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“Good morning, Chu Sangchoo,” Yuna greets as she drops unceremoniously on the chair across from him. “As usual, you’re here bright and early.”
“Good morning, Choi Yoochae.” Sangwoo checks his watch and shoots her a pointed look. “As usual, you are fifteen minutes late. I’m starting to think that you do this on purpose.”
She clicks her tongue and snaps her fingers. “Damn. You got me.”
With a huff, he pushes the cinnamon roll and the latte she asked him to order closer to her side of the table. “If you are going to invite someone to join you for breakfast, then you should consider arriving at the time agreed upon,” he chastises without any real bite to it. “If I had known that you were going to be this late, I would have opted to eat with Jaeyoung-hyung instead. He was making breakfast as I was getting ready to leave.”
“You really weren’t kidding when you said he took over your kitchen, huh?”
“It’s for the best.” Sangwoo picks at his own blueberry muffin and purses his lips. “He could be extremely successful if he ever chose to switch careers and become a professional chef. Everything he has made for me so far is delicious.”
Yuna nods solemnly in agreement. “I’d say you’re biased, but I’m gonna have to agree with you on this one. His cooking is fucking divine,” she says with conviction. Her brow furrows for a moment. She perks up quickly, jabbing her fork in his direction and smiling, her eyes twinkling with something akin to mischief. “Actually, since we’re on the topic... I need your help with something.”
“I don’t like the sound of this.”
“Relax, I’m not going to ask you to do anything untoward.”
Only mildly reassured, he questions, “What is it, then?”
“Nobody makes yangnyeom-tongdak better than your boyfriend does, let’s get that out of the way first. Forget all the chicken shops, this guy is where it’s at. I won’t accept any objections.” Yuna purses her lips. “But he hasn’t made it for me and Tak in a while. We’re seriously going through withdrawals. So we asked about it last week, and he just told us he’d think about it.”
His brows lift. “How do you expect me to help you with that?”
She snaps her fingers and grins broadly. “I’m glad you asked, Chu Sangchoo!” she crows victoriously. “Jaeyoung literally cannot and will never say no to you, so I want you to ask him to make yangnyeom-tongdak for us tonight.”
“You and Hyeongtak have been his friends since you were all teenagers. If he refused both of you, then the likelihood of him refusing me is significantly higher.”
Although... he really can’t remember the last time a request he made was refused. Jaeyoung is usually very compliant when he makes a request of any kind, especially when he asks politely.
Yuna must be aware of this, for she barks out a laugh and shakes her head, “Nope. You’re his cute little boyfriend, and you have him wrapped around your finger. You could ask literally anything of him and he’d never deny you. All you have to do is give him a pleading look and call him hyung, and you’ll have it.”
“That can’t be true,” he scoffs. Jaeyoung surely isn’t so spineless that he would bend to Sangwoo’s every whim. He has lines and boundaries, too, like everyone else does. It is logically impossible for there to be nothing that Sangwoo can ask that he would say no to. There has to be something.
Rolling her eyes, Yuna finally takes a bite of her cinnamon roll and chases it down with a sip from her latte, and both seem to meet her standards, for she hums and nods her head aggressively. Sangwoo assumes that this will not be the last time he is dragged by Yuna to this particular café, but as he nibbles on a piece of his muffin, he agrees that it isn’t bad at all. If Jaeyoung hasn’t already come here, he might bring him here for a date one of these days.
“Let’s test it, then,” Yuna suggests with a challenging glint in her eye. She extends her hand. “If I’m right, you’re paying for both of us the next time we go out to eat together.”
Sangwoo eyes her outstretched hand warily before slowly extending his own. “Fine. But if you’re wrong, you will pay for both of us next time.”
“I already know I’m right, but,” she takes his hand and shakes it firmly, “you’ve got yourself a deal, Chu Sangchoo.”
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
Hyeongtak pops the question first.
It’s just the four of them in the studio this evening. Jaeyoung and Sangwoo spent most of the afternoon working on their game while Yuna and Hyeongtak finished up some assignments for their classes. The topic of dinner has come up, with them all collectively agreeing to get something together. It’s then that Hyeongtak gives Jaeyoung a look, rounding his eyes and jutting out his lower lip.
“Hyung, can you pleeeeeease make yangnyeom-tongdak for us? Pretty please?”
Jaeyoung purses his lips. “Maybe some other time,” he says, which isn’t exactly a no, but it nonetheless does very little to mollify a sulking Hyeongtak. “Yah, don’t look at me like that. I’m lazy. It’d be easier to go to a nearby restaurant tonight.”
Yuna huffs at him. “Lazy fucking bum.”
He flashes a bright smile at her. “Thank you!”
“Logically, he is correct in that it would be easier to go to a nearby restaurant for dinner tonight,” Sangwoo pipes up, prompting Yuna to glare at him instead. He presses on. “If we all leave the studio and go home now, none of us will want to come back and resume working. If we grab dinner at a nearby restaurant, we won’t go too far from the studio, so we will feel more inclined to come back and continue our respective tasks.”
“Sangchoo,” Yuna huffs. Right, they made a bet earlier.
“But,” he amends, looking at Jaeyoung, “you never made yangnyeom-tongdak for me before. Yoochae-noona mentioned earlier that it is really good, so I would like to try it.”
Jaeyoung hums. “The way I make it will be too spicy for you, baby.”
“Please, hyung,” Sangwoo utters softly, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’d like to try it.”
A beat of silence passes. A mystified Jaeyoung stares at him with parted lips and wide eyes as red tinges the tips of his ears. Yuna and Hyeongtak both lean forward in their seats, the former with a smug glint in her eyes and the latter with a hopeful twinkle in his. Sangwoo gives Jaeyoung’s hand another gentle squeeze and watches with mild fascination as a roaring blush rapidly spreads across his cheeks. He collapses against the backrest of his chair and tilts his head back, releasing a shaky sigh.
“Fuck,” he breathes. Louder, he relents, “Okay. Okay, fine.”
“Oh,” Sangwoo says softly, “you were right, noona.”
“I fucking told you so!” Yuna hollers with a thrilled guffaw. “He can’t say no to you. You knocked him out in one hit with your killer move. He didn’t stand a chance. And now you, my sweet little Chu Sangchoo, will be treating me next time we go out.”
Hyeongtak looks between them with raised eyebrows. “Did you two bet on this or something?” he wonders.
“Yes,” Yuna chirps as Sangwoo sighs, “Unfortunately, we did.”
“Seriously?” Jaeyoung scowls at them both. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“If you seriously thought I wouldn’t use your weakness against you, that’s on you.” Yuna gleefully powers off her computer. “Now get your ass up and let’s get out of here. I’m fucking starving, and that chicken isn’t gonna cook itself.”
· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·
“Hyung,” Sangwoo voices once Yuna and Hyeongtak leave after having their appetites satiated and helping with the cleanup, “can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” Jaeyoung locks his tablet and lifts his head, giving Sangwoo his undivided attention at once. To this day, it still makes Sangwoo internally melt into a puddle of goo. “What’s up?”
“This morning, while Yoochae-noona and I were having breakfast together, she mentioned that I could ask anything of you and that you would never say no as long as I called you “hyung” and gave you a pleading look,” he recounts thoughtfully. He reaches for Jaeyoung’s hand and intertwines their fingers. “And that made me realize that it isn’t often where you deny me of something I’ve asked for. Today is another example of that. You brushed off Yoochae-noona and Hyeongtak’s request and told them you’d make it another time, but as soon as I asked, you agreed immediately.”
“Is that what this is about?” Jaeyoung hums. “Don’t worry, I’ve spoiled those two stupid on a regular basis for as long as I’ve known them. And contrary to what Yuna might’ve led you to believe, I made yangnyeom-tongdak for them literally the week before they started begging for it. A while to them is a week to anyone else.”
“Oh.” That is true. They both can be dramatic and impatient, especially when it comes to the things they want the most. He should have known. “Then why didn’t you agree to make it again sooner?”
“Number one, I really was lazy. Number two, it’s funny to see how far they’d go for some chicken.”
“That isn’t nice, hyung,” Sangwoo chastises with a huff. “It was really good chicken. You shouldn’t deny anyone that, least of all your closest friends.”
“Thank you, baby.” A kiss is pressed to the apple of his cheek. “I like to give them a hard time because it’s fun, but they know I’d give them the world if they asked for it. They would’ve gotten their chicken sooner rather than later. I probably would’ve made it for them over the weekend if none of us were busy.”
“Then why did you agree right away when I asked? I could have waited until the weekend. We all could have.”
An incredulous laugh escapes Jaeyoung’s lips. “With the way you looked at me? The way your voice sounded when you spoke? Yuna’s right, baby, that’s your killer move. You’re crazy if you think I could actually say no to you when faced with that.”
“I think you’ve become far too compliant and giving when it concerns me.”
“Oh,” Jaeyoung says with understanding. “That’s what this is about.”
Sangwoo nods.
“Are you worried that I’ll say yes to something that I don’t want to do just to make you happy?”
“Yes,” he answers with a sigh, slumping against Jaeyoung’s side. “I didn’t think about it much before, but now that your inability to refuse me has been brought to my attention, I can’t help but wor—”
“I’ll stop you right there, then.” He pouts a little at the interruption, but Jaeyoung placates him with a sweet kiss. “I don’t deny you much because you’ve yet to ask anything unreasonable of me. You’re well aware of my boundaries and what makes me uncomfortable, so you seldom ask me anything I’d actually say no to.”
“That’s true. If the probability of you agreeing to something is low, then I usually won’t bother asking about it.”
“See? I’m not spineless. If you asked me to do something I seriously did not want to do, I would say no even if you begged.” Jaeyoung pauses, blushes, then backtracks a little, “Well... Actually, I might say yes if you begged.”
Sangwoo gives him a flat look. “Hyung.”
“What can I say?” Jaeyoung purrs, leaning in close to nibble at the shell of his ear. “I just love a good boy who begs.”
“Hyung!”