Chapter Text
Taeil Moon had never witnessed a more immaculate pan of lasagna in his 28 years of living.
Nobody made a lasagna like Moretti’s, an unassuming Italian spot hidden in the outskirts of downtown. It was the city’s best kept secret and Taeil’s most persistent weakness. It was also quite a sight: Layers upon layers of wavy noodles and meat. A vibrant red signature sauce with a smoky aroma that permeated his modest Chicago apartment. Peaks of ricotta among valleys of melted mozzarella that Taeil swore were still actively bubbling despite having endured a long trip. A perfectly browned edge that ran around the pan’s entirety. To finish, a sprinkling of chopped herbs so garden fresh and vividly green that he was sure the leaves were plucked mere moments before the dish left the shop.
Next to the lasagna sat a smaller pan filled to the brim with a picturesque garden salad. Next to that , a bag of greasy garlic knots. This, Taeil often said, was a culinary miracle, a divine treat meant to be savored.
It was also incredibly expensive. Far too rich both in taste and cost for a just-barely-surviving freelance writer, which is why he reserved such dining for truly special occasions, like birthdays or big paydays. Even then, he only indulged in a slice or two, if he was feeling especially indulgent.
So he was certain that Youngho Suh, his best friend of over 11 years and the generous soul who hand delivered the tasty surprise to Taeil on this random Wednesday evening, paid a pretty penny for such a bounty. And considering that the small restaurant needed significant notice to prepare such an order, he was also sure that Youngho left his photography studio early just to make the trip.
So, yes. Youngho definitely wanted something.
Taeil shifted his gaze from the pan to the tall, comfortably dressed man standing on the other side of the dining table. “Why don’t you just tell me what it is you want so that we can enjoy this feast in peace,” Taeil said in lieu of a “thank you.”
Youngho’s confident smile fell, leaving behind a rather childlike dumbstruck expression. If Taeil wasn’t so focused on finding out his friend’s ulterior motives, he might have cooed at the sight.
“Wow, rude,” the taller man huffed while tossing his leather satchel on the nearby couch. “You were just talking about craving this literally two days ago.”
“So you just casually felt like parting with $75 based on a statement I made in passing, is that it?” Taeil made his way to the kitchen behind him and opened the fridge. He eyed the row of dressings tucked into the door’s compartment. “Italian or Green Goddess,” he offered over his shoulder.
“Goddess,” Youngho responded, which didn’t surprise Taeil in the slightest. Green Goddess was Youngho’s favorite, hence the steady supply of it in Taeil’s kitchen. “And is it so hard to believe that I just wanted to do something nice for you?”
Taeil deposited the items onto the dining table. “No, it’s not,” Taeil responded, softening his tone only slightly. “You do lovely things for me all the time.”
“I do,” Youngho nodded resolutely.
“Great. Now that we’ve established that, what do you want?” Taeil smirked as he headed back to the kitchen. Youngho followed, indignant.
“Wow,” he countered as he opened the drawer closest to the fridge and began pulling out utensils while Taeil grabbed plates. “I was so excited to surprise you with your favorite meal and look at how you treat me. No gratitude, just accusations and bad vibes.”
As he made his way back to the table with two small plates and bowls, Taeil used his free hand to pat Youngho’s sweatshirt-clad arm. “You know I’m grateful. Thank you, this is amazing.”
“That’s more like it,” his friend replied, visibly more relaxed and carrying the utensils and the bottle of opened red wine sitting on the nearby counter. “You’re welcome.”
The two returned to the small table. Taeil sat while Youngho divided up the silverware sans a large knife, which he used to cut the lasagna. He served Taeil first, heaping a comically large serving onto Taeil’s tiny plate. Then he served himself a slice that was noticeably smaller, entirely out of alignment with the broad man’s ferocious appetite. Taeil looked up at Youngho thoroughly amused.
“I had a big lunch,” Youngho mumbled with a shrug, answering his friend’s unasked question. “Besides, this dinner is entirely for you. Can you grab me some salad?”
Taeil snorted, but obliged his dinner mate by opening the bag of salad and digging the serving tongs into the garden mix. As he filled the small bowl, Taeil prodded, “So. Before I dig into this...slab of absolute gold, are you sure there isn’t anything you need from me?”
Instead of answering right away, Youngho uncorked the wine—he assumed Taeil only opened it just before his arrival, as he could still see the fresh shreds where the corkscrew entered the surface—and poured his friend a generous glass using the goblets already set on the table. “I require nothing of you, Mr. Moon. I just want to feed you.”
Taeil’s eyebrows quirked upward as he remained silent. He knew Youngho better than the man knew himself at times. He just needed to give him a minute.
When the silence stretched beyond a handful of seconds, Youngho carefully sat down and poured his own glass. “I do have a fun invite for you, though. No pressure.”
“...A fun invite?” Taeil’s eyes narrowed with his growing suspicion. “No pressure, you say?”
“Mmhmm.” Youngho grabbed the fork and ran its tines over the crispy edge, but didn’t exactly dig in. “You know the long weekend is coming up next week, right? Taeyong’s heading over to this insane rental cabin about two hours away. It’s actually more like a mansion, honestly. Plenty of space, hot tub, a garden, a fire pit, you name it. He asked us to come along.”
The offer, while tempting, only raised Taeil’s suspicions. He picked up his own fork and poked at the corner of his large slice. “Did he invite us to come along, or you ?”
“Us,” Youngho emphasized. “He invited us.”
“I find that odd, considering that he doesn’t like me.”
At that, Youngho rolled his eyes. They’ve had this debate far too many times to count and it never progressed anywhere. “What do I have to do to convince you that he adores you? This is beyond ridiculous.”
“Youngho, Taeyong and I have known each other almost as long as you and I have known each other and he has never personally invited me anywhere, despite having literally all of my contact information,” he replied. “He asks you and I happen to be your plus one. That’s not the same.”
“He only goes through me because he knows we’re together all the time,” Youngho says, wagging his fork around. “He understands the message will get to you through me. What’s the point of calling you too?”
“It’s simple manners to directly invite those you want to see. We’re not in college anymore. Etiquette is different now.”
“Well, you can tell him all this yourself at the cabin,” Youngho insisted with a smirk. “C’mon, it’ll be great.”
With that, Taeil finally dug into his meal. “Who’s going? Doyoung, I presume?”
“Obviously,” Youngho confirmed before stabbing his own lasagna slice. Taeyong rarely does anything without his fiance. “And Jaehyun is coming with Jungwoo. Ten’s also coming, but not until early Sunday morning since he has to throw his sister a baby shower.”
Taeil narrowed his eyes once more. “And he’ll bring Hendery?”
Without looking up, Youngho stuffed his first bite into his mouth and attempted to talk. “Mehbr. I gesh.”
“Hmph. And how long have they been dating?”
Taeil noticed his friend glance off to the side. “A few months, give or take.”
Ah. Now Taeil understood.
Taeyong and Doyoung.
Jaehyun and Jungwoo.
And Ten and Hendery to follow.
“So this is a couples’ thing,” Taeil concluded out loud.
Youngho immediately returned his gaze forward. “No no, let’s not call it that.”
“Well, that’s a lot of couples, Youngho.”
“It’s not a ‘couples' thing,’ Taeil. It’s a thing that a few of our coincidentally coupled-up friends just happen to be attending.”
Taeil tilted his head challengingly. “Great! So you should have an awesome time, then. You don’t need me there.”
He could tell that he had successfully called Youngho’s bluff as he watched his last remaining bit of confidence drain from his body. “Come on, I don’t want to be a seventh wheel.”
“And there it is.”
“Taeil.”
“Of course you want to butter me with lasagna,” Taeil said almost triumphantly. “Who else would help you endure something as insufferable as a couples retreat ?”
“Oh come on, it’s not a retreat,” Youngho insisted. “It’s just a super chill getaway with a few good friends. Still, it’ll be weird if I show up alone.”
“I definitely don’t have the cash to stay in a mansion right now, Suh, even if it’s split eight ways or whatever.”
“Who said you had to pay anything? Our share wouldn’t cost that much at all, I’ve got it.” Taeil quietly huffed. Though he got by just fine, he had to live pretty modestly, leaving Youngho to foot the bill often. The younger friend never mentioned it, but Taeil really hated it.
“Youngho-”
“Remember what you said last week, about wanting to get away for a couple of days to write,” Youngho interjected with a point of his fork. “A change of scenery would be great for you, I’m always saying that.”
Rather than respond to his friend’s very correct point, Taeil finally took a bite of his dinner. Somehow, the cooled dish tasted even better than he remembered. It also had a distinct calming effect. Youngho,Taeil thought silently, really knew how to choose his bribes.
His face must have telecasted his brief moment of euphoria, for Youngho’s expression turned smug. “Delicious, right?”
“Mmm,” Taeil swallowed before pointing his own fork. “Don’t change the subject. Why should I go on this trip? Seriously.”
“So many reasons!” Youngho dropped his fork on the table with a dulled clang. “For starters, I’m pretty sure Jae is gonna propose to Woo at the cabin. We definitely want to be there for them, right?”
Taeil didn’t feel a need to respond. Everyone held a soft spot for the lovely pair, and the writer was particularly close with Jungwoo, the youngest of their group of friends outside of Youngho’s cousin Mark and his boyfriend, Haechan. He’d naturally want to be there for the big moment.
“Also, this would be a great time for you to get a little closer with Taeyong, who does like you , by the way,” Youngho continued before Taeil could form a rebuttal. “And when was the last time we went on an adventure together? When was the last time that we left our apartment building or did something other than drink at The Mongoose or go to the movies?”
“Hey, don’t knock our movie nights,” Taeil warned as he took a sip of wine. “I love our movie nights.”
At that, Youngho reached across the table and placed his free hand on Taeil’s, lightly cuffing his hold around Taeil’s slender fingers. “Hey, I do too,” he assured. “I just want to spend as much time with you before we expand the studio. With Jaemin ready to take on more responsibility here, I’m going to be on location far more until I can expand the team. I won’t be able to pop across the hall nearly as much.”
Though he tried not to let his attention veer off the topic, it was hard for Taeil to reject the warmth he felt at the thought of Youngho growing his business, which he’d been working towards since taking the leap to open his own studio three years prior. He adjusted their linked hands so that he could weave his fingers through his friend’s. “Excited?”
Youngho nodded. “And nervous. But I’m ready.”
“I’m really proud of you, you know?” Taeil heard the tenderness in his own voice, but failed to feel any sort of embarrassment by it.
“Thank you. Don’t change the subject,” Youngho said with a soft smile, matching his best friend’s gentle demeanor. They both chuckled.
Taeil wanted to continue debating, but he knew when he was beat. Spending more time with Youngho would be pretty nice, and he needed to get away for just a little while, potential awkwardness aside.
“Just curious,” Taeil prodded. “When would we leave?”
“I couldn’t leave earlier than four next Friday, so I’d pick you up at four-thirty and we could hit the road immediately after,” Youngho explained. “We’d be the last to arrive, but not by much. And we’d leave around one PM on the following Monday and have a final brunch before we split off.”
“So four-ish days, three nights?”
“Four-ish days, three nights, yes,” Youngho confirmed.
Taeil gave a defeated sigh. “Ugh, that’s so much packing.”
“I could do that for you too, if you’d like,” Youngho offered with a slick smile.
“No, I can manage, thank you,” Taeil responded with one last squeeze of his friend’s hand before letting go and returning to his meal. “Plus, I don’t need you making fun of my pajamas.”
“I would never.” With that, both men dug into their plates in earnest. Before taking another bite, Youngho added, “Thank you. It’ll be fun!”
Taeil snorted. He wasn’t totally convinced, but he did enjoy making Youngho happy. “I’m sure it will be.”