be my first || johnyong

epilogue

Three months later...

"You almost done with those carrots over there, hyung?"

Johnny stared down at the orange pile on the cutting board. He was supposed to be chopping the carrots into one-inch, diagonal chunks. But—

"Um... I'm getting there."

He and Taeyong were in the kitchen of the two-bedroom apartment they shared with Sehun.

Johnny had been determined to learn how to cook. He'd started to experiment with more intermediate recipes. Like the one they were currently working on.

Johnny had already been working on the pound of carrots for going on twenty minutes. Chopping was not his specialty. Really, nothing cooking-related was his specialty.

If something took Johnny an hour, it was almost guaranteed Taeyong could do it in half the time.

A sudden laugh from beside him made Johnny glance up from the carrot he was slicing.

Taeyong had apparently come over to check on him, and he was staring down at the pile of mutilated carrots with an expression caught somewhere between amusement and dismay, bit his lip

"Oh, my God. What did you do to them, hyung?"

Johnny looked down at the mess again.

"I have no idea."

Taeyong gave another laugh and reached out to take the knife from his hand.

"Why don't you let me finish them?"

"Yeah, maybe that would be for the best."

Johnny relinquished the knife and stepped back.

He watched as Taeyong expertly chopped the remaining carrots—into perfect, diagonal pieces, of course—and shook his head in consternation.

"It looks so easy when you do it."

"Maybe I should just do all the chopping from now on then," Taeyong said as he made quick work of the last carrot. "And hyung can handle the meat."

"I don't know. I burned it the last time, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I remember." Taeyong chuckled. "So maybe you should just sit back and watch me cook then. You could be my moral support, Johnny hyung."

Johnny frowned.

"But I like cooking with you."

Taeyong grinned.

"I like it, too. Even if we always have to have a backup plan."

"I'm not that bad."

"Uh huh." Taeyong picked up the cutting board and placed it on the counter near the stove. Then he glanced sideways at Johnny. "Come here, Papa Bear."

He went.

Taeyong linked his arms around Johnny's neck and tugged him down for a slow kiss.

"It doesn't matter if you're a bad cook, hyung," Taeyong whispered against his lips. "Your kisses more than make up for it."

Johnny laughed.

"I am a bad cook. But I think you should be punished for saying it aloud, baby. No kisses for a week."

"You withhold kisses, I withhold blowjobs."

"Not fair."

Taeyong smirked.

"Like you could go a day without kissing me anyway."

"True."

Taeyong pulled Johnny down for another.

The smell of burning meat eventually broke them apart.

Taeyong turned off the flame under the oven and stared down at the charred contents for a moment, then looked up at Johnny.

"Guess it is a good thing we always have a backup plan, huh?"