You honestly didn’t hear anything that Kibum said after that because your eyes finally met that of Junhyung’s. You wanted to look away, you knew you had to before Kibum got suspicious but you just couldn’t. It was as if his eyes were pulling you into him.

Thankfully, Soojin came to your rescue when she nudged you in your side and caused you to break out of your eye contact with Junhyung. “Didn’t you say that you brought something for them?” She prompted.

“Oh right!” You said, mildly flustered as you quickly took out the lunchboxes that you had prepared. You had spent most part of the morning preparing individual ones for each of the SHINee members because you knew that they had slightly different preference but you also prepared other simple finger food for the staff.

You had prepared bibimbap for Minho, Jonghyun and Taemin but adjusted the proportions accordingly. Minho’s one was slightly spicier and had contained more than the other two since you knew that he could eat quite a bit. Taemin’s had more meat since he was still growing while Jonghyun’s contained everything in their usual portions since he wasn’t too fussy. For Kibum, you had prepared carbonara pasta because he had mentioned to you earlier in the week that he missed eating that. You remembered watching him cook that for you when the both of you were still in LA so you tried your best to recreate his dish. You had prepared an extra bibimbap lunchbox just in case he didn’t like it but you kept it aside as you handed out the food.

By this time, Jonghyun had finally stopped practising and came over to say hi, so you took the opportunity to hand him his lunchbox and made him sit beside you. Soojin volunteered to pass Minho and Taemin theirs so you handed them to her. Kibum was now sitting opposite you with an expectant look on his face.

“I hope it tastes alright.” You said as you hesitantly slid the lunchbox containing the carbonara towards him.

He raised his eyebrows but said nothing at your comment, choosing instead to lift the cover to see what was inside. His eyes widened and a smile spread across his face when he saw what you had made him.

He immediately shot up from his seat and ran towards Minho and Taemin to see what they were having before exclaiming, “No fair!! Why does Kibummie get pasta while the rest of us have bibimbap??”

“Well, I didn’t really plan it that way but Kibum mentioned that he missed having pasta so I thought that it would be nice if I made it for him. I didn’t know if you all would like it so I just decided to go with bibimbap. It’s slightly different though, Minho’s portion is more and also has more chilli paste while yours and Taemin’s have more meat.” You explained and you saw the three of them examining and comparing their lunchboxes.

“Thank you, noona!” Taemin and Minho quipped a moment later.

“Deh. Thank you, ------ah.” Kibum said before adding, “We’re not ungrateful like Jonghyun hyung.”

“ANI! I’m not ungrateful!!” He panicked and rushed back to your side, obviously missing the teasing tone in Kibum’s voice.

“It’s ok-“ You wanted to reassure him but got cut off.

“No, really, I’m not ungrateful. I’m really really thankful that you made this for us.” He rambled on.

You turned him to face you and placed your hands on each of his shoulders. “Jonghyun oppa. It’s ok! I know that Kibum is just teasing you.”

Kibum chose that moment to burst out into laughter and was joined almost immediately by Minho and Taemin. Jonghyun snapped his head in their general direction and narrowed his eyes at them for a moment before proceeding to dig into his food with a more than prominent pout on his face.

“Can I try some too?” Dongwoon asked Kibum when he had finally gotten himself under control.

Kibum quickly pulled the lunchbox towards his chest and hugged it possessively. “Sorry, usually I would let you, but not this time. This was specially made for me so I’m going to finish it up. You can have some of the other food that was made though if you’re hungry.” He pointed to the boxes that the staff members were hovering over.

“Who’s that for though?” Kibum asked, nodding his head at the only unopened lunchbox left on the table in front of you.

“Oh. That was for you too but only just in case you didn’t like the pasta.” You explained.

“Aigoo. You really haven’t changed one bit.” He stopped eating for a moment and reached out to ruffle your hair. “Let me ask you. Have I ever not liked your cooking?” He asked simply.

You tapped your chin with your finger, thinking. “Hmm… no?”

He lightly rapped his knuckles against your forehead. “Exactly! So why would you think that this time would be any different?”

“Because I never made it before? You were always the one making it last time.” You said in a soft voice.

“But this is just as good. You should trust yourself!” He said.

“That’s what I keep telling her but she still doesn’t believe me when I say that she’s really good at cooking!” Soojin interjected and the both of them shot you a told-you-so look.

The next thing you knew, Kibum stuck his hand out and waved it in front of your face. You stared his outstretched hand, not too sure what he wanted and gave him a confused look.

“Hand over the lunchbox. I’ll finish it.” He said quite simply, as if it was normal for him to eat two whole servings of food in a single meal.

You immediately waved your hands in front of you. “No no no. You don’t have to!”

“I want to.” He looked straight into your eyes and said, his face serious. There was just no way you could argue with that now so you reluctantly handed over the lunchbox to him.

Just then, Dongwoon started nudging Kibum repeatedly, causing him to look over at him with a mix of confusion and irritation on his face. Dongwoon just gave him a wide-eyed innocent look, “Can I have that? PLEASE?” He voice started to sound a little whiny.

Kibum looked over at you and you could tell that he was asking for your permission so you immediately nodded to tell him that you were totally alright with that. He let out a soft sigh when you gave your consent and really reluctantly handed the lunchbox to an obliviously happy Dongwoon.

Dongwoon wasted no time in prying off the lid and mixing the ingredients together but suddenly stopped what he was doing, glanced at Jonghyun’s half-eaten bibimbap before cocking his head and asking, “Why doesn’t this have any carrots in it?”

“Oh, bec-“

“Because I don’t like carrots.” Kibum took the words out of your mouth. “Now, will you just keep quiet and eat?” Kibum snapped. Dongwoon obeyed at once and made the action of zipping up his lips but there was still a playful smile on his face. He was clearly used to Kibum’s diva personality.

“Oh my god!” Dongwoon exclaimed not a few seconds after, causing everyone to focus their attention on him. “This is SO good!”

You could have sworn that everyone in the room rolled their eyes before continuing what they were doing earlier. “Just eat.” Kibum commented, before sharing a look with you. He grimaced as an apology for Dongwoon’s nonsense and you had to bite the insides of your cheek to prevent yourself from laughing.

Upon realizing that Kibum wasn’t going to entertain him, he turned his attention to Junhyung. “Hyung! You should try some! It’s really really good, I’m not kidding!” He then proceeded to shove a spoonful of bibimbap in Junhyung’s face before he could even respond.

You didn’t see whether Junhyung ate it or not because you made it a point not to look in his direction at all. You turned and saw Minhyuk struggling to get out of Soojin’s lap probably because he was feeling restless so you held out a bottle of banana milk in front of him. “Minnie, can you be a good boy and give this to Taemin samchon?”

He stopped struggling immediately and nodded, reaching out with both hands to hold the bottle of milk. Soojin steadied him on the ground and the both of you, well actually everyone, watched him as he tottered over to Taemin, who was already waiting with outstretched arms for him.

“Thank you, Minhyukkie! Do you want to have some of the banana milk?” Taemin offered, which was quite a rare occurrence.

“Deh!” Minhyuk chirped. He had, like most kids his age, taken a liking to all things sweet like ice-cream, flavoured milk, and watermelon, but you were very careful with the amount of sugary foods that you allowed him to have. “Can I, omma?” Minhyuk looked back at you for permission.

“Go ahead, but not too much.” You cautioned.

Minhyuk smiled in response and immediately latched onto the straw that Taemin had placed in front of his mouth, drinking the milk contentedly.

“Minhyukkie, come here.” A voice called out to him a few moments later and he instantly let go of the straw between his lips and went to Kibum.

“Good boy. Was the banana milk nice?” Kibum picked him up and placed him on his lap. Minhyuk leaned back against Kibum and nodded his head against Kibum’s chest.

“Do you want to have some pasta?”

Minhyuk leaned towards the box of pasta and grabbed the fork that Kibum had been using and brought a few strands of pasta to his mouth. Kibum bent forward to see if Minhyuk was managing well on his own but couldn’t hold back his laughter when he saw cream sauce smeared all over Minhyuk’s mouth and cheeks.

You had seen what had happened so when Kibum wordlessly stretched out his hand towards you, you had a wet tissue in hand to pass to him. He took the tissue and wiped the sauce off Minhyuk’s face before reaching out again. This time, you placed a dry tissue in his hand and he used it to dab Minhyuk’s face dry.

“Er.. so Taemin’s cousin right? I’m just curious but may I know who Minhyuk’s father is?” Dongwoon couldn’t help but ask after witnessing the wordless interaction between you and Kibum.

You had opened and closed your mouth a few times, each time not knowing what to say, when Kibum answered on your behalf.  “First of all, her name is not Taemin’s cousin, it’s Lee -------. And second, how can you ask her such a personal question?!” Kibum smacked him on the arm.

“Sorry, -------ssi,” Dongwoon said sheepishly. “I guess I got a little too carried away but I was just curious since the three of you work together really well.”

“But of course! I’ve seen this little one since he was born, he’s practically mine.” Kibum pulled Minhyuk back into his chest in a hug and flashed Dongwoon a smug smile.

“Ok, let’s do a impromptu test to see who Minhyuk prefers.” Dongwoon jumped out of his seat excitedly.

The next thing you knew, Jonghyun, Kibum, Minho and Taemin were lined up against the wall on one side of the room and Minhyuk was standing on the other, with Dongwoon crouched down beside him whispering instructions to him.

“Ok, so you must go to the one you like the most, understand?”

Minhyuk nodded.

“Ok, go.” Dongwoon patted Minhyuk’s , urging him forward.

Minhyuk didn’t hesitate and ran straight into Kibum’s arms. “See! I told you he likes me best.” He said proudly as he swooped Minhyuk up in his arms and headed to where Dongwoon was standing.

“Now, choose the one you like the second most, ok?” This time it was Kibum’s turn to give the instructions.

Minhyuk only nodded again before setting off, running into the arms of Minho this time. Minho didn’t say much but the smile on his face was enough to tell you how happy he really was.

He started to run forward again after being set down on the opposite side by Minho but this time, he stopped in front of Jonghyun and Taemin, looking at each of them before glancing back, not knowing who to choose. After some encouragement, he finally took a step forward and stood between Jonghyun and Taemin before tugging on both their sleeves, a small pout appearing on his face.

Jonghyun chuckled and was the first to react, reaching out to give Minhyuk a hug and Taemin joined in a moment later, after poking Minhyuk’s cheek playfully.

“Ok, so it’s a tie for third place then.” Minho announced, revealing his competitive nature and Kibum clapped him on the shoulder before going to extract Minhyuk from Jonghyun and Taemin.

Before he could do so though, one of the production staff members stuff his head into the room and called out, “SHINee, 10 minutes.”

Suddenly, the air in the waiting room changed and everyone became somewhat serious. The staff immediately surrounded the SHINee members, fluffing their hair, touching up their makeup, and adjusting their clothes. You quickly went over to Jonghyun and took Minhyuk from his grasp to allow him to get ready.

“Kibum, I’ll go back first. Talk to you later!” Dongwoon called out to Kibum, who made a noise to indicate that he had heard. “Hyung, come on. Lets go.” You heard him say as he half-dragged a rather angry-looking Junhyung out of the waiting room. You wondered why he had a frown on his face.

“Did you notice Junhyung at all after you first saw him?” Soojin interrupted your thoughts.

“Erm, not really.. I tried my best not to look in his direction. Should I have?” You responded. “Oh wait, was I thinking out loud just now?”

Soojin had a really amused look on her face when she heard your question, “No, you weren’t and to answer your next question, you don’t exactly hide your feelings very well.”

You gaped at her, not sure whether to feel creeped out or offended.

“But seriously, he kept staring, no wait, that’s not the right word. He was practically glaring at you and Kibum the entire time, especially after the whole pasta and carrot thing.”

“Huh? Why?” You said dumbly.

Soojin rolled her eyes at your ignorance. “You’re kidding me right?”

“Umm..  maybe?” You hesitated before answering. “Can I have a hint?” You pleaded.

“Oh my god. You’re actually being serious, aren’t you?”

“Hey! Don’t be mean.” You sulked.

“Oh alright.” She gave in but waited until the SHINee members and staff shuffled out of the waiting room before continuing. “You made the pasta especially for Kibum, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And you also made bibimbap without carrots for him too, right?”

“Yup.”

“Ok, so what does this tell you?” She asked.

“That I pay attention to Kibum’s eating habits? But I also made special changes to everyone else’s food according to what they like!” You protested.

“Oh god.” Soojin groaned as she began to message her temples.

“Ok. Let me just spell it out for you, since you’re so slow you’d probably take another hundred years before you figure it out.” She grumbled. “He’s jealous.” She continued, not giving you any opportunity to protest.

“He’s WHAT?!” You said, shaking your head in disbelief.

“Believe it, because it’s true.”

“But… why would he be?”

“I think you should be able to figure that one out without my help.” She huffed and went over to talk to one of the staff members that hadn’t left.

Junhyung was jealous?! Why? Maybe it’s because I didn’t make anything for him to eat? But that would just be downright unreasonable since I didn’t even know that he would be around. And why did it seem that he was angry at Kibum, and only him? Why not at all the members as well, since all of them had food too? Gosh, you really hated figuring out complicated things like this.

“Omma~” Minhyuk’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. “I need to go.” There was a sense of urgency in his voice and you knew that he need to go to the restroom.

You turned around and wanted to call Soojin, since you weren’t supposed to go anywhere without her but saw her in the middle of a conversation with a staff member. It’s only down the hall, what can happen? You thought to yourself and headed in the direction of the restrooms. 

============

My throat infection evolved into lots of coughing and even gave my eye infections -.- Gosh. This is getting out of hand. I'm pretty sure I sound like a man now too =/ 

Really dislike being sick! 

But anyway... enjoy the (rather long) chap!!