Pancakes & Butterflies

12. Cheesecake

Jiwoong's confession may take place indoors but the grandeur should be there, and so, he appointed all of his close people to do various tasks- one of those involved his youngest brother and his supposed friend to get a cake. He didn't specify the flavor, so it fell upon the two to choose. For Ricky, there was only one suited answer- strawberry cake. It should be pink, it should be loaded with sliced strawberries, it can even have pink glazing. But it must have the classic, sweet, strawberry flavor.

"Ricky, hyung's color palette doesn't have pink." Gyuvin said to his friend, "Imagine if the entire house has some vintage decoration, how odd will a pink cake look?"

"No, it won't look odd at all." Ricky said, "In his boring brown palette, it will be the splash of color required, it's gonna bring everything to life." He defended his choice, "Besides, Matthew hyung probably likes strawberries."

"Probably?" Gyuvin asked, "Come on, we can't mess this up." He focused on checking other varieties of cakes, talking to the baker meticulously. Ricky's eyes were fixated on the pink-red cake though, he had already fallen in love with the color.

"Blueberry cheesecake? How does it sound?" Asked Gyuvin, excitedly pointing at the small but well decorated cake, "I bet Matthew hyung loved blueberries!" Ricky shrugged. He didn't fancy it, but it's not for him so he didn't argue. Instead, as the younger was instructing about the lettering on top, he chose an empty two people table to sit at, and scrolled through his phone.

A while later, a worker in that shop put a half plate with a slice of that pink strawberry cake on his table, saying, "The handsome man over there paid for it." Ricky looked back and found Gyuvin grinning at him.

"What's this, Gyu?" He asked, smiling, once the younger got to the same table after the cake was delivered to him. He held two bags, one with the cake for Jiwoong, one with the rest of the strawberry cake.

"You seemed to like it very much, so I got it for you." He showed the second bag, "Tada!" Ricky chuckled, however, scooped a tiny portion of the cake with the small spoon provided. Gyuvin cooed at his princess style eating. His eyes were curious, asking, "How is it?"

"Mm, good." Ricky said, then scooped some and offered the other, "Here, have a taste." Gyuvin looked at the spoon and teased him, "It was in your mouth a while ago."

"And?" Ricky smirked, slowly leaning towards his ear and whispering, "It's not like you never tasted my saliva, honey. And as far as I know, you said it yourself that my saliva makes things yummier."

That was it for Gyuvin who grasped that hand with his larger one and licked the cake off the spoon holding an intense eye contact with the other. He liked going back and forth on the line separating friendship and something more. He knew, Ricky liked it too. That's why, they didn't bother clarifying whatever they had. Cause both of them knew that in time, they'd choose each other over anything or anyone else.

-

"Junhyeonie, baby, I need your help!" Taerae's loud voice was heard from every corner of the small apartment house he shared with his boyfriend, Junhyeon who had just returned home from his college. He found Taerae seated on the couch, his laptop open, a pair of wired earbuds hanging off the table.

"Wow, a very nice welcoming hug." The younger sarcastically said. It's not like they always did that, but asking for help right after you get home? That didn't happen either. Taerae laughed it away, knowing how much his lover liked to joke around.

"Come here," he said, then as the other was in close proximity, he stood up, held that frame in a warm hug and ended up smacking a long kiss buried in his cheeks. Junhyeon blinked and processed the whole thing for a few seconds. By that time, Taerae had found his seat on the couch again.