That memory is still very fresh in Minghao's mind...
At that time,
There was a new addition of a friend among the unusually big friend group.
This new friend seemed to be an introvert who liked to keep to himself. He is quiet and only opens his mouth when answering the questions asked to him.
Minghao was sure that this is how all of his new friend's impression of him must be.
Seeing the way his new friends interact with each other, so boldly, open heartedly and affectionately especially there are three people who seems to be the centre of attention of the group, the first being someone called Seungcheol who was also the rumoured leader figure, he indeed looked like someone who's capable of leading others, second being Jeonghan who looked cool and chic but also beautiful and playful, his vibes seem to attract people to him and the third being Joshua, whom at first glance seems to have expensive taste and his mannerisms seems laid back but his facial features were gentle.
Minghao figured out that these three are a bit older than other friends so maybe that's why their presence commands attention but there's not any kind of hierarchy among them like how Minghao initially thought, instead other than being the centre of attention of the group, all three of them are very playful around everyone in the friend group.
That night their friend group decided to visit a small restaurant to celebrate the addition of Minghao in their group.
Two to three small tables were joined to accommodate their whole group and everyone sat together. Minghao sat down nervously cause somehow he ended up sitting beside the leader of the group, Choi Seungcheol. His heart kept beating faster and his throat felt dry while raking his brain for the possible responses he should give if he gets questioned by Seungcheol.
But even after waiting for a while he saw that Seungcheol was busy chatting with Jeonghan, Joshua and Mingyu, while on his other side Dino was talking about some incident that took place in his class with Soonyoung, Seungkwan, Seokmin and others. Some of them were just listening to what others are talking while some of them were whispering something to each other like Wonwoo and Jun.
This made Minghao's tense nerves finally relax. He doesn't want to be centre of attention, at least not when he was still unfamiliar with them.
One of them called a waiter to take order and everyone quickly ordered the things they wanted to eat but when it was his turn he suddenly stammered which made him feel nervous again so while feeling nervous and confused he ordered cold noodles.
"Are you sure you want to eat cold noodles in such a cold weather?" Asked Seungkwan while feeling surprised.
When Seungkwan asked this question, everyone looked at him waiting for his answer with many of them feeling surprised as well but not shocked though cause there are indeed a few people who likes to eat cold in cold weather as if fighting poision with poision. It depends of everyone's own personal taste.
Minghao was feeling really regretful. Why did he order cold noodles of all the things?? But he felt too embarassed to change his order as everyone's attention was on him so he just bit the bullet and nodded his head to confirm that he wants to eat cold noodles.
When the dishes were served everyone started eating their hot meal while he was served noodles with icy cold broth. He took a spoon without noticing that someone was paying attention to him.
He took a small sip of the flavourful meaty broth and a rich taste spread on his tongue but his body shivered due to cold feeling that spread throughout his body.
His movements were small and almost unnoticeable, he was about to continue mixing the noodles with chopsticks when suddenly a hand quietly replaced his bowl of noodles with their own which contained hot and steamy Sujebi.
Minghao felt stunned as he looked at the bowl of warm soup containing hand pulled dough that looked supple and filling, and then he looked at the person who took his bowl of noodles.
He felt disbelief while looking at Seungcheol who was mixing the cold noodles and when Seungcheol noticed his gaze he leaned a bit towards Minghao and whispered, " Don't force yourself to eat it if you don't want to, the dish I gave you is delicious too and I haven't touched it yet."
"B-but I can - "
"Just eat it, I haven't eaten cold noodles for a while now so I want to try some today" said Seungcheol without giving Minghao chance to refuse. His tone normal as if he hadn't done anything special but it carried a sense of command that makes people want to follow the things he say.
He started eating the cold noodles but Minghao felt complicated while looking at him.
Jeonghan and some others near them noticed this exchange too but didn't hear their conversation so they were confused.
"Huh? Why did you exchange your dish suddenly?" Asked Jeonghan to Seungcheol.
To which Seungcheol nonchalantly answered, " I wanted to eat it and he wanted to try Sujebi so we exchanged" he shrugged his shoulder.
Seeing Seungcheol eat the noodles, Seokmin demanded a bite too and then Soonyoung, Jeonghan, Wonwoo, Jun and a few others took the initiative too passing the bowl everywhere. It seemed like they all understood something even though Seungcheol didn't explain it to them. In the blink of an eye all the noodles disappeared.
Seeing Seungcheol being so casual about the exchange and the way all his other friends finished the noodles Minghao tried to calm down the feelings that were bubbling inside him.
He took his spoon again and scooped some soup and dough, taking a generous bite, instantly filling his mouth with warm savoury and umami rich taste and chewy dough. After swallowing it his stomach was filled with warmth and comfort.
His eyes suddenly started watering, while he bent his head towards the bowl, letting the steam coming from the bowl hit his face. As small drops of water started condensing on his face due to the steam, tears started mixing with those drops.
He was someone who cried silently so if he didn't want others to notice him crying then not even the one close to him would notice it, plus the fact that he was bending his head and letting his long hairs mostly cover his face was helpful but the thing he didn't know was that everyone's attention was on his actions and the vibe he was giving off but they knew he didn't want anyone to notice his low mood so they let him be.
After taking the first bite, Minghao eagerly started taking the second, third and so on.
He felt the warmth from the Sujebi reaching his entire body slowly until his heart started feeling warm too.
He has been living in Korea for three months now without his family being by his side, he has tried to mix up with everyone around him but maybe because his heart felt too cold and lonely in this unfamiliar environment that it started rejecting the presence of others around him.
This is the first time since he started living in this new country, that he didn't feel empty, that empty feeling from before was replaced by the feeling of warmth.
Maybe it's because of Sujebi, or maybe it's because it's the first time someone has noticed the smallest discomfort he was feeling in this unknown country or maybe it's because of how his new friends finished all the noodles so eagerly but he felt like he has got back what he thought he has lost and won't get it anytime soon. A sense of belonging.
Thinking about Seungcheol made him feel even more complicated. It's not that no one reached out to him when he was facing difficulty but never for such a smallest thing or maybe because when other's reached out to him, it was within his expectations. Whenever Jun reached out to him, it wasn't unexpected cause they were fellow countrymen and would help eachother when in need. When the teachers reached out to him, it was due to their sense of duty and responsibility but Seungcheol had no reason to help him or pay any attention to him but he did.
He did. Minghao was suddenly struck with this realisation. Maybe it was just a small act of kindness that was as casual as it can get from Seungcheol's point of view but to Minghao it wasn't a small or casual thing.
Minghao was thankful to all those who reached out to him before but this was the first time he felt a surge of warmth in his heart, warm enough to melt the icy emptiness inside him and making him feel a small sense of belonging to his new environment.
The Sujebi was so warm that it was melting the icy cold emptiness, the ice that converted into water started flowing from his eyes.
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