"Sehun-ah". Tao couldn't take his eyes off his reflection. Black hair that nearly covered his eyes, deep dark circles and perfect skin. He looked gorgeous, as always, but something had been troubling him for the past few days and he wasn't sure whether he could trust the mirror or not. So he decided to trust his boyfriend.

"What is it?". Sehun sounded fairly irritated because he had told Tao many times not to distract him while he's cooking unless he wanted another fire to occur.

"Do you think I look... boring?". The extremely worried look on Tao's face made Sehun forget his irritation and his miserable attempt at preparing dinner; he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"You look like an idiot. Why are you worrying over such trivial things, I shall never understand", Sehun replied and after shaking his head as a reminder of his boyfriend's stupidity, he walked right back into the kitchen.

"Do you think I just wake up looking perfect?", Tao followed the other like a puppy, "It takes effort!", he shouted when Sehun started laughing again.

"You better take your perfect out of the kitchen if you want to eat anytime soon".

His reply made Tao snort and roll his eyes, something that Sehun didn't exactly appreciate.

"What, are you questioning my cooking skills?"

"I wouldn't call that 'skills'. More like a disaster", Tao said and pointed at the frying pan that emitted a strong, burning smell.

", not again!". Sehun ran to the pan that was now surrounded by heavy smoke clouds and turned off the heat. After quickly examining the black burnt mass that was supposed to be an omelet, he threw the pan on the kitchen counter looking defeated.

"I don't get it", Tao said while rushing to open all the apartment's windows before the fire alarm went off, "Why do you insist on cooking so much? Just let me do it, I'm way better than you. Plus", he added after glancing at the kitchen counter, "We can't afford any new frying pans".

"Because", Sehun whimpered like a stubborn child, "I want to do something around here. I don't have a job like you and now that my parents stopped sending me money I can't even pay rent".

"You can pay me with your body", Tao giggled and gave the pale boy in front on him a peck on the lips.

"Tao, I'm serious", Sehun said but he didn't look serious at all while wrapping his arms around Tao's slender waist. "What are we going to do? Your job can't feed us both, maybe I should find one as well".

"Baby", Tao whispered and pushed Sehun against the kitchen counter, "I don't want to insult you but you've never worked a day in your life. Your parents are s, I agree on that one but at least they made sure you always lived in luxury. Can't you just talk to them, explain the situation to them and maybe-..."

Sehun pushed him away angrily and gave him the coldest stare Tao had ever experienced. "I'm not talking to them. No matter what happens, I'll never ask for their money. Don't you even dare to suggest such a thing".

"Okay, okay, I get it", the dark haired boy carefully approached his boyfriend and slowly pulled him into his arms. "We won't talk to your parents". When Sehun seemed more relaxed Tao safely assumed he could continue and risk getting hit once again for making inappropriate comments but he simply couldn't contain himself.

"Why don't you ask Kyungsoo to teach you how to cook? It'll save us both time and frying pans since ordering food is no longer an option for our poor asses".

The playful punch he received on his stomach didn't hurt him at all but even if it had hurt him, Sehun's shy smile would be more than enough to make up for it.

"Kyungsoo doesn't cook, he bakes".

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"If it was, you complete idiot, he wouldn't be working at a bakery, he'd be working at a restaurant".

Tao didn't care about Sehun's words since it had became a habit to insult him in numerous ways throughout the day. At first, he had attempted to fight back but he failed because a) he wasn't as fast as Sehun with comebacks and b) he honestly couldn't find a single thing on Oh Sehun that was worth making fun of. So in the end, he became used to it, knowing that this was his boyfriend's way of showing his affection, whether he actually meant his words or not.

"That doesn't answer the great question of the night though".

Sehun rolled his eyes and sat on the kitchen counter since walking to the much more comfortable couch in their living room seemed like a long trip for his exhausted feet.

"You don't look boring, you look incredibly handsome, just like my boyfriend should look".

Tao grinned proudly and leaned towards the thin boy. "Thank you for the compliment but that's not the great question of the night. The great question of the night is; what are we going to eat? Because I'm sure as hell, that", he pointed at the burnt food that was dumped on the counter, "isn't edible".

Sehun dropped his head and heaved a long sigh. "You're right. I think we need to...", he took a deep breath, "...call Chanyeol".

                                                              ___________________

When the two of them entered the small apartment welcomed by a cheerful Chanyeol, they found Kyungsoo already sitting on the small sofa, calmly sipping his tea and nodding at a clearly frustrated Baekhyun.

"I mean, is it too much to ask? Is it?!". The short man was furiously paving up and down, waving and swearing without stopping. "One time, I asked her to cover my shift one time and she says no! Who does that?! After everything I've done for her, this is how she repays me?".

"What's going on?", Tao barely managed to mumble since everyone knew that when Baekhyun is throwing a tantrum, the last thing you'd want to do is get involved and become the center of his rage.

Chanyeol however, did not lose his cheerfulness. "One of his co-workers at the bar couldn't cover his shift on our anniversary", he replied and then shook his head like there was no helping it. "But what can you do?"

Unfortunately, Baekhyun overheard and turned to look at his boyfriend with flaming anger in his eyes. "What can you do? Help out your ing friend, that's what!", he shouted and pointed at Chanyeol as if he had killed someone.

"Baek, she couldn't do it, get over it. We'll just celebrate another night, it's not the end of the world". Chanyeol closed the door behind the dumbfounded couple as he spoke and then headed to the kitchen to bring out four plates. "Now", he continued, "What you can actually do is finish your eyeliner and head to work before they fire your ".

Baekhyun looked like he was ready to explode but strangely enough, instead of screaming some more about work ethic, he listened to his boyfriend's command and shut the bathroom door as loud as he could.

"He has already lost three jobs because of his temper", Chanyeol explained and joined Kyungsoo in the living room, followed by Sehun and Tao. "He can't afford to lose his job at the bar as well. Now let me see what we've got here...", he mumbled and started searching in a bunch of plastic bags. "Business was slow at the restaurant today so we had tons of leftovers. Every waiter, including me got a lot of food so I think it's enough for all of us".

"Oh yeah", Sehun suddenly remembered Kyungsoo's existence, "What are you doing here? We always count on Chanyeol and his leftovers from work for dinner but you've never done it before."

The short boy silently placed his mug on the table and took a plate in his hands. "Jongin needed to concentrate on his studying so he basically threw me out".

"But you're the least distracting person I know", Tao said while trying to balance his already full plate on his thighs, "I mean you can just sit silent in a corner for hours". Chanyeol nodded so instensely that his plate nearly dropped on the floor since a person like him simply couldn't comprehend the notion of calmness.

"He said", Kyungsoo continued while stuffing his mouth with rice, "That my mere presence is distracting".

"That doesn't make any sense", Sehun said and sat on the floor since he wouldn't risk balancing his plate anywhere near Chanyeol. "I don't mean to alarm you but I think your boyfriend is going mad".

"I trust him". His reply made Sehun chuckle.

"Finally. Remember when you thought he was cheating when in reality, he just wanted to prepare you a surprise for your birthday? You used to be so insecure".

Kyungsoo's legs may not be the longest but they were long enough to kick Sehun's back and make him choke on his food. A fight was about to begin when Baekhyun stepped out of the bathroom, wearing all black and exceptionally heavy black eyeliner.

"I'm off to work!", he announced, without even questioning Tao's and Sehun's presence in his apartment. "If the police contacts you about a dead female body, you never saw me angry!". And with that last warning he stormed off, slamming the door behind him.

In the meantime, Tao had decided to join Sehun on the floor since Chanyeol was a moving disaster and no one bothered to comment on Baekhyun's behavior since everyone had gotten used to it over the years. He had always been a bit of a drama queen, especially in high school, and they all knew he wasn't going to change anytime soon so they adopted Chanyeol's logic that mostly consisted of a well-what-can-you-do attitude and learned how to deal with it.

"Seriously though", Sehun continued their conversation like nothing had happened, "How is Jongin holding up? I know he wants to be a vet and everything but isn't he taking it too far?"

Kyungsoo stopped chewing in order to properly think of his answer. "No", he finally said, "He's working hard for his dream and I respect that. He's got my support, no matter how difficult things get. I can give him at least this much".

"Well that's not the only thing you can give him...", Chanyeol grinned and raised his brow, making Kyungsoo blush in a matter of seconds.

Sehun and Chanyeol loved to tease Kyungsoo and Jongin about their life because they were both extremely shy when it came to such topics so they never missed a chance to embarrass either of them and Tao would usually play along. But this time, the dark haired man didn't say anything; he just kept eating silently immersed in his thoughts.

It was like Kyungsoo's words led to an epiphany, the answer to every question. "Working hard for his dream". When was the last time he did something like that, when was the last time he fought to get something he really wanted? Sure, his everyday life was a constant battle and things had gotten extremely tough ever since Sehun fought with his parents but all these problems that once seemed unbearable were now rather dull. There was a time in high school when him and Sehun longed for routine but now that they had one, everything seemed so... boring.

The 'normal life' they craved for ended up tiring Tao even more. What is wrong with me, he though. I shouldn't want anymore drama, we've had enough for a lifetime. And yet there he was, sitting on Chanyeol's floor, wishing for something exciting to happen, something new, something that would make his heart beat as fast as it did back when him and Sehun trashed the whole school.

That's why he wanted to change his looks, that's why he didn't want his boyfriend to get a job and become like those couples who barely saw each other and if Sehun found these thoughts trivial as well then he was the real idiot. But Tao was well aware that he'd never find the courage to share any of them with him; that's why instead of speaking he just kept eating and pretending to laugh with Chanyeol's jokes.

Little did he know that the change he was longing for was just around the corner.

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Author's Note: Yay, the first chapter is finally done! I was really tired while editing it so please ignore any spelling mistakes, I tried hard, I really did. I know that nothing much happens in this chapter but I just wanted to give you an idea of how everyone's every day lives are before, you know, pretty much everything changes.

Upvotes, subscribers and comments are greatly appreciated!