Letters On Our Skin || BangChan

13

I sit in my car, Chan in the passenger seat, Felix in the back. None of us are talking. It's been quiet for minutes on end.
"I'm jobless," I finally say. "I just got fired."
Felix meets my eyes in the rear view mirror.
"I can't believe you worked in a casino," Chan says from beside me.
I sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you. I was just so ashamed. I never meant to lie to you."
I rub my hands over my face and through my hair. I continue, "I hated working there but I needed the money. It paid my bills, so a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. I-..."
"You don't need to explain this to us," Felix said from the backseat and bends forward between the front seats. I turn my face towards him and he kisses my forehead.
"We're your friends, Ollie. We would never judge you for the choices you make to have a decent life. Even if you liked working there, it would have been your choice and we respect that. It's your decision and your life, we would never judge you for that." Chan smiles at me and my eyes drop down to his hands. His knuckles are bruised. A wave of guilt rushes over me. I blink to hide a few tears threatening to roll out of my eyes.
"Thank you for doing this for me, but how did you find me?"
Felix chuckles, "We got there early and wanted to surprise you so we checked out all the diners and when you weren't there the casino was the only place left. We went in and saw you at that table and then-..."
Chan blushes. "I never punched a man before, but when I heard what he was saying to you, I just went blind somehow."
I take his bruised hand into mine.
"I know that isn't like you at all, but I'm still glad you did it." I press a gentle kiss to Chan's hand.

I start the car and buckle myself in. Felix glances at me in the mirror.
"Where are we going?"
I check the mirrors and snake into the traffic on the streets.
"I'm going to show you my gratitude the only way I know how. I'll be cooking for you guys tonight. Though, I feel bad for the other guys at the dorm so we'll go get all the groceries and then I'll be cooking at the dorm, because we're all never going to fit into my apartment."

An hour and forty minutes later, we step through the door to the dorm.
Each one of us carries three bags full of groceries, though I only bought and need the things in the bags I carry. Chan and Felix insisted on buying one bag of each of the candies we could find at the store.
I get to the kitchen and unpack the stuff I need for dinner, while Chan and Felix gather the rest of the boys.
I decided to make them my signature dish, lasagna. Or in this case three lasagnas.

"Hey, can we help you?" Minho and Hyunjin step into the kitchen.
I smile at them. "Sure! Cut these into small pieces please."
I hand them tomatoes and red bell peppers and they pull out big knives and cutting boards.
"Chan and Felix told us everything," Hyunjin said and I look up from the onions I've been cutting. I wait for him to continue. "We're glad you're out of there. We would have punched him, too."
I hide a smile of relief. Minho, who watches me with a glint in his eyes, bumps his hip against mine.
He says, "They're telling the others right now. They'll probably want to know if you're okay so don't be surprised when they're all extra cuddly today. Especially Changbinnie, he's very protective."
We go back to cutting our vegetables. I fry some beef. After a while, someone puts on music in the living room and it echoes throughout the whole dorm.

"How's it going in here," Changbin leans in the doorframe ever so casually. Hyunjin and Minho give me a look and I have to grin. They know each other so well. Changbin eyes the fried beef in the pan. "Do you need any more help?"
For the past twenty minutes I added tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, tomato sauce, and Mediterranean herbs and spices to the beef, creating a phenomenal sauce for the lasagna, if I do say so myself.
"You can try some of this," I say and spoon up a bit of the sauce on a tea spoon. "Tell me if it needs more salt."
I offer Changbin the spoon and he opens his mouth for me to feed him. I laugh at his face when he tries to savor the taste.
I quickly grab his hand and press a gentle kiss to the back of it. He winks at me.
"Wait, I want to try," Hyunjin says from behind me and opens his mouth.
Giggling, I feed him some of the sauce. Minho, who has been on his phone for a while, promptly covers the motion from his seat on top of the counter.
"What are we doing in here?" Jisung appears next to Changbin in the doorframe.
Changbin answers, "Were taste testing the sauce."
"Oh, really? I want to try some," he leans back and yells into the dorm, "Ollie wants us to try the sauce!"
Then he opens his mouth expectantly like his band mates.
These guys...
"If all of you try some there won't be any left for the actual lasagna," I laugh but still spoon some up for Han to try.
A few seconds later, the rest of the group gathers in the kitchen.
"Wow," Felix takes the spoon from me and takes another sip of the sauce, "Wait this is really good."
"Agreed," Seungmin nods his head and dips a piece of white bread into the sauce pan. "This is the best lasagna sauce I've ever tasted."

I know they're probably exaggerating but I can't help but grin proudly. Making Lasagna is my only other talent besides dancing. I'm actually really proud of it.
Minho and Chan help me fill up the three forms they have that could fit a lasagna with sauce, pasta plates, and a cover of cream sauce and cheese, and then we put them into the oven.
"I can't wait for the cheese to melt," Jeongin says as we watch the oven work it's magic through the glass. "That's always the best part."

"Thank you," I say suddenly without looking at the guys. "I've been wanting to say this all night, but I'm really emotional right now, so I kind of couldn't. But I want you guys to know that I'm incredibly thankful for you and I kind of can't believe that you just invited me into your lives like this. You mean a lot to me, even though I've only known your two weeks. So thank you, for being my friends."
I wipe away a small tear that's rolling down my cheek and laugh when Felix and Hyunjin throw their arms around my shoulders and pull me into a hug. Han takes my hand and strokes it gently.
"If you don't stop crying, I'll have to cry, too." He says then and I have to laugh so loud I surprise myself.