Dark to Baby: A Changjin Story

Chapter 9

Awkward.

That's all Hyunjin could think as Changbin stared him down.

Felix was currently snuggled in a pile of blankets on the living room couch watching a classic Disney movie while the older boys were attempting to get some sort of food on the table.

"So what can you cook?" This had been going on for a while. Changbin kept suggesting foods and Hyunjin kept rejecting them, claiming he didn't know how to make them, which was true.

Unfortunately for Hyunjin, being homeschooled and an only child did not give him much reason to be in the kitchen. It usually resulted in him getting burnt or making a huge mess. But he knew how to cook one thing without much problem.

"Uh...Ramen?" Changbin sighed as he tied a maroon apron around his waist. Why was this boy so hopeless?

"Okay, ramen it is, I guess." Changbin opened the fridge and pulled out eggs, meat, and various vegetables before arranging them on the counter.

"What's all this for?"

"For the ramen, duh."

"You mean, we're actually cooking?"

"What else would we be doing?"

"Well..." When Hyunjin said ramen, he meant like boil some water and put in instant noodles at the most.

"You really thought you could get out of cooking didn't you?"

"No! I just wasn't expecting all this." Hyunjin gestured to what he considered to be an abundance of ingredients.

"Uh huh, totally." Changbin teased as he got out two cutting boards and knives. "Here you can work over there." He pointed towards the counter opposite of them as he handed Hyunjin a cutting board, knife, and a white vegetable.

Hyunjin's nose wrinkled up in disgust as he held the vegetable away from his face. Changbin looked over and stifled a laugh.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying not to cry." Changbin rolled his eyes as he began to slice the meat.

"Just chop the onion." Hyunjin gingerly placed all his materials down before staring daggers at the dreaded onion. Changbin couldn't help the amused smile that made its way onto his face.

"Would you rather have the eggplant?" Hyunjin whipped around.

"That's going in our ramen?"

"Yeah?"

Hyunjin emitted a horrific gagging sound as his body contorted violently. As it was obvious the boy was not actually dying, Changbin let out a high-pitched laugh.

"I'll stick with the onion."

"I figured."

Hyunjin stuck out his tongue at Changbin's back and proceeded to put his hair up with the small black band he kept on his wrist for occasions where it wasn't best to have hair in your eyes. He grouped his bangs into a fountain, getting other bits of hair in the process, and tied them up so he had a unicorn horn sticking out of his head.

Flopping it around a few times, he confirmed that it was secure and got to work.

The two boys worked in silence after that, Hyunjin sneaking peeks at Changbin every once in a while. The sight of him in his apron skillfully cutting up the ingredients was beautifully domestic and gave Hyunjin conflicting feelings about how he should act around Changbin.

"Jinnie?" A sweet voice called out. Hyunjin stuck his head around the corner, trying to keep his hands over the cutting board and away from his eyes. He made eye contact with Felix, barely containing his squeal caused by Felix's fluffy mess of blond hair.