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It all started when Chan complained about having too much to do to maintain the decent state of his apartment while he was busy at work and went home just to shower and sleep. His friends immediately suggested the idea of him looking for a roommate since the apartment that he bought was big enough for two and that his roommate can help make his apartment feel like there's actually someone living in it.
He posted an ad online and soon received an email from a guy that is new in their city. He introduced himself as Minho Lee, a choreographer that just opened a studio near his apartment making it perfect for him to move in.
Chan scanned the documents he sent after a whole day at work, stopping a few seconds at the Identification Card that Minho sent just to make sure if it was edited or not.
"That's your new roommate?" Jisung asks behind him at their studio and Chan nodded dumbly, eyes still fixed at the photo in front of him.
"Damn, maybe I should find a roommate too," He whistled before pouting at Changbin when the other reminded him that he indeed had a roommate named Seungmin and that he is still living at the university dorms.
Chan tuned out their voices when their argument started and let his eyes linger on the photo a bit longer before scrolling through more of the documents.
The day Minho moved into his apartment, Chan had to blink himself out of his trance as he saw the real Minho in front of him.
He really just looks like that. He thinks to himself as he lets Minho ramble about not having many things to move in and that he just needs to buy things at the store instead.
"Yeah, sure. Do you want me to go with you?" Chan asks absentmindedly as he placed the last box of Minho's belongings in his new room, forgetting every little tweak that he needs to do for the song that is definitely not due any time soon.
"Oh," Minho breathes out, looking at him with wide and bright eyes. "If that's okay? I don't really know where it is too, so..." he trailed off with an embarrassed smile and Chan nodded dumbly in return. He really needs to stop nodding whenever his body forgets how to talk.
He cleared his throat and fixed his posture before he started to make his way to the door.
"I'll just get ready real quick, is right now okay for you?" Chan asks, hand on the knob of Minho’s bedroom door, ready to close it right after hearing the man’s response.
Minho nodded at him with what seemed to be a grateful smile before he nodded (again) back in return and finally closed the door.
It has been a bit of an experience for Chan when Minho went to the kitchen supplies section and started asking if he had things in his kitchen. He in fact did not have anything in that room and even if he did have something (all thanks to his sunshine younger brother Felix) then he doesn't really know what or where they all are.
He swore he had red smoking ears with embarrassment when Minho finally decided to step out of that area and took pity on Chan's ears before they exploded at the nice-looking pan set that ended up on the cart that Chan is pushing.
"So you really haven't touched anything in your kitchen and you've lived here for almost a year now?" Minho asks again once they're back in their apartment and Chan scrunched his face before he nodded his head yes.
"I was just really busy with work so I just ate there or just got takeouts," he explains and he hears Minho hum in response before the man disappeared in the mystery of his own kitchen. He heard him shuffling a few things around and before Chan could even get curious enough to follow him, he heard his phone ring.
"Hey, Minho. I'll just get this call in my room, you can do whatever you want in the kitchen!" He says before he hears an excited okay from him and makes his way to his room to answer the call.
The first time he actually steps inside his kitchen, it was 10 in the morning and it's definitely too early for him to be alive but Minho oh so gently knocked on his door and asked him if he wanted breakfast too which of course, he nodded yes to because how could anyone ever say no to a cat-printed-pajama-wearing Minho? so now he's wearing his old comfy sweats, blinking heavily at the man in front of him.
"I shouldn't have woken you up shouldn't I?" he asked with a grimace and Chan forced his eyes to stay open for a few seconds before he smiled at him, this time shaking his head no.
"It's okay, I really needed to wake up early today too," lie, "so thank you for waking me up," he says and Minho finally beams at him before gesturing to the dishes in front of him. It wasn't an extravagant breakfast, Minho cooked some fried rice and sausages with eggs on the side but somehow it just melted in Chan's mouth.
"How did you make it taste like this?" He asks with amusement and it seems like it's the right question because Minho giggles and Chan isn't sure the feeling he had in his stomach is because of it asking for more food or if it's because of the man who made it.
He finished his food with a sigh and a content smile on his face before he stood up and stole the plates from Minho's hands.
"I'll clean up, thank you for the meal, it was really good." He says gratefully and Chan shrugs off the color of Minho's ears when he smiles back, blaming it on him complimenting his cooking.
The second time Minho made something for him it was a few weeks after the first one. Minho had settled in their apartment quite nicely and Chan can already see the difference in the apartment’s feel. His two best friends already met his new roommate too and he can’t help the smile that keeps on making its way on his face whenever he sees how much the younger guy fits in his world so much. But that’s a bit of a weird thought to have when you’ve only met the guy not even a month ago so Chan decides that he’s just lucky to have found a new friend in his life.
He just got home from the studio, getting home earlier than usual because of the sudden inspiration that two of his teammates had, matching their own red cheeks as they give subtle- or as subtle as they can- glances with shy smiles on their lips. Chan figured that they got over their “you’re so fun to tease but the truth is I just find you cute so I keep on teasing you” stage and finally confessed their attraction to each other. Chan is far from worried about the two of them, in fact, he’s just happy that his best friends are finally happy together.
He took off his shoes, neatly placing them in their shoe rack, and noticed his roommate's usual work shoes already placed in it. He made his way to the living room, immediately seeing his roommates form, sleeping soundly on their couch as the television played in front of him.
He reached for the remote control and turned the television off, thinking if he should wake the younger man up or just let him sleep more on the couch. He decided on the former, carefully shaking the sleeping man awake as he watched him slowly open his eyes. He stretched his limbs as far as he could before he fully opened his eyes, finding Chan’s face in front of him immediately.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep here,” he says with a shy smile on his face, his voice still a bit deeper than usual from his sleep.
“You’re fine, just woke you up so you won’t hate me from getting a stiff neck tomorrow morning,” Chan replies softly, pairing it with a soft smile and Minho let out a giggle, pushing himself up the couch stretching his limbs one more time like a cat, Chan’s brain supplies, and turns to Chan with a sleepy smile.
“I made dinner,” he says, blinking a few times, and this should really make anyone look dumb but god why does he look so adorable right now??
Chan hummed as an answer, reaching up to the younger man's hair to try and pat down his hair that's currently sticking up to places. Minho followed his movements, his eyes closing, head leaning in at the other's hand before he opened his eyes again to give Chan a grateful smile.
“Make sure to finish all of it,” he says before turning around and started to make his way to his room. Before he could even close the door, he looked back at Chan with the same soft smile now on his face as he bid the older good night.
“Good night, Channie,”
That night, Chan went to bed with a full stomach, his ears still a bit warm from the affection of his roommate. But Nah, he's just that kind of friendly. he tries to convince himself as he buried his face on his pillow, fighting the dumb smile that's already making its way to his face.
The third time (not really, it was definitely a lot more than that but Chan just loved this time so much that it stuck to him) Minho made him something was when Chan’s company had a potluck family day at work. They were all required to bring something to eat for everyone and they were all usually made by their families for them.
Chan groaned this problem of his to Minho a few days before and Minho seemed a bit too happy listening to Chan’s worries.
“Oh you’ll be fine, you can just maybe grab some takeouts on your way there,” Minho suggests with a shrug and way too innocent eyes and as usual, whenever his roommate gets too beautiful for his brain to function, he just blinks at the man a few times and nodded his head in agreement.
"I don't think I've asked you this yet, but are you allergic to something?" Minho asks setting two plates down. Both of them filled with freshly baked cookies that have been abusing Chan's nose and stomach since Minho popped it in the oven a few minutes ago.
"Hmm, nope. I can eat about anything, I'm not picky too," Chan answers before stuffing his mouth with the chocolate chip cookie, sighing in contentment after it melted in his mouth.
"Any favorite food? Something you miss from Australia?" Minho asks further, taking advantage of the fact that Chan is way over the sweet land of chocolate chip that he won't get suspicious of him asking random things.
"Oh, I'd do anything for my dad's lamb chops," he answers again with a sigh, this time, not because of the sweetness of the cookie but because of the savory taste of the meat in his memory.
"Hmm, cool," Minho answers with a nod, grabbing his own piece of the cookie as he tries to hide his smile with a bite.
The day of the event itself, Chan woke up with probably the most delicious smell he’d ever had inside his apartment. Immediately pulling him out of his sheets and into their kitchen.
“What are you making?” He breathes out when the smell of something familiar hits his nose.
Minho jumps on his feet with the older man’s voice. Whipping his head back to look at Chan with wide eyes.
“You scared the freak out of me,” he breathes out as he went back on what he was doing. Chan immediately notices the raw meat just beside Minho, the look of it way too familiar than what his heart could ever handle, especially when this beautiful boy is the one making it. It can't be-
“I’m making lamb chops,” he finally answers and Chan barely stops himself from dropping on one knee and ripping a thread on his old shirt just to wrap it around the younger man's ring finger.
“What for?” he squeaks out and Minho snorts at the sound of his voice. He can’t even react to the disrespect that the younger man did to him because he was so close to crying.
“For your officemates,” Minho answers with a smile, his words coated with his usual teasing tone. He’s still facing the lamb chops, the meat sizzling harmoniously on the pan that Chan had no idea that they had.
When a beat of silence came instead of the usual answer that Chan has for him, Minho finally looked away from the pan just to see the older man looking at him with teary eyes, bottom lip between his teeth just to stop it from shaking.
“Wha- Are you crying? What’s wrong?” Minho rushes, immediately turning their stove off and leaving the precious meat on the pan. Chan had the urge to scold the younger to just go back to the lambs but the warm hand that touched his cheek immediately triggered everything he was trying to hold in.
He had to admit, the family events in his office had a bit more effect on him than what he shows to the people around him. He does have Felix in Korea sometimes but at times like these, when his younger brother is back in Australia to visit their family while he’s forced to stay in Korea because of his job, he feels a bit lonelier than usual. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his job, appreciates his friends very much, but his co-workers bragging about the food that their family made for them at home leaves a bit of a bitter taste in his mouth.
He let the younger man envelop him in his arms. He buried his face at the crook of Minho’s neck while he felt the comforting hand of the other on his back. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Chan moved away, his cheeks now red from the embarrassment of suddenly breaking down in front of his roommate.
“Sorry,” he says, looking down at his socked feet. When he did not get a response, he looked back up to Minho and saw him smiling at him fondly which made Chan’s ears turn even redder.
“Wanna help me with this?” Minho asks patiently as he tipped his head to the already cooked lambs on a plate. Chan nodded his head as an answer, immediately making his way to the dish.
That day, Chan sneakily stopped by a chicken place to buy two boxes of their signature flavor, placed the plastic bags on their potluck table with a bright smile, and happily made his way to their studio. But Chan was everything but selfish so of course he called his two best friends to get a taste of the delicious meal that Minho made for him- them.
The fourth most memorable time that Minho made something for him, it was the day Chan had finally accepted the way he feels for the younger man. It was already way past dinner and Chan had a long day at work. He let out a sigh, toeing his shoes off, not bothering to place them neatly at the shoe rack before dragging his feet to his room. Before he could even open his door and throw his soulless body on his bed though, Minho walked out of the kitchen. His wide shining eyes blinking at the ugliest and most haggard Chan he’s ever seen.
“You look-”
“I know, I look horrible,” Chan cuts him off and sighs. He saw Minho's face grimace before taking a few steps towards him.
“I was going to say good, the new hair looks good on you,” He says, taking Chan by surprise. Right. That happened this morning.
“Oh,” he said dumbly, “yeah, Jisungie brought some of his extra dyes and used it on me,” he adds, unconsciously reaching up to touch his hair that is now probably the same color as his ears.
“Pink looks good on you,” Minho says with a smile on his face and Chan had to clear his throat to not just blurt out all of his feelings for the younger man. He's way too tired to filter what comes out of his mouth after all.
“T-thanks,”
“I’m guessing you haven’t had dinner yet?” he asks with the same patient eyes that Chan has seen several times now every time he forgets about taking care of himself.
“Yeah,” he breathes out and Minho gives him another smile and tells him to go wash up and come out after he’s done.
After he showered and changed into his comfortable clothes, Chan went out of his room and got hit with the now-familiar scent of something delicious whenever Minho was inside their kitchen. He made his way to the room and saw Minho sitting patiently on their table. He looked up from his phone when Chan sat across from him and smiled, immediately locking the gadget to face the older fully.
“You didn’t have to wait for me,” Chan said with a grateful smile and Minho just brushed him off, reaching for the dish in front of him to pass it to Chan.
“Had a long day at work?” Minho asks after a few beats of silence. They both have their own portions of food on their plate and the silence was far from uncomfortable but as always, Minho just knew that there’s something wrong.
“Yeah, just- there’s this new client that we have and at first, he was really cool. We talked about the genre that he wanted and what the theme will be but when we finally finished the song and sent it to him, he demanded a whole different song. So now we have to make a new song in five days,” Chan sighs after, finally getting a taste of what Minho cooked for him. It was (food) and Chan should really be used to the younger man’s cooking but he still gets blown away at how good it tastes every time.
Minho replied with a hum making Chan look up at him from his plate. He had his brows in a frown, a small pout adorning his face as he glared at the food on his plate.
“Hey, I didn’t tell you my problems for you to worry about it too, Min,” Chan reminds him, making the man look away from him, his cheeks turning in color.
“I’m not. It’s just- that client of yours is very rude,” Minho explains, directing his attention back to his plate, his brows still knitted.
“I mean, you guys already made a song for him, and the fact that you guys made it just immediately makes it great. Him not wanting the song is just ridiculous,” He adds with a grumble like a little kid and Chan can’t help the smile that finally sets on his face after a long day at work. He also can’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his system when Minho looked up at him with the same adorable expression.
“What? What’s funny?” Minho asks, his pout deepens and Chan lets out another set of laughter at how adorable the younger man looks. He ended up pursuing a pouting roommate that night, until said roommate finally let down his act of being upset at the other, reminding him to still take care of himself knowing how busy they’ll be for the next few days.
“Don’t worry, Min. I will,” Chan says with a smile and a thankful kiss on the younger’s cheek before they bid each other good night.
And when he finally got under his sheets and stared at his ceiling for maybe more than a few minutes, he finally let himself drift off with the thought of kissing the younger more and maybe not just on the younger's scarlet cheeks.
The fifth- well definitely not fifth but you get what Chan’s trying to say- Minho made something for him, it was the usual lunch box that Minho started making for him a few weeks ago. It has been months since the younger man moved in and they already have this routine where Minho wakes up early to make two pack lunches for the two of them and then leave early for his class. Chan wakes up to a freshly cooked breakfast as well as a packed meal for him to bring to work. He then receives a list before he gets home to buy from the grocery store and that’s just how their days usually go.
Today, he decided to eat lunch with his two best friends. They pushed all the scrap - and probably not scrap papers - from the coffee table to the side so they could eat at their studio.
“I told you, my love language is quality time. It’s so obvious,” Jisung groans, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend while Chan just watches them with fondness and curiosity in his eyes.
“Okay, but mine can’t be physical touch. I’m not clingy,” Changbin grumbles back and both Chan and Jisung raise their eyebrows at him with a disbelieving expression on their faces.
“Oh fuck off,” Changbin whines and the two laughed at him.
“What are you two on about anyway,” Chan finally asks as he starts digging in on his lunch.
“Seungmin had this book about love for his class and I saw the different kinds of love languages so Changbin and I have been arguing about what ours are,” he explains and Chan nodded his head in understanding.
“What do you think Chan’s is?” Changbin asks with a mouthful of rice.
“Hmmm, physical touch. Definitely,” Jisung says while nodding his head, Changbin just hums in agreement and continues eating his lunch and Chan shouldn’t really feel like his whole life was judged by the two but it really did feel like it.
“How can you guys be so sure about that?” he asks and the other two just shrug at him as they continue munching on their food.
“I don’t know. Clinging to my arm, rubbing your face on my arm - or head - or hair -, hugging people out of nowhere, poking people’s cheeks, rubbing people’s stoma-”
“Okay, okay, I get it now.” Chan shuts him up, stuffing Jsiung’s mouth with the chicken from his plate, his ears smoking red with embarrassment.
“Did Minho make that for you again?” Changbin asks when they finally noticed the lunch box that Chan is holding. He nodded his head with his mouth full and Changbin let out a hum while Jisung struggled to chew and swallow the food in his mouth to say something.
“Oh my god- Minho’s love language is food!" He shouts, taking the other two by surprise. "There were originally only five but Food has always been the sixth one!” He announces with sparkling eyes and while Changbin didn’t get to stop himself from cooing at his boyfriend’s cuteness, poor Chan just choked on his food, immediately reaching for his water to push the solids down.
“What?” he asks finally when he was able to speak.
“Minho’s love language is food,” Jisung repeats, “he makes you food all the time so it does make sense,” Changbin adds with a nod like everything does make sense but no. it does not.
“He doesn't love me,” he blurts out, the two men in front of him immediately realizing what’s going on inside Chan’s head.
“Oh- well, friends do that too. You hug us all the time,” Jisung says carefully and Chan’s ears redden more at the realization of what he just did.
“How about you?” Jisung asks carefully. Chan whipped his head up fast, staring at their youngest with wide eyes. It's not like he doesn't know his feelings for his roommate, he was just not expecting his best friends to know about it too.
“I’m 90% sure you like him,” Changbin says, a bit blunter than what Jisung is trying to be, earning him an elbow on his arm. Chan blinks at them a few more times before the realization dawned on him
“Am I that obvious?!” he squeaks out, earning him a concerned look from the two.
“No, we just know you really well.” Jisung immediately states, “Pretty sure Minho has zero idea,” he adds, giving Chan a reassuring smile that is more like an awkward one.
“Why don’t you just tell him then? We already saw how both of you are, and it's obvious that the feeling is mutual” Changbin says and Chan sighs.
“It’s hard, he just got here, and he doesn't really know anyone but us. I don’t want to make it awkward for him if he doesn't feel the same,” He replies, now moving his food around the container.
“Then maybe you can do his love language back to him, and see how he’ll react,” Jisung suggests, with a bright smile and Chan looks up at him in question.
“I love spending my time with the people I love and care about, but when I see them wanting to spend their time with me too it makes me really happy and full of love, so- maybe you can try doing that to him too,” He suggests with a grin, his full cheeks bunching up.
Chan looks down at his food at the suggestion, already trying to plan everything that he wants to do to make Minho happy and show him how grateful Chan is for everything.
“I’ll try,”
It’s a Saturday morning. And Saturday mornings mean Minho is going to sleep in until noon so for sure there’s no better timing than to try to not burn their kitchen before Minho wakes up.
He started gathering the ingredients that he bought that same morning, dragging himself out of his bed just to sneak out of the house to buy everything he needed. Felix is currently on his phone, his poor little brother struggling to answer all of his questions at 4:00 in the morning (6:00 AM for Chan).
“I’m sorry Lixie, just go back to sleep after okay? I promise I’ll buy you anything you want,” he says with a grimace when he sees Felix almost falling out of frame nodding off.
“It’s okay, Channie,” Felix reassures, his eyes still closed but a grin now adorning his face. “Let’s start before Minho wakes up,”
After starting over twice, Chan finally got to finish the dish that he wanted to make. It’s nothing grand, just the usual breakfast that his mom used to make when he was still in Australia. The bacon does look a bit overcooked but- it’s still bacon.
“Bye Lixie, I promise I’ll-”
“It’s okay Channie! Good luck!” Felix beams and ends the call immediately before Chan can even offer his life with how grateful he is. As much as he loves doing things for others, it is a bit hard for himself to ask for others’ help, which his little brother knows very much, exactly why he hung up before Chan could even fret about it.
The first noise Chan heard from outside the kitchen, he immediately froze. He’s already prepared everything but it is still nerve-wracking to know that Minho is about to see the disaster that he made inside the kitchen.
“Channie? What are you doing there?” Minho asks from their living room and he realized that Chan was the one who’s rummaging in the kitchen. He waited for Minho to walk in, his usual cat pajamas the first thing Chan sees before he answered the question.
“I made you breakfast?” he answers with more like a question, not really confident with what he did. Minho on the other hand seemed like he was drenched with cold water. His sleepy state jumped out of the window as he stared wide-eyed at the dish on their table.
“You made that?” He asks again, eyes still glued on the bacon and eggs.
“Yeah, I mean- I know it doesn't look that appetizing but-” Chan starts, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.
“For me?” he asks again, blinking himself out of shock a few more times before he looks up to finally meet Chan’s eyes.
“Oh,” Chan says, realizing that the shock that the other is going through is not from the look of his dish but because he made it for him.
“Yeah,” he answers, feeling his ears heat up, and really, he’s just thankful he did not look away because the way Minho’s cheeks slowly turned crimson at the information might probably be the loveliest thing he’s ever seen.
Minho looks away when he sees the small smile that made its way on his face. Seeing the way Minho squirms under his gaze right now, Chan feels a sudden burst of confidence in his body.
“Jisung and Changbin talked about love languages the other day," he starts, he took a few steps closer to the other and Minho looked back up at him at the action.
“They said there’s 5 of them originally but did you know that there’s actually a sixth one?” Chan asks again, he’s only a few steps away from Minho and the other let out a squeak as an answer. With how he is reacting now, Chan’s pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about. He takes a few more steps closer until he’s close enough to see the beautiful lashes on Minho’s eyes.
“You want to try guessing what mine is?” Chan asks in a whisper, his hands finding Minho’s smaller ones as he intertwines them. He heard Minho gasp before he moved his head closer, his eyes not leaving the younger’s beautiful ones. A few seconds passed with just the two of them staring at each other. Chan's hand slowly making its way up to Minho's cheeks, his thumb caressing the soft skin of the other.
He has seen Minho's face every day for the past six months but until now, he still can't believe how beautiful the younger man is. He scanned the other's face, his eyes, lingering on the soft, pink lips of the other before held his breath to finally ask the question that has been burning in his tongue for the longest time.
“Can I kiss you?” Chan breathes out and Minho looks at him, his eyes flicking down on his lips too before he nodded yes.
The kiss was soft and careful and Chan can feel his own fears leaking out of Minho as the other relaxed against his lips. Chan can’t help but let out an approving hum at the feeling. The moment did not last long though, Minho pulling away to bite his own lip to try and stop himself from giggling.
“I think the bacon is burnt, but we can still have the eggs,” Chan says when they moved away a little, his hot breath hitting Minho’s lips still with the proximity.
“Yeah, I kinda smelled that in the living room,” Minho replies with a giggle, his eyes still closed and Chan can’t help but to lean in again and kiss the beautiful smile on his lips however, Minho still wasn’t done laughing at him so their teeth ended up hitting each other making them laugh out loud.
Chan can blame it on his habit of clinging to people when he laughs but the way Minho slotted perfectly in his arms while he felt the vibration of his body because of his laughter just made his heart feel so full.
He buried his face on the junction of Minho’s neck and shoulder, a smile still on his face as he clung to the younger man.
“You know I think I can guess what your love language is now,” Minho says cheekily as his hand finally made its way around Chan to hug him back.
Chan pulls back a bit, playfully squinting at him knowing fully well that Minho’s not going to stop teasing him because of it. A mischievous idea made its way on his mind though and before Minho could even question the smirk on his face, he pulled Minho closer again, their faces inches away.
“Hmmm, I don't know. I don’t think you know enough,” he says before leaning in again, capturing Minho’s lips in a heated kiss.