“Ugh” Taeyeon groaned as she raised a hand to her face, blocking the sunlight shining through her windows

 

After rolling and thrashing around, she slowly sat up. Her blonde hair tousled around effectively covering the majority of her sleepy face

 

Half awake, Taeyeon dragged herself out of her room, staggering on her way to the bathroom where she leaned on the sink as soon as she comes in. Running a hand through her messy bed hair as she looked up, only to find the sleepy and tired reflection of her face on the mirror

 

“Look at yourself, Kim Taeyeon” she chuckled as she stretched, cracking a few bones here and there “Ah... seriously” she muttered as her right hand immediately massaged her left shoulder as her muscles was still sore from last night’s events

 

“Speaking of last night’s events...” Taeyeon thought as she brushed her teeth “I wonder how Byun Baekhyun’s been holding up. He be fine, right?” she nonchalantly shrugged before she rinsed “Yeah yeah. He should be fine” she convinced herself with a firm nod as she placed her toothbrush back to its rightful place

 

Now fully awake, Taeyeon stepped out of the bathroom, only noticing the unusual silence of their usually noisy house now. “Where are they?” she wondered and tried to listen for signs of existence but heard nothing. No bickering, no television blaring, hearing nothing but silence. “That’s strange. Where would they go on a weekend morning?”

 

Again, she shrugged it off and lazily walked down the stairs

 

“What the hell?!”  Taeyeon halted on her steps upon entering the living room with wide eyes and her jaw ajar

 

“Hey” He looked up from the book he’s reading and greeted Taeyeon with a nod

 

On the couch laid a Byun Baekhyun wearing his white button up shirt with the first few buttons undone with a loose necktie with his sleeves rolled up to his elbow, his school blazer draped on the back of the couch

 

“Don’t ‘hey’ me Byun Baekhyun” Taeyeon sternly said as soon as she recovered from her shock and marched angrily towards the lying Baekhyun and snatched the book from his grip

 

“Hey!” Baekhyun protested and tried to reach the book from Taeyeon but the latter immediately threw it on the couch across

 

“I said, don’t ‘hey’ me Byun Baekhyun” she repeated

 

“Ho.” Baekhyun responded sarcastically making Taeyeon roll her eyes

 

“Why are you here?”

 

“Uh... Because you brought me here?” Baekhyun answered in-a-matter-of-factly  and sat up, leaning his back on the arm rest with his arms crossed

 

Taeyeon ran her fingers through her still messy hair in frustration “Why are you still here” she rephrased

 

“Oh, that. Seohyun told me to stay since it was already late last night” He answered, accusingly looking at Taeyeon “Because someone doesn’t seem to know what being hospitable is”

 

“Okay then” Taeyeon sighed, ignoring the last remark and placed her hands on her hips “Why are you still here if you can leave as soon as you wake up?” she rephrased again

 

“Because they told me to”

 

“Who did?”

 

“The girls. Duh” Baekhyun rolled his eyes

 

“They what?!” Taeyeon yelled in disbelief “Wait, speaking of the girls, where are they?”

 

“I don’t know. The ones present when I was up was only Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Yuri” Baekhyun shrugged

 

“Those three told you to stay? And you obeyed them?” Taeyeon asked, knowing how their minds work

 

“Well yeah. After all, they let me sleep over” Baekhyun threw an accusing look at Taeyeon again

 

Taeyeon sighed in frustration and sat on the coffee table, propping her hands on her knees “They didn’t abandon me, right? They didn’t abandon me and let this guy adopt me, right?”  she thought frantically, propping her elbow on her knees as she clutched her head “Oh my god. What would I do without Hyoyeon’s cooking? Where would I copy my assignments if there’s no Joohyun? How—”

 

“If you're done interrogating me, kindly please hand me back the book I was reading” Baekhyun’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts

 

“Come here” Taeyeon stood up and walked towards the kitchen with Baekhyun following close behind and sat down on one of the stools by the counter “Do you know how to cook?” Taeyeon asked, turning to Baekhyun with an innocent smile as she felt her stomach grumble

 

“Well yeah, kind of. Why?” Baekhyun scratched his head with a clueless expression

 

“Cook for me then” Taeyeon leaned on the counter, head turned to the side facing Baekhyun

 

“Excuse me?” Baekhyun raised his brows

 

“A little bit of Sunny this and Yoona that would do.” Taeyeon thought and sighed silently, mentally grimacing at what she was about to do

 

“Cook for me” Taeyeon repeated with a squeaky voice as she sat properly, swivelled in her chair, fully facing Baekhyun “I'm really hungry and all those action last night made my muscles sore” she whined with a pout while stomping her feet beneath

 

Taeyeon rarely does aegyo on purpose and only uses it on a critical time and this moment, was one of those. Taeyeon was extremely hungry and she was feeling too lazy to cook as well. Upon seeing Baekhyun’s eyes widen and a hint of pinkness creeping on his cheeks, she mentally smirked “Bingo”

 

“Wh-what on earth are you doing?” Baekhyun stuttered, surprised at the way Taeyeon was acting

 

“Please?” Taeyeon tilted her head and pleaded with puppy eyes

 

“F-fine” Baekhyun looked away making Taeyeon’s lips curve into a small smirk “I-I’ll make you brunch” Baekhyun opened their fridge and started to look through it

 

“Brunch?”

 

“Yes, brunch. It’s almost 12 pm if you haven’t noticed”

 

“Oh.” Taeyeon leaned on her arm propped on the counter with her feet swinging back and forth

 

“What do you want to eat?” Baekhyun asked, closing the refrigerator before turning to Taeyeon

 

“Hm...” Taeyeon pondered and an idea came into her mind, her smirk becoming more visible “I’ve wanted to eat this particular food since I woke up...”

 

“What is it?”

 

Taeyeon leaned forward, holding a hand near before whispering, “Bacon.”

 

“Seriously” Baekhyun deadpanned, not amused by her old joke

 

“Yep. I want to eat bacon” Taeyeon grinned but soon it started to falter and a gasp escaped “W-wait, that sounded so wrong oh my god.” She covered with wide eyes, face reddening like a tomato “W-what I meant was, I want to eat that strip of pork thing called bacon. Not bacon like bacon but bacon meaning bacon—you get what I’m saying right?”

 

“You and your dirty mind” Baekhyun chuckled while shaking his head as he walked over and flicked her forehead

 

“Ouch!” Taeyeon rubbed her forehead in reflex before glaring at Baekhyun who was already getting the bacon out of the fridge “What was that for?”

 

“You want bacon?” Baekhyun asked, ignoring her question as he grabbed a few eggs

 

“Yeah—ugh stop saying that will you?” Taeyeon ruffled her own hair making it messier than it already is “It sounds so wrong!”

 

“I’m not implying anything” Baekhyun spat back while laughing then his laughter died out, he turned to Taeyeon with squinted eyes “Are you?”

 

“No! I mean yes but—ugh! Whatever! Just... cook silently, will you?”

 

“Yeah yeah sure” Baekhyun chuckled and focused on his task 

 

Taeyeon watched him cook “Hm... his back is pretty broad for someone like him” she thought. She heard the sizzling and inhaled the smell. Suddenly, she began to laugh

 

“What” Baekhyun glanced at her

 

“Pft—haha! N-nothing. It’s just ironic to see Bacon cooking bacon” she threw her head back and laughed hysterically “Get it? Bacon cooking bacon”

 

“Whatever Taeyeon. Whatever” Baekhyun said with a flat tone “You and your weird humour” he mumbled

 

“Hey there’s nothing wrong with my humour” she defended herself “I just think on a whole new different level that you may not be able to understand” she said as-a-matter-of-factly and leaned on her back with her arms crossed over her chest

 

“Right. Like how you thought I was able to aually reproduce.”

 

“I know you can’t! I-I was just teasing you” she lied  “Anyway,” Taeyeon cleared , changing their topic “why’d you throw up that day though?”

 

“Because I can’t stand being on the same room as you for an hour”

 

Taeyeon snorted “Well what a coincidence, I was feeling the same way too”

 

“Aww how cute” Baekhyun said sarcastically, making Taeyeon roll her eyes

 

“You mentioned Jongdae though. What about him?” Taeyeon asked, still remembering what happened in the detention room that day

 

“He mixed something weird in my lunch” Baekhyun answered, already finished cooking; he placed the plate and utensils in front of Taeyeon

 

“Oh.” Taeyeon said and grabbed the fork. She was about to take a bite when she suddenly froze and looked at Baekhyun with suspicion “Wait, you... you didn't mix anything funny with my meal right?” she asked, pointing her fork at Baekhyun “Like... poison or something?”

 

“Right! So that’s what I forgot!” Baekhyun snapped his fingers, snatched Taeyeon’s fork and took a bite “Sorry. I forgot to put them.” He propped his arms on the countertop

 

“Shut up and get your own fork” Taeyeon snatched her fork back and took a bite. Suddenly, she froze as the fork entered

 

“Wait” she mumbled, fork still inside “I just used the same fork you used...” with wide eyes, she slowly lifted her head and looked at Baekhyun who was looking at her with a what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-you-look “I just used the same fork you used for heaven’s sake!” she spat the fork out of , creating a loud clanking sound as the fork met the cold counter tiles “Rabies can kill!”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he picked up the abandoned fork and shoved it back into “You already ate with it anyway so shut your mouth and it up” he picked up his own fork and started eating again “I’m a vaccinated pup, don’t worry”

 

Taking the fork out of , Taeyeon glared at Baekhyun and started to eat as well “You're a pup with vaccine?” she asked while munching “My bad. I thought you’re a stray dog—oh no, I shouldn’t compare you to a dog. It’s a disgrace for doggy-nity”

 

He laughed “The heck is a doggy-nity?” he asked in between his fits of laughter

 

“Well, duh. If human race is called humanity, I call doggy race as doggy-nity” Taeyeon answered, raising her eyebrows twice

 

“Oh that’s a great discovery Professor Kim” Baekhyun chuckled as he took the now empty plate to the sink and washed it

 

“Mmhmm. Glad you noticed” Taeyeon replied and got off her seat

 

“Can’t you brush your hair or change out of your pajamas” Baekhyun glanced at the dishevelled Taeyeon still wearing her pajamas

 

“Nah.” Taeyeon nonchalantly answered, not caring about how she looked like and opened the fridge, taking a huge tub of ice cream out “Bring two spoons when you're done” she said and shuffled towards the living room

 

Placing the tub on top of the coffee table, she walked over their DVD storage, hovering her hand over the stacked DVD’s for her to choose. “Aha!” she exclaimed as she plucked out her favourite cartoon movie and quickly brought it over to the DVD player

 

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asked as he entered the living room, placing the spoons on top of the tub and peeked to see what Taeyeon was up to

 

“Let’s watch a movie” Taeyeon glanced at Baekhyun with a grin

 

“A movie?” Baekhyun asked, confused “I thought you wanted me out of here and now you're asking me to watch a movie with you?”

 

“I’m not asking you to watch a movie with me” Taeyeon explained “I'm asking you to accompany me while I’m watching a movie and it’s up to you if you will watch as well.” She looked over at Baekhyun “Please stay until the girls arrive?”

 

Baekhyun sighed and walked towards the paintings hanging on the wall “Fine”

 

“Cool!” Taeyeon beamed and experimented with the DVD player again

 

Baekhyun examined the paintings hanging on the wall, noticing that there’s a small butterfly water mark in every painting. He admired the paintings after paintings until his feet stopped on their tracks upon seeing the sickeningly familiar looking portrait of a young boy, grinning widely with his eyes disappearing into crescents.

 

“Hey Baek” Taeyeon called out as she already thrown herself on the couch, hugging a throw pillow “What are you looking at?” she asked, noticing Baekhyun’s focus on a particular painting

 

“T-this” Baekhyun moved aside, making the painting visible to Taeyeon’s line of sight

 

 “Ah, that.” Taeyeon nodded “A childhood friend of mine.” She waved the topic away but then she gave the painting another look, then glanced at Baekhyun then at the painting “But looking at it... You do look pretty similar” she squinted her eyes “We haven’t met before, have we?” she tilted her head as she tried to remember

 

“No no. I believe not” Baekhyun sat next to Taeyeon, crossing his legs “I remember a midget when I see one. Nope. Definitely not” he mumbled as he shook his head vigorously

 

“Shut up” Taeyeon hit his head with her spoon

 

“Ow!” Baekhyun rubbed the top of his head with his palm in attempts to soothe the pain

 

“We’re equal. You flicked my forehead earlier” Taeyeon stuck out her tongue and played the movie

 

Baekhyun scoffed upon seeing a yellow creature with a few strands of hair peeking at the screen “Despicable me? Seriously?”

 

“Why? What’s wrong with despicable me?” Taeyeon protested “Besides, those minions are so cute! Look at them!” she pointed at the screen

 

“Birds of the same feather flock together” Baekhyun muttered under his breath and walked towards the stack of DVDs, picking a random movie before replacing Despicable Me with the random movie he picked

 

“Let’s watch this instead” Baekhyun suggested as he sat on the couch “It’s called... uh...” he looked at the DVD case in his hands and read the title “Oh. It’s Titanic”

 

“Sigh. Fine, let’s watch this instead” Taeyeon agreed in a forced tone, drowning herself in the bliss of ice cream

 

They watched the movie and ate the ice cream together without words. One was trying to focus on the movie and one was simply thinking about finishing her ice cream.

 

“It’s finished” Taeyeon mourned as she placed the empty tub of ice cream on the coffee table