i'm your a to z | jihancheol

cake time

chapter 28

When Seungcheol woke up, Joshua was gone and he would've been lying if he'd said he wasn't a bit disappointed. It wasn't like he'd expected him to stay; it was just deep within him, he might have been hoping he would. He could never admit it out loud but Joshua brought him comfort. The affection Seungcheol secretly had been longing for felt nice and it had helped him fall asleep.

Choi Seungcheol knew he was human, despite everything he'd done. Humans needed affection, whether they wanted it or not. It was only in their nature. Choi Seungcheol was one of those humans who thought they didn't want it. Never had he thought he would wish for it nor be disappointed when it was taken from him. But it's not like he was no longer human.

The man got up and walked down to the kitchen to make breakfast for himself and Joshua. He knew Jeonghan wouldn't be awake until much later and the boy never even ate breakfast so it would be better to not force him to. A sigh escaped him at the thought of the younger man at the memories from the day before. It wasn't like Seungcheol tried to be an asshole, it just happened.

Old habits die hard, he thought as he looked up from the eggs at the clock to check the time. Normally, Joshua would be up in an hour; Jeonghan in about three. That left Seungcheol with enough time to eat his own breakfast then some time to kill.

Seungcheol couldn't remember what he was doing before Jeonghan and Joshua came along. Not talking to anyone was boring.

Well, he remembered some of his old routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, kick out whoever he fucked the night before, meet up with the gang. It wasn't like he missed it a lot (maybe just a bit) but it would've been nice to have a routine again.

It's not that hard to make a new one, he thought, strangely in a voice that sounded a lot like Jeonghan. The corner of his lips tugged upward at the repressed memories from high school coming back. Oh, how Jeonghan would scold him had he ever messed up a schedule.

As he put his plate in the dishwasher, he heard a yawn from outside the kitchen. Joshua was awake.

As embarrassment began to settle in, Seungcheol hoped the American had forgotten the night before. Despite all the reassurance, he still believed Joshua could've been even slightly uncomfortable.

"Good morning Cheol," he greeted when he noticed.

"'Morning," he returned as he looked over at the man standing by the kitchen entrance and his breath hitched at the sight. Seungcheol would never call himself a 'panicked gay' but he had to admit the sight before him was attractive.

Joshua must've forgotten he'd brought his own clothes (the elder wasn't complaining) for he'd worn a pair of Seungcheol's white and grey sweatpants and one of his black t-shirts. His hair was damp from the shower he had and a towel sat on his shoulders. That brought Seungcheol's attention to his arms. For someone who gawked at Seungcheol's arms (the Korean pretended not to notice but it was amusing), Joshua had thick biceps himself. Seungcheol wasn't one to be attracted to another man's muscles but he would admit the American had some nice ones. The older man hadn't noticed how long he'd been staring at Joshua until the other gave him a confused look.

"Seungcheol?" he called, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Oh uh hi," he stuttered. "Just zoned out, my bad. Anyways, your breakfast's on the table, hope you like eggs."

Before he could get a response, he walked past the American until he could say anything dumb. God, what had come over him this morning?

It was pathetic to think Seungcheol was avoiding the other two men in his own house. Unfortunately, it was right. If he was walking and heard one of their voices, he'd go the other way. Had one tried to approach him, he headed straight for the bathroom. He hoped it hadn't offended them but if he was going to be honest, he hated confrontation. He couldn't even try; how was he supposed to? No one had ever taught him and he'd rather it not be right now.

Unfortunately, the men probably already realized what he was doing. They noticed and so they had him cornered.

Jeonghan was walking towards him, claiming he needed help with figuring out the controls to the television remote. To run away, Seungcheol tried to go into his room by saying he had the instruction manual in there. He might have been planning to hide in there but as he walked in, he noticed Joshua on his bed. Oh curse these devil twins.

"Oh wait, never mind," Jeonghan said. "I figured it out."

"You brat," the eldest mumbled, noticing his only escape route was blocked now.

"Can we make cake?" Joshua randomly asked. "I'm hungry."

"You just had breakfast a couple of hours ago."

"Don't care, c'mon let's make cake."

"I don't know how."

"You can't make cake?" the other two asked in sync. They really did share their brain cells.

"No?"

"This is sad," Jeonghan muttered. "We'll teach you, let's go."

"But I don't want-"

A glare from Jeonghan shut him up. He wasn't scared of the boy, just surprised.

Seungcheol was then pulled by both boys holding his arms into the kitchen, telling them where all the ingredients were. Soon, the countertops had a bag of flour, a box of chocolate cake mix he didn't even know he had, eggs, milk, butter, and sugar.

He didn't expect either of them to know how to bake -instead, he was scared they'd burn his kitchen down. But they ended up trying to teach Seungcheol how to make one. Keyword: tried; the man couldn't remember the instructions so Joshua took over his part.

He didn't mind though. He didn't mind Joshua's hands guiding him or holding onto them when measuring the ingredients.

It was only until the cake was in the oven when he noticed how quiet Jeonghan had been; maybe he was just tired.

"How long does it take to bake?" Seungcheol asked.

"Around half an hour," the American answered and opened the container of flour, confusing the others.

What other need for flour was there? Seungcheol wondered until he saw the other throw the flour into his hair and Jeonghan's face. Normally, he'd be mad but he couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, so this is what we're doing?" he asked as a grin came across his face reaching for the container. A squeak-like sound came from Joshua who began to run. The two older men looked at each other and made a silent agreement with a nod.

"Hong Jisoo, you coward!" Jeonghan called and ran after his best friend.

For the first time in a while, Seungcheol truly felt like a child.

It felt nice.