got to the market though, everything was fine and Yongguk led Daehyun to the pastry section and told him to pick out a slice that he wanted, and Daehyun beamed. He was thrilled that Yongguk had thought of him and he wandered around, inspecting each and every cake like it was going to be the most important cake of his life. He thought this might come in second, next to the cake Yongguk and he would have at their wedding, but he kept that inside because that was mushy and gross and he thought maybe if he bought up marriage or a wedding that Yongguk would get scared. It wasn’t like he had planned out all the catering in his head or anything anyways.

                Yongguk stood back and watched his boyfriend look at all the sweets in front of him. He tapped his chin and he reached for a few, but he always drew his hand back. Yongguk wondered what he was looking for, and when Daehyun approached him, he was all ears.

                “Yongguk,” Daehyun started out. “Thanks for bringing me here and thinking of me and everything, but…” he paused, and Daehyun laughed a little. “I’m not hungry anymore. I was just starving for your attention.”