Hoseok was always told to remain poised, even in the midst of adversity and challenges. His ability to adapt to any change that could be hurled his way. His life was a cutthroat business, one that could leave him and everyone else in danger. Such were the problems of being insanely wealthy, but luckily, Hoseok knew just about every skill in the book. He'd be prepared no matter what challenges would be thrown in his direction.

Today, it was dinner at Yoongi's home.

Yoongi's home was quaint.

That was the only way Hoseok could describe it. It was nothing like Hoseok's home, but of course, Hoseok knew that. Not everyone could afford million dollar tiles and extravagant paintings, so Hoseok supposed that Yoongi's multi-floor home had some niceness to it. It was renovated from the inside, giving the old saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' a whole new meaning.

"Yoongi, who's this?"

A girl close to Yoongi's height opened the door. It irked Hoseok how eerily similar she looked to Yoongi— with long black hair currently up in a ponytail and feline eyes shielded with rounded glasses, the only difference being that she had incredibly tan skin, something he assumed that she got from their dad. She hadn't even bothered to greet her brother (something Hoseok had found rude, as he'd assumed all siblings just hugged each other and acted all sister-brotherly), turning to stare daggers in Hoseok's direction instead.

"Hi," Hoseok said, smiling brightly. "I'm Hoseok. Yoongi's boyfriend."

"Nevaeh," she replied, narrowing her eyes even more. She turned to Yoongi. "Since when do you have a boyfriend? What happened to Minseo?"

"Do you not go to the same school as we do?" Hoseok asked, arching an eyebrow. Nevaeh unwillingly looked back at Hoseok.

"I go to an all-girls school," Nevaeh answered as if Hoseok was stupid for not knowing. "No wonder Minseo hasn't been over. Did she break up with you? I always thought she deserved better. Come inside."

Hoseok bit back a laugh as Yoongi scowled.

"He broke up with her to be with me," Hoseok said, which wasn't a lie, but the way Yoongi's scowl soured and Nevaeh's expression turned suspicious.

"I don't know if I believe that," Nevaeh said. "Yoongi loves Minseo. He'd never break up with her. Kind of a downgrade if you ask me. Minseo was hot."

Though Nevaeh seemed to be much more straightforward than Yoongi, it still irked Hoseok that she seemed to carry similar vibes to Yoongi. He could tell just from the way she was glancing at him that she was judging him for how he looked— not that it would matter much, considering he was still wearing school uniform, but he could feel the Min gaze upon him, and he didn't like it one bit.

Was all of Yoongi's family going to act like this?

Hoseok didn't think he would survive.

The first thing Yoongi did was head for the kitchen. Hoseok followed him quizzically, wondering what on Earth Yoongi was going to do. Yoongi's mother greeted Hoseok as he walked into the kitchen, gesturing for him to sit at the table. Hoseok arched a brow as he watched Yoongi put on an apron, and wash his hands on the sink.

Were they making their own food?

Hoseok could count on his fingers the amount of times that his parents had made food for him. Ever since he was little, it was always private chefs making food for him. His mother had always wanted Hoseok to be fed by the people who were the best of the best, and when one has the means to spend all the money in the world, then one does.

Who genuinely wanted to take the time out of their day to make their own food?

The thought was almost sickening.

"Are you not going to help?" Nevaeh asked, plopping right next to him. Hoseok looked at her confused. "What?"

"I don't cook."

Nevaeh's expression turned to disgust. "What do you mean you don't cook? How can you be with Yoongi? He loves to cook!"'

"Nev, he doesn't need any life skills," Yoongi remarked, with a small smile. "He has the money to just lazy around, do nothing."

She scrunched her nose. "That's not attractive. You should be embarrassed."

Yoongi's mother gasped slightly, tapping Nevaeh on the shoulder for the comment. Hoseok's mouth slackened, blush creeping on his cheeks. He couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what he was feeling, whether it was anger, embarrassment, or a mix of both.

"Careful," Yoongi said, smirking. "You'll wound his ego. Wouldn't want to offend one of the richest families in the States."

Hoseok pursed his lips. "I'm not offended. I don't have to know how to cook."

"But what if you live by yourself?" Nevaeh asked, raising an eyebrow. 'What if your parents cut you off and you have to be independent? How are you going to keep yourself alive?"

Both situations would never happen. Hoseok was an only child— the only successor to anything that his parents had accumulated over their years of existence. For that to have the audacity to come out as a low-life was horrendous. How dare they even insinuate that something that horrible could happen to Hoseok? Was this Yoongi's family's way of preying on his downfall? He should perceive this as a threat.

It was a threat.

Hoseok didn't like threats.

Still, he remained poised. At the end of the day, Yoongi's family had nothing on Hoseok's. Yoongi's family was the one benefiting from this transaction, and if he had to deal with them making their food to serve Hoseok, then he would do it. He would never make his parents look bad. He'd let them make a fool of themselves. He'd remained just as he always was. The same, extravagant, Hoseok.

"You two seem like you don't really like each other," Nevaeh commented, eyes narrowed. "Something fishy is definitely going on here. Something, we were excluded from? Mom?"

Yoongi's mother laughed fairly, and Hoseok had to hand it to her. She knew how to maintain face, even under questioning. Yoongi should learn from her. Having skills like that will get them incredibly far.

"I'm just not a very touchy person," Hoseok interjected, saying Yoongi's mother from answering. "We bicker a lot. But deep down, we have feelings for each other. Isn't that right, Gi?"

Yoongi managed a sweet smile. "Of course. It's just so fun to tease Hoseok. Especially because we come from two different places. He doesn't know what struggle is."

"When you live a life of luxury, like me, you don't need to know what struggle is," Hoseok laughed, shrugging. "I'm comfortable."

Nevaeh sighed. "We were poor once. We don't take anything we have for granted. You should be like that too Hoseok, if you're going to be sticking around to this family. Starting with helping to make food. Come on."

Nevaeh stood up from the chair, grabbing Hoseok's arms. Protests were coming from both Yoongi's mother and Hoseok, but they fell on deaf ears. Yoongi grabbed an apron and carefully placed it over Hoseok, his fingers slightly brushing down Hoseok's neck. Hoseok froze, feeling Yoongi's light touch travel downwards, and he felt Yoongi neatly wrapping the apron into a bow.

Yoongi peered over Hoseok's shoulder, grinning almost enthusiastically.

"You're lucky we don't have chef hats lying around," Yoongi said cheekily. "Else I would have made you put it on."

Hoseok snorted. "Very funny."

"We're going to make something simple," Yoongi said. "Staple of American cuisine."

"Which is?"

"Mac and cheese!" Nevaeh and Yoongi yelled at the same time, bursting into giggles.

"The average American can make this. You'll have no problem." Yoongi said. "Come on, grab the cheeses from the refrigerator."

Hoseok had always been someone who remained poised, even in the direst of circumstances. This time, however, he could feel his resolve wavering, a mixture of emotions swirling in him that he couldn't quite identify. He begrudgingly grabbed the cheeses Yoongi asked for and forced himself to follow along. His body protested, but he knew there was no way out for him.  One thing was for sure.

He would only come back to the Mins when food was certain to be set on the table.

a/n: v mundane but we are back ! i waited to release everything so i could release this. i'm going to try to update at least twice a month, because i know me and if im too ambitious im not going to get anything done.

welcome back <3