When Sumin woke up, she wasn't expecting to be greeted by the smell of breakfast.

Panicked despite the rather lovely scents, Sumin practically fell out of bed trying to untangle herself from the blankets. She threw the door open, wondering who broke into her house to cook for her.

She was met with the sight of a familiar back, now wrapped in a black tanktop instead of a plastic zip-up. The red sweatpants didn't go anywhere, though.

"Taerae?" Sumin asked, her voice groggy and eyes squinted from sleep.

The said boy turned over his shoulder, spatula in hand with a large smile. "Sumin! Good morning."

She looked around the kitchen, blinking rapidly to see if the mess before her eyes would magically disappear. Taerae grinned at her expression. "I'm glad you gave me good cooking skills! But cleaning was never in my character design, so..."

Sumin scoffed out a laugh and rubbed her forehead as she stepped toward the kitchen. "Well, lucky for us, it's in mine."

The kitchen smelled like melted butter and cinnamon, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what he was making.

"French Toast?" Sumin asked, leaning close to peer over Taerae's shoulder and look at the stove. He chuckled, and the girl jumped back when she realized they'd practically been touching.

He glanced over at her with his intoxicating smile. "What, you don't like French Toast?"

"I never said that..."

When the sound of sizzling became the only thing Sumin could hear, she cleared her throat and began collecting the utensils Taerae was no longer using. "Is it weird for me to say that this reminds me of Toy Story?"

Taerae made a brief sound before bursting into laughter, his hand falling onto his stomach comically. "I'd rather be compared to a toy than a thief or a stalker, so no, not weird at all."

Sumin's cheeks began to ache from smiling. She couldn't remember the last time she smiled for this long.

"Why'd you get quiet?" Taerae asked with a faint hint of nervousness in his voice. "I was joking about the thief thing."

Shaking her head, Sumin went back to scrubbing the pot in her sink. "It's not that. Just... thinking."

"Thinking?"

She hummed in response, half expecting Taerae to quiet down then, but she was wrong for getting her hopes up.

"About what?" He asked fairly innocently, but Sumin still let out a sign. "Nothing, don't worry about it. The French Toast smells good."

If Taerae wanted to call her out for avoiding him, he didn't. Instead, he finished their breakfast while humming a quiet tune before bringing the entire pan over to where Sumin had set their spots up.

After serving themselves, Taerae's eyes brightened with an idea. "Okay, this has nothing to do with breakfast, but listen."

Sumin nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"So, we're both wondering why I'm really here, right? I'm supposed to help you, but with what? Eating a balanced..." he paused to look at their table full of sugar. "Meal?"

"You lost me."

"Okay, wait, let me try again," Taerae seemed genuine, but Sumin had no idea what he was talking about. So, she let her head tip slightly to the side and raised a brow. "Maybe whatever sent you meant emotional help or something."

Taerae's eyes widened. "Are you okay? Are you having bad thoughts?"

"What? No, that's not what I meant!" Sumin exclaimed with the shake of her head. You're making a fool of yourself, bae. "I'm not saying I need it! Maybe it just looked like I do because I prefer to be alone at school."

The boy pondered for a moment before flashing a small, dimply smile. "Maybe you just needed a friend."

Sumin let out a soulless chuckle to cover up the blush on her cheeks. "Yeah, whatever. Are we supposed to be friends, now?"

"So you allow every random boy who approaches you to stay at your house and make breakfast for you?"

"What if I do?"

"Then I'm the one who needs to be afraid here."

That forced a laugh from Sumin, one Taerae hadn't heard yet. It was strange and short lived, but the girl's face beamed bright red the second it stopped.

"Yeah, whatever," she said with an awkward sniffle, trying to change the topic. "You're a good cook."

Taerae grinned and stabbed at his toast. "Yep. All thanks to you." Sumin brushed him off and continued eating.

When both adults finished, Taerae helped collect the dirtied dishes and brought them to the sink where Sumin had already begun scrubbing.

"Need a hand? You didn't make me as clumsy as Junhyeon, thank god." The boy joked with a smile, but Sumin only shook her head.

"No thanks. You can get dressed."

Taerae raised a brow. "Huh? Where are we going?"

"You'll see. It isn't anywhere you haven't already been."

Suspicious, the boy's narrowed eyes remained on the girl as he continued tidying up. "You're not going to drop me off somewhere and leave, right? Because I will be heartbroken if you do that."

"How do we know it won't get you back to Dohee?" Sumin joked back, surprised to turn and find Taerae's eyes glued to her form.

"We don't," he said, his voice hollow. "But I don't think I can do this on my own."

Sumin placed a now clean plate on the drying rack and spun so that she was facing Taerae. "I won't 'drop you off' somewhere." She deepened her voice to mimic his and let her expression soften when he smiled. "Trust me, okay?"

He was quiet, but only for a moment before looking up to meet her eyes. "Okay."

"And no more solid colored jump suits."

"What?!"

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