#but my recipes are not perfect for i lack some good ingredients like salt and pepper and butter and cream and broth and vanilla extract...

[babyblueetbaemonster]

Local Alchemist needed to be stopped.

My formula of restore fatigue:

Spring salad: lettuce, radish, potato, (optional: apple, orange, watermelon). Unfortunately it has Burden side effect. (if choose orange, you'll get a bonus Shield effect) Can also side with Ranch dressing: cheese wedge, leek, onion, garlic. And this one has Damage Agility side effect. It can be fix by removing the garlic.

Potato soup: potato, garlic, leek. This recipe has Frost Shield side effect. Perfect choice for a cold weather.

Corn salsa: corn, tomato, onion, garlic. Unfortunately it has Damage Agility side effect, but you can get Detect Life in the process.

Grilled cheese sandwich: bread loaf, cheese wedge, cheese wheel. Unfortunately it has Damage Agility side effect. I should have removed the cheese wedge. Sorry Baurus :(

Classic ham sandwich: bread loaf, cheese wedge, ham, lettuce. Unfortunately this recipe also has Damage Agility side effect, but bonus Fire Shield woohoo!

Gyudon: beef, onion, rice

Mix berries: blackberry, strawberry, (we only have two kinds of berries?) (optional: apple, orange, pear). Actually, don't put apple or pear in it. They will cause Damage Health.

Crabby corn soup: crab, corn, onion. You can add cheese wedge for bonus Fire Shield (and Damage Agility) effect.

Chili con carne: beef (/boar meat /mutton /venison), onion, garlic, tomato. Side effect is Detect Life. (Beef flavor will grant you Shield effect. Unfortunately Boar meat will have burden side effect and Venison is Damage Health)

Pumpkin pie: pumpkin, sweetcake (/flour /sweetroll). Unfortunately both flour and sweetroll has Damage Personality side effect

Carrot cake: carrot, sweet cakes

Strawberry cheesecake: strawberry, cheese wedge, flour (/sweetcake /sweetroll). The flour version has Reflect Damage side effect. I highly recommend it.

#tes #oblivion #hero of kvatch #baurus #tes oc #oc: acelta #oblivion alchemy could be full of flavor and nonsense #i don't have any mushroom recipe bc i'm not sure about the flavors #but it's cool to know most shroom in oblivion is safe to eat (the first alchemy effect is restore stuff #i love how the 3rd era folks incorporated food in their potions #but my recipes are not perfect for i lack some good ingredients like salt and pepper and butter and cream and broth and vanilla extract... #can i season it afterwards? just a pinch of salt? or sugar? or sauce? #can i put two different flavor of potions in a shaker and make two balanced flavor potions? like drink them in one go? #most potions are made by distillation methods (with alembic and retort) so the flavor probably is subtle #i watch some show with bartender use this rotary evaporator to distill drink ingredients #and the final product is clear liquid with a hint of it's original flavor #so maybe that's what oblivion potion is like. some flavored water #wait... is- is potion like some kind of wired flavor soda? #as a alchemy 100 mad lad i can make potion from a single ingredient so i can literately make a ham water of restore fatigue

[timetraveltasting]

MAKKE (c. 1390)

Time for a peasant-style, medieval, midweek dish, because I'm no royal, and this is probably closer to what I'd be eating if I actually did go back in time. The historical dish from Tasting History I tried this past Thursday evening after work was Makke, a medieval peasant-style dish from England. While we don't know for sure that peasants ate this, because the recipe, c. 1390, is also sourced from the Forme of Curry (recipes used to feed the court of Richard II of England), it is one of the few dishes therein that doesn't use expensive herbs or spices and contains only a few easily-accessible ingredients for the average peasant. See Max’s video on how to make it here or see the ingredients and process at the end of this post, sourced from the Youtube description of the video.

My experience making it:

I made a change or two from the modern recipe below: I used white gigante/corona beans (Weiße Riesenbohnen, where I live) instead of fava or broad beans, because I couldn't find fava or broad beans readily, and the white beans would hopefully end up white, like the original recipe describes. Max mentions that the red wine listed in the original recipe would likely not have been used by peasants, as beer was closer to hand, so I also decided to use beer instead of red wine - specifically Gaffel Wiess. Gaffel Wiess is a top-fermented beer from the Cologne region of Germany; it is light, unfiltered, and naturally cloudy, much how I imagine a peasant's beer might be due to lack of modern filtration equipment. Until the mid-20th century, Wiess was the main drink of the people of Cologne, the forefather of the modern and popular Kölsch beer.

The process of making Makke was marvelously simple, making it perfect for a quick midweek meal. The recipe took me only 20 minutes (or less!) to make. Like Max mentioned, I added only half a cup of beer to the mashed beans at first, and added more until it was more of the consistency I was after - similar to mashed potatoes. I also needed to mix in a decent amount of salt in order to add a bit of flavour to the mixture (no fancy royal herbs allowed!). The onions fried up perfectly and added a much-needed colour dimension to the plain-looking dish. I was content that despite using a different type of bean, my Makke looked nearly identical to Max’s!

My experience tasting it:

Serving the Makke forth along with a garden salad, a bit of bread and butter, and the rest of the Gaffel Wiess beer, my husband and I tried the first bite with a bit of the onion, and we were quite happy with the flavour! I'm not sure if it was the mashed consistency (which reminded me of my favourite dish, mashed potatoes) or the crisp and sweet onions, but this dish was easy to inhale and spoon down pretty quick. Makke is in no way out of place in a modern diet, in my opinion. Sure, after a couple spoonfuls I may have added a little black pepper to give it some more bite, but the foundation of this dish is good. I will definitely make this dish again, although perhaps with the powers of a modern pantry, including all of the delightful herbs and spices that only a 16th century royal would have possessed. The fact that this dish is tasty and quick to prepare means that it is a great addition to our midweek meal repertoire. If you end up making it, if you liked it, or if you changed anything from the original recipe, do let me know!

Links to harder-to-find ingredients:

Fava/Broad beans

Makke original recipe (c. 1390)

Sourced from The Forme of Curry

How to make Makke Take drawen benes and seeth them well. Take them up of the water and cast them in a morter grynde them all to doust till thei be white as eny mylk. Chawf a little rede wyne, cast thereamong in the gryndyng, do therto salt, leshe it in disshes. Thenne take Oynouns and mynce them smale and seeth them in oile til they be al broun, and florissh the dishes therwith. And serve it forth.

Modern Recipe

Based on The Forme of Curry and Max Miller’s version in his Tasting History video.

Ingredients:

3 cups (450g) fava/broad beans (or any other bean)

1/2 cup - 1 cup (118 ml - 236 ml) red wine or ale

salt to taste

1 onion minced (white or yellow)

oil or butter for frying

water for boiling

Method:

Wash and boil the beans over a medium heat until soft.

Remove the beans from the water and mash them until smooth.

Warm the wine or ale over a low heat and mix with the beans. Start with 1/2 cup and add more to achieve desired consistency.

Mix in salt to bean mixture to taste.

Place a large pan over medium heat and add the butter or oil.

Add the minced onion and fry until golden brown, about 7-10 minutes.

When onions looking sufficiently brown, garnish onions on top of the beans.

Serve it forth.

#16th century #Makke #richard ii #richard ii of england #Forme of Curry #tasting history #max miller #tasting history with max miller #beans #beer #medieval meals #keepers #peasant meals #cooking #historical cooking

[happi-meals]

First Meal/breakfast after chores and before work! Hard fried egg, pan fried Beyond Meat vegan bratwrust, leftover white rice and peas.

Made a juice drink, too!

This one was my 3rd attempt at homemade smoothies using my new, thrifted blender. I finally got some fresh ginger Thursday since my first attempt was missing it (and my second attempt was a fluke fr lol. I'll post abt it later). Had great flavor, but I'm currently struggling to get a thick, smoothie texture or even a slushie texture bc i lack ice and also thickening agents. I have unsweetened almond yogurt, but its not viscous enough.

Still a great flavor and keeps me regular. So itll be a regular on my menu!

I went a while without eggs for superstitious and dietary reasons (went vegan several yrs ago for about 6 yrs). But Ive been cooking eggs ocassionally for regulars at my job and tbh they do be lookin good. Also I've been supplementing my diet with local meals and ingredients to put my values to practice and I got a good deal for backyard eggs ($4 for a dozen). So I had 6 left and decided to just make one for my meal since the egg flavors would compliment the umami of the brat and soy sauce that I put in the rice.

It was rlly good and I'll def add this to my menu as well, esp when there are sales for the vegan brats at the grocer (I like that theyre sold in the meat isle btw lol).

I didnt get a pic of the peas and rice cooking but i decided to try heating them up in a pan. Needless to say that was a bit sticky lol even with the oil at the bottom. But while it got pretty hot, it was a mistake to not just put it in the microwave lol. The peas got pretty hard and some werent heated up all the way.

So not doing that either lol (my last idea was to attempt to pan-fry them together (kinda like hibachi). I think it would have worked had I not used such a small pan lol).

I'll also perfect the way I cooked the egg as well. I thought a lil Lawry's and some pepper in the mix while it was hardening would suffice but umm.... def needed some on the outsides, too lol. But egg has enough flavor in itself so it doesnt need too much seasoning to be good. And mixing it with the brat and rice (which was flavored with a bit of veggie stock and vegetarian soy sauce) honestly did the trick.

Theres no recipe to any of this since I'm still in a very experimental stage in my cooking skills. I dont have a solid intuition with cooking right now, but I'm creating an idea of what flavors compliment and what techniques cook optimally.

This meal consisted of:

1 Beyond Meat vegan bratwurst (torn into pieces to feel like more lol)

About half a cup of leftover white rice

Maybe half a cup of frozen peas (mixed with rice when heating. Maybe not next time, tho lol).

Soy sauce

Lawry's season salt (for the egg)

Pepper (for the egg and rice)

Olive and sesame oil (for pan-frying the brat and egg. Both mixed together; seseme oil less than olive)

A lil bit of veggie stock (to pour into the rice for more flavor).

Overall 8/10!

Great portion and flavors for breakfast or brunch! Could make a nice small and quick dinner, too.

#my meals

[vegi1]

How to Make Delicious Vegan Fish with Lentil Tofu at Home

Learn how to make delicious and healthy vegan fish at home with this easy recipe. Made with lentil tofu, this fish is gluten-free, soy-free, and packed with protein.

Before I became a vegan, I loved seafood, shrimp, and crab. I even remember I bought a baby shark, and I was happy to eat that shark. I am really sorry for that time because of my lack of knowledge. From the smell of fish, I enjoyed the shrimp. But since I became a vegan, I didn't even look for seafood alternatives because I had accepted the vegan lifestyle. I was very happy with my choice, I wish I had come to this knowledge sooner.

When I searched on vegan sites, I found out that there are fish substitutes that are very simple and healthy. So, I decided to create my own recipe with some changes and put it on my page so that you can use this recipe.

Foods High in Omega 3 for Vegetarians and Vegans

On the path of veganism, I was often asked why you don't eat fish, so where do you get your omega-3 from?

Lentils are a good source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is an omega-3 fatty acid that the body can convert into other forms of omega-3. Omega-3 fatty acids can help lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and protect against heart disease.

I get omega-3 through natural foods that are rich in ALA, include such as:

Chia seeds

Flaxseeds

Walnuts

Hemp seeds

Soybeans

Brussels sprouts

Kale

Spinach

Edamame

Foods High in Omega 3 for Vegetarians and Vegans

Let's go to an attractive vegan fish recipe that is mostly made with red lentil tofu. The color of red lentils is similar to salmon, and it is very delicious. But I made this vegan fish with green lentil tofu, and because I used smoky spices inside this tofu, this recipe is very similar to smoked fish. I am sure anyone trying this vegan fish will love it. I have already taught the tofu lentil recipe; click on the link.

How To Make Vegan Red Lentil Tofu At Home

How to make a tofu lentil dish at home Easy recipe

If you're looking for a healthy and delicious vegan fish recipe, I highly recommend this one. It's perfect for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Tips and tricks:

Use aromatic vegetables to flavor the tofu. This will give the vegan fish a more authentic flavor. Some good options include onions, garlic, ginger, and herbs like dill, parsley, and cilantro.

One of the main points of making vegan fish is to flavor the tofu, that is, flavor the tofu with fresh and aromatic vegetables. If you use a lot of aromatic spices to flavor the tofu from the beginning, there is no need to marinate it. Just dip the tofu in breadcrumbs and fry it.

You can use any type of tofu you like, but firm or extra-firm tofu will work best for this recipe. Common choices for vegan fish substitutes include tofu and mushroom tempeh.

Shape the tofu into fish-like shapes. This is optional, but it will make the vegan fish look more like the real thing. You can use a knife or a cookie cutter to cut the tofu into fillets or steaks.

If you don't have all of the spices listed, you can use a pre-made vegan fish seasoning blend.

To make the vegan fish even more crispy, you can air fry it instead of frying it in oil.

Coat the tofu in breadcrumbs to make it crispy. This is essential for getting a good texture. You can use regular breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs for a crispier result.

Use nori sheets or smoked spices to add a fishy flavor. Nori sheets are a traditional ingredient in sushi, but they can also be used to add a fishy flavor to vegan fish. If you don't have nori sheets, you can use smoked spices instead.

You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content.

To make vegan fish, be sure to prepare lentil tofu in advance. You can find a recipe for lentil tofu here"

MARINATING TOFU

In a bowl, combine the following spices: grated onion, grated garlic, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, pepper, smoked spice, thyme powder, and paprika powder.

In a bowl, combine the following spices: grated onion, grated garlic, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, pepper, smoked spice, thyme powder, and paprika powder.

Mix the spices together until well combined.

Mix the spices together until well combined.

Pour the spice mixture over the lentil tofu and let it marinate for 1-2 hours.

Pour the spice mixture over the lentil tofu and let it marinate for 1-2 hours.

Put aromatic vegetables such as dill, parsley, and coriander on the fish and close the lid so that the fish is marinated for one to two hours and absorbs the good flavor and aroma. Put aromatic vegetables such as dill, parsley, and coriander on the fish and close the lid so that the fish is marinated for one to two hours and absorbs the good flavor and aroma.

[thedisneychef]

Why Do Recipes Use Unsalted Butter

Hi everyone, I'm a big fan of cooking and baking - it's one of my favorite pastimes! Whenever I make something delicious in the kitchen, I always try to use the best ingredients available. One ingredient that has been puzzling me lately is unsalted butter. Why do so many recipes call for this particular type? It turns out there are some very good reasons why cooks should opt for unsalted butter over salted! In this article, I'll be exploring the various benefits of using unsalted butter in your favorite dishes. Let's get started! Taste I prefer using unsalted butter in my recipes because it allows me to control the level of saltiness. With salted butter, you don't have as much freedom when adjusting the taste profile of a dish. In addition, if someone has dietary restrictions or is watching their sodium intake, they can make an informed decision about how much additional salt should be added when preparing something that calls for butter. Using unsalted butter also helps maintain consistency in baking since adding too much salt can affect how ingredients react with each other and alter the texture of a finished product. This makes it easier to replicate results especially when I'm making something like cookies or muffins where slight variations could result in a big difference. Overall, unsalted butter gives cooks more control over the flavor profiles and textures of dishes while providing flexibility for those who need to watch their sodium intake. Control Over Salt Content I'm all about controlling my own destiny, and that includes controlling the salt content in food I prepare. Unsalted butter allows me to do just that; it gives me control over how much salt goes into a recipe, which is especially important for dishes with small portion sizes or for people who are monitoring their sodium intake. Furthermore, using unsalted butter can help save money since salted butter tends to be more expensive due to rising costs of production. Unsalted butter lets you season your dish as desired without having excess seasoning from added salts. This way, you're able to customize the flavor profile based on what type of ingredients you prefer and ensure every bite tastes exactly like you want it to. Plus, if there's too much salt in a dish, adding additional amounts of other ingredients may not necessarily fix the problem -- but reducing the amount of salt does! The bottom line is that cooking with unsalted butter helps keep sodium levels in check while also allowing chefs greater flexibility when preparing recipes. It also provides an economical option by helping avoid price increases associated with salted products. With careful consideration and practice, one can easily master this culinary tool and create delicious meals without feeling overwhelmed or limited by lack of options! Texture Using unsalted butter in recipes instead of salted gives cooks more control over the final flavor profile. The amount of salt added to a recipe is important, and by using an unsalted butter, you can ensure that your dish won't be too salty or lack enough seasoning. Unsalted butter also provides a creamy texture which enhances the taste of the food being cooked. In addition to providing precise control over the salt content, unsalted butter adds its own unique flavor to dishes that can't be achieved with regular table salt. This allows chefs and home cooks alike to create delicious meals highlighting subtle nuances in flavors that may otherwise get drowned out when seasoned with salty ingredients. Moreover, with this type of butter, you don’t have to worry about adding extra fat or calories due to pre-added salts as part of the ingredient; it remains pure and unaltered from its natural state! Unsalted butter has become increasingly popular among bakers and cooking aficionados because of its ability to add richness without overpowering other flavors. It's perfect for making sauces, sautéing vegetables, baking cakes and pastries - really anything where creaminess is beneficial. Ultimately, having full control over how much salt goes into each dish makes all the difference in achieving desirable results every time. Health Benefits I find that using unsalted butter in recipes has a number of benefits. Not only does it add convenience, but I believe that its nutritional properties can't be overlooked either. First and foremost, unsalted butter offers flexibility when baking or cooking as the amount of salt used can be adjusted to taste. This allows you to control just how salty your dishes turn out - something which is especially important if you are following a special dietary requirement! Plus, since there's no need to measure out specific amounts of salt, it adds time-saving convenience which makes meal preparation quicker and easier. In terms of nutrition, unsalted butter provides plenty of vitamins and minerals including calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin A. It also contains healthy fats such as Omega 3 fatty acids which have been proven to help reduce inflammation in the body and may even lower cholesterol levels. By using unsalted butter instead of salted varieties, you can ensure that these nutrients are not being stripped away by added sodium. Overall, I think that opting for an unsalted variety is a wise choice for both health conscious cooks who want to keep their nutrient intake high, as well as those looking for fast and easy meal solutions. Shelf Life I prefer to use unsalted butter when cooking because it has a longer shelf life than salted butter. Because it is not exposed to the extra salt in salted butter, unsalted butter can be stored at colder temperatures and its fat content remains more stable over time. This means that I have peace of mind knowing my baking ingredients will stay fresh for longer periods of time. Additionally, using unsalted butter allows me to control the amount of sodium in my recipes by adding just enough salt myself. Since too much salt can make food taste overly salty or even ruin a recipe entirely, this gives me greater flexibility with how I season dishes. Overall, there are many advantages to using unsalted butter when cooking - from extended shelf-life and temperature stability to better flavor control - making it an essential ingredient for any kitchen pantry. Frequently Asked Questions How Much Salt Should I Add To The Recipe If I Am Using Salted Butter? When using salted butter in a recipe, it's important to consider the flavor balance and texture variation. Too much salt can easily overpower the other flavors of your dish, resulting in an overly salty taste. To prevent this from happening, you should reduce the amount of additional salt added to the recipe if you are using salted butter. A good rule of thumb is to halve or quarter the specified amount called for in the recipe. This will ensure that no single ingredient dominates and gives you more control over achieving the perfect flavor balance. What Is The Difference Between Unsalted And Salted Butter In Terms Of Cooking Time? When it comes to cooking time, the difference between unsalted and salted butter is important. Unsalted butter has a subtle flavor that can be easily overpowered by other ingredients in your recipe, while salted butter adds an additional layer of balance. Additionally, the texture variation between these two types of butter can affect baking results; for example, salted butter may add more moisture than unsalted butter when used in doughs or batters. Ultimately, using either type of butter will give you delicious final results - just make sure to adjust seasonings accordingly if you decide to use salted instead of unsalted! Are There Any Other Ingredients I Should Add To The Recipe To Make Up For The Lack Of Salt? If you're using unsalted butter in a recipe, it's important to make sure that other ingredients are adjusted accordingly. Depending on the taste adjustments or fat content desired, adding an extra pinch of salt can help bring out the flavor and texture of your dish without making it too salty. You might also consider swapping out some of the butter for olive oil or another type of cooking oil as a substitute for salted butter. Additionally, herbs and spices may be used to add more depth to the dish if needed. Are There Any Other Recipes I Can Use Unsalted Butter With? Yes! You can easily use unsalted butter in many different recipes. This is a great option if you're looking for an alternative to store-bought salted butter. To make up for the lack of salt, you can use substitutes like garlic or onion powder, miso paste, or even honey. Additionally, there are several butter alternatives that work well with a wide range of dishes such as coconut oil, olive oil and avocado oil. With these options in your kitchen arsenal, you won't miss out on flavor when baking or cooking with unsalted butter! How Should I Store Unsalted Butter To Extend Its Shelf Life? Storing unsalted butter correctly is important if you want to extend its shelf life. The fat content in butter makes it susceptible to spoilage, so it’s best kept at a cool temperature and away from direct sunlight. Ideally, store your butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer as this will help keep it fresher for longer. If freezing, be sure to wrap the butter securely in plastic wrap so that no additional flavors are added to it when stored alongside other foods with strong scents. Conclusion In short, unsalted butter is an essential ingredient in recipes because it allows the cook to control the amount of salt added. While salted butter can be used with certain recipes, it's important to adjust the other ingredients accordingly. Unsalted butter also has a longer shelf life than salted varieties and can easily be stored in order to maximize its freshness. Ultimately, using unsalted butter gives you more control over how much salt ends up in your recipe ensuring that each dish tastes just as delicious as intended! Read the full article

[shdwwlkrsblog]

Different naruto characters trying to bake a cake for reader but failing

At least you tried

In here are :Kakashi , obito , madara , Deidara , tobirama , itachi

(if you don't like the cake i wrote for choose another cake)

Masterlist

Kakashi (chocolate cake )

It was you birthday and Kakashi wanted to surprise you with a cake but he wasnt the best cook

He put the cake in the oven and started to decorate everything until you are coming home

Lights , your favorite flowers , balloons , candys , but mr Hatake forgot about the cake

When the smell of burned cake got into his nose he ran faster than flash to take it out of the oven

Few places of the cake were black but Kakashi tried to safe it with cutting them of

But now the cake had a not so good looking shape , so Kakashi tried cutting things off until it looked like a heart

He was proud of himself and took the burned pieces to the trash , and shortly after it you came home

He stayed in the kitchen putting some melted chocolate on the cake after he finished that he called for you

Y/n my love could you please come into the kitchen?

Once you were there a piece of cake was held right infront of your face

Happy birthday my love

Thanks kashi (it's the nickname you gave him)

And you took a bite of the cake and shortly after it touches your taste buds to went to spit it out

Kakashi was confused and took a bite of the cake he made and realized

He put salt instead of sugar in it and his face turned a bit sad

It's okay Kakashi at least you tried

Obito (strawberry cake)

Obito was in the mood to make something for you but he didn't know what

In order to think better he decided to go on a quick walk , maybe the fresh air will help him think

And then he walked past a shop where good and fresh looking strawberry's were presented with a sign "40 % off"

This gave him an idea , why doesn't he just make you a strawberry cake it can't be that hard can it?

He buyed A few of them and went home again , and to his luck you wanted to leave with hinata for few hours so he had enough time

After getting everything he needed he started mixing it but spilled some onto the ground

And then after putting it I the oven he thought speeding it up with more heat but it went wrong ....

Katon

Whole cake was black but at least it was baked

He noticed it haven't helped , it ruined it all and while he was trying to get rid of the burned mess . you came back

I'm home honey hinata didn't need my hel- whats that smell ?

You followed it and saw him standing with the cake in his hands , near the trashcan

Surprise

He tossed it into the trashcan and handed you the strawberry's

Hope ya like it sorry I failed making the cake but here have some strawberrys

It's ok at least you tried , love

Madara ( cherry cake )

Madara saw this Easy recipe for a cherry cake and wanted to try it out with you

You both went shopping to get the things you needed for the cake and then the chaos has started

Madara never had enough patience and that made it harder

Madara no se need to let it there for few minutes

No we don't we'll be fine

Or

That's too much sugar

It'll be okay

Never let him bake a cake

But at least he tried to do it

Deidara (chocolate cake)

It was a bet with Sasori that he couldn't bake you a cake because all he ever did was making those little explosive clay figures

Of course to prove him wrong he tried it , the form of the cake was perfekt but Deidara didn't know . He forgot to add some ingredients

He put it into the oven waited took it out and tadaa a perfekt bird shaped cake with a rose in it's mouth

He secretly was really proud of himself that the shape was perfect

And you were waiting in the living room the whole time because " he can do it alone "

And then Deidara walked in with that godlike shaped cake

When you both tried to eat it.... Well ... It tasted horrible

But at least the form was good

(he lost the bet with Sasori)

Tobirama (cherry chocolate cake)

Tobirama isn't the one to bake a cake when he can buy one , he says buying one safes time .

But today he felt different he was in a really happy mood and he had the urge to surprise you . So he thought baking a cake would be something good

He opened the old recipe book and the first cake that he saw was the cherry chocolate cake, and he wanted to make it

After getting all the ingredients he started mixing it and bla bla bla but right where the temperature of the cake would have been writed the piece was ripped off .

So he just guessed the temperature and out it in , the whole time you were picking up some flowers from the flower field because why not it's nice and they look nice

And when you came back you saw a tobirama standing in the kitchen intensely staring at the oven

You asked him what he was doing and he responded with "making a surprise for you now go somewhere else I don't want you to see it"

A bit harsh but you listened and went into the living room reading something to kill the time

When he thought time was ready he took it out gave it few decorations , and called you

When you both were ready and tried it , the cake wasn't fully baked

He was a bit disappointed in himself tbh but you reassured him that it was fine

You had the idea of putting it into the oven again with higher temperature

And tobirama mumbled "I'm not a good man I can't cook"

He didn't want you to hear it, but you heard him

It's okay everyone makes mistakes and at least you tried

Itachi (not really a cake but you bake them too : muffins )

You both did everything how it should be done and now you and itachi have some yummy muffins to eat

Itachi got a few days free from the akatsuki and because of the lack of time he spend with you he wanted to surprise you

Good for his surprise was the fact that you were outside training so his surprise had a chance to be a surprise

He got all the ingredients but he didn't had enough eggs , but what will 1 egg less do?

Then he went on to mixing the ingredients but the dough was.... Not right . He started to ask himself if it would be better to ask you for help

And decided it is better to ask for help , and there you are . When you explained him what he did wrong he just nodded . Itachi is smart enough to know everyone makes and it's okay

Then you both did everything again but this time with enough eggs And you both now have some yummy muffins

The next time he will ask you to make muffins with him , just because he know with you can nothing go wrong

End lol hope you liked it , anyways guys and girls ask box is open and yeah have nice day/night

#anime naruto #naruto fandom #naruto #naruto x reader #x reader #anime x reader #itachi x reader #tobirama x reader #kakashi x reader #kakashi hatake x reader #tobirama #tobirama senju #madara uchiha #madara x reader #madara uchiha x reader #madara #obito x reader #obito uchiha x reader #obito uchiha x y/n #obito uchiha #itach uchiha #itachi uchiha x reader #itachi uchiha x you #itachi #deidara x reader #deidara akatsuki x reader #deidara the creeper #deidara

[aiweirdness]

A big neural net reviews a smaller neural net's recipes

I’ve used various neural networks to generate recipes, to varying degrees of success. My earliest recipes were generated with char-rnn, which had to learn everything - spelling, punctuation, words - entirely from scratch. Its recipes were terrible (Swamp Peef and Cheese, anyone? Or Chocolate Chicken Chicken Cake?). Later when I started using GPT-2, I was using a neural net that had already seen a lot of recipes online during internet pre-training, and its recipes looked a lot more realistic (although not entirely realistic - there was that recipe for Black Forest Cake that suggested pouring the batter into a toaster, or the jello recipe that starts with “remove all internal rinds”).

GPT-3, an even more powerful text-generating neural net, has seen so many recipes during its internet pre-training that its recipes are boringly plausible. Bake its Black Forest Cake recipe and you’d probably actually get cake at the end, even if it’s not the best cake in the world. Its recipes aren’t funny at a glance, which is why I haven’t posted any of them - until internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch suggested that, rather than have GPT-3 generate its own recipes, I have it rate char-rnn’s recipes. Readers, it worked.

I prompted GPT-3 with two example recipes from allrecipes, each followed by 3 of their human-written reviews. Then, for the third recipe I inserted one of char-rnn’s recipes:

Chocolate Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter 1 cup margarine 1 cup cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup margarine 1/2 cup pecans, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg yolk 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup chopped pecans 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup cocoa 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, salt, and salt in a large bowl. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and stiff peaks form. Add milk and cook until mixture is completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Spread in batter. Sprinkle with pecans.

Yield: 1 servings

And then I let GPT-3 add reviews. Would it mention the excessive lakes of vanilla? The complete lack of flour? The foolhardy reliance on the heroic efforts of a single egg yolk to hold things together?

oxtailsandturnovers Rating: 5 stars 03/04/2007 delicious chocolate recipe!!! and the perfect balance between cocoa and chocolate. and they sure were LONGNECKS! big time rave here. lazy w birthdays w friends and family, try this recipe for something chocolate sweet the ppl will talk about over and over.

AKEMIYUNA Rating: 5 stars appraisal 12/03/2008 Excellent for the kids Halloween party. Everyone got so thrilled by seeing something new on Chocolate in sponge. He even likes nuts separately but it will taste good..

BYOMFYABF Rating: 2 stars 10/01/2008 I could only give it a 2 as I had to make changes to it due to ingredients I had. First, I used Dove Dark Chocolate cocoa instead of Hershey's, no nuts, and the mashed bananas and caramel topping were a must. I did use coffee instead of the hot water, and dark margarine instead of regular, therefore I could not use light whipped cream, but I made homemade whipped cream. It had WAY too much flour in it, but i guess it could have been me measuring heavier than I should have. I also only used 2 cups of flour. it was my first bundt cake, so it was huge!!!

Here’s another batch of reviews, this time of a more chaotic char-rnn recipe:

Simple Soup Alaborate Soup Pie

6 each chopped white perserves; ** (optional but ring) 1/2 cup chopped fresh marjoram 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/3 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion 1/4 cup onion (chopped) 1/2 teaspoon garlic; minced 2 small carrots 6 can dry white wine 1 tabasco sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 cup flour, whipped topping 2 tablespoon chili powder

Marinate: Serves 4. Whip and short under boiling. Add the sliced mushrooms and peppers and stir to coat. Stir the sugar and carrots. In large bowl, beat the egg to make a 1 1/2 tablespoons of the flour. Add shanks and stir it well. Spoon into a frying pan before serving.

Recipe By : DonajehLi Koubmanda

Yield: 8 servings

JEFFREY97389 Rating: 2 stars 03/03/2006 Even though everyone said this was great, I thought it was just 'OK!' The perserves gave a strange flavor to the sauce.

MATTJANDTRACER Rating: 2 stars 01/02/2009 This recipe sounded good. When it came out it tasted a bit like a casserole and not a stew. I used venison instead of deer and pork. I liked the way it turned out, but it wasnt very French.

Hammy Rating: 5 stars The g iving this as a gift as it takes about 10 less minutes but using American cheese and not blended with parsley flakes, lime-flavored gelatin, which is my husband's favorite dish from SuperValu. Just happens to be the creamy sauce. Don't worry about a pie crust.

In fact, the more chaotic the char-rnn recipe, the more chaotic the reviews tend to be, as if GPT-3 has picked up on the chaos and is trying to somehow produce reviews that could plausibly be written by whatever weird humans are visiting this mangled recipe website.

Geilded Peanuts & Crabmeat Basil

3 beef, boneless chops, or thyme, 1 lamber and flince of fresh diced in diagonal 1 parsley 2 large leeks (for garnish) 3/4 teaspoon sesame oil, seeded and peeled 1 any jeans'l-tortilla 1 pepper or cinnamon 1/4 cup baesly pinto beans. (Crushed and thawed; minced fine you recipe) 1 tomato base 1 fat in the last 5 inch plates 1 garlic clove; crushed 1/4 cup dijon mustard

In a large bowl set aside. Remove the sides from the heat and saute with a fork and cover and cook on Low for 6 to 6 hours.

Yield: 6 servings

Morales Rating: 0 stars 03/30/2008 I had high expectations for this recipe, but it was an outright flop. I don't know if the measurements were somehow incorrect or what, but I ended up with a watery mess that certainly wasn't crab salad. My girlfriend, who is a new chef liked it fine, but I really wish that the recipe didn't claim that it made six servings when it really made enough for one, if that's what we were going to call it.

Carole Rating: 5 stars Glorious sobs! This recipe will be delicious for a minumum of 1½ Hours to maximum 2½ hours Time to bring lots of fresh sized potatoes in the house or grow in the age may become quite famous

Amanda Rating: 3 stars 11/13/2009 My friend is having a birthday party and will celebrate with Camping. She's in charge of the dishes and wanted to serve food at the campfire. I'll 10th grade, my easy information for her party. It will not sound strange anyway test this task with a note to work rationally.What to take trees, portable tables for chairs, the main meal, food. I personally love the taste of it but has anyone seen a shepherd (wasn't any spices), oysters. It is sufficient

It does kind of make sense that GPT-3’s recipe reviews aren’t directly complaining about the utter weirdness of char-rnn’s recipes. Probably very few of the recipe reviews in GPT-3’s training data involved baffled complaints about nonexistent or repeated ingredients, or apocalyptic levels of recipe failure. So GPT-3 has learned that even the critical reviews tend to fall within a certain sentiment range. It’s interesting that it tries to emulate char-rnn’s primitive neural net glitchiness - I’ve noticed before that GPT-3 seems to be capable of pretending to be a much simpler neural net.

Subscribers get bonus content: After generating a few reviews, GPT-3 would sometimes go on to generate new recipes (such as “BBQ Cheeseburger Salad” which contains lime jello, whipped topping, and sliced black beans). It may have been deliberately trying to make them terrible to fit in with char-rnn’s recipes.

Speaking of AI-generated recipes: there are some absolute disasters in my book on AI, You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Indiebound - Tattered Cover - Powell’s - Boulder Bookstore

#neural networks #gpt-3 #char-rnn #recipes

[kirstinmaldonado]

Chapter Six 2.0 Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Hi, friends!

Hope you all are doing well this week! Apologies for the late post, but I have a sweet surprise to make up for it! Two, actually!

I’ve been keeping busy this past week writing and recording new music and then brainstorming fun video concepts with Ben! The week has flown by, it’s been so fun! We give you theatrics! Humor! Cupcakes! Musical theatre!

Yes, the first song from our homemade mini musical will be debuting #soon! 

Aka…tomorrow. You know I wouldn’t do that to you guys…

Jokes aside, it’s been so nice flexing that creative muscle and collaborating with my boyfriend’s strengths as well! I’ve even started work on my own muscles again!

I…am out of shape, hahaha! But it’s okay! I’ve put that on the back burner and now I just have to get through the adjustment period of my body realizing it’s moving faster than a slow gait to the kitchen and we’re on our way!

The body is such a wonderful instrument! I am consistently in awe with what our bodies go through and can handle overall. Fascinated by where we hold our stresses, how we rebound, how the body heals itself. 

Since I never was a true, full-fledged athlete, I never connected with or understood my body fully besides vocal health; but from breaking my ankle in 2018 to working with Annie (PTX personal trainer and physical therapist) within the last year, I’ve become so much more aware of my overall body and health! It’s time we start implementing that in to daily life, no matter the setback, yeah? :) Goals are still goals! Setbacks (Corona) may knock you back a few pegs, but it’s never a reason to give up!

I have a little over two weeks until my birthday and while I’m definitely not in the shape I had anticipated (y’all I was ROCKING IT in January), there’s no better time than the present to kick back in to gear!

That being said…I have been indulging in some sweet treats lately! Between birthdays and this new video Ben and I have been working on, my sugar intake has been sky hiiiiiigh. Just yesterday I had an enormous mouthful of cupcakes for our video… You’ll see ;)

Now that I’m getting back in to working out and I’m, to be honest, a little cupcake-d out, I probably will be cutting down on the sweets. 

HOWEVER, just because I may not be enjoying them doesn’t mean YOU GUYS shouldn’t enjoy this AMAZING recipe!!!

I’ve used this recipe multiple times now and it is perfect every time!! The consistency of the cupcakes is super springy and light but without lacking flavor or depth! The recipe for icing is attached as well, but honestly these cupcakes are so good naturally you don’t even really need it!

I personally loved using them as mini cupcakes as they are deliciously sweet, but they can be used normally as well!

To make the cute LGBTQ+ colored cupcakes, I separated the batter into however many colors I wanted and used the desired food coloring to get the shade I liked! The measurements will vary depending on the size of your cupcakes and how many colors you use!

Have fun with it! Enjoy! Tag me! Send me pictures ;)

Shoutout to John Kanell at PreppyKitchen! If you have any other questions, please make sure to check out his recipe on his site PreppyKitchen or try any of his other recipes! I have yet to try his others but I have no doubt that they all look delicious, and no better time to try out a new recipe than now!!

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 213g

1 cup granulated sugar 200g

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter 170g, melted

3 egg whites

1 tbsp vanilla extract 15mL  (I always use more vanilla in all my baking recipes so use your own discretion based on taste preferences)

1/2 cup sour cream 120mL

1/2 cup whole milk 120mL (I used 2%)

For the Vanilla Buttercream:

2 lb confectioners sugar 900g

1 lb unsalted butter 450g, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract (I always use more vanilla in all my baking recipes so use your own discretion based on taste preferences)

1 tbsp heavy cream

1 pinch kosher salt

1 tsp whole milk (I used 2%)

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place cupcake papers in a cupcake pan.

2. Sift the flour, sugar salt, baking soda and powder into a large bowl, and whisk together.

3. Separate the yolk from the eggs. The yolks can be discarded unless you’re using them for a different icing.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until combined. (The batter may be clumpy, do not worry!)

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

6. Distribute the batter evenly into cupcake papers, filling each paper with about 2/3 the way up. They will rise to the top and if you put too much batter they will overflow slightly after finished baking!

7. Bake for about 18 minutes or until centers are springy to the touch. The toothpick in the center check always works like a charm!

For the Buttercream:

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter on high speed. 

2. Add in the confectioners sugar in two batches. 

3. Add salt, milk, cream and vanilla. Mix until fluffy.

4. Now you’re ready to ice your cupcakes! Use food coloring, use a piping bag to decorate, or just slab some on with a spoon! But enjoy!

#blog 2.0 #recipes

[jamaisjoons]

peach parfait I | ksj

⏤ 𝚜 𝚞 𝚖 𝚖 𝚊 𝚛 𝚢 : you and seokjin have always been at odds as the top two chefs at big hit academy of culinary arts. enemies to lovers au

⏤ 𝚙 𝚊 𝚒 𝚛 𝚒 𝚗 𝚐 : seokjin x reader

⏤ 𝚐 𝚎 𝚗 𝚛 𝚎 : fluff, smut, slight? angst

⏤ 𝚠 𝚘 𝚛 𝚍 𝚌 𝚘 𝚞 𝚗 𝚝 : 19k

⏤ 𝚠 𝚊 𝚛 𝚗 𝚒 𝚗 𝚐 𝚜 : female solo masturbation, slight nipple play, sex toys - ring vibrator

⏤ 𝚊 / 𝚗 : hello demons!!!!!! welcome to my first ever ksj au!!! it finally happened wow,,,, honestly this wasn’t supposed to be this long but here we are,,,, 19k in on the first part whoops. there will be a second part out [hopefully soon, i already have about 8k of it written] but until then, i hope you enjoy this! // lowkey this was inspired by shokugeki no soma skfjak

⏤ Part I | Part II ⇥ complete

“Kim Seokjin, a perfect 100!” Head Chef Hobeom called out.

Your entire body stiffened as if you had just been drenched in ice-cold water. You could feel the tell-tale scowl already forming on your face, your features twisting in annoyance as you took in the sight of Kim Seokjin’s smug face. His dark, slightly wavy locks fell loosely around his stupid forehead and he was dressed casually, in a plain white t-shirt, further accentuating his unnecessarily broad shoulders. Light wash jeans hung low on his hips, the material of the denim tugging around his ridiculously toned thighs. Not that you were admiring him. No. You would never admire your greatest rival. Which is exactly what he was. Your gaze fell back to his face, his nose slightly scrunched, luscious lips pulled into a half-smirk and eyes shining with mirth.

That smug bastard.

You could hear the screams and cheers from all the female students, and even some male, as Seokjin bowed to the rest of the class while you angrily threw your spatula down. You grumbled to yourself and began cleaning up, ignoring the cheers for Seokjin as best as you could. You knew why you lost. You had made a stupid, rookie mistake. One that you were now kicking yourself for. How the hell had you managed to forget to season the meat before cooking? It was probably the most fundamental step of any recipe and yet in the heat of the moment and under pressurised circumstances, you had completely neglected that crucial step and it had cost you the exam. Well not really, you still passed but Seokjin had scored higher. And now, Seokjin would be able to brag until the next time the two of you faced off. From the corner of your eye, you watched Seokjin saunter over to you and immediately growled to yourself, eyes narrowing.

Great, now he was here to gloat.

“Hey ____, that’s what, my three hundred and fifty-eighth win? Who’s winning right now? Cause according to my count it’s me” Seokjin taunts, his tone laced in both arrogance and glee. You could feel your eyebrow twitch, taking a deep breath before turning around, your eyes in slits as you scrutinised his smug face.

“Until the next round. You forget before this round, we were both tied at three hundred and fifty-seven” You spit out, tone saturated with hate and loathing. Seokjin, however, is unbothered, letting out a little snicker.

“Yeah we were both tied but you could have won this round. I can’t believe you lost because you didn’t salt the meat. Slacking a bit, aren’t you? Isn’t seasoning the most basic rule of cooking? Do you need to go back to the first year? Or if you really want, I could teach you? I think you’d benefit from my classes. We could call it, cooking for dummies: back to the basics” Seokjin jeers and you let out a low growl, slamming your most prized knife back into its case as you continue cleaning up your station. You’re trying not to let his words get to you, but you can’t help it. He’s completely right. You could have won if you had simply seasoned the god damned meat.

“Oh, bite me Seokjin, we’ve all done it once or twice. Or did you forget the time you forgot the soy sauce in a chow mein? A dish which is basically just noodles, bean sprouts and soy sauce. So, do us both a favour and kindly fuck off, I have pastry class now,” You sneer and Seokjin laughs as you grab your knife set before storming away. You can feel his eyes on your back the entire time, the hairs on your neck standing in irritation. You can still hear his stupid squeaky laugh up until you leave the class.

Once out, you take in a deep breath and calm yourself down, face pulled into a frown. There were many reasons you had lost that match. Many reasons the flavours of the dish didn’t tie in together as well as they should have. The biggest reason, was, of course, the lack of salt on the meat resulting in a bland tasting dish despite the number of spices and herbs mixed into the sauce. You had also overcooked the butter, leading to a slightly smoked flavour that offset the dish and because of that, you hadn’t been able to sauté the onions long enough and thus they weren’t caramelised enough to compliment the beef. You continued muttering what had gone wrong with the dish to yourself, noting them down so that next time you could and would beat Seokjin at his own game.

“Hey, you okay?” Jimin asked and you snapped out of your daze, slightly startled by your best friend appearing out of nowhere. You looked around, brows knitting in bewilderment as you wonder just when you’d gotten to class. Had you been lost in your thoughts that long?

“Huh? Yeah, sorry. I was lost in my own head” You said as you popped your knives under the counter and slipped your apron on, washing your hands before taking your place at one of the many counters in the room, awaiting the chef’s arrival.

“It seemed like you were mumbling about food. Oh wait, today was your exam with Jin-hyung wasn’t it? I take it, it didn’t end well” Jimin says and you scowl at him.

“I forgot to salt the fucking meat. And as usual, perfect Kim Seokjin’s dish was faultless. So yeah, that ass won” You lament and Jimin’s face scrunched in concern.

“You did pass the exam though yes?” Jimin asked, worry laced in his tone and you quickly shot him an exasperated look. Of course, you had passed. Failure in exams resulted in expulsion, no questions asked.

That was the reason Big Hit Academy of Culinary Arts was the best culinary school in the entirety of Asia. Less than 5% of the students who enter graduate. The Head Chef’s at the school pushed until you were tired and pushed even more after. The academy had no place for people who couldn’t stand the heat of the kitchen nor the pressure or competition. And you’d be damned if you weren’t in the top 5% of graduates. Of course, graduating paid off handsomely. Graduates from Big Hit were guaranteed to get jobs in the most prestigious of restaurants across the world. The Big Hit name carried weight; hell, even if you made it to the third year before failing would guarantee you a job in a high class, albeit small restaurant.

“Jimin, if I failed, I wouldn’t be here. I passed the exam. I came second, after stupid Seokjin. I scored a 95 whereas he scored a perfect 100” You replied and Jimin beamed at you, his eyes scrunching up into half-moons.

“That’s great ____! You should be really proud of that” Jimin says cheerily but at the annoyance still carved in your face, he deflates, rolling his eyes at you in exasperation.

“It’s in 90s ____. Some people would kill for that score. Some people never even reach that boundary, you and Seokjin-hyung are the only two to consistently get scores over 90 so stop pouting. Besides, I don’t understand why you both still go head to head. You’re trained in completely different backgrounds. Of course, Jin-hyung was going to do better on the exam. He’s a rotisseur. Someone who is trained and specialised in cooking meat and savoury dishes. You’re a god damn pâtissier. You bake bread and make desserts. They’re two completely different ballparks” Jimin, forever the voice of reason, argues and you shrug.

“It’s just always been like that. Ever since we both entered this academy. Besides we didn’t always specialise in what we do now. There was a time when we both cooked whatever. We still do. We just tend to focus on our specialities more now. You know the best chefs are experts in all disciplines and masters in their own discipline,” You refute and Jimin nods, barely paying attention to you now.

“Please don’t throw Headmaster Bang’s words at me. I still can’t believe he does that exact same speech at the start of every year. But I guess you’re correct. Besides, according to everyone, including the head chefs, you both are the best chefs this academy has seen in years. It’s alright though, the next exam is a sweet based one isn’t it? He’s never beaten you on one of those,” Jimin says offhandedly, as he too starts preparing for class and you nod.

It was true.

Ever since you entered Big Hit Academy of Culinary Arts those three years ago, you and Seokjin had gone head to head countless – except of course you both kept count – of times. But it was almost predictable at this point. If the exam had anything to do with baked goods or desserts, you would score nothing less than a perfect 100. You were currently unrivalled in the academy when it came to desserts. However, the same could be said for Seokjin and any meat dishes. He too had yet to score less than a perfect 100 on any of his dishes that included meat. Hence, you both would win those respectively and those exams were almost predictable. However, there were anomalies. If either of you were in an exam for fish, sauces or any specific cuisines, it was anyone’s game. Sometimes Seokjin scored higher; sometimes you would. Hence, the two of you were tied at three hundred and fifty-seven wins each. That was until today. When Seokjin took the lead with his latest win.

You scowled once more.

Stupid Seokjin and his stupid pretty face and stupid cooking skills.

“Alright. Welcome to today’s exam. As mentioned before, the theme is Chantilly cream. You will find an assortment of ingredients at your counter. You may prepare whatever you want, so long as you only use the ingredients at your counter. You have two hours to complete your dishes. You may begin,” Head Chef Sejin calls out and you immediately begin looking at your ingredients. This was one of the hardest challenges; everyone was given ingredients and could prepare whatever you wanted. However, you were limited by your ingredient supply and variety.

Your eyes quickly scanned over all the ingredients; butter, flour, vanilla extract; strawberries; cream; chocolate; sugar. Damn no eggs. You discarded any recipe at the top of your head that would need eggs. Suddenly, an idea popped into your head and your eyes lit up with excitement. You quickly began gathering the ingredients before grabbing any equipment you’d need. You looked up briefly, taking in the sight of the other student chefs, panic etched into their faces. Your eyes fleetingly wandered over to Seokjin, who like you, had already begun grabbing ingredients. You scowled slightly before going through the recipe in your head.

You slowly began to work, beginning by creating your base. You submersed yourself into creating the dough, white dust puffing up in a cloud around you as you added the flour. Your shoulders relaxed, fingers moving in soft circles as you incorporated the butter into the flour. Briefly, you glanced up, slightly startled when you realised Seokjin was watching you work. As soon as your eyes made contact, he winked at you. You felt the vein in your head pop and immediately grew agitated. Sneering at him, you went back to focusing on your kneading, now a lot less gentle than before as you began pounding the dough, working out your frustration with Seokjin on it.

Realising the force behind your kneading, you quickly stopped, fearing that you’d overwork it resulting in a tough pastry. Wrapping it in clingfilm, you placed it into the fridge to cool before taking a deep breath. You wouldn’t allow Kim Seokjin to crawl under your skin. No matter how irritatingly handsome he was. Wait- where had that come from? You quickly shook your head, thinking over your recipe as you hurry to begin your next step lest you run out of time. You grabbed the strawberries, as needlessly red as Seokjin’s lips, chopping off the leaves before dumping them into a saucepan along with vanilla bean paste, a squeeze of orange juice and cinnamon. Your secret ingredients to enhance the flavour of the strawberry coulis and gain an edge over whatever Seokjin had planned.

You waited for the strawberry mixture to begin boiling, stirring continuously as it began to reduce. The task was mindless and involuntarily your thoughts wandered off to Seokjin, a frown marring your face. You couldn’t resist chancing another glance at him, brows furrowing when you realised he was placing cake tins into the oven. An eggless cake? You scoff haughtily. Most of the other students were also making eggless cakes. You turned your attention back to your saucepan, the strawberries were completely mushy and reduced, leaving a thick scarlet sauce. You grabbed a bowl and strained it, removing any clumps of skin or seeds and leaving a completely clear coulis. Placing it to the side, you checked your timer before grabbing your dough out of the fridge.

Moving onto your next step, you grabbed your previously abused dough from the fridge. The heels of your palm pressed into the soft, chilled dough as you began working it once again. Once you deemed it was ready, you grabbed the rolling pin and began rolling and folding it into what was to become your puff pastry. From your peripheral vision, you noticed that Seokjin was idly standing around, leaning against his counter in a completely relaxed position. Your brows furrowed, wondering just why he was sitting around doing nothing when the timer was still running. You cursed internally; why the hell were you so caught up in what Seokjin was doing? He was your rival. If he failed, it worked out better for you. But that didn’t sit well with you. You wanted to win on your own merit, wanted to be better than him because you were better; not because he threw the exam. You look up once again, locking eyes with him.

This time, when your eyes meet Seokjin simply stares. Against your will, you send him a questioning, albeit concerned look. Seokjin reels slightly in surprise before he composes himself. His hand moves and soon he’s blowing you a kiss causing you to roll your eyes at his antics. You hear the female students swoon, cheers surrounding the entire class causing you to roll your eyes. Seokjin simply ignored them, smirking at you before getting to work on whatever he needed to. Satisfied that he was taking this seriously, you turned back to your dough. Realising it was ready, the butter marbled perfectly through the flour; you wrapped it in cling film again before placing it in the fridge once again.

Taking a look at the timer, you realised you had just under an hour. Clearing up your counter hurriedly, you began preheating the oven. The last bits would undoubtedly be the easiest; just whip the cream with vanilla and sugar in order to satisfy the Chantilly cream requirement and you’d be golden. All of a sudden, your individual timer went off; you swiftly wipe your hands clean and pulled the dough from the fridge once again, this time rolling it out and cutting it into perfect rectangles, placing them into the oven. Then, you continued clearing up, realising Seokjin was doing the same.

Both of you had your bases in the oven, which meant, you’d both most likely finish around the same time. Although, he was a bit pressed for time. It’d most likely take him longer to assemble and decorate his cake than you would. You both had about forty-five minutes left. It was time to get serious. You pulled your pastry out of the oven, ensuring they were golden and crisp, but more importantly, cooked all the way through. You needed to cool them quick; you walked to the blast chiller, depositing your tray into the machine. You turned around and bumped into someone, immediately apologising before you looked up and realised it was Seokjin.

“Hey ____” Seokjin sing songs, looking down at you with a small smirk, his voice playful, and you instantly rolled your eyes, crossing your arms. You watch as he carefully places his tins into the machine, just under your tray. The two of you stay by the chiller, your arms crossed as you look around at all the other chefs, some of who were panicking as they ran out of time.

“Looks like we’re both going to be in the top again,” Seokjin says nonchalantly and you snort.

“When are we not at the top?” You snidely retort. It’s a rhetorical question considering both of you were always in the top and Seokjin knew that. Seokjin simply shrugs, looking back at you, his eyes glistening with something you just can’t seem to place. If you didn’t know any better, you’d assume it was pride. But there was no reason for him to be proud of you. In fact, if it was pride, it’d mainly because he was proud of himself.

“So, what are you making? Didn’t look like a cake” Seokjin asks casually and you feel your eyebrow twitch. It seemed to do that a lot whenever he was involved.

“If you can’t tell then maybe you should just drop out” You sarcastically respond and Seokjin laughs in that squeaky, carefree way that he does, that leaves you wanting to punch him in the throat.

“Well I know you’re making a mille-feuille, I just thought you’d make something a bit more interesting, you know? I guess I overestimated your skills” Seokjin says nonchalantly and you can feel the nerve on your forehead throb in anger.

“Excuse me? Those are big words coming from someone making a cake” You retort and Seokjin shrugs.

“Yeah, maybe. But I’m not the pâtissier out of the two of us, am I?” He replies with a smirk and your fingers twitch, the urge to smack him coursing through your palms. How dare he? How dare he just come here and insult you like that!

“Anyway, my cakes should be cool now. See you at the end. Maybe I’ll win this round,” Seokjin says with a wink and your eyes widen before you let out an incredulous laugh.

“I don’t think so, Kim. You have yet to beat me when it comes to desserts” You replied smugly and Seokjin snickers, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“There’s a first time for everything. Maybe you’ll forget to add sugar to your dish, who knows” Seokjin taunts and you clench your jaw lest you scream at him.

That bastard.

As if you would ever make such a stupid mistake in your own discipline. That ass. One day you’d wipe that stupid smirk off of his stupidly pretty face. Really who was that stupidly pretty?!

You grab your tray from the blast chiller and stalk over to your counter, grumbling the entire time. You’d show him. You quickly whip up the Chantilly cream, ensuring it’s stiff but light and flavoured just right before you carefully begin assembling your mille-feuille. You place the first pastry layer on the presentation dish, dusting it with a light coating of icing sugar before pipping on the cream over, garnishing with the strawberries and drizzling a sparing layer of the coulis. Not too much; just enough to enhance the flavour but not enough to turn the pastry, that you worked so hard into making crispy and flaky, soggy. You continue layering until you hit the third and last layer.

You place the pastry gently on top, making sure all the edges line up. When satisfied, you pipe small dollops of cream, topping them off with strawberries and mint leaves to add some vibrant colours to your dish. You quickly glance at the time, smiling when you realise you have just enough to finish with a light dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon and then clear up so your counter is sparklingly clean. You finish up quickly and then gently cover up your dish. It’s a beautiful concoction of reds, greens, whites and golden brown. The dessert almost makes your mouth water and you know you’re sure to pass. It may not be extravagant but it was perfect.

“A minute left. Please start bringing your dishes up” Head Chef Sejin calls out and you grab your dish, walking up to the judges. You place yours down and bow, the chefs all smiling at you. From the corner of your eye, you see Seokjin bring up his own dish and briefly, very, very briefly you wonder what would happen if you just tripped him up. However, both of you believed in the integrity of healthy competition and neither of you had ever sabotaged each other before. So instead, you just glared at the huge expanse of the back of his shoulders as he walked up to the table, placing his own dish down.

Soon, other students began bringing up their dishes and you winced slightly at some of them. Even now, in the third year, people made stupid mistakes when cooking. It was why these exams took place, to put people under the time pressure and stress they’d face when in the kitchen of their own restaurants someday. One person had forgotten to cool down their cake and thus the cream was slowly melting. It seemed like another hadn’t had enough time to cook their cake, causing it to collapse in the middle. You grimaced at those two; a mishap that big was sure to lead in failure and as a result expulsion.

Sadly, Seokjin’s cake was as beautiful as your mille-feuille, with pristine piping, delectable, soft-looking peaks of Chantilly cream and a vibrant array of fruit from kiwis to summer berries. There wasn’t much you could fault him for in his presentation. Even when compared to your perfect dessert. The deciding factor would be the taste. You were sure of it.

The judging process slowly began, and slowly people were eliminated. The two who had panicked had received 0s like you had predicted. Other than that, the lowest score was 46 and the highest so far 78. And then, Head Chef Sejin looked at you and Seokjin. He regarded you both with smiles and you immediately feel nervous. Chef Sejin was currently the best pâtissier in Asia and he was your idol. No matter how many times he judged and approved of your work, you still got nervous, hoping it was up to his expectations.

“I take it you two are competing again?” Head Chef Sejin asks and both you and Seokjin nod, causing Chef Sejin to laugh. Your rivalry with Seokjin was widely known throughout the school, most people anticipating it. The Head Chefs even actively encouraged the friendly competition, sometimes pitting other students against each other in order to drive them further and give them a purpose, a reason to excel and do better than they already could. Of course, you and Seokjin had been non-stop competing for three years now.

“Alright then, Seokjin, I believe you are the current winner, from your last exam? Would you like to go first?” Chef Sejin asks and Seokjin nods. You watch with bated breath as Chef Sejin cuts up the cake, the judges oohing at the soft, airy texture of the sponge. How he managed that without eggs, you’d forever be surprised but you wouldn’t dare openly compliment him. The judges begin tasting small bites, all smiling and noting down their scores. They quickly look at each other, discussing the results and then Chef Sejin smiles at Seokjin.

“Truly, a beautiful sponge. Airy and soft, despite the lack of eggs provided. How did you manage this?” Chef Sejin asks and Seokjin smiles.

“I substituted the butter for oil to give the sponge a lighter texture and added both baking soda and baking powder with a little bit of lemon juice react with the two powders to make it airier,” Seokjin says simply and the corner of your lip twitches. Damn him.

“Ah, of course. A wonderful job, and 98, the highest score of the class so far. And now for ____ 's mille-feuille” Chef Sejin compliments Seokjin before looking at you kindly; however, your shoulders stiffen. That was an awfully high score. It meant you now had to score a 99 or perfect 100 in order to beat him. You could feel the hairs on your spine stand as you anxiously awaited the judging of your own dessert. You were almost sure it was perfect, to you it was. And granted, you’d never scored anything less than a perfect on a dessert or bread dish. But Seokjin was right. There was a first time for everything.

There could be a number of times in the future when your dish wouldn’t score a perfect. Today could be one of those times. You watched with bated breath as the judges cut up your mille-feuille, the pastry crackling under the knife before it glided through the cream and fruit. You sucked in a deep breath, watching as the judges daintily put a spoonful of the pastry and cream into their mouths. It was as if time moved slowly. Every chew, every ooh and ah. The palpitating of your heart pounded in your eardrums, your palms behind your back sweaty, wrists wringing nervously. Chef Sejin placed his fork down and then the judges began writing down their own scores. You can feel Seokjin near you but you’re too tense to even give him a second thought. You don’t notice the way he looks at you, a knowing look on his face. You don’t notice the way he lets out a small, displeased sigh before shaking his head.

“Once again ____, you’ve outdone yourself. This was… absolutely perfect. The texture of the pastry was crumbly and flaky, cooked to perfection. The cream soft but stiff and the sweetness of the strawberries are cut beautifully by the cinnamon and tanginess of the orange in the coulis. Truly a masterpiece. Congratulations, another perfect 100” Chef Sejin compliments and you release your breath, grinning brightly at the older man despite your still shaky hands. You quickly bow in thanks, your heart beating rapidly in your chest as you beam with pride. The chefs thank all the students before they begin leaving. You spin on your heels, grinning at Seokjin.

“Well, Seokjin. That brings us both to three hundred and fifty-eight. I believe that means it’s another tie. Of course, I’ll be sure to win the next round” You say and Seokjin looks down at you, his face blank. Your fists clench slightly because despite his blank expression, you can still see the slight disappointment in his eyes and you know it’s not because he lost.

“Any first-year could have made that. Like I said, I was hoping for something more. Besides, win? Lose? Who cares, at the end of the day, I still have this face. Therefore, who is the real winner here?” Seokjin says and with that, he walked away. You can feel your cheeks and ears burn with rage, your fists clenched on either side of your body. And that was exactly why you’d never compliment him on anything, his dishes, his looks or anything. Because not once, not a single time had he ever admitted your dishes were good or that you had done well. All he ever did was criticise you and your work.

God, you hated him.

Storming into your apartment, you slam the door shut, the vibrations reverberating through the room. You stomp into the living room, throwing your stuff haphazardly onto the sofa before making your way into your bedroom. You let out a frustrated scream, flinging yourself into the bed before kicking your legs rather childishly. You could not believe him. Where did he get off telling you that any first-year could have made your mille-feuille? It was perfect! You’d pay any first-year 500,000 won if they could replicate it!

You scowl into your pillow, eyes narrowed as your blood boils at the thought of Seokjin’s words. He was honestly so full of himself. You couldn’t wait to triumph over him and put him in his place. Granted, it would only last for a short time. But still! You were determined to come out on top. His words flash through your head once again and you let out another scream, this time muffled by your pillow. You grabbed your pillow and threw it against the wall, finally working out most of your frustration.

You sat up with a groan, a scowl still on your face. Your shoulders were tense and your back ached from standing up all day cooking. A shower, you decide, was the best course to work off not only the day’s grime but also to calm you down. You tut slightly at yourself, reprimanding yourself for allowing Seokjin to work you up so much. Getting off your bed, you stripped down to just your panties, exhaling with relief as soon as your breasts were out of the wretched cage that was your bra.

Stepping into the en-suite bathroom, you turned the shower on, letting it heat up for a few minutes before stepping in. With a loud sigh, you let the hot water run along your body. The heat of the water, powered with the steam, slowly worked your exhaustion and frustration out. You felt your sore muscles slowly relaxing, rolling your shoulders to remove the kinks. You lathered your body in soap, allowing the loofa to gently exfoliate your skin. It was almost ritualistic, with each stroke you could feel your ire at Seokjin slowly decreasing.

You spend another fifteen minutes under the shower, letting the hot water run over your body. Finally, when your fingers start pruning, you decide to step out. Wrapping a large fluffy terry cloth towel around yourself, you pad bag into your bedroom. As much as the shower has helped, you still can’t help but feel the slightest bit of tension persist in your muscles. Your eyes flick to beside your bed and you make a split-second decision. 

Crawling in bed, you made yourself comfy. You slowly unwrapped the towel from your body, dropping it to the floor. You shivered slightly, your nipples hardening from the cool air. The difference in temperate from the steamy bathroom to your cool bedroom was highly noticeable, especially considering you were completely naked. You relaxed further, sinking into your bed as you’re hand slowly drifted down to your stomach, working your way towards your naked sex. Your body was already slowly heating up and you can no longer register the chill of the room against your still slightly damp body.

Your fingers circled your belly button, your skin prickling under the sensation as you gradually lose yourself in the pleasurable haze, your breath hitching. Without a second thought, your hand slowly worked down towards your wettening pussy, letting out a low groan when your hand brushed lightly against your clit, the small bundle of nerves hardening against your hand. You loosely played with your slit, a finger barely dipping in before pulling out, spreading your wetness all over your lips.

You bit your lip at the sensation, needing more but wanting to draw out the feeling. Involuntarily, you rolled your hips, trying to get more friction against your hands, your breathing heavy now. Unconsciously, one of your hands moved to your breast and your eyes immediately slipped shut. You imagined a faceless man, with dark hair and broad shoulders hovering over you. You imagined it was his hand playing with your nipple instead, rolling your breast in his palms before flicking the nipple with his thumb. Vaguely, the man you’d imagined looked familiar to you, but in your lust induced haze, you didn’t care.

You moved your second hand to your other breast, lightly squeezing and massaging, pinching one nipple between your thumb and forefinger as the other continued rolling your other nipple. You let out a shuddering breath, hips now grinding against the bed as you pussy cried out for attention, weeping with your arousal. Your nipple aches against the hand pinching it, the delicious pain only making you cry out weakly at the sensation. You squeeze harder, twisting slightly and moaning at the sharper pain before releasing it. Desire burned in your veins, imagining the man squeezing even harder, wishing his puffy pink lips could wrap around them. Pink lips? When did the faceless man have lips?

Your mind floods with fervour, mouth dry as if all your wetness seeped from it towards your aching cunt. A wanton cry escapes your lips, your sex crying out to be touched, to give it some friction and relieve the ache deep within your cunt. You raise your knees slightly before spreading your thighs almost obscenely, shivering at the sensation of the cold air against your hot, needy pussy. Your fingers flit against the soft flesh of your sensitive thighs. You’re so close and you curse yourself for drawing out the pleasure for this long. You still imagine the man is over you; it’s him that’s teasing you and you now find yourself cursing him.

You gingerly move your fingers to your folds, back arching slightly. Your nerves are afire, your lust seeping into every pore in your body. Fingers slowly splay your pussy open, and you imagine it’s the faceless man’s crooked fingers instead of your own, shuddering once again at the cold air. The heady, musky scent of your arousal fills the room. Every one of your senses is clogged by desire; your arousal is so thick that you can both smell and taste it. You can feel the stickiness between your legs, your juices coating your thighs and you can hear the slight squelching of your pussy lips.

A prolonged, needy groan escapes your throat as your fingers finally come into contact with your hard clit. Your middle finger pushed down, pressing into the bundle and you exhale breathily, rolling it under the pad of your fingertip. Your finger slowly pushed down, spreading your lips and wetness coating your pussy before you curl your finger back towards your bud. You cry out again and again as you work your clit over and over again but you need more.

You blindly reach over to your bedside table, opening the draw as you continue playing with your clit. You open the drawer, reaching inside and feeling around until you touch the cool plastic of your vibrator ring. You claw at it, grabbing it before reluctantly removing your hand from your clit. You slip the ring onto your finger, before switching it on. Your hand hastily moves back to your sex and you cry out at the low reverberations of the vibrator strumming against your clit, eyes almost rolling back.

Your pussy is on fire, clenching and unclenching uncontrollably; your abdomen flips and tightens, your orgasm slowly nearing. But you’re still missing something. You let the vibrator rest against your clit, stimulating you over and over again, your heart beating rapidly, thundering in your ears. You suddenly plunge one finger into you, mewling at the sensation, imagining it was the man’s long crooked fingers instead, while simultaneously wishing your fingers were longer. Slowly, you press a second finger into you, wincing at the stretch before your mouth gapes open in pleasure. You imagine it’s the faceless man who is rapidly sinking two fingers into you, his plush lips pulled into a small smirk, nose slightly scrunched and strong, thick eyebrows furrowed as he brings you the most pleasure you’ve had in a while. You’re too lost in your own pleasure to even realise the faceless man’s features slowly forming.

Your cunt feels like velvet, gripping and rippling against your fingers, leaking with your arousal. Your hips grind down against your hand, thrusting into them as you force your clit harder against the vibrating ring, trying to press your fingers deeper into your cunt. You press a third finger in, wincing even more at the stinging sensation and the stretch but you need more and so you persevere against the pain, pushing deeper and deeper until your pussy swallows all three of your fingers. You almost shriek, pistoning them in harder, in and out, repetitively.

You grind harder and harder, moaning and groaning, eyes rolling back into your skull as you pant. Your orgasm is so close. Your pussy is dripping all over your hand and you’re sure you’ve left a slight puddle of your juices on your bedsheets but you don’t care. You push your hips harder once again and curl your fingers, pressing the pad against the rough skin of your g-spot. The overwhelming sensations of your thrusting fingers against the spongy highly sensitised skin inside you paired with the vibration against your clit has your legs trembling.

You feel yourself climbing higher and higher until finally, you release. You let out a stuttering scream. Your orgasm ricochets through you faster than you can process. You cry out louder, chasing your high and riding your fingers. Your walls ripple uncontrollably against your fingers, savouring the touch and high as you tremble and quake violently, legs spasming as you press the vibrator harder against your clit. You let the tide of your climax wash through you, carrying you along with the wave and drowning you in intoxication until you finally pull out, the sensitivity in your cunt too much to handle.

You breathe heavily, the buzzing of the vibrator still continuous as you come down from your high. You pant, your skin flushed and tingling from the post aftershocks of your orgasm, your sweat matted hair sticking to your forehead. Your brain slowly adjusts, pulling itself out of the lust-filled cloud it had found itself in. The man slowly faded from your mind’s eye. You let out a satiated sigh, wondering just who you had been imagining. Deciding not to dwell too much of it however, you slowly pull yourself under the covers, allowing sleep to take you.

It’s a week later when you see him. The exam period had ended and once again, the two of you were tied at three hundred and ninety-six each. You were getting frustrated which each and every win and loss. The balance had to tip in someone’s favour. You couldn’t keep winning and losing against him forever. You couldn’t tie forever. Someone had to give. You’re currently stood in the assembly area; you and the rest of the third-year students all gathered. A slight sense of dread fills you. You have no idea why you’ve all been gathered together, but it cannot be good. Headmaster Bang was known for throwing loops into the student’s schedules; planning hard tasks after exams to weed out the worst chefs and to have the top of the top chefs further excel.

“____!” Jimin called, running up to you with Jungkook and Taehyung in tow. You waved and smiled at the two of them. You were glad they had made it passed the exams. Jimin, was your best friend; the two of you as thick as thieves since your first class when Jimin had somehow preheated the oven too high, resulting in the glass shattering from heat and pressure. Don’t get it wrong, Jimin was a wonderful chef, albeit a bit clumsy. His own speciality was spice. The boy could create spicy foods that had your mouth screaming and your throat burning and yet you couldn’t help but spoon more mouthfuls as it was just that addicting. Jungkook was a ramen specialist. Give the boy some noodles and an array of ingredients and he could create a bountiful concoction of savoury flavours that would make anyone’s mouths water. Including yours. And finally, there was poor Taehyung.

You weren’t even sure how he’d managed to progress to the third year. He wasn’t bad per se but he wasn’t Academy level either. But somehow, he’d survived to the third year. His foods couldn’t rival with the top of the academy, but there was something about Taehyung’s food. It tasted like home. Kind of like a mother’s love. Homey and comforting. It may not have been perfect and he may not be at the top of the academy, but it was his. A style completely unique to Taehyung. The kind of comfort food you crave when sick or hungover, the food you crave after a broken heart, the food you crave when you miss home or your family. Soul food. That was Taehyung’s speciality.

The four of you stood quietly chatting amongst yourselves, wondering what Headmaster Bang had prepared for the third-year students. You continue looking around, realising that the exams had resulted in even more expulsions. At the start of your third year, there were roughly three hundred students still left and now, there were only about half of that, maybe a few more. The hair at the nape of your neck stands on edge and you feel the presence of someone behind you. You quickly turn around, yelping when you come face to chest with someone. You look up and almost growl when you’re met with Seokjin’s face. He’s surrounded by his best friends, Hoseok, Namjoon and Yoongi.

“Is there a reason you’re so close to me, asshole?” You scorn and Seokjin smirks down at you.

“Awfully hostile today, aren’t we ____?” Seokjin jests and you feel your eyebrow begin to twitch. Honestly, at this point, it was almost like a reflex whenever he was concerned.

“Can we not have a single time when we meet that you both don’t fight?” Namjoon asks and you pout. Namjoon was similar to Taehyung, as in no one had any idea how he’d managed to make it into the third year with next to no cooking skills. He was clumsy, often hurt himself in the kitchen and made stupid mistakes like the time he put his hand in boiling water to check if his udon noodles were done. However, if there was one thing Namjoon was good at, it was leading. He was incredibly intelligent with vast amounts of charisma and patience, all which made him excellent at any leadership role. Consequently, that was why he was training to be a restaurant manager rather than a chef. The boy couldn’t cook to save his life, but no one could run and lead a restaurant better than he could.

“He started it!” You childishly reply and Hoseok chuckles, shaking his head while Yoongi huffs.

“You’re not six ____,” Yoongi reprimands and once again you pout. Yoongi was a master fermenter. Anything from alcohol to cheeses, if you could ferment it, Yoongi would master it and ensure that anything he fermented was the highest quality.

“It’s not like Jin-hyung doesn’t act six himself whenever ____ is concerned” Hoseok defends and you quickly send him an appreciative glance, causing him to wink at you. Hoseok, for as bright and bubbly as he was, was a demon in the kitchen. Specifically, if it included seafood. He could butcher a hanging monkfish with precision unlike any other and deshell and plate a lobster blindfolded. The man was legendary when it came to seafood.

See the worst thing about Seokjin, were his friends. Not because you hated them or anything, your rivalry was with Seokjin and Seokjin only. Your hatred stemmed from the fact that they were also your friends. The issue was that both his friendship group and yours were pretty damn integrated, meaning that even outside of class you had to sometimes see and interact with him. Although, most of those interactions ended up with either the both of you challenging each other to another cook-off or you screaming and stomping away from how ridiculously annoying he could be. Before either you or Seokjin can retaliate, you notice everyone begin to stand straighter. You quickly turn back around to the podium, watching all the academy head chefs begin bowing as Headmaster Bang walks onto the stage. You take a deep breath, steeling in all your nerves for whatever he was about to announce.

“Good afternoon. You’re all probably wondering why, just after your last exams, I’ve gathered all third years here. Well, that is because passing those exams means that you are one step closer to your goals. Graduating from Big Hit Academy of Culinary Arts. For decades, my family has cultivated the best chefs in Asia through this academy. This academy has a reputation for producing the best of the best. However, that comes at a price. The exams are increasingly difficult and any failures result in immediate expulsion. However, this process has led to the production of world-class chef graduates. Congratulations to all of you who have made it here today. But, your assessment doesn’t end there. With the end of your exams, comes your next challenge” Headmaster Bang begins and as soon as the words leave his mouth, you hear everyone begin to groan.

“You are all third years, soon to graduate. However, we cannot let you graduate without first-hand experience of working in a restaurant. Therefore, you will all be paired up and placed in a restaurant for a week. Each restaurant has a different passing criterion, meaning the condition to pass in one restaurant will be different from the condition to pass in another. Anyone who fails to meet their criteria will fail and be expelled. Pairings are based on your performance within the academy within the last three years. Now, we will begin calling out your pairings along with the restaurant you will be working at” Headmaster Bang concludes and you let out a little sigh, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to catch a break for the next week at least.

Your small group of friends listen as names are called out along with pairings. Namjoon and Taehyung are paired together, which makes sense considering both of them somehow fail half their classes; Namjoon due to his lack of cooking skills – knowledge only helps so much – and Taehyung because of how nervous he can get during exams. Jimin and Hoseok are also paired off together with Yoongi and Jungkook making up another pair. You snicker slightly, wondering which idiot would be stuck with Seokjin considering all your friends are now paired up. You grin mirthfully when Headmaster Bang calls out Seokjin’s name, listening eagerly for the name of his poor, poor partner.

“Kim Seokjin and _____ _____, you will be in Hunan, a small Chinese restaurant. Please see head chef Hobeom for details” Headmaster Bang calls out and you immediately pale when your name is called out. Now that you thought about it, of course, it was you. Your grades were only matched by Seokjin so of course, it was you who was his poor, poor partner.

“Well, guess it’s you and me partner” You hear Seokjin snigger against your ear and immediately feel despair wash over you at his overly pleased tone.

This was, undoubtedly, going to be the worst week of your life.

A couple days later, you find yourself staring curiously at the restaurant your challenge would be taking place at. The academy had arranged for you and Seokjin to stay in a nearby hotel considering the restaurant was pretty far from campus. However, the more you look at the restaurant, the more you’re confused. It’s completely empty. At first, you had thought that perhaps it was just closed; but that wasn’t the case. The sign read open, the lights were on and you could see the staff milling about idly inside, doing nothing as they stared out the window. You frowned slightly before checking the time. It read 7:30pm, which was prime time for a restaurant to be busy. You looked around, the streets were bustling and other restaurants were full of happy customers. So why was this one completely empty?

“Weird isn’t it? I wonder why it’s empty” a voice says from right beside your ear and you immediately jump, almost screaming at the sudden presence of someone next to you. Seokjin lets out a shrill laugh, shoulders shaking as he watches you glare at him.

“Don’t fucking do that you ass!” You reprimand with a glower, Seokjin shrugging.

“Not my fault you weren’t paying attention. I did say hi, you just weren’t listening” Seokjin says and a small part of you wants to slap him but you know that won’t get you anywhere. So instead, you take a deep breath and calm yourself down.

“Whatever. Let’s go” You say, approaching the restaurant. The two of you enter, the staff immediately standing with bright, hopeful grins as one of the wait staff approaches both of you with menus.

“Hello! Welcome to Hunan! Table for two?” The man asks with a bright smile. So, the emptiness of the restaurant didn't have anything to do with the customer service then. You look at him sheepishly before bowing.

“We apologise, we’re not here to dine. We’re the students from Big Hit Academy, we’re here to work in your restaurant for a week” You say apologetically and the staff deflate immediately.

“I see. Let me go get the owner” The waiter says and you nod before watching him disappear into the back. A couple moments later, he returns, this time with a young, slender woman.

“Hello! You must be ____ and Seokjin! Thank you so much for coming. I’m Wei Meilin, but you can call me Mei. I’m both the owner and the chef of Hunan” She says, greeting you both with a bow. You and Seokjin both introduce yourselves with a small bow too.

“How can we help you?” Seokjin asks and Mei sighs, looking around forlornly.

“As you can see, my restaurant is completely empty. This has been happening for a while actually. You see, I was gifted this restaurant by my parents because it’s been my lifelong dream to own an authentic Chinese restaurant. It’s even in a prime location and the restaurant is newly renovated. But I can’t seem to draw in customers at all. That’s where you guys come in. I need help to bring in customers” Mei says and you immediately blanch. So, your entire challenge was to prevent a restaurant from going bankrupt and closing down? How the hell were you supposed to do that?

“We’ll try our hardest! But first, do you have any idea why the restaurant could be failing?” Seokjin asks and you gape at him, completely agog. Did he really believe there was a chance the two of you could save this place? You were just students, granted at the top of your class in the best culinary academy in Asia, but still, this seemed almost like an impossible task.

“Honestly, it could just be due to the competition. When I first opened, we had customers who wanted to try the new restaurant and business was good at first. But considering there are a number of Chinese restaurants around here, we just started losing customers until it became like this” Mei says, looking slightly downcast. Your heart gripes for her and you send her a reassuring smile, solidifying your resolve.

“We’ll help you in any way we can! By the end of this week, your restaurant will be back on its feet!” You say, determination sparkling in your eyes. Mei’s eyes widen and she immediately nods, fists balling up as she pumps them.

“I’ll show you both to the kitchen! I don’t know how I can help you because I’ve tried everything, but if you have any ideas please let me know! I’ll be in the office going over the books” Mei says before leaving you and Seokjin to yourselves. As soon as she leaves, you let out a sigh; glowering at Seokjin.

“What’s your issue?” Seokjin asks causing you to frown.

“What do you mean what’s my issue? Do you honestly think we could do this?” You ask and Seokjin’s left eyebrow rises.

“You’re the one who promised we’d get the restaurant back on its feet” Seokjin points out.

“Only because you said we’d try our hardest! We’re students, how are we supposed to stop a restaurant going bankrupt?” You snapped.

“It doesn’t matter, does it? Because this is our task. If we don’t complete it, we fail and both get expelled. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be expelled when graduation is so near” Seokjin says simply and immediately your anger deflates, knowing he was correct.

“Uh whatever, let’s just figure out the problem” You replied, taking a seat at one of the counters. Seokjin takes a seat beside you, flicking through the recipe book Mei had most likely left out for the two of you to browse through.

“Could it be the menu?” You asked curiously, peering over his shoulder to peep at the different recipes.

“No,” Seokjin says, shutting your question down immediately. You clench your fists, ire rising as you grow agitated at his short response. However, you take a deep breath, knowing that you needed to somehow work with him in order to complete the test set by your academy.

“And why is that? You grit out and Seokjin shows you Mei’s recipes. You quickly skim through them, a small frown marring your face when you reach the end.

“See? Her recipes are good. In fact, they’re great. Any of these dishes would be wonderfully flavoured. The spices are harmonious with each other and if the meat or vegetables are cooked to perfection, then she should have no issue with her actual food. It’s not the menu that’s the problem” Seokjin says matter of factly and you grimace.

“Yes, thank you, I’m not completely incompetent, I got that” You mutter under your breath even though you know he can hear you.

“Never said you were incompetent” Seokjin deadpans.

“You’ve never said I was competent either” You rebuke, Seokjin’s mouth quirks slightly before he shrugs you off. You sincerely hated how much he did that.

“If it’s not the menu, then maybe the location?” You ask and once again Seokjin shoots you down as soon as the words escape your lips.

“No. This is a prime location, she shouldn’t have problems with it, especially enough to be a completely deserted restaurant. You saw the number of people outside. The streets were busy” Seokjin recounts. You clench your fists tight, nails digging into your palms as he once again shuts you down.

“Then it has to be the competition like she said” You grit out through clenched teeth. This time Seokjin sighs, looking at you stoically.

“No. There are multiple Chinese restaurants, they’re all competing with each other. Why is it only Hunan that’s completely empty? It doesn’t make sense” Seokjin says calmly and this time, your fists bang into the table, startling him.

“What’s wrong?” Seokjin asks as you glower at him.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! You! That’s what’s wrong. You keep shutting down my suggestions. If it’s not any of that then what could be the issue? Considering you keep saying no to my suggestions, it means you have to know right? You know what’s wrong? Because you’re so much better than me. So, go on. What is it? What’s the problem Mr-I’m-Better-Than-You? Tell me so you can brag about how you figured it out before me and gloat about how much better of a chef than me you are” You finally blow up, unable to contain yourself anymore. Seokjin reels, baulking at you.

“Where is this coming from? Firstly, I’m not shutting you down, I’m just telling you that it couldn’t be the problems you raised. Was I being difficult or unreasonable? Or did I not give you valid reasons as to why the issues with the restaurant couldn’t be what you thought? Secondly, I have never once said I was better than you, nor have I ever thought it, so I have no idea where you got those ideas from” Seokjin says calmly and you let out a humourless laugh.

“Oh please. Don’t act like you haven’t. Of course, you think you’re better than me. That’s why you never compliment my dishes, that’s why we have this stupid rivalry where we continuously try to beat each other. Because you think you’re better than me. Because you think my desserts and dishes suck. Because you think your cooking is better than mine!” You exploded, pointing an accusatory finger at Seokjin.

"Is that why you think I don't compliment your dishes? Have you really deluded yourself that much that you think I don't compliment you because I'm better than you?" Seokjin questions, a mixture of disbelief and incredulity marring his face.

"Well, what else could it be? You always look disappointed every time I score higher on an exam. That's the reason for our rivalry, right? Because you're upset I beat you even though you think you're a better chef than I am?" You scoff. Seokjin shakes his head, letting out a little exasperated sigh.

"Is that the reason you're always so hostile towards me? Because you think that I think I'm better than you?" Seokjin asks, tone calm as he looks at you, completely bewildered.

"I mean... yes? Why else?" You say, now more confused than angry. Why was he just randomly bringing this up? What else could it have been? Your entire rivalry stemmed from how much he grated your nerves. From how he thought he was better than you. It's the reason you had started competing all those years ago. No one rubbed you the wrong way like Seokjin did.

"Okay. Well, let's get something straight. I don't think I'm better than you. Nor have I ever thought that. That's not the reason I'm disappointed nor is that the reason for our rivalry, at least not in my case. I don't understand how you've managed to twist this so much. Here I thought you got mad because we always drew or because we've always been around the same level and you wanted to do better than me. But clearly, that's not the case. If I had realised it earlier, I would have set you straight" Seokjin says; your brows immediately furrow, your back straightening as you regard him with scepticism.

"Well, then what's the reason?" You snap impatiently. You watch as Seokjin's shoulder slump slightly before he turns back to the menu, flicking through it idly.

"I have never once thought that you were beneath me, or that I was better than you. In fact, it's the opposite. I consider us both equals. You, as a chef, are entirely on my level. No one else could rival me the way you do, no one else could keep up with me the way you do. That's the reason I compete with you. Because you keep me on my toes. Because you make me a better chef. I like competing with you because you inspire me to do better, to make my dishes that bit more delicious, to make them a bit more appetising. No one motivates me like you do. No one makes me want to cook or be a better chef than you do" Seokjin starts and with each and every one of his words you're left astounded.

You're completely speechless, unable to reply or even say anything. Because really, what could you say to that? The entire time he speaks, he doesn't look at you but you see his ears turn from their lightly tanned shade to a bright red; a clear sign that he's embarrassed, even if it's not apparent on his face. You startle slightly, since when did you pay enough attention to Kim Seokjin to be able to read him like that?

"And the reason behind my disappointment every time you score higher has nothing to do with me thinking someone worse than me beat me. It's everything to do with how despite the fact that I consider you to be on my level, you have no faith in yourself. Have you ever realised how much you rely on others to compliment your dishes? How much you care about what the Head Chef's think? Okay sure, their words mean something as they're examining us. But it's like… if they said anything bad about your dish that you'd completely fall apart. You're entirely too reliant on what other people think of your desserts and I don’t like that. It disappoints me that my rival, someone who can keep up with me, someone I consider equal to me, cares so much about another person’s opinion. It annoys me that you don't have confidence in your own dishes" Seokjin continues; you take in a sharp breath, nervously shifting now. He turns towards you, staring at you straight and making you gulp.

There's a certain fire behind his eyes, a slight intensity that has you on edge. Because you know he's right. You never were confident in your dishes. You always focused too much on the what ifs. What if it was overly sweetened? What if you hadn't whipped the cream to perfection. What if you overworked the dough and the bread turned out to be hard and chewy rather than soft and fluffy like you wanted it? Often, you were held back by your own securities. Sometimes, you'd panic during exams and need to take a deep breath even though history has proven that you were at the top of Big Hit Academy. That is unless Seokjin was involved. The epiphany comes as a slight shock to you.

"Except for when you're in an exam with me. You're never as sure in your own dishes unless you're up against me. You're always confident and you believe that you can score a better grade than me. That makes me happy. It makes me happy that somehow you have enough confidence in yourself to trash talk and tell me that you're the better chef. But then the judging begins, and you turn back into that anxious ball of stress, so worried that you may not score high enough or that you may fail. Why is that? Why do you, the joint top chef with me, worry so much about failing? When have you ever scored a grade lower than a 90? I hate it. I hate that you rely on others opinions. Yes, as chefs we cook for other people. But what do other people's opinions matter when you're not confident in your own dessert or own dish? You need to learn to rely on yourself. You're only ever confident with me because your annoyance for me apparently outweighs your insecurities. But I want to see that in you always, in any exam. I want to see you be more confident in yourself, as a chef" Seokjin finishes and you're entirely blown away by his sudden tangent.

Your heart is palpitating in your chest as you realise that Seokjin was entirely correct. You were only ever confident with him, how had you never realised that? But more importantly, how much had Seokjin been paying attention to you to have realised that before even you had? You think back to all the times you had caught Seokjin watching you during any exams you'd both had together. Previously, you'd always believed that he was trying to unnerve you or trying to get under your skin, but now you wonder if he was simply watching you. If he was simply learning about you. You have no idea why, but the thought of it causes your heart to race even quicker, your face heating up.

"I- I didn't know that" You replied quietly, unable to look him in the eye. For three years you had hated Seokjin because you thought that he mocked you. Because you thought he thought he was better than you. You had always considered your rivalry something where you had to beat him, where you had to come up on top. Never had you thought of it like Seokjin had; as a way to make you a better chef. But now that you thought about it, it was true. Just like Seokjin, no one motivated you to do better. You always wanted to beat him and in doing so, you always wanted to experiment and strive to be a better chef. For three years you had hated Seokjin for reasons you had clearly deluded yourself into believing. But now, that wasn't the case. You had no idea what to say or how to respond.

"It's late. Why don't we call it a night?" You suddenly say, pushing your chair back as you abruptly get up. Seokjin jerks at the sound of your chair scraping against the linoleum tiled floor. He watches as you run out the kitchen, brows furrowed, wanting to call out to you. But you’re long gone.

You hurriedly walked through the restaurant, bowing to the servers and staff before quickly exiting. You take in a deep breath, Seokjin's words running through your head at a mile a minute. Your hand moves to your chest, palm flat as you try and still your racing heart. Confusion clouds your every fibre, as you ponder his words. Really what the hell was his problem? How dare he simply confuse you like that? You had spent three years hating him and now what? You knew very well that you couldn't hate him, not when he confessed that he didn't think he was better than you. Because now your hate isn’t justified and if you continued being hostile, it’d just be because you were being petty. You take another deep breath, once again trying to still your rapidly beating heart to no avail. Why did he have to mess you up and confuse you like that? And why the hell was your heart racing so much?

Damn Kim Seokjin.

He really was an ass.

The next day you walk into the restaurant, this time a lot calmer than you had been the night before when you'd all but run out on Seokjin after his confession. You hadn't even waited for him to join you, instead, racing back to the hotel as quickly as you could. You were still somewhat confused about where you now stood with Seokjin. You'd hated him for years and you knew you couldn't just continue hating him. Not when he had inadvertently made you a better chef than you thought. But you couldn't suddenly be best friends with him either, thus leaving you in a weird place where he was concerned. So, with determination coursing through your veins, you decide that you'd be civil. You enter the kitchen, noting that Seokjin is already there. Once again, he has the restaurant's recipe book out but this time, you note, he also has other pieces of scrap paper around him.

"Hey," Seokjin greets and you smile shortly, greeting him back. A large part of you feels completely awkward; this is foreign ground. You'd never been civil to Seokjin, much less had a pleasant conversation with him. But now, looking back at it, that was more your own fault than anything considering you’d usually be the first to get agitated. Of course, it didn't help that Seokjin taunted you either. But more often than not, you'd be the one who'd start the arguments.

"Hi. What's this?" You ask, pointing towards the papers littered around him.  The words are slightly stilted and your tone more than awkward but you remind yourself that you'd be polite and try and work things out with him.

"I visited a few restaurants nearby and took some notes. I think I figured out the problem" Seokjin says. You look at him with wide eyed wonder, quickly approaching him. You skim through the pieces of paper around him, realising they have restaurant names and then a few dishes under the name. With a frown, you realise that on each piece of paper there's one dish name circled.

"What's the issue?" You ask, taking a seat next to him.

"Signature dishes. Each and every restaurant around here has a signature dish that their restaurant specialises in. Hunan doesn't have that. I think that's the issue. A lot of the dishes between each restaurant are the same as Hunan's. But the others have a speciality that draws their customers in" Seokjin explains and your eyes bug out of your skull.

“That makes sense! That’s probably why other people are drawn to the other restaurants. If most of the menu is the same, there’s no reason to go to one over the other. But having a signature dish gives a restaurant a certain edge because no one can replicate that specific dish” You quickly respond, catching onto Seokjin’s explanation.

“Exactly and therefore since Hunan doesn’t have one, there’s no reason to come here. Especially when they could get any dishes on this menu at the other restaurants” Seokjin finishes.

“Wow, okay so we should create a signature dish for Hunan? What do you think we should do?” You ask and Seokjin lets out a small sigh, looking up at the ceiling as he ponders the thought.

“Well it needs to be something we can both contribute to, so desserts are out. We probably need something that includes both dough and something with meat. But nothing comes to mind right now and we also need to be sure other restaurants don’t have the same dish. I think we need to go around. I only managed to look at a couple restaurants before I had to be here. Do you want to go check the others out with me?” Seokjin asks, turning his gaze towards you.

“That sounds like a plan. Are we gonna sit in and try dishes or?” You question and Seokjin stares at you blankly.

“Why?”

“Well, it gives us time to look at the menu in more detail but also to check out their specialities, right? It’ll give us ideas for Hunan’s speciality if we try their food too” You explain, Seokjin nodding enthusiastically.

“That sounds like a really good idea. Come on, let’s go” Seokjin says, immediately grabbing your hand and dragging you out of the kitchen.

A few hours later, you find yourself treading besides Seokjin. The two of you had been to various restaurants around Hunan, and it was safe to say that you were more than full. In fact, you were sure the two of you had overeaten and you could feel your body becoming lethargic, needing a post food nap. You let out a slight yawn causing the man walking beside you to giggle. You felt yourself grow slightly agitated, elbowing him for mocking you. Although, even you could tell it had lost its usual angry lustre, now being more playful than anything.

“Sorry, you just look so cute yawning,” Seokjin says from beside you. His words are entirely nonchalant and he says them as if it’s no big deal but your entire body freezes and you instantaneously stop, gaping at his back as he continues walking. He gets a few steps ahead of you before realising you were no longer beside him. Seokjin turns around, raising his brow at you; silently questioning why you were no longer walking.

“What’s wrong?” He asks and you immediately close your jaw, shaking your head furiously as you stalk towards him. Your face is heated from his casual compliment and internally you curse him for his confusing words. You were rivals, why the hell was he calling you cute all of a sudden?

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing” You answer quickly, indignation lacing your tone. Seokjin stares at you in confusion before shrugging it off, chalking it up to one of your usual moods around him. You quickly catch up to him, but your pace is brisk and Seokjin is left reeling from your sudden mood change. He quickly thinks back to what he could have done to cause you to behave the way you are when it suddenly dawns on him. His entire face lights up, an impish smile on his face as he looks down at you.

“Are you embarrassed because I called you cute?” He asks slyly and your blood freezes before you shake your head furiously.

“No! Of course not! Why would I care what you think? Me? Embarrassed? Ha! Absolutely not. I’m not embarrassed that you called me c-c-cute. No, absolutely not!” You rapidly blurt out, flailing your arms around you. Seokjin watches you with poorly masked amusement and as soon as you stutter out your final words, you quickly catch yourself.

“Right, of course, you’re not,” Seokjin says, a knowing smile on his face. You let out a small scowl before clearing your throat.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Come on, let’s get back so we can brainstorm new ideas for Hunan’s speciality” You say quietly, tucking your hair behind your ear before once again stalking off.

“Cute” Seokjin chuckles, watching your retreating figure before jogging to catch up with you.

Another few hours later, the two of you find yourself in your hotel room. Seokjin is sat on the floor, leaning against your bed with a cushion in his lap while you lie on the bed beside him. You’ve both got various recipe cards, scrap paper with a mix of yours and Seokjin’s notes scrawled on them and various snack wrappers littered around you. Both your hair is messy from running your hands through it as you brainstormed different ideas but nothing was clicking so far.

“How about a signature hotpot?” Seokjin suggests and you shake your head once again, pointing towards a scrap piece of paper.

“There’s literally an entire restaurant dedicated to hotpot,” You remarked, Seokjin groaning.

“That was such a good idea. Everyone loves hotpot” He comments and you snort.

“Agreed, hotpots are amazing. But how was it a good idea? What would I have contributed?” You question and Seokjin shrugs.

“I don’t know, the noodles?” He jokes and you playfully smack the back of his head.

“You know I’m not a noodle expert. They don’t count as part of my discipline” You point out, causing him to sigh. He throws his head back, neck rested on your bed as he stares at the ceiling.

“Are we ever going to find something? The more I think about it, the more I think that our disciplines are complete opposites. Is there something that we could both create together?” Seokjin mumbles, more to himself than anything. You share in his slightly dejected thoughts. The number of Chinese restaurants around meant that there were very few things that weren’t already specialities and then if you added that you both needed to contribute, it was even slimmer to find a perfect dish. You quickly glanced over to the clock on your bedside table, before exhaling deeply.

“I think it’s time to call it a night. we’re both exhausted and we’ve been at this for hours. It may help to get a good night’s sleep and looking at this with fresh eyes in the morning” You say, Seokjin nodding as he yawns loudly. You watch his lips in a slight trance, the way they stretch out before returning to their usual plush and puffy state. Briefly, you wonder if they feel as soft as they look before shaking your head. You look away, gaping at the wall. Just how tired were you that your thoughts were straying to completely unnecessary and uncharted territory?

“That sounds like a good plan. I’ll see you tomorrow then” Seokjin says, grabbing the snack wrappers before standing to his full height. Your neck strains to look up at him from your position and you’re taken aback from how tall he really is. You’d never really noticed it, usually too busy scowling at him as you thought up ways you could beat him in your exams. But now that the two of you were alone, and on more civilized terms, you were truly able to take in his figure.

He was tall; so tall that he stood an entire head over you. And ridiculously broad; was it even possible to have such broad shoulders naturally? Especially with how narrow his waist and hips were, leading to long legs and thick thighs. With a startling realisation, you realise that Seokjin is handsome and far more beautiful than you had ever pegged him for. It should have been illegal or at least completely impossible to have been built like that with a face like that. It was unfair; how was anyone supposed to compete? You’d always thought he was stupidly attractive but this level of handsome was completely unnecessary.

“____? You okay?” Seokjin calls out and you abruptly jerk back, realising how close he was. His face is almost touching yours, and you can feel his warm breath against your lips as he stares curiously at you. All of a sudden, you let out a little squeal, pushing him away as you roll, trying to put more distance between him and you.

“Woah, you okay?” Seokjin asks and you nod rapidly, trying to stay as calm as possible despite your previously traitorous thoughts and rapidly pumping heartbeat.

“Perfectly fine!” You call out, quickly getting off the bed before placing your palms on his chest in an effort to push him out of your room. The minute your palms touch his chest however, you’re quickly wondering just what he looks like underneath his shirt because his chest feels hard and perfectly chiselled.

“____?” Seokjin asks curiously, and once again you realise that your mind was wandering to places you definitely did not want it to be.

“GOODNIGHT! BYE” You all but scream, pushing him towards the door before practically throwing him out, slamming the door in his face. As soon as he’s out, you scrunch your flushed face, leaning your head against the cool door.

“What is wrong with you? Get a grip of yourself! He’s your rival! Whether you’re on better terms not or not! You still have to beat him” You chastise yourself, reigning in your mind as you refuse to let your treacherous mind wander into that territory once again. You quickly slap your face with both hands before rushing into the bathroom to get changed. This was, undoubtedly, going to be a long week.

Two days later and you and Seokjin still haven’t come up with a solution to your task, no matter how much you’d brainstormed. You walk into the restaurant dejectedly on the fourth day. You had four days left until your challenge ended, which included today. How you were going to pass, you had no idea. You press open the steel door of the kitchen; however, instead of seeing Seokjin hunched over the counter with various pieces of paper like you were used to, you see him grinning with a wide array of ingredients around him. Your face crunches as you approach him curiously.

“What’s going on?” You ask as Seokjin throws you a chef jacket.

“BAO!” Seokjin all but yells in triumphant and you lurch slightly, astounded by his sudden outburst.

“What?” You question, puzzlement lacing your tone.

“Bao! I don’t know how we didn’t think of it before! But Hunan’s speciality should be Bao!” Seokjin explains and your eyes widen, shining with hope as you nod enthusiastically.

“Yes! Oh my god! That’s perfect!” You cry, abruptly and inadvertently throwing your hands around him in joy. Seokjin’s arms instinctively wrap around you and soon you’re both stiffening, unsure how to respond to the unfamiliar situation. You stare up at him, his dark gaze on you. It takes you a couple moments for you brain to kick back into gear; realising exactly what you’d done, you quickly let him go before clearing your throat, trying to stifle your blush.

“Right. Sorry about that, I wasn’t thinking” You quickly apologise; Seokjin simply laughs it off, hand rubbing the back of his head as he tries to play it cool, despite his red-hot ears.

“That’s fine, you were excited, it’s completely understandable,” Seokjin says, brushing it off. The two of you stand still, unsure of how to continue as an awkward tension washes over the two of you.

“So… how did you come up with bao?” You ask, trying to move on from the painful silence.

“Oh! I visited a small convenience store and they were selling frozen bao and it got me thinking. There is not a single bao restaurant in the vicinity and none of the restaurants have them on their menu. I think that’s why we completely forgot about them. But, it has both our disciplines. I can make the meat filling and you can make the bao dough yes?” Seokjin asks with a grin, beaming with pride.

“That’s…” You start with a smile before it slowly falls off your face. You want to congratulate him and tell him he’s done well, but you’re unsure how to. This was completely new territory for the both of you. You glance at Seokjin, realising he’s waiting for you to continue. You take in a deep breath, gathering all your strength and courage before stomping down your own screaming pride. Plastering a genuine smile on your face, you beam at him.

“That’s amazing Seokjin. Thanks…. I was starting to lose hope in completing this challenge” You mumble earnestly, rubbing your arm shyly. Seokjin’s eyes soften at how small you look before placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey! We’re two of the best students at the Academy. There was no way we’d fail this, right?” Seokjin says in an effort to cheer you up. You nod, the entire situation slightly jarring because here was Kim Seokjin, you sworn rival, comforting you. You shake off your thoughts, instead, taking off your outer jacket and slipping on the chef jacket as you get ready to work. You quickly tie your hair up and wash your hands, turning to him in determination.

“Alright! Let’s do this. You get started on the meat filling and I’ll start the dough” You immediately delegate. Seokjin raises his eyebrow at your sudden change in demeanour before he lets out a lopsided smile. With a mock salute, he turns and begins pulling out various meats from the fridge, getting to work.

Half an hour later, you spot Seokjin placing his pork into the oven. You turn back to your dough, kneading it as hard as you can as you try to get it to the correct consistency. Seokjin quickly clears up before walking up to you, watching you curiously. He takes a look at the large bowl, letting out a whistle at the amount of dough you have inside.

“That’s a lot of dough” Seokjin comments and you roll your eyes at the obvious statement.

“Yes, well done Sherlock. I figured we’d need more than one portion considering we need the staff to try it. Also, I assume you have more than one type of filling” You reply but Seokjin simply shakes his head, rolling his sleeves up.

“No, I thought we’d keep it simple and go with a classic. Char Siu Bao, a fan favourite and guaranteed to draw customers in” Seokjin states, sending you a thumbs up, as if he’d just advertised the best dish. You deflate slightly.

“It’s a good plan but this just means I’ve made too much dough” You almost whine, your arms already tired from all the kneading. Seokjin simply pats your head, drawing closer towards you.

“Here, let me help,” He says before placing his hand into the bowl with you. Your startle slightly, gawking up at him in astonishment. He ignores you, instead, focusing on kneading the dough in the bowl with you.

“I know I’m handsome but are you just going to stare or are you going to help? Your hand’s kind of in the way” Seokjin grins playfully and you feel the vein in your forehead throb as you tut at him.

“With the amount you call yourself handsome, some would think you were in love with yourself,” You remark, Seokjin chuckling at you.

“Is there something wrong with loving yourself?” He asks.

“I said in love with yourself, not loving yourself. There’s a difference” You reply, causing Seokjin to shrug.

“In love, loving yourself. It’s all the same when you have a face like a flower” Seokjin says, flicking his hair out of his forehead before fluttering his eyelashes at you. You burst into laughter at his ridiculousness, giggling as he grins at you.

“Wow, never thought I’d see the day you actually laughed at something I said. Usually, you’d just insult me and walk away. Does this mean you no longer hate me?” Seokjin questions out of curiosity and you immediately sober up from your giggling fit. Having Seokjin point it out feels weird, but the more you think about it, the more you realise he was right. This was weird. You were having a pleasant conversation with your rival and hadn’t felt the surge of hatred you usually felt when interacting with him.

“Hm. I guess I don’t. It’s easier to not hate you when I know you don’t think I’m beneath you. Besides, if I continued hating you now, it would only be out of pettiness” You explain, Seokjin grinning at your words.

“Aha! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist my charms for too long” Seokjin teases, eyebrows rising suggestively, and you roll your eyes at his antics, refusing to even dignify him with a response.

“Yes, that’s what happened. Let’s just go back to kneading the dough. We still have the challenge to pass” You say, ending the conversation. Seokjin nods, saluting once again causing you to roll your eyes again.

You focus on kneading the dough once again; it’s almost to the consistency it needs to be; but with the amount of dough in the bowl, you know it’s going to take slightly longer than planned. Suddenly, you feel Seokjin’s hands bump against you, your fingers brushing against each other’s as he gently but firmly kneads the dough. Involuntarily, you watch the way his long but slightly crooked fingers work the dough, heel of his palm pressing into the bao mix... You’re almost mesmerised by the movements; you had never truly taken time to watch Seokjin work but right now, as he was gently working the dough, you realise that he, like you, truly loved cooking. You could feel the amount he cared for his craft through the gentleness of his touch, slowly but surely kneading the dough into submission. You watch the way his heel compresses into the soft mixture, dough pooling on either end of his palm.

“It looks about done, right? What do you think oh great Dough Master?” Seokjin jokes, looking at you for advice on whether to keep going or to stop. You glance up, and you faintly acknowledge that he’s said something. In fact, his lips are moving but you can no longer focus on his words, nor can you comprehend them. Instead, you’re completely lost in the way his lips move. They look incredibly pillowy and pink, a slight sheen on his upper lip from the heat of the kitchen. You wonder what they’d feel like against your own lips.

“____?” Seokjin finally says, waving dough covered hands in front of your face. You blink owlishly, your eyes coming back into focus as you’re brought out of your thoughts. You stare up at him questioningly, hoping he’ll repeat himself.

“What?” You say, but Seokjin can tell that you’re slightly dazed. He stares at you, puzzlement etched into his face before pointing at the dough.

“Do you think this is okay? It looks pretty much done” He repeats and you turn back to the dough, blinking owlishly. Your brain slowly kicks back into gear and your face heats as you nod furiously.

“Oh! Um yes! This is perfect! It just needs to rest for two hours now” You say, hastily letting go of the dough, almost as if it had burned you. Briskly walking to the sink, you wash your hands, silently berating yourself for once again getting distracted by Kim Seokjin.

The next few hours move quickly, you and Seokjin throwing yourselves into creating the char Siu bao to the best of both your abilities, presenting the dish to Mei and the rest of her staff. Thankfully, everyone loves the idea of a speciality dish and you and Seokjin grin at each other, happy that you had some sort of plan to tackle Hunan’s lack of customer base.

The following days passed in a blur. Day five sees both you and Seokjin teaching Mei how to create Hunan’s signature bao. Seokjin and Mei work on the meat filling together, Mei chiming in with her own two cents every now and then on what ingredients would make the dish more authentic and which spices would complement each other better, bringing out the flavours of the pork even more. When she’s done with Seokjin, she works with you learning your dough recipe and some techniques you’d picked up during your three years on how to create the perfect dough texture every single time.

Days six and seven you have no time to speak to Seokjin; you both take turns, one trying to promote the new bao on the street, drawing in customers while the other helps in the kitchen. By the end of both days, you’re both completely exhausted and as soon as you get to your hotel rooms, you crash. Luckily, by the end of the week, you’re back in the academy in your own studio apartment, ready to sleep for an entire week after having accomplished your challenge. You were completely exhausted, from your exams, which you had not managed to recover from and from the consecutive week-long excursion to Hunan, in order to gain some restaurant experience.

“Hey ____, your burner is too high. We’re supposed to slow cook the meat,” Seokjin says from a counter diagonally to yours. You hear everyone take in a deep breath, the head chef at the front of the classroom suddenly sitting straight. You know exactly why the class responded the way they did; they were most likely expecting you to blow up and yell at Seokjin to mind his own business, the head chef even getting ready to break up the impending fight.

“Oh? You’re right. Thanks, Jin,” you simply say, turning your burner down before turning back to your task of chopping up the vegetables. Everyone stares in disbelief at your casual acceptance of Seokjin’s advice. The head chef is completely still, mouth dropped at the unexpected occurrence. In all three years of teaching both you and Seokjin, you had never once been civil. The class slowly came to life, some students eagerly whispering to one another, undoubtedly gossiping while others just stared nervously at both you and Seokjin, wondering what the hell had happened.

The rest of the class follows without a hitch, and as usual, you and Seokjin scored the top marks in the class, although Seokjin scores slightly higher than you. Surprisingly, you’re not filled with a burning all-consuming rage to beat him. It had been a month since your trip to Hunan and unsurprisingly you and Seokjin were on much friendlier terms; although no one was as happy as your little friendship group, who were just glad that you could all hang out without you and Seokjin being at each other’s throats. Or, well, more you being at Seokjin’s throat. Sure, the two of you still argued and still had your little competition to see who was the better chef, but everyone could tell that there was no real heat behind the little spats anymore. Now, whenever Seokjin teased or taunted you, you were filled with annoyance and exasperation more than hate.

Seokjin catches your eye as he’s leaving the room; he pauses briefly before grinning, winking and then waving as he leaves. You awkwardly wave back at him before you continue gathering your things. Everyone else, however, just stands in complete astonishment as they watch the little interaction between the two of you. You slowly wander down the long corridor, face slightly scrunched as people stare at you, whispering between themselves. You strain your ears slightly, trying to listen to the hushed conversations.

“Do you think they’re together?”

“Oh my god, Seokjin totally winked at her and she didn’t even yell at him! She just smiled and waved back!”

“Have you noticed that they actually… like, get along now?”

“Yes! They don’t fight anymore, it’s so weird. I never thought I’d see the day”

“It’s really kind of weird… like it’s just weird to see them getting along”

“Really? I always thought they’d end up together”

“WHAT?”

“What? You can’t hate someone that much without wanting to fuck. They always say there’s a thin line between love and hate”

“You’re right! And oh my god, weren’t they paired up for the restaurant challenge? And they stayed in a hotel away from campus!”

“Oh yeah they totally hate fucked and now are in love with each other”

“Ugh, she’s so lucky!”

“Wah! I could totally see that! Even when they argue now it’s like flirting more than an actual argument”

“Agreed! They’re totally secretly dating.”

Throughout your entire eavesdropping session, your face slowly grows warmer and warmer until your ears are hot red. For most of it, you can ignore them. They’re just baseless rumours running through students who had nothing better to do with their time. However, the last few have you suddenly stopping and instantly turning on your heel, stalking towards the two girls who had now moved on from speculating that you and Seokjin were both secret lovers to when it began. They watch you approach them, immediately shutting up as their eyes widen in slight fear, exchanging a nervous glance between each other.

“No! That would never happen! How could you even think of such a thing? M-M-Me and him? Not in this world! Not in any alternate world either! So, what if we get along now? Nothing wrong with it… right? RIGHT! Yes, we just get along. But that would never happen. No, no it wouldn’t! It couldn’t! He likes cooking meat and I like cooking sweet things! See, complete opposites. It would never happen!” You burst, arms flailing around before stomping your foot down. You cross your arms and nod as if you’d made the world’s most flawless argument.

Everyone stares in confusion, murmurs of ‘what is she talking about’ and ‘did you even understand her’ roaming around the corridor. You grow slightly sheepish as even more eyes stare at you. You quickly pull your bag closer to you before briskly walking - really you were practically running - down the corridor. The students all stared at your back, wondering if your rivalry with Seokjin had finally caused you to lose the plot and go insane.

“That was weird right?”

“Do you think she was listening to us?”

“I mean, even if she was… I still have no idea what she was talking about.

“Bro… she didn’t even make any sense”

“God, I can’t believe they thought Seokjin and I would be secretly dating… it’s completely insane! We’re rivals… nothing more! Although we are becoming friends I guess,” You begrudgingly admit to yourself as you slowly open your apartment door. You place your bag down by the door before taking your shoes off and slipping into your house slippers.

“There’s no way. I don’t even like him like that… right?” You speak out loud, more to yourself than anything. But even you have to admit that it sounded more like you were trying to convince yourself than anything. Admittedly, you’re still somewhat confused by your entire relationship - or lack thereof - with Seokjin. It was strange to go from hating him to suddenly being somewhat friendly with him. Although, you have to admit that you had always been moderately confused by Seokjin. Even when you had hated him, you had somewhat admired him reluctantly. A small part of you even acknowledges that the admiration was most likely why you needed him to admit you were a good enough chef. Granted, he now had admitted he thought you were a good chef, hell he’d even said he considered you on his level. Perhaps that was why you were suddenly flustered by him.

Yes. Of course! That had to be it!

Hours later, you were still plagued by thoughts of Seokjin. You lay in bed, mindlessly scrolling through twitter, barely reading the tweets. Your eyes flicked to the top of your phone, groaning when you realised it was nearing two am. You jostled in bed, turning onto your side as you continued scrolling aimlessly, mind still preoccupied on Seokjin. Ten minutes later however you stumbled on a video of two teens snorting crushed ramen. You shook your head, wondering just where people got the idea for this stuff. However, at that very minute, your stomach began growling and suddenly you were craving something sweet.

You pulled yourself out of bed, trudging through your bedroom and into the kitchen. You quickly opened the cabinets, realising you had absolutely no snacks before checking your fridge, hopeful that maybe you had something left over from one of your earlier experiments. However, you had no such luck. Your stomach growled again and you shut your fridge with a groan. You swiftly threw on your jacket, slipping into your trainers before grabbing your keys and wallet, heading out to the twenty-four-hour convenience store next to campus.

The spring night air is crisp and the cool breeze chills your bones slightly, causing you to pull your jacket closer to your body. You wander through the well-lit streets, thoughts once again wandering to Seokjin and your bizarre friendship with him. No matter how much you think about it, you simply can’t comprehend him nor the sudden confusion that clouds your mind whenever it comes to him. Briefly, you wonder if you’ll ever be able to figure it out. It had been hours and you couldn’t come to a single, plausible solution that made sense to you.

Soon you arrive at the convenience store, however, just as you’re about to go in, someone steps out. And of course, that person is none other than the man who had been plaguing your thoughts for most of the day. You blink owlishly, staring at the tall man in front of you. He’s dressed in a loose white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, a long blank jacket draped over him. Your gaze briefly snaps to the plastic bag he’s holding, your face scrunching up before you burst into laughter at the contents of his bag.

“Yah! What the hell are you laughing at?” Seokjin says in indignation, in the same loud voice he usually speaks in whenever Jungkook insults him.

“Why do you have instant ramen?! Oh my god, this is priceless” You cackle, eyes practically tearing up and doubling over as you point at his bag. Seokjin’s ears immediately turn red and he swiftly hides the bag behind him, tutting at you.

“What’s wrong with instant ramen? I’m allowed to buy it!” Seokjin grumbles but his words only cause you to laugh harder.

“Because you’re a top-rated chef, that’s why! Oh my god, I cannot believe you’re buying instant ramen at 2am…” You gasp out, trying to catch your breath from your sudden fit of laughter. Seokjin glowers at you, grumbling to himself before shoving his hands in his pocket, the plastic bag hanging from his wrist.

“Shut up… I was hungry and I didn’t have anything that I could make quickly” Seokjin reasons, but you only grinned brightly at him, as if you had been handed the best prize in the world.

“There, there. I’m only joking” You say and Seokjin nods curtly, his ears still red.

“So why are you here?” He asks, cocking his head to the side.

“I was craving something sweet cause I was hungry… but I think I could do with some ramen too. Come on, let me go buy a packet and I’ll make it for you” You say, grabbing his jacket sleeve without thinking before dragging him back into the store. Seokjin allows you to pull him toward the ramen isle and you soon pick your favourite ramen off the shelf as well as some eggs before paying for it. You and Seokjin walk outside toward the little ramen area.

“Why are you making it for me?” Seokjin asks curiously as he hands you his ramen packet, watching the way you open it, placing the noodles in the tin foil before adding the sachet and hot water.

“Jungkook specialises in ramen remember? His guilty pleasure is instant ramen. But you can’t tell anyone that! He’ll lose his credibility as a ramen master! Anyway, he’s taught me a thing or two about perfecting instant ramen” You explain Seokjin laughing mischievously.

“Oh, that’s some good blackmail material for when he calls me old” Seokjin says and you turn to him, eyes wide before shaking your head furiously.

“No! Absolutely not! I’m the only one who knows, so if you bring it up he’ll definitely know it was me that told you,” You quickly retaliate, your eyes wild at the thought of what Jungkook would do if his little secret got out.

“It’s really not that bad-” Seokjin starts, but you cut him off.

“No! Promise me you won’t say anything!” You quickly shout and Seokjin immediately nods, deflating slightly.

“God! Fine! I won’t say anything. I promise” Seokjin calls out and you smile, nodding before turning to the ramen.

“Oh, nice! It's done! Come eat” You call, grabbing the two tinfoil containers before sitting on one of the wooden benches. Seokjin sits opposite you; you offer him the disposable wooden chopsticks but he shakes his head, pulling out his own from his jacket.

“Why the hell do you just carry chopsticks in your jacket?” You ask, blowing on your ramen before slurping on them.

“You never know when you need them! Like now, see. Now I’m not wasting disposable chopsticks like some people,” He says pointedly causing you to roll your eyes.

"Okay yeah, whatever just eat your damn ramen" You retort, Seokjin laughing before picking some noodles between his chopstick, blowing and placing them in his mouth.

“How is it?” You asked curiously.

“Hmm. It’s good” Seokjin replies as he slurps some more. You grin, tucking into your own container. The two of you sit in silence for a couple moments, unsure of what to say. You haven't really been alone with him since a month ago when you'd both been paired up for the restaurant challenge.

"So," You say, uncomfortable with the tense silence between the two of you. You had foolishly offered to cook him ramen in a spur of the moment decision but you had completely forgotten that you'd have to sit and eat with him. Of course, you had sat and eaten with him when you’d visited all those restaurants at Hunan, but at least then you could talk about the menu and food. What were you supposed to do now? Talk about the history of ramen?

"Why did you become a chef?" Seokjin asked, breaking the silence. He looks at you curiously, slurping some more ramen into his mouth.

"That's... kind of a personal question don't you think?" You answer back, Seokjin snorting slightly before pointing his chopsticks towards you.

"I thought we were friends" comes Seokjin's direct reply.

"I mean... I wouldn't go that far but okay" You respond, looking away, his words startling you. Were you friends? Sure, you weren't exactly enemies anymore, but wasn't friends pushing it? If it were up to you, you'd call it casual acquaintances or something similar.

"Go on then, why did you become a chef?" Seokjin repeats. You let out a little sigh before placing your chopsticks down. You glance up at the sky, the city lights drown out most of the sky, but there are still a few stars that lit up the night sky.

"My parents used to run a small cake shop in our town, so I basically just grew up baking and making desserts. I learnt a lot from mom and grandpa and eventually just got better than them. I think the first time I baked one of grandpa's recipes was around the age of five. Mom helped obviously, but grandpa loved it so much. He'd started baking for grandma and he loved that I picked up the skill and well, that's why I started baking" You say, a small wistful smile on your face as you remember your grandfather's smile when you'd presented the cake to him.

"That doesn't explain why you became a chef though. A pâtissier yeah, but not why you joined Big Hit. You don’t have to have studied professionally to run a family-run cake shop" Seokjin points out and you turn back to him, cocking your head to the side.

"That was because by the time it got to applying for universities, mom and grandpa knew there was nothing more they could teach me. They both had been saving up to send me here because they thought my talents were wasted in their little bakery and well, after all the years of saving, I didn't have the heart to tell them no and so here I am, three years later. It was probably the best decision of my life" You say, a wistful smile on your face as you remembered their kindness.

"So, you decided on a whim then?" He clarifies and you shrug.

"I guess so. I never really thought about anything other than baking in grandpa's bakery but they both knew there were bigger things out there than a small cake shop in Busan" You say Seokjin nodding.

"That's fair enough, I just thought that maybe it would have been a big dream of yours of something. I always wondered why you were so hell-bent on always being the top," Seokjin comments offhandedly and you sneer slightly at him.

"Grandpa and mom spent a lot of time and money on my tuition here. I can't exactly disappoint them by failing, now can I... especially now after I've come so far" You point out, Seokjin nodding in accord.

"Still doesn't explain why you wanted to beat me so bad. You didn't have to fail but that didn't mean you had to try so hard to be first either" Seokjin points out, causing you to scowl at him again before your face turns passive once again.

"No, you’re right. A lot of that was to do with how much you annoyed me," You deadpan, Seokjin snickering, causing you to roll your eyes.

"Okay, enough about me. Why did you become a chef?" You ask, curious to find out Seokjin's reasons for becoming a chef.

"It's not as meaningful as yours. I did it more as an act of defiance than anything" Seokjin replies, both of you long since finished with your ramen. You quirk an eyebrow, waiting for him to delve deeper into his explanation.

"Well my dad wanted to go into the family business, but I really didn't want to. This was... let's say a compromise" Seokjin responds.

"Okay yes, because that isn't cryptic or anything... come on! I told you my reasons" You whine slightly, and Seokjin chuckles.

"Stop pouting, I can't say no to you when you do that," Seokjin says all of a sudden and you immediately jerk, face flushing as you process his words.

"W-What? Don't just say things like that!" You scream, pointing at him accusingly. Really, what was his problem? What was he so flirty for?

"But if I didn't then I wouldn't be being true to myself. But anyway, if you really want to know... my dad's a CEO, he owns a chain of restaurants and wanted me to take over even though I didn't want to. I wanted to be an actor but he said no to that. My other hobby was cooking considering I’d been in professional kitchens since I could walk, so I said I'd take over if he let me attend Big Hit Academy. He agreed" Seokjin elaborates but you simply scrunch your eyebrows.

"Where's the compromise in that? Doesn’t he get what he wants in the end anyway?" You refuted but Seokjin just sends you a sly glance before leaning in.

"See, what he doesn't know is that I'll only be taking over one restaurant, which I won't manage but be the head chef of" Seokjin loudly whispers, his tone conspiratorial.

"Won't that piss him off? But also, who will run the restaurants then?" You ask, curious about Seokjin's future plan. Seokjin's face contorts with pride as he grins at you.

"It won't matter because I'll be in charge anyway so he won't have a say in it. But also, I'll just hire a professional CEO or something, someone who could actually manage the restaurants. To be honest, as graduation is nearing, I was wondering if I could just hire Namjoonie to do it. No one is as good a manager as him, plus it's all boring like numbers and graphs and he likes that stuff, right?" Seokjin asks, staring at you earnestly. You giggle slightly, imagining Namjoon's face if Seokjin offered him the job before nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I think he'd really love that to be honest," You replied, smiling softly at Seokjin, causing him to respond with his own smile, the wells in his cheeks at the corner of his lips deepening. It's adorable and only further draws attention to his already perfect lips. How had you not noticed them before?

"Damn, it's almost three am. Do you want to head back? I'll walk you home" Seokjin offers as he gathers up your empty foil containers, plopping them in the bin before wiping down his chopsticks, placing them back in his pocket.

"Oh, you really don't have to! It's not a long walk from here anyway" You quickly say, trying to refuse his offer. Seokjin simply sends you a look that has you sighing, immediately knowing that there was no way he'd be letting you off that easily.

"Come on, I can’t let you walk alone at this time of the night," Seokjin says and you quickly follow him, leading the way.

The two of you spend the short walk speaking more about your life out of the academy. You tell Seokjin about running the little cake shop with your mother and grandfather, your father spending most of his time in the city with his office job. You don't even stop and think about opening up to him as it all comes naturally to you. You'd never really noticed how easy it was to talk to Seokjin, not that you'd really had any reason to beforehand considering your - now that you thought about it - petty rivalry. You tell him about how you'd bake a special cake for the bakery once a week that would have people bustling in for your desserts. You even tell him about how you and your grandfather bake a special cake for your mother on her birthday. In turn, Seokjin tells you more about his home life. His father, as loving and doting as he was, would usually be too busy running the business, leaving his mother to look after both his brother and himself.

"If I was being completely honest... the reason I started cooking wasn’t that I grew up around kitchens. Sure, it interested me… seeing how basic ingredients turn into something else. But, I started because my mother is an awful cook and my brother is no better. I got tired of eating inedible food and took over the cooking in the house. And well, it turned out that I was really good at it. Sometimes I wonder if I should stop and just take over the family business like dad wants but then I remember my mother's smile every time I would cook her something, and I remember why I started and how much I love it, and it just motivates me to keep going" Seokjin says, a wistful look on his face as the two of you near your apartment complex. Your head snaps to him in slight awe of his sudden confession.

"Wow... I had no idea you thought about quitting or giving up" You mutter, Seokjin looking down at you with a rueful smile.

"Does it not get too much for you sometimes? The pressure...? Everyone expects you to always be at the top or for you to come up with amazing dishes time after time. Sometimes I forget how much I love cooking and the pressure just builds up but I just remember mom and her smile and everything gets better" Seokjin states, his tone light again, a genuine smile returning to his face. Your fingers twitch slightly, wanting to reach out and grasp his hand to offer him some semblance of comfort. But you can't do that. You may be somewhat friends, but your relationship was nowhere near that level of intimacy. So, you settle for the next best thing.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm glad you didn't quit. I'd miss our rivalry... and you do make me a better chef" You admit grudgingly, Seokjin raises an eyebrow at your statement, an amused smirk on his face. You immediately flush, "B-Besides, winning by default isn't really winning" You stammer, trying to explain yourself but you and Seokjin both know you're lying.

"I'm glad I stayed. You make me a better chef too" Seokjin says with a wink. Your face heats further and you try to respond, but instead, you simply stutter, unable to think of a response.

"Oh look! We're here! Wow, it's really late. I'll see you at the academy!" You suddenly blurt, your words rushed as you try and get away from him. Seokjin instantly reaches out and grabs your hand, pulling you back.

"Hey! We've got a break now, I won't see you for a week or something. Besides, that's not a proper goodbye" Seokjin points out and you scowl despite the prominent blush on your face.

"What do you... mean?" You start before trailing off, watching as Seokjin bends over to the rose bushes planted at the bottom of your complex. He plucks one off of the bush, it's not fully bloomed yet, only a few petals unfurling from the bud, before handing it to you.

"Goodnight ____," Seokjin says with an over-exaggerated bow. You roll your eyes at his antics before accepting the flower, breathing in the subtle scent of the rose. Seokjin stands straight again and then winks at you before turning around and walking away. You roll your eyes at him again before you too turn around and enter your building.

A couple moments later and you're back in your small studio apartment. You wander to the kitchen, pulling out a vase from the cabinet before filling it with water. Carrying the vase, you place it in the living room on your coffee table before placing the rose in it. The vase is slightly too big for the single flower, but it still looks pretty nonetheless. You glance at the rose one last time before returning to bed, a small smile on your face.

a/n: uwu what did you think?? please let me know!!

▷ Part II | Masterlist

#btssmutclub #hyunglinenetwork #kpopwonderlandtag #kwritersworldnet #bangtanarmynet #btsguild #btsprotectnet #thekimlinenet #seokjin x reader #jin x reader #kim seokjin x reader #bts jin x reader #bts seokjin x reader #bts au #bts fic #bts imagine #bts kim seokjin x reader

[wriggleum]

Your Hand In Mine

on AO3 ! Summary: Jack wants to cook dinner for Bitty because he realizes that he's never properly cooked him dinner before. prompt: Jack cooks dinner for @jackzimmermannturns30​ Words: 8819 Chapters:1/1 Rating: G Relationship: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann Warnings: Concussions

“What’s wrong? Did I mess up the recipe? My hand kinda slipped when I was seasoning the chicken and I dropped a lot of paprika in the bowl. I thought I fixed it?” Jack had been staring at his plate for what was most likely an awkward amount of time after he had taken a bite of chicken breast. But Jack was just stuck in his head. He had a thought earlier during breakfast. Bitty cooks for him all the time. He makes dinner for them whenever they’re together and if Bitty isn’t around Jack can always just heat up one of the premade meals stocked up in his freezer. Bits is just amazing like that, and he insists that it’s no trouble at all. The thing that’s getting to Jack is the fact that he’s never cooked dinner for Bitty. It’s been bothering him all day, during his run, all through practice, at the gym and when he came home and took his nap up until he hit the ice. It’s not that Jack can’t cook, he can cook just fine. He’s never actually followed a recipe before. His mother taught him how to cook chicken at one point, and he can follow packing instructions perfectly. His food may lack seasoning most of the time —he became aware of that fact at some point his sophomore year, Shitty broke it to him gently after a few bites of whatever he made for dinner that night— salt was pretty much the only thing he had in his cupboards before he met Eric. A spice rack was one the first items Bitty added to his kitchen when he visited for the first time over the summer of his second year. His kitchen has never been the same. Despite the lack of seasoning in his food, it gets him fed and full. His meal plan didn’t allow for much variety. Jack had never minded it. Yet for a while it was eat to bulk up, and eat to keep him going. Then Bitty came in and ruined it all for him with his pies. Jack will be reluctant to admit he’s snuck away with a few extra slices of pie in the middle of the night while he was living in the Haus. At least he’s not living off of takeout like some people he knows. So yes Jack can cook, but he honestly doesn’t know how he survived without Eric’s cooking for the years that he did. His baking is next level, that's a known fact of life, but his cooking is just as good. Meanwhile Jack's cooking looked like lukewarm high school cafeteria food compared to Bittys carefully thought out dishes. The fact is Eric is always cooking for Jack and Jack feels kind of bad about it. It’s not like Bitty isn’t busy with his (second!) book and the Youtube channel and then he goes and insists on cooking for Jack or prepping meals for when he’s off doing bookdeal stuff. So Jack is going to take it upon himself and make a meal for his husband. It’s really the least he could do for him.  Looking back down at his plate of perfectly seasoned chicken breast —Eric’s mistake not noticeable at all— surrounded by flavorful green beans and cauliflower. It was all so good and exceeded anything Jack could have made for himself without a recipe. “Bits, there's honestly nothing wrong with the chicken. It’s perfect actually.” Eric squints at him from across their plates. “Ok then why do I feel a but coming?” “But,” Jack chuckled. “You’re always cooking for me. Us.” Jack stabs a bit of green bean and chicken onto his fork, stuffing it into his mouth, chewing for a bit and swallowing “You’ve been so busy Bits and you’re still cooking dinner for us and baking and going all over the place and I don’t know.” Jack paused and took a sip of water gathering himself. “I feel bad.” An outraged look crosses Bitty’s face for a second. He scoffed and says, “You made breakfast for me the other morning! You grill all the time during offseason!” “Scrambled eggs and a toasted bagel can hardly count compared to what you end up cooking, and that takes minimum effort.” Jack gives Bitty a long stare, “Also you season and marinate the meat whenever we barbeque. Here I thought you of all people would understand that premade chicken tenders and a homemade lasagna aren’t the same thing.” Jack goes to eat another bite from his plate but then says, “Also I meant dinner. You’re always cooking dinner. When was the last time I actually cooked dinner?” Bitty takes the time to honestly think about it but looks up at Jack sheepishly a moment later. “That’s what I thought. If you don’t want to cook we just end up ordering take out or we go out somewhere.” Bitty rolls his eyes at Jack, “Well, you’ve got a point there hun I’ll give you that.” They go back to eating, Bitty’s dinner playlist playing softly in the background. Then Jack has a thought. “I’m going to cook dinner for you.” he looks Eric in the eyes, “As soon as possible.” Bitty looks like he’s trying really hard not to laugh, Jack pouts. “Oh honey, that's real sweet of you, and I would love that! Don’t get me wrong.” he picks up his glass of water and tries to take a sip to hide his suppressed laughter but fails. “I’m not laughing at you ok, so please stop with that face. It was just you were so serious about it.” Bitty giggles and grabs Jack's hand next to his and smiles brightly at him, “I really would love to have whatever you cook up!” “Ok so what do you want?” “Oh you know I’ll have whatever!” When Jack doesn’t respond to that, Bitty rolls his eyes again and pulls out his phone and starts tapping away. “Oh ok, ok. I’ll send  you one of my Pinterest boards and you can choose something from there, how about that?” “I would really appreciate that. Thank you Bits.” Jack's own phone pings and he smiles down at it. He saves the link to the board to look at later and goes back to polishing off his plate. *** The next day after practice Jack is sitting in the nook scrolling through the Pinterest board Bitty sent him titled Quick ‘n Easy: Beginner Friendly Recipes. When Jack first saw the board he looked at it a bit suspiciously. He couldn’t think of a reason as to why Bitty would have a board of recipes for beginners. It would make more sense if it was for his Youtube but the board itself has no baking recipes in it. Bitty must have had it already made because he had sent it when Jack had asked, and there were a lot of recipes already in it. He’d have to ask Bitty about it later. Now, Jack was struggling with what to choose. Did he want to with the easier option of a pasta dish, or did he want to do something like a steak with a couple of sides to go with it? He really wanted to cook Bitty the best dinner he possibly could. Apparently Jack was stressing about choosing a recipe harder than he thought because the first thing Tater said when he sat down next to him was, “What is matter Zimmboni? You look as if you are making big life decision. You talk to Bitty yet?” Snowy who sat down across from them chimed in, “Yeah man I don’t think you can stick your phone any closer to your face without it becoming a part of you.” Jack suppressed a sigh. Might as well come out with it, these two sure as hell won’t leave him alone without Jack saying something. “I’m going to cook dinner for Bitty.” “Ah, you cook for little B! What are you cooking?” Tater wiggled in glee, peaking over Jack's shoulder to glance at his phone. Handing his phone straight over to Tater, Jack poked at his packed lunch —prepared by none other than Bitty. “That’s the problem.” Jacked sighed, “I don’t know.” “What is it, an anniversary or something?” Snowy asked. “No it’s just Eric is always making dinner for us and I just want to cook dinner for him for a change.” Jack explained. “Ahh gotcha.” It was silent for a second but Jack felt the brunt of Snowy’s piercing stare. He didn’t say anything but Jack could see it in his eyes when he looked straight back at him: what the hell Jack, you don’t cook for your husband? When he’s not only been cooking for you, but he brings in plates and plates of amazing baked goods for the team? Really Jack? For shame. He could hear it clearly in his head in Snowy’s smooth drawl. When Snowy looked down at his own food, breaking the eye contact that went on only for a second or two, Jack chastised himself. Snowy would never seriously say something like that. Chirp him to hell and back? Oh for sure. Jack snapped out of it when Tater exclaimed, “Oh Zimmboni! Cook this, is perfect!” Tater wiggled the phone in Jack’s face. Taking it back he looked down at the screen, it looked like it was no longer on Pinterest but rather on a blog post. Snowy snorted, “Oh yeah? Or is it just something you want to eat?” “Of course I want to eat, if I want to eat it is going to be good for little B!” The two chirped back and forth while Jack scrolled through the blog. It was a blog post with several other recipes in it. There’s a lot of text, the post going on and on about the bloggers family —something about a family reunion?— with so many pictures of people and food. By a photographers standpoint it wasn’t actually that bad. The composition was actually quite nice, and the lighting in all the shots was beautiful. Jack mentally noted to go back to the blog again later but for now he went back to looking for the recipe that he still hadn’t gotten to despite scrolling for a good bit. “So?” Tater looks over to Jack with an eager look. “Euh, what was it you wanted me to cook?” “What! Zimmboni please.” Jack gives his phone back to Tater, feeling a bit like he just was scolded. Tater quickly scrolled through the blog straight to the recipe and showed it to Jack. “This one! It sounds good and looks very easy.” The recipe read, One-pot lemon shrimp pasta. The dish was only five ingredients and the instructions themselves fit into one small paragraph. That seemed simple enough but it also sounded really good. Jack made sure to bookmark the page when Tater handed his phone back to him. “Send updates. I want to know how it comes out.” “Sure Tater, I’ll send you updates.” Snowy snorted between a bite of sandwich, “Can you even cook Zimmerman?” Jack quirked an eyebrow, “Can you?” Snowy said nothing but gave Jack a slight nod of his head as if to say touché. It was a fact that all the Falconers knew, something that Tater brought up constantly, is that Snowy can’t cook to save his life. At least Jack can fend for himself tasteless as his food may be. He really hoped the shrimp pasta was as easy as it seemed. *** The next day Jack facetimed his mother after practice. “Maman, I need your help.” “Oh?” Alicia raised a perfectly plucked brow. Jack explained the situation and Alicia nodded and hummed appropriately. In the end she smiled that superstar smile, all genuine and glimmering white. A twinkle of mirth in her eyes. “I think that’s wonderful. If anyone deserves a home cooked meal it’s Eric.” Jacked nodded in agreement, because that was a very obvious statement. Bitty deserved everything. “But what is it exactly that you need help with? Want me to talk you through the steps?” Alicia ginned. “No maman.” Jack rolled his eyes playfully. “Just. Do you think it sounds good? And Should I add anything else to the food, or on the side? What about drinks that go with it? Should I even bother making a desert or should I just buy it?” “Jack, sweetheart. The recipe sounds delicious. You’re going to have to make it for your father and I next time we visit. And you can’t go wrong with a dry rosé.” Alicia hummed a bit, thinking about Jack’s other questions. “You could add some bread for the side. Perfect for soaking up the pasta sauce. I think you should go to that bakery Eric is always going on about, and maybe get some dessert while you’re there. But I wouldn’t stress about all that, Eric knows you’re not a baker.” Jack thanks his mother for the advice and after the call ends he heads out straight to the store to pick up all the ingredients. Before heading into the grocery he stops by Bitty’s favorite bakery and asks about pre orders and says that he’ll keep in touch. At the grocery store Jack texts his mother a picture of the bottle of wine he picks out  just in case; he gets back a string of thumb up emojis and a longer string of various hearts. The recipe called for linguine but he knew Bitty didn’t really prefer it so he stood in the aisle looking at a box of bowtie pasta and a box of penne. Why in the world are there so many types of pasta? In the end he chucked in the penne into his basket because a mother was giving him a mean side eye for taking so long. Thankfully he didn’t have any other issues with getting the other ingredients, so the rest of the trip went a lot quicker. At home Jack put what he could of his supplies in a box and stuffed it in the pantry, the rest went in the freezer and the fridge wrapped up so Bitty couldn’t tell what it was. It wasn’t long after that Jack found Bitty poking around in the pantry. “I’m only looking for flour Jack. Why would I snoop when you told me not to? How could you accuse me so.” he said, thickening up his accent and looking playfully aghast. Jack jokingly shoved him away from the pantry, “Move along Bittle we both know you keep all of the flour in the cupboard.” “Hmm really? I guess I do, don’t I Mr. Bittle-Zimmerman. My apologies I’ll be making my way along to the cupboards then.” *** After all that Jack was sucked into the world of hockey. The playoffs were right around the corner and the Falconers were doubling down in preparation for it. They had a good chance of making it through. So Jack promptly forgot about cooking dinner for his husband and was in full hockey robot mode. Bitty was just as busy with his second book, and he knew how Jack got during the playoffs so he didn’t mention anything. After all, if he really wanted Jack would have all the time in the world to cook when the offseason came around. *** It was an earlier night than usual for Jack. He had to be up extra early for a flight to Pittsburgh and wanted to get enough sleep so that he wasn’t wound up for the whole plane ride. Bitty was getting ready for bed, brushing his teeth in the bathroom. When he hopped into bed and kissed Jack goodnight it was minty and sweet. Before he drifted off into sleep he had a feeling that he was forgetting something. *** They’re a second game into the playoffs, and It’s a home game. It’s warm ups, the national anthem, and then the puck drops. A Penguin wins the face-off and Jack is right behind them. It’s give and take the whole first period, Thirdy gets a pretty goal from the blue line hitting the net right behind the goalie's shoulder. But a Penguin scored one right after, keeping them 1-1 for the rest of the first period and well into the second. Each team took shot after shot on the goal but none were going in after those first two goals from each team. It’s when they come back onto the ice for the third period that it all goes to shit. Jack has the puck and is on his way into the offensive zone, he’s got a huge Penguin on his heels (number 85) and he’s trying hard to push Jack toward the boards. Jack clenches his mouth guard and takes a quick look around to see if anyone is near to pass the puck to. He gives the puck away at the last moment, but Jack was too close to the boards when 85 slashes him with his stick on the outside of his right leg, taking his skates right out from under him and with the speed they were both skating at there was no way to stop 85 from crushing Jack right into the boards. Jack wasn’t sure if he heard a whistle or not, but he was already falling. His shoulder hit the glass first and on the way down his head hit the edge of the dasher board, helmet catching and flying off. His temple hits the ice and it all goes black for a second. When he opens his eye the lights from the rink are blinding and for a very long second Jack panics and then he’s aware of pain and everything blows up around him. He can hear Tater cursing in russin, he already knows he probably has 85’s jersey in his large fists. Thirdy is asking how Jack feels, and he can only blink at him slowly and then he’s cursing as well. Jack isn’t exactly sure how long it takes, but at some point the team doctor is out on the ice blocking his view of the rafters asking him too many questions. What hurts? Everything. Can he move? Sure, but he doesn’t want to. Finally, he asks if Jack needs a stretcher and Jack says no so the trainer and Thirdy help him up and help him across the ice, players around them tapping their sticks on the ice and against the boards. He’s nauseous the whole way across the ice and it takes everything in him not to spue across it. His head is pounding, his ears are buzzing, and the world is spinning. It’s nothing like the smaller concussion he got while in the Q. He’s been lucky so far, but he guessed it was bound to run out at some point. After Jack is off the ice things get a little hazy, the last thing Jack wants to be at the moment is awake. Bitty is looking frantic and now Jack feels guilty and he has a pounding headache. The trip to the hospital is pretty unmemorable to him, and while at the hospital the haze isn’t as bad he’s still having a pretty terrible time. Jack goes through all the necessary procedures, takes too long to answer a few of the doctor's simple questions and promptly gets shoved into an MRI machine and then he’s waking up in a hospital bed, the lights are off. Bitty is sleeping on the most uncomfortable looking couch in existence next to his bed, and he’s really hating 85 right about now. Jack takes stock of himself. His head is unsurprisingly still pounding, he lifts a hand to graze at his temple and it’s tender as hell. Probably already bruised up. His shoulder is stiff, twinging with the slightest movement. And most of all he wants to sleep for a good solid month. Jack tries moving a bit but after his body screams at him he decides he’ll just wither away in the position he’s in at the moment.A gasp to his left shocks him and he winches when he jumps a bit at it. “You’re awake!” Bitty was off of the couch in a blink and next to Jack holding onto his hand in moments. “How’re you feelin’ hun? I know it's probably terrible.” Frowning, Jack thinks back to when Bitty was sprawled on the ice helmet feet away from him. The terror he felt. It’s unfortunately a part of the game and can happen to anyone but Jack still feels bad about the undoubtable stress Bitty probably went through having to watch what happened to Jack from behind the glass unable to get to him. “Sorry Bits.” Confused Bitty responds, “What for? If anyone has to be sorry it’s that 85.” “It’s ju-” Jack was cut off by the doctor entering his room. She explained the situation to both Jack and Bitty but Jack wasn’t really paying much attention. The pain behind his eyes was making it hard to concentrate. Apparently he has a grade 3 concussion and at some point during the hit he popped his shoulder in and out. They want to keep him overnight for observation. Jack was going to protest but thought better of it when he saw Bitty’s glare. Jack would have rolled his eyes if it didn’t cause him pain, so he closed them instead raising the cheap hospital blanket to his chin. Bitty continued to talk to the doctor, their voices a low whisper. Tabarnak, Jack thought. He was out for at least a month, maybe two. Meaning he was done, he was officially out for the rest of playoffs. At least he had more than enough time to heal. He must have dozed off for a few because when he came to again the doctor was gone and Marty was handing a bag off to Bitty. Marty had retired the year prior but hangs out with everyone whenever he’s not busy with his family, and gives Tater pointers from time to time since he handed off his A to him. “Whenever you’re ready to leave you guys just give me a call and I’ll pick you up.” Jack wanted to thank Marty but one second he was blinking and when he opened his eyes again —with great reluctance— he was gone and a nurse was checking out the machines next to his bed, a soft light making its way through the shut blinds. Bitty wasn’t on the couch next to him but the nurse saw him looking around and said that he had only left a few minutes ago, so that left Jack to deal with the nurses poking and prodding him after what felt like zero hours of sleep despite knocking out for a while. He hated hospitals and he hated being incapacitated. Jack knew he was a horrible patient, but he’d always been like that. Though he thought he was polite enough to the poor nurse who had to deal with him. For breakfast they gave him some bland soup and crackers that Jack didn’t really want to eat, but Bitty came back just as they were rolling in the cart, a cup of steaming cafeteria coffee in his hand. He gave Jack a look and it was enough that he begrudgingly slurped at his watery soup. A quick visit from the doctor and some tests later and Jack was free to go home. Not without explicit warning from the doctor and nurses to not strain himself and to listen to their instructions. To get the frown off his face Bitty read the texts from the Falcs and the old SMH hockey team telling him to get well soon, as they escaped by way of a back door straight into Marty’s car to make a clean getaway. “You know the drill.” Bitty said as soon as they made it home, the door locked behind them. Jack sighed, he did in fact know the drill. It was drilled into him by several people in the hospital and as well as Marty on the way home. “Bits. Bud. I stink. I still have to shower.” Jack felt grimmy. He never got to shower after the game and on top of that he has hospital all over him. Bitty scrunched up his nose, “Yeah. You reek.” A quick shower later with Bitty keeping watch on the toilet who gave him a play by play of the rest of the game after Jack’s exit. He was honest with him back at the hospital when Jack asked how the team fared after his exit. Short answer was that Falcs lost in regulation, 1-3 (in the end the Falconers advanced to game six without Jack, they fought hard but it wasn't enough and they lost it all in the next round. It’s hard to lose when you’re so close, but Jack found it especially difficult not being there for his team when they needed him the most).   Jack went straight to bed after his quick shower, his mattress felt amazing after laying in the lump of a thing the hospital made it’s patience lay in. He was staring at the ceiling thinking about all the things he wasn’t able to do when Bitty came in a few minutes later, a bowl of steaming something in his hands. “Chicken soup! You definitely need to get something in you, I have no idea what they tried feeding you back at the hospital but it definitely shouldn’t have the right to be called soup, let alone chicken soup.” Bitty was handing it off to Jack his fingertips barely grazed the bowl when it hit him. It was so sudden that Jack physically recoiled, shocking both Bitty and himself. “Bits!” Jack gasped, pulling his hands back. Bitty pulled the bowl back towards himself, almost flingling the contents of it all over the both of them. “What oh my god I didn’t think the bowl was that hot!” Shoving his face into his hands he groaned, “I was supposed to cook dinner for you!” Setting down the bowl of soup on the nightstand on Jack's side he let out a long d’awww, “I wondered how long it would be until you remembered.” He gave Jack's upper arm a little squeeze. “I think you get a pass from cooking. You were all busy getting ready for playoffs and then actually making it to the playoffs! And well...” And he waved a hand over Jack. “Considering your bedridden figure ‘n all. Plus that terrible looking bruise on your head.” “But Bitty it was supposed to be a thing. I even bought everything ahead of time. I was even going to pre order bread from your favorite bakery. I talked to them and everything. Why didn’t you say anything?” Jack only felt slightly betrayed. “Don’t you worry about cooking for me mister!” Bitty scolded, “You had this idea come into your head when playoffs were creeping up right around the corner, you know how you get during this part of the season. And well you just worry about getting better and then you can make me dinner whenever you want.” Picking the bowl of soup back up Bitty hands it off to Jack or he tires to and is unsuccessful because Jack is crossing his arms and pouting in bed like an overgrown toddler. “Oh my god!” Jack harrumphs. “You infant!” Bitty is trying really hard not to smile. “You giant manchild! Are you seriously refusing my soup? Do you think I won’t tweet about this?” Bitty wipes his smile away, putting on his most serious expression. “Eat the damn soup Jack.” he says, making it sound like a warning. “What are you going to do if I don’t eat the soup?” Jack smirks back. Bitty mutters under his breath, “Geez for someone with a serious concussion…” and then he trails off and says louder. “Jack you don’t wanna play these games with me. Not only will I call you mother, who I was assured will come down with the drop of a hat, your father in tow. But I will call Shitty as well.” How quickly Jack uncrossed his arms and grabbed the bowl of soup had Bitty stuffing his laughter behind both of his hands. “My own husband on the cusp of betrayal.” It was Bitty’s turn to smirk. *** The first week Jack caught up on a lot of sleep and listened to one full audiobook read outloud to him from his laptop that he carried from room to room when he felt restless and was sick of lying in bed. That was all he could really do. Listen to his audiobook for a few minutes a time, rest, get up, walk around the house, get a terrible headache, nap, repeat. And worst of all he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen when Bitty was around. Which at the moment was all the time. Jack has never wanted to cook a meal so badly, he was so excited to be able to do something for his husband who works so hard. But Bitty refused to let him cross the threshold between the dining room and kitchen, even if Jack claimed it was just for a glass of water. To which Bitty would then say, “You have a glass and a water bottle and a gatorade next to the bed.” and then Jack would turn tail and lay under the covers because the bright natural lighting from the kitchen was stabbing his eyes like knives. Without hockey, or TV, or physical books Jack was bored out of his mind by the second week. The bruising around his temple had turned a sickly shade of pale greens and brights yellows and browns. The headaches were still there but definitely not as bad as the week prior. But he still wasn’t allowed to do much of anything, especially with Bitty keeping like a sentinel; Guardian of the Kitchen. Jack could admit himself he was getting restless and he was definitely being a grump at times. Bitty thankfully didn’t take his shit moods and would sweetly tell Jack to take a nap if he was going to be ill-tempered, or to take up knitting or something to keep him occupied. After a few days into the second week of The Concussion, Jack was waking up from a mid afternoon nap and was on his way to the kitchen to be a bother when he overheard Bitty talking to someone in the living room. Jack peaked his head in and waved to Bitty who was talking on the phone, pacing back and forth barefoot on their extremely soft white (fake) fur rug. Bitty waved back absent mindley and then did a double take, glaring at Jack he did the I’m watching you hand motion and then pointed sternly at the couch. Jack shrugged and plopped right down in the middle of their couch wrapping a plush throw blanket around himself, catching the rest of Bitty’s conversation. “You know I would love to and I would hate to cancel but Betty, I don’t think I can go.” And nope. Jack had a hunch on what this was about and Jack was definitely not letting Bitty cancel.Getting up from the couch Jack stood in front of Bitty who gave him a curious look. Jack looked right at him and whispered, “Go!”. With a furrowed brow he shook his head, while Jack nodded his. “Yes! Go! I can take care of myself just fine. Bits, go to your convention.” Jack whispered. Bitty bit at his bottom lip, thought about it for a second and then told his agent. “On second thought Betty I think I will be able to make it. You can go ahead and confirm!” The yay! That came from the other end of the phone was loud enough for Jack to hear as he fell back onto the couch. When Bitty hung up with the date and hour of his flight to California written on a notepad, he put his hands on his waist and gave Jack a very squinty glare. “Want me outta your hair don’t ya?” Chuckling Jack pulled Bitty down onto the couch hugging him but then unwrapped the blanket from himself, rewrapped it around the both of them and then slinked his arms back around Bitty. “No Bits. But you have stuff to do and just because I’m not working at the moment means you stop working too. I don’t want you to miss out on all of these opportunities you’re getting!” Bitty went to protest but Jack cut in before he could say anything. “I know you rescheduled a meeting with that publishing company in New York the other day.” Bitty tsked, but then he hugged Jack tightly back. So they came to an agreement and Bitty was on his way to LA by the end of the week. And Jack thought he was bored before. But at least got to practice the dish he was supposed to have cooked for Bitty. Instead he invited Tater over who had a lot of input with how Jack prepared the food and cut vegetables. But he was always good company even when he was nagging over Jack's shoulder the whole time he was cooking. “‘S very good!” Tater hummed as he chowed down on Jack's creation. “Have to facetime Snowy, show that Zimmboni can cook.” “Were you guys seriously doubting me?” “Yes.” Came from Taters phone that he was pointing at his own half eaten plate of pasta. Jack took his own to wash having finished while Tater chattered, shaking his head on the way to the sink. By the third week Jack is still bored out of his mind, but at least Bitty is back, the downside is that he’s really doubling up on his youtube content in anticipation of his second book release. He’s doing several collaborations. He actually already did a few while he was in LA and he’s been editing every day hunched over his laptop at odd hours because he still refuses to hire someone else to do it for him. Jack had forgotten that one of the collabs was with the Falcs social media team, filming something for his own channel and a second video for FalcsTV. So when he walked into the kitchen one Saturday morning and saw the kitchen in full Bitty-Is-Recoriging mode with the addition of Poots, Tater, and Snowy. Jack was actually surprised and thankful he had actually put on pants because his teammates would never let him live it down for walking around half naked in his own home. Unfortunately Jack was having a major headache that day so he only stayed for some hellos and a snack before he retreated back into the bedroom for the rest of the day. He was feeling a little better by the time Bitty came in ready for bed, cuddling up to him and falling asleep in seconds, breath ticking the back of his neck. The fourth week was an improvement from the previous ones. Bitty was away again finalizing book deal stuff so Jack was home alone. But Jack was finally able to do some reading and light trainer approved workouts with the approval of his doctor after a follow up. Now that he had something to occupy his time with he was not only feeling better physically but also mentally. Best of all was the fact that Jack was able to get onto the ice, with the stipulation of not overworking himself. But the sooner he was on the ice the sooner he could get with his personal trainer, and get his ass kicked into shape again. He has to get his stamina back up though, a few circles around the ice and he was definitely feeling it. It would only be another few weeks until Jack was able to officially get to work on putting his body back into shape. By the time Jack was good to go he was hopping on a plane to Quebec for a quick trip to see his parents. He was getting call after call from his father complaining about not knowing what his face looked like anymore— despite several facetime calls. Jack told him he could come down himself and his father said, “I’m getting old Jack, I’m tired of traveling. I've done it my whole life you’ll understand when you get to my age.” “Ok old man I’ll fly up.” “Hey!” Bob protested at being called old by his son, when two seconds ago he was just complaining about getting old. Jack had to shake his head at that. In all honesty the second his father mentioned a visit to his old home Jack was already pulling up listings of flights and had bought a ticket while his dad was blustering on about how good he looked for his age or something like that. Jack had tuned him out a bit. A month and some weeks out of commission, stuck at home with not much to keep him entertained and Jack was itching to get out. Jack would be back home in Providence in time for his birthday —so would Bitty who was still out… doing something Jack wasn’t too sure but he knew it invloed the new book and a possible show? Bitty was being very hush hush about it. He said he didn’t want to jinx anything. Jack wasn’t supposed to have heard that particular conversation but he was in the room first when Bitty answered the phone, so that was all on his husband. It only hit him while he was out having dinner with his parents and they asked him what he was planning for his birthday that he was like huh. Jack is turning thirty. The big three-oh. In reality Jack wasn’t bothered by turning thirty, he was still plenty young. In the hockey world though, it made him sweat a little. He learned not to pay attention to the media long ago, but he still has bad days and when several outlets ragged on about how he’s past his prime years he can’t help but let it bother him a little. He was on the phone with Bitty when his birthday came up again. “So did you want to do anything special for your birthday? We both get back on the 1st right? We can plan something out if you want. We haven’t really had time to talk about it huh?” Bitty’s voice crackled through Jack’s phone. On the screen Jack was getting a spectacular view of his nose and all the hair inside it. Jack laid back onto the overstuffed pillow his mother kept in his old bedroom, having changed it long ago to a guest bedroom changing out his old twin to a full. “I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it. It’s just another birthday you know? I think I’ve done all there is to do. Or at least all I’ve ever really wanted to do birthday wise.” Bitty shifted, propping his phone up against a pillow or something because now Jack was able to see him from his head to his chest. He was fluffing up pillows and getting comfortable for bed, laying down to face Jack fully. He looked at Jack sideways from his current position laying down. “What about tigers?” “Tigers?” “Oh yeah tigers.” he said with a serious tone "Thirty is kind of a big deal, you’re no longer twenty. I think that deserves a wild party with some tigers.” “Nah, I think that’s more of a fiftieth birthday type of thing.” Bitty paused but then went, “Hmmm Ok then!” Not long after that they said their goodnights and when Jack’s screen went black he squinted at his reflection with an inkling of suspicion. “He’s definitely trying to plan something.” *** It was late but he was back home, suitcase in hand Jack was dead on his feet. Never more glad to be home. He was greeted by the smell of freshly baked pie and if Jack listened closely he could hear his bed calling to him. But first. Bitty. He was sitting at the dining room table typing away at his laptop with a plate left only with pie crumbs next to him. He must have heard Jack walk in because he immediately closes his laptop and turns around with a blinding smile and holds his arms out for a hug that Jack was already going to give. “Welcome back handsome.” Bitty said into Jack’s chest. “Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Jack smiled, “You’ve been busy.” he passed a hand through Bitty’s freshly shaved undercut. Sighing, Bitty losend up in Jack arms, “Yeah it’s all been a bit hectic but I’ve got some exciting stuff coming along.” “Anything you want to share with your loving husband?” “I don’t want to say anything just yet!” “Ok, ok! Well if you’re done here want to get to bed?” “I would love nothing more.” *** Jack sleeps in the next day, he decides that morning the first time he wakes up to take the day off from his morning run. The second time he wakes up it’s because Bitty is getting out of bed, he kisses Jack’s forehead and then Jack out again. The third and final time Jack wakes up it’s because he’s being crushed. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAH!” Jack shoves Shitty off from him and gives him an icy glare. “What the fuck Shits? And my birthday is tomorrow!” “I know.” Jack exhales loudly and gets out of bed. No use in trying to get anymore sleep with Shitty around. In the kitchen he finds Lardo and Bitty quietly conversing, pie dough rolled out between them and Jack is so sure that a pie is already baking away in the oven, even if the smell wasn’t a dead give away. The day is filled with a lot of pie and catching up. The only time they’ve had recently to talk is the odd facetime call and whenever Lardo and Shitty had time for a game or two in Boston. Shitty is busy with his firm and Lardo has been getting huge commissions from a few major companies so they’ve all been fairly busy with life and being adults. So it’s nice to take a day to talk, have a couple of beers and eat a few pies while screaming at each other over Mario Kart and Smash. It’s later at night when they’ve just finished watching 1917 —Jack’s been wanting to watch it but kept on forgetting about it until Lardo mentioned it when they were all throwing suggestions for movies— that Shitty says. “Hey we’re going out tomorrow for a little bit, just you and me. Two bros out in the town.”   Jack laughs out loud and replies, “Sure Shitty.” And the following day at nine in the morning Jack wakes up with Bitty in his arms, his steady breath hitting the side of his neck and he's officially thirty years old. Bitty makes him special birthday pancakes for breakfast —they’re really just maple blueberry pancakes, and everyone else is having them too— and Shitty insists that they pop a single candle in his stack and sing him happy birthday. When that’s all done and they’re all full, Shitty slaps Jack on the back and tells him to get ready. On their way out Bitty gives him a tight hug, Lardo gives him one too that’s less constricting and then Jack is in Shitty’s hands. Shitty’s first stop is at the historic downtown area in Providence where a cluster of vintage stores crowd both sides of the street. They both take their time visiting each store, looking through them and all they have to hold. In one of the stores dedicated to mostly just vintage clothing Shitty finds a horrendously patterned disco shirt, it’s made of a material that squeaks. “Lardo’s going to kill me if I let you bring that home.” “Brah, if I have to wear clothing it might as well be clothes that speak to my soul.” Jack walks out of the store as Shitty is forking the cash over to an all too pleased cashier, and walks into the next one over. And it’s much more what Jack is into. The smell of old books permeates the air, it’s very dusty and books line shelves are stuffed into bins, and there are even towers of books stacked up on the floor all over. He’s already across the room looking through the titles on the shelves in the back when Shitty comes rustling in with his bag that holds the ugliest shirt Jack has ever seen is being carried in. He may not be the most fashion forward, and he may have committed some fashion crimes in his time but come on. Looking down at his watch Jack can’t help but be shocked at the amount of time that’s flown by while they were walking around. It’s well into the afternoon and Jack was getting kind of hungry.  So he goes to pay for the little pile of books he’s gathered (one is a personal journal dated from 1946, another was an old mystery novel and cute little vintage cookbook for Bitty.) and asks Shitty if he wants to go get some food. He hums a bit glancing at his phone before answering Jack, “I think…” he types out a text, “We should eat something light. I'm sure Bitty is planning some sort of feast or something for when we get back.” “Ha, you’re not wrong.” So they find a cart selling hot dogs and walk to a park nearby to eat their food at a pickin table by a lake. Jack finished his two dogs in a few bites but Shitty is still on just one. He’s doing a lot more talking than eating, telling a ridiculous story about an intern and a major coffee mishap that invloed a few sick and one injured. By the time Shitty was done with both of his hotdogs and the story it was already half past three. Shitty was furiously texting on his phone, while Jack sares off towards a cluster of trees where two squirrels were chasing each other around the base, upwards, and then back down again. “Ok time to go!” Shitty shouted, slamming his phone down the table. “Euh, ok?” It was getting kind of late so Jack picked up his books and followed Shitty back to his car. When they were on the way home Jack realized what was happening. Bitty had planned a party. A few minutes later his suspicions were confirmed when all along his driveway and lawn were a cluster of cars. Loud music was coming from inside and out of the house. Jack gave Shitty a sidelong glance; his smile was wide underneath his mustache. The front door was already open and when he walked in the party was already underway. He dropped off his books at a table full of gifts before making his way through his own birthday party. Most of the Falconers and the old Samwell hockey team were gathered throughout the house and the backyard. He even spots his mother and father mingling with George by the couches. Ransom and Holster screamed at him and jostled him around when they spotted him. Nursery, Dex, and Chowder were more subdued but still loud enough to draw the attention of Tater and Snowy who greeted him like Ransom and Holster did which was much more obnoxious because he sees them regularly. And so it went, much the same as he made his way throughout the house and into the backyard, meeting old teammates and saying hello to his current teammates' families. When he finally made it to the backyard with a plate full of food in one hand and a cup of water in the other he was greeted by Marty, Thirdy and their respective wives. They chattered for a little while, Jack mostly listening while he ate, when a shrill scream drew his attention away. It was Bitty running around the grass playing with a pack of children and preteens, they all seemed to be playing a fierce game of tag. Jack knew the second he laid eyes on his husband his eyes went soft. Something bloomed in his chest at the thought of Bitty running around with a child of their own in this very backyard. Marty lightly punched his arm, nodding to the group of children currently chasing Bitty. “You talk to him about it yet?” Nodding Jack replied, “It’ll come up from time to time, we’ve talked about adopting.” and they have talked about it. It’s always out of the blue when they’re both silent, in bed or watching TV, or out for a walk. Bitty will say, “We should adopt.” and Jack will agree, and then they both say, “In the future.” But Jack right then in that moment, with Bitty laughing under a dogpile of giggling children, thinks why not now? It’s not long after that Bitty comes jogging up to him, grass stains on his knees, a smile stretched across his face making his cheek so very pink. He stands on his toes and gives a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Time for cake?” Jack grins and nods and they go hand in hand into the kitchen and the windows can barely stand it when everyone sings happy birthday. *** “There's only one thing I really wanted for my Birthday that I didn’t get yesterday.” Jack is making the both of them smoothies. His mother and father helped them clean up the morning after Jack’s party. They left a while ago telling them to enjoy themselves, so now it’s just Bitty and Jack back in the kitchen where they always tend to gravitate to. “And what’s that?” “I never got to make you that dinner I promised.” Pearls of laughter spill out from deep within Bitty’s chest. “Alright I think it’s about time I get this dinner.” Neither of them wanted to go out so Jack orders the ingredients through a delivery app and in the meantime they bake a pie. Jack has baked plenty of pies with Bitty over the years at this point, he’s become quite the expert at draping the crust just right and his lattice is always laced perfectly. The one they make is more for the fun of it, since they both have had their fair share of sweets during the last few days. The pie is probably going to a grateful neighbor later on. “Yesterday was really nice Bits, thank you for that.” Bitty who’s washing his hands free of flour smiles warmly at him, “Anything for you hun, I just wanted you to have a special day. You only turn thirty once.” Bitty takes a handtowl and wipes his hands dry. “And I’ll have you know it was Shitty’s idea to take out and “distract you”.” “Of course it was” Jack grins, “He did a decent job of it but I had my suspicions by the end.” “Well I wasn’t really trying to hide the fact, but you know how that man gets.” Later on when the ingredients are delivered and Bitty is watching Jack try and fail to neatly devein the shrimp does Jack pop the question. “Did you want to adopt a kid?” Bitty splutters into his cup of wine, “Now?” Shrugging Jack replies, “Yeah now. Well not right this moment obviously it’s a process but, yeah. Now.” Nearly out of seat Bitty gushes, “Yes let's have a kid now! We’ve waited long enough haven't we?” The food is done in fifteen minutes, and they're both on the couch forgoing the dining room for the night. Bitty is profuse with the compliments towards Jack’s cooking, moaning with every bite.   “If I had known we had a secret chef in the house I would have let you cook dinner more often!” “Are you actually admitting that you weren’t letting me cook on purpose this whole time?” Instead of replying Bitty shoves a mouthful of pasta in his mouth. Jack fakes being wounded in the chest but they’re both giggling. After the dishes are done they both hunch over Bitty’s laptop looking up the process on how to adopt a child in Rhode Island. At this moment he’s warm and happy, he finally cooked his husband an actual dinner served with fancy wine and all. He'd never thought back when he was teen that he would be here now. Out in the NHL married to another man looking up forms for adoption. It was a thorny path he followed to get here but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

#omgcp #jlz turns 30 #omgcp fic #My writing #zimbits #my first omgcp fic :') #check please #jack zimmermann #eric bittle

[write-like-you-mean-it]

Tied Apron Strings: No Doze Café

This is a Choose Your Own Character. This is part 2 to Sugawara’s story. Go to part 1 to read the beginning of the story.

Sugawara’s idea of a first date was to give me an address to a location, tell me what type of outfit I should wear, and tell me a time to be there. If I hadn’t known him as a regular in the cafe, I may have been more cautious towards this type of date. Instead, Koshi’s attempt at romance made my heart flutter. He must’ve gotten this idea from one of the cheesy romance movies he watches on weekends. 

My head was buried in my phone as I watched the little dot follow along the path to my destination. The address Sugawara picked wasn’t too far from my apartment. Plus I didn't want to spend any extra money on unnecessary expenses like a car. 

The blue dot came closer and closer to the checkered flag with each step. They were grounding motions as I became afraid of what I had agreed to do. First dates were never my forte. I would only look up to see if I was in the way of another passerby. 

I looked up one more time and spotted my date before he had an idea that I was there. He stood outside an old brick building. He leaned on the staircase for support. I’d seen Koshi dressed up many times. He was a teacher after all. This time was different. He looked more put together as if he spent extra time getting ready. He was dressed in a pale blue top that was tucked into his  corduroy pants. The shirt had been recently pressed as residue of post ironed wrinkles still laid claim to his back. 

His profile was a beautiful sight to see. His head was turning to look down the opposite side of the street as that was where the cafe resided. I could’ve stayed for the full date admiring his beauty; however, a shout from behind me must’ve caught his attention. His head turns and we’re face to face. 

Suga waves his hand as if to beckon me closer. I feel his pull as I finally start walking towards him. “You look gorgeous,” he said once I was in earshot. The simple phrase made my heart skip a beat. He moved out of his comfortable, relaxed state and put his phone away. 

Words caught in my mouth as I stared down at my own outfit in pure wonder of what I actually put on today. “Oh, thank you. You look great too.” I tried not to give away that I was staring at him from far too long. My eyes met back at his once I gained the courage to look. I was met with his smile that reached from one ear to the other.  He reached out a hand towards me.  

“Where are we going?” I ask and take his hand. The teacher looked up at the brick building and started his incline up the stairs. 

“I’ll explain inside,” he says. “I’m glad you’re on time. If you’d been any later, we would have missed our reservation.”

“Our reservation?” I asked while following behind him. Suga didn’t respond except for entering through the door. Inside was a quaint reception area. I looked around the older looking room to see if there was a sign for our destination. Sadly, there were no markers other than the reception desk and a couple that sat in chairs across from it. 

Koshi hit the bell. The resounding ring echoed through the small room. He’d let go of my hand after we saw the pair. An elderly lady came out behind a beaded curtain. “Hello, do we have a reservation for today?”

“Yes. It should be two for Sugawara,” he replied. 

“The room is up the stairs, on the third floor, and to the right.” The lady held the same smile mirrored on all our faces; however, the word room was concerning. What did he have planned for us? 

Suga made sure to grasp my hand once again. He must’ve noticed the look of confusion on my face. Suddenly, the realization of what she with the lack of information he had given me had said dawned on him. He pulled me up a few steps before leaning in, “I thought you might like a cooking class.” The teacher was so close that I could smell his cologne of sea breeze. “I wouldn’t do that to you. We’re learning how to make bread. With a tasting afterwards.” 

He was so close that I swore he would’ve heard my heart skip a beat. For a first date, Koshi didn’t hold back. “You’ll have to tell me how much this cost so I can pay you back later,” I said. After the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. Suga was only trying to be nice and I worried about his financial status. 

“No worries. This is all my treat.” The third floor came before either of us could finish the conversation. I was the first to open to a large kitchen with many tables. Couples, families, and friends were gathered around each of the tables with aprons around their necks. 

“Welcome, welcome,” called the enthusiastic instructor. “You must be Mr and Mrs. Sugawara.” He was a broad man dressed for a day of cooking. His hands were already covered in a thin layer of flour. 

Suga and I turned to look at each other on how to respond politely to the instructor that we were not, in fact, married. Instead, he hands us two white aprons and ushers us to our seats. 

“We really should have told him-” I joke while putting on my apron over my head. 

“-I did put two under my name,” he interrupted while following the same pattern. “Maybe we already look like we could be.” My heart couldn’t tell if his words were meant as a joke or if there was a hint of seriousness. I chose to ignore the continuous pounding that threatened to escape my chest. 

My date turned around so that his back was facing mine. “Can you please tie me up?” he asked. Now I know he was teasing me. I took the two apron strings in my hands and made a tight bow. My hands were suddenly aware of how much they touched his back. It was an intimate moment that I dared not disturb. 

“Can you do the same for me?” I ask while turning away from him. For a moment, I felt nothing except for eyes drilled into the middle of my back; the same stare I’d given only a second ago. Suga took the strings into his hand and I felt the tie against my back. A few more tugs of the string and the apron was secure. 

I turned back to face Koshi; yet, his hands were still floating next to my waist. Our faces were close enough that I could feel his hot breath dancing across my skin. Before either of us could speak, the instructor started the class. 

We pulled away only to find the reflection within the shiny chrome table. Ingredients were scattered across. “Today, you’ll be making sourdough bread,” boomed the instructor. “Hopefully you already knew what was being made as you signed up for this class.” The chef holds up a light coffee color jar. “This is your leaven. I made this up for you in preparation for today or this class would take days to complete.”

I chuckled at the chef’s joke. My eye’s scoured Sugawara's to see his reaction. I caught him looking my way. He picked up the same glass that the instructor had. I picked up some of the salt water that had been dissolved. “Would you like to pour it into the bowl or should I?”

“How about at the same time?” he suggests. I tip that glass into a larger bowl. Suga does the same with his mixture. I grab the spatula and stir the mixture until it starts to bubble. 

“I really hope we’re doing this alright,” I say. “I stopped paying attention after he started pulling out random ingredients.”

He chuckled while reaching across the table for the instructions. “Baking is just chemistry. I’m sure we’ll do alright.” The plastic sheet was already dripping with some splashed water. “The next step is getting flour.”

I take the bag and the measuring cups and put them in front of us. We work in sync for the next few steps of the recipe. Suga would read out what was needed while I poured or got the ingredients. We fell into a calm peace as we found our own stride. It felt like we’d made thousands loafs of bread together. Soon, we came to a resting break for 30 minutes. 

“Koshi?” I ask. He turns from the little stool provided. “Why’d you not make a move sooner?”

A grin danced across his lips as he leaned back. There wasn’t anything to catch him so he had to stop for himself. “I think it was the kids. They noticed something that I should have a long time ago.”

“The teenagers could be good for something,” I say. 

“It didn’t help that Eichi would tease me during volleyball practice. Soon I found myself coming to see you at the shop. It wasn’t about the coffee or getting my work done. I came to see you talk to the kids or customers. You always had the most beautiful smile.”

“I see,” I said before biting my lip. It was a simple reaction in hopes of keeping the color from forming on my face. “I noticed you from the first time you walked into the cafe. Who knew a teacher would actually want to date his barista.”

“I did. You were too beautiful to ignore.” He reached out his hand to grab mine. They were covered in a thin coating of flour. Koshi moved his thumbs over the top of my wrists. I opened my mouth to respond in the same way but our timer went off. 

The teacher let go of my hands to find the instructions. “I guess we have to knead the bread now.” 

“Do you want to do it together?” I ask. 

“You stole my line,” Suga smiled while pouring out the batter. He led me to the bread and guided my hands to how to knead. His chin rested on my shoulder as a way to see along with being as close to me as he possibly could be. My back began to heat as I could feel his chest pressed securely to mine. 

His hands felt coarse against my skin. Years of volleyball weren’t kind to his hands. Calluses built up from extended use; however, the tops of his hands were soft. Kneading the dough wasn’t hard at the beginning. After awhile, the dough started to look like a normal loaf. If it wasn’t for Suga’s constant push and pull of the dough, it wouldn’t be remotely done. I was too busy all consumed in his floral scent and strong embrace to think about making the perfect bread. 

“This looks like a good time to let the dough rest,” said the instructor. I was too busy enthralled with the idea of love to realize he approached our table. “All you have to do is let it rest for a little while. You may want to take a break before coming back.” 

“Thank you,” said Koshi as he moved away from my back. A whine escaped my lips which was noticed by the only person I didn’t want to notice. I scoop up the bread and put it into the proofing basket. “How about we take a walk outside. I think we’ll have enough time to get a bobba from the place down the street.”

“Sounds delicious,” I comment. My hand entangles in his as if it belonged there all along. We escaped down the steps and out of the building. “Koshi.” My voice stops us in our tracks. 

“What is it?” he questions while turning to look at me. Our faces were within that small gap. Close enough that all it took was a few inches before our lips met in a tender touch. Suga reciprocated the form of affection by pressing a little tighter onto my own lips. 

“That was a surprise,” he mumbles against my lips. 

“It felt right.”

“Yes it did.” Our moment was broken by the faint bustle of people trying to get past the couple kissing in mid-afternoon. None of them knew the magic that had happened in our lives. All the build up and excitement to this point. “Let’s go get the drink. I don’t really like people staring.”

“Let them stare,” he comments while wrapping his arms around my waist. “Let them be jealous of us. They know nothing.” He left a final kiss on my lips before dragging me down to the shop. We had so much time to kill before our bread would be ready and we were going to take full advantage of that fact.

Haikyuu Masterlist

(This series is a choose your own adventure. Pick your favorite man or all of them. I will try to make as many of them as possible with continuations. So far, there is Oikawa, Sugawara, Tuskishima, Kageyama, Hinata, and Akaashi. If you have a suggestion or comment, please message me!!)

#sugawara #suga #haikyuu #sugawara x reader #koshi sugawara #hq #fluff #no doze cafe #A writes

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~ 25

~*~Emma~*~

 Breakfast was the "Eggcelent" diner for omelets. We talked about dinner, with me checking out what he liked and didn’t like. He assured me, "I'll eat pretty much anything you put in front of me. Except for fennel." He shuddered, "It comes from the devil's asshole. Fennel and anything licorice."

 We ran to the grocery to get supplies then back to my place. We changed things up a little based on what produce looked good. Sebastian grabbed some shortcake cups and we loaded up on berries and some whipping cream. Back at my house, Sebastian unloaded the groceries on the counter and I put away, leaving out the chicken to marinade and the potatoes to boil.

 "Give me a job." He seemed uncomfortable not doing something.

 I pointed to the pots hanging overhead, "Fill one of those with enough water to cover the potatoes and get them boiling. Another for the eggs. It won't take me more than a few minutes to get the chicken done."

 We were finished with our tasks at the same time and headed toward the couch. I pulled back, "I'll be right back."

 "I'll look up train times."

 I came back down to see Sebastian standing behind the couch, his butt on the back with his ankles crossed, looking at his phone. Jeans did good things for his legs. I wanted to stop and stare, but he looked over. It was strange having him here. Not strange in a bad way. The level I felt like I knew him didn’t match the time with which I knew him. Some quick math told me that was because on average our dates lasted fourteen hours if you counted today as four dates and just counted the hours up until now.

 "You changed." He checked me out with a smile.

 "I was in yesterday's clothes." I went into the kitchen to turn down the heat on the stove and set a timer. The chances of me getting distracted and burning something was high. "What did you find out?"

 I was anxious about when he was leaving. I was anxious about when I'd see him again. I wanted him to leave as late as possible or super early in the morning where we could both get to work on time.

 Sebastian came up beside me by the stove, "You looked fetching in your walk of shame clothes."

 "I feel fresher."

 Sebastian raised his nose and looked for the smell. He squatted beside me and ran his hand up my calf. "You shaved your legs." His tone of voice was sweet and endearing. "You didn’t have to for me."

 "Yes, I did." I turned to face him, "I want to look pretty for you. Today part of that meant shaving my legs." We hugged, "Just in case a situation arose when you might be touching them again."

 He took my hand, leading me to the couch. He sat me in his lap where my back was supported by the arm of the chair. He put a hand behind my neck and the other stroked my legs. "So soft."

 "Thanks, glad you like."

 He hummed appreciatively. "I like touching your legs very much. See.." He shifted his focus from my legs to my eyes, "You looked pretty in gym clothes at the groceries, in jeans and a peach and white shirt at dinner, jeans and top for the festival, and ratty shorts and well-used t-shirt yesterday. What you wear doesn’t matter, you're always pretty to me. More than pretty."

 The way he used my word, pretty, and remembered everything I’d worn made my stomach flutter. I kissed his cheek, "I’m still going to do things to try to turn you on."

 "Don't waste your efforts. I'm very easy. For you, anyway." He leaned in and kissed me, his hand moving up my thigh to rest on my ass. “Train schedules?”

 I nodded.

 “Latest tonight is ten.”

 “Ten?” Oh, no, that wasn’t going to work at all. I mean, having to be at work in the morning dealing with a room full of six and seven-year-olds means I can’t really be up all night, but ten is early. I think I pouted.

 Sebastian’s face cracked into a slow grin, the hand on my ass pulled me closer and we kissed again. “Latest I can leave in the morning is seven. What time do you have to be at work?”

 “Seven-thirty. Fifteen-minute drive.” I bit the side of my lip, “Wanna have a sleepover?”

 “Very much.”

 “What shall we do with ourselves?”

 “I think I promised we’d make up for the lack of kissing.”

 “Good thing I set the kitchen timer.”

 We made out until the timer went off, at which point I dumped the potatoes and eggs in the sink, reset the timer, and went back to his lap. Needless to say, I was enjoying the hell out of the make-out session. Things stayed relatively calm. Everything stayed above the waist. Hands roamed, mouths kissed, and things would amp up every now and again, but mostly it was this lovely leisurely kissing and touching. I highly recommend.

 The timer rang and I pulled away with a groan, “Want to help?”

 “Kinda.”

 I laughed and headed to the kitchen, “Why don’t you put on some music? Just plug your phone into the dock and it will do the rest.” I’d pulled what I needed out of the fridge by the time he joined me. I put him to work cutting up the potatoes while I cut up onion, pickles, and the hard-boiled eggs.

  “Who knows what we’re going to get.”

 I assumed that meant he’d just hit shuffle, “That’s the most fun.”

 Sebastian finished the potatoes and stood beside me watching. “Who taught you to cook?”

 “Mostly my grandparents. My papa taught me biscuits, gravy, and all sorts of fried things. My nana did more healthy things. They used to have a barbeque place. Nothing fancy, just a big smoker and some picnic tables.” My mouth was watering at the memory or maybe that was about the man next to me. Either way, I closed my eyes and moaned happily, “Best coleslaw ever. I can’t recreate it. I think it’s about ingredients changing. Papa would die if he could see how little cans of Crisco are now.”

 Sebastian laughed, “Does anyone even use that anymore?”

 “If you want good biscuits you do.” I threw about three quarters of the onions, pickles, and eggs in the potatoes with a healthy amount of mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. I tasted and added until I was satisfied. Only then did I load up a spoon and hold it out to him, “It’ll be better once it’s chilled a few hours.”

 “Wondered why we were making this so early.”

 He opened his mouth and let me feed him. The flutter in my stomach was back. This was my go-to for school potlucks and I always got requests for my recipe, so I knew it was good, but different people like different things. I watched his eyes go wide and he covered his mouth with his hand, “This is delicious.”

 I got a thrill from him liking something I’d made. Boy, did I have it bad. Emergency leg shaving and feeding him homemade food. What was next? I laughed to myself. This was my thing. I enjoyed taking care of people. Shaving my legs wasn’t really in that category. Cooking was. I hadn’t cooked for a man in a very long time. “Thank you. Does it need anything?”

 Shaking his head, Sebastian pointed to the bowl, “I’ll need to taste again.” I didn’t even consider giving him the spoon. Way too much fun to feed him. He chewed happily, “More pickle? I love pickle.”

 I scraped the rest of the chopped pickle into the bowl. I liked him giving me feedback. I pressed my lips to his briefly. “For telling me what you wanted different.”

 “How will you know if I don’t tell you?” A slow smirk formed, “Not just food.” A new song started and he took off for the family room, “Fucking love this song.”

 Before the lyrics started, he’d turned the volume way up. He quickly turned and pointed to me with one hand, arm outstretched and singing along. “You can dance.” He repeated the move with his other arm, “You can jive. Having the time of your life.” He flipped over his hand and motioned for me to join him. What followed was him singing and dancing with infectious joy. I was laughing while I ran across the room. When I got in reach, he took my hands, holding them out and swinging them in and out. He let go and twirled me around before taking my hands again. We sang along and danced like we knew how, both of us laughing because we didn’t.

 The next song was something much more appropriate for slam dancing in a mosh pit. Sebastian dropped to the floor with arms and legs spread, “I wanted a slow song.”

 I stood with feet on either side of his hips, looking down at him, “Playlist management.”

 “Wouldn’t matter. Shuffles and plays what it wants.”

 “There’s a button to turn off shuffle. It’ll play whatever order you put them in.”

 His lips were tight and he looked annoyed, “Didn’t know that. Give me a week, maybe two, and I’ll have the perfect playlist.”

 I knelt over his hips, putting my hands on his stomach, “I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”  The idea of slow dancing with him was very appealing.

 “Me either.” He ran his hands up my arms to my shoulders before pulling me over him, “Come down here.” As I lay down on him his hands smoothed down my back to my waist. “Much better.”

 I kissed him, pulling at his lower lip, “Your lips are so soft.”

 “I have good lip balm.”

 I ran my finger through his hair, “You make me laugh.”  I kissed him again, long and deep, “Let’s see what I can make you do.”

#Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #fanfiction

[nancypullen]

All Alone

Mickey left this morning to see his mother in Sugar Hill, Georgia.  That’s just outside of Atlanta but you’d never know it, it’s well removed from the insane hustle and bustle of the city.  He’s run down there to drop off his mother’s birthday gift and get it set up.  Her kids purchased her an Apple watch and I know she’ll make the most of it.  She’s sure as heck not afraid to use new technology.  When I’m in my 80′s I’ll probably ask for gifts like loud, jangly jewelry and cat hammocks.  I know who I am.  So, having said all of that, I’m a single lady for the night.  I have 24 hours to binge polygamy shows and stuff my face with Mickey’s least favorite veggies. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

Just after lunch I peeled and chopped some carrots for the crock pot. By dinner time I was ready to dig into the deliciousness.

I could eat the whole pot.  I pinned this recipe a couple of years ago and have made it many times, it ‘s always so good. Ladies and gentlemen, meet brown butter carrots.  You’re welcome.

Slow Cooker Brown Butter Carrots

Serves Serves 10    

This sweet tender glazed carrots recipe gets a boost from brown butter. A secret ingredient puts these slow cooker carrots over the top!

Ingredients

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch chunks

1/4 cup (half stick) salted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar or raw sugar

1 or 2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon good vanilla

fresh parsley or sage, chopped (to garnish)

Instructions

Peel and slice the carrots. I tend to like the thicker chunks of carrot, so don't go too crazy, just roughly chopped is fine. Set side.

In a small saucepan add the butter. Turn the heat to medium or just above medium. Stir occasionally until the butter starts to foam and ultimately turns brown. There will be silty brown "bits" that have separated from the yellow liquid. Immediately transfer the mixture to your slow cooker.

Add the salt, sugar, bay leaves, and vanilla and stir. Add the carrots and stir to coat.

Cook on high for about 3 hours or until tender.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley or sage.

If you’re out of bay leaves or you lack the parsley for garnish, it will still be every bit as good.

I also made a copycat version of Chick-Fil-A’s Kale Crunch Salad.  Have you ever tried it? To die for.  I have to say, I nailed it.  The secret to yummy kale is a good massage.  A little bit of olive oil on the leaves and a little rubbing make it so tender - let it sit in a bowl for about 30 minutes while you make the rest of your dinner., it’ll be perfect.  This is the dressing that I mixed up:

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tablespoons of water

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

pinch of salt & pepper

To the kale I added some finely chopped green cabbage and chopped toasted almonds (just like Chick-Fil-A!).

You can see the evidence of my baking in the background, but focus on the CUTE jar that’s holding my dressing.  My sister and I sent each other jars for Christmas because we are just that exciting.  I received six just like the one pictured, and hers are similar.  The jars hold 2 cups - perfect for leftovers, snacks, baking supplies like brown sugar or sprinkles, the possibilities are endless!  I’m crazy about mine.  So I dipped a tablespoon into that jar and drizzled my kale salad with dressing and then tossed it.  So very simple, and so very good. I gobbled up that salad and then added carrots to my plate.  I also cooked one of these.

I’d never tried them before and though I’m no fan of processed foods, the ingredient list on these was not too scary.  I thought they were a tad too salty, but that’s probably because of my flavor choice.  Also, had I eaten it on a bun with lettuce and tomato that might have made a difference.  But I made this pitiful plate...

If I’d also piled some salad on the plate it would have looked a little better, but I’m home alone and who cares?  Don’t judge me.  All I know is that Mickey would have felt that he was being punished if I gave him a plain chicken burger, kale salad, and carrots.  I was in Heaven!  He’ll be home around noon tomorrow and I’ll probably make a pot of chili for dinner.  He’ll like that and I can polish off the leftover carrots and kale....if I don’t eat them for breakfast.  That’s as exciting as it gets when I’m home alone.  The baked goodies are ready to go, my tummy is full of good food, and I’m going to watch something super girly on Netflix.  The cats will be thrilled with all of the space on the bed tonight so I’ll have plenty of company.  Just us girls. And since this blog has been so boring I’ll leave you with something that made me laugh out loud.  These kids meant well.

Neighborhood watch will be keeping an eye on this house. Have a lovely evening. Get cozy. Take good care of each other. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO,

Nancy

[m42-fr]

Some FR Food Headcanons

Inspired by a thread on FR, I may or may not have accidentally written up a massive column of text on the various foods of Sorneith. I’m gonna copy-paste it here! Also gonna reblog with some headcanons from other users on that thread, so I can keep track of the ones that I really liked.

Lightning: In a more modern world, I'm absolutely certain somebody's invented the equivalent of Soylent (the meal replacement, not people). A quick, efficient meal that you can live your entire life off of, liquid and flavorless. Most people try to get some real food in whenever possible, but a particular strand of dragons absolutely swear by the stuff and spend their entire lives subsisting on it. Lightning cuisine also has a wide array of shelled creatures, including crustaceans, beetles, and armadillos. Many traditional dishes use the hollowed-out shells of these animals as bowls, while others utilize the bowl as an edible element. Dragon jaws are strong, and many texture-based eaters love the feeling of the shell cracking between their teeth.

Fire: Firstly, as a spice lover, I 100% support the notion of Fire having super spicy food. Secondly, it should be worth noting that I personally headcanon a large chunk of Fire's territory being covered in humid tropical rainforests, nourished by the rich volcanic runoff and the moist sea winds blowing in from both sides. Climates are basically as far from realistic as you can get in this game, so really, anything goes. With that in mind, I personally headcanon a lot of Fire's cuisine to be like Indian food, especially the advent of curry and the usage of an insane amount of spices. Having such fertile farmlands lends itself well to the growth of all sorts of exotic spices, and even if you don't personally share my headcanons, it's easy to say that since it borders Wind, it could ship in spices from there. Also, Fire residents absolutely boil their coffee like this. No exceptions. Which brings me to Wind. If Fire is India, then Wind is China and/or Japan. Seriously, having that sort of aesthetic already, it's very easy to say that their food might be like that as well! I think they 100% have rice, and they might have a wide variety of spices as well - if Fire grows their own spices, then the two Flights likely trade their spices very often with one another. The Wind flight is artistic, creative, and adventurous, and their food is no exception. Wind has one of the greatest amounts of imported food, and it's well-known that they have some of the best and most well-traveled chefs. Wind, having a border on two large oceans, also likes to make sushi, seaweed wraps, and other seafood-based items. There's an interesting cuisine difference between the coasts and the mainland - the coasts tend to rely less on spices and more on meats and rice, while the inland likes to pack their food with spice, and loves to utilize doughy recipes like dumplings and noodles. Arcane food is very sugary. Faes have a special sweet tooth and a hankering for honey in particular. Arcane food is also very showy - the more colorful, the better! Many professionally-made dishes will even utilize inedible elements, such as crystal chunks and gold flakes, to really make a dessert pop. Arcane is also the home of food-based magic. Instead of potions, crafters will cover cupcakes in frosting runes, and mix magically-infused powder into their dough. While lacking the long-term storage potential of a bottled elixir, there's no arguing that magical confectioneries are significantly tastier. Their most popular use is in the realm of light pick-me-ups and mild painkillers. Why take a pill for your headache when you can just eat a magic cookie instead? Shadow food focuses heavily on texture over appearance. In the dark, the way food looks doesn't matter much - it's how it feels in the mouth that counts. Unsurprisingly, many of its dishes utilize mushrooms as a primary ingredient, and slow-roasting is a popular way to bring a dish to perfection. Shadow also absolutely loves puddings, and one of its most famous dishes is a dark, sludgy, tarlike stuff laced with dark chocolate and mint. Very filling, and so sugary that getting all of it down without making yourself sick is a challenge. Earth food is plain, but hearty. Tubers are the most common type of food; potatoes, carrots, leeks, onions, and other ground-growing plants are common. There are few traditional meat dishes, as meat is exceedingly rare. Earth food lacks many spices, but has an abundance of one critical substance: salt. The territory is home to massive salt flats that can be mined for their salt, and this alone makes up the backbone of its trading economy. Earth flighters love their salt - there's essentially no dish in their repertoire that doesn't use it to some capacity. Plague cuisine tends to favor strong, meaty flavors. They like their meat juicy, bleeding, and fresh. Given the land's propensity towards hunting parties and scavenger behavior, dishes tend to be local. Cooking is quite widespread, though. Most notably: stews. Plague dragons almost invariably boil their water before they drink it to rid it of potential diseases, and eventually somebody got the bright idea to drop some bits of food in the water as it heated. Plague is adaptive and will use whatever foods they find in their stews, so again, recipes are local, but a wide variety of meats are the most common. Bordering Wind, Plague also imports a very high amount of spices. Their region lacks the widespread farming arrays that would enable it to make spices on a large scale, and many from the flight love the extra kick spices give to their food. Ice food is hearty, with a solid serving of both meats and vegetables, sourced locally. Their distance from the rest of the world means that their food has remained the most traditional and locally-sourced of Flight cuisine, virtually unchanged for hundreds - if not thousands - of years. Most dishes use some sort of meat, typically deer, caribou, or rabbit. With a large population of Tundras, they also grow all manner of vegetables. Many in the Ice flight like to make use of all parts of a carcass, not just the meat. Tools, including utensils, are carved from bones. Hides are used as clothing and shelter. Organs may also be eaten - most of Ice's more 'out there' dishes involve some sort of strange organ, like a deer stomach that's been cleaned out and filled with a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Nature food is also filled with both meat and plants, though has a much higher percentage of fruit-based dishes. Many foods utilize some sort of complimentary fruit, either as a side or as additional flavoring to the primary ingredient. As most inhabitants are the voraciously meat-consuming Wildclaws, their dishes tend to have a high amount of meat, and are cooked and flavored accordingly. Nature dragons like to slow-roast their food, cooking it until the meat's tender enough to rip apart with a fork and practically falls apart in your mouth. I like to think that Nature also is a big fan of sour and savory flavors - many of their dishes utilize things like lemons, limes, and pineapples. Light food isn't the tastiest, but it sure is the flashiest. Of the Flights, Light food is the showiest, and its bakers are exceptionally skilled in the art of making their dishes look the best. Light dragons have a propensity for large-scale feasts and celebrations. They bake insanely huge, mastercrafted cakes, and host banquets filled with exotic dishes from all around the world. Original Light cuisine is heavy on grains and dairy, creating all manner of beautifully knotted breads and succulent cheeses and butters. It also imports the most amount of ingredients and recipes; while it's hard to find a non-Light ethnic dish in Light that's as good as the originals back home, it's typically nothing to shake a stick at. Finally, we have Water. Water - what a shocker - really really likes seafood. As many spices and foods can't be transported properly underwater, they're quite uncommon, found only along the coastline and in the homes of those with the resources to magically ensure that their imports don't get ruined on the way down. They like fresh, raw fish, and probably also create something very much like sushi. They can't roast anything underwater, so they boil it all instead. Cuisine on the few over-land parts of the territory is heavily influenced by its neighbors, Lightning, Light, and Fire, and is just as varied.

#flight rising #my headcanons #the flights #my lore #mmm this is giving me some good lore ideas now... #think I'm starting to fall in love with Fire flight #I NEED MY GIANT SPICY TROPICAL RAINFOREST VOLCANO LAND DAMMIT

[thedisneychef]

Why Do Recipes Use Unsalted Butter

Hi everyone, I'm a big fan of cooking and baking - it's one of my favorite pastimes! Whenever I make something delicious in the kitchen, I always try to use the best ingredients available. One ingredient that has been puzzling me lately is unsalted butter. Why do so many recipes call for this particular type? It turns out there are some very good reasons why cooks should opt for unsalted butter over salted! In this article, I'll be exploring the various benefits of using unsalted butter in your favorite dishes. Let's get started! Taste I prefer using unsalted butter in my recipes because it allows me to control the level of saltiness. With salted butter, you don't have as much freedom when adjusting the taste profile of a dish. In addition, if someone has dietary restrictions or is watching their sodium intake, they can make an informed decision about how much additional salt should be added when preparing something that calls for butter. Using unsalted butter also helps maintain consistency in baking since adding too much salt can affect how ingredients react with each other and alter the texture of a finished product. This makes it easier to replicate results especially when I'm making something like cookies or muffins where slight variations could result in a big difference. Overall, unsalted butter gives cooks more control over the flavor profiles and textures of dishes while providing flexibility for those who need to watch their sodium intake. Control Over Salt Content I'm all about controlling my own destiny, and that includes controlling the salt content in food I prepare. Unsalted butter allows me to do just that; it gives me control over how much salt goes into a recipe, which is especially important for dishes with small portion sizes or for people who are monitoring their sodium intake. Furthermore, using unsalted butter can help save money since salted butter tends to be more expensive due to rising costs of production. Unsalted butter lets you season your dish as desired without having excess seasoning from added salts. This way, you're able to customize the flavor profile based on what type of ingredients you prefer and ensure every bite tastes exactly like you want it to. Plus, if there's too much salt in a dish, adding additional amounts of other ingredients may not necessarily fix the problem -- but reducing the amount of salt does! The bottom line is that cooking with unsalted butter helps keep sodium levels in check while also allowing chefs greater flexibility when preparing recipes. It also provides an economical option by helping avoid price increases associated with salted products. With careful consideration and practice, one can easily master this culinary tool and create delicious meals without feeling overwhelmed or limited by lack of options! Texture Using unsalted butter in recipes instead of salted gives cooks more control over the final flavor profile. The amount of salt added to a recipe is important, and by using an unsalted butter, you can ensure that your dish won't be too salty or lack enough seasoning. Unsalted butter also provides a creamy texture which enhances the taste of the food being cooked. In addition to providing precise control over the salt content, unsalted butter adds its own unique flavor to dishes that can't be achieved with regular table salt. This allows chefs and home cooks alike to create delicious meals highlighting subtle nuances in flavors that may otherwise get drowned out when seasoned with salty ingredients. Moreover, with this type of butter, you don’t have to worry about adding extra fat or calories due to pre-added salts as part of the ingredient; it remains pure and unaltered from its natural state! Unsalted butter has become increasingly popular among bakers and cooking aficionados because of its ability to add richness without overpowering other flavors. It's perfect for making sauces, sautéing vegetables, baking cakes and pastries - really anything where creaminess is beneficial. Ultimately, having full control over how much salt goes into each dish makes all the difference in achieving desirable results every time. Health Benefits I find that using unsalted butter in recipes has a number of benefits. Not only does it add convenience, but I believe that its nutritional properties can't be overlooked either. First and foremost, unsalted butter offers flexibility when baking or cooking as the amount of salt used can be adjusted to taste. This allows you to control just how salty your dishes turn out - something which is especially important if you are following a special dietary requirement! Plus, since there's no need to measure out specific amounts of salt, it adds time-saving convenience which makes meal preparation quicker and easier. In terms of nutrition, unsalted butter provides plenty of vitamins and minerals including calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin A. It also contains healthy fats such as Omega 3 fatty acids which have been proven to help reduce inflammation in the body and may even lower cholesterol levels. By using unsalted butter instead of salted varieties, you can ensure that these nutrients are not being stripped away by added sodium. Overall, I think that opting for an unsalted variety is a wise choice for both health conscious cooks who want to keep their nutrient intake high, as well as those looking for fast and easy meal solutions. Shelf Life I prefer to use unsalted butter when cooking because it has a longer shelf life than salted butter. Because it is not exposed to the extra salt in salted butter, unsalted butter can be stored at colder temperatures and its fat content remains more stable over time. This means that I have peace of mind knowing my baking ingredients will stay fresh for longer periods of time. Additionally, using unsalted butter allows me to control the amount of sodium in my recipes by adding just enough salt myself. Since too much salt can make food taste overly salty or even ruin a recipe entirely, this gives me greater flexibility with how I season dishes. Overall, there are many advantages to using unsalted butter when cooking - from extended shelf-life and temperature stability to better flavor control - making it an essential ingredient for any kitchen pantry. Frequently Asked Questions How Much Salt Should I Add To The Recipe If I Am Using Salted Butter? When using salted butter in a recipe, it's important to consider the flavor balance and texture variation. Too much salt can easily overpower the other flavors of your dish, resulting in an overly salty taste. To prevent this from happening, you should reduce the amount of additional salt added to the recipe if you are using salted butter. A good rule of thumb is to halve or quarter the specified amount called for in the recipe. This will ensure that no single ingredient dominates and gives you more control over achieving the perfect flavor balance. What Is The Difference Between Unsalted And Salted Butter In Terms Of Cooking Time? When it comes to cooking time, the difference between unsalted and salted butter is important. Unsalted butter has a subtle flavor that can be easily overpowered by other ingredients in your recipe, while salted butter adds an additional layer of balance. Additionally, the texture variation between these two types of butter can affect baking results; for example, salted butter may add more moisture than unsalted butter when used in doughs or batters. Ultimately, using either type of butter will give you delicious final results - just make sure to adjust seasonings accordingly if you decide to use salted instead of unsalted! Are There Any Other Ingredients I Should Add To The Recipe To Make Up For The Lack Of Salt? If you're using unsalted butter in a recipe, it's important to make sure that other ingredients are adjusted accordingly. Depending on the taste adjustments or fat content desired, adding an extra pinch of salt can help bring out the flavor and texture of your dish without making it too salty. You might also consider swapping out some of the butter for olive oil or another type of cooking oil as a substitute for salted butter. Additionally, herbs and spices may be used to add more depth to the dish if needed. Are There Any Other Recipes I Can Use Unsalted Butter With? Yes! You can easily use unsalted butter in many different recipes. This is a great option if you're looking for an alternative to store-bought salted butter. To make up for the lack of salt, you can use substitutes like garlic or onion powder, miso paste, or even honey. Additionally, there are several butter alternatives that work well with a wide range of dishes such as coconut oil, olive oil and avocado oil. With these options in your kitchen arsenal, you won't miss out on flavor when baking or cooking with unsalted butter! How Should I Store Unsalted Butter To Extend Its Shelf Life? Storing unsalted butter correctly is important if you want to extend its shelf life. The fat content in butter makes it susceptible to spoilage, so it’s best kept at a cool temperature and away from direct sunlight. Ideally, store your butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer as this will help keep it fresher for longer. If freezing, be sure to wrap the butter securely in plastic wrap so that no additional flavors are added to it when stored alongside other foods with strong scents. Conclusion In short, unsalted butter is an essential ingredient in recipes because it allows the cook to control the amount of salt added. While salted butter can be used with certain recipes, it's important to adjust the other ingredients accordingly. Unsalted butter also has a longer shelf life than salted varieties and can easily be stored in order to maximize its freshness. Ultimately, using unsalted butter gives you more control over how much salt ends up in your recipe ensuring that each dish tastes just as delicious as intended! Read the full article

[keishiko]

refuge

Black Widow joins the men formerly known as Captain America and the Winter Soldier in hiding after the events of “Civil War”.

(because I’m still in denial that “Endgame” has happened 😑)

[Oneshot ~2,000 words  |  Rated PG-13  |  Hurt, Comfort / Romance (Natasha x Steve)] [Revised from an early FFnet piece] 

[Part Two here]  [Optional companion piece “Into Infinity” here]

A little salt, a lot of pepper.  After another look at her notes, Natasha slid a minced onion into the bowl and cracked in an egg, followed by a sprinkle of flour. “The best way to do it is really to use your hands.”  His near-whisper teased the fine hairs at her neck.  Natasha instinctively tensed as his arm encircled her, but he merely guided her hands with his directly onto the meat mixture.  Calloused fingers entwined sensually through hers as she began to knead the ingredients together, hesitant in her inexperience. “Now you don’t wanna overwork it,” purred Bucky in her ear.  Natasha felt the heat radiating from his body as he stood directly behind her, all implacable, immovable muscle.  “You don’t want the meat to get tough.” Natasha smiled at the memory as she shaped the meat mixture between her hands.  The Winter Soldier, smelling of garlic and parsley, passing on to her his grandmother’s recipe.  Formerly shooting her through the kidney just to murder the asset under her watch.  How times changed.  Glancing at the clock, she set out a pan. “The carrots were my nonna’s secret, so you have to swear never to tell anybody else.”  His face was dangerously close to hers, his smile sly, his blue eyes mock-serious. “How in the world does James Buchanan Barnes have a nonna?" teased Natasha, acutely conscious of the scant inch of heated space between them as she stirred the sauce.  “And I still don’t see why I can’t just buy some at the supermarket...” “You’re killin’ me.”  His hand closed over hers, over the wooden spoon.  Natasha smothered a laugh as they began to stir together.  “Here I am entrusting to you the deepest, darkest secrets my grandma took with her to her very grave—she was my grandpa's second wife, I'll have you know, it was quite the scandal at the time—and now you’re saying you’d rather get storebought—” “Buck.” Natasha hid a grin as they both looked toward the figure suddenly looming in the doorway.  Steve pretended to lounge, but she easily read the taut lines along his jaw, down his neck, across his shoulders.  “Everything’s set up.  We fly out day after tomorrow.” Bucky’s smile was strained.  “Right.  Got it.” Smirking, Steve cocked an eyebrow at Nat.  “This guy bothering you?” “Not at all, soldier.”  And Bucky’s chuckle behind her raised goosebumps along her shoulder. They’d been like children, she mused, the two of them constantly joking and bickering so that she had to pointedly ignore them to get anything done.  Things hadn’t been quite so relaxed when she’d suddenly shown up on their doorstep that rainy night: Bucky had been wary and Steve had just smiled, utterly unsurprised.  She hadn’t been sure how to act or what to expect.  But Steve had invited her in, told her to make herself at home.  And despite herself, she had stayed. She hummed a little as she lifted the lid over the pot, let steam billow past.  The noodles she spun into the bubbling water, just as Bucky had taught her. She had simply watched that first evening when he wordlessly set about preparing dinner in the kitchen.  More curious than anything else, she had sat down at the table while he laid out some things he’d bought at the market earlier that day: sausages, vegetables, a dozen plums.  The man liked himself some plums.  Munching on a peanut butter sandwich, Nat had looked on as he picked out some more produce and found in a drawer the lone kitchen knife available in the sparsely furnished rental.  He’d begun to hone the kitchen knife, running it in slow, measured strokes across the bottom rim of a coffee mug, when he stopped and glanced up at her through long, inky lashes.  The blade glinted in his hand. “I’m not makin’ you nervous, am I?” After a moment, she’d met his smile with one of hers.  “Not at all.” If Steve trusted him, she would too. He still spoke with a Brooklyn drawl, she’d decided later that night, as Bucky’s spontaneous cooking demonstration led to conversation over glasses of cheap supermarket wine.  After Steve rejoined them from a meeting he’d had in the city, he and Bucky had competed to embarrass each other with increasingly lurid stories from their childhood and Natasha had laughed until she cried.   When Steve managed to drop his perfect diction, she remembered, he lapsed into that Brooklyn drawl too. She found herself smiling from the memory even as she glanced again at the clock.  Tucking a stray strand of newly blond hair out of the way, she hefted the pot over the sink to drain the pasta. She hadn’t had to come here.  She could have gone somewhere else.  She probably would have been better off somewhere else, too, on her own where she knew the terrain better, could access more resources to lie low.  She was, after all, now one of the world’s most wanted, just like them.  She hadn’t had to end up in this life, piecing together meals from printed-out recipes and Youtube tutorials, the reluctant picture of domesticity for lack of much else to do.  Yet here she was, frying up meatballs when she would have been perfectly content with another scrounged-up sandwich. The truth was, that night when she’d left the Avengers compound, she’d known exactly where she wanted to go. It wasn’t lust, she told herself.  And Steve would blush all over and jump out of a plane parachuteless before he seduced anyone.  Nat knew plenty of handsome men, as well as charming ones, sweet ones, dull ones, and smart ones like Tony Stark; men who knew their way around women and men who fell at her feet helpless.  By and large they were a blur to her, tried to use her, tried to keep her.  Even in the freedom she had gained when she defected, even when she could have opted for a new and normal life, she had found little in them to interest her.  They were all much the same, even Tony who was just a little smarter, worked just a little harder to stay on the side of the angels, for which reason she still more or less respected him.  Even though, like so many others, he still hadn’t been able to let go of his ego in the end. No, it wasn’t lust, even though she with her assassin’s eye could always appreciate the steel of a finely tuned muscle, the sleek lines of a well-developed body. But how else could she explain how she gravitated toward him?  The wordless, thoughtless, almost instinctual urge to be at his side, support him, protect him at all costs—she had given up trying to resist it, simply gave in to it, and the seamless rhythm of their combined fighting styles thrilled her every time.  But why she was here, now, toiling at a stove in the middle of nondescript suburbia and watching the clock like a... like a wife waiting for her husband to come home? He was, for that matter, increasingly late.  Natasha resisted the impulse to Google flight arrival times and instead began to fill the dishwasher.  She was just pouring herself a self-congratulatory glass of wine—she had only almost burned the garlic, after all—when she heard the telltale step on the sidewalk four floors down and pretended to ignore the sudden heat in her chest.  She was already pouring another glass of wine when the door swung open. “About damn time,” she called out as he shut and locked the door behind him.  “I hope you’re hungry.” “I probably am.”  He slumped into the couch and groaned, leaning his head back, stretching out his legs on top of the battered coffee table.  “Economy was terrible.” “Told you to try and borrow the jet.”  She slapped at his knees, one by one, and he obediently lowered his feet back to the floor.  She turned on some music.  “How was Wakanda?”  She placed a bowl of spaghetti in front of him. “It was good.  Beautiful country.  You should meet Shuri sometime.”  He paused, closing his eyes with a sigh.  “They put Bucky back under.” She longed to touch him.  Instead she sat back, curled her fingers around her wineglass.  She would miss hearing Bucky’s soft-spoken drawl.  “I’m sorry that had to happen.”  Her voice caught and she cleared her throat, then pushed his wineglass toward him in silent suggestion. “Well, I’m sure they’ll get him better soon.”  His tone was wistful, his expression clouded as he absent-mindedly took his first bite.  Halfway through chewing, he stopped and chuckled.  “I’m glad he got around to teaching you his grandma’s spaghetti first, though.” Natasha allowed herself a smile.  “He told me you used to love it, every time you came around.” “Yeah.”  Steve stared stoically down at nothing for a moment, and Nat knew he was battling tears.  “Yeah, I did.” He was too pure for her, she concluded, as Banner hadn’t been.  Banner, she’d wanted.  Somebody who felt damaged as she did, somebody who knew what it was like to fear and distrust and regret oneself, all at the same time.  In her loneliness she had been drawn to him, the man who was also unhappily the Hulk, a kindred spirit amidst her isolation; she’d craved what Banner had promised of understanding, of sympathy, of sameness. Banner she’d wanted.  But Rogers, she knew, she needed.  He was crystal clarity, certain and absolute.  He was, as he said, always honest.  More than that, he was unambivalent, unequivocal, uncompromising.  In this, as recent events had proved, he was even lonelier than her.  And although he had cut out the bright white star from the center of his uniform, uncomfortable about what it represented, for Natasha who had long since outgrown the need to believe in anything it had already taken on a different meaning.   Her pole star.  Her true north. Bruce had signified comfort.  But Steve gave her a direction, a purpose.  Even if, for now, it was only to make his favorite dinner on the night he came back alone, having left behind his best friend in all the world in a country twenty hours away by plane with not nearly enough legroom. He looked up as she refilled his glass without asking and left the bottle on the table.  Natasha smiled into shadowed blue eyes.  “I’ll clean up.” He protested less than usual.  Nat put away the food and dishes and came back to find his feet on the coffee table again and his head flopped backward in sleep.  The bottle on the table was empty. She brought him a blanket, not that he needed it.  She refused to admit that she had missed him.  She told herself he probably hadn’t missed her.  She tucked the blanket around him carefully, opting this time to leave his feet propped up on the table in peace. She glanced up to find him watching her, eyes dark, hair askew. She kissed him tentatively, telling herself it was the wine, knowing she wasn’t drunk, knowing he couldn’t be.  Even as she tasted the softness of his lips she cursed herself for what she’d dared to do, felt his hand on her wrist and braced herself— —but then he leaned up into her, his arm tightening around her waist and his mouth meeting hers with an urgency that flamed low in her belly.  He was tired, she reminded herself, tired and sad and so very alone, and she understood.  She had done more for far lesser men.  He kissed her so hard they both gasped for breath and then she laughed shakily, catching hold of his arm when he started to pull away. “Nat—”  Already he was apologetic. “You said once,” she interrupted, “you wanted me to be a friend.”  She resisted the longing to kiss him again just yet.  She would not seduce him.  “Will you let me?  Be a friend?” He exhaled.  His fingers splayed up her back, dug into her skin.  He could break her in a single movement.  “Nat...” She kissed him again.  She didn’t need to hear that he was sorry.  In the morning she could tell him she was, too. Part Two here

#romanogers #captain america civil war #bucky barnes #steve x natasha #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #fluff #black widow #captain america #fanfic #oneshot