6/25/18
Yoongi stepped out onto his porch and closed the door behind him. A gust of June air blew through the field and swept Yoongi’s untrimmed locks up off his forehead. He was definitely going to need a haircut. He swung his empty hands loosely by his side while he walked down his porch steps. He probably should’ve gotten Jimin something as a thank you. What would he have gotten him? A new pasta dish maybe? Yoongi sighed, it was too late for that now. His excitement continued to bubble as he stepped off the last stair on his porch. He was finally going to the boy next door’s house. Not to mention Jimin was going to be teaching him something. He could only wonder what that would be. What was Jimin good at? Even if he did know, it was long gone from his memory bank. Yoongi stepped out amidst the tall grass in between his and Jimin’s houses. The grass whipped against his legs, a feeling Yoongi loved.
He had trouble that morning on deciding if he should wear tight jeans that showed off his thighs or shorts that held that Yoongi charm that he'd been known for in high school. Well, he was known by the minority for it. He had always been proud of his shorts charm, even if his father wasn't. Shorts made him look like an outdoorsman, which he was and the dirt stains that painted them implied he dabbled with plants. His father hated his shorts. He had tried on more than one occasion to throw them out, only to be fished out of the black garbage cans by Yoongi's greedy, reliant hands. However, Yoongi thought he had made the right decision by not wearing them. He wanted to recreate his charm, replace what he was known for in highschool with what he's known for by someone just as important. He didn't need dirt stained shorts for Jimin to think of him as a plant lover. He just needed to be himself.
Yoongi stepped up on to Jimin's porch and knocked softly on the door. Yoongi glanced down at the palm of his hand where he had written, ‘You’re there for Jimin's surprise, dummy!’ and then back up at the door. It had become a habit to write his intent on the palm of his hand if it was unlikely he'd remember it. Jimin answered the door with an excited, mischievous grin spread across his face.
“Yoongi Hyung!”
“Jimin! I've been looking forward to what your going to teach me today.”
“You remembered?”
Yoongi lifted his hand up to show Jimin, who's mouth shifted into an ‘O’ shape before stepping aside to let the older in. Yoongi looked around the part of the house that was visible from the door area. It was definitely different from his house. A much larger kitchen with a living room dining room combination instead of separate rooms like his. Yoongi looked over at Jimin who was gesturing for him to follow him into the kitchen. Yoongi complied.
“So, we're in the kitchen today, huh?”
“Yep! I was thinking I could teach you how to make some proper food.”
“Are you insulting my Chef Boyardee?”
“Pfft, what? No..” Jimin scoffed.
Yoongi narrowed his eyes, “You're lucky I'm hungry.”
Jimin raised his hands up slightly in surrender.
“So, what are we making today?”
Jimin pulled the pita bread out of the cabinet and set it on the counter, “Pita pizzas!” Jimin leaned into his fridge, “Do you like pepperoni on your pizza?”
“Absolutely.”
Jimin set all the refrigerated items on the counter and pulled out two pans and put a piece of pita on each. He twisted open the pizza sauce jar lid and grabbed two spoons from a nearby drawer.
“Okay, so first step.” Jimin poured a large dollop of sauce on each of the pitas. “Put sauce on the pita and spread it around using a spoon.” Jimin handed Yoongi his spoon and spread the sauce around in circular motions as demonstration before smiling proudly as Yoongi did the same. “Second,” Jimin pulled a handful of shredded mozzarella out of the bag and handed it to Yoongi, “Cheese!” Yoongi grinned and sprinkled his pizza with the cheese and laughed as Jimin recreated the salt bae meme with his cheese. Jimin opened the bag of pepperonis and Yoongi gladly took around seven out and gently layered them onto his pita.
“Just cheese?” Yoongi asked.
“Just cheese.” Jimin responded.
“Man, you really are boring.” Jimin swatted at Yoongi.
“How long will they be in the oven for?” Yoongi asked as Jimin opened the preheated oven and grabbed the pita pans.
“Um, five, ten minutes maybe.”
Yoongi hummed and followed Jimin into the living room.
“You've got a nice house.”
“Thanks.” Jimin scanned the room. “It is pretty nice.”
Yoongi walked over to Jimin's fireplace mantle, which was coated in family photos. A young Jimin and a boy that looked younger than him and their mom and dad all grouped together with bright smiles on their faces. Family photos weren't common in Yoongi's house. Especially ones where they were smiling. “You're family looks really nice, too.”
“Thank you.” Jimin joined Yoongi by the mantle. He pointed at the younger boy who always seemed to be glued to Jimin's side in the photos. “That's my brother, Jihyun. We were really close. I think my moving to Seoul pushed us apart a little. I don't see him that often.”
“I don't see my family often either.” Yoongi mumbled. “You know, if you have his phone number, you should try calling him some time. I think it'd be nice for you two to reconnect. You just seem so close in the photos.”
Jimin hummed. He let out a small laugh as Yoongi looked at a picture of Jihyun and him with chocolate birthday cake spread all over their lower faces. “That was taken at Jihyun's birthday party one year. He had demanded chocolate cake and we made this super huge mess with it. Mom was furious.” Yoongi laughed. “What were your birthday parties like?”
Yoongi sighed, “I only had birthday parties up until I was eight. After that, they thought I was too old to have birthday parties, let alone a cake.”
“What?! You're never too old to have birthday parties.” Jimin nearly shouted. “No cake either?”
Yoongi shook his head.
“That's it, we're making you a cake.”
“What?”
“We're making you a cake.”
“You don't have to.”
“No, no, I want to. You've gone, what? Seventeen years without a cake on your birthday? You deserve a cake.”
“But it's not even my birthday.”
“So?” Jimin pulled the finished pitas out of the oven and set them on the cooling rack. “When is your birthday?”
“March 9th.”
“Then we'll make a cake then too.”
Jimin pulled a red box out of a cabinet that had a picture of a slice of vanilla cake on the front and set it on the counter. Yoongi picked it up and grinned.
“What are you grinning at?” Jimin asked.
“You said you didn't have any instant food in your house.”
“Out of all things, you remembered that?”
Yoongi shrugged, “My memory's very selective. Now about this instant cake-”
“I cook, not bake. I'm crap at baking.”
“Excuses, excuses.”
“Do you want this cake or not?”
Yoongi closed his mouth.
“That's what I thought.” Jimin smiled as he tore open the box and cut a slit in the pouch inside. He pulled out a mixing bowl from a cabinet under his island and poured the powder in. “We need eggs, right? Milk too?” Jimin mumbled, more to himself than anyone else as he checked the back of the cake box. Jimin handed Yoongi the eggs that were needed. “Crack em and put em in.” Yoongi followed orders while Jimin measured the milk. After putting everything in, Jimin pulled out a mixer and began mixing. Once he was done, Yoongi stuck his finger into the batter and raised it towards his tongue. “Yoongi, don't!” Yoongi licked the batter off. Jimin groaned, “You could get Salmonella from that!”
“What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.” Yoongi said as he took another finger full.
Forgetting he had batter on his finger, he booped Jimin's nose after seeing his aggravated expression, leaving a little yellow clump on Jimin's nose. Yoongi bit his lip as he looked at Jimin, trying his hardest not to laugh at the already irritated boy. Jimin mischievously grinned and took a little bit of batter and spread it down Yoongi's face before he could move. Yoongi laughed and rubbed some of the batter off his face and chased Jimin, whom had run away after putting batter on Yoongi's face, around the kitchen.
“I'm gonna catch you, you munchkin!”
“We're the same height, Hyung!” Jimin screeched as he dove away from an attack. “You get me, I'm gonna get you!”
“Nuh uh! I'm taller! I'm definitely getting you, your threats don't scare me!”
“By like a centimeter, maybe! My threats should scare you!”
“Well, they don't!” Yoongi landed some of the batter on Jimin's forehead.
Jimin touched the bit of batter and looked with a glare that could kill at Yoongi who was becoming increasingly more scared and frozen in place. “You're dead, Min Yoongi.”
Yoongi shrieked as Jimin grabbed a giant glob of batter from the mixing bowl and got into a position where he could easily hurl it. Yoongi dove out the front door and hid around the side of the house. He tried to catch his breath, but ended up sounding more panicked as the door opened and closed. He edged closer to the corner of the house and peered around to try and catch a glance of Jimin. He saw him walking towards the opposite side of the house and Yoongi let out a sigh of relief. He quickly moved to the other corner and waited for Jimin's arrival. When Jimin didn't show up, Yoongi's eyes widened. He slowly turned around to see a grinning Jimin holding the glob above him. Yoongi let out a scream before the glob clobbered him to the ground. Jimin looked in concern at Yoongi who hadn't made any noise since he screamed. Yoongi scared Jimin by coughing and then letting out a fit of laughter.
“So much for making a cake.” Yoongi coughed out as he sat up and tried to get as much batter as he could off of him.
Jimin joined in on the laughing and helped Yoongi up.
“Gosh, I need a shower.” Yoongi said as he looked himself up and down.
“Yes, yes you do.” Jimin smiled.
Jimin left Yoongi on the porch before going inside and grabbing Yoongi's pita pizza and wrapping it in tin foil along with a small recipe card. He handed the two things off to Yoongi and smiled, “Tell me what you think once you eat it.” He tapped the recipe card lightly, “Here's the recipe too, so you can make it whenever you want. It also has my phone number on it so we can talk more.” Jimin winked.
“Thank you, Jimin. I had a ton of fun.” Yoongi said as he removed a clump of batter from his hair.
“Me too. We should cook together more often.”
Yoongi nodded before stepping off the porch, “Well, I'd better go shower, I don't want this stuff drying in my hair.”
“I'll see you later, Hyung!”
“See you!” Yoongi called as he started his trek up to his house.
Jimin smiled before going inside his house and looking nervously at his phone. He picked it up and entered the all too familiar number and hit call. The line rang for a moment or two and Jimin's fingers which had been playing with the Hem of his shirt froze as he heard the voice on the other line greet him.
Jimin bit his lip and answered the greeting, “Hi, Jihyun.”
Word Count: 2000