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Night time has arrived. The star filled sky lights up the city once again.
At the dorms, the members are sound asleep, quietly wrapped up in their bunk beds. Hao however, can't seem to close his eyes, all his efforts to force himself to fall asleep leed to nothing. As if his insomnia isn't bad enough as it is, the immense anxiety from their recent schedules has made it much worst for him.
Just as he's about to close his eyes once more, hoping this time, it will somehow magically make him fall asleep, he hears a sweet hum that he reconizes coming from down the hallways. He quietly unwraps himself from his white silk blanket hoping to not wake the others.
The warm scent of cinammon could be smelled throughout the first floor, he follows it, which slowly leads him to the kitchen.
The kitchen, filled with an orange light from the small candle lighting up the room smelled like vanilla and pumking. Gia, Matthew's cat, was walking up and the down the room. Hao crouches down to meet it's eye level.
"Hey little one", he whispers. "What are you doing out here so late?"
As he's about to pet the cat, a familiar voice calls out his name.
"Hao hyung? Is that you?"
Hao gets up, recognizing the voice right away.
"Oh Bin-ah, i didn't see you there."
Hanbin, stirring up something on the counter top, looks back at Hao. He smiles softly at him and wipes his hands on his apron. It was so dark in the room Hao had to take a few steps closer to probably trace his facial features.
"Sorry, did the smell of my cooking wake you up?", Hanbin asks, his voice as delicate as always.
"No no, its just my insomina."
Hao notices the bowl Hanbin is stirring ingredients in. His curiosity taking the best of him, he asks "Say, what are you making?"
"Take a guess."
Hao looks around. On the kicthen counter : cinnamon, vanilla, a rolling pin, yeast...more cinnamon. The oven was on, a familiar scent coming from it makes him guess the pastry rigth away.
"Cinnamon rolls?"
Hanbin nods. "They're for tomorow's breakfast."
Hanbin has the kindest soul. Always making sure his members have proper meals. He made it his mission to make them as many homecooked dishes and pastries he can to give them a little feeling of home. Especially to their foreign members, who didnt get the opportunity to visit their homelands often.
Hanbin continues mixing the glaze that he will later coat over the rolls. Hao stands there, like a curious puppy wanting to try everything he sees. Hanbin notices and hands him the wisk.
"Here take it, I'll show you how its done."
Following his proposal, Hao takes the wisks from his hand and slowly starts mixing the glaze mixture. Hanbin walks behind Hao and gently places his hand on his, guiding his hand holding the wisk. Like Hanbin asks, Hao adds in powdered sugar and vanilla to the bowl. Hanbin leans towards Hao's ear, and whispers to him.
"And now for my secret ingredient, pecan syrup."
Like instructed, Hao adds in the syrup. The smell of the glaze brought comfort him, and reminded him of home. Of all the time Hanbin would spend his days in the dorm's kitchen, while he would quietly sit on the dining table admiring him from afar.
"You're good at this", Hanbin comments, letting go of Hao's hand allowing him to wisk the rest on his own.
"Thank you", he replies, his cheeks turning red.
Hao lets go of the whisk and turns around to face Hanbin. He leans back against the kitchen counter, his eyes fixed on him. Hanbin steps in closer, hands settling on either side of the counter, quietly enclosing Hao in his space.
"Could we bake together sometimes?", Hao asks.
"Of course, I'll teach you anything you want. What do you wanna make?"
Hao lightly grips onto Hanbin's apron, fidgeting with its loose threads.
"I've been craving punking pie lately."
"Then we'll make exactly that."
Hanbin extends his arm to push the bowls of ingredients to the side. With an effortless grace, he gently lifts Hao onto the kitchen counter as if he weights nothing. His gaze lingering on his with subtle admiration the entire time. Now seated, Hao feels warmth rise to his cheeks, a shy blush giving him away.
The space between them narrows, warm and intentional, as Hanbin quietly cages Hao in with affection. With Hao being sat on the tall counter, he now towered over Hanbin. Their eyes still locked on one another, Hanbin pulls on the drawer to their right, and brings out a small spoon. Curious to know what Hao thinks of the glaze mixture, he reaches for a small amount in the big red bowl, and offers him a taste.
"How is it?", Hanbin asks quietly. His eyes soft and intent, dark brown and glowing as they remain fixed on Hao, attentive to every subtle change in his expressions.
That intense eye contact. That's something Hao is used to by now. It would usally make him nervous, but something about the air in the room just made him feel at ease.
"It's tastes wonderful", he replies, so softly that if Hanbin wasn't paying immense attention on him, he wouldn't have heard it.
Noticing the bit of glaze left behind on the corner Hao's plumb lips, he delicately wipes it off with his thumb, licking the rest of the glaze off his finger without thinking. Due to Hanbin spending all his days in the kitchen, Hao could smell the cinnamon, vanilla, pumking, and all other fall like ingredients all over him. That scent brought much more comfort to him than he had initially realized.
Gia, third wheeling the scene, roams around the counter, his paw accidentally hitting one of the buttons of the boombox radio placed near the scented candles. A cozy melody starts playing from the device, a slow jazz song, just like the ones Hanbin used to play when he baked back at the dorms. The jazz melody fills up silence. As Hao continues to gently grip onto Hanbin's aprons, he suddenly looks down at the floor, as if he feels guilty of something. Hanbin immediately notices and tries to catche his gaze, gentle lifting his chin with his finger to make them lock eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Bin-ah..."
"Mhm?"
"I can't seem to fall asleep nowadays, it's driving me insane."
Hanbin quickly fixes his posture, ready to hear his friends concerns.
"Yea...i wondered why you were up this late. Didn't Gyuvin buy you medicin for your insomina a few days ago? Why didn't you try them?"
"I did, but their not strong enough. The pills i usally get are in a the pharmacy out of town. It's a 50 minutes drive just to get there...i can't ask him to go all the way that far for me."
Hao looks away, his eyes facing the floor again.
"So what if its 50 minutes away Hao? You haven't been getting enough rest lately, you need you're good night sleep just like the rest of us."
Hao, who keeps fidgeting with Hanbin's apron, accidentally pulls on it to harshly, pulling him even closer his chest. He whispers an apology.
"Oh sorry i didn't mean too—"
Hanbin let's out a chuckle, admiring how adorable Hao looks just now, his red lips pounty as usual, and his light brown doe eyes as sparking and hypnotizing as ever.
"It's okay."
The space between them was practically not existence at that point. They could hear each others breathings, feel the warmth of it mingling in the closed space between them, and for a fleeting moment, the rest of the world seemed to not matter at all.
Hanbin wraps his arms around Hao's waist once more, reflecting on his tone of voice before starting his speech.
"Hey, we'll go get you're medicin tomorrow. If i have to drive 50 mintues to get there that's the least of my worries, as long as you have what you need. Don't worry about that okay?"
His tone of voice was gentle and reassuring. Hao finally looks up at him again, thanking him.
Gia walks by the candles, the wind of his steps blowing the fire of the off of it. The room goes dark, both their faces barely traceable.
They end up talking for hours, right there on the edge of that kitchen counter. They talk about everything and anything : their goals, their recent stories, their concerns, their worries—everything. Talking about difficult subjects becomes much easier when the room is dark. Though they can't quite decode each others features, they still feel each others presence, hear each other heartbeats, and savore the melody of each others voices. After a few minutes, Hao falls asleep, still wrapped around Hanbins arm.
Who needs medicin when Hanbin's presence could so easily put him in a deep sleep?
Hanbin carries him all the way back to his room, holding him tightly in his arms with a tenderness that makes Hao seem weightless. He tucks him gently into his silk sheets, strolling a strand of Hao's burgundy hair behind his ears, his fingers tracing softly over his skin. With a whisper, Hanbin leans down, his breath warm against Hao’s ear as he whispers, “sweet dreams”. The softness in his voice wraps him around like a protective embrace, gifting him a proper good night sleep, one that was much needed. Hanbin walks back to the kitchen and quietly finalizes his pastry, delicately finishing off his cinnamon rolls with extra care, determined to serve Hao a delicious morning breaksfast.