Just a little incident | Junhao

12

The second day in a row Minghao turned up at his doorstep unannounced, Junhui was extremely confused with the situation, mixed with severe exhaustion from the entire day of just sitting at his desk, eyes glued to his laptop screen. The doorbell had buzzed loudly, and when he opened the door, Minghao greeted him cheerfully, then peeled off his shoes and side-stepped the older into the apartment, heading straight for the fridge. Junhui's gaze followed him, quite befuddled at the scene in front of his eyes. 

He walked behind the younger and watched as he placed three bags full of groceries on the kitchen counter, and slowly unloaded fresh produce of all kinds into the refrigerator. "Wow you really have nothing in here," Minghao chastised lightly as he peered into the empty space. 

"What exactly are you... doing?" Junhui helped to clear the mess of carrier bags the younger left behind. He carefully folded the bags into a tiny triangle shape, and stuffed them into a drawer beneath the counters to use next time. A common practice in every other Asian household. 

Cocking his head, Minghao stared at him. "Isn't it obvious? I'm cooking for you." 

The sentence left the older wide-eyed and speechless. "Why in the world would you want to do that?" 

Minghao shrugged. "I guess I just need to hone my skills. Besides, I can't leave you to rot in this house eating jam sandwiches everyday. Now where is your pot?" Junhui choked out a small laugh. Despite the sheer suddenness, he rather welcomed it. 

"Well then, I'd gladly be your guinea pig," He said. Leaving Minghao to his devises, he silently prayed for the wellbeing of his kitchen. Please don't burn everything down. After double-checking the insurance on his apartment, Junhui sat back down at the table, which had a slight view of the kitchen. From there, he could still see and hear what was happening. That included the younger humming a little tune under his breath, busying himself at the stove, and chopping ingredients to throw together in the pot. It wasn't everyday he had a free meal service, so Junhui was more than ready to enjoy every sliver of the dinner Minghao was preparing.

Soon enough though, the younger ran into a little problem. "Jun can you help me slice the ginger?" He called, poking his head out from the kitchen. The older wordlessly walked over to the counter, where the unattended knob of ginger laid on the surface barren of any other ingredients. 

Junhui raised an eyebrow at him. "Jun?" He asked, smirking slightly. 

Minghao scrunched up his nose, an expression Junhui found utterly endearing. "Sorry, it sounded better in my head." 

"No I like it." He reassured. Picking up a knife and chopping board, he finally got around to cutting the ginger into thin slices, which the younger likely wanted to add to the boiling soup for more flavour. "Anything else?" He said triumphantly, presenting the sliced gingers like a child presenting their parents with their first ever artwork. The way Minghao hummed and nodded in approval sparked a certain sense of childish pride in his heart. Maybe he did have potential in the culinary field after all...

Time skip

Dinner was a success, or at least they both liked to think. Minghao had feared the soup might've been too bland, but Junhui assured him it wasn't, even finishing his bowl to the last drop just to prove his point, a sweet gesture Minghao internally appreciated. To repay the younger, Junhui had saved the remaining food they couldn't finish, promising to eat it for lunch the next day, and washed all the dishes afterward. 

"Ice cream?" Junhui offered once he was done and had wiped his hands dry on the small towel. Minghao immediately glanced up, his eyes already twinkling with excitement. As a self-proclaimed sweet-tooth, he couldn't resist.