1+1=3? {Meanie}

four

Wonwoo arrived at Mingyu's house after his shift, as promised. It was going against everything he believed in, but it seemed Mingyu was a stubborn and persistent man. If Wonwoo hadn't said yes, he would have most likely kept asking. Besides, it was only dinner. He would give Mingyu the chance to explain himself even though he didn't need to and then he would explain his side of things and it would all be over. It sounded simple enough.

As he walked up the path, Wonwoo took his time to admire the house. When he had been there before, his mind was elsewhere, and didn't want to focus on the beauty of architecture, but now he was stressed and needed something else to focus on. It was grand and modern, most likely built in the last two years or so. When Wonwoo had seen the address, he had been weary. The neighborhood was a notorious fancy one. Not only was Mingyu handsome, but he was also rich and completely out of Wonwoo's league. He felt small as he rang the doorbell. Mingyu greeted him along with Danbi. The first time Wonwoo and Danbi met, it was under strange and awkward circumstances. None of it was her fault and Wonwoo had no reason to ignore her, so he squatted down to be equal to her height.

"Hello, my name is Jeon Wonwoo. You're Danbi, right?" He asked softly.

The little girl nodded. "I'm Kim Danbi! I'm almost six and my favorite color is purple!" She shared proudly.

Wonwoo smiled. "That's my favorite color too. It's nice to meet you Danbi." 

He stood to his full height and made eye contact with Mingyu. He was smiling at the small interaction between the two and Wonwoo gave him an awkward nod of acknowledgment as he was invited in fully. The first thing he noticed upon entering was that the place was a bit of a train wreck. Toys were scattered throughout the house and a mix of Mingyu's and Danbi's clothes were lying around, looking like a failed attempt at doing laundry. Wonwoo ignored it. Someone else's house was none of his business. Mingyu was obviously trying his best and a five-year-old was, without a doubt, difficult to manage alone. Mingyu followed Wonwoo's line of vision and cringed as he snatched up random clothes and toys.

"Sorry about the mess. I meant to clean up. I even started to do the laundry, but you arrived earlier than expected and I wanted to get dinner started and then Danbi wanted to color and-"

Wonwoo politely cut him off. "It's okay. I barely even noticed it." He lied.

Mingyu gave him a look but didn't say anything as he tried to pick up the rest of the debris. Wonwoo took pity on him and headed into the kitchen. However, the dinner Mingyu had laid out was more complex than Wonwoo's usual dinner of ramen carefully prepared after a near-fire attempt. He backed away from the kitchen and instead took the pile of toys from Mingyu's hand.

"You can get back to dinner. I'll clean up."

Mingyu's face turned a shade of red out of shame and embarrassment. "I couldn't let you do that. You're a guest. This is meant to be a date."

That was news to Wonwoo. He assumed it was just a dinner to explain what happened before and leave each other with a good feeling, but he was too nice to correct Mingyu at the moment, so he shrugged.

"Consider it a team-building exercise." He told him. "Besides, my new friend can help."  He looked down to see Danbi's eager face looking back up at him.

"I know where everything goes!"

Mingyu raised an eyebrow. "If that were true, Wonwoo wouldn't be picking up your toys." He teased. He looked back at Wonwoo. "Are you sure?"

Wonwoo nodded and that was it. Wonwoo and Danbi made quick work of picking up toys and clothes. She even swept to the best of her ability, impressing Wonwoo. Around an hour later, the house was near spotless and the food was ready on the dining table. Danbi ran in and took her seat next to Mingyu. Wonwoo hesitantly walked in and sat in front of Mingyu. His mouth watered at the sight of the steaks paired with various side dishes. It seemed being a good cook was another thing to add to Mingyu's perfect roster. He took a bite of steak and was nearly transported to another world. However, he came back to Earth as he reminded himself why he was there.