GLASS EYES. － one-shots

AIR FRESHENER (2)

Now that he was actually eating the meal Sungryong prepared for him, the fact that it was just a touch too spicey was acceptable and went mostly ignored, for he could see from his peripheral vision that the rookie chef was watching with nervous anticipation for his reaction.

"It's good," He gave him with his first swallow, "I like it."

The luminous grin that stretched itself across Sungryong's lips was strangely worth the stinging burn of his tongue, he came to realise, and when the older let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, he rolled his eyes.

"Thank goodness," Sungryong breathed, "you have no idea how worried I was about it," and then, "Ah! I forgot the rice!"

As he fumbled off of his seat and towards the counter, Yul watched, filling his mouth again but honing his eyes on the man who was clearly out of his depth in the kitchen, yet was so eager to impress, in the meantime. It wasn't necessarily out of character for the man, but Yul couldn't help but wonder why he was so keen. Perhaps they really had begun walking the path to forming a friendship between them.

"Here we go," The brunet stated upon returning with the steaming white rice, "Give it a chance to cool before you take any."

"Hm," Yul hummed in return, chewing the far too large amount of food in his mouth.

Minutes began to trickle by and whilst Yul was, for the most part, intent solely on his food, he couldn't help but notice the way his skin prickled beneath the intensity of a calculating stare, and mid-way through his serving he could no longer stand it.

Just as he was about to speak, sight lifting to meet with that of the other, he was faced with the image of Sungryong with his chin nestled into his right palm, irises already strained on him in a way that made the younger's chest squirm. His tan skin seemed warmer beneath the yellow tint of the kitchen light and it was then that he came to feel a concoction of feelings, one of which was comfort.

Yul absent-mindedly gave a sweep of his tongue over his lips, unwilling to fidget under the stretch of a pregnant pause.

"Do you want to talk about what got you down in the dumps today?" Came Sungryong's question, voice always light yet somehow stitched with genuine concern.

A frown settled itself on Yul's features despite his subconscious refusal to let himself be far too obvious with how he felt.

"Not really," He quietly grumbled, "It was no big deal. Just many things going wrong at the same time."

Sungryong let out a hum of understanding, nodding his head and raising a mouthful to his parting lips before saying, "One of those days, huh?"

Yul grunted in affirmation.

Once again there came a pause of static, both eating, Sungryong watching Yul and Yul avoiding his gaze. And then that voice that used to irk him, smooth and drawing out vowels, asked, "But why would you come to me? I thought I was forever branded as the biggest thorn in your side."

And Yul didn't know what to say because not even he knew the answer. Why had he thought of calling the psychopath at all? Maybe it was due to the fact that something about Sungryong was inviting, alluring; it pulled you in and then coiled its unbreakable bonds around you. Sungryong was exuberant, boisterous, mischievous and over-the-top, and, no matter what he said,Yul found his presence to be a relief from the timid boredom his life had grown to be.

"I needed to breathe," he ended up saying, finishing off his meal and setting it aside.

For the second time that evening, Sungryong gave a grand smile, but it didn't seem like the rest. It felt as though it had an underlying understanding yet bewilderment to it, inquiries twirling behind the deep brown glass panes of his eyes.