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Saifah loves homemade food. In fact, the first thing he missed when he moved to the dormitory was his mom’s cooking. Call him a hopeless romantic, but for Saifah eating homemade food also adds up to intimacy; he believes that the cook must be pouring their heart out to the food and he loves nothing more than consuming all that feeling.
So it’s no wonder why Saifah wears his biggest heart eyes to Zon as he watches his smaller boyfriend unpack two lunch boxes filled with his own cooking. Zon wanted to try something new, said the man a while ago with red creeping on his cheeks. If they were not in the campus’ canteen right now, Saifah would have enfolded Zon with the warmest hug he could give.
“I hope you like it.” Said Zon, a tiny ray of hope blooming from both of his enchanting eyes.
“I like everything about you, Zon.”
Zon smiled shyly, “Hurry and eat it then, before it gets too cold.”
“Khub, my Zon.”
Zon’s eyes travels on his face as he takes his first bite of Zon’s cooking. The food is surprisingly delicious considering it was Zon’s first try in cooking, but Saifah knows he’s in trouble on his second chew.
“I-it’s bad, right?” asks Zon.
Saifah quickly swallows the shrimp on his mouth, “It’s good. It’s really good.”
“Then why are you making that face?”
“It got stuck in my throat, can I have some water, please?” As soon as he finishes his sentence, Zon passes a glass of water on to him.
Well, of course there’s nothing stuck in his throat.
Saifah was not lying when he said that the food was good. Unfortunately, he had forgotten Zon likes spicy foods whilst Saifah simply can’t stand it. Zon must just have been following his standard of spicy when he made the shrimp, since he got to burn his tongue on the second chew.
“You sure it’s not because my cooking tastes awful?” asks Zon.
“No, it’s great.” Saifah needs to bite his tongue in order to give a smile to Zon.
Quite satisfied, Zon starts digging into his food. Now it’s Saifah’s turn to watch his boyfriend and he was right, Zon eats peacefully across the table as if he didn’t feel the burn from the chilis at all. His boyfriend is just so cute whilst happily eating, Saifah can’t bring himself to tell him the truth. So he takes another spoonful of the killer shrimp and rice.
On the fifth bite, Saifah can feel his stomach churn. Beads of sweat on his forehead slowly travel down his face. He knows he looks even worse than he feels because the moment Zon glances at him, he rushes to his side with a panicked expression on his face.
"Sai? Sai, what’s wrong?!”
“Uh, I can’t eat spicy food.”
“WHAT? I’m calling the ambulance!”
The ride to the hospital is a blur. Saifah can’t remember how did he get into this white room. He must have been too focused on his pain. Now, as his stomach gets better, he can see Zon sitting beside his bed, his head low and the fingers holding his hand trembling.
“Zon?”
Zon’s head shots up, both of his eyes full of worry.
“Sai, I’m sorry.”
“Hey, what are you sorry for? It’s my fault too, for not telling you the truth, you know.” His thumb draws small circles on Zon’s still trembling hand.
“I should’ve known you can’t eat spicy food. What if something bad happened to your stomach? What if I damaged it so bad you can eat nothing but porridge from now on? What if you die?”
“My Zon, khub.” Said Saifah softly. His hand brings Zon closer to his laying body, asking him to lay down beside him. Zon slowly follows his lead.
“I’m gonna be fine. No need to be worried like that.”
“B-but-“ Saifah puts his hand on Zon’s head, scratching it the way he knows would calm Zon down.
“It’s okay, I’m fine.”
Zon snuggles closer to him. Saifah can feel his heartbeat slow down as he keeps caressing Zon’s head.
The pair continue to cuddle for a whole ten minutes before Saifah breaks their silence, “I want to eat your cooking again.”
Zon slaps his chest lightly, “Stop joking.”
“I’m not,” replied Saifah. “Just make it less spicy than this, okay?”
Zon giggles to that, and Saifah’s chest is filled with the familiar warmth that can only show up when Zon is around.