The Treasure She Never Asked For

After Titus got time to catch his breath, Marcel, who was thinking of how to ask for help, finally decided to broach the topic.

"Are you free later today?" Marcel asked as he refilled the empty glass with water.

"Not really. Why?" Titus asked as he looked at the handsome teenager who was looking at him with glowing eyes.

  "I needed help with setting these things up. If you have time, do you think you can come help?" Marcel asked, and Titus nodded after thinking about it. It wasn't like he had plans for later anyway.

"Thank you," Marcel said with a wide smile, and Titus helplessly smiled back at him.

"I'm going to go up to wash up and rest for a bit. Call or text me when you want to set things up," Titus said as he stood up from the barstool and Marcel nodded in agreement. Marcel watched as he left his apartment and also went to his room to wash up.

After a long warm shower, he put on a pair of shorts and a loose tank and got out of his room while towel drying his hair. He stood in front of the boxes and looked at them with furrowed eyebrows. He ordered a few cameras, a couple of mics, and even a ŀȧptop he would use to edit his videos. 

He was already thinking of how he was going to place everything in his kitchen and turn it into a mini studio. After figuring out how he was going to place the cameras, he snuck into Liam's room and found him still sleeping. He collected the note he had left before and sat on the bed as he looked at the sleeping boy.

He touched his soft hair and lightly poked his flushed cheek and smiled when he furrowed his eyebrows and turned away in response. Marcel adjusted his covers, so he was properly covered up and left his room and went to the living room. He decided since he was going to be busy later with Titus, he might as well start working on dinner.

He opened the fridge and thought of what he could make as he looked at the available ingredients and took out a bunch of them and started prepping them for cooking. He soon got carried away with what he was doing and was completely immersed in his cooking.

He was like this until he heard the doorbell. He turned off the stove and went to open the door and saw Titus standing outside his door, with Axel, who had decided to tag along.

"Did we interrupt? I wanted to wait, but he was impatient," Titus said as he walked into the apartment with Axel behind him.

"No, I just got carried away myself. Make yourselves comfortable," Marcel said, and his eyes widened when he went to check the time. Was that boy still sleeping after so long? He lamented in his heart as he excused himself to go wake Liam up.

The two guys felt their stomachs rumble in hunger from the moment they walked in. The whole place smelled like food and Axel, who had come back from his scheduled shows not long ago, was starving.

"I wonder if he made enough to share," Axel said as he sat on the barstool that was in front of the kitchen counter. 

"Did you come to scrounge off a meal?" Titus asked with a frown, but was also secretly hoping that they would at least get a taste.

"No, but you have to admit that your appetite has been…" Axel trailed off. Titus was confused at the sudden change in Axel's expression and turned around to look at what had his friend so shocked and he, too, became surprised.

"Say hi to the big brothers," Marcel said, and Liam finally noticed Titus and Axel.

"Hello big brothers," he mumbled sleepily as he held back a yawn and Titus nodded in greeting while Axel responded with a smile. Marcel, who had acquired a new tail, moved carefully in the kitchen as he poured Liam a glass of juice so he would wake up a bit more.

After handing him the juice, he told him to go wait for dinner in the living room. And Axel, who looked like he had experienced love at first sight, followed Liam to accompany him. .

Titus, who had also gotten a glass of juice, accompanied Marcel in the kitchen and listened to his plans for how he was going to be making cooking videos. He thought it was a bit peculiar, but there was nothing wrong with cooking, so he didn't really have much of an opinion about it.

When the boys had arrived, Marcel was already finishing off with his cooking, so all that was left was plating the food. He was too lazy to put food in serving dishes. He first plated Liam's food and then asked Titus what he was going to have. After serving food for Titus, he did so for Axel as well with Titus's help before putting food for himself. 

Titus helped him move the food to the dining table, and Marcel called the two people in the living room to come for dinner. Axel, who felt like he had gotten closer to the introverted Liam, came to the dining area with the boy but was immediately abandoned when Liam went to sit down next to Marcel.

Axel did not have long to dwell on his hurt feelings as he got distracted by the food on his plate. After thanking the cook, he immediately dug into his meal. This was how Marcel ended up receiving compliments after every two bites he took.

In fact, Axel shouldn't be blamed. He lived in a dorm filled with guys and the one member that was interested in cooking was still a novice and would still make mistakes like burning the food or putting too much salt.

Marcel, who was the subject of these compliments, couldn't help but smile as he watched everyone enjoy his cooking. There was a certain satisfaction he got from watching people eat his food with relish.