Work Text:
It was a quiet evening in Jun and Joshua’s apartment. After the friend slash roommates finished their takeout dinner, the two got started on their homework, like they usually did during a school night. Jun was at the kitchen table with his laptop and textbook out. Joshua was at the coffee table, reading from a book he had yet to finish for class.
It was quiet, until Jun heard Joshua shuffling his position from his spot.
“Jun, do you smell that?”
Jun pulled himself out of his textbook. He lifted his head up from his laptop screen to look at Joshua, who had stood up and started walking around their apartment. He raised an eyebrow before he took a sniff and immediately wrinkled his nose, finally smelling the unpleasant aroma.
“Yeah… what is that?” Jun asked.
“It smells like something’s burning,” Joshua replied.
“Where is it coming from? We didn’t cook tonight.”
Joshua thought for a moment.
“Maybe from Minghao? Our vents and air systems do connect.”
Jun tried not to show Joshua his flushing face at the mention of their neighbor, because he knew Joshua would say something and tease him about the (not so small) crush he had on their neighbor. It was something that rubbed off on him from his boyfriend, Jeonghan.
But it was no use because Joshua noticed. Jun saw Joshua smirk before he walked up to him and playfully bumped his shoulder.
“Awe… did the mention of our neighbor slash your crush make your face turn red?”
Jun huffed before he shoved Joshua away.
“No… I just… am very warm right now. You turned the heat up too high. It’s not that cold outside.”
“Sure,” Joshua replied, clearly not believing Jun (especially since Jun was the one that turned the heat up), “Well, since you’re always looking for any excuse to talk to him… maybe you should go and check on him.”
No way; he would never. He wouldn’t even know what to say. He didn’t want to embarrass himself the one time he actually had the chance to talk to Minghao, since their interactions were already infrequent and brief.
“Come on, Jun. Be confident in yourself. You could be his hero,” Joshua said, holding out the last ‘o’ in ‘hero,’ “Isn’t that what you want?”
Absolutely not. Joshua was in over his head. Jun just wanted a reason to talk to Minghao, not swoop in and save Minghao like he was a damsel in distress. But… Joshua did have a point. This opportunity would give him the excuse he’s been looking for. That would be a relief because he’d been looking for one ever since he first met Minghao.
It started when Minghao moved in next door with his friend, Mingyu. Jun had just been coming home from work when he saw the two for the first time. He was at his door when he saw the pair (he had previously never seen before) were laughing and making jokes. When Minghao turned his head for the first time, Jun felt like it was love at first sight. With his eyes that crinkled when he laughed, the giggles that left his mouth, and his pointed, elf-like ears, Jun felt like he face planted himself into love-struck city. He was the most beautiful boy, most beautiful person, he’d ever seen. After he snapped himself out of staring (before his neighbor would maybe think about how creepy it was), he quickly turned to his apartment door and walked in without even introducing himself.
After the first glance, Jun would occasionally see Minghao go in and out of his apartment as well as around campus. On the rare occasion Jun was actually able to run into Minghao outside of their apartments, they’d make some small talk. (How else would he have learned his and his roommate’s names?) Outside of that, Jun never had the confidence to approach him. Even if he did approach Minghao, he wouldn’t even know what he’d say. He and Minghao seemed like two different people. Plus, Minghao had this energy to him that intimidated Jun. Jun didn’t even believe he was worthy of being in Minghao’s presence.
So he watched from afar and hoped one day he could actually talk to Minghao.
Today, he had a reason. He really should check on his neighbor to make sure there isn’t a fire, for the safety of his neighbor and the building. It was the best option really .
Jun slowly closed his laptop and stood up.
“I’ll go check on him, just to make sure he’s okay.”
“Not because you’re scared to talk to him any other time and now is the perfect time to talk to him?” Joshua asked.
“Definitely.”
“Okay well… have fun. If you’re gone for longer than ten minutes, I’ll know what happened.”
Jun rolled his eyes as Joshua winked. He’s definitely been spending way too much with Jeonghan. He walked over to the door and quickly slipped on his vans. He unlocked the door and walked next door to Minghao’s door.
He stood in front of Minghao’s, unable to knock, thoughts running through his mind.
What do I say? Ask if he’s okay? But is that too much? Or maybe ask about the weather? Ask about class? How the hell do I start this conversation? How do I make it sound natural? Oh my god was this a bad idea? Should I just go back while I can? I should probably go back. I can’t do this. Why did I even think this was a good idea?
But his subconscious did the deciding for him because Jun found himself knocking on the door. His eyes slightly widened at the action.
Shit shit shit what should I-
Jun then heard footsteps approaching the door. As he heard the door unlocking, he took a deep breath.
Don’t fuck this up, Jun. This might literally be your one and only chance to make a good impression on him.
The door opened, and there he saw Minghao standing on the other side. His brown hair was laying messily on his forehead. There were bags under his brown eyes. He was wearing a black hoodie and gray joggers.
He looked adorable, and Jun was tempted to just wrap him in a blanket and cuddle him, but he pushed the thought away. He came over for a reason.
“Oh… hey, Jun,” Minghao said, seemingly a bit shocked, “I didn’t expect to see you here. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Right, right, right. He came here for a reason. What was it again? How could he forget? Minghao looking cuddly and adorable left him flustered and his thoughts scrambled. Why did he come over again?
Jun mentally slapped him.
Get a hold of yourself, damn it.
Oh wait, right. He remembered.
He cleared his throat.
“I uh… wanted to check in and make sure things were okay. My roommate and I were just doing homework when… we smelled something burning? We had takeout for dinner tonight, so it wasn’t us. I know our vents connect, so I was wondering if the burning smell was coming from your place?”
“Oh… oh ,” Minghao said, his eyes slightly widening, “Right, yeah. I didn’t realize the smell had gotten out of my apartment. It’s nothing serious. I just had a baking mishap; that’s all.”
“Oh, okay, so… nothing’s wrong?”
Minghao sighed.
“Well… in a way there is.”
“Is it anything I can help with?”
“Perhaps…,” Minghao trailed off, “I couldn’t ask that of you though. With it being almost the end of the semester, I know how busy things are now.”
“No it’s okay. I’ve finished all of my homework. I’m free to help you.”
Jun knew that was a lie, but he kept his smile up.
“Are you sure?”
No, he wasn’t fully. He had a shit ton of things he still needed to do. But to do that instead of seizing the opportunity to talk to his cute neighbor? He would one-hundred percent choose the latter.
“Yes.”
Jun gave him a small smile. Minghao looked like it was thinking before he returned the smile.
“Okay. Come in.”
He opened the door wider, and Jun walked in. He took his shoes off as Minghao closed the door behind them. Minghao then led them to the kitchen, where the burning smell became stronger. Once they were in the kitchen, Jun immediately understood the smell.
On the counter, he saw two baking sheets on the counter full of burned cookies.
“So… I was baking cookies for a gathering I’m having with some friends tomorrow night. Since I have class and work all day tomorrow, I figure I get them done tonight. I did everything according to the recipe. After mixing together all of the ingredients, I got them on the baking sheets. They needed to be in the oven for some time, so I sat on the couch and waited. Unfortunately… I accidentally fell asleep and slept right through the timer. I woke up to the beeping and rushed to the oven, but the cookies were already burned.”
“Oh…”
“Normally, I would ask my friend slash roommate, Mingyu, to help, but he’s out on what he calls a ‘study break’ with his boyfriend, so I can’t ask him,” Minghao continued, “So if you don’t mind, I’d like some help rebaking them all again. I’m tired from my papers and projects and work and such, and I’d really appreciate some help.”
Jun tried not to squeal. Finally, the chance he’d been waiting for.
“Y-Yeah, of course. I'm free to help.”
“Okay. I have the recipe on my laptop. Let’s start from there.”
Jun nodded and started to throw away the burnt cookies as Minghao went to grab his laptop. Once Minghao came back with his laptop, he set it on the counter and pulled up the recipe. From there, they took out the needed ingredients and set them on the counter next to Minghao’s laptop. Jun started to measure out ingredients as Minghao read off the recipe.
Jun noticed the little antics Minghao had: pouting as he reread the recipe, scratching his head when something didn’t make sense, and letting out a huff of air when he messed up reading the recipe out loud to Jun. It made Jun want to squeal because how the fuck could anyone be that cute?
When everything was measured, Minghao mixed the dry ingredients while Jun worked on mixing the wet ingredients. After, Minghao slowly incorporated the dry ingredients while Jun mixed it all together, and they finished with adding in the chocolate chips. When the two scooped them onto the now washed baking sheets, they were put in the oven, and cleanup began. Jun washed the dishes, and Minghao wiped the counters and swept.
In between everything, the two had small conversations, all about how it’s been with school, the classes they’ve been taking, and stress from studying and finishing final projects.
Jun found out that Minghao accidentally fell asleep because he stayed later at school to finish some of his digital art in the art building’s computer lab instead of heading home early. From there, he headed straight to work, which was working at the desk in the library, and came straight home after to bake the cookies. He was exhausted, and with the moment of rest he had while the cookies baked, his body had fallen victim to sleep, which was a horrible thing to happen when he woke up to a beep and a burning smell in his apartment.
“I’m lucky the fire alarm didn’t go off,” Minghao joked.
“Even if it did, you know I would help out. Now is not a good time to burn down the entire building,” Jun replied.
“Definitely not,” Minghao agreed, “Good to know you have my back.”
“Of course. I always will.”
When that last sentence came out of his mouth, his eyes widened, immediately trying to think of something else to follow.
“I mean like… as a neighbor, you know? We’re in the same living space. It’s good to look out for each other, you know?”
Minghao raised an eyebrow before he let out a small laugh. (Jun thought he saw Minghao’s face flush red a bit? But he wasn’t sure.)
“Yeah.”
After the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean, the oven timer beeped. They checked and saw that the cookies were still pretty pale, so they left them in for a couple of minutes and made their way to the couch with Jun promising he won’t let Minghao fall asleep on the couch, which made Minghao laugh.
“You’re a funny person, Jun,” Minghao said, “Why haven’t we talked earlier?”
Because I’m not good enough to even be around you.
“I guess our paths never really cross? Our schedules are always so different. I barely see you around,” Jun replied instead.
“I guess that would make sense. The business and art buildings are on opposite ends of the campus,” Minghao replied.
“Which is why today is such an interesting day. We’re in two completely different worlds that just happened to intersect today.”
“I’m really glad they did.”
Wait, what? Minghao was glad to have met with him today? Really? The Xu Minghao?
The beep of the oven is what interrupted his thoughts and their conversation. Minghao got up from the couch and went to the kitchen as Jun followed. Minghao opened the oven door and saw that the cookies were the right golden brown. Putting on oven mitts, he took them out of the oven and put the baking sheets on pot holders to cool. Once they were all in a container with the lid on, the two cleaned up the last of the mess. When the kitchen was clean, Minghao led Jun to the door.
“Well, I'll be getting back. My roommate is probably wondering where I am,” Jun said.
“Oh, right, of course,” Minghao said, “Joshua, right?”
Jun nodded.
“Well, thank him for me, for letting me borrow his roommate for the evening,” Minghao said, “I appreciate it.”
“Of course,” Jun said with a smile.
It was silent between them, unfulfilled and unspoken thoughts filling the air. Jun didn’t know if he should say this or not, but after the events of tonight, he felt better about being brave.
“You know, this doesn’t have to be a one time thing,” Jun then said, “Let’s start hanging out more and get to know each other. I’d like to be friends.”
Minghao smiled. He looked down before looking back up, his face slightly flushed red.
“Yeah, I’d like that too. Could I get your number?”
Jun nodded. They both took out their phones and exchanged numbers. After doing so, Jun put on his shoes.
“I’ll see you soon?”
Minghao nodded. Jun then opened the door. Giving Minghao one last smile, he walked out and back towards his own apartment. He knocked, and almost immediately Joshua opened the door.
“There you are. I was wondering what was taking so long,” Joshua said, “What’d you guys do?”
“Nothing you’re thinking of,” Jun said, walking inside, “He just burned some cookies, so I helped him rebake them.”
“Oh, how nice of you,” Joshua said, closing the door, “Did you make any progress?”
“Yes. I offered that we get to know each other more and become friends, and he agreed. We exchanged numbers.”
“Nice,” Joshua replied, “So it was the opportunity you were searching for?”
Jun smiled and nodded.
“Yeah.”
He then felt his phone buzz. He looked at his screen, smiling at the text that was on the screen.
Minghao: Hey, thanks again for the help with the cookies. I really appreciate it.
The smile never leaving his face, he typed out a text.
Jun: Me too
Was this going to be a crush for a lot longer? Yes. But it was worth it to finally be able to talk to Minghao instead of watching from afar and hope he’d get the opportunity. At least now, he was taking a step forward. And that’s what he wanted for now.