Lip Balm | Wooyoung

26

Monday

Hyunmi excitedly drives back home through the dark, her mood being lifted ever since Wooyoung's visit to her office at lunch.

She quickly scurries to his apartment, instantly being greeted by his two best friends.

"Hey Hyunmi! What brings you here?" San asks, clearly not expecting any visitors as he's wearing a thin top with baggy pyjama bottoms. The puzzled girl stands still. Does Wooyoung not tell them anything?

Wooyoung dashes out from behind frantically and gestures for Hyunmi to come in. "She comes here every night," he explains as the girl walks in. Yeosang and San's eyes go wide, causing Hyunmi's cheeks to flush as she nudges Wooyoung.

"Oh! I mean we have dinner together before she goes home?" he elaborates in an uncertain tone, glancing to Hyunmi for confirmation. She giggles at his demeanour, not used to seeing him so unsure of himself.

"But we don't have food cooked yet... sorry Hyunmi but you'll have to wait a while to eat anything," Yeosang regretfully says. Again, Hyunmi raises an eyebrow at Wooyoung, evident that he hasn't told his friends enough.

"Actually, I'm the one who cooks here every night."

Yeosang immediately smacks his friend's arm, a loud yelp leaving Wooyoung. "You make her cook for you in your own house? I didn't know you were that shameless!" he scolds, genuinely annoyed.

Hyunmi quickly waves her arms around. "No! I chose to cook dinner for him because he packs lunch for me every day," she adds.

At this point both San and Yeosang still for a moment, processing all this new information in their heads first before they jump to any more conclusions.

"He...cooks for you everyday?" Yeosang wonders out loud with a shocked expression. "So that's why he was packing food this morning!" San exclaims. Hyunmi turns to Wooyoung with questioning eyes. Is this something he really doesn't do that often?

Is she perhaps special to him?

Wooyoung only yawns in response and pats his belly twice. "I'm starving," he mumbles while walking back to the kitchen.

The girl and two other friends shrug to themselves and follow him in. Hyunmi gasps when she sees Wooyoung slipping an apron onto himself, his nimble fingers tying it on swiftly. "What are you doing? I want to cook," she rushes to him. He smirks to himself before flinging an apron in her direction as well.

"I want to cook with you," he declares, carelessly turning to the kitchen. Hyunmi stares blankly at the apron in her hands before she blushes. Completely forgetting about the existence of the other two men in the room, the two of them start picking out ingredients while discussing recipes.

San and Yeosang smile proudly to themselves while watching Wooyoung before they take a seat at the dining table and immerse themselves in conversation.

Wooyoung stares at Hyunmi chopping onions fondly. She really has improved so much. He turns back to his own chopping board, getting ready to cut the washed vegetables. However, only seconds later, he hears sniffling beside him.

He turns again to find Hyunmi's onion still half chopped, tears pooling in her red, puffy eyes. "Wooyoung," she whines, sniffling some more. He laughs to himself as he grabs a tissue and softly dabs at her eyes. "How did this happen so fast?" he asks, completely amused.

Hyunmi avoids eye contact both because of their proximity as well as from shame. "My eye got itchy so I rubbed it but forgot my fingers had onion juice on them," she mumbles sheepishly.