For You and Me

Chapter 11: Couch Meeting

Seungjun and Heejun's place turns out to be an apartment on the 12th floor of a tall apartment building in the middle of the city.  Seungjun pays for a taxi to get them there not wanting Jihun to walk the 4 miles from the hospital.  Jihun keeps a tight grip on Seungjun's hand until they make it to the front door and Seungjun needs his hand to search his pockets for his key.  He finds it in an inside pocket of his jacket and unlocks the door and lets Jihun walk in first.  Jihun slips his shoes off before walking further in and Seungjun follows shutting and locking the door behind him.  

"I'll take your jacket."  Seungjun says while grasping the back of the collar to help Jihun shrug out of it.  Jihun lets him help pull the jacket off and then turns to see Seungjun hug the jacket to him.  "Ah, it made its way home a last."  He jokes smiling at Jihun.  Jihun smirks and rolls his eyes but feels the now familiar warmth fill his cheeks again.  Seungjun hangs the jacket on a hook by the door and does the same with the one he is wearing.  Jihun watches him not sure what he should be doing or how at home he should make himself.  Seungjun faces him and looks him up and down before lightly clearing his throat.  Jihun meets his eyes.

"Are you hungry?"  Seungjun asks.  Jihun is about to shake his head but his stomach intervenes filling the room with the sound of it's empty grumbling.  He looks down and places his hands over his traitor of a stomach feeling the heat of his face intensify and move all the way down to his neck as Seungjun erupts into laughter.  Jihun peeks up at him from under his lashes and when Seungjun sees his expression he presses his lips together and his laughter ends as his own face fills with red.  

"Sorry, let me make us something.  Now that I think of it I'm pretty hungry too.  I know we skipped lunch so that's probably why."  Seungjun says.  He passes Jihun to walk to the kitchen and Jihun follows behind quickly.  He sits at the table and rests his head on his arms as his eyes follow Seungjun around.  Seungjun gets out a few random cooking utensils before turning to Jihun.

"Any requests?"  He asks.  Jihun thinks for a moment and shakes his head.  Seungjun purses his lips and searches through the fridge and cupboards.  He pulls out broth, vegetables and meat.  "Soup it is."  He begins preparing the food and Jihun gets up to take the knife from him.  Seungjun opens his mouth to protest but closes it when Jihun begins quickly chopping up the vegetables, his only kitchen skill.  "Thanks."  Seungjun says knocking his shoulder lightly before working on cooking the meat.  

They prepare and cook the food in silence.  Once Jihun is done chopping he leans against the counter and watches Seungjun.  He pushes his thoughts and worries away for a moment and lets himself enjoy the domestic moment.  Seungjun meets his eye only once and keeps his focus on the meal in front of him trying not to be too aware of Jihun's watchful gaze.  Once the food is all put together they wait for the broth to come to a boil.  Seungjun grabs the bowls from a cupboard to the right of him.  He turns back to Jihun.

"Can you grab two spoons please?  They are in the drawer behind your butt."  Seungjun says with a goofy smile on his face.  Jihun jumps away from the drawer behind him and turns to open it.  All the silverware is there and he pulls out two soup spoons and hands them to Seungjun.  Seungjun puts them each in a bowl and hands the bowls to Jihun.  "We can eat at the table or on the couch.  Your pick."  Seungjun says. 

Jihun takes the bowls and turns to the table pursing his lips.  He peeks out of the wide kitchen doorway and catches a glimpse of the deep brown suede textured couch.  He quickly walks the bowls over to the couch and spins and falls into it.  The jarring movement tweaks his injury but he ignores the dull pain as he reaches out and much more gently sets the bowls on the rounded coffe table across from him.  He hears Seungjun laughing in the kitchen.  He climbs over to the end of the couch where he can just see Seungjun's profile as he stirs the soup a few times around.  Jihun's heart swells at the smile still on his face.