#jaehyun x oc

[ncityprincess]

what do you say, my dear?

ceo jaehyun x executive assistant reader

this is just filthy 😔 4.4K words

ok this is officially my longest fic😭 you all must suffer through my jaehyun brain rot with me😤 plot: your sexy boss jeong jaehyun offers you a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Milan, for work purposes of course. mr. jeong makes some bad decisions, but it takes two to tango. who knew sininng could feel so good.

p.s if the business terms I used don't make a lick of sense please don't beat my ass 😭🙏🏾 MDNI

“y/n, come into my office. we need to discuss something”

you instantly felt a rush of nerves run through your body.

you had started off as a temp at Jeong Financial last summer. you had been out of college for a few years, lost and trying to find your footing in the so called “real world.” you spent your first two years out of college working at an upscale lounge. while the tips were incredible, the graveyard shifts and your newfound numbness to the stench of liquor was not your ideal lifestyle. it was time to dust off your resume and get to work. a recruiter from Jeong Financial had reached out on linkedin, and from there your journey in the corporate world had begun.

on your first day of work you were scheduled to have a meet and greet with the CEO, Jeong Jaehyun. you hadn’t really done any research on the company, as you were desperate to just get your foot in the door. you weren't sure what you were expecting the ceo to look like, but it certainly wasn't this.

jeong jaehyun was the only son of his two parents. they had built jeong financial from the ground up in the 80s, and eventually passed down the company to their son.

Jaehyun wasn't some stuffy old man, he was a devilishly handsome Adonis in his late 20s that kept his hair styled and wore brands you couldn't even begin to pronounce. he had a killer smile that could, and did, light up every room he was in, with dimples to match. he was tall and muscular, and could easily quit his job at any point to become a model. people simultaneously respected and feared him. men that were twice his age and nowhere near jaehyun's level envied him. the Human Resources ladies made any excuse to come to his office.

he was also married. with two children.

your first meeting with mr. jeong rendered you shocked by his gorgeous features. while he certainly carried himself with dignity and pride, he still made you feel like you were an equal. he asked you about your interests outside of work and what your goals were. you mentioned that you would like to eventually work your way up to executive assistant to the ceo, to which he smiled.

"well y/n, you certainly have the potential to flourish as an executive assistant. I can tell you're passionate about the industry and that's the type of woman I want on my team. forget temping, why don't you start reporting directly to me from now on. my current assistant can help you transition into the role. she's retiring next month."

you sat there in utter shock, processing his proposal. you had entered the company fully expecting to start from the bottom. how did you get offered your dream position within 20 minutes of you working for the company? you didn't have time to analyze the situation, so you settled for a simple "yes!"

fast forward a year, and you had been assisting jaehyun with his daily tasks: checking emails, setting up meetings, sitting in on his lunches, going with him to seminars. the job had forced the two of you to become really close. each interaction you had made you more and more infatuated with him. and you were positive the feeling was mutual.

jaehyun would stare just a little too long at you, admiring your figure in your pencil skirts and dresses. he complimented you every single morning, mostly innocent. mostly.

"y/n, the coffee you made me is phenomenal! you should add professional barista to your resume"

"wow, that blouse really brings out your eyes"

"I couldn't imagine not having you around"

sometimes you would notice an underlying hint of flirtation, but it never went into inappropriate territory. the man was all about his image after all. you certainly weren't complaining, in fact, you fed into it. you accepted his sweet words. you craved them. but you always kept the fact that he was married in the back of your mind...

you stood up from your desk outside of his office and smoothed out your black, boatneck dress. your heels clicked on the marble floor with each step you made toward his office. Jaehyun let you into the large corner office first, shutting the door behind him.

"everything ok sir?" you asked while sitting down in the expensive chair in front of his desk.

jaehyun walked around the large mahogany desk and sat in his chair. he looked like an absolute dreamboat. the large, floor to ceiling windows in his office brought in a ton of sunlight behind him, making him look particularly angelic.

"oh yeah, everything is more than ok. it's FANTASTIC actually. that's why I called you in here today."

"phew, you should've led with that sir" you said jokingly, taking a slight sigh of relief.

jaeyhun's eyes widened, shocked that you were so uneasy. "y/n, my dear, your performance over the past year has been outstanding. your organizational skills, your punctuality, your magnetic personality. you have nothing to worry about."

you hoped he didn't notice the blush that you felt forming on your face. he had always called you innocent pet names, it was in his nature. but being called his dear while receiving all of that praise? it certainly drove you crazy.

"thank you sir, that means a lot to me" you said sincerely.

jaehyun leaned forward in his seat, making you mirror his actions.

"jeong financial is projecting to make more than double what we made last year. with the launch of our second office in New York City, we were able to drive in even more consumers than we ever have. we had a meeting with the board of directors to finalize our latest expansion efforts--we are opening our very first European office in Milan!"

"what!? oh my gosh that's amazing news! this is incredible sir. what does this mean for us?" you inquired, wondering where you would come in in all of this

"well, I have a meeting next week to meet with the person who is going to run the Milan office. this is going to be an intense week filled with lots of information, and I'm going to need someone to help me stay on track. and that, my dear, is where you come in."

your ears perked up, "I'm listening"

"I'm going need my right hand lady with me to help me get through this week. if you're up for it, I'll arrange for you to have your own hotel room and all of your expenses to be paid with the company card. I'll even include a well-deserved bonus for the next pay period. what do you say, my dear?"

milan!? you had never been to Europe before, let alone had a gorgeous, wealthy man offering to sponsor your trip to Milan.

for work purposes of course.

"what do I say? I say, let me pack my bags!" you said while bouncing in your seat like an excited puppy.

he let out a hearty chuckle, his eyes taking a sneaky peek at your bouncing cleavage. you were so cute in his eyes. so tantalizing. so intoxicating.

"atta girl! I wish all of my business partners were as cute as you–"

you stopped your movements, and a loud silence washed over the room. you guys made eye contact with one another, analyzing and dissecting the flirty comment that lingered in the air.

"...I don't get to see those types of reactions often in this line of work" jaehyun cooly clarified.

you blinked and smiled softly, your eyes glancing down at the framed picture of jaehyun, his wife, and his son and daughter posed perfectly in front of the fireplace–not a hair out of place. the white picket fence-esque family of four would easily be the envy of any outsider looking in...

you and jaehyun had touched down in Milan in the early afternoon on Saturday. you wanted nothing more than to get a nice shower in and see what Milan had to offer. you weren't scheduled to do any actual work until Monday morning.

the whole journey here was absolutely seamless. you, jaehyun, and a few other members of the board had flown privately in the company jet. how did a girl who was serving drinks to sleazy drunk men not too long ago end up in a scenario like this? the prearranged company driver had driven you all to the gorgeous hotel. you felt like a real life princess being pampered like this.

after jaehyun got you all checked in, he made his way over to you and handed you your room key.

"we're going to be next door to each other, hope that's ok with you?

you smiled, "it's perfect, thanks again for letting me join you. I know how important this trip is for the company."

"nonsense, it's you I should be thanking. without you I would be an absolute mess trying to sort everything out."

you two made your way to your respective rooms in comfortable silence. something about being in a new country, roaming through the halls of a luxury hotel with your handsome boss made you feel a certain kind of way.

"alright, this is us! hey, would you like to grab dinner with me later? there's a Michelin star restaurant on the rooftop. their wine selection is supposedly out of this world. my treat, of course"

just a dinner? with your boss? seemed innocent enough.

"yeah that sounds amazing actually, my first authentic Italian dining experience" you smiled

"wow, I get to dine with you for your first ever Italian meal, what an honor. be ready by 7:00?"...

it was 6:47 and you were running around your hotel room like it was on fire. what was one supposed to wear to a swanky Italian restaurant with their handsome boss as their non-date date? you didn't want to try too hard because you didn't want to overstep any boundaries, but you also wanted to dress to impress. you sifted through your entire suitcase and eventually settled for a navy blue wrap dress and some nude pumps. you jumped slightly when you heard a knock at the door. 7:00 pm on the dot.

you sprayed some floral perfume and looked yourself over one more time in the full length mirror. good enough, you thought.

you opened the door and you were immediately taken aback by the man standing in front of you.

jaehyun's hair was gelled back with a few stray pieces hanging in front of his face. he wore an all black suit that complimented his broad shoulders and athletic build. he sported that signature dimpled smile as he greeted you.

"wow y/n, you look lovely tonight. you ready to eat?"

you sure hoped you were.

the restaurant was absolutely stunning. white table clothes, restaurant goers adorned in the finest clothing and jewels, romantic Italian music creating a magical ambiance. it made you forget that you were here on a work trip.

jaehyun had asked the waiter to sample a few of the wines, allowing you to get a feel for what you liked. eventually you settled on a particular pinot noir. he ordered the bottle, and the wine continued flowing. the two of you had talked about some pending work items. he briefed you on how Monday's meeting would go, and eventually the conversation became less work centric. the wine you both shared also made the professional walls lower.

"so y/n tell me, you have anybody waiting at home for you?" jaehyun sneakily inquired.

you giggled, running your hand through your hair, "hehe no relationships for me, I've been single since I graduated college."

jaehyun smirked slightly, liking the answer you gave him "what a shame. a woman as beautiful and as intelligent at you should have men lining down the block."

on a normal day, you'd blush at one of his borderline flirty comments. but tonight, with you sitting across from the most handsome man you'd ever laid eyes on in a fancy Milan restaurant, you went for a different approach.

"oh really? and would you happen to be one of those men lining down the block, sir?"

you leaned forward, letting your hands rest on your hands. this position also gave jaehyun a fantastic view of your cleavage, which you took full advantage of.

jaehyun chuckled, running his hand over his jaw. "in a perfect world, yes, yes I would"

the ball was back in your court.

"what, jeong jaehyun: the handsome, Forbes 30 under 30, multi-millionaire ceo doesn't see the world as perfect?" you weren't sure where this confidence was coming from, but you didn't question it further.

jaehyun smirked, enjoying this bold side of you. a little too much.

"well my dear, if the world was so perfect, you would've been mine by now, but that's not the case right?"

finally. no more tiptoeing the line of flirting. jaehyun had effectively ripped off the bandaid and laid out his true feelings about you.

"...but what about–"

"my wife? my kids? like I said, in a perfect world."

from the moment you walked into his office last summer like a wide eyed puppy, jaehyun knew he wanted you. you were a breath of fresh air. your positivity, your youthful energy, your ravishing looks. you were a slice of normalcy in his everyday hectic life. every time you walked into his office with that cute pep in your step made him forget about all of his worries at work and at home. it made him long for a timeline where you two could be together normally, without the pressure of keeping up appearances for his wealthy family. he had been born into a lifestyle that was already paved for him. sure, he loved his wife and kids and he loved running one of the top financial firms in the entire world. but deep down he craved a normal life. a life that he got to choose.

you both had finished up your dinner, and made your way back to your hotel rooms. in the elevator, you two had stood closely next to one another. your arms and hands were barely brushing each others, desperately wanting to make a move. the elevator dinged and you two stepped out.

once you reached your rooms, jaehyun spoke up breaking the silence.

"y/n, I had a wonderful time with you tonight. thanks for keeping me company."

you smiled, not really wanting the night to end just yet. "I really enjoyed myself sir, I've never had a dining experience like that before"

jaehyun stiffened slightly."y/n, my dear, I've been meaning to talk to you about this. you really don't have to be so formal with me, even at work. just jaehyun is perfectly fine"

"oh, im sorry sir–I mean...jaehyun. I just didn't want cross any boundaries that's all."

"no need to apologize, I appreciate your manners." jaehyun paused for a minute, deciding if he was going to act on his impulses.

he chose to do so.

"y/n, if you aren't too tired, you're more than welcome to join me on the balcony tonight. I always love to watch the stars late at night when I travel"

how could you turn that down?

"I'd really like that jaehyun" you said sweetly as you smiled up at him. he opened the door to his room and let you inside, looking around the hallway before closing the door.

you continued walking towards the French doors of the balcony and pushed them open. the cool night air felt amazing, cooling down your wine and pasta filled body. sure enough, you looked up at the night sky covering Milan and saw millions of bright stars. the scene took your breath away. who knew so much beauty existed in this big, crazy world.

you heard jaehyun's footsteps coming up behind you. he admired your goddess like form as you looked up at the night sky. you looked so beautiful like this, his tipsy state enhancing the feelings he already had for you. his feet moved faster than his brain and he came up behind you, brushing your hair over your shoulder.

you turned your head around to look up at him, eyes wide and filled with growing lust. he had taken off his suit jacket, leaving him in his dress shirt with a few loose buttons at the top and suit pants. his hair had gotten slightly messy, making him look absolutely irresistible.

the two of you made intense eye contact with one another, and before you knew it, you were in a passionate make out session with your boss. his large hands cupped your face, deepening the kiss. you kissed him back with everything you had in you. the months of stolen glances, sly remarks and heated exchanges all led up to this point. you didn't care that he was your boss, you didn't care that he had a family, all you cared about was how good his lips tasted against yours.

jaehyun lifted you up off of your feet and sat you on the bistro table. you leaned in to continue kissing him, but he stopped you in place by holding your jaw firmly with his hand.

"this ok, my dear? I can stop all of this if you want me to" he asked in a serious voice, staring down at your beautiful flustered face.

"yes please sir, just kiss me" you whined

jaehyun dove right back into kissing your lips. his tongue fought for dominance, winning effortlessly. you moaned when your tongues made contact, making you tilt your head back. his mouth followed your movements, making its way across your entire face. he kissed all over your cheeks and jawline. his lips eventually trailed up to your ear softly, making your eyes roll back.

"sweetheart, I told you, it's jaehyun" he whispered in your ear in his deep voice. he didn't want to think about work, he wanted to make this moment feel as real as possible.

he needed to hear you say his name.

he kissed down your neck slowly, in absolutely no rush. his hands trailed up and down your sides, asking for permission to see more of you. you grabbed the ties of your wrap dress and undid them, pushing the pieces of fabric to the side and off your shoulders. you pulled your arms out of the dress and it fell in a pool at your seated hips.

"I've wanted this–for so long my dear–you're absolutely–ravishing" jaehyun said between kisses. each kiss went lower and lower toward your bra clad cleavage. jaehyun reached around your back and undid your lacy black bra. he watched in awe as your round breasts dropped out of the cups of your bra. he wasted no time and roughly licked and kissed your boobs. you moaned out softly, the thought of being almost fully naked for your boss on a balcony in the middle of Milan sitting in the back of your mind.

the thought sent a rush of electricity to your clothed core.

he continued his ministrations with his mouth on your nipples, and his hand slowly trailed down your stomach, making its way into your panties. you let out of soft gasp, your hips involuntarily bucking against his hand. his fingers softly moved up and down on your pussy, allowing your clit to slowly warm up to his touch. after a while, he finally slipped two fingers into you, moving in and out of your body at a steady pace. you let out a delicious sound of satisfaction, leaning back on your hands.

"aww, when's the last time you let a real man touch you sweetheart, huh?" jaehyun's muffled voice asked against your breasts.

"fuck, I can't remember" you whined. every other man you had ever been with was inferior compared to jaehyun. you didn't even want to think about them.

he chuckled, "huh, that's because no man has EVER touched you the way I can. and they never will" he said darkly.

his fingers picked up the pace, making you let out a long, drawn out moan. he abruptly pulled his fingers out of your body and held them in front of his face. he observed them closely, making you clench around nothing.

"so messy, but I bet I could make you even messier"

he shoved his fingers into your mouth, and you eagerly lapped up your juices. you moaned at the taste of yourself, and looked jaehyun straight in his eyes. the sight of you two like this on the balcony for anyone to see was sinfully erotic.

you both wanted more.

he grabbed your hand and helped you on your feet. he slid your panties all the way off of your body, and you stepped out of them, leaving your heels on. your leaned up to kiss him again, and he smirked against your lips, smacking your ass as he tasted your arousal on his tongue.

you unbuttoned his dress shirt quickly, wanting to feel him already. he undid his expensive leather belt, tossing it to the side carelessly. he pulled the shirt off of his body, and turned you around so the front of your body was facing the railing of the balcony. you looked down at the city lights and cars beneath you, feeling a rush of euphoria. your braced yourself on the railing and pushed your ass out at him.

jaehyun bent down, spreading your cheeks, and licked a slow stripe from your clit to your ass. you let out a squeal of surprise and pushed back onto his face. he stood back up and pushed his pants and underwear down, gliding a hand down the slope of your back.

"how are we preventing pregnancy, my dear?" he asked, leaning down to your ear.

you reached around his head, holding his face next to yours. "I'm on the pill don't worry. please just..."

"shh my dear, I'm gonna take care of you, I promise."

jaehyun spat on his palm and rubbed it against your pussy.

"mmmmm please" you moaned out impatiently.

he jerked himself a few times with his saliva covered palm and lined his tip up with your entrance. he finally pushed in, and the two of you let out satisfied sounds. he gathered your hair into his hand and gripped it firmly. never pulling, just as a place holder.

his began to pick up the pace and soon enough you were overcome with intense pleasure. your hips pushed back against his, making your ass jiggle with each thrust. you let out a loud moan into the night, feeling like you were on top of the world. who knew you'd end up in Italy, bent over a balcony by none other than jeong jaehyun.

you fucking loved it.

"yeah that's it sweetheart scream for me. let all of Milan know what a fucking whore you are letting me fuck you like this" jaehyun encouraged you with a smirk.

you let out a squeal when he hit a particularly deep spot. you were so close to coming you could taste it.

"fuck say my name baby, let me hear it" jaehyun gritted out desperately.

"fuck jaehyun I'm right there please" you screamed out.

"shit!" jaehyun groaned out loudly and pulled you up by your hair. he pulled out of you, turned you around and picked you up. you let your legs wrap around his body as he carried you swiftly back into the hotel room.

you gasped loudly when you tossed you onto his large bed like you weighed nothing. he placed your legs over his shoulders and dove right back into your pussy without warning.

"ahhhh fuck" you moaned out. you were positive this was the loudest you'd ever been while having sex. no man had ever made you feel this good. it was absolutely sinful, but felt like heaven.

jaehyun nuzzled his face against your calf, placing soft kisses as he went.

"come on dear, give it to me. I wanna see you cum real pretty for me" jaehyun encouraged you.

those nasty words filled up all of your senses, instantly making you cum for him just like he wanted. he listened to your delicious sounds, your involuntary movements from your orgasm hypnotizing him. he wanted to keep this memory of you like this in his mind forever.

he pulled out of you as you came down from your high. sitting back on his heels to admire your sexy body.

“uh oh, look at the mess you’ve made sweetheart”

he reached down and wasted no time diving face first into your pussy.

you let out a high pitched scream, desperately trying to run away from his ravenous mouth to no avail thanks to his arms trapping your thighs in place.

“let me clean it up baby” he muffled out the filthy words against your overly sensitive clit.

you were sure you were having some kind of out of body experience. who knew pleasure of this magnitude existed. even if it was at the hands of a married man.

“sir—“

he pulled his mouth away from you slightly and firmly smacked your outer thigh, cutting you off.

“didn’t i just FUCKING tell you to not to call me that”

before you could correct your mistake he went right back into eating you out. you moaned a desperate plea out to him.

“ohhhh my god jaehyun please” your desperate voice went up a few octaves

you couldn’t hold on anymore and shortly after felt a rush of liquid shoot out of you. he licked you completely clean and tried his best to keep your hips from bucking around. you finally felt him pull away and you tried to catch your breath.

he got out of the bed and went into the bathroom briefly, leaving you to come down from your intense back-to-back highs. he came back to you with a warm washcloth and tried his hardest not to press on your sensitive bundle of nerves as he cleaned you up.

you muttered out a small “thank you” and he placed a gentle kiss on top of your head.

you must have dozed off for a few minutes because you woke up to him fully clothed, pulling his shoes back on. you sat up, still slightly spent from your session.

“wha? where are you going?” you asked him in a soft, sleepy voice, startling him slightly

“shh just go back to bed my dear” he said in a hushed tone

“but…but you didn’t get to cu—“

“don’t worry about it, now get some rest”

he grabbed a few of his belongings and quietly made his way out of his hotel room, leaving you speechless. jaehyun silently made his way to the elevator, heading down to the hotel bar. when the elevator doors shut he pulled out his phone.

2 missed calls: mrs.

you stood in the shower in your own hotel room, letting the hot water flowing from the shower head mix in with the hot tears streaming down your face.

what did you just do?

thanks for reading! please consider leaving a tip if you enjoyed the story 👑🍭

part two

#jaehyun smut #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x y/n #nct jaehyun #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun hard hours #jaehyun hard thoughts #nct 127 hard thoughts #nct imagines #nct 127 hard hours #nct 127 smut #nct smut #nct scenarios #nct x reader #nct fanfic #ceo jaehyun #nct 127 #kpop imagines #imagine nct

[ooshu]

as soon as jaehyun heard the doorbell ring, he carefully took his time to make it to the front door.

and when he nervously turned the knob open, there was you who was standing. a little older, a little wiser, a little better.

but after all these years, jaehyun stayed the same - as the twenty-five-year-old who lost you.

“hey.”, jaehyun greets you.

you responded the same. jaehyun could not stop looking at you, and when you saw him, your eyes lay on the ground; he took it as a sign to let you in.

as you both entered his house, it felt like a time machine. the walls were still painted old white, and the wooden cabinets and shelves were still intact together. most of the plants were replaced, but the pot of bonsai you bought him for his twenty-fourth birthday still stands. the semi-see-through white curtains which you picked leading to the backyard remains. paintings on the wall still hung. and as you stopped looking around, jaehyun stands near the kitchen counter, holding a box full of your old things - which you forgot to pick up after a heated fight, prior days before ending your three-year relationship.

“water?” jaehyun offered.

“no, thank you.” you politely declined.



you skimmed through the box - old shirts, books that were missing in your collection back to your place, a mix of necklaces you bought for yourself and he bought for you, but most importantly, you found your missing bracelet which your mother gave to you for your eighteenth birthday, and which has been missing for quite some time now - only to find back in jaehyun’s place, of course.

“i found it!”, you almost squealed, and jaehyun could not help but stare at you so lovingly. oh, he had missed seeing the crinkles at the side of your eyes when you laughed, and how you slightly bite a side of your lip when you chuckle.



but something peeked your interest as you were carefully placing back your things.

a dark blue, almost velvet-textured box was hidden on the depths of it.

you pulled it out from the brown box, and asked, “is this yours? i don’t remember owning one.”

“ah,” jaehyun replied. “that?”

he opened his palm, signaling you to give it to him which you complied. he opened the box and there it was - the ring he bought on your first date together. it would sound foolish to most people, really, having to prepare an engagement ring for a person whom you just met. but jaehyun knew he would no longer love another person as much as he did with you. and damn, he was right. years have passed, he still wonders what it would look like if you wore it.

“give me your hand,”, he carefully asked, almost hesitant. “please?”

you gave him your left hand and jaehyun slowly slipped it onto your ring finger.



he remembers it so vividly, all too well - running toward the jewelry store, begging the owner to open up at almost eleven in the evening, minutes before he accompanied you going home from that same first date. the owner was lovely, too kind, to open up a small dimly lit light so just jaehyun could pick one. hell, he did not even know your finger’s measurements. he just straight up bought the prettiest one - the one that he thought would suit you the most.

he stared at your hand, ring almost sparkling, so elegant looking. he can’t help but admire his work of art. you met your eyes once again with jaehyun’s - his, almost teary-eyed. how cruel it is, he thought, to see the ring in this circumstance, where i should have been sitting on one knee in front of the restaurant you and i both first shared a table with. jaehyun smiled. his shoulders were now relaxed, once tensed. you slightly tilted your head to the side, almost saying "it's okay." "it's beautiful, jaehyun.", you said. “what could have been, huh?”

and he was right all along - after the uncertainties, this was the answer he was eager, dying, to know.

that it fits you just perfectly. perfectly made for you.

it is just that he was not made for you all along.

#reposted #jaehyun angst #jaehyun smut #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun imagine #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun fic #jaehyun blurb #jaehyun oneshot #nct angst #nct fluff #nct smut #nct drabble #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun x you #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun au #jaehyun x gender neutral reader #jaehyun headcanons #nct x reader #nct reactions #nct x gender neutral reader #nct scenarios #nct scenario #nct fic #nct jaehyun #jeong jaehyun angst #jeong jaehyun fluff

[ppangjae]

FIVE PLUS ONE | JAEHYUN

SYNOPSIS. Five times world-renowned chef Jeong Jaehyun tried to end your journey to be a chef  because you weren’t ‘qualified enough to be a chef’ and that one time you proved him wrong. 

—or: your villain story quite literally 

PAIRING. jaehyun x fem!reader

GENRE. fluff | angst | enemies to lovers!au | chef!jaehyun | aspiring chef!reader

WORD COUNT. 28.8k+ words (is this my new record? omg)

author's note. i posted a long time ago about how i must write a chef!jae fic and now, here she is. i'm so sorry for such a long wait (and all those postponements oop) but i'm glad that she's finally done and posted for you to enjoy reading! i hope you enjoy this fic as much as i enjoyed writing it :-) also pls reading the author’s note at the end for all my thoughts about writing this fic! happy reading~

THE FIRST TIME.

The first time you and world-renowned chef Jeong Jaehyun crossed paths was when you were doing your culinary internship at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Italy. In fact, you had no idea who Jeong Jaehyun was. It was your second day of internship at the Michelin-starred restaurant and because you needed a bit more time to adjust to the new working environment, you worked as a waitress. You had no customer complaints about working as a waitress for the first week and had agreed it was the best way for you to get accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. While you had no idea who Jeong Jaehyun was at the time, he made sure you knew who exactly he was when you had accidentally stumbled over your two feet and spilled his glass of Barolo all over his cream-coloured button-up shirt.

“I’m so sorry!” You exclaim, looking at him with extreme horror all over your face. Your knees were planted onto the red carpet floors, and you were too horrified and embarrassed to bring yourself back up onto your own two feet. You would rather be sucked into the red carpet floors and the pits of darkness, never to be seen again. Slowly looking up at him, he stares down at his stained shirt before meeting your gaze.

Your blood has never run cold until that very moment. He reads your name on your name tag with a piercing gaze before muttering. “Please get back up. You’re just creating a scene and humiliating yourself even more by gathering attention from other customers—”

“Oh, mi dispiace! Here’s a napkin, Mr. Jeong!” The executive chef, Alessandro, rushes over to the two of you with a large napkin. You’re not sure if you should be relieved to have Alessandro come in to save yourself from the embarrassment, especially with Mr. Jeong staring straight at you with eyes like shooting daggers. You’ve settled on standing behind Alessandro, feeling completely ashamed and embarrassed of yourself. 

“Is she new?” Mr. Jeong asks, burning two holes through your forehead with his dark brown eyes. With your head hanging low, you could only momentarily distract yourself by noticing that the heel of your two-inch black high heels has completely broken off. 

Great. You had just bought these high heels, and they've already broken. You’re left with no choice but to glue the broken heel back on. 

“Yes, she’s new. I apologize, Mr. Jeong. She’s still in training, and thus, she’s a little flustered," Alessandro explains. You don’t have the strength to look at any of them, but the damage has already been done. You’re no superhero with the power to turn back time and undo mistakes. Although, you wish you did have those superpowers at this very moment.

Your conscience forces you to do what you’re supposed to do. First, apologize. Second, make an offer to clean up the spill. Three, offer compensation after consulting Alessandro with ideas. Four, scan the tables around and apologize for the commotion. You learned this in culinary school. You draw in a deep breath, stepping towards Alessandro’s side and forcing yourself to look at Mr. Jeong.

That piercing gaze… that stone-cold face… You wonder who did him so dirty to be so cold-hearted. 

“I apologize, Mr. Jeong. The mess will be cleaned up and we’ll get you a new glass of Barolo. In compensation—” You begin until Alessandro decides to finish it for you.

“In compensation, your main course will be on the house. We deeply apologize, Mr. Jeong.” Alessandro bows and you take it as your cue to bow with him.

Mr. Jeong slowly nods his head. You can still feel his burning stare. Who is he? Why is he being acknowledged with such high regard? Mr. Jeong mumbles, “no worries, do you mind showing me where the washroom is?”

“Yes, Mr. Jeong. It’s right this way.” Alessandro takes over and leads Mr. Jeong to the washroom. As they’re walking away, Alessandro flashes you a look. It’s not a warning look. But with his gaze, you can tell that he’s telling you to head to the storage room to clean up the spill before Mr. Jeong comes back to his table. 

As you head to the storage room to grab hot towels, you bump into one of the other waitresses, Stella, who looks just as horrified as you are. Your legs almost give out at the sight of her. 

“Stella, do you mind taking over his table? I don’t think I can—”

“No, yeah, sure, I’ll take over that table for you. Are you sure you’re okay?” She asks with a face filled with concern. She bites her lip. “You do know who that man is, right?”

You slowly shake your head. “I have no idea who he is—”

“Oh mio dio!” Stella gasps in shock. “Bella, that is Mr. Jeong Jaehyun. Chef Jaehyun. He is a world-renowned chef. He owns five three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the world—”

“World… renowned… chef…” You trail off, growing more horrified by what you’ve done. 

“He’s won almost every cooking competition you could think of. He’s a legend. Both of his parents are culinary chefs too. His parents also teach at one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea for its culinary arts program. He started cooking when he was only ten years old—” She continues to hammer it into your head that the man you have spilled expensive wine all over is a living legend that cannot be messed with.

And you… have messed with him. 

Unknowingly.

“A legend… started at ten years old… won every competition…” 

You’re going to pass out. You feel faint. Your legs feel like jello. You’re surprised that you still haven’t been sucked into the red carpet floors. Maybe fate wanted you to experience this humiliation. Did you do something horribly wrong in your past life to deserve this? It’s only been the second day of your internship and you already want to go home. Hell, you haven’t even started cooking—which is why this culinary internship is for—and you already want to go home to your parents and cry your eyes out. 

“Yeah. He’s a big deal, Y/N. But don’t worry, I got you covered. I’ll take over his table. In the meantime, you stay here and get yourself together, alright?” Stella reassures you. 

You slowly nod your head, falling back against the stool. Stella grabs some towels and leaves you in the storage room all by yourself. Complete shock and embarrassment, you’ve really dug yourself a huge hole. After you’ve gathered yourself together, you head towards the door to look out the small round window that peeks into the restaurant. You could see Stella wiping up Mr. Jeong’s—or should you say Chef Jaehyun’s—table. When Chef Jaehyun returns, she greets him with a wide, pearly-white smile. He returns the same energy as her, almost mirroring her warm and bright aura. It’s a complete one-eighty from how he was with you. You can’t help but feel small. You can’t help but feel miserable.

Maybe you’re not fit to be working in a restaurant. Maybe you’re not fit to be working in a kitchen.

If you can’t even handle guests on the floor, what makes you think you could handle cooking meals in a kitchen? What makes you think you could even step foot in a kitchen? As a chef?

Maybe you’re just not fit to be a chef at all.

As you clock out of your shift, you kick off your high heels to replace them with a pair of running shoes. It’s almost midnight, and you’ve spent the closing hours cleaning up the dining area and the kitchen. It’s been hours since your encounter with Chef Jaehyun but it still feels fresh in your mind. You don’t think it’ll ever leave your mind for a while. 

You hear Stella call out your name as you put on your sweater. Looking over your shoulder, you spot her entering the room with a box in her hands. You quirk an eyebrow out of curiosity. 

“Hey, bella. This is for you.” 

She hands you the box, and you take off the cover to see a new pair of high heels. They look just like the ones you had on earlier, but it has a shiny finish. It’s an expensive brand as well. You place the cover back on, shaking your head and returning it to her. 

“Oh, no, Stella, I don’t think I can take this.” You hand back the heels to her.

She shakes her head. “Oh, no, bella, this is not from me. These heels are truly for you. I was just told to hand this over to you.”

“Oh…” You mumble softly. “Alright, then. Thanks, Stella. Thank you for having my back.”

“No worries, beautiful.” She smiles. “Now, forget about what happened today because tomorrow will be a new day! I don’t want to see your frown tomorrow morning when you clock in, alright? Promise?”

You chuckle. “I promise. By the way, do you know who gave the heels?”

She waves it off. “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about who gave them.”

“What secrets are you hiding from me?”

“I’m not hiding any secrets from you, beautiful. In fact, I have no idea who gave them. Alessandro just told me to give them to you.”

“I should probably thank Alessandro for these,” you mumble softly.

“Oh, no, these aren’t from Alessandro. He just told me that someone dropped by to give these heels to you and then he asked me to give them to you before you leave.” 

THE SECOND TIME.

You didn’t think Mr. World-Renowned Chef would come back, especially on the last day of your culinary internship. Ever since your full experience of a nightmare with Chef Jaehyun, you were quite surprised that the restaurant made you stay. You were expecting them to kick you out and let you find your way on your own. The first time you encountered Chef Jaehyun, you were a waitress. But this time… you’re a line cook.

And you’re cooking two dishes for him.

“Bella, is the filet mignon and gnocchi Sorrento ready?” Alessandro asks when he pops into the kitchen.

Ever since Alessandro announced and acknowledged Chef Jaehyun’s presence in the restaurant, you’ve been a jittery, nervous mess. This is all because you want to prove Chef Jaehyun wrong. You want to see him sit in his chair and dig into the dishes you’ve made for him, appreciating every single second of your hard work and effort. There are many dishes in the hot sanitizing bath; most of them are yours because they haven’t turned out the way you want them to be. You’ve been assigned two dishes; the filet mignon and gnocchi Sorrento and tiramisu. Two completely different dishes, one is the main course while the other is a dessert. 

“It’s ready.” You answer, placing the dish of filet mignon and gnocchi Sorrento over the counter for Stella to serve the intimidating chef sitting right outside of the door. In terms of what happens beyond that door leading to the dining area, you hope it’s everything but a repeated nightmare.

You take a step back and wait for Stella to return to the kitchen with Chef Jaehyun’s input on your dishes. A couple of minutes later, Stella returns to the kitchen with not a single trace of a smile spread across her lips. You wait in absolute terror. 

It’s almost as if you’re experiencing a real-life Kitchen Nightmares episode. But the chef tasting the food is not Gordon Ramsay (fortunately). It’s Jeong Jaehyun (unfortunately). 

“He doesn’t like it,” she mumbles softly. She draws in a deep breath, eyes finding yours. “He actually wants to have a word with the chef who made it.”

“Oh god,” you groan, rubbing at the temples of your head. You’re feeling a migraine beginning to throb every single angle of your head. It feels like your head is becoming a construction site, pulsing and pounding painfully every thirty seconds. “I’m going to pass out.”

When you step out of the kitchen, you nervously make your way toward Chef Jaehyun’s table. He’s sitting there, eyes shooting daggers right through your head. He definitely remembers you. There’s no doubt about it. There it is… the same piercing gaze he gave you the first time you encountered him. But that piercing gaze that he gives you is for a similar reason.

You messed up.

And he’s going to grill you for it.

You clear your throat and muster up a small smile as you reach his table. “Hi, Chef Jaehyun, I’m—”

“Y/N.” He cuts you off. You clamp your mouth shut. You were hoping he would be a bit nicer this time around. With the way he shuts you down, you’re starting to learn that you shouldn’t hope for better outcomes in your miserable situations. He tilts his head. “You’re the one who worked as a waitress for my table during my first visit. It’s quite surprising to see you in a chef’s apron. So… tell me, are you actually a culinary intern?”

You slowly nod your head. “Yes, chef.”

“Well, you have many things yet to learn. I’m surprised Enoteca Pinchiorri even considered taking you in as a culinary intern because the dish you had sent out to me is quite… disappointing.” One by one, his comments throw axes at your weak heart. “Take a good look at the gnocchi. Is this hand-made?”

“Yes, chef—”

“It’s rubbery. You’ve added too much flour.”

“I apologize, chef—”

“And I asked for a medium-rare for the filet mignon. It’s well-done.” He points at the filet mignon that he’s sliced with a fork and knife. You feel defeated yet again. You’re not sure if you would rather have the same person or a group of people criticize your cooking. “You should be grateful to be an intern here at this restaurant. This isn’t something you should be taking for granted. It’s not something that should be taken lightly. Other aspiring chefs desire to be in your shoes but don’t have the resources for it.”

“Again, I apologize, Chef Jaehyun.” You bow at him. “I’ll work harder.”

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to your co-chefs. You are lacking in many skills, Y/N. Take this and my comments as a way to improve, or else you will never make it as a chef in this industry.”

That night, you barge into your bedroom with red, swollen eyes and a heavy heart. There must be a reason you keep fucking up in front of Chef Jaehyun. But you’re not sure if you’re courageous enough to be able to withstand such embarrassment. You want to go home. You want to stop your journey of becoming a chef. If the world’s most renowned chef thinks your cooking is horrible, how different would it be for a regular customer?

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to your co-chefs. You are lacking in many skills, Y/N. Take this and my comments as a way to improve, or else you will never make it as a chef in this industry.”

You feel crushed.

Just like your dreams of becoming a chef.

THE THIRD TIME.

When you told your father that you would take a chance at MasterChef, he didn’t believe you until he saw you on his TV screen. Ever since you signed up to be a part of the competition, you’ve worked diligently to create the perfect dish to cook and present to the chefs. But when you stand behind the curtains that lead into the kitchen, you can’t help but grow afraid that all you’ve tried to remember and keep note of has completely vanished from your brain. You can’t afford to mess up.

You can’t afford to lose this chance, this opportunity.

It’s been years since your mother passed away due to cancer. She had run a diner, Mina’s Place. She named it after her. It was the only diner in the city that had good reviews. The reviews were a reflection of her passion for cooking. She loved cooking for others but mostly for herself. She had many skills. She perfected many dishes. The university nearby had a highly reputable culinary program, and the professors of that program had frequented the diner from time to time. They would always tell her that there was something special about the diner and that it was surely on its road to something even bigger. 

But before your mother had seen the highest success of her dream, her diner, she fell ill and was diagnosed with cancer. In a short time, her health deteriorated, and she eventually succumbed to her illness, leaving the diner and bringing all its light with her. 

If there was something you wanted to get out of this competition, it was a reputation. It was another chance to continue your mother’s dream. You know that this is something your mother would have wanted if she was still alive, to see her diner up until its end. But she was the one who let go first. Your dream is to bring back the diner, and you’re not sure how, but all you want is to fulfill her dream. 

Your mother’s dream has become yours. 

“Let’s welcome the next potential contestant, Chef Y/N. She’s interned at many restaurants in Florence and wants to open up a restaurant of her own someday.” The host introduces you as you wheel your cart into the kitchen. 

When you reach the workstation situated right in the middle of the room, you place your things down before looking up to introduce yourself to the judges. As you look up, the first person you meet eyes with is Chef Taeyong. Chef Taeyong is known for being the co-owner of a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Florence. You’ve always wanted to become a culinary intern at his restaurant, but you always chickened out. Standing right next to him is Chef Doyoung, who nods his head at you. Chef Doyoung is known for being a world-renowned chef in the making. He was the winner of MasterChef four years ago and since then has opened a lot of successful restaurants, all of them with Michelin stars. And standing right next to Chef Doyoung is—Chef Jaehyun?!

When Jaehyun’s eyes land on you for the first time in years, his eyebrows raise with surprise. Seeing you for the third time cannot be a pure coincidence. He tries to compose himself and get himself together when you finally acknowledge his presence. From the corner of his eye, he could see Taeyong glance at him. His shoulders tense up, but he feels them slowly relax when you look away from him. 

“Plans to open up a restaurant, huh?” Chef Doyoung smiles and you bite your lip, nodding your head in reply. “You know, that was my plan when I started my journey here in MasterChef. My plan worked out in the end! That means you can fulfill whatever your heart desires, as long as you put your mind to it.”

“I truly believe that if you put your mind into something, it'll be easily attainable if you put in the work and effort.” Chef Taeyong agrees with his co-judge. “Do you have anything planned for today?”

You clear your throat. “I’m planning on baking up a dish that my mother used to make for me. Well, it’s a dessert among many desserts that my mom used to make for the family.”

“But will this dish be enough to give you a spot in MasterChef?” You almost choke on your spit when you hear his voice for the first time in years. Chef Jaehyun. His voice still sends shivers down your spine. As you slowly look up from the stove, you find him already looking back at you with the same piercing gaze that you never seemed to forget. 

You gather yourself together. You nod. You like to believe that you’ve learned to handle your nervousness and anxiousness. “More than enough, chef.”

“You seem to have a close relationship with your mother,” Chef Doyoung begins. While you’re conversing with the chefs, you’re preparing your dish. You start by dipping the truffles in melted chocolate. “Is she the one who inspired you to join MasterChef?”

You smile at the thought of your mother. You answer as you place each chocolate-covered pumpkin pecan truffle onto the plate. “Yes, chef. She’s very special to me. I just want to make her proud.”

“Well, what are you making us for today?” Chef Doyoung questions. You’re placing the spiced pumpkin roulade next to the truffles and adjusting them to make the dish look presentable overall. 

“I’ll serve you a spiced pumpkin roulade with pecan maple truffles. It’s something my mom used to make every Thanksgiving.” You answer. “It’s also my dad’s favourite dessert, and because it’s his favourite, my mom would make it for him every now and then. I would have to sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night to get a bite because the whole thing would be gone the next day.”

Chef Taeyong chuckles. “Sounds sweet, spicy, and delicious. It also sounds like it brings warm memories. You have five minutes left, Y/N.”

Five minutes later, your dish is ready. You place it right in front of you at your station. Chef Taeyong is the first one to taste your dish. He heads over to you and picks up his spoon. He scoops a spoonful of everything in your dish underneath the warm spotlights that shine over your station. Pumpkin pecan truffles… spiced pumpkin roulade…

“Do you mind walking me through this dish?” Chef Taeyong asks. 

“What you have on this side are the truffles… the pumpkin pecan truffles, to be exact. It’s glazed with maple syrup.” You explain before pointing to the sliced pumpkin roulade on the other side of the dish. “And on the other side of the dish is a spiced pumpkin roulade.”

“You seem nervous,” he says softly. 

You let out a shaky laugh. “I am indeed quite nervous, chef.”

“How bad do you want this, Y/N?” He asks. 

“So bad.” You answer simply. “You don’t even know how bad I want this.”

“Let’s see if this dish is enough to earn you a spot in the competition.” He tastes your dish.

You study and observe him as he tastes the hints of pumpkin and pecan, all punched deep with some spice. You fiddle with your fingers nervously. It’s a bad habit of yours. If there’s one thing that you wanted to get out of this audition, it was at least one yes. One yes is enough for you to be satisfied. But oh, how you want this so badly. 

“Wow.” He tilts his head with surprise. It’s almost as if he’s caught off guard. “It’s delicious.”

“R-Really?” You blurt out before shaking your head. “I mean—thank you. Thank you, chef, that means so much to me.”

“It tastes amazing.” He smiles before heading back to his seat. 

You’re starting off strong. You like what’s happening. Two more chefs and your fate will be determined. You hope fate is on your side this time. You know you deserve a break from all of your horrible chances with luck and fate. You deserve this. You’ve worked so hard for it. It would be a huge disappointment if you didn’t earn a spot in the competition. 

Next up is Chef Doyoung, who grabs his spoon and digs into your dish without uttering a single word. Once he’s finished tasting your dish, he folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. “Y/N, are you satisfied with how your dish turned out today?”

“More than satisfied, chef.” You mumble softly, but there’s a hint of a lack of confidence in your voice. You’re sure the chefs could pick up your low self-esteem. Chef Doyoung purses his lips into a tight line.

“Are you a perfectionist?” He asks. 

“I try to be, chef.” You answer.

“Well, perfectionism is one of the best qualities to have as a chef.” He adds. He clasps his hands together and sucks in a deep breath. “I taste a light hint of lemon, but I am immediately kicked with the spices. I could taste the hint of cloves that burst right through the hints of lemon. I think you have a great sense of flavours. You have a great sense of spices. This dish has the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and savoury.”

“Thank you, chef.” You smile, not sure how to contain your happiness. 

“Well done,” he complements you before heading back to his seat. 

Last is Chef Jaehyun, who walks up to your station. Your smile immediately vanishes from your face and is replaced with horror. You’re especially nervous around him. With all the horrible encounters you’ve had with him, you wish he had a poor memory because you wouldn’t want someone like him to remember you. You’re looking everywhere but him. 

“I’m not a fan of sweets and desserts.” He says flat out. You wince. “That should be more than enough to make you nervous.”

“I hope that with this dish, you’ll start to appreciate desserts more, chef.” You mumble softly. It’s just barely above a whisper. You sound like a guilty child admitting fault after being caught lying. But you’re not lying, not at all. You’re just nervous. 

“is this dish going to change my mind? Is this dish going to be enough to change my mind about desserts?” He continues to grill you, and you let your head hang low.

“I just… want to impress you, chef.” More like prove you wrong. 

“I hope this dish doesn’t disappoint me.” His low voice sends shivers down your spine. He takes a spoonful of the cake and the truffle before shoving them into his mouth. 

It feels like it’s just the two of you at that very moment. It doesn’t feel like Chef Taeyong and Chef Doyoung are there. Your entire body feels tense just standing within his line of sight. He folds his arms and looks down at your dish. “It’s good. But it’s not good enough. There’s something that’s lacking in this dish. Do you know what that is?”

“What is it, chef?” You ask. 

“The presentation.” He answers. “Look at how you presented this dish to us. It does not look MasterChef-worthy. The presentation of this dish, I might say, is predictable. The presentation of a dish that you make is something you must pay attention to because if it doesn’t visibly look good, your customers would assume that it doesn’t taste good.”

“I understand, chef.”

“Thank you, Y/N.”

Chef Jaehyun definitely remembers you. Why? Because he loves nitpicking every single lacking detail of your cooking. He truly never changed. He’s still the same cold-hearted, selfish, rude prick. 

The three chefs discuss their decision. You continue to fiddle nervously with your fingers to calm yourself down, to distract you from what’s about to come. You’re so sure that you’re not going to get a spot in the competition, and it’s all going to be because of Chef Jae—

“Y/N?”

“Yes, chef?” You blurt out with surprised, caught off guard eyes. 

“It’s a yes for me,” Chef Taeyong smiles. 

“It’s a no for me,” Chef Jaehyun says. “Simply because you’re lacking in presenting your dishes. I think that is very crucial to becoming a chef. I was not impressed with your dish simply because I’m not a fan of desserts. I was hoping you would change my mind, but I guess it just fell short.”

“I understand, chef. I agree that I could’ve paid more attention to the plating.” You nod your head in agreement. For the first time, you agree with Chef Jaehyun. 

“Now, that leaves the pressure on me.” Chef Doyoung smirks. “If I say no, you won’t have a spot in the competition. But if I say yes, you will advance in the competition, and you will have your own MasterChef apron.”

“You won’t regret giving me a chance, chef. I want this so bad.”

Tension continues to fill the air. Chef Doyoung’s touch gaze softens, and you feel your tense posture relax. He clasps his hands together before saying, “it’s a yes for me. Congratulations, Y/N.”

“Please come up and take your MasterChef apron.” Chef Taeyong gestures for you to come up to the front. 

“Oh my gosh,” you sigh with relief. “I promise I’ll do my best, chef. Thank you so much for taking a huge risk on me.”

As you near the three chef judges, you stand in front of Chef Taeyong, who helps you put your apron on. You smile, taking his hand that he extends out to you to shake. Moving onto Chef Doyoung, you shake his hand, thanking him many times for giving you a chance. Last but not least, your eyes meet Chef Jaehyun. You’ve never been up close to Chef Jaehyun like this. He’s quite handsome, you think to yourself, but it’s also a shame that he’s such a rude, cold-hearted person. He extends his hand out to you for you to shake. When your hands interlock, you can’t help but notice how warm and soft his hands are. The both of you exchange such intense looks. You’re the first one to break away, pulling back your hand. 

“Long time no see. Congratulations, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Chef Jaehyun.”

THE FOURTH TIME.

On a quest to become MasterChef, you are expected to learn how to work with a team of chefs. The round that awaits you is a team challenge, where you and a couple of other contestants will work together to cook up a full course meal. The team challenge usually occurs after the first mystery box challenge and elimination round. Sitting at the front of the kitchen is a box filled with two different coloured aprons, red and blue. These aprons will split everyone into two teams based on their apron colour. From the corner of your eye, you can see your station mate, Taeil, gawking at the box at the front. 

He turns towards you and whispers, “I hope we’re on the same team.”

You flash him a small smile. “I hope so too.”

Ever since the competition began, you have learned how to become a competitive chef. You’ve also learned how to make connections and new friendships. It’s what you have learned to value the most, especially working in an industry that relies heavily on networking and connections. Two rounds into the competition, you became friends with Taeil simply because he cooked up his dishes right next to you, and, over time, he also looked out for you and helped you with your dishes. He’s completely different from you. You’d like to think that he’s the complete opposite. But somehow, you both work in tune with each other. You wouldn’t have asked for a better station mate. Both of your different personalities shined the most in your cooked dishes. 

“Y/N, please step up to the front and pick your apron for the team challenge.” Chef Jaehyun calls out to you, and your heart beats out of your chest. You share a look with Taeil. 

As you make it to the front of the kitchen, you stick your hand into the black box to pull out a red apron. You avoid eye contact with Chef Jaehyun like you always do, but you could still feel his burning gaze. You always feel insecure and nervous around him. How embarrassing it must seem to him. 

“Taeil, your turn has arrived. Come up and pick your apron.” Chef Taeyong smiles. 

You wish Chef Jaehyun was like Chef Taeyong. Nice… sweet… genuine. He genuinely wanted every contestant to be successful, whether it be in their dishes or their confidence. You wish Chef Jaehyun would forget about all the horrible encounters you’ve had with him. You wish Chef Jaehyun would break out of his shell and turn his cold personality into a personality similar to his co-chef.

When Taeil arrives at the front and sticks his hand into the box, he pulls out not a red apron but… a blue one. The both of you share looks, and a pout can’t help but form across your lips. Chef Jaehyun notices your slight pout, and you immediately let it drop from your face. Taeil returns to his station, and you begin to overthink. Who are you going to work with? You’ve only become acquaintances with the rest of the contestants. Taeil is the only contestant you’ve become close to and the only contestant you consider a good friend. He’s the only contestant you see having a friendship with even after the competition ends. 

After all the contestants have been called up to choose their team, the chef judges have you gather together. You and Taeil wave goodbye as you both part to your own assigned teams, you with the red team and him with the blue team. As you walk over to your team, you can’t help but notice how you’re the only woman. Your teammates are Junhwa, Jay, Mason, and Euntae.

“Today’s challenge will be quite different because you’re all expected to work together as a team with your teammates.” Chef Doyoung announces. “For today’s team challenge, we will be headed to the beach to cater for a wedding.”

Your head shoots up. You’re doomed. You know that your team is done for even before the team challenge begins. Junhwa was just saved from the elimination test the other day because he had messed up his dish for the mystery box challenge. Jay hasn’t been up to par with his dishes and has yet to cook up his best dish in the competition. Like Junhwa, Mason had messed up his dish for the mystery box challenge but was saved from the elimination test by Chef Doyoung. Euntae, however, is the only one on the team that’s been performing well in the competition. But as for you… you’re not sure where you stand in this competition. 

“Let’s all head to the location and we’ll explain more about the team challenge.”

It’s the perfect day to have a wedding on the beach. The wind currents aren’t strong, but they bring a light warm breeze. The wedding takes place on a weekday which explains the small number of people hanging out at the beach. When you all arrive at the beach, the first thing you spot is two different cooking stations, differentiated by your respective team colours. You draw in a deep breath. This is going to be a long day. 

“Everyone, please gather around as we begin today’s challenge.”

Everyone gathers around the three young world-renowned chefs following the producer's command. You can see Chef Jaehyun staring right at you from the corner of your eye. He’s drilling two holes through the side of your head. It’s almost as if he’s praying and manifesting for you to mess up in the team challenge. You wouldn’t be surprised if you mess up and his prayers and manifestations were served right to him on a golden platter because his intensity and strive for perfection always cause you to do so. 

“Today, you will be cooking up a three-course meal for wedding guests at the beach. The couple that will be wedded later on today has laid out their menu and their expectations.” Chef Doyoung explains. 

You have learned one thing so far; never have a team of aspiring chefs competing in competition be in charge of cooking and serving your guests’ food. Why? Because there’s huge room for failure. Food poisoning? Traumatizing. Undercooked food? Horrifying. You wouldn’t imagine getting married and having scared chefs-in-the-making cater to your guests at the reception. To you, it sounded like a nightmare waiting to unfold right before your two eyes. And here you are now, living out that nightmare in disguise. 

“The menu consists of cranberry and brie bites for the appetizer, roasted pork loin on wild mushroom risotto for the main course, and a spiced carrot cake for the dessert.” Chef Taeyong reads off the menu that the wedding couple has put together for their guests. 

You hold in a sigh of relief. You think you could handle doing the appetizer and dessert. Baking is your expertise. It’s something your mother loved doing the most. Baking up a dessert can be daunting and taxing, but once you’ve mastered the basics, everything you pop into the oven will come out beautifully. You’ve spent most of your childhood sitting in the kitchen helping her make the desserts. You’ve spent most of your childhood sitting in the kitchen and breathing in the aroma of sweet desserts. 

You just hope that your team leader assigns you the appetizer or dessert. If not… you’re not sure how you’re going to put up a good performance. Will you be eliminated? Is this going to put you at risk for elimination? 

“Have you all picked a team leader?” Chef Jaehyun asks. 

On the blue team, Taeil raises his hand. You smile. Taeil is quite the introvert, but you know that he’ll be able to bring his team together and make the most out of it. On your team, Euntae raises his hand. It was predetermined that he would be the team leader mainly because he’s the only one who’s been doing well in the competition. 

“Taeil for team red and Euntae for team blue.” Chef Jaehyun notes it down on his notepad. “Alright. Let’s have you go over to your stations to start prepping for the service.”

“You will have one hour and thirty minutes to complete your three-course meal.” Chef Doyoung announces. 

“Please use your time wisely because regardless of whether your dishes are done, they will be served to the guests.” Chef Taeyong warns you. Everyone falls silent. “Your two goals are one, to make sure that there is food on the table for every single guest and two, that the food you serve has been cooked to perfection.” 

“Yes, chef.” Everyone says in unison.

“Alright. Get ready because your time starts in three…”

“Two…”

“One…”

“Go!”

Thankfully, you’ve been assigned to work on the spiced carrot cake. Euntae and Jay will work on the roasted pork loin on wild mushroom risotto. Euntae will work specifically on the roasted pork loin, and Jay will work specifically on the wild mushroom risotto. Mason and Junhwa will work together on the cranberry and brie bites. It’s been about twenty minutes since the timer started, and you’re almost done mixing the batter for the cake. You’ve added carrot bits and slices in the cake batter to make the carrot stand out when someone takes a slice out of it. You’re also planning on making a cream cheese frosting to drizzle on top of the cake. 

“Y/N, make sure you don’t go off track with the cake, alright? I know you’re excited, but we don’t have much time left.” Euntae commands, and you nod your head.

Euntae is such a perfectionist. It’s been obvious since the start of the competition. He’s been winning almost every challenge. If he wasn’t the winner of the challenge, he would most likely be second. Carrying your team must be difficult for him because most of his teammates have been performing poorly. 

“Yes, I’ll work faster.” 

“And make sure you follow the demo recipe.” He adds. “I don’t want you making something completely different from what we’re asked to do.”

You like to think of your dishes as an experiment. Most of the time, you depend heavily on your sense of taste and extensive knowledge of spices. Thus, this results in you neglecting recipe books and instructions. You like experimenting in your cooking because there’s a thrill when something turns out delicious. There’s a sense of excitement and surprise when two unlikely ingredients somehow pair well with each other. 

Euntae probably notices your experimental way of approaching your dishes. He doesn’t want you to fuck everything up. You can’t blame him for playing it safe. You would do the same thing. 

“This look different to you?” You ask, pointing to your cake batter.

He dips his fingers into the batter and tastes it. “Put more clove. I don’t taste the kick. I thought spices were your thing?”

You purse your lips into a tight line. He looks taken aback by your confused gaze. If there was one thing you wish you could change about yourself, it’s how you are easily readable through your facial expressions. Your emotions are easy to detect because they’re spread across your entire face. Knitted or raised eyebrows, jutted chin, pouty lips, you’re very expressive with your emotions. 

“It is. I did put in clove. Is it not enough?” You dip your finger into the batter to taste it yourself. Indeed, you taste the kick. Your gut tells you not to add any more of the spices because it will be too spicy for the guests if you add more. “I don’t think we should add more. I think it’s enough—”

“I don’t taste the spices, Y/N—”

“Well, I do—”

“But I’m the team leader, right?” He reminds you. You clamp your mouth shut. Where is all of this coming from? How could he talk to you like this? You could feel your gaze hardening at him. “Do you want me to save you a spot in the competition? You do, right? So follow what I tell you to do, and everything will be fine.”

You squint your eyes at him before shaking your head. “No way. I’m not letting you sabotage my cake.”

“And I am not letting you bring the entire team down. We cannot afford to lose.” Jay butts in as he shoves you aside to place a pan on the stove. You almost stumble back, and you’re on the verge of tears. 

“Ugh, this is ridiculous.” You mutter to yourself, grabbing your bowl of cake batter and moving to a different table in your station to work. You’re standing alone as the rest of your team gathers together to talk about how they will prepare the dishes. You feel left out. You feel like an outcast. You wish you were on Taeil’s team. 

You feel like this is planned. 

You feel like they’re planning to sabotage you. 

“Y/N?” Chef Doyoung calls out to you. 

You look over your shoulder to see him waving you over. You dust your hands off before heading up to him. You don’t know that Euntae walks over to your bowl of cake batter and puts in a couple of more teaspoons of clove and cinnamon behind your back. He adds a bit more than what is required. Chef Doyoung folds his arms at you. 

“Yes, chef?” You mumble. 

“Why aren’t you being included in your team?” He asks. He noticed, and that’s all that matters to you. 

You shrug your shoulders. “I’m not quite sure, chef. We have different opinions on how we should make the spiced carrot cake. Euntae thinks there’s not enough spice, while I think there’s more than enough.

“Trust your gut. But you should also keep in mind that this is a team challenge. You’re all supposed to work together as a team.” He reminds you. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Thank you, chef.”

Suddenly, Chef Jaehyun yells out. “Your spiced carrot cakes should be in the oven right now or will be undercooked!”

Upon returning to your station, you grab your bowl of cake batter to pour it into a baking pan. Hurriedly, you place it into the preheated oven. You do not want to mess this up. You can’t mess this up. If your team fails the challenge, you are at risk of being eliminated. 

You can’t afford to lose the competition. 

You can’t go home. 

You’re not surprised that the cranberry and brie bites were almost burnt out of the oven. You’re not surprised that your two teammates were running behind on time with the roasted pork loin and wild mushroom risotto. At this point, you wouldn’t be surprised if your team were unable to put out your dishes on time. 

When you pull out the tray of cranberry and brie bites, you place them on the table. One by one, you place the burnt ones aside and the good ones on the serving trays. Standing behind you, Mason and Junhwa continue to panic, not even bothering to help you save their dish that they’ve been assigned to do. 

“Y/N, what are you doing?” You feel yourself stiffen. Chef Jaehyun stands next to you and looks at the burnt and unburnt cranberry and brie bites. He clicks his tongue and lets out a frustrated sigh. “Were you the one assigned to do the bites?”

You shake your head. “No, chef.”

“Who was assigned for the cranberry and brie bites?” He asks your teammates. 

“Us, chef.” Mason answers. 

Chef Jaehyun points at you while looking at Mason. “And why is Y/N taking over your task?”

“Because she likes getting into everyone’s business—” You hear Euntae mutter underneath his breath. You’ve confirmed it: Euntae is plotting your elimination. He hates you. 

“She said she would help us salvage some of the cranberry and brie bites for the guests. She’s picking it out for us while we make another batch.” Junhwa explains. 

“And you’re both just standing there and watching her?” Chef Jaehyun furrows his eyebrows with anger. “Where’s your team leader?”

“Here, chef.” Euntae walks over. 

“Where is the direction, Euntae?” Chef Jaehyun frowns. You could see steam coming out of Chef Jaehyun’s nostrils. “Your teammates are lost. They’re panicking, and you’re just standing in front of your pan doing your own thing. You’re in your own little world, Euntae. It’s time to wake up.”

“Excuse me, I have to take out the carrot cake.” You mumble softly as you excuse yourself to head to the oven. You take a quick peek before putting on your oven mittens to take the cake pans out. 

It comes out beautifully. They’ve baked and risen to perfection. You can smell the strong aroma of spices. Hidden within the sponge cake are the grated bites of carrot, giving it a beautiful orange colour. From your periphery, you see Chef Jaehyun walking over to you. You hold in your breath. 

“Can I have a taste of the cake?” He asks. 

You slowly nodded your head. “Yes, chef.”

Chef Jaehyun digs into the cake with a small teaspoon while your teammates gather around to watch. He winces, and you wish you could disappear. You’ve noticed that he always winces and grimaces with disappointment whenever you mess up. It’s like you could tell what’s about to come before it even happens. 

“You were in charge of the cake, right, Y/N?” 

“Yes, chef.” You mumble. 

Clatter. He tosses the teaspoon onto the table and frustratingly runs a hand through his hair. “You can’t serve that. It’s too spicy. You’ve put too much clove and cinnamon.”

You look at him confusedly. Completely flabbergasted, you take a bite from the cake yourself and indeed, it’s too spicy. It’s overpowering the sweetness of the carrot and sugar. But wait—you never added any more clove or cinnamon. 

“You can’t serve this. This entire team is set up for failure. You cannot save yourselves from this challenge. Take off your aprons. You don’t have any more time to send out any dishes. You’ve completely failed the team challenge.”

You glance at Euntae, who avoids your gaze. He turns around and walks back to his pork loin and mushroom risotto pan. He tosses the pans into the sink out of frustration and anger. 

Euntae sabotaged you.

At the end of the team challenge, you and your teammates find yourselves standing in front of the three disappointed chefs. You’re too ashamed of yourself to look at them. You distract yourself by fiddling with your fingers. You were thinking of all the ‘what if’s’. What if you were on the blue team? What if you paid more attention to your teammates that were plotting your failure? What if you worked harder? What if—

“As you are all aware of what happened today, your team lost the challenge. This only means that not one, not two, but four of you will be eliminated from the competition.” Chef Doyoung says. 

“But first, we are going to tell you what you did wrong and where you all went wrong.” Chef Taeyong frowns, “as a team.”

“The first thing that went wrong were the cranberry and brie bites. They were overcooked to the point that they were burnt. You had only realized that they were burnt when you took them out of the oven too late, leaving you no time to make another batch.” Chef Doyoung explains. 

“We are aware of that, chef.” Mason and Junhwa speak in unison. 

“The second thing that went wrong was the spiced carrot cake. I was surprised that Y/N put too much clove and cinnamon into the batter. From your audition, Y/N, you had a good sense of the spices, so I figured this task wouldn’t be difficult to do.” Chef Taeyong outlines the second mistake of the team. 

“The third thing that went wrong had completely gone over our heads.” Chef Jaehyun begins. “We were wondering why out of all the dishes you were assigned, the roasted pork loin and mushroom risotto turned out fine.”

“It was because we—” Euntae begins.

“It was because you wanted to sabotage your own teammates. Am I right, Euntae?” Chef Jaehyun catches him red-handed. “Don’t try to lie to us. Don’t you dare try to lie to me because I saw it myself.”

“I did not sabotage any of my teammates—”

“Y/N, you know why your spiced carrot cake was too spicy?” Chef Jaehyun asks you. 

You courageously look into his eyes. “Why, chef?”

“Because your own teammate, Euntae, sabotaged your cake and added three tablespoons more of clove and cinnamon, which is way more than what we asked for in our demo.” Chef Jaehyun reveals. “I saw it happen right before my eyes. Euntae, if you were going to sabotage your teammate, you should’ve made sure that none of us chef judges would see it.”

“Chef, I—Y/N has always been doing her own thing in the competition, and I didn’t want her to sabotage our team by doing things the way she wants to,” Euntae explains. 

“You’re supposed to work together as a team.” Chef Taeyong shakes his head in disbelief. “Did you plan this all out so that Y/N would be eliminated from the competition? Don’t lie to us because I overheard you planning this out with the rest of your teammates.”

“I—”

“Okay. That’s enough.” Chef Doyoung raises up his hand to shut him up. “We have made up our minds on who will be leaving the competition.”

“The first contestant that will be saying goodbye is…”

You clench your eyes shut as you wait for your name to be called out. You hate everything that’s happening right now. You’ve never been so careless. Now, you pay the consequences. 

“Jay. Please say goodbye to your teammates.”

You feel your heart drop. 

“The second contestant that will be saying goodbye is…”

Your heartbeat begins to pick up its pace once again. Once your name is called out, you’re going to have to pack your things and head back home. 

“Junhwa. Please say goodbye to your teammates.”

You hold in your breath. 

“That leaves Y/N, Euntae, and Mason.”

You close your eyes again, praying that your name wouldn’t be called out. You’re already thinking about what you would say to your father if you’re eliminated from the competition. 

“Y/N, please say goodbye to your teammates…”

Your eyes flutter open. This is it. You’re officially eliminated from the competition. You shake hands with your two teammates who have completely sabotaged you. You’re keeping yourself together. You’re holding yourself back from bursting out into anger. 

“Because you will advance to the next round of the competition. Euntae and Mason, you are both eliminated from MasterChef, please take off your aprons.” 

Your heart stops. Wait.

“Wait, what?” You look at the chefs in shock.

“Y/N, you are the only one that will stay in the competition.” Chef Taeyong smiles. 

“It was a tough decision.” Chef Doyoung adds. 

“But we do not tolerate cheaters in this competition. You are innocent and had no bad intentions, Y/N, which is why you are safe from elimination.” Chef Jaehyun confirms everything for you. “But that does not mean you are safe from the remainder of the competition. What this means is that we will all be putting more pressure on you to be the best chef you say you are.”

“I will do my best, chef. I am confident that I will win MasterChef.” 

Chef Jaehyun purses his lips into a tight line. 

You feel your blood run cold. 

“Don’t make us regret choosing to save you from elimination.”

THE FIFTH TIME.

“Don’t make us regret choosing to save you from elimination.”

The pressure is all on you. Chef Jaehyun’s voice echoes throughout your head the entire hour that you’re granted to create a dish. In this round, all of the contestants are given a mystery box filled with random ingredients. In your mystery box, you were given beetroot, beef tenderloin, and blackberries. They are three completely different ingredients that you’re not quite sure will mesh well together. 

Five minutes before the timer started, you decided to make beef tenderloin with roasted beetroot, all covered by a blackberry sauce. And now here you are, thirty minutes in, and you just hope that your dish turns out well. 

“Hi, Y/N.” 

“Hi, Chef Jaehyun.” You mumble softly, checking up on your beef tenderloin to see if it’s being cooked correctly on the skillet pan. You’re hoping to cook the tenderloin medium-rare to keep the monochrome colour of your dish. 

“What are you making for us today?” He asks. 

He’s distracting you. Whether it’s intentional or not, it’s breaking your focus. You clear your throat as you answer, “beef tenderloin with beetroot, all covered by a blackberry sauce.”

“Are you sure this is going to work out well? It seems quite… difficult to pull off.” He grabs a spoon and digs into the blackberry sauce that you have boiling in a saucepan. He tastes it and steps back, tilting his head as he loses himself in thought. “Interesting. You’re truly making this difficult for us, huh?”

What is he trying to say? You bite your lip, pretending to ignore him. “It should work out well. It is a mystery box challenge, after all. I’ve been given three ingredients that you never truly see together in a dish, but here we are.”

“The blackberry sauce is perfect. But regarding whether this blackberry sauce will complement your beef tenderloin and beetroot… you’ll have to prove that to us.” He gently places his spoon into your sink and moves on to the next contestant.

“You have fifteen minutes left! In about five minutes, you should all be plating your food!”

You turn off the stove to cool down your blackberry sauce. With fifteen minutes left, you need at least five minutes to let the beef tenderloin rest. You’re still not sure if it’s cooked medium-rare. It’s a risk you’re willing to take. You take the skillet pan off of the stove and transfer the beef tenderloin onto a wire rack for it to rest. As for your beetroot, you take each slice out to begin plating them.

“I’m not going to lie, that looks incredible, Y/N.” Taeil compliments you. You almost jump in surprise. You’ve been so focused on making sure you do well in this challenge that you forgot about Taeil. As you glance at him, he lets out a low chuckle. “Sorry for scaring you. I’ll shut up now.”

“Thanks, Y/N. I just hope it’s edible.” You crack a joke to ease your nervousness. He snorts.

“I’m sure it’s edible. You’ve made it this far, Y/N. You should give yourself more credit for your hard work.” He reassures you.

One minute left on the timer, and you’re placing the beef tenderloin right in between two slices of beetroot. To complete your dish, you drizzle blackberry sauce all over the dish. To amplify your dish even further, you take a couple of blackberries and scatter them across your dish. Overall, your dish is a dark magenta colour. Monochromatic. 

“Five…”

“Four…”

“Three… Two…”

“One! Time’s up!”

“Y/N, please bring up your dish.”

With shaky hands, you grab your plate and head up to the front. You place your dish down onto the table that stands right in front of the chef judges. Each one of them looks surprised to see what you have presented to them. Chef Doyoung is the first one to take a bite. He steps forward and grabs a knife and fork, slicing himself a bit of beetroot before poking at the beef tenderloin.

“How did you cook the beef tenderloin?” He asks.

You bite your lip. “I was hoping to cook it medium-rare. But I didn’t have enough time to let it rest, so I’m not quite sure if it turned out that way.”

“Well, let’s take a look, shall we?” He insists. You slowly nod your head. Standing behind him, you can see Chef Jaehyun standing on his tiptoes to get a look at the tenderloin. As Chef Doyoung slices through the tenderloin and you sigh with relief. “It’s perfect. You doubt yourself a bit too much, Y/N. The tenderloin is indeed medium-rare.”

“Thank goodness.” You let out another sigh of relief.

He takes a bite. As he chews, you study him and wait for his reaction. When he finishes eating, he clasps his hands together and breaks out into a smile. “I think it’s quite delicious. I would definitely serve something like this in my restaurant.”

“Really? Oh wow… thank you, chef.” You beam.

“Blackberries, beef tenderloin, and beetroot. These three ingredients seem hard to cook together, but you balance them beautifully. The plating is amazing. You’ve improved your plating skills since the start of the competition. Overall, this dish is my favourite.” He places his cutlery down and flashes you one last smile. He heads back to stand next to Chef Taeyong, who’s the next one to step forward and taste your dish.

“First off, the dish looks lovely. I love the monochrome theme you have going on here. It amplifies your dish. But as for the taste, we shall find out.” Chef Taeyong takes a bite of the beetroot and tenderloin, making sure he dips it in the blackberry sauce. He tilts his head and lets out a chuckle. “That’s… amazing. You truly have a great sense of your spices. I wouldn’t even have thought of making a dish like this with these three ingredients. Well done, Y/N. You continue to perform well in this competition. I also see Chef Doyoung serving something like this at his restaurant.”

“Thank you, chef.” You hold in a happy sigh.

Next up is Chef Jaehyun, who barely waits for Chef Taeyong to step aside for him. He quirks an eyebrow at you before digging into your dish. “After we spoke earlier, I wondered how you could pull off a sour blackberry sauce with savoury beef tenderloin and beetroot. They are two unlikely tastes that should not be paired together.”

“It is a mystery box, so I just tried to work with what I was given. I hope it tastes good for you, Chef Jaehyun.” You avoid his eyes. But you could see him trying to look into them.

He takes a bite. He chews and swallows. He places his cutlery down and purses his lips into a tight line. “I’m going to be quite honest. I don’t like it. The sour blackberry sauce completely overpowers the savoury tenderloin and beetroot. However, I could definitely see why others may like it. This dish is catered for people with a specific palette. I’m not one of those people. The plating looks beautiful, however.”

“Thank you, chef.” You whisper.

“As I’ve said time and time again,” he says sternly, “you are making this extremely difficult for us, Y/N. You need to step up to the plate. I know you can do it. You have the tools and the talents to do it. You just need to use them.”

As he turns his back to you, you can feel your eyes well up with tears. Throughout this entire competition, you’ve learned that you not only want to win it, but you want to prove Chef Jaehyun wrong. He’s ignited a fire within you, a burning passion. His brutal honesty truly gets the best of you. 

If you can’t prove him wrong, what’s the point of continuing your journey?

He’s a world-renowned chef. He knows what tastes good and what doesn’t. He knows whether a chef will be successful in the field. He knows everything about the cooking and food industry. If he thinks you’re not fit enough, then maybe you’re truly not fit to be a chef.

You’ve already tried to step up to the plate, but he thinks it’s not enough.

You’ve already used all of your tools and talents, but he thinks it’s not enough.

You’re not enough.

What is considered enough?

He looks over his shoulder, and you hear him mutter.

“We saved you from elimination. You must prove to us that saving you was the best decision. You must prove to us that you are more worthy of winning than your teammates that were eliminated. Remember that.”

A tear almost slips from your eye.

You give up.

THE ONE TIME YOU PROVE HIM WRONG.

“I have come to the decision to withdraw from the competition.”

“If that’s your decision, then so be it. We regret seeing you go. Thank you for showing us your talent. You may go and pack your things because your journey at MasterChef ends here.”

Upon entering the huge kitchen, you head towards the light switches to turn on the spotlight for your workstation. The kitchen has never been so quiet nor has it been so peaceful. You feel your feet being glued to the ground, almost as if they’re keeping you from leaving. When you were a kid, you loved ditching your homework to spend time with your mother in the kitchen. You would even take a stool from the dining room to place it right next to her to have a full view of how she cooked your meals. Your home kitchen was your safe haven, your safe space, where you could truly be yourself. It was what brought you closer to your mother. It was what reminded you of your mother. 

But you had no choice. You force yourself, trudging your way towards your station to pack up all of your utensils. From cooking knives to ladles, you packed them away in a moving box. From your favorite fine China dishes to your custom-made chopsticks, you admired them one last time underneath the spotlight before tucking them away. You turn on the sink to dampen your towel. You wipe down your station one last time before wringing the towel out. Letting out a sigh, you wipe the beads of sweat that are forming on your forehead. This is it. Your journey at MasterChef ends here—

“What on earth are you doing?”

Looking up from your counter, you spot Jaehyun walking along the front of the space. He’s the last person you want to see. He’s the last person you want to talk to, especially right now. He has his hands tucked into his pockets as he makes his way towards you.

“I’m packing up my things.” You answer simply with a blank face.

“Why are you packing up your things? The competition isn’t over yet.” He finally makes it to your counter. Underneath the spotlight, he notices how bloodshot red your eyes are. You’ve cried all night over this competition and it brought you to your decision of withdrawing.

“The competition isn’t over yet for my fellow contestants,” you begin, “but the competition is over for me.”

“I’m not sure if I understand what you’re saying—”

“I’ve withdrawn from the competition.” You make it make sense for him. Jaehyun takes a couple of seconds for your words to sink in. Once he’s processes your words, his eyebrows furrow in confusion and frustration. 

“What?” He blurts out. “W-Why?”

You grow confused. That’s his reaction? “Shouldn’t you be happy that I’m leaving the competition? It’s one less thing to worry about, right? Your decision in choosing chefs to advance to the next round won’t be hard anymore because I’m leaving. Everything will be better without me—”

“Why would I be happy over a contestant’s voluntary withdrawal from the competition?” He cuts you off. 

You fall silent. Suddenly, you have no energy trying to defend yourself. With everything piling up, you’ve decided to give up. Everything that has happened to you in the past has led you to this moment. From spilling wine all over Jaehyun’s drink to messing up Jaehyun’s dish at your internship in Florence to your time here at MasterChef, it has brought you to the conclusion that maybe Jaehyun was right: you’re not fit or qualified enough to be a chef. 

“In a competition, you should not associate your emotions with your overall performance. Whatever you create here in the kitchen is what we judge.” He says sternly with his hands placed on top of the marble of your countertop. “You and I are both aware that this is a competition. You are aware that your performance and the dishes you create are going to be commented on by judges. But as judges, we make those comments, good or bad, are to help you improve.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t feel like comments to me. I don’t feel like you’re helping me improve. I feel stuck with no direction given. I just feel like you have this predisposed idea of who I am after all those negative encounters we’ve had in the past which is why you treat me like this.” You finally get it off of your chest. You feel extremely vulnerable in front of Jaehyun. All of your emotions that you’ve held in for so long are beginning to hit the surface. “And this is why I’ve decided to do everyone all a favor and withdraw.”

He pushes himself off of the countertop and holds in a sigh. You let your head hang low. His eyes land on the cardboard box sitting on the floor. It’s filled with all of your cooking utensils. He sees an old washed out apron sitting right on top of all the pans and dishes. Stitched right near the upper corner of the apron is a name. It’s not your name, but your mother’s name. The apron has been through a lot. It’s been through  a lot of washes. It’s been through a lot of spills. But you have never once thought of throwing it out because it was the only thing you had left of your mother. Aside from all the memories you have of and with her, of course. 

“Well, withdrawing from the competition means that you’re aware that you have no confidence in yourself.” 

“I hope you’re hearing yourself right now.” You mutter softly.

“Do you really think you’re not fit to be a chef?” He questions. 

“Well, you sure make me feel like it—” You scoff. 

“Cook me your best dish, then. If I think it’s horrible, then maybe withdrawing is the best decision.”

“I thought you’ve already made it clear that I’m not fit or qualified enough to be a chef—”

“You have sixty minutes.”

“Chef—”

“Your time starts now.”

Before you could protest, Jaehyun turns his back towards you and walks away. You’re trying so hard not to burst out into flames. The urgency to flip him off makes your blood boil. As he takes his seat at the front behind the judges’ table, you bend down to finish packing up your things. Jaehyun seems to pick up that you’re not taking up the challenge. 

“You claim that I was discouraging you this entire competition. You said that you have potential. You want to prove me wrong, right?”

You stop in your tracks. You sure do. You want to prove Jaehyun wrong so badly. With a burning passion. When he sees that you’ve stopped, he knows that he’s slowly changing your mind. 

“This is your chance to prove me wrong. Prove to me that you deserve to stay in this competition.”

You will yourself back up, fiery eyes meeting him. He knows that he’s turned the gears in your head. After you’ve given it much thought, you decided that if you were going to withdraw from the competition, you might as well show him what kind of aspiring chef they’re going to regret letting go of. You guess it was a pride thing. But you’ve never wanted to prove Jeong Jaehyun wrong so badly until now.

Jaehyun stares at you as you walk away from your station and into the large pantry with all the fresh ingredients. A smirk slowly begins to spread across his lips. You’re grabbing many ingredients from the pantry. There are some questionable pairs but ever since the start of the competition, you’ve always been experimental with your dishes. Surprisingly, they always turn out delicious no matter how ambiguous the ingredients are relative to each other. You finally return to your workstation to begin cooking your dish.

“Fifty-five minutes left,” he yells out to you.

You slightly jump. It’s just the two of you in the kitchen. If you were quite honest, it felt a bit intimate. But you felt a lot of pressure on your shoulders. Here you are, cooking for a world-renowned chef, after voluntarily withdrawing from a competition that he judges for. Here you are, cooking for a world-renowned chef who asked you to cook him a dish to prove him wrong. 

A deconstructed pie. That is what you have in mind.

There are two ingredients that you’ve never paired together before; grapefruit and basil. You’re planning on making a deconstructed raspberry and basil pie. The pie will consist of basil jelly and grapefruit curd, topping it all off with Italian meringue. 

“What are you making?” Jaehyun asks when he walks up to your station.

“A pie.”

“In an hour?” Jaehyun questions. You slowly nod your head, trying to keep yourself focused on your work. “Pies usually take more than one hour to make.”

“It’s going to be a deconstructed pie. Grapefruit and basil. Instead of using the crust, I’ll be using graham cracker crumbles.” You explain while juicing your grapefruits. 

“Grapefruit and basil? Don’t you think that those two together would be a bit… risky?” 

You shake your head. “Basil goes well with lots of fruits. I wouldn’t be surprised if basil went well with grapefruit.”

“I’ve tried a grapefruit and basil pie once. I don’t remember where, but it was delicious. I have high expectations for this. Yours will be the second grapefruit and basil pie that I have ever had in my entire life.” He comments. What a way to put the pressure on you. You don’t say anything. “Alright, then I guess—”

“You’re distracting me.” You cut him off. “Do you mind going back to the front and sitting there while I continue doing whatever it is that I need to do?”

“Sassy,” he grins. “Fine. I’ll be up at the front. You have forty-five minutes left.”

Forty-five minutes left to prove yourself. At this point, you’re not trying to prove you are worthy of staying in the competition. You’re trying to prove that you are nothing what Jaehyun thinks of you. You’re trying to prove Jaehyun that you are fit and qualified enough to be a chef and that this is made for you. It is something you love doing. It is your passion.

Jaehyun plops his butt down onto his seat and watches you cook up your dish. You’re making grapefruit zest while making sure the grapefruit curd isn’t being overcooked. He finds himself staring at you with awe. 

When Jaehyun met you for the first time, he didn’t like you. You ruined his shirt. His favorite shirt. But another reason why he didn’t like you was because you didn’t look confident enough. When Jaehyun met you for the first time, you were hiding behind the executive chef, too humiliated by your own actions. He saw right through you at that moment. You had an inferiority complex. You were not confident enough in yourself. You were shy. You always doubted yourself. But when his eyes met yours, he saw a fire ignite within them. 

When Jaehyun met you for the second time, you weren’t a waitress. You were a line cook. A culinary intern. You ruined his dish. When Jaehyun met you for the second time, he still didn’t like you. It was because after all the months that have passed by, you still don’t look confident enough in yourself. It made him uneasy. But the only difference that time around is that although he still didn’t like you, he knew that eventually, he would, because he saw potential. Leaving the restaurant that day after tasting your subpar dish made him uneasy, knowing that he could’ve done something to lift your spirits up. He knew that he had to do something to make you learn how to be confident in your cooking because that was the first step to making perfect dishes. If you were confident to cook, your dishes would reflect it. When Jaehyun met you for the second time, he realized that he didn’t like you because you reminded him of himself.

When Jaehyun met you for the third time, you were taking a chance at MasterChef. It was a year since the last time he saw you. On your first and second encounters with Jaehyun, the both of you were in Florence. But the third time, the both of you are in Seoul. It almost seemed fated. When Jaehyun boarded the plane in Florence going back to Seoul, he couldn’t get you off his mind. What if he tried to lift you up? What was it that he could’ve done to encourage you? He regretted being cold to you. He knew that if he had just been a bit nicer, a bit more sincere, it would’ve further ignited the flame that was already lit within you. It was like the heavens had heard him and sent you to him for a third time. 

He knew this was his third and final chance to make things right.

“Twenty minutes!” He yells.

“I heard you loud and clear, geez.” You place a hand over your heart as you continue your work. 

You’re working on your Italian meringue. It was something you learned how to do while you were doing your culinary internship in Florence. Making Italian meringue is completely different from making regular meringue. It requires more precision and accuracy. It requires more attention to detail. If you mess up the meringue, you’re practically messing up the entire dish. 

You don’t want that happening. That’s the last thing you want.

While you’re waiting for the sugar water to boil at an ideal temperature, you’re beginning to plate your dish. Gently and slowly, you place a layer of grapefruit curd at the bottom of the bowl. It acts almost like a bed for the basil jelly and Italian meringue. At perfect timing, the sugar water has reached its ideal temperature and you immediately take it off of the stove. You walk over to your stand mixer, turning it on and gradually pouring in the sugar mixture into the egg whites. The egg whites slowly turn into a beautiful meringue. Sweet. Fluffy. Almost like marshmallows. Once you’ve poured the entire sugar mixture, you continue to mix the meringue until the bottom of the bowl runs cold to the touch. 

“Fifteen minutes!” 

Jaehyun waits for you to say something but nothing comes out. He checks up on you and realizes you’re too focused on placing the meringue into a piping bag. He never knew how pretty someone could look under the harsh light of the stage kitchen. The brightness only highlighted your features that were solely focused on creating the perfect deconstructed pie. 

This was a first for Jaehyun—being mesmerized by a contestant under his wing. And as his heart caught on fire, much like the gas stove he used to use when he learned to cook all those years ago, Jaehyun also hoped it would be the last.

Having the chance to see you again is definitely a chance given by fate. The idea that you could be gone from the competition out of your own will absolutely terrifies him. It’s the last thing he wants. He wants you to realize how much talent you have. He wants you to realize that you have a lot of potential. He wants to be close to you. He wants to get to know you more. He’s only been able to do that through your dishes. Lately, it’s been hard to look directly into your eyes because it makes him grow nervous. While you’re the only contestant that’s around his age, he’s never felt more connected to someone until he met you. You most likely feel the complete opposite of him, but this is because he has the tendency to push people away. He pushes you away because he’s scared that once he screws up this chance to make things right, he might not forgive himself. It’ll be all his fault.

“Ten minutes!”

You’re piping the Italian meringue onto the bed of grapefruit curd. After that, you’re slicing up the basil jelly into small cubes. You place the basil jelly cubes on top of the grapefruit curd along the Italian meringue. Lastly, you’re grabbing a handful of graham crumbles and scattering them carefully on top of the Italian meringue, basil jelly cubes, and the grapefruit curd. Your deconstructed pie is almost done. You rummage through the drawers to find a torch. You light the torch on to slightly toast the Italian meringue. You don’t want it to burn, you want a nice toast on the top. 

“Five minutes!”

You fix up your dish one last time with roughly four minutes to spare. You slowly head up to the front of the kitchen with your deconstructed pie. Jaehyun meets your gaze and he smiles. Oh, how you wish you could wipe that smile off of his face. Placing the dish right in front of him, you step back for him to taste it.

“Do you mind going through how you prepared this dish?” Jaehyun asks as he opens one of the drawers to pull out a spoon.

You clear your throat. “It is a deconstructed grapefruit and basil pie. It consists of grapefruit curd as a bed layer with basil jelly, graham crumbles, and Italian meringue.”

“Why did you choose to make Italian meringue instead of the usual meringue?” He asks.

“I chose to use Italian meringue for this dish because Italian meringue has a more marshmallowy, soft, fluffy consistency in comparison to ordinary meringue.” You explain. “I think the soft, fluffy texture of Italian meringue fits perfectly with the creamy grapefruit curd and basil jelly.”

“I’m going to take a spoonful of everything.” Jaehyun begins as he scoops a little bit of grapefruit curd mixed with graham crumbles, a single basil jelly, and a single Italian meringue. The both of you meet eyes and he puts the spoon into his mouth. 

As he’s taking a moment to savor the flavors, you let your head hang low. You’re expecting him to let out a frustrated sigh. You’re expecting him to come up with the rudest comment on your dish. It’s horrible. It tastes horrible. You’re waiting for those words to come out of his mouth—

“It’s… delicious.” 

Your head shoots up. He digs in for another spoonful of your deconstructed pie. “Sorry… what?”

“I said,” he says, “it’s delicious.”

You let out a breathless laugh. Were you hearing things right? Jaehyun quirks an eyebrow at you and you straighten up your posture. “Sorry, I just—this is the first time I’ve ever heard something nice coming from you.”

“It not only tastes delicious but it tastes familiar.” He mumbles softly. “It reminds me of this diner my parents used to take me to after basketball practice. The diner was somewhere near Yonsei University where my parents used to teach. That diner served grapefruit and basil pie. I think I was about twelve or thirteen years old. It’s been a while since I’ve had it but I could still remember it so vividly—”

“Mina’s Place?” You whisper.

Jaehyun’s eyebrows raise with surprise and his face is overcome with realization. Mina’s Place. The reason why he hasn’t been to the diner in a while is because it closed down when he made a visit. It was a sudden shutdown and his family never knew what happened to the owners. They were unique and both of his parents’ favorite place to wind down after a day of teaching culinary students. That diner’s grapefruit and basil pie had inspired him to follow the footsteps of his parents. It was the unusual pairing of basil and fruit that made him curious, it was what drove him to start cooking. 

“Yeah… Mina’s Place.” He mumbles softly. “It’s too bad it closed down too soon.”

Your head hangs low again. Mina’s Place was your mother’s product of hardwork and dedication. Your late mother had bought the space and created it into a diner where she was able to cook up whatever she wanted for her guests. It was what made her happy. But when your mother started to grow sick, it was your father that took over the diner in hopes that she would return. But your mother’s health continued to deteriorate until she passed away at an early age of forty-seven. Ever since her passing, the diner wasn’t the same. Your father had decided to sell the diner to a young couple who were looking to start their own restaurant. 

Your mother’s best-selling item on the menu was the grapefruit and basil pie. Until this day, you are grateful that she managed to pass the recipe down to you. You had loved and admired your mother’s love for cooking. You would spend most of your days watching her cook. You would ditch everything to learn how to cook, especially from your mother. The deconstructed pie that you had made for Jaehyun is a representation of how much you miss her and how much she inspired you.

“Thank you,” you whisper. Jaehyun looks at you confusedly. “Thank you for cherishing my mother’s passion, for cherishing her love of cooking. She would be thrilled to know that there was someone who loved her grapefruit and basil pie.”

“Y-You’re joking,” he shakes his head. “She’s your mother?”

You purse your lips into a tight line, nodding. “We closed down the place because she died of cancer. It didn’t make sense to take on the diner after her passing. My father had no idea how to cook.”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry—”

“I decided to study culinary arts because it’s the only thing that reminds me of her. It’s the only thing that brings me closer to her. I also wanted to open up a diner in her honor, to celebrate her life. I think that’s what she truly wanted… to spend most of her life with her family and at the diner.” You chuckle, wiping away a tear that slides down your cheek. “And don’t apologize. You had no idea.”

“But still, I—”

“I’ve decided to stick with my decision regardless of whether you enjoyed my dish or not. I’m going to withdraw from the competition.” You clasp your hands together. 

Jaehyun watches you as you carefully take off your apron. You place the apron right next to your dish before bowing to him. “Y/N, no—”

“Thank you for everything, chef. It was an honor cooking for you and I’m glad you enjoyed the pie.”

“Y/N, no, please. Stay here with—” Me. That’s what he wants to say. It almost terrifies him that this is the first thing that crosses his mind. It catches him off guard. He’s never had the urge to let you stay. He’s never been afraid of losing you. He’s never been terrified of slowly realizing your importance and your effect on him. “The other contestants. You’re worthy of the chance. Just like them.”

“I’ve already told the producers—”

“We can always take it back. You can always take it back.” He cuts you off. “Don’t withdraw. You have so many more things to accomplish, to conquer, to show off. You have talent, Y/N. Withdrawing from the competition will be the biggest mistake of your life—”

“Please don’t say all of that if you don’t even mean it—”

“I mean it. Stay.” He’s so close to begging. “Your mother was one of the few driving forces that led me to becoming a chef. If it weren’t for your mother, I probably wouldn’t be standing in front of you right now.”

“You’re lying,” you shake your head in disbelief. “You’re just making this hard for me.”

“Stay for your mother. I’m sure she would want you to finish the competition regardless of whether you win or not—”

“But you wanted me gone since the first round—” Never. He never wanted you to leave. He wanted you to stay. He wanted to help you. He wanted to encourage you to work hard for your dreams. 

“Do it for her. Do it for Mina’s Place.”

You fall silent. For a moment, you could hear your mother’s voice chanting you on. You could hear her giggles and laughter. You could see her bright smile. It makes your eyes glassy. Your eyes trail down towards the pie that you made. As you fixate on the pie, you wipe away a few more tears.

“Yes, chef. I’ll stay.”

“How did you change her mind?”

Taeyong stands next to Jaehyun and watches you as you return your things back into their respective drawers at your station. Taeyong, along with Doyoung, had expected your station to be empty the following morning. But there you were, absolutely present, setting up your station before the next round of the competition begins. Jaehyun shoves his hands into his pockets and watches you intently, not being able to tear his gaze away from you.

“Let’s just say I worked my magic,” he answers softly. 

Doyoung glances at his co-judge, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. He follows Jaehyun’s line of sight and it lands on you. Taeyong seems to pick it up as well and a cheeky grin spreads across his lips. Taeyong has worked with Jaehyun for many years. They opened up one three-Michelin starred restaurant in Florence together and they ran the restaurant for many years. From Jaehyun’s inner thoughts to his feelings, Taeyong knows him so well. In fact, Taeyong hasn’t seen Jaehyun like this in so long. 

Work has been the main priority for Jaehyun. Taeyong was always trying to get his best friend to loosen up and meet some people while they were in Italy. But Jaehyun was always closed up and always stayed back in the kitchen. It was sad for Taeyong to see his best friend have a lack of social life—moreover, a dating life. Jaehyun’s last relationship was a couple of years ago and it ended on horrible terms. In particular, his breakup happened right before he boarded his flight to Italy. Taeyong knows that it left such a negative impact on his best friend. Jaehyun had promised to never fall in love again after his breakup, devoting his entire life to cooking and being in the kitchen… never leaving it once. 

But seeing how Jaehyun looks at you, Taeyong is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Alright, chefs! We’ll be starting in ten minutes! Relax, grab a drink, and we’ll regroup.” Doyoung announces. 

You suck in a deep breath, heading towards the water dispenser to get yourself a cup of water. Taeil follows behind you, grabbing himself a cup of water too. He tilts his head in confusion, analyzing your every move. You seem to notice and when the two of you finally make it up to the balcony that oversees the entire kitchen, you face him.

“Is there something on my face?” You ask.

Taeil shakes his head. “No! No, not at all. I was just—I thought you said you were going to withdraw from the competition.”

You take a swig of your water. “I did. But… I changed my mind. I decided to stay.”

“What changed your mind?” Taeil questions. Everyone’s beginning to gather at the balcony before the new round of the competition begins. 

Before you could even answer Taeil’s question, Chef Jaehyun stands in the space between you two. He leans over the railing of the balcony. You and Taeil share a look. You clear your throat, adding a bit more distance between you and Chef Jaehyun. Taeil studies your body language and it’s almost as if he reads your mind. Ah, Chef Jaehyun changed your mind. 

“Ah, I see.” Taeil slowly nods his head. “Well, good luck, Y/N. I’m sure you’ll do well in the next round.”

Taeil leaves you and Chef Jaehyun alone to talk with other contestants. You’re looking everywhere but at Chef Jaehyun, busying yourself by the water in your cup. 

Jaehyun can’t comprehend what’s going on with him. He can’t find the courage to look at you. But when he does, he can’t seem to breathe because his heartbeat picks up its pace. He clears his throat. “Are you ready for the next round?”

You finally look at him. You straighten up your posture. “Yes, chef.”

“Y/N, no, please. Stay here with—the other contestants. You’re worthy of the chance. Just like them.”

“Don’t withdraw. You have so many more things to accomplish, to conquer, to show off. You have talent, Y/N. Withdrawing from the competition will be the biggest mistake of your life.”

“I mean it. Stay. Your mother was one of the few driving forces that led me to becoming a chef. If it weren’t for your mother, I probably wouldn’t be standing in front of you right now.”

It’s hard to get rid of Chef Jaehyun’s voice out of your head. Whatever happened a couple of nights ago in the kitchen felt a bit too intimate. You were cooking one of your best dishes, a dish that meant a lot to you, for one of the most famous chefs in the world. It was just the two of you in the kitchen. Chef Jaehyun had begged you to stay in the competition. All of those events that night were driving you crazy.

What Chef Jaehyun does next snaps you out of your thoughts. He places his hand on your head and ruffles your hair. Your eyes slightly widen and you freeze. “Good luck.”

When he leaves to speak with the other contestants, you’re left all alone by the balcony with a heart beating so fast. You almost drop your cup of water but you catch yourself just in time. You place a hand over your heart as if it’ll help it stop beating so fast.

There’s been a shift between you and Chef Jaehyun ever since that night. 

You’ve always despised Chef Jaehyun. You didn’t even like him to begin with. Not one single bit. 

But now… you’re not quite sure anymore. 

“There are only two more rounds left in the competition. But this round determines who has a chance to be the next MasterChef. Who will make it to the final round of MasterChef? We shall find out! For today’s challenge, the three of you will be paired up with one of us to cook up a special meal for your own friends.”

There are three contestants left in the competition. Those contestants are you, Taeil, and Seokjin. Each one of you is called up to the front to pick a slip of paper from a box. The chef that’s on your chosen slip of paper will be the chef that you will be paired up to cook with. Whoever you end up with wouldn’t matter because the three of them are perfect in their own way.

Chef Jaehyun is a perfectionist. He’s also competitive. He loves making sure that the food he puts out is more than perfect. It gives him relief and satisfaction knowing that his customers love the food that he makes for them. He’s surely known all over the world for being overly meticulous. He’s also known for running many successful restaurants. He has strong ties with restaurants in Florence. Being paired up with Chef Jaehyun means that you are guaranteed to make a successful dish.

Chef Taeyong is also a perfectionist but not as competitive as Chef Jaehyun. He always makes sure that he thoroughly enjoys the process of cooking. He’s almost like a mother. He cooks for people because he genuinely enjoys doing it. It’s a hobby that he enjoys doing and somehow, it brings him fortune and success. Being paired up with Chef Taeyong means that you’ll not only make a perfect dish, but you’ll also have fun making it and create a story along with it.

Chef Doyoung is not a perfectionist, but he has a great sense of his ingredients. He knows the compatibility of ingredients, which is something every chef wants to have. It’s a trait that is rare to find in chefs. This trait had led him to win MasterChef when he was a contestant. To others, his dishes might be ambiguous but once people try it, they would have never imagined such a dish to work out. Being paired up with Chef Doyoung means that you are willing to take risks that will elevate your dish and bring out uniqueness. 

When you open your slip of paper, you almost let out a laugh.

Chef Jaehyun.

Fate loves playing games with you. 

“I got Chef Jaehyun,” you hold up your slip of paper. You and Taeil exchange looks. 

When your eyes meet Chef Jaehyun’s, he bites back a smile that’s threatening to spread across his lips. The two other chefs can’t seem to hold back their smiles either. You look down, growing too shy with all of the attention on you.

“I got Chef Taeyong.” Taeil shows his slip of paper.

“And that means I got Chef Doyoung.” Seokjin finishes, holding up his slip of paper.

“Perfect. We’ll start in five minutes. During these five minutes, we will all discuss with our partners and plan out our dishes accordingly.” Chef Taeyong announces.

When Chef Jaehyun heads over to your workstation, you can’t seem to compose yourself. Your mind is going insane. You’re not sure if you’re going to end up regretting having Chef Jaehyun as your partner or be grateful that he could help you secure a spot in the finals. 

“I’m surprised you’re not sick and tired of me yet,” he mumbles. “It’s just always gonna be you and me, huh?”

“I’m surprised you’re not sick and tired of me yet either,” you shrug your shoulders. 

“I guess fate likes the two of us together.” He says, avoiding your gaze.

“I’m sure fate hates me and is punishing me by pairing me up with you.” You mutter underneath your breath. 

“I heard that.”

“You were supposed to.”

Working together with Chef Jaehyun is a pain in the ass. 

“The sashimi should be cut like this!” 

“Yeah, I know! I can see it!” 

It’s been non-stop bickering for the past fifteen minutes. There’s forty-five minutes left before you have to send out your dishes to your friends. With the grin planted across Chef Jaehyun’s lips, you’re not sure if he’s doing this for fun or if he’s genuinely being strict and serious. 

“You’re in the way.” You nudge him aside to grab the bottle of Japanese mayonnaise. “Do you mind checking on my rolls?”

“They look good—”

“You didn’t even look at them!” You look at him as if he had ten heads.

“I don’t need to look at them to know if they look good or not.” He rolls his California rolls. “You need to be more confident in yourself. Do you think they look good?”

“Of course, because I made them.” You fold your arms.

“Then they look good! You have to trust yourself, Y/N.” He slices through the California roll before rolling each of them into Panko. “I feel like you don’t trust yourself enough.”

Chef Jaehyun’s right. You don’t trust yourself enough. When he notices how silent you’ve gotten, he finally takes a look at your California rolls. He analyzes the contents of your roll before smiling. “It looks perfect to me. You see, I didn’t need to look at them to tell you that they’re good. You put the right amount of crab meat. There’s a balance between the crab meat and rice. The roll is consistent. The rice is sticky enough. It’s perfect, Y/N, stop doubting yourself.”

“Really…?”

“Really. Now, get back to work because we don’t have much time left.”

As the two of you both get back to work, Jaehyun can’t seem to stop himself from smiling. If there was one thing he wanted to do with someone special to him, it was to make a meal together. He learns more about someone through the art of cooking. You’re an expert at baking and inherited those skills from your mother. You know your spices so well that they come to you so naturally. You know how to balance your ingredients. You know when two ingredients work and when it doesn’t. 

You’re the complete opposite of him. Jaehyun is an expert at everything but baking. He doesn’t have a great sense of spices and would often plan out his dishes carefully. Making a perfect dish doesn’t come naturally to him. He’s more on the practical side of cooking. Jaehyun thinks you’re the perfect match for him. Whether it be in the kitchen or as someone he’d like to pursue… he’s not sure. 

It would be a huge lie if Jaehyun wasn’t attracted to you. He doesn’t know when the switch happened. Maybe he liked you from the start. 

It’s almost as if fate had you written in his stars. When Jaehyun had been dumped by his ex-girlfriend right before he boarded his plane to Florence, he was devastated. He was devastated knowing that his ex-girlfriend whom he was planning on proposing to was cheating on him that entire time. He was devastated knowing that he lost one of his few passions; the love of his life. Heartbroken. Closed off. Focus on working. Focus on hustle culture. Never falling in love again. That was Jaehyun’s mindset.

But now that he thinks about it and all the encounters you’ve had with him, meeting you for the first time in Florence must be a fateful encounter. From spilling expensive wine all over his shirt to serving him a horrible dish as a culinary intern, no matter how embarrassing those experiences were, it must be fate. You make him worry about you. You make him think about you a bit too often. He goes out of his way to make sure nothing horrible happens to you. He doesn’t want you to be hurt.

Meeting you may be a special event that has happened in his life.

“Chef? Chef…?”

He snaps out of his thoughts. You’re giving him a funny look.

“You were saying?”

“You have some seaweed on your face, chef.”

“I-I do? Where—”

Before he could even wipe his face with his hands, you’re already reaching up to rub off the seaweed crumbs off of his face. He freezes in his spot. His eyes look down to meet yours. When you finally brush the seaweed crumbs off of his crimson red cheeks, your eyes shift to his. It’s your turn to freeze. Out of instinct, Jaehyun gently holds your arms. He holds you so carefully… almost cautiously. Somehow, he can’t speak. Somehow, everything that surrounds the two of you becomes nothing but white noise. His eyes slowly trail down to your lips. 

“You have fifteen minutes left! Fifteen minutes!”

You both are startled, repelling from each other. To calm your unsteady heart, you focus on finishing your last few sushi rolls before you begin plating them. Jaehyun stands more than a meter away from you, not making any sort of conversation with you for the remainder of the fifteen minutes. His heart is beating so fast that he’s afraid you could hear it ramming out of his chest.

It’s all starting to make sense. To him, at least.

He’s slowly—but surely—falling in love with you.

The morning of the final round of MasterChef, you wake up still in disbelief that you’re one step closer to becoming the champion. In the semi-finals, your great teamwork with Chef Jaehyun has secured you a spot in the finals, giving you a bigger chance of winning the entire competition. There’s no backing down for you. The possibility that your dreams can come true is still surreal for you and now you’re willing to put in all the effort to make sure that possibility becomes reality. 

As soon as you enter the kitchen, you spot none other than Taeil, who’s already setting up his station. You and Taeil both find it funny how although you’re both closest to each other and have become good friends in the competition, here you both are, competing against each other to become the champion of MasterChef. It’s a friendly competition. You can’t imagine finishing the entire competition with anyone else.

“Hello, chef.” You greet him.

“Good morning, Y/N. Today is the day.” He smiles. “Good luck. Let the MasterChef win.”

Everyone begins to gather around. Your friends and family and Taeil’s friends and family. The three chef judges make their ways to the front after getting their hair and makeup done. The kitchen is set up differently this time around. Instead of the normal rectangular work stations, the station is set up as a circle that surrounds both you and Taeil. The two of you will work on opposite sides of the circle.

As you and Taeil get settled and wait for filming to start, your eyes catch Chef Jaehyun’s. You’re almost surprised and a bit taken aback to catch him already looking at you. He’s dressed up quite nice today. He’s wearing an indigo suit with his hair styled back. He has such prominent eyebrows, you notice, since he’s always had his hair down. He’s… handsome. 

And he smiles at you.

Not knowing what to do in return, you flash him a small, timid smile before looking away. In just a few minutes, the final round will begin and your fate will be determined. You spot your father who’s wiping away tears with his handkerchief. Sitting in his arms is a framed picture of your mother. Your eyes slowly tear up but you blink them away. 

“We will start in three… two… one… action!”

“Welcome everyone, to the final round of MasterChef.”

“Today, we will find out who is this season’s MasterChef.”

“Will it be Taeil? Or Y/N? We shall find out!”

For the final round of MasterChef, you and Taeil will be cooking up three dishes for the chef judges. The first dish will be the appetizer. Following the first dish is the entree. The third and final dish is the dessert. You and Taeil were given a week to figure out what you’re going to serve the chef judges. You have decided to base your dishes around the theme of apples. All three of your dishes contain apples.

The first round of three begins and you’re cooking up your first dish. For your first dish, you’re creating a scotch quail egg that will rest on top of a bed of parsnips and potatoes. You envision this dish to replicate a bird’s nest, where the bed of parsnips and potatoes act as the nest that protects the scotch quail egg. The scotch quail egg is different, however, because you will incorporate apples into the coating that surrounds it. 

“Your time starts now!”

You and Taeil busy yourselves at your own sides of the circle. You’re beginning your dish by boiling a pot of water for your quail eggs. At the same time, you’re bringing out the ground pork and a couple of red gala apples. As you’re cutting the gala apples, you make sure to cut them into cubes to make them stand out in the scotch egg. From the corner of your eye, you can see Chef Jaehyun step off of the stage to head towards you.

“Hello, Y/N.” He greets you as he approaches your side of the station. “What are you making for us?”

“A scotch quail egg,” you mumble.

“With apples?” You hum in reply. “And what are you going to do with the potatoes?”

“I’m going to slice them up to replicate a nest for the quail eggs to rest on.” You answer.

“That seems like a bit of an easy dish, don’t you think?” He purses his lips into a tight line. “Do you think it’ll be enough to impress us?”

“Yes,” you mumble, trying your best not to let him distract you. 

“Are you sure your quail eggs are going to be cooked properly? They shouldn’t be—”

“Overcooked, yes, I am very much aware of that, Chef Jaehyun.” You cut him off.

He chuckles. Your ears perk up. “It seems like you don’t want me around. Am I distracting you?”

“Yes,” you answer and everyone around you laughs. “I guess you’ll just have to see what I have planned for you when I serve it to you later.”

“Sounds good. I’m excited to see what you bring to the table, Y/N.” He searches for your eyes, but they’re busy looking at other things. In reality, you’re just too shy to look at him. “Good luck, Y/N.”

“Thanks, chef.”

Returning to your station, you keep the judges’ comments on your appetizer in your thoughts to improve on the next dish. The next dish that you’re going to cook up for them is the entree. Because your appetizer was easy to make, this left you ample time to begin preparing for your entree. You plan to serve the chef judges an entree dish that you call, rabbit two ways, in which you will serve them two different kinds of rabbit meat while incorporating bursts of apple flavors into it. The timer starts and you and Taeil get to work.

“I like how you presented this dish. It looks like a bird’s nest!”

Chef Taeyong’s comments on your dish had given you the motivation and desire to win the competition. From the start of the competition all the way to the final round, Chef Taeyong has been nothing but encouraging and genuine. All of his comments and advice shaped you into who you are as a chef today, at this very moment. 

“Although there are some burnt potatoes and parsnips in my dish, I think that it surprisingly complemented the sweet flavors of the apple in the scotch egg.”

Chef Doyoung, a MasterChef champion, is someone you always looked up to. You remember watching the season that he was competing in and having a gut feeling that he would make it to the final round. There was something special about Chef Doyoung and his dishes. Every dish he created had its own story, and of course, it would always look and taste delicious. Hearing his comments throughout your journey in the competition has also helped you learn and create a chef’s mindset. 

“I think I would definitely serve something like this as an appetizer at one of my restaurants. The presentation is spot on. I couldn’t have imagined a scotch egg to be presented in any other way. It’s almost as if you’re recreating nature, mother nature I would say, through your dishes. The flavors balance so well, which is not surprising because you’ve always had a good sense of your spices. Very well done, Y/N.”

Chef Jaehyun, although you disliked him at first, has truly been the one who wanted to see you succeed. Ever since he had tried to change your mind about withdrawing from the competition you couldn’t help but think that he was the one who truly liked you and your performance in the competition all along. If he didn’t try to change your mind, you would have probably withdrawn from the competition and returned back to the starting position of your journey. Chef Jaehyun has made you realize that if you truly want something, you have to work extremely hard for it. He made you realize that you’re better than what you think and most of the time, you’re just being hard on yourself. Someday, you plan on thanking him for being tough on you because it helped you on your journey to becoming a chef.

As you heat up the pan on the stove, you slice and dice up your apples to fuse them with the rabbit meat. Placing them onto the pan, you begin creating your artichoke puree that will amplify the flavors of the dish. From time to time, you could check up on the rabbit meat to make sure that you weren’t overcooking it. Overcooking rabbit meat would be horrifying because it would only mean that you would have to cook a new batch in so little time. It is extremely crucial to your dish. 

“You have fifteen minutes left!”

You spent the remaining fifteen minutes focusing on the rabbit meat since you have finished making the artichoke puree. After already beginning to plate your dish with the puree, you place the rabbit meat onto a frying rack to drain out the oil. Your hands are shaking out of complete nervousness. You want this so bad. But the fact that you’re serving a dish that you haven’t even tasted is such a huge risk to take. 

“Five minutes left!”

Drizzling a bit more of the artichoke puree on top of the rabbit meat, your nervous hands cause you to drizzle a bit more than needed. Pulling out a clean towel, you wipe off some of the puree that scattered on the sides of the dish. Glancing up at the time, you have one minute left to spare. You take these last few seconds to make sure everything looks good before handing them over to the servers.

“Time’s up! Hands up! Servers, please head to the back to serve the dishes.”

The last and final dish you are going to serve the chef judges is dessert. Dessert is your expertise. Everyone is aware that if there was one thing you excelled at as a chef, it would be through your desserts. You would like to thank your mother for exposing you to the world of baking at such a young age. It truly helped you later on in life, especially in this competition. For this dish, you decided to create a dish that represented a fallen apple or an apple that has fallen from an apple tree. The dish is simply an apple panna cotta, but you will be presenting it in such a way that it looks like an apple that has fallen onto the ground. This dish is going to tie up your ‘apple’ series and hopefully help you win the competition.

“Hey, Y/N. I’m back.” Chef Jaehyun smiles as he visits you at your station once again.

You smile back at him. “Hi, Chef Jaehyun. Is there anything I could help you with?”

“You could help me by letting me know what you’re planning on serving us for dessert.” He grins. 

“I guess you’ll just have to find out,” you mumble softly. 

“Mysterious.” He nods his head as he begins to move on to Taeil’s station. “You’re going to surprise us?”

“Yes, chef.” You reply.

“Well, I hope it’ll be worth the surprise! Good luck, Y/N.”

“Thanks, chef!”

For your dish, you’re not planning on serving them a whole apple. You’re going to recreate the apple by making apple jelly. The apple jelly will be shaped like an apple by pouring the mixture into a silicone tray. Since an apple has seeds in the middle, you are going to toast up some pine nut seeds and place them into the middle of the jelly mixture once it’s set. To recreate the red color of an apple, you are going to place a red glaze all over the jelly. Since this dish is going to replicate a fallen apple, you are going to recreate soil by grinding up a mixture of nuts and raisins. This will act as the bed for the fallen apple. Lastly, you are going to recreate the leaves of the apple tree by using sugar and water, and the twigs of the branches with a sweet dough.

“You have twenty minutes left!”

You pull out your silicone trays and you nearly have a heart attack. The jelly is not completely set but you don’t have much time left to keep it in the fridge. You still have to plate the entire dish. Taking the toasted pine nut seeds off the stove, you place them onto a tray to cool down. One by one, you shove pine nut seeds into the apple jelly. The seeds keep popping back up, which confirms that your apple jelly still isn’t set properly. But with the time you have left, you have to take this risk. 

“Ten minutes left!”

You begin plating your dish. To plate your apple-themed dessert, you grab the bowl of fake soil that you created with an assortment of nuts and raisins and scoop out two spoons to create a bed for the fallen apple. After you do that on three plates, you carefully pop out the apple jelly from the silicone tray and place it on top of the soil. Then, to decorate the apple jelly, you stick your fake twigs into the jelly and place sugar leaves on top. As you grab the pot of red glaze, you stop in your tracks. 

From the corner of your eye, you can see Chef Jaehyun looking at you as you freeze in your spot. You look deep in thought. Suddenly, you shake your head and place the pot of red glaze back onto the countertop. He tilts his head in confusion.

“Ten seconds left!” 

Everyone is beginning to count down and you’re making final touches to your dish. Taeil, on the other hand, already has his hands up to indicate that he’s already done.

“Time’s up! Hands up! Servers, please take the dishes to the back.”

“Alright, Y/N, please tell us what you have served for us.”

Stepping forward, you clear your throat. Each one of them looks at you with anticipation, but it makes you grow even more nervous. You feel more nervous than how you were at the start of the competition. When your eyes meet Chef Jaehyun’s, your mind can’t help but go blank. He gives you an encouraging smile and it’s enough for you to snap back to your senses.

“For dessert, I’ve recreated a fallen apple by making an apple panna cotta. The fallen apple is supported by a bed of soil which is recreated with an assortment of nuts and raisins. To replicate the twigs and leaves of the apple tree, I’ve made a dough for the twigs and used a sugar glaze for the leaves.” You describe your dish. All of their eyebrows raise. You’re not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

“I saw you holding a pot of red glaze earlier and I assumed that you were going to use that to glaze over the apple jelly. But I see that you’ve decided not to use it. Is there a particular reason why you decided to do that?” Chef Jaehyun asks as he’s digging into your dessert by taking a bit of everything onto his spoon.

“I decided not to use red glaze for this dish because I felt like it would look a little bit too fake. I also think that it wouldn’t match the overall colors of the dish.” You explain. 

Chef Jaehyun smiles. “I think that was good judgment on your part. If it doesn’t look like it belongs on your dish, then don’t add it. Well done, Y/N.”

“Let’s all dig in.” Chef Doyoung insists.

As they all taste your dish, you nervously fiddle with your fingers. After they have all finished tasting the different components of your dish, they look back up at you.

“I think this is a unique dish, Y/N.” Chef Taeyong begins. He’s the first one to make a comment on your dessert. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The presentation is spot on again. I really like the balance of sweetness from the apple jelly and the richness of the soil. I enjoyed this dish. Thank you, Y/N.”

“Thank you, chef.” You mumble.

“I agree with Chef Taeyong.” Chef Doyoung smiles. “I really like how the jelly melts in your mouth and how this is counteracted by the crunchy texture of the nuts. The presentation of the dish is executed very well, it looks like a fallen apple. You’ve done a beautiful job, Y/N.”

“Thank you so much, chef.” 

“I agree with all of them.” Chef Jaehyun chuckles. “I see why you decided not to add red glaze to this dish. It would have completely ruined it. I am not one who likes desserts, but this has completely changed it for me. I love how it has the right amount of sweetness. The nuts balance well with the sweetness due to it being so rich in flavor. I would also serve something like this at my restaurant. You’ve come a long way, Y/N. You’ve done an excellent job in finishing up your three-course apple menu.”

“Wow, that means a lot, thank you so much.” You sigh with relief.

“Alright, we’re going to have a bit of a meeting now.” Chef Doyoung chuckles. “The two of you can go back and meet with your family while we go over your dishes and choose this season’s MasterChef.”

“Good luck, Y/N and Taeil.”

“We have finally come to a decision.”

Everyone is gathered near the front of the kitchen. The three judges are standing right in front of you. You and Taeil share glances. Taeil flashes you a huge smile that you mirror back at him. It feels like a dream standing in front of the three chef judges, waiting for them to announce the winner of MasterChef. The journey that you took on this competition is one that you will never forget and one that will change your life forever. 

“It was hard to choose a winner for this season’s MasterChef.” Chef Taeyong begins. “Because the two of you have come such a long way since the start of the competition. The two of you have been through tough challenges and elimination tests, but you persevered, and that’s why you’re standing here today.”

“You have both improved and learned a lot since you started your journey here at MasterChef, and your journey continues even after the competition.” Chef Jaehyun clasps his hands together. “I personally think this season is my favorite. This final round has been special. You both served dishes that we have never even seen in the previous seasons of MasterChef. The both of you should be extremely proud of yourselves for making it this far.”

“But we do have to choose one MasterChef winner. The winner will be getting the first prize and a chance to open up their own restaurant or catering service. This will put you out into the field of cuisine and culinary arts, something that we’re all sure that you both came here for.” Chef Doyoung smiles. “Shall we announce the winner?”

“I think we should.” Chef Taeyong chuckles. “It was such a hard decision but…”

“But we have finally chosen this season’s MasterChef.” Chef Doyoung finishes it for him. “Y/N, Taeil, could you please step up to the front?”

You and Taeil head towards the front, hand in hand. Taeil gives your hand a tight, reassuring squeeze. Standing right behind him is his own family. Standing behind you are your relatives and your father, but also your mother, who’s looking down at you from the sky. 

“This season’s MasterChef is…”

You close your eyes. Your heart begins to beat faster than horsepower. You would feel like the only woman in the world if you hear your name being called out. Standing right here, with Taeil, in front of three world-renowned chefs, is another reminder of how much you wanted this, why you started this journey, and what you want out of it. It’s not only for you, but for your mother, who would always chase her dreams. 

“Congratulations, because you are this season’s MasterChef…”

“Y/N! Congratulations, you are this season’s MasterChef!”

It’s all a blur. Confetti shoots up into the air and falls down like snowflakes. You open your eyes when you feel yourself being attacked by your family with hugs. Taeil’s hand never lets go of yours and he pulls you into a tight, celebratory hug. Your eyes well up with tears. 

You can’t believe it.

If only your mother was here to celebrate your win with you. But you’re sure that she’s up in the skies, cheering you on, celebrating your achievement. It’s hard to breathe because it all feels so surreal. When you blink away your tears, your vision becomes clear again and you see the three chef judges coming in to join the big hug. Chef Jaehyun falls within sight and you share gazes.

He flashes you a wide, warm, genuine smile while mouthing ‘congratulations’.

Your heart skips a beat but you pay no attention to it.

You mouth back a ‘thank you, chef’.

AFTER MASTERCHEF.

It’s been a couple of months since you won MasterChef and you’ve been assigned to work alongside Chef Doyoung at one of his new branch locations. You’ve been assigned this job in the meantime while you renovate your new diner that you’ve always wished of running. 

If Jaehyun were to be honest, he was quite sad (or should he say, jealous, but he will never admit it) that you were assigned to work with Doyoung. The days after MasterChef have been uneventful and boring. Everywhere he looks, it reminds him of you. Everything he does, it reminds him of you. Stubborn to admit it, he misses it. He misses you.

And so when he steps inside of Doyoung’s new branch location of his restaurant, Doie, he hopes that he could catch you there. Why? Because finding you has been extremely difficult these days. 

As he steps into the restaurant, he heads straight to the front desk. The woman working at the front slowly looks up and upon realizing who’s standing right in front of her, her posture straightens.  

He flashes her a warm smile. “Is Chef Y/N here?” 

“O-Oh! You’re Chef Jaehyun!” She exclaims. 

He smiles sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “Yes, that’s me. I decided to drop by and check this place out. I had only found out that Chef Y/N was assigned to work here in the meantime before the opening of Mina’s Place.” 

“Unfortunately, Chef Y/N already left. She left a couple of hours ago to attend to some personal matters.” The woman frowns, spinning a pen in between her fingers. 

“Oh, is that so?” He’s trying so hard to hide the disappointment in his eyes. “I guess I was a bit too late.”

“Do you want me to pass a message on to her, chef?” She asks insistently. 

“Oh, there’s no need. I guess I’ll just drop by tomorrow.” He says with defeat.

Why is it that it used to be so easy to bump into you? Why is it that it’s become so difficult to bump into you now? Why is it so hard to cross paths with you now? It’s been so easy to find you before. But now, when he tries to find you, he can’t. It’s grown into a difficult game of hide and seek.

“Actually—” Jaehyun begins before cutting himself off. “I’ll be right back.”

He rushes out of the restaurant and spots a flower shop right across the road. Stepping inside of the flower shop, he’s greeted by an elderly woman who’s watering a fresh batch of tulips. She places the pail of water back onto the black and white tiled floor. 

“Hello, young man, how can I help you?” 

He lets his eyes wander around the shop. He can’t seem to figure out what to get. 

“I’ve been wanting to get a bouquet of flowers, but I’m not quite sure which flowers to put together.” He scratches the back of his head.��

She giggles sheepishly. “Is it for a young lady that’s taken your interest?”

He’s caught off guard by the question. He lets out a shaky, breathy laugh. There’s no way he could be feeling this way for you. Even if he does feel like you’re someone special to him, it’s something that will take a while for him to understand. Liking you is one thing but falling in love with you is another.

“I—I mean—Yeah, I guess so?” He sounds confused.

She tilts her head. “You guess so? Well, young man, the fact that you’ve stepped foot into my shop to get a lovely lady a bouquet of flowers must mean something. She must be someone special.”

The old woman has a point. He wouldn’t be going out of his way to do all of this for you. He wouldn’t be trying to find you. He wouldn’t have the urge to talk to you, to get to know you more. 

“I guess you’re right,” he slowly nods his head when everything slowly becomes clear for him. “Alright. Do you mind putting a bouquet together for a young woman that I’ve taken interest in? I want her to like me just as much as I like her.”

The old woman breaks out into a wide smile. 

“Right away, sir.” 

When the bouquet of white daisies and red tulips is wrapped and bundled together with a plastic wrap, Jaehyun pays for the old woman’s efforts and time before heading back to the restaurant across the road. But before he leaves the flower shop, the old woman gives him words of encouragement. He gives her two thumbs up and heads back. 

The woman standing at the front eyes the bouquet of flowers in his hands when he enters. He places the bouquet on top of the counter. “I’m back.”

“You’re back, indeed.”

“Do you mind giving Y/N these flowers when he comes in tomorrow? You could place them in a vase to keep them fresh too.” He asks.

She nods her head. “Will do, chef.”

“Alright, thank you so much. I’ll head on out now—”

“Chef Jaehyun, are you sure you’re just going to give her the bouquet of flowers without a note?”

Shoot. He turns back around. “You’re right, I didn’t write a note.”

She slides over a stack of sticky notes and her own pen. “Here you go, chef.”

He grabs the stack of sticky notes and walks over to one of the tables for two. He plops his butt down onto one of the chairs and thinks about what to write and what type of note he wants to leave you. To him, it seems like he’s been sitting there for hours. There are so many things he wants to tell you, but he’ll have to say them one by one.

To Y/N, 

I dropped by Doie in hopes of seeing you. Would love to meet and catch up with you over a cup of coffee. I miss hope that we could get in touch soon. On the back of the note is my number. Hope to hear from you soon.

Jaehyun

“A short video?”

The production team exchanges looks before nodding their head. Jaehyun has been called to have a meeting with one of the food companies that he helps endorse. The company is popular for their gluten-free food products. From gluten-free flour to gluten-free bread, the company most likely carries it. It was the first brand that Jaehyun endorsed mainly because he’s always been picky with his food, especially since his mother’s allergic to gluten. 

“Yes! With Chef Y/N! It’s a promotion video for one of the new brands we’re carrying here at the supermarket. We’re planning on having the both of you shop around one of our supermarkets and use the groceries to create a dessert for Valentine’s Day.” One of the PR managers explains.

“Did Chef Y/N agree to do the video?” He raises an eyebrow. 

“Yes, she just got back to us this morning. She’s interested in doing the video.” Another PR joins the conversation. 

“Great. I’ll do the video.”

Everyone looks at each other weirdly. That was such a fast response. They always had trouble negotiating with Jaehyun mainly because of his busy life. But this time, it was different.

“O-Oh? That’s perfect, chef!”

“When do we start?”

A couple of weeks later, you arrive at a supermarket that’s been closed off to the public until noon. It’s been a while since you last saw Chef Jaehyun. You were quite surprised to hear that he had decided to do the cooking video with you. You were even more surprised when the PR team had told you that the MasterChef viewers had voted for the two of you to collaborate for the video. As for the reasons why the viewers voted for the two of you specifically… you still have no idea.

“Chef Jaehyun will be arriving in a bit, he’s running late because of traffic.” The videographer informs you. 

“No worries, I’ll keep myself busy in the meantime.” You smile, heading inside of the supermarket to take a look at the groceries. 

You start off in the produce section, trying to see what you can come up with for the video. There are fresh large strawberries that you think would be perfect for chocolate-covered strawberries. After all, you and Chef Jaehyun are supposed to create a dish that would be perfect for Valentine’s Day. You try to look for other alternatives, steering away from doing the basics. 

“Miss Y/N? Chef Jaehyun has arrived. He’s just outside of the supermarket.” One of the PR interns approaches you, almost startling you.

“Oh! Yes, alright, I’ll head on over with you right now.” You join her as you both walk back outside of the supermarket. 

As you walk through the automatic doors, the first thing you spot is a tall figure standing a few meters away. He’s talking to the videographers and the PR interns who are telling him what they have planned for the video. You hesitantly approach them, mumbling a soft, “hello.”

When Chef Jaehyun turns towards you, you see his eyes slightly widen before a flame ignites within them. For a brief moment, you get lost in his eyes because you find yourself focusing more on trying to steady your fast heartbeat. When you come back to your senses, you’re the first to look away. 

He clears his throat and you feel his shoulder brush against yours. “Nice seeing you again, Y/N.”

“Nice seeing you too, chef.” You mumble softly. Why do you feel shy?

“Are the two of you ready to start filming? From the scripts that we sent you, it’s going to be a casual type of video.” The videographer explains. “Just to briefly brush over what we have planned for the video, the two of you will be shopping for groceries that the company carries and sells and you will both cook up a dish together. It will be Valentine’s Day themed.”

The both of you slowly nod. “Are you ready?”

You look up to see Chef Jaehyun already looking down at you. You flash him a small, timid smile. “Ready, chef.”

“Perfect! Let’s start with the filming. Be yourselves and of course, have fun!” The videographer clasps his hands together and he pulls out his camera. 

You brace yourself.

It’s going to be a long day, that’s for sure.

“Hello everyone, I’m Chef Jaehyun.”

“And I’m Chef Y/N.” 

“And today, we’ll be shopping around for ingredients to cook up a meal that you could cook for your loved ones this Valentine’s Day.” 

Chef Jaehyun pushes the cart while you look for some fresh fruits in the produce section. The two of you have agreed to cook two different dishes, a dessert and a main course. Chef Jaehyun will be in charge of the main course dish while you will be in charge of the dessert. 

“To spice things up, we have a couple of questions to answer while we shop.” You begin while you’re grabbing a bag of raspberries. 

“You’re going to play the couple game!” One of the PR interns says from her script. Your eyes almost bulge out of its sockets. You don’t remember a couple game written in the script. From the surprised look on Chef Jaehyun’s face, you don’t think he remembers it either. “We will give you two options and the both of you will answer on the count of three. Think of it as a compatibility game!”

“C-Couple game? Compatibility game?” Chef Jaehyun chuckles sheepishly. 

“First question! Fried chicken or pizza? One… two… three!”

“Chicken.” You both answer in unison.

“Wow, the compatibility is strong right off the bat.” The PR intern giggles. “Next question! Snow or rain? One… two… three!”

“Snow.” You both answer in unison again. 

“Wow, this must be fate.” The PR intern swoons. “Third question! Ice cream or cake? One… two… three!”

“Ice cream.” Chef Jaehyun answers.

“Cake.” You answer.

“The last few questions will only get interesting from here. Next question!” The PR exclaims. “Fall in love with your childhood best friend or fall in love with a celebrity! One… two… three!” 

“Fall in love with your childhood best friend.” You both answer.

“Interesting. Next question!” The PR continues to read off of her list of questions. “Choose the one who likes me or choose the one I like the most? One… two… three!”

“The one that I like the most.” You both answer. The PR intern grins as if her mission was accomplished successfully. 

After all of your horrible encounters with Chef Jaehyun, this was one of the few times that you were actually on the same page as him. The only times that you felt like he was on your side was when he begged you to stay in the competition and when he was your partner for semi-finals. You were slowly starting to forget about cold-hearted Chef Jaehyun, the perfectionist that loved to nitpick every single detail of yours. This side of Chef Jaehyun… is a side that you want to see often. 

In fact, you wouldn’t be surprised if you fell in love with him.

“Last question before we let you finish grocery shopping,” the PR intern snaps you out of your thoughts. “What are your ideal types?”

“I like someone who is easy to talk to, someone that I can communicate with without feeling embarrassed. It’s nice to have someone who’s transparent.” Chef Jaehyun is the first to answer the question. 

“How about you, Chef Y/N?” 

You think about it for a moment. You hum to yourself before shrugging your shoulders. “I don’t think I have an ideal type.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because I think that no matter what you like in a certain person, when you actually fall in love with someone, that person could be completely different.” You explain.

“You’re a hopeless romantic, Y/N.” Chef Jaehyun nudges you.

It’s an odd gesture, coming from him. You bite your lip, nudging him back. 

“If there’s a hopeless romantic out of the two of us, it would be you, Chef Jaehyun.”

The PR intern chuckles.

“It would definitely be you, Chef Jaehyun, since you were born on Valentine’s Day!”

At the end of the shoot, you and Chef Jaehyun had insisted on cleaning up the kitchen before leaving the set. You’re busy washing the dishes and he’s busy putting the ingredients back into the cupboards and fridge. From the corner of your eye, you can see Chef Jaehyun leaning against the countertop, watching you. You almost drop the dishes into the sink, catching yourself right in time.

“How have you been?” You hear him ask.

You bite your lip. “I’ve been well, chef. You?”

“Better now that I’ve seen you again.” 

You clear your throat, letting out a lighthearted chuckle. “I’m not sure how you want me to react to that, chef.”

“Did you… get them?” 

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “Get the…?”

“The flowers…?”

“Flowers…?” You place the dishes back into the hot bath before gasping. “Oh, right! The flowers! Yes, I got them. Thank you, Chef Jaehyun. You didn’t really need to.”

“I wanted to give you a gift since I heard that you’re planning on opening a diner,” he mumbles softly. Is he… blushing?

“It’s true.” You smile. “I’m going to make my mother’s dreams come true.”

“I’m sure she’s proud of you.” He flashes you a smile. It’s a different smile. This time, you can feel the genuinity he’s expressing. It feels sincere. “Have you finalized a grand opening date?”

You turn off the faucet and wipe your hands with a towel. As you turn towards Chef Jaehyun, you don’t realize how close he’s been standing to you. You almost stumble back. Gulping nervously, you nod your head. “Sometime in July.”

“I’ll keep my schedules flexible in July, then. I’d love to join you for the grand opening.” 

“Oh, you don’t need to, chef. I’m sure you’re busy with other things.”

“If it’s for you, why not?” 

The two of you stare at each other. His eyes slowly trail down to your lips. You lick them out of instinct, frozen with your feet glued to the floor. As you fake a cough, he regains his focus and is the first to pull away from you. 

“Jaehyun? We have to get going for your next schedule.” His manager calls out to him.

The two of you glance at each other. He gives you a look you can’t seem to read. Jaehyun doesn’t want to leave. He wants to stay with you. He wants to spend more time with you. He’s aching to get to know you more. There’s a sense of urgency and neediness. 

“You should get going, chef.” You mumble shyly. “Wouldn’t want to be late to your next schedule.”

What Chef Jaehyun does next completely catches you off guard. He ruffles your hair before caressing your cheek with the same hand. With widened and surprised eyes, your heartbeat picks up its pace. He smiles. It feels warm. He feels warm.

“I won’t be able to see you for a while but Happy Valentine’s Day, Y/N. You don’t know how happy I am to see you again.”

When Chef Jaehyun’s figure gets smaller and smaller, your heart feels tighter and tighter. You’re not sure how Chef Jaehyun feels about you. But what you’re sure of is that you no longer despise Chef Jaehyun. 

You’re slowly falling in love with him.

[NEW] COOK UP HEARTWARMING VALENTINE’S DAY DISHES W/ CHEF JAEHYUN AND MASTERCHEF CHAMPION Y/N  1.2m views | 56k+ likes | two days ago

COMMENTS:

[pinned comment] Chef Jaehyun Official: Happy Valentine’s Day everyone~ #chefjaehyunxYN should we do another video together?

pastrychef_amy21: omg is it just me or does anyone feel like chef jaehyun has a crush on chef y/n?? doggolover312 replied: omg I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT NOTICED.  luminescencexx replied: the way he looks at her >> get you a man like chef jaehyun ugh he’s handsome AND he cooks??? perfect package kjhdskjfh

galaxiesandstarsxo: they act like an old married couple sobs i always found their bickering cute since masterchef doggolover312 replied: but doesn’t chef jaehyun have a gf? i swear he did galaxiesandstarsxo replied: i think they broke up a long time ago? they were supposed to get married apparently… but something happened. they even unfollowed each other on socials doggolover312 replied: omg if that’s the case… chef y/n you still have a chance!!

It’s your last day helping out at Doie and it feels bittersweet to be leaving. Here, you close a chapter to open another one. You’ve been helping out in the kitchen at Doie for months, right after you had won MasterChef. The time you were at Doie is something you’ll cherish. But you’re moving on to make bigger moves, making you and your mother’s dreams come true as one of them. 

On your last day of work, Chef Taeyong decides to surprise you with a visit. You’re in the middle of cooking up a dish when he arrives and asks you if the two of you could have a chat. You both find yourselves sitting in the loft that’s been closed to customers for the season. 

“How have you been?” He asks. 

You smile. “I’ve been well, chef. I’ve been enjoying every single day.”

He chuckles. “I can definitely see that you’re enjoying every passing day. You’re a MasterChef, after all.”

You cut right to the chase. “Am I in trouble, chef?”

“No, not at all. Far from it, actually.” He shakes his head. “I wanted to talk to you about something… or should I say, about someone.”

“Who?” 

He snorts. “Jaehyun, of course. Have you seen him recently?”

“Yes, chef. We filmed a video together for Valentine’s Day with one of his sponsors—”

“Now that makes sense!” He exclaims. He sighs with relief. “He’s been acting incredibly weird lately. In fact, he’s been acting weird for the longest time, since MasterChef, and it’s been driving me nuts.”

“Chef Jaehyun? Acting weirdly?” You ask confusedly. 

“How do I put this?” He sighs. “He likes you, Y/N. You may not think he does and he may not think he does either, but I see it. It’s crystal clear. It’s as clear as day.” 

You fold over, bursting out into laughter. It’s the reaction he expected from you. He got the same exact reaction from Jaehyun. Complete disbelief. Complete obliviousness. 

“Oh no, chef. I don’t think he likes me—”

“He does, Y/N.” Chef Taeyong cuts you off. “Listen, before his flight to Florence, his ex-girlfriend dumped him because she was cheating on him. Ever since then, Jaehyun has been such a cold-hearted person and worked his ass off. But I always felt that there was something off about him.”

“He got dumped before flying out to Florence?” You purse your lips into a tight line. “Maybe that’s why he was such in a bad mood when I spilled wine all over his shirt—”

“You both met each other before MasterChef?” Chef Taeyong flips out, eyes rounding like saucers. “In Florence, too?!”

“Yes…?”

“Makes sense.” He squints his eyes. “He kept talking about this restaurant, specifically about this waitress who somehow became a culinary intern—”

“That was me—”

“—and how he kind of regretted being so cold and rude to her because he truly saw potential and thought that she needed a boost of confidence—”

“He saw potential in me even back then—”

“—wait, the girl he was talking about was you?!” His jaw drops. 

You slowly nod your head. “I was the waitress who spilled wine all over his shirt. I was the culinary intern who messed up his dish. All those horrifying encounters with Chef Jaehyun had led me to think that he absolutely hated me. He was blunt and honest, which made my unconfident self to join MasterChef to prove him wrong.”

“And you did.” Chef Taeyong smiles before it turns into a grin. “But Y/N, you got it all wrong.”

“I got it all wrong? How?”

“Jaehyun never hated you. He never disliked you.” He confesses. “In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Jaehyun’s a weird guy, I know.”

“H-How? I don’t—I don’t understand.” You scratch the back of your neck, face filled with confusion. 

“When he told me about a waitress spilling wine all over his shirt, he laughed and said it was like fate was telling him to wake up.” He chuckles. “When he told me about a culinary intern messing up his dish, he couldn’t help but regret being harsh to the intern and wanted to go back but he already had to fly back to Seoul.” 

You’ve never really thought of how your encounters with Chef Jaehyun looked through his point of view. Now that Chef Taeyong was laying it all out for you, you were slowly realizing that your low self-esteem and confidence caused you to immediately conclude that he hated you. 

“Huh—”

“When you auditioned for MasterChef, Jaehyun actually wanted to say yes. In fact, he was the first one to say yes, but the producers of the show told him to say no to add more drama for the viewers.” He continues. “For your team challenge, Jaehyun was the one who spotted Euntae sabotaging your cake.” 

“It was him?” You whisper. 

He nods his head. “When we were deciding who to eliminate after your team lost the challenge, Jaehyun was proactive in convincing us to keep you in the competition. You were close to being eliminated but Jaehyun kept telling us that you had potential.” 

He saw potential in you. He was persistent in keeping you in the competition. In the end, Chef Jaehyun really cared. 

“I—”

“The day after I found out that Jaehyun stopped you from voluntarily withdrawing from the competition, I was curious as to how he managed to make you stay.” He smiles. “But when I looked at him look at you, I had already gotten the answer.”

You fall silent. Chef Jaehyun did everything to make sure that you felt like you were fit to be a chef. But you were just closed minded and immediately shut him down. All of his actions translated into intentions out of hate. You wish you had known, perhaps you would’ve developed a great friendship with him. You’re surprised he’s still coming back into your life to try at being friends with you after being so rude to him. 

“I’ve worked with Jaehyun for many years. I know him so well. I can read him like a book. When I saw how Jaehyun looked at you that day, I felt relieved because I’ve never seen him like that for so long.” He places a hand on your shoulder. “If my best friend decides to pursue you, just know that he has good intentions and that it’s a huge step for him, especially after a heart crushing breakup.”

“That is, if he really likes me.” 

“Oh trust me, honey, he does.”

Chef Taeyong lets out a sigh. The two of you stand there, looking out at the blue skies that overlook the busy streets of Seoul. Your life may be busy, but you wouldn’t trade it for anything else. You’re living out your dreams. 

“Hey, Y/N?”

“Yes, chef?”

“The reason why I dropped by was because I wanted to give you this.” He pulls out an envelope from a bag filled with many other identical envelopes. 

You quirk an eyebrow. “Can I open it in front of you?”

He hums in reply. “Go ahead.”

As you open the envelope, you pull out a white card. It’s almost as if you could read his mind. As you slowly open the white card, you let out a gasp.

“You’re getting married?!”

THE GRAND OPENING.

It’s been a year since you won MasterChef. It’s also been a year since you started planning to start your own diner in memory of your mother. Mina’s Place. You decided to keep the name because it’s one of the few things that remind you of her. You even made sure the interior and exterior of the diner looked exactly how it did when the diner was still open. From the yellow seats and booths, the use of purple and lavender lighting to the gray tiled floors, you kept everything the same. The only difference is that the diner is located in a different area, right in the middle of busy Seoul. 

Today is the grand opening of the diner and you’re expected to serve a large group of customers. PR and advertisement has been your best friend, but your appearance and your win at MasterChef drove the anticipation of the diner’s grand opening even further. 

You arrive at the diner at six in the morning to prepare all of the ingredients. From the ingredients to the grapefruit and basil pie to the ingredients for your Korean brisket and kimchi burger, you had prepared them all on your own. It was only until eight that your co-chefs and waiters and waitresses had arrived to prepare for the grand opening. Around eleven-thirty, customers, Instagram influencers and foodies began to show up at the door, forming a long line around the strip.

“Chef Y/N?” One of the waitresses, Luna, pops her head through the door.

You’re crouching down, filling up the mini fridge with cartons of milk. You dust your hands off your apron and you slowly get up. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“Someone’s here to see you,” she flashes you a warm smile.

You look at her confusedly. “Are we missing someone on the team? I don’t remember anyone telling me that they were going to drop by—”

“It’s Chef Jaehyun,” Luna bites her lip. She’s biting back a huge smile.

Your eyebrows raise. Confused, you continue to gather yourself. Chef Jaehyun? “S-Sure, you can let him in.”

Luna leaves the kitchen to go fetch Jaehyun and you finish placing all the cartons of milk into the mini fridge. Moments later, you hear footsteps entering the kitchen. You stand back up, bumping your head against the table and groaning in pain. Crouching back down over the floor, you hear footsteps begin to scurry closer to you. 

“Oh! Are you okay, Y/N?” 

Before your hand touches the sensitive area, you already feel a familiar hand gently rubbing it to soothe the pain. You freeze up in your position, gulping nervously. Suddenly, Chef Jaehyun’s face is right in front of yours. He has a look of concern. Looking back at him with slightly widened eyes, your mind is completely wiped out of thoughts. What is this feeling? You’ve never felt this way before. You’ve never felt your heart beat so fast. You’ve never frozen up in front of someone. You’ve never lost your train of thought because of someone. 

Seconds later, you clear your throat, pulling yourself away. You’ve finally come back to your senses. “Chef Jaehyun… I had no idea you were planning on dropping by—”

“I wanted to join you in the ribbon ceremony for the grand opening!” He exclaims.

He remembered? He knew it was today? You and Chef Jaehyun have never established some sort of friendship after the competition. You like to think that the both of you have achieved the status of being acquaintances, but definitely not the status of being friends. 

“A-Ah,” you mumble softly. “Thanks, chef. You didn’t need to, I feel like it would be a bother and I’m sure you have other plans too—” 

You’re not sure when things began to change. You’re not sure when the atmosphere began to shift between you and Chef Jaehyun. It’s almost as if you’re seeing a different person. He’s much brighter, nicer, happier. Why is it making your heart swell? What are his intentions?

“I wouldn’t miss the grand opening to Mina’s Place for anything else,” he says softly. “Hey, Y/N?”

You raise an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“I got you a present to congratulate you on the grand opening of Mina’s Place.” 

“A present?” You blurt out. “Oh, no, Chef Jaehyun, you didn’t need to—”

“I wanted to.” He cuts you off. “Let’s go?” 

For a brief moment, you see his hand reach out to grab yours but he quickly pulls away upon realization. The two of you are not that close for such skinship. When he realizes it, he looks back up at you with panicked eyes. Was he really going to hold your hand? You clear your throat, tearing your eyes away from his. Instead, you both walk out of the kitchen side by side.

Sitting on one of the light brown hardwood tables is a lavender box wrapped with a thin white ribbon. You glance at Jaehyun as if asking for permission, he gestures to you to go right ahead. Gently untying the ribbon, you take the lid off the box. A small gasp escapes your lips.

Sitting inside the box is an apron, but it’s not your regular apron. The apron looks just like the one in your old family pictures. Yellow with white straps. It’s simple and clean. It’ll show the stains of your hard work. It’ll feel like home. 

But when you pull it out, there’s one little difference to the design. There, embroidered in white on the top left corner, reads the words “Mina’s Place.” It looks just like your mother’s handwriting, the original font of the brand, and it makes your eyes well up with tears. For a brief moment, when you hold up the apron, you could imagine your mother standing right before you with it on. 

“Chef, I—” You’re having trouble forming the right words to say. 

“So she’ll be with you, right above your heart, every step of the way,” Jaehyun pauses for a moment, “Chef.” He gives you a smile so fond, you are again struck with disbelief. 

Hearing the word ‘chef’ come from Chef Jaehyun is something you want to hear over and over again. You want it to play through your head like a broken record. Chef Jaehyun has always been hard on you, but you knew that he was only hard on you because he only wanted the best. Chef Jaehyun is always hard on everyone and you failed to notice that. He truly wants the best for the people he works with and most importantly, the people he teaches. Maturing is realizing that you were ignorant of Chef Jaehyun’s true intentions and immediately thought negatively of him because of your past encounters with him. 

“D-Do you mind saying that again?”

“I’m proud of how far you’ve come, Chef Y/N. This is only the beginning.”

After a long first day of opening, you and your team of chefs and waiters and waitresses see the last customer out. The grand opening has been such a dream to you. There was a long line that wrapped around the block. The diner was packed with many people. The line never truly saw its end until an hour before closing. When the last customer walks out of the diner after complimenting how delicious their food was, you feel your legs give out and you sigh with relief. Slowly getting back up onto your feet, you head to the back kitchen to congratulate your team.

“And we are officially closed until tomorrow morning!” You exclaim. That is, until you spot a celebratory cake sitting right in front of you on the countertop. Your team of chefs and waiters and waitresses have their phones on and recording your surprised face. “Oh you guys, you shouldn’t have!”

“Congratulations on your grand opening, chef!”

Your eyes scan the kitchen. There’s Luna, a good friend of yours from university who worked as a waitress at a hotel restaurant. She quit her job in a heartbeat after you had offered her to work front of house with a better pay. Standing right next to Luna is Minhyuck, who just graduated from culinary arts college and has been wanting to get into the kitchen as soon as possible. You saw your younger self in him, which is why you hired him on your team. Right next to Minhyuck is Yena, a rookie pastry chef that’s planning on entering MasterChef and figured working with a MasterChef champion would help her. Next to Yena are Wheein and Dohyun, who are line chefs and also your co-culinary interns in Florence. Lastly, there’s Mark and Donghyuck, two best friends and college students who were looking to get jobs as waiters.

“You guys are going to make me cry.” You pout your lips.

“To Mina’s Place!” Mark exclaims.

“To Mina’s Place!” Everyone else exclaims.

You smile, leaning in to blow out the candles. Everyone cheers. But slowly, everyone puts down their phones and stops recording video. You look at them confusedly as they begin to flash you encouraging and cheeky smiles and grins. 

“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” You ask.

“Well, would you look at the time, we should get going!” Dohyun looks down at his wristwatch, avoiding your question.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. My mom’s going to kill me!” Wheein is rushing to gather her things.

“Wheein is my carpool driver, so I should get going too.” Yena bites her lip.

One by one, everyone starts to leave the kitchen and the diner. When it’s just you, you slowly turn around to see Chef Jaehyun entering the kitchen. He clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck nervously. You tilt your head in confusion.

“Y-You’re still here, chef?” You question.

He nods his head. “I wanted to drop by and see your last customer out.”

“O-Oh, you didn’t have to—”

“I wanted to.” He smiles. “I was wondering if you could…”

He falls silent, having trouble finding the right words to come out. You stand there, expectantly, waiting for him to finish. The first thing you notice is how red Chef Jaehyun’s ears are becoming. The second thing you notice is how he can’t seem to look directly into your eyes. The third thing you notice is that… Chef Jaehyun has become shy and nervous around you. Have the tables turned?

“If I could…?”

“If you could teach me how to make the grapefruit and basil pie.” He blurts out and it comes out as a jumble of words. 

You bite back a smile. “Are you going to steal my recipe and start selling grapefruit and basil pie at your restaurant?”

“Of course not,” he panics. “I would never do that.”

“I’m not sure if I could trust you,” you fold your arms, continuing to tease him. “Jaehyun.”

“I won’t,” he says softly, finally finding the courage to look into your eyes. When it sinks in that you called him by his name, his gaze softens. You feel your heart swell. “I promise. That is, if you promise me one thing too.”

“Of course,” you smile. “What is it?”

“You’ll accompany me to Taeyong’s wedding.” 

“I’d love to, in fact, I was invited as well—”

“As my date.” He finishes. You almost choke on your spit. 

Is this really happening? Jaehyun looks incredibly nervous. You bite your lip to stop yourself from smiling so wide. You slowly nod your head in response.

“I’d love to, Jaehyun.”

THE ‘REAL’ FIRST TIME.

When Jaehyun’s parents pick him up from elementary school, it’s pouring showers outside. But the only thing that lit up the gloomy streets of Seoul was Mina’s Place, a diner that he and his parents would frequent every Friday to reward their efforts for the past week. Both of Jaehyun’s parents are well-known professors at Yonsei University, specifically in the culinary arts program. Jaehyun’s father was a chef alongside famous chefs like Baek Jongwon and Lee Yeonbok. Jaehyun’s mother was a pastry chef who was known for her win at a famous pastry competition back in her days. 

And Jaehyun… was a mini chef in the making. 

On a gloomy Friday afternoon, Jaehyun and his parents sit in their usual corner of Mina’s Place. A woman seeming to be in her late thirties heads over to their table with a menu. She’s wearing an apron and a chef’s hat. 

“Welcome to Mina’s Place, what can I get you started for today?” The woman asks, pulling out her notepad after gently placing the menus down onto the red table. 

“Hi Mina, we’d love to have the usual!” Jaehyun’s father exclaims. “That grapefruit and basil pie has never left my mind since the last time we were here.” 

“That’s such a relief to hear…” The woman, whom Jaehyun now knows is Mina herself, sighs with relief. She writes it down in the notepad along with his mother’s order. She clicks her pen before stuffing it into the pocket of her yellow apron. “I’ll have your orders ready in a bit. In the meantime, make yourselves at home!”

Jaehyun’s eyes wander around the diner. Although this diner was the place he and his parents would frequent, this diner was extra special for a reason. That reason being that his parents got engaged right in front of the diner while it was owned by different owners. During that time, the diner wasn’t Mina’s Place yet, it was a fast-food restaurant. 

Jaehyun’s attention is disrupted when Mina comes back to their table with their orders. His eyes land on the little girl standing right beside her. She has such large innocent eyes. She looks curiously at him. She seems to be somewhere around his age. She’s sporting a mini apron that looks exactly like Mina’s. 

“And who is this cute little girl?” He hears his mother ask Mina.

Mina places her hand on the little girl’s shoulder, bringing the little girl closer to her. She cuddles against Mina. “This is my daughter. Her name is Y/N.”

“How old is she?” His mother continues to ask questions out of curiosity. 

“She’s ten.” Mina pinches her daughter’s cheek. 

“Oh, she’s two years younger than Jaehyun!” His father joins in the conversation. “They could be friends!”

Jaehyun makes eye contact with the little girl. She looks up at her mother before looking at both of his parents. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she looks back at him and sticks out her tongue. He feels taken aback, eyes slightly widening. 

“I think they would get along quite well!” Mina smiles. “Doesn’t little Jaehyun want to be a chef when he grows up?”

“He does,” his mother nods her head. “Does Y/N want to be a chef as well? Take after you?”

“She sure does! They could even go to culinary school together! Maybe go to a cooking competition or something!”

Friends? Jaehyun scoffs, sending a glare at the little girl. They have an intense staredown. To the adults, it looks like they’re staring at each other because they have crushes on each other. But in reality, Jaehyun’s having a staredown with the little girl because she provoked him. He pokes his tongue at her in return. Her eyes widen as if she did not expect him to put up a mini fight. They could even go to culinary school together? There’s no way that that’ll happen. Cooking competition? Absolutely no way. 

“I think my little daughter here has a crush…”

“Jaehyun, sweetie, isn’t Y/N so pretty? You can’t seem to stop staring at her.”

THE REALIZATION OF (MANY) THINGS.

“That was you?!”

“I can’t believe that was you!”

Sitting by the water fountain, you and Jaehyun talk about your real first encounter with each other when you were kids. From the outside of the reception venue, you can hear the DJ playing a remix of cha cha slide and the guests chanting along. Taeyong’s wedding has been memorable. It was nice to see one of your mentors getting married to the love of his life. Not only that, but you’ve been having a great time with Jaehyun. Since it was getting quite stuffy inside the venue, you and Jaehyun decided to stroll around the garden outside to get some fresh air. 

“You know, sometimes I think that we’ve always had fateful encounters.” Jaehyun begins. He’s aching to hold your hand. But he knows that he wants to take things slow and carefully. He’s so in love with you that he doesn’t want to mess this up. 

“Fateful encounters? What makes you say that?” You ask.

“I came out of a horrible breakup before flying to Florence to run a restaurant with Taeyong. It was such a huge coincidence to have a beautiful woman spill expensive wine all over my shirt.” He chuckles.

You jokingly glare at him. “It was an accident.”

“I know, I know.” He waves it off. “It was an even more big of a coincidence to have the same beautiful woman serve me a dish at the same restaurant.”

“Makes sense.” You nod your head in agreement. “And then we met again at MasterChef but I was a contestant and you were the judge.”

“You know, when I heard that you were withdrawing from the competition, it was like my entire world was crashing down.” He says softly. “It was like I was reminded of all the times I’ve met you and how I couldn’t let you go. I had a feeling that there must’ve been a reason why I met you after getting dumped by my ex-girlfriend.”

“But you showed me that it’s worth working hard and that it’s worth chasing your dreams.” You smile. “I haven’t thank you yet for that but... thank you, Jaehyun. If it weren’t for you, I would probably fly back out to Florence and pick up another job as a waitress.”

“And yet, I would still look for you.” He confesses. “If somehow you stuck with your decision of withdrawing, I would’ve still looked for you, no matter how far the distance.”

“Really?” You whisper.

He smiles. “Yes. I mean, how could I forget the beautiful woman that spilled expensive wine all over my shirt?”

You playfully slap his arm. “You’re really going to tease me for that for the rest of my life, huh?”

“Of course, if only you allow me to be with you for a long time.” He says and it slowly turns into a soft, shy mumble. “Agh, this is so hard!”

You quirk an eyebrow. He’s turning away from you, throwing a cute little fit. “What’s so hard?”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you something but I keep getting nervous because you look—” He stops himself. “You look so pretty and whenever I look at you, I lose my train of thought and all of the things I’ve been wanting to tell you.”

“What is it that you need to tell me?”

“Our fateful encounters.” He begins to tell you, with his back facing you because he’s too nervous to look at you. “After MasterChef, I did everything I could to find you, to see you, to get to know you more. When Doyoung told me that you were going to be working at his restaurant for a while, I kept visiting in hopes to see you but you weren’t there.”

“You did?”

“Yes, which is why I gave you those flowers!” He exclaims. “And then when we were asked to shoot that Valentine’s Day video, I agreed to do it in a heartbeat when I found out that you were going to be joining the project.” 

“Oh...” 

“It used to be so easy to look for you because of all of our fateful encounters. But after MasterChef, it’s become a mission to find you. But now that I’ve finally found you again, I knew that I couldn’t let you go no matter what.” 

“Jaehyun...” You trail off. 

He sucks in a deep breath before slowly turning back around to face you. “Y/N, I hope you know what I’m trying to say, where I’m trying to get at with this... but...”

“But?” You have a feeling you know what he’s going to tell you, but you would rather wait for it to spill past his lips. 

“I’m—” He begins before looking down at your feet. His eyebrows raise in shock and he lets out a small gasp. “Oh, you’re wearing them.”

You almost want to curse at your two feet for ruining the moment. You look down at your heels that you’ve chosen to wear to the wedding. It’s the pair of heels that Alessandro had given to you when you broke your heels after tripping over yourself and spilling wine all over Jaehyun. 

“These heels? Yeah, I was given—”

“You’re wearing the heels that I gave you.” He cuts you off.

“You were the one who gave these?” You whisper.

His eyes meet yours and he chuckles, nodding his head. “Of course. When you got back up after tripping over, I noticed that your heels broke and so I stopped by one of the shops along the strip to get you a new pair. I think I dropped it off with Alessandro because I was running a bit late to—oof!”

“It was you. It’s always been you. This entire time.” You crush him with a hug. He’s caught off guard and sits there in shock for a brief moment before melting into your embrace. 

He slowly pulls away and grabs your hands. “As I was saying...”

“As you were saying...” You continue.

“With all our fateful encounters... with those pair of heels... with all of the times I’ve crossed paths with you, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way in so long.” He continues. “Y/N, I’m so in love with you. I’m already so nervous telling you this right now, especially while holding your hands. I just wanted you to know that I have feelings for you and you could completely reject me, I understand—”

“I’m in love with you too, Jaehyun.”

“Really?” He whispers, still in shock. “You’re giving me a chance?”

“Only if you give me a chance.” You chuckle.

“You don’t know how happy you’ve made me, Y/N.”

“You don’t know how much I want to make you happy, Jaehyun.”

WELCOME TO THE NEW SEASON OF MASTERCHEF.

“For today’s challenge, we will be recreating Y/N’s most famous dish!”

All of the contestants let out gasps when you step onto the stage to join the three chef judges. The judges for the new season of MasterChef remain the same; Chef Taeyong, Chef Jaehyun, and Chef Doyoung. After having them beg you to guest on the show, you decided to give it a shot.

“For today’s challenge, you will be recreating my famous dish of a deconstructed basil and grapefruit pie.” You smile. “To start this challenge, let us all gather around the front so that you could learn how to master your own deconstructed pie!”

You begin by making your way towards the demo station where you will be showing the contestants how to make your famous pie. Everyone joins in and gathers around you to get a glimpse of how to make your famous pie themselves. Standing on the stage a couple of metres behind you are the three judges, you watch you begin your demo.

Jaehyun folds his arms and lets out a happy sigh. Taeyong glances at him and quirks an eyebrow. “I wonder who that beautiful woman is cooking at the demo table over there.”

Taeyong snorts and rolls his eyes. “Jaehyun, that’s your girlfriend.”

Jaehyun chuckles, nodding his head. “Oh right... she is. That’s my girlfriend—actually, my fiance.”

“Your what? Since when? H-How—” Doyoung and Taeyong share shocked looks while Jaehyun digs into the pockets of his jeans to pull out an engagement ring. Your engagement ring, to be exact.

“Since last night.” He holds up your engagement ring in one hand and shows his engagement ring that he’s wearing on his other. “She doesn’t like cooking with her engagement ring so I’m just holding it for her.”

“Dude...” Taeyong clenches his chest.

Jaehyun snorts. “Dude...”

“Wow, I’m really the only one left that’s single, huh?” Doyoung sighs.

The two chefs comfort him by patting his back.

“She’ll come around soon, Doyoung. You just gotta be patient.”

“You never know, she’ll be a chef too!”

“Chef Jaehyun?” 

The three of them shift their attention back to the contestants. You’re the one calling out to Jaehyun. He quirks an eyebrow. “Yes, Chef Y/N?”

“A couple of the ladies here are wondering if you’re single,” you chuckle. 

Jaehyun shares a knowing look with you. “Well, I hate to disappoint but I just got engaged to the love of my life.”

They let out sad sighs and groans before everyone gets back to learning how to make your famous pie. Taeyong smirks. 

“You’re breaking so many hearts right now, Jaehyun.”

💌 author’s note. she’s FINALLY here 😩 again, i apologize for keeping this off for such a long time. i’ve been super busy with school and just life in general. to everyone who’s been super understanding and patient, thank you so much. from the bottom of my heart, i sincerely thank you for waiting for such a long time. i also wanted to thank @sehunniepotwrites for hearing me voice out my frustrations and all of my excitement throughout writing this fic. nikki truly saw all of the emotions that i’ve experienced and gone through while writing chef!jae. i remember always wanting to write a chef!jae fic and bring chef!jae to life, but there was a lot of pressure and the feeling of doubt.. i felt like i had to do it justice and the fear of not writing it to the best of my ability (esp with me being a perfectionist), it was something that held me back from finishing this fic. but i managed to pull through and i realized that it doesn’t matter, what matters is that i enjoyed writing this fic and if that feeling of enjoyment can be felt through those who read it, that’s more than enough for me. but anyways before this gets longer, thank you so much for reading!

and as always, feedback and comments are always appreciated!

taglist (some of the tags didn’t work so if u didn’t get the notif, i’m sorry!): @anya-writes-stuff​ @swifterauhl​ @tyongblr @alwaysthefirstsight @doyoungsmovingcastle​ @pinkyzae​ @sunshinein17​ @jaehyunnie77​ @dreamycomets​ @seventeeneration​ @srutz​ @coupsiesluv​ @nctdom​ @moonchele​ @freshprunecowboyapricot​ @chimmybaek7​ @forhaever​ @ten10vly​ @fluffyjaes​ @gyujaehyun​ @so-showme-ill-shownu​ @winniet​ @yipyipmorals​ 

#neowritingsnet #cznnet #ankathia #nct-writers #jaehyun #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x reader #jeong jaehyun #jeong jaehyun scenarios #jeong jaehyun imagines #jeong jaehyun x oc #jeong jaehyun x reader #nct #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct x reader #nct x oc #nct 127 #nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 x reader #nct 127 x oc #fluff #angst #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun angst #IT'S DONE #AHHHHHH

[midstofroses]

Love Me Like That

❝𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆— 𝑶𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 ��𝒊𝒎𝒆.❞

♡

Pairing: Jeong Yuno-Jaehyun (nct) x (fem!oc) Original Character

» Genre: one-shot, soft-angst, underlying suggestive– reader discretion advised ▪︎ ex to lovers » Disclaimer! This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or even other fictional stories is purely coincidental

Sienna stepped into the room, the aroma of pizza lingering in the air. "You're just in time. Did you bring the pizza?" Her friend– Nabi asked, revealing the items she had bought. "Yeah, and got some chicken too," she smiled excitedly.

Their living room was transformed into a haven for a movie marathon, a night to savour their well-deserved chill and create fond memories. Nabi's eyes sparkled with excitement as she accepted the food. "Well, then you should go clean yourself and come back here so we can start our movie night."

"I'll be quick," Sienna chimed.

After a brisk wash, the refreshing feeling enveloped her. A slight relief washed over her, even though her raging hormones from that time of the month still caused her physical discomfort.

While picking up her pyjamas, she noticed a mountain of clean clothes at the edge of her bed. Sighing, she decided to restore order before rejoining her friends. Sienna's frustration grew when the drawer refused to close. It wasn't as if she had bought new clothes for her drawer to betray her.

After several failed attempts, she couldn't contain her anger and punched the drawer in frustration.

"I missed him," she mumbled, catching her breath. The reason for her inconvenience dawned on her – her clothes weren't folded the way they used to be when he was around. How foolish of her.

Leaving her dark room, Sienna went to the kitchen where Kai noticed her friend's slightly bruised hand. "Oh? What happened to your hand?" she asked in confusion.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just need to run water on it," Sienna replied, brushing off the concern.

"Make sure you put ointment and bandage it after cooling it off," Kai advised.

"Yeah, will do," Sienna responded, putting on a brave smile beneath her troubled emotions.

"Oh, by the way, Jaehyun came by this afternoon looking for you," Nabi announced, interrupting the moment. Kai recalled the earlier encounter, suspecting a disagreement.

"Did you guys fight?" Kai asked, and Sienna's expression grew timid. She didn't want to discuss him; it was giving her a headache.

"He brought red velvet cupcakes," Nabi added, trying to lighten the mood. Sienna glanced at the coffee table, spotting the cupcakes – a favourite treat of theirs.

"You mentioned it's your first day of 'red days.' I guess having Jaehyun be part of your monthly flow app is so useful," Nabi giggled, proud of the gesture despite the situation.

"Heh, I guess so," Sienna chirped, trying to keep the conversation light while tending to her hand. "Why does he always have great timing?" she pondered, glancing at her phone with unread messages from Yuno piling up.

As they settled into their movie night, Kai brought up the topic of sharing expenses in a relationship. The conversation flowed, intertwining with the movie's background noise.

"I totally agree with you gals, but if the guy made you feel uncomfortable throughout the date, I'd rather pay my half and be done with it," Sienna commented, sharing her perspective.

Kai expanded on the aftermath, "So he wouldn't have the chance to point stupid things. Such as he paid the whole time, but he would act like a sad boy or an ass since the date didn't end well, right?"

"Exactly! Ugh, that's the feeling I hate," Sienna raged, hugging a pillow. After her emotional outburst, she finally indulged in the red velvet cupcake she had been craving.

As the night deepened, the snow outside intensified, creating a cosy atmosphere in their little bubble of friendship. "But if you think about it like this, he wasted your valuable time." Kai offered a new perspective. “So you at least did not waste your own money”

"But that's not what she came for in the first place," Nabi pointed out, settling the situation. “Besides we all know we can earn more money than to live like that.” 

"I'd still rather drown myself than give him the privilege to think he spoiled me with his own money," Sienna expressed her feelings, hormones adding a touch of intensity.

The three friends continued their night, sharing deep conversations and appreciating each other's presence. Unbeknownst to them, Sienna was truly grateful, even amid the challenges she hid behind her facade.

As the last days of spring dwindled, Yuno felt a magnetic pull towards the enchanting nights, eager to grasp the remnants of the season before the relentless heat of summer took over. The crisp wind, a balm for his cluttered mind, whispered promises of clarity.

"This feels nice," he murmured, eyes fixed on the captivating night unfolding in the park by the river. Soft lights adorned the streets, and cherry blossoms, in their final dance, swirled around, accompanied by the gentle melody emanating from his headphones.

On a whim, Yuno invited Johnny for a spontaneous bike ride, half-expecting a decline. Much to his surprise, his best friend agreed, and they found themselves in a nearby park, a place etched with memories of their shared adventures.

Yuno, seeking an escape from the confines of home and work, embraced the freedom of riding through the city. The wind carried untold stories, and the cityscape unfolded its secrets.

"Hey, there's no one in the court," Johnny observed, diverting Jaehyun's attention. "Wanna play?" Jaehyun suggested.

"Yeah, it's been a while. It's going to be fun," Johnny agreed, infusing the atmosphere with infectious enthusiasm. After a few spirited rounds, they decided to take a breather, relishing the camaraderie that defined their friendship.

Perched on a bench around the court, they savoured water and ice cream. Johnny playfully teased, "Jae, not to sound like a jealous second babe, but don't you usually ask Sienna for these?" Laughter bubbled up, but beneath the banter, Jaehyun grappled with emotions threatening to surface.

START OF FLASHBACK.

The dark room lit up with the moonlight and the desk lamp near her, Yuno smiled seeing Sienna was waiting at his place.

He closed their proximity by hugging her. Yuno always takes this kind of opportunity whenever she waits for him to come home after a long day from work. He feels relieved from his stress even with just one hug from his favourite person. 

After letting him hug her, Yuno stared at her with curiosity “You’d spend the night here?” 

Sienna gulped avoiding his gaze. "You went over my head and paid for my University fees without telling me." Her voice was monotone, standing up from where they were sitting. 

"Oh, I guess it's too late for a surprise now." He looks up at her, smiling giddily. But, he recognizes her demeanour changes negatively, making his face drop in worry. 

“Let me remind you, I'm not a girl who you could just simply pay for, Yuno.” She scoffs painfully. “If you think your grand gesture was cute, well news flash I’m disappointed.” Sienna attempts to calm her voice down, “You didn’t even bother to have this conversation with me!” But alas her blood boils with her tears slowly falling from her eyesight becoming an ocean of pain. 

Yuno stood up straight. “It’s just money, Sienna.” He chortles, brushing his hair out of his face.“I don't want you to be stressed because of money.” Yuno huffs out, confused by her action. “I could always make more money for me– for us.” Yet he strives to get close to her, cupping her face with his hands softly caressing her stained cheeks. “And I can help you with that, can’t you see it? I want to support you so you can reach your goal!” His voice and face emitted torment, he hated how this situation occurred. 

Her birthday was coming up, and all he wanted was to do something that alleviated her burden. 

She removes his hands from her face aggressively, moving away from him. 

“You think my family and I can’t handle our shit?” she sarcastically laughed, trying to stop her sobbing, though it was difficult to execute. Anxiously she bit her bottom lip harder.

He could sense her walls starting to appear once again, his nightmare slowly coming to life.  

“Sure I'm struggling, my family is struggling.” The young lady asserts, “But I've experienced far much worse than this bullshit and we’ve survived.'' Sienna picked up a pillow and slammed it on the coach. “Why can’t you believe in me?!” With every word she screams out, the pillow gets slammed on the coach. Relinquishing her anger through the use of this method. She stopped her antics, breathing heavily. Sienna peer dead in the eyes of him. “I just needed more time to accomplish things, not all plans can sail smoothly.” Her voice cracked, eyes were gradually forming to puff. 

“Sienna, I know how much you want to study again, despite not having it as your first choice with this course.” His body quivered, tears heavily forming as he scanned her figure.“Whenever I see how you recall your memories with your friends or when you help them study, you always have that spark.” He carries on describing his affection towards Sienna and how he witnessed her in the past years of their relationship. “I just want to bring that spark back.” He’s not the type who would just sit down on purpose. If he indeed has the means to help her out, even just a little he would do it in a heartbeat. 

Life is hard and he desires to be a partner where she can lean onto him safely. 

Yuno wanted to come closer to her, yet she immediately flinched and it broke his heart into pieces seeing her first instinct was to run away from him. 

“Jeong Yuno, You’re not getting the point here.” Sienna sniffles as she shakes her head while gazing down on the floor. “We’re over.” she declares, with his furrowed brows “No.” He sternly demands.

She sneered, “After all of this, I'll do the grand gesture to finally break this relationship off.” With her last remark, her body evacuated from his place. 

Yuno followed her out but she was too fast and he was too slow to handle the situation, he got lost finding her.

END OF FLASHBACK.

Jaehyun just bared his soul to Johnny, revealing the painful truth of his recent breakup with Sienna, a wound haunting him for three months. It marked a vulnerable moment for Jaehyun, who, until now, had grappled with the harsh reality and denial.

Unbeknownst to Jaehyun, Johnny already knew the heart-wrenching details. A week earlier, Kai, Johnny's girlfriend, had shared the relationship's demise with him. Though Kai hadn't intended to spill the beans, the weight of the secret pushed Johnny to convince her to share the truth.

The revelation left Johnny stunned.  Sienna was dead serious with Kai, She didn’t want to entertain questions about them so only a few people got to know the real state of their relationship. Johnny unwittingly became one of those few.

Now, faced with Jaehyun's raw emotions, Johnny wrestled with the delicate balance between concern for his friend and utmost respect for their privacy. He had upheld his end of the bargain, bearing the weight of their shared secret. As a pillar of support, Johnny stood ready to help Jaehyun navigate the emotional turmoil, recognizing Yuno's need for that gentle push.

"How did you cope up?" Johnny delicately probed, shattering the unspoken barriers.

"After that night, every week I'd visit their house, hoping to find her. Eventually, I had to stop when a big project came my way. But I kept leaving messages, calls, even emails," Jaehyun confessed, his unwavering dedication to Sienna palpable. Two years into working with an architecture company, Sienna had been his anchor.

"Sometimes I'd order stuff to be delivered to their home. But after two months, I received a message from her. One message that I thought was my chance to come back into her life, and then I saw it." Jaehyun sighed deeply, the raw pain reflected in his eyes. "She sent: 'It's about time you stop this, don't tire yourself out."

That broke Yuno once again. It snapped his brain, and I focused on work, endless work, stuck at his place, never having an inch to socialize.

Earlier that morning, Jaehyun had grappled with anxiety before a crucial presentation. He dialled Sienna's number, seeking support, but as he hesitated his thumb hovered, preparing to drop the call. To his surprise, her mom picked up, offering words of encouragement and cheering him on.

"She hasn't told them," Johnny stated bluntly.

"No, and obviously I didn't have the heart to either," Jaehyun admitted, the weight of his emotions palpable. The conversation with Sienna's mom provided a brief respite, helping him get through the day and close a deal with clients.

"You're so down bad for Sienna," Johnny remarked, understanding the depth of his friend's emotions. As Jaehyun struggled to contain his feelings, Johnny encouraged him to let them out.

As if on cue, Jaehyun lets himself slowly reveal the emotions that’s been wanting to gush through his walls.

Well, to be fair, this wasn’t his first time crying. He sure had those little episodes in the craziest random time of the day where Yuno would have a mini breakdown remembering his situation with her.

Believe it or not, there was a particular night when he devestatedly couldn't sleep. He tried everything.

First, Yuno got himself up for a quick jog for him to wear out and took a warm shower, though it only made him feel more alive. So he resumed by drinking some wine as he watched a movie, played soothing music, and even read a book. But, it all went down the drain due to his brain failing to focus.

His last resort was masturbating. With no brainer, of course, he would think of her. Although, the fact that he remembers their moments together, he instead ended up crying that night and which made him fall asleep.

It was not the expected way, but it worked.

"I know I fucked up," Jaehyun confessed, tears flowing freely. "But how exactly? To the point she ended up breaking up with me?" The wounds deepened as he confronted the reality of his mistakes.

Johnny, offering comfort, reassured Jaehyun that Sienna's situation was tough. However, he pointed out that Jaehyun's well-intentioned actions were not executed correctly.

"Always remember this, Yuno. As much as you want to help people, you also have to remember where they're standing from. A good honest deed has a chance to appear as insensitive and patronizing," Johnny advised, hitting the core of the issue.

In the real world, complexities surpassed those of fairy tales and movies. Jaehyun realized he should have communicated with Sienna before assuming he could magically alleviate her problems.

Entering the diner, the music from the speakers greeted her. Setting the vibe already makes her feel at ease with the atmosphere where she’s hanging out tonight. Her gaze stopped wondering as she saw Kyujin and Minghao already sitting. Meanwhile, Seokmin was standing up talking on his phone. He has the right hunch that his friend has work left to discuss. 

They greeted her as she put herself comfortably on her seat. She’s with one of her old university buddies. Due to her problem, she couldn’t keep up with her batch graduating on time. Nonetheless, they kept strong connections with each other even if they are now working and she’s back with her University life. 

“Seokmin should have left his phone on aeroplane mode,'' Kyujin remarked as she shook her head from side to side. Minghao nodded, however, he pressed the thought  “Well to be fair, it might be an emergency with work that he needs to mend.” 

“At least he is paid though.” Sienna chimed smiling, Her friends knew for over those two years of her not attending university she was working on her corporate days before and tended to overtime as well. It’s not so different with her university work taking her life after hours, the only thing she was not paid to do overtime may it be her university and unfortunately her corporate days. 

“Sorry about that, but no worries it won’t bother our dinner.” he smiled at them, “Give me your phone” Kyujin, as the mom of this group Seokmin simply followed her. “There.” his phone successfully turned out to be in aeroplane mode.

Sienna snorted, Seokmin was astounded by what her friend doing “I said I’m sorry” He pouted “Fine keep it on aeroplane mode. If there’s anything I’ll handle it tomorrow.” he said proudly, “Yeah, handle it on your working hours.'' Minghao, who is also a big advocate of work and life balance, reminded him as he patted his friend's hand. 

As the night settles with them, Seokmin opens the topic “Nabi is out right with Jaemin’s family?” On the table while they started to eat their order. 

The girl next to her nodded as she ate the cheezy fries ``Yeah and Kai, She has this workshop she needs to attend." She starts to explain her housemate's situation "So basically both of them will not be back until next week.'' 

With the new information, Kyujin excitedly clapped. “Well then, you have no excuses not to come. It’ll be fun. Besides, Mingyu deserves to have some OG guests.” Kyujin is always amazing at pursuing people and Sienna is always weak for her friend.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to drink this week, take this chance with us. It has free drinks and food anyway.” Comically his brows go up and down. “And you know what free food and drinks taste like.” He ends his last speech of temptation.

“A hit or miss.” She put her tongue out as she deadpans her friend.

Minghao laughed at the banter between Sienna and Seokmin. “We’re aware that you're not reliving the song ‘Stuck with U’ by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber for letting yourself feel stuffed for a whole month in your apartment. ” He finally joined, even has the gut to make a joke out of her situation pulling a quote-unquote with his hand gestures. However, they were right Sienna when given a chance to stay at her comfort home would make the most out of it. 

Although now she's on a dinner date with them; After a month of hibernation, she just now greeted the outside world properly. “It's not my fault that my subjects are eating me up. Besides, earlier I had to attend University onsite so plus points to that and now I’m already with you guys, here eating dinner.” Sienna puckered her lips, still up for this debate despite being conquered by those trio.

Seokmin snorted at Sienna’s last comment “Yeah, right!” letting his hand grab her head and squeeze it as if he was a crane and she’s a toy. 

“Sizt no!” Kyujin pouted and shook her head daintily. “How about this since you’re already out of your cocoon, just try to spend some of the days this week outside.” she negotiates with the girl who does not care one bit about Seokmin’s antics as she’s busy munching her ice cream. 

“Exactly, just end your week with good vibes, you’re no guard dog.” Minghao with his witty brain could not let her go, when those three come together it’s like Sienna is fighting against the world. 

She sighs in front of them, letting her head roll over to her left side finally expressing her being defeated. 

As if an accomplished couple made their child have nowhere to go but listen to them, Kyujin and Minghao high-fived each other and held their hands shakingly. It’s their mini-victory move. “If you guys keep being cute, I feel like ants would eat us up.” She joked. 

Seokmin looked at the girl next to her cheekily “Oh Sienna, Sienna, Sienna” repeating her name in a sing-song tone, whilst shaking his head playfully. “You just miss someone.” 

Minghao covered his mouth, acting surprised. “Offt Seokmin dropping the bomb.” Kyujin teased the fire, showing her actions with her hands dropping. 

It’s been 8 months since the breakup. 

Sienna squinted her eyes as if throwing daggers at him. “Oh, shut up.” She smacked his left shoulder. 

Leaving them chuckling at their antics.

Quickly changing the subject, Sienna sits properly. “Fine, this Saturday I’ll attend Mingyu’s place.” Rolling her eyes dramatically “The booze should be great, or I'm out.” 

Despite a busy schedule, Yuno got dragged out for a coffee successfully by his work partner Jungkook before they would drive to meet their client onsite. 

Yuno’s eyes glanced at the interior of the cafe, and he stopped when he saw a familiar physique after a long time. It was Sienna focused on her laptop, wearing her signature hoodie with her glasses.

He and Jungkook sat near the cafe counter waiting for their order. The guy simply watched her and couldn't help but still have a longing feeling of adoration.

Of course, she’s not alone, she’s with two people that look like her classmates. 

He smiled at his thoughts thinking she also might get dragged outside as well, which she truly needs. Sienna always tends to trap herself in her room, especially on a weekend; little sunlight isn’t enough for her.

Sensing that one of her classmates was about to look around, he avoided his stare at her and exactly with that their little buzzer turned on letting them know that their orders were complete to go. 

On the other hand Sienna did mini stretches to her arms as Her eyes slowly looked outside the cafe and saw a familiar back, she steadily recognized when the view of the man got a good side view. “Oh it's Yuno...” she whispered, then it truly sank at her making her eyes widen, almost choking herself while she drank her matcha frappe. 

“Omygod— Sienna!” Both of her friends reacted frantic, Giving her all the tissues they have to her. 

"You good now? What happened?” Jungwoo queried and looked to where she was staring earlier, but failed to recognize what made their friend go nuts. 

Sienna shakes her head “Oh no it’s nothing..” she tries to cover her tracks, could not even think of a proper excuse. 

Seungkwan oozes suspicion with the younger girl but lets her know that it’s fine to not be forced to tell.  

“I have this event I need to attend.” Jungwoo didn't prolong the weird air, taking the chance to express his dread. 

Sienna laughed at the poor puppy. “Isn’t your parents' fundraising event?” Seungkwan recalled their conversation back then. “That's tough. Knowing your parents, they would want it to be perfect.” Sienna bluntly says. “Exactly, it’s going to be a pain in the neck.” Jungwoo rolled his eyes with exaggeration.

She isn’t well into those kinds of grand parties either. It only reminds her back then when she felt she was out of the picture whenever with Yuno.

The only thing she cares about is to support Yuno in whatever journey he has to accomplish, that's why she lets him take her in these events. 

Nonetheless, some of the invitees couldn't be bothered hiding their expressions.

It continued until she ended up walking on eggshells while attending these events. She's well aware those people were irrelevant, and Sienna needed to be stronger.

However, with the compilation of Backhanded comments she receives:

"Well in your generation, love matters more." 

"Oh darling, you'll have your time." 

With those gazes, she could just disappear into thin air as if she were prey. 

Little by little it consumed her. 

Sienna’s train of thought snapped immediately.

"Earth to Sienna." 

Seungkwan patted the girl's shoulder, bringing her back to their conversation.

"Sorry, what?" 

Jungwoo pouted more than he could do and continued to ask them. "Are you guys free to be my dates this Saturday?" Hoping that they would agree to be together with his misery just to make something out of it and not worry about socializing much in the event. 

"Pass." Seungkwan quickly replied while shaking his head left and right to his friend, "I got other things to assemble from our course organization seminar."

Sienna couldn't help but chuckle at Jungwoo's reaction when he started begging with his actions through his hands. "Sorry, but I have a party to attend as well." Pursing her lips tightly. 

Seungkwan grabbed Sienna's left arm, wanting her to mimic the way he waved goodbye towards Jungwoo, "Be strong, Soldier." She played along with the guy next to her and both shared the same smiles with their two cents. 

Sienna dressed up a bit, well it’s a party, after all. Her cute black mini dress complimented her heel loafers. She’s not going to lie it’s been a while for her to dress up, and it feels good. 

As she stepped into the dimly lit venue, bathed in hues of purple and blue lights, a familiar voice cut through the atmosphere. "Sienna!" Kyujin’s excitement radiated as she embraced her. "Are the other two here already?" she inquired after the warm hug.

"Yup, we can huddle over there, it's much more comfortable." 

Navigating their way to the living room, Sienna spotted Minghao and Seokmin, who were already in high spirits, sitting side by side with welcoming smiles.

"For a minute I thought you backed out." Minghao teased, earning a giggle from Kyujin.

Minghao's knack for reading people was, as always, on point. Sienna was hesitating for a moment at the entrance, with her heart pounding with uncertainty. The decision to attend this gathering had been a last-minute contemplation. She knew a few faces in the crowd, but it was the ghost of him that lingered in her thoughts. Earlier that day, an unexpected wave of nostalgia engulfed her, triggering what she reluctantly dubbed a "relapse." She found herself tumbling down a rabbit hole of old photos and videos, relics of a time when they were entwined in each other's lives.

As she stood there, the weight of unanswered questions pressed upon her. Were the people around her aware of the demise of their once-shared world? A shiver of anxiety ran down her spine at the mere thought of being questioned about a love that now existed only in fragments of the past.

Eight months had passed, yet the grip he held on her heart remained unyielding. The invisible threads of their history continued to bind her, leaving Sienna entangled in a web of longing and unresolved emotions.

"Aye, don't be like that," she chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. "I even brought snacks." Seokmin, ever observant, noticed the packaging. "Oh! I guess the lady at that sweet shop was your mom then."

Sienna looked curious to him wanting him to continue. "Your mom was carrying  a navy blue handbag right?" Sienna vividly remembers making her head nod. 

Seokmin already felt proud with his keen eyes, no wonder the lady was familiar to him. 

"I was in front of the store parking lot and got a glimpse of your mom Entering the store." He pointed out the sweet shop's name. 

Her mom visited her earlier to personally break the news that her mom's land had already been sold with a very great offer. She expressed how she was so thankful that they waited and did not rush the selling of their property which led them to accumulate a huge deal. 

In celebration, her mom remembers her daughter tends to like honey biscuits as the reason why she was at a sweet shop. Little did her mom know that the reason why she liked them was because Jaehyun influenced her since it was his childhood favourite sweets. 

That was the trigger for her to this party since she had the feeling she would just dwell on her emotions at home alone. Distraction is highly needed.

After a couple of hours, Jaehyun arrived at the scene of the party. Mingyu greeted the guy and pointed to where Sienna was located. 

Earlier, Mingyu had noticed Sienna alone in the corner of his sofa, engaging in a conversation with herself. Even to the untrained eye, it was apparent she had indulged a bit too much in the festivities. Her body tends to flop side to side with her head spinning lightly. 

The three musketeers that she was with beginning at the party left earlier, and because of still not wanting her to leave early she stayed besides she put an excuse that some of the people she knew here she wanted to catch up. 

Out of concern, he immediately contacted Yuno. Mingyu is one of those people who are not updated with the situation of the two people. 

Yuno swiftly appeared in front of the lady, whose now trying her best to stay awake by softly slapping her cheeks and opening her eyes wide. In response, Jaehyun sighed and approached her, wrapping his flannel around her—his way of acknowledging how chilly she could get.

“You’re drunk, let’s go home.” 

Sienna, with a pout, insisted, "I'm not drunk, just tipsy... I can still take it." She reached for her cup, but Jaehyun lightly caught her hand. "Sienna, please..." he pleaded. Reluctantly, she let go of the cup, covering her face with her hands. "Ugh, you're so boring; I don't want to go home yet." Despite her wobbly stance, a stark contrast to her claim of sobriety, she stood up.

Giggling, she attempted to stare at Jaehyun. Her brain, clouded by sweet toxins, transformed her surroundings into a hazy spectacle. Jaehyun, seizing the opportunity, gently gripped her figure securely and let her follow his body towards the exit. “You can get whiny when you're drunk.” 

She bit her bottom lip, staring at him as her eyebrows furrowed. “N-No, I'm not” she chirped yet Jaehyun could still hear her as how close their bodies were now, he was left only to chuckle at her attitude. 

Jaehyun was wearing his beanie and glasses, matching them up with the dim party lights, as to why Sienna has slow recognition due to her alcohol influence. However, her sixth sense just lets her guard down due to familiarity. 

Pulling up to the car, Sienna settled herself comfortably in the front passenger seat. Jaehyun reached for the blanket tucked at the back and gently draped it over her figure.

“Can we open the window?” Sienna peered outside, where the street lights cast a soft glow. Jaehyun obliged, clicking the switch to let in the cool night air.

“Better?” He questioned, as he eased the car into motion.

She closed her eyes, letting the refreshing breeze envelop her. After stealing a glance at Jaehyun, she responded with a serene, "Yeah."

Fully aware now that she was in the company of Yuno, Sienna marvelled at how her instincts had effortlessly guided her away from the crowd and toward him.

“Is anybody at your home right now?" Hearing him, Sienna shakes her head slowly, her eyes remaining closed to contain the lingering dizziness.

"Both of them are out of town." 

Jaehyun hummed in agreement, his thoughtful expression barely visible in the dimly lit car. "I can't leave you alone at your house. You should rest at my place instead, He declared that if there's an argument needed to be brought up it would be useless.

With Sienna's mind in its current state, his decisiveness didn't bother her. It was a welcome assurance amid the swirl of emotions she grappled with.

They both slowly entered Yuno’s place, easily passing by the lounge area to his private room. Letting the lady sit as he turned on the lamp next to his bed. 

He took some cotton pads and makeup remover. It's been a while since he opened this particular side of his nightstand, back then it was her side of the bed anyway. 

His hands gingerly swipe the damped cotton throughout her face, she looks entrapped by his aura, The way his eyes twitched and and his bottom lip bitting due to his hyperfocus, it might not be obvious but with her hazy view she could see behind his glasses are eyebags that has been a bit more obvious. With this situation, it brings back memories as if it were only yesterday. 

"They're all clean." he huffs proudly as he returns the essentials to its container, "Let me get you some water." Before he could even get up, Sienna stole a kiss from him, jaehyun was caught off guard he flinched and stared at her flushed self his eyes roamed from her sombre eyes gradually to her lips, breathing against each other– the air thick with anticipation.

Leisurely discarding his glasses, he leaned toward her. Eventually, his instincts couldn't resist the magnetic pull of the moment, and he found himself reciprocating the kiss. His dominant hand found the nape of her neck, while the left rested on her waist.

Amidst the fog of sweet alcohol lingering from her system invading his space of mind. the kiss deepened, and their bodies drew dangerously closer within seconds.

With that snap of realization, Yuno stopped the act, dazed by her. 

He would do anything for her, he constantly yearned for her even after all that happened. Yet, he refused to take advantage of her vulnerability. As he struggled to formulate the words he needed to convey, he grappled with the elusive thoughts.

He wanted to reassure her, to make her understand. But his brain seemed to be on strike, rendering him helpless.

Cold sweats build up over him, He suddenly feels like a teen boy who's in front of his huge crush.

"Sienna, I—" His words were abruptly cut short as she averted her eyes, rising slowly. As she hastened away, he found himself perplexed by the startling shift, his body instinctively following her.

Realizing the toilet room lights were open, he moved fast behind her. Already hiding how flustered he is.

Efficiently gathering her hair into a ponytail as she faced the toilet— letting out the toxins from her system. he offered a comforting rub on her back. His eyes fell on the drawer beneath the counter, remembering the hair ties she had left behind. He snatched one and secured her hair.

Perhaps, it had always been the right choice not to clean out the stuff she kept in his place.

"Take it easy," he hummed, attempting to access a smaller drawer, anticipating a towel within. All the while, he continued to rub her back, providing solace amid the discomfort.

With the final flush from the toilet, she ceased her ordeal. Jaehyun proactively used the towel to dab at her mouth. "Feeling better?" he asked, focused on the task.

She nodded, touching his hands and prompting him to halt. "I'm sorry," she sighed, closing her eyes and braving the persistent dizziness. His gaze softened, taking in her disheveled appearance, the messy ponytail he had made, her droopy eyes, and her flushed figure.

“Let’s go to bed—” he cleared his throat “Let’s take you to bed, you need to rest up hmm?.” 

Her body went near him, and put her head on his chest “Don’t leave….” He looked down, already feeling his shirt getting drenched.

She is already crying. 

He patted her head. "I won't," he assured, breathing heavily. "I won't leave you alone… so let’s go to bed." With a controlled but strained voice, he subdued the surging emotions.

Carrying her to bed, he tucked her in gently. Although he yearned to lie beside her, this wasn't the opportune moment. He settled beside the bed on his rug, holding her hand, watching over her. As he hummed softly, he moved strands of hair away from her face, his quiet presence coaxing a serene expression onto her face.

Even in mere proximity, he found solace.

The sunlight tiptoed into the room, gently rousing Sienna from her deep slumber. A momentary panic seized her when her eyes landed on a head resting at the edge of the bed. Quickly regaining composure, she realized Yuno was sleeping on the floor beside her. His head lay on the mattress, while his body occupied the floor.

Her heartbeat slowed, confusion swirling in her mind as she tried to make sense of the situation. Battling a hangover headache, she opened her eyes gently, fixating on the man's face. It had been too long since she allowed herself to bask in the sight of him, and the ache of missing him resurfaced.

Almost by instinct, her hand lightly caressed his bangs, now dyed in a darker shade. Moving to his eyebrows and eyes, the familiarity felt both comforting and oddly unfamiliar after all this time.

His eyes twitched slightly, signalling his impending awakening. As her brain flashed fragments of memories from the previous night, embarrassment coursed through her.

Jaehyun's eyes fluttered open, meeting hers. Sensing her staring fixed on his lips, he gently grabbed her hand, preventing her from retracting her actions. "You're awake," she timidly said, attempting to downplay the significance of her actions.

She didn't get an immediate response, but now it was Yuno's turn to observe her. Despite having done the same the night before, this morning ritual fed his yearning for the simple moments they used to share.

"Do-Don't just stare at me like that," she uttered, biting her bottom lip.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. After a comfortable silence, she replied, "Don't bother, it's not like it's a big thing," avoiding his piercing stare, her cheeks flushing with warmth.

He shook his head slowly. "I have a lot to say sorry for."

Puzzled, her mind hinted at their last fight, the night they broke up. "I understand. It's not my decision to make."

"I should have talked with you before acting out my will with this, especially when it’s strongly sensitive for you… “ His voice became small but he needs to take accountability.

“I was selfish. I figured since I have the privilege to save up, all I could think was part of my savings was all about you."

"I should have known better."

Sienna always loved how pure this guy can get. She recognized the sincerity of his intentions.  “I was too defensive and insecure to begin with every time I could see how people view us. I love how they take pride in you for what you do, but when I’m in the picture with you I could feel they always have this impression in our relationship that I’m not enough for you."

"I felt embarrassed, my inferiority complex burst." her eyes welled with emotion.

"You know I struggled to ask for help, and I always tried to conquer that, but when our last fight happened, it got me overwhelmed. It was an extreme gesture, and it felt like you were forcing me to be someone I'm not prepared to be." With his sincerity, she felt attacked and unsafe at that time. She was clouded by her negative thoughts and forgot she had him all this time – he was there to pick her up when she was feeling blue.

Yuno softened his gaze at her, “I’m sorry. I was so blinded and didn’t reassure you enough about our relationship, that it got to your thoughts. I don’t care about them, and I know it will be tough for you to immediately not care. So I’ll do my best to be there for you– reminding you to think of me and only me when you doubt, and I will never get tired of making you feel secure.”

She nodded and continued, "I’m fully aware that I have a lot on my plate, especially back then, working to support my family and myself." Her voice cracked as she struggled to compose herself. "And it's just so embarrassing how I know you so well. You’ve always wanted to help me— you’ve always been there, whether I’m struggling financially or whatever situation I'm facing. I just couldn’t take the bullet of reality that I needed to accept. “ 

Her eyes continued to sting. With every word she spilt, tears flowed down her cheeks.

He was the sunshine she couldn't handle.

"But I broke it. I promised you a slow and steady relationship."

Sienna looked at him stunned, he remembers. 

“See you’re a guy who has a light that shouldn't be tainted.” she blurted out, sniffing. 

Jaehyun shook his head slowly. Vividly his dimples, and a reassured smile carved his lips. “Sienna when I’m with you. I’m only a normal guy, a guy who loves you deeply, who wants to be with you.” He caressed her cheeks, gingerly wiping away the tears that streamed from her eyes. 

Heart fluttering, realising once again that's she is truly in love with this person.

"I'll do better to make myself be deserving of you; I'll work hard.” She firmly stated, Her innocent orbs now filled with passion. “You did receive the money earlier, right?” After meeting her mom, Sienna transferred the money he paid for her university fees. 

"You're more than enough, and I will always support you." Jaehyun held her hand tightly, bringing it close to his mouth. “And then, for the meantime, I’ll keep the money in my savings. That will be for us in the future.” He planted a soft kiss on her hand as if sealing a promise of his commitment.

“Besides, all I ever want is for you to spend your time with me – grow old together.” He whispered, his eyes reflecting a future filled with shared unwavering love. With those words, he painted a canvas of a lifetime. Sienna's heart swelled with a mix of emotions, and as they embraced, they both knew that their love story was not just a chapter but a timeless journey of growing old together.

I hope you guys enjoyed it!꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

#jaehyun imagines #jaehyun scenarios #jeong jaehyun #nct 127 #nct #nct jaehyun #jeong yuno #jung jaehyun #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun nct #angst #angst with a happy ending #drama #nct scenarios #nct oneshot #jaehyun oneshot #midstofroses #jaehyun smut #soft smut #suggestive #nct dojaejung

[orangesaek]

PLUS ONE

you were invited to the company's yearly Christmas party, and everybody is required to bring a plus one. your co-workers start teasing you about bringing your imaginary boyfriend to the party, betting amongst themselves that you'd show up to the party and go home alone, not knowing who your boyfriend actually is.

characters: boyfriend!jaehyun x female reader

word count: 947

genre: i can't think of anything to perfectly describe this, but maybe some fluff? a bit of romance? anyway, it's basically just jaehyun being your hot & handsome bf

warnings: very slight workplace bully!ng (or teasing among workmates tho). that's it.

disclaimer: this is entirely fiction. pic not mine — full credits to the owner. strictly do not re-upload or translate anywhere else! lowercase intended. not proofread.

"so, uhm, where's this boyfriend you told us about?" one of your co-workers asked in a teasing tone.

it was just last week when your manager had started distributing the invitation letters for the Christmas party, which was a yearly thing, but you were taken by surprise when it was announced that each attendee must bring a plus one, and that everybody is required to attend, or else a "penalty" awaits. you weren't even sure if the whole penalty thing was true, but you didn't have any plans on risking your job.

you were just peacefully taking a sip of wine when your so-called department friends made their way to you, suddenly asking you for your plus one's whereabouts. you let out a nervous laugh, trying to look as calm as possible.

"h-he's already on his way," you quietly replied, but it was true. jaehyun did text you not too long ago that he's already in the car and that he'll be at the venue soon. it hasn't been that long since you started working for the company, and as much as you wanted to make friends with everybody, it was just too difficult for you. especially if you're surrounded by the not-so pleasing type of people.

you didn't miss the exchanged glances, followed by some snickering from your colleagues (which you believe they "tried" to hide).

"well, we look forward to meeting him," one of your colleagues said. "i mean, if someone does come or whatever." they added, snorting along with the others. you gave them a nervous smile, wishing that jaehyun would arrive fast.

feeling a bit more anxious by the minute, you took out your phone and was about to give jaehyun a call to ask for an update when you faintly heard some whispering and some people gasping.

"oh. my. god." one of your colleagues said.

"isn't that..." you heard another one say.

you looked at them, a bit confused as to why so many of them looked so stunned, some even covering their mouths in shock, like they just saw an alien or something. you decided to look at the direction they were looking at. and you finally understood why.

jaehyun was walking towards your direction, his dimples in full display as he was smiling your way. he just looked so perfect. like a sculpture that came to life.

jaehyun works as a model. with his handsome looks and chiseled body, it didn't take long before he took the modelling industry by storm. he was named as one of the country's top models — walking on the runway for high-fashion brands, appearing in numerous tv commericials and billboards, getting featured in magazines many times a year, and endorsing countless brands. you could amost see his face everywhere you go.

your relationship with him was definitely one of the things you never expected to happen in your life. he was a celebrity while you were just a regular girl who had a 9-5 job. regardless, jaehyun fell in love with you and never gave up on pursuing you even after you have rejected him multiple times. you were honestly unsure about your future with dating someone like him, but the consistent effort he made throughout those months of pursuing you was what made you say yes to him. and you were glad you did because he has been nothing but everything you ever asked for in a man.

you gave him a shy smile before taking a glance around you. you could see everyone looking at your boyfriend in awe. it seemed like he was walking on a runway, only that he was walking towards you. his eyes looking at you and only you.

"hey, beautiful" jaehyun said, his smile growing bigger, dimples becoming even more visible when he was finally in front of you. he took your hand and kissed the back of it. "i'm sorry i took so long. i swear i would have flown the car if i could." he added.

you swore you could see everyone looking at the two of you now. the whispers have become a lot more audible, with some taking out their phones to take pictures. the attention at that moment felt a bit too much, but what can you say? it's the one and only jeong jaehyun.

"no, babe, it's alright. i'm just glad you got here safely," you answered, smiling shyly at him. "thanks for coming."

jaehyun pulled you lightly for a quick hug, not missing a kiss on the top of your head. "of course. anything for the love of my life." he said. you could smell the perfume you gave him as a gift for his birthday, which was also Valentine's day.

breaking away from the hug, you turned to look at your colleagues (who were now gawking at the sight of you both) in amusement.

"guys, meet my boyfriend, jeong jaehyun" you said, already feeling your confidence go up again. you glanced up at jaehyun with a proud smile.

"nice to meet you all. i'm jeong jaehyun, her boyfriend" jaehyun said as he flashed them one of the most beautiful smiles they have ever seen. "and soon-to-be husband." he continued.

although you were blushing so hard after what he has said, you gave him a shy smile before turning your attention back to your colleagues, who were still looking so stupidly at the both of you.

"i told you guys i wasn't making things up about having a boyfriend," you said, trying to sound nonchalant. "and the one and only jeong jaehyun at that."

you smiled to yourself in victory, feeling so content with the look of stupidity on their faces.

- end.

a/n: the story's all over the place, i know. my brain's not working 100%, but I really want to write something :') sorry, and thank you in advance if you finished this story (and maybe, just maybe, liked it as well) i'll post better stuff soon! 💚

requests are OPEN! 💗

#jeong jaehyun #jaehyun fic #jaehyun fanfic #nct #nct 127 #nct u #nct fanfic #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct as boyfriends #jaehyun as a boyfriend #jaehyun #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun x you #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x oc

[butvega]

love story.

"murmúrios entre as paredes do castelo."

warnings. cottage!core, fairytales aesthetic, jaehyun!príncipe, reader!princesa, reader!virgin.

Tão, tão desobediente. Seu pai havia lhe ordenado uma simples tarefa: permanecer em seus aposentos durante a noite, durante toda a estadia do príncipe Jeong Yoonoh em seu castelo. Ali estava você burlando as regras novamente afim de encontrá-lo, atenta às luzes e candelabros, o balanço do vento, as correntes que balançavam pela enorme estrutura medieval.

Achando-se sortuda, se gaba ao contemplar os corredores vazios, alheios à qualquer guarda naquele andar. Seu pai, o rei, definitivamente deveria desconfiar mais da caçula prodígio. Exímia pianista, exímia bailarina, exímia filha e princesa do reino de Óriun. Mas todas as visitas do príncipe prometido, mexiam com seu âmago. Como poderia ser tão errado? Pois hora, de qualquer maneira o reino de Óriun, e o reino de Neo estariam juntos, não? Seria um problema tão grande assim estar apaixonada pelo noivo de sua irmã mais velha? Violeta não era má mulher, tão pouco uma má irmã, mas não era para Yoonoh. Você sim. Você era feita para ele, e só isso importava.

Sem saltos, chega silenciosa em frente ao quarto dele. Agarra a argola de ferro na porta, e bate levemente. Ele ouvirá, é claro. Em instantes, também ansioso, o príncipe Yoonoh aparece abrindo a madeira que os separa, e suspira aliviado ao te ver. É carinhoso ao puxá-la para dentro, e trancar a porta em seguida. A abraça, da maneira mais forte que pode, adentrando o rosto pálido em seu pescoço, afim de capturar seu perfume o máximo que pode. Você parece seu lar. E pensar que em dias estaria casado com uma mulher que não é você, o deixava em prantos. Desesperado. Não, ele não poderia fugir. Seu reino dependia daquele tratado, daquele casamento, para que fosse tirado da lama, e reergue-se. O amor nunca fora fácil, ele tinha ciência disso uma vez que sempre fora adepto de tristes romances em leitura, mas aquilo já era demais. Ter você tão perto, e ao mesmo tempo... Tão longe.

— Está louca, princesa? Poderia ser pega por algum guarda de vossa majestade. Iriam nos matar. — é o que ele murmura contra seus lábios, selando-a em seguida.

— Cada minuto conta. Gostaria de passar cada minuto possível ao seu lado, e sabe disso, vossa alteza.

— Não, não me chame assim... — é quase uma súplica. Naquele momento, e apenas naquele momento, implora para que sejam apenas os dois. Um casal apaixonado.

— Jae... — sussurra contra os lábios de seu amor, que sorri sem mostrar os dentes, gabando-se com a bela covinha que adorna suas bochechas coradas.

— Linda. Eu amo você, eu te amo inteira, minha bela princesa. E ei de mostrá-la à nossos reinos como minha bela esposa; é uma promessa. Farei de tudo para casar-me com você, valsar com você por todo este salão. Farei de você minha rainha. — é quase uma dança, a maneira que Yoonoh a encaminha até sua enorme cama, tomando todo o cuidado possível para que seu vestido não a fizesse tropeçar. — Farei de você a mãe dos meus filhos.

Segreda a última parte, conflitante sobre expor com tanta clareza seus desejos profundos. Suas bochechas ruborizam, imaginando-se gestando os filhos de Jaehyun. Ou melhor, imaginando-se como fariam isso.

— Eu serei. Nem que dependa de minha vida, eu serei sua. E papai há de aceitar, não? Ele não pode nos proibir, Jae. Não pode. — há medo em suas palavras. Medo de toda certeza ser em vão, e em dias Yoonoh estar no altar a espera de sua irmã, e você ao lado, apenas como a cunhada.

— Não, não. Não quero que pense nisso agora, minha princesa.

Yoonoh não sabe bem o que dizer. A tem deitada em sua cama, totalmente entregue, e seu coração treme. As borboletas no estômago do príncipe basicamente dançam O Quebra Noz, a respiração descompassa, e milhares de indecências povoam a mente jovem dele.

Você percebe, claro. Tão jovem quanto, se sentindo tão presa quanto, e amando tanto quanto ele. Se sente capaz de tudo. De pular pelas varandas do castelo até a floresta, e fugir para qualquer cabana afim de uma pacata vida ao lado dele. Se sente corajosa.

E é com os sentimentos a flor da pele, que Yoonoh a beija afoito, engata a destra em seu coque perfeito, e puxa seu cabelo com a força perfeita, arranha em um cafuné gostoso, enquanto a canhota aproxima sua cintura apertada pelo espartilho para o quadril dele mesmo, provavelmente querendo deixá-la o mais perto o possível.

Ele era um rapaz experiente. Há muitos prós em ser homem, ainda mais da realeza, e um deles era ter muitas mulheres aos seus pés. Mas nenhuma se comparava com a pureza de sua princesa, a beleza, a delicadeza. Fulgás, apalpa os seios quase esmagados e repara suas feições afim de buscar uma reação negativa. Ao contrário, a vê entregue, os olhinhos fechados, um leve sorriso nos lábios rosados completa o rosto tranquilo e em paz.

É rápido e desajeitado em retirar a própria vestimenta de linho, e agradece por você estar de olhos fechados. De repente, se sente envergonhado. Provável efeito do amor. Dedilha seu corpo com a delicadeza que se dedilha uma orquídea. Puxa os laços de seu espartilho com respeito, expõem uma necessidade esmagadora de ter você, ali, naquele momento.

Em segundos você está tão nua quanto ele, e ao contrário do que um dia já imaginou, não sente medo. Nunca se sentiu tão em casa, tão pertencente à um lar, à alguém, à Yoonoh.

— Contos de fadas existem, e você é o meu. — murmura de olhos fechados o suficiente para não contemplar o sorriso de estrelas de seu amado. Você era o conto de fadas dele.

Estaria mentindo se dizesse que ali, naquele momento, não sentiu dor. Ardia como o inferno, mas em momento algum Jaehyun deixou de beijá-la para lhe acalentar. Os murmúrios dados por ele, os gemidos leve de prazer, a ajudavam a derreter sob seu toque. "Jae..." você sussurra, até mesmo meio perdida em meio à todas as sensações, dando o gatilho final para que Yoonoh a tomasse para si com toda a vontade pertencente em seu corpo.

Ele estava a fazendo mulher. Independente de todos os contras, você estava ali, despida de físico e alma, em sua cama, sendo ele, e ninguém poderia mudar isso. Você era dele, e ele seu.

Ele se despeja em seu interior, gemendo seu nome, a fazendo arrepiar. Era tão sensual ouvi-lo dizer seu nome, ao invés de chamá-la de princesa. Tão despudorado.

Os corpos suados continuam abraçados na cama, aleatórios à todo perigo, à toda vigia, sorridentes e satisfeitos. A leve mancha de sangue no lençol teria de ser explicada na manhã seguinte, e se chegasse aos ouvidos do rei, ele imediatamente iria saber do que se tratava. Você.

Mas por hora, decidiram dormir. Juntos, necessitados do calor um do outro.

oi, gente! essa vai ser uma short fic com apenas dois capítulos (no máximo três), mas espero que gostem dessa estética. jaehyun é muito príncipe mesmo ❤️

#nct #nct jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #jeong yoonoh #jaehyun #jaehyun smut #jaehyun soft #jaehyun angst #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun x oc #nct pt br #jaehyun pt br #Spotify

[sweetiesicheng]

jaehyun - one morning

word count : 521

happy jaehyun day ! who cares about Valentine’s Day anyways?

-

"y/n! open the door!" you heard someone pounding on your front door. you opened your eyes and huffed out a sigh before sitting up. "y/n!"

who the hell comes to my house at seven in the morning?

even though your pillow was calling your name, you got out of bed and walked out of your room. you walked up to the front door and looked through the windows to see jaehyun standing there with bags in his hands.

you unlocked and opened the door, "what?" you asked, squinting at the brightness.

"good morning to you too. i'm making breakfast," jaehyun said and let himself in. he slipped his shoes off and put slippers on.

"oh sure, come on in and make breakfast. it's not like you woke me up and just barged into my house or anything," you sarcastically spoke. you closed the door and locked it again before walking away from the front door.

you heard jaehyun moving about in the kitchen but ignored him and went back into your room. you plopped down onto your bed and instantly closed your eyes, not even bothering to crawl beneath your blanket because of how tired you were.

-

after what felt like a long time, you woke up when you heard jaehyun walk into your room.

"i made food."

"sleepy," you spoke.

"i made your favorite."

you instantly sat up, "waffles with cinnamon sugar?" you asked.

you stared at jaehyun, who was wearing your apron. he nodded his head and grinned.

"come on, let's go," he instructed while walking out of your room, leaving the door open.

you bolted out of the room and followed jaehyun into the kitchen. you saw a bunch of plates with food on them.

you tied your hair back and sat down at the table while jaehyun waited for another waffle to finish cooking in your waffle machine.

"i can't believe you showed up and just made breakfast," you said to him before turning back to look at him. he had his back to you.

"you literally told me to come over and cook breakfast for you when we were on facetime last night," he replied and put a freshly made waffle onto one of the plates in front of him.

"but i was really just craving waffles, you didn't actually have to come over," you said and leaned your head back. jaehyun turned around and bent down so he could kiss your forehead.

"a "thank you" would suffice," he said to you.

you laughed, "thank you, babe."

"you're very welcome," he said and kissed your forehead again before taking the apron off and sitting next to you.

you drank some coffee, "you know, you should wear an apron more often," you said to him.

he stuffed with face with some pieces of waffle, "why?" he asked.

"you look pretty good in it. next time, wear the apron without a shirt on," you grinned and jaehyun rolled his eyes at you.

"hell no," he said.

"please?"

"maybe.”

"i'll take that as a "yes"," you said to him and both of you continued eating breakfast together.

#sweetiesicheng #sweetiesicheng nct #nct #nct u #nct 127 #nct jung yoonoh #nct jung jaehyun #jung jaehyun #jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #nct jaehyun #jaehyun fanfic #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x you #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun fanfiction #happy jaehyun day #nct 127 jaehyun #kpop #nctzen #nct x you #nct x y/n #nct x fanfic #nct x reader #nct fanfic #nct fanfiction #nct 127 x y/n #nct 127 x you #nct 127 x reader

[hirayaaraw]

Masterlist

Compilation of all my works.

Jaehyun (NCT)

Unbreakable Ties Series

Mark (NCT)

First Love

Wonwoo (Seventeen)

Please Bother Me

You Are My Home

Of Taxes and Marriage - 2, 3

Jeonghan (Seventeen)

Fall From Grace Series

It All Ends Here

I Love You Like This

#seventeen scenarios #nct scenarios #kpop scenarios #nct angst #nct fluff #jaehyun angst #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun x oc #seventeen angst #jeonghan angst #wonwoo scenarios #wonwoo angst #wonwoo fluff #kpop masterlist

[jeongvision]

my favourite virgo uwu congrats on your 1k milestone! it honestly felt like yesterday when you asked me if you should post a short drabble and i'm glad you did :') i'm going to make a request 👉🏼👈🏼 jaehyun + teacher or roommates!au (you pick! it doesn't matter to me ily) + “Quick, my ex just walked in! Pretend that we’re dating.” I LOVE YOU AND AGAIN CONGRATS ON 1K 💗

pairing. roommate! jeong jaehyun ✗ fem! reader

genre. fluff, idiots to lovers au

warnings. profanities, bantering, mentions of food & food poisoning, semi proofread

author's note. lmao i know i'm like.. super late perhaps a year late but better late than never, amirite? (; but heads up tho ya girl is more rusted than the statue of liberty so bare with me here ahhh

be sure to read the notes at the end of this! it’s a mini surprise hehe

“I don’t like you.”

Jaehyun paused scrolling through his phone, shifting his attention to you seated across from him, a smug look decorated on your face.

He pocketed his phone away. “As I’ve been told," he said unfazed.

“Your face pisses me off.”

“Funny, people usually tell me the opposite.”

"I don't give a rat's ass on what other people think," you spat. Grabbing your iced beverage, you took an obnoxious sip, purposely of irritating the man in front of you.

His left eye just barely twitches...

.. and there goes a sigh.

Perfect.

"What do you want?" he groaned.

You smirked. "I’m not paying next month’s rent.”

He scoffs, “Careful, (name). You sound like you're falling in love with me."

You couldn't help but roll your eyes, slamming your drink back on the table. Both of you are currently at a quaint café, situated at a table next to their window wall. The sun beamed against your skin, warming you from the cool air blasting from their central AC system. It gave you both a clear view of passerby’s as you both indulged in your beverages, but it’s hard to enjoy your drink when your roommate refuses to sympathize with your financial situation.

"Come on," you whined. "I haven't been working the past few weeks because of finals, and I barely have enough money in my account to last me a week.”

Jaehyun shrugged his shoulders. "Not my problem. We had an agreement to split the rent, so you have to uphold your end of the agreement."

You could feel a vein on your forehead throbbing. "Jae, you're literally swimming in money, what the fuck. Just cut me some slack for this month and I'll pay next month's."

“Nope,” he remarked, pulling his phone out.

“I’ll pay it in full.”

“What do you want for dinner?”

"Don't ignore me!"

"I think I’m in the mood for some Thai food.”

You see him scrolling on your phone, most likely looking for nearby Thai restaurants to order takeout from. You rolled your eyes. “Doesn’t matter to me,” you shrugged. “Just don’t order from that pizza place again. I got food poisoning from there.”

He rolled his eyes, “Listen, it was Mingyu’s idea to try that place out.”

“Well, tell your friend Mingyu that he has shitty tastes in pizzas.”

“Noted,” he chuckled.

The memory of it sent chills down your spine. You remembered when he came home one day, a warm box of pizza in hand, freshly made as you could tell from its divine smell wafting in the room. You were chastised to steal the box away from your roommate and swallow it all up in the confines on your bedroom, only to be blocked by Jaehyun when he held a hand out to stop you, already seeing the cogs turn in your head as you eyed on the box.

It was odd to see the restaurant’s name not imprinted on the box of the cardboard box, only a generic clipart of an Italian street with the word ‘PIZZA’ enlarged across it. But you didn’t pay much attention to it then, your starving self was more focused on eating your delectable dinner and satiating your tastebuds.

However, that night ended with you and Jaehyun deteriorating in your respective bathrooms, begging to any living deity out there to grant you mercy from the horrendous suffering you both went through as a result of that pizza.

Needless to say, it took you three months to get over your pizza-phobia.

The bell at the café’s entrance rang, bringing your attention back to reality. You looked past Jaehyun to catch a glimpse of the customer that just walked in, only for you to drop your jaw.

"Oh my god.." you murmured.

Your roommate stopped what he was doing, aware of the dreadful tone behind your words. He looked at you with concern.

"What’s wrong?" he asked.

The customer lets out a sigh, a rush of cool air brushing against his flushed skin before scanning the interior.

"He... He's here.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Who’s here?”

What a lucky day it is for you because that same customer managed to catch your eyes directed on him, sending your body into a state of panic. Fuck, he wasn’t supposed to see you! He slowly starts to stride over to your table, prompting your fight or flight to kick in at full force.

“Quick, my ex just walked in! Pretend that we’re dating.”

“What the hell is goi–”

“(Name)! Is that you, I see?”

You gulped, fruitlessly easing your nerves, your mind running a mile a minute. You could feel your hands feeling clammy and internally curse yourself. You can feel bile forming in the back of your throat as you mustered up the courage to look up at your ex

You feigned a smile. “N-Nice to see you, too, Seokmin. Didn’t know that you were in the area.”

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at you at the mention of your ex’s name.

“Yeah, my girlfriend asked me to pick up some coffee for her and saw this place in passing.”

You felt yourself quiver for a second at the mention of girlfriend, but rebounded when he looked back at your roommate, as his back was faced to the entrance.

“Oh, my apologies! You had company here, it seems. Your name?”

“Oh, him,” you gulped. “He’s–”

“Her boyfriend, Jeong Jaehyun,” he responded

Your jaw goes slack from the latter’s quick response, seeing how he stood up from his seat to shake the latter’s hand. Seokmin looks back at him in shock, processing his words.

“O-Oh, you’re her boyfriend?”

Jaehyun nodded in response, his signature dimpled smile plastered on his face as he reached his hand out for a shake. “Indeed, I am, and I’m loving every second of it,” he chuckled. “And you are?”

Your ex returned the handshake, or more like only gripped his hand, seeing as how neither party didn’t move any more than that. The atmosphere surrounding the two men suddenly turned too thick for you to bear, further failing to quell the anxiety surfacing at every corner of your body. You didn’t know what to expect when Jaehyun surprisingly acquiesced to your plan, but the rigid stance in your ex’s posture is more than what you expected in response.

“Didn’t think that (name) would move on so quickly,” he commented.

Jaehyun narrowed his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We had history, you know.”

“No, I don’t know, because you were never brought up in our conversations.”

“She’s never mentioned me in passing?”

Jaehyun faked pondering for a moment.

“Nope,” he answered, pointedly popping the last syllable, “probably not important enough to talk about.”

“A-Anyways,” you intervened, “i-it was really nice meeting you again, but my boyfriend and I were in the middle of an important discussion before you came over, if you don’t mind.”

Your ex relents, finally letting go of Jaehyun’s hand before facing you again with a forced smile.

“Of course, where are my manners?” he remarked. You noticed how tense his jaw become. “It was nice seeing you again, (name). Hope to see you around.”

“Hope that you don’t,” you heard Jaehyun mumbling under his breath. You sucked in a breath when your ex turned to glare at your ‘boyfriend’, but quickly recomposed himself before waving at you, and only you, goodbye.

You let out a bated breath you didn’t know you were holding in. That whole interaction drained all the energy out of your body, slumping your figure against your seat as Jaehyun sat back down. You couldn’t help but sneak a glance at your ex standing by the counter, waiting for his order you deduced. You should’ve known it was inevitable to meet your ex one day, but that doesn’t mean that you were fully prepared for the moment.

You bit on your lip.

“Thanks… for covering me back there,” you softly spoke.

In your peripheral, you could tell that his face remained impassive, but you can from his eyes that he had question he wanted to ask, prodding you for some answers.

“Yes, it’s that ex from last year,” you grimaced.

“The one you called crying to me while I was on my date?”

You winced at the memory of it. It wasn’t your intention to interrupt his date back then. Your mind was voided of all logic, too distressed to remember that your roommate had made plans that evening. You only thought about that breakup phone call you had minutes prior, and how you needed someone to grieve to.

And the first person to come to mind was Jaehyun.

Short to say, you’ve never seen him go on any more dates after that, stating his reasons that your well being was his first priority. You offered multiple times to set him up with blind dates in repayment of screwing up his date night, but he rejects at every attempt you made. Sorry, but your breakup messed with my dating game, so save yourself the hassle, he said one time.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Kind of figured, his name sounded familiar” he shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “Still can’t believe you made me ditch my hot date for your snotty self.”

“You could’ve just said no,” you scowled.

“I find it rather insulting that you’d think I could leave you alone like that. You were sobbing so loud that my date heard you, for god’s sake.”

Nevertheless, you can feel his fingers encapsulating your hand, thumb rubbing against the back of your fingers. It certainly did help calm you down, but your heart starts racing once again for a whole different reason.

“But… you did good,” he murmured.

You looked at him confused.

“Your ex, I mean,” he clarified. “Back then, you couldn’t bear to hear the sound of his name, and yet you were able to face your ex in person even if it was all fake. That’s come to show that you’ve healed from back then, or at least still healing. But still, that’s not an easy thing to do.”

He gives your hand a firm squeeze, and your chest warms at the kind gesture.

“I know I don’t say it often, but I’m proud of you, (name). Always am and always will.”

If you two weren’t in a public place, you could cry right then and there–curse the heavens for putting you at an unfavorable setting. You swore you felt somersaults in your chest, endorphins coursing through your veins. You squeezed his hand back in response, a smile gracing your features to mask the turmoil in your heart and mind.

“Thank you, Jaehyun. That means a lot to me.”

He smiles back, and the Gods whispered to you at that moment that no one could compare to the man before you. Nodding his head towards the exit, he gets up from his seat.

“How about we go get dinner and rewatch some High School Musical at home? Sounds good to you?”

You’re already up and out of you seat, thrilled to spend any waking moment with your favorite moment by yourself.

“Does that mean I’m not paying next month’s rent?”

“Absolutely not.”

author’s note. if you haven’t noticed from the way i ended the fic, this story is set place in the same universe as my can i borrow? series! this is actually the beginning of their budding relationship which you can see that actually blooms into an established one further into my works.

hope you enjoyed it! let me know what you guys think and be sure to reblog it too <3

#jaehyun #nct jaehyun #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun fluff #nct #nct 127 #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 scenarios #jaehyun angst #jaehyun smut #jung jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x reader

[lcvejaem]

2! Beomgyus mom is a MILF?!

TATT00S;

## — SYNOPSIS You’d always wanted a tattoo so when you heard that one of you and your friends favorite tattoo artist was coming into to town you made a appointment right away.

## — AN been on hiatus but im back! I hope you enjoyed please repost!

series m.list | previous | next

!tag list open (msg me)! @miriamxsworld

#jaehyun x reader #nct 127 smau #jaehyun smau #jaehyun x Ash #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun fanfic #jaehyun angst #haechan x reader #nct smau #nct fluff #nct fanfic #jung jaehyun #jaehyun #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x you #beomgyu x reader #park sunghoon x reader #soobin x reader #heeseung x reader

[orenjae]

𝙿𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚂 | 𝙹𝙰𝙴𝙷𝚈𝚄𝙽 (𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚃)

PAIRING: jaehyun x reader GENRE: fluff, romance WC: 1,012 AUTHOR'S NOTE: kinda taking me longer to rewrite than i thought but here's another one :)

Seeing Jaehyun’s face the moment you open your eyes is probably the best thing ever to wake up to. You had your arm wrapped around his waist as your head rested on his chest. You can’t help but smile, thinking how you’ll never get used to waking up like that every morning. It still feels like a dream for you, being with Jaehyun and all.

Looking so peaceful as he sleeps, you can’t help but admire his pretty face. It literally took you five whole minutes before deciding to get up to prepare breakfast for the both of you. You tried to gently slip out of the bed and just when you almost did, a pair of strong arms pulled you back and hugged you even tighter.

“Yah!” you softly called, tapping his arm lightly.

“It’s too early,” he groaned. “Get some more sleep, love.”

“It’s already 8:30, mister,” you said, waiting for a reply from Jaehyun only to get none. You looked up and saw him sleeping again. He must be so tired from his rehearsals last night. They’ve been rehearsing nonstop for the past few weeks and you could only imagine how tired the members were. After quite some time, you attempted to get out of bed without waking him up this time.

It was already Jaehyun’s morning routine to have a cup of coffee and so after brewing some for the both of you, you thought of making pancakes – basically the only thing you found in the kitchen that you can cook. You made a mental note to yourself to do some grocery later that day.

You stood in front of the stove, holding a spatula on your right hand while the other sits perfectly on your waist. Your mind was too busy going all over the place as you wait for that side of the batter to get done when a pair of arms snaked its way around your waist, causing you to jump a bit from shock.

“Good morning, love,” he greeted you in his low husky voice, sending shivers through your spine. 

With his arms perfectly wrapped around your tiny body, he rested his chin on your shoulder blade and watched you cook while he hugged you from behind.

“Hi, love!” you greeted, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“How was your sleep?” you trailed, turning back your attention to the pancakes you’re cooking.

Jaehyun started planting soft kisses on your shoulder going towards your nape then your cheek.

“I kinda overslept.”

He replied in his usual knee-wobbling bedroom voice. You turned to look at him and can’t help but get lost in his eyes. You’ve got to admit that your boyfriend looks hot as hell sporting that disheveled look.

“Babe, you might burn the pancake.” Jaehyun said, interrupting your thoughts and bringing you back to reality.

Oh shit.

You looked away, hiding your rosy cheeks. You began questioning yourself for how long you were staring at him.

Jaehyun let out a small chuckle before planting a kiss on the top of your head. He walked towards the counter and sat on the high chair. Diverting your attention back on the pancake, you flip it to the other side. You let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, it didn’t burn.

“Can I just say…” he spoke with his eyes looking directly at you. “You look sexy right now.”

You felt your cheeks heat up after hearing him say that. Did he just?! You gave him a sharp look, eyes questioning.

What the hell is this guy up to?

That devilish smirk.

“What?” he asked innocently, still smirking.

You rolled your eyes and transferred the cooked pancake on the plate.

Suddenly, he stood up and walked towards you. He leaned in and whispered something in your ear that sent thousands of volts running through your whole system.

“My shirt looks good on you, by the way.” 

After giving you another kiss on the cheek this time, he walked past you before taking a sip on his coffee—still his eyes on you.

Soon you realized that you were indeed wearing nothing but his shirt on. Your cheeks instantly felt hot. No wonder he’s been acting like that!

“Y-Yah!” you exclaimed, hiding your embarrassment.

He let out a small laugh upon seeing your cute reaction. You were all red, avoiding his gaze.

Jaehyun reached for your hand and removed it from covering your tomato red face. He swiftly engulfed you into a hug and kissed the top of your head.

“Look at my baby, all shy and red.” he said softly, tucking some strands of your hair behind your ear.

Your lips turned into a pout as you sent him a death glare.

“Stop teasing me, Jung Jaehyun.”

He chuckled.

The both of you sat on the high chair as you enjoyed the pancakes and coffee you prepared, catching up on each other. He couldn’t help himself but rant how tiring it was rehearsing every day for their upcoming tour.

“Thanks for making breakfast,” he says softly. “I know I promised last night I’ll be the one to do that. I’m sorry I overslept.”

You closed your eyes as you rested your head on his chest.

“Don’t be sorry, love,” you whispered, enough for him to hear. “You’ve been working too hard and you deserve to rest as much as you can.”

“I know but I still wanna make it up to you.”

You looked up with a cheeky smile on your face as you thought of something after hearing him say that.

“I just know how you can make it up to me,” you beamed.

Jaehyun raised a brow.

“Wash the dishes, please?”

He frowned.

You let out a small chuckle and kissed the tip of his nose.

“I know you can do it, Jae,”

He smirked, giving you a quick hug before getting on his feet. You remain seated while you watch your boyfriend wash the dishes.

“Thank you, jagi!” you chirped happily. “I love you!”

He looked back at you, still smirking.

-

#nct 127 #nct127 #jaehyun #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun oneshot #jaehyun scenarios #nct jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x you #jaehyun x reader #nct x reader #nct #nct 127 x reader #os #orenjae

[ncityprincess]

sweet like candie 💻🍭

loser jae x cam girl oc

a long overdue sequel to the peeping jae. our favorite engineering student found himself in a pickle a few weeks ago. as mortified as he was, he quickly discovered a new side to himself. let’s see how he handles this newfound boldness.

not proofread 🤷🏾‍♀️

MDNI!!! MATURE CONTENT

xocandiegirlxo has logged on

jaehyun's heart was racing, eagerly waiting for the fun to begin. 8:00 pm had quickly become his favorite time of day, because that’s when candie, his new favorite cam girl, did her solo shows.

the engineering student spent all of winter break locked in his bedroom with the curtains closed and his laptop on. ever since that incident happened last month, jaehyun’s head was polluted with the filthiest thoughts imaginable. he desperately needed an outlet for them.

he pleasured himself way more than he ever had in his life. every time he closed his eyes, all he could think about were the raunchy images of y/n and johnny fucking each other right before his eyes. as freaked out and embarrassed as he was, it piqued his interest in sex even more. it’s not like he had much access to women, as he wasn’t exactly a ladies man. his lower head started to do all of the thinking for him, and eventually he found a way to get his foot into the door.

he turned to camgirls.

jaehyun, the extremely intelligent but generally nervous college student, had discovered a cam girl site not too long ago. being that he wasn't the type to approach a girl in real life, he decided to take his shot with a beautiful cam model. separated by a computer screen and however many miles, it was a safe way to practice being comfortable with women. tonight, he had transferred a few hundred dollars from his savings account to book a private session with his favorite cam girl, candie.

candie was perfect in his eyes. she was sweet, stunningly gorgeous, had the brightest smile and this distinct twinkle in her eye. she was an angel. and sure, she had a way of making men feel special. it was her job after all. but when candie spoke, it was as if she was speaking to jaehyun and only jaehyun.

the video chat was connecting, each agonizingly long second made jaehyun's pants tighter and tighter.

candie finally popped onto the screen, looking as beautiful as ever. she wore a pink lacy lingerie set, and tied her long locks back with a matching pink ribbon. her lips were plump and kissable, which was exactly what jaehyun wanted to do to her right now.

"hi baby, i didn’t get to see you during the last few shows", candie said with a pout.

"hi candie...sorry, my family came over and i wasn’t able to log on. i missed you so much” jaehyun said sincerely.

"aww, I missed you too baby boy. my show wasn’t the same without your sweet comments in the chat"

jaehyun scratched the back of his head shyly.

"mmm, so, what kind of fun are we gonna get into tonight, handsome?” candie said in her pretty, flirty voice.

"...umm, hmm, uh..." jaehyun bashfully stuttered.

"don't be shy baby, we always have such a good time when we're together, isn't that right?"

"yeah, yeah we do"

"we sure do! go on, tell me, what do you wanna see me do for you?"

candie let her hands roam across her voluptuous body, sensing that the shy man needed to relax a little more.

"do you like my outfit baby? I put it on just for you. it's my favorite color, pink!" candie said with a giggle.

"it looks lovely on you, but could you maybe...stand up. so I can see it better?"

"hehe, you want me to give you a little spin, baby?"

"please" he said eagerly

candie giggled again and slowly stood up from her bed. she tilted her webcam so that jaehyun could see all of her. she ran her hands up and down her body, spending a little extra time on her bra clad breasts. she let out little soft sounds of satisfaction. jaehyun leaned a little closer to his laptop screen, finally starting to get into a lusty haze. candie turned around slowly, bending over slightly so that he could get a good view of her plush ass. jaehyun ran his hands up his legs, slowly unbuttoning his pants.

candie turned back around and faced the camera.

"did you like my little fashion show, baby?"

"yeah" he grunted

candie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “what should i do now, handsome?”

jaehyun collected himself and gathered enough courage to speak his true thoughts.

“i wanna see you play with yourself…. if…that’s okay with you?”

“i thought you’d never ask. i’m sooooo horny baby. i’ve been dying to touch myself all day. how should i do it?” candie purred sweetly.

“uh…take your clothes off first, then touch your boobs please”

candie giggled at jaehyun’s polite demeanor. she could tell he was someone who didn’t get out much. but unlike the guys she normally got requests from, jaehyun still remained respectful, even in a dirty situation like this. he actually treated her like a human being.

jaehyun got harder and harder as he watched his favorite cam girl strip out of her lingerie. he felt like he was watching some sort of goddess enchant him.

candie followed his instructions and began to fondle her perky chest, running her hands over her hard nipples. “mmm baby i wish you were here to do it for me” candie moaned out.

“yeah, me too candie. would you let me kiss all over your boobs if i was there?”

“yeah” she breathed out.

“n-now can you maybe touch your pussy?”

candie’s hand moved down her stomach and stopped at her wetness, allowing it to coat her hand. she moved her hand in small circles on her clit, moaning softly at the friction.

“mmmm baby i’m so wet already, need you to help me make it better”

the neediness in candie’s voice made jaehyun shove his hand into his boxers once and for all. he groaned as his hand gripped his shaft, giving it a light squeeze. his ministrations became more focused as he heard candie get louder.

“baby i want you so fucking bad. wish you were in my mouth right now. i’d take you so deep in my throat if you’d let me. would you like that?”

“fuuuck yeah i would” jaehyun’s hand was working overtime moving up and down his length. he couldn’t believe he had a pretty girl in front of him doing whatever he wanted. he watched her slip two fingers inside of her glistening hole and she laid back flat onto her bed, giving him a perfect view of her pussy.

“wanna be your little slut for you babe. i’d let you have me whenever you wanted. you wouldn’t even have to say a word. i’d just lie back and let you have it. you’re so fucking sexy” candie moaned.

jaehyun didn’t even care if she was laying it on thick or not. her words were getting him exactly where he needed to be. he was so close to cumming, but he didn’t want the moment to be over so soon. he couldn’t keep his hands off of himself though. it felt too good to stop now.

“fuckkkk. fuck yourself really fast now. and rub your clit too. i’m so close baby.” jaehyun was surprised by the sound of his own voice. he had never heard himself sound so gruff and husky before. it was starting to give him some newfound confidence.

“ahhhh. i wanna cum so bad baby. make me cum make me cum pleaseeeee” candie whined. jaehyun’s eyes were lazer focused on her hand moving frantically in and out of her body. each motion made her breasts jiggle. he was so close he could taste it.

“fuck, let’s cum at the same time, yeah?”

“please baby i’ll do anything. just wanna cum.”

jaehyun started a countdown from 10 all the way to 1. he heard candie let out a sexy, drawn out wail as she came. immediately after, he shot out a hefty load all over his hand and boxers. he let out a guttural groan as he milked himself dry, overstimulating himself just how he liked it.

a few moments passed and jaehyun grabbed a kleenex to wipe off his hand. he felt his ears get red and had a bashful look on his face. he couldn’t believe he just did that. but he didn’t regret it one. bit.

“hehehe, i had a lovely time tonight, handsome boy. we should do this again sometime.” candie said sincerely and she grabbed her discarded lingerie.

“yeah?”

“of course! you made me feel so good baby. you’re a perfect gentleman” candie smiled at him softly.

jaehyun smiled and scratched the back of his head. “oh! let me send you your tip. you were amazing, as usual. i really hope we can do this again soon candie.”

jaehyun sent $300 to her profile, and candie smiled widely.

“you are so sweet! thank you for your generosity. will i see you again for tomorrow’s show, handsome?”

jaehyun wanted to see her every single night for the rest of his life.

the end 😁

#nct 127 #nct 127 hard hours #nct 127 hard thoughts #nct smut #nct imagines #nct 127 smut #nct x reader #nct #jaehyun drabbles #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun fic #jaehyun fanfic #jaehyun hard thoughts #jaehyun hard hours #jeong jaehyun x reader #imagine nct #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x oc #jeong jaehyun

[sakusamusimp]

Serpents and Dragons: Prologue

Sweet Pea x Reader

Summary: After her father’s psychotic break, Y/N and her family moved to Seoul from Riverdale. After joining a mafia group, she and her family wind up back in Riverdale. Nothing could prepare her for the wonderful things she would experience there, nor the horrific events that would change her life forever.

Content Warnings: Eventual smut, graphic depictions of violence and/or injury, gang/ mafia activity, cursing, occultism, toxic family, bullying, harassment, inaccurate depictions of mafia lifestyle and medical information. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING YOU READ! Reminder: I am not responsible for your triggers and cannot cater to everyone who reads my works.

Word Count: 1.4k

Author’s Note: Hello! This is my first piece of writing on this account so I hope you all enjoy it. I have not proofread this chapter, so please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes. This is going to be a multi-part series and it will follow an adapted version of the Riverdale timeline. Feel free to like, comment, and reblog this post! Thank you and enjoy!!!

In the town of Riverdale it was rare for a newcomer to show up and even rarer for an old resident to return, but that’s exactly what happened the summer before sophomore year. Y/N Kim was born and raised in Riverdale, until her father had a psychotic break, which led to her older sister and mother taking her away to live in Seoul, South Korea. She wasn’t aware of her family’s affiliation with an international crime syndicate, known as NCT, until she turned 12. Her older sister had joined the mafia 4 years earlier, when she was only 15 and in love with none other than Jung Jaehyun, a member of NCT by blood.

 Their father had been an NCT member since he got out of high school and dragged their mother into it with him. That’s when the Kim family became NCT members by blood. Even though they had their blood relation to NCT, they weren’t forced to become active members. They were entitled to NCT’s protection with or without the logo tattooed on their bodies. Lana joined NCT of her own volition, much to the dismay of her mother, who feared she would end up just like the man she had once loved. Y/N, on the other hand, wasn’t aware of her family’s lifestyle until her mother sat down with her and had a long talk, knowing full well she couldn’t keep from her forever. After the shock and rage subsided, Y/N talked with her older sister, who explained in more detail exactly what being an NCT member entailed. On her 12th birthday, she decided that she wanted to become a full-fledged member of NCT. That’s when three long years of gruesome training began.

 It started with basic hand-to-hand combat, then escalated into weapons training with both guns and knives. After that, it was the psychological training, in order to ensure that she was mentally capable of protecting NCT’s secrets and withstanding interrogation. Once she passed her mental evaluations, they moved her onto basic first aid training and then negotiation lessons. Soon, she became one of the best soldiers NCT had to offer. She’s still one of the most respected and feared NCT soldiers, gaining almost as much respect as the caporegimes.

 This leads us back to six months ago, when Mrs. Kim passed away. It wasn’t a sudden death. In fact, both of the sisters had seen it coming from a mile away, but it still took quite the toll on them. After weeks of grieving, the sisters finally composed themselves enough to return to work. In the higher ranks of NCT, discussions were being held regarding the branches of NCT. The Riverdale branch had been dormant since the capos who resided there before left, and now all the NCT members who lived there had either hidden as normal citizens or temporarily joined smaller gangs, like the Southside Serpents and Ghoulies. 

“I’m just saying. It would be in our best interest to start running the Riverdale branch again.” Johnny, a caporegime and the consigliere, argued.

 “Johnny’s right, TY. While the Riverdale branch has been dormant, we’ve lost almost half of the members that were there to other gangs and lost about $20 million in income per month.” It was rare to see Doyoung, yet another capo, agree with Johnny.

 Virtually all the other caporegimes in the room agreed with Johnny’s argument, all except for Taeil, the eldest capo and underboss. “Riverdale has nothing to offer us anymore. All the drug and weapons deals have been taken over by other organizations and there’s nobody of importance for protective services. Besides, it’s such a small town, it would benefit us more to start up a branch in the big city.” 

Taeil and Johnny had been going back and forth on the matter since the meeting started almost two hours prior, which thoroughly annoyed Taeyong. “Majority is in agreement that we should restart the Riverdale branch, so I’ve decided that we will do just that. Jaehyun and Lana pack your things, you’ll be the branch boss and underboss, respectively. Capos Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, and Chenle will also be accompanying you in case of another incident like three years ago. We’ll also send a few extra soldiers to add onto the ones dormant in Riverdale. And obviously, Y/N will also be accompanying you.” Taeyong finished, waiting for confirmation from the new branch leaders and then ending the meeting.

 Once they had been dismissed, Jaehyun and Lana left the room and headed back to their shared apartment in NCT’s complex. “So, how do you think Y/N will feel about moving back to Riverdale?” Jaehyun asked.

 “ I don’t know, Jae. I guess it really depends on if her old friends are still there, but I don’t know how much our father’s… incident affected her.” Lana responded earnestly. It was true, Y/N had changed a lot since her father’s breakdown. She wasn’t as in tune with her emotions anymore and used the mafia lifestyle as an escape. Maybe having those old friends back will help her to regain some sort of emotional sentience, but nothing can be assured. 

Opening the door to their home, Lana and Jaehyun were greeted by Y/N sitting at the kitchen bar on her computer, likely typing out an essay for her literature class. “Y/N, we have some important things to discuss.” Lana said, carefully as if her little sister would scurry like a mouse if she were too blunt. 

Y/N closed her computer, saving the document she had been working on. She looked between her sister and brother-in-law, eyes guarded and suspecting. “What’s up? I don’t like how cautious you’re being right now.”

 Lana took a deep breath. Y/N had always been absorbed in her schoolwork, busting her ass to keep up her 4.0 GPA by constantly studying and working to improve her education. “As much as you love the school that you’re going to now, soon, we have to move…back to Riverdale-” 

Y/N quickly stood to her feet, eyes wide. “What?!” She exclaimed, nearly knocking over her chair with her sudden movements. “Back to Riverdale? Seriously?!”

 Lana, assuming her sister was upset, gently tried to calm her down. “I know you may not want to go back because of what happened, but this is for official NCT business.” 

Y/N quickly shook her head back and forth, “No, no, no. I’m happy about this.” The confusion written on Lana and Jaehyun’s faces would have been comical in any other situation, but the need for an explanation trumped any humor there was. “I can see Archie and Betty and Juggie again. All of my childhood friends, I’ll be able to see them again.” A sigh of relief left both Jaehyun and Lana, who were genuinely terrified that Y/N would be upset.

 “We’re leaving once this semester of your schooling ends. Monday, once office hours are open, we’re gonna start getting your credits transferred with the school and start contacting old NCT members from Riverdale.” Jaehyun explained, turning on the electric kettle he had filled with water. “After that, your sister and I will work on rebuilding the Riverdale branch and you will be enjoying your summer and rekindling old friendships, I hope.” He smiled, setting two cups of tea in front of the sisters. Small thanks were heard from both before slow sips.

 Lana stood from her seat, grabbing the cup of tea and heading towards her bedroom. “Since there’s only a couple weeks left before school ends, I would suggest packing up most of your things, especially your small things, beforehand so we can save time. While Jae is taking care of your school stuff and relations, I’ll be here all day packing up the apartment.” She nodded off before disappearing into her bedroom.

 Jaehyun, now with his own tea, whispered to Y/N before leaving into the same room. “Make sure to go easy on her the next few weeks. Taeil’s still making a fuss about the Riverdale branch and I can guarantee he’ll be harassing her about it until the profits start showing up.” 

Y/N nodded in agreement before reopening her laptop. “Got it.” 

The next few weeks were spent with constant phone calls, a lot of packing tape, and several moving men taking things to either be put into storage, sold, or sent to their new home in Riverdale. After a long 18 hour flight and 4 hour drive, the black SUV with tinted windows finally passed by the nostalgic sign. “Riverdale: The Town with PEP!”

#riverdale #sweet pea x reader #nct #sweet pea #fanfic #sweet pea smut #sweet pea x reader smut #sweet pea fluff #sweet pea x reader fluff #sweet pea angst #sweet pea x reader angst #nct mafia au #nct dream mafia au #mafia nct #mafia nct dream #original character #jaehyun x oc #kpop #kpop fanfic #fanfiction

[ppangjae]

(ONLY) ABOUT LOVE | Jaehyun (teaser)

SUMMARY. If there was one person Jaehyun would vow to never forget, it would (wholeheartedly) be you. On the other hand, he just hopes that he’s someone you still (wholeheartedly) remember.

GENRE. fluff | slight angst | basketball player!jaehyun | volleyball player!reader | college!au | cinderella!au | slight childhood friends to lovers!au

PAIRING. jaehyun x fem!reader

EST. WORD COUNT. 10-15k+ words

author’s note. i’ve always wanted to write a fic with a grumpy x sunshine duo. this may not come close to such pairing (it’s honestly more of a shy x hyper duo but it is what it is), but i just wanted to experiment! i’ve also been wanting to write a sports!au... we shall take up the challenge <3

ABOUT ME, ABOUT US, ABOUT LOVE.

Within the deepest and most hidden places of your heart, you’ve always been aware of how you felt about Jaehyun. You’ve always been aware of how your heart beats for him, how your hands grew clammy because of him, and how you always felt different (a good different) around him. But you never thought of bringing it up to him or confessing your feelings for him, simply because no matter how confident you seemed to others, there was always that sliver of doubt within you. But standing with him in the middle of a basketball court just minutes before midnight, with his jacket gently draped over you and your hands shyly brushing against each other, that sliver of doubt gradually shrinks in size. 

“Do you think I can do it?” Jaehyun is the first one to break the comforting silence you both shared. Slightly confused, you look up at him, pondering him to continue. “A half court shot.”

Tearing your gaze away from him, you notice that you’re both standing right in the middle of the court. A half court shot. When the two of you were still teenagers, you and Jaehyun would always stick around at the basketball court until the sun was replaced by the moon. You’d often get in trouble for staying out so late, but it was always worth it because you enjoyed spending time with him. You would always ask Jaehyun to make a half-court shot before you both call it a night. He would never make a successful half-court shot, but he always promised you that one day, he would. And he made sure that you would be the first one to see it. Many years later, you’re sure that he’s already made his first successful half-court shot, especially with him being a young basketball prodigy. 

“I’m sure you can,” you smile, “especially with all of the half-court shots you’ve probably made.”

He glances at you, eyes sparkling. “I’ve never made a successful half-court shot before.”

“Oh?” You’re genuinely surprised. “Interesting. Even after all these years? Not even one?”

He shakes his head. “Not even one. But I think I’ve had a lot of practice to get it this time. In front of you. Just like how I promised.”

“You… remember that?” Your eyes meet his. “By that I mean, the promise?”

“How could I forget?” 

Remembering a promise was nothing for him. Remembering a promise was nothing compared to remembering you. If there was one person Jaehyun would vow to never forget, it would (wholeheartedly) be you. It was unfortunate that you left just as quickly as you entered his life. But here you are again, and the feelings have never changed. 

You look away from Jaehyun, afraid that he would pick up your flusteredness. Jaehyun looks down at your hands. He’s aching to grab and hold yours, but he’s unsure of how you feel about him. He would rather sit back and admire you from afar than be rejected and push you farther away from him. But tonight… tonight he feels different. 

“If I make this shot…” He clears his throat. As he’s bending down to pick up the basketball court, you finally return to facing him. He’s dribbling the ball a couple of times to get a feel of it. He’s adjusting his stance and making sure his feet are planted perfectly on the ground. Courageously, he takes the leap by looking at you and mumbling, “then you have to give me a kiss.”

With eyes widening, you hesitate to protest. A kiss? Would it be a kiss without meaning? What are his intentions? Your mind starts like an engine to a car, your thoughts being the gas that pushes it to move forward. Before you could utter a reply, he flashes you a wide smile and makes the shot. Everything around you seems to slow down and all of your focus shifts towards the basketball that’s soaring midair. 

Jaehyun watches the basketball with such an intense gaze, wishing and hoping it would go in the hoop. Your heart begins to pick up its pace, also hoping that the basketball would go in the hoop. As the basketball grows closer to the hoop, the stronger you feel Jaehyun’s presence beside you. Your arms are lightly brushing against each other, sparking the connection you both always had. Jaehyun feels his body tense up when the basketball bounces on the rim of the hoop. He’s almost afraid that the basketball won’t go through the hoop. As the basketball bounces along the rim of the hoop a couple of times, the tension that he feels slowly transforms into a surge of adrenaline. 

You hold your breath.

Jaehyun takes your hand.

The basketball goes through the hoop.

The adrenaline rush that you’re both experiencing reaches its peak. You turn to face Jaehyun who’s smile widens more and more when his hands let go of yours to caress your cheeks. Before you could say something, he pulls you in and presses his soft, plump lips against yours. Your hands make their way around his waist, fisting at the ends of his sweater to pull him closer than he already is. 

At this very moment, everything feels mutual. Feelings seem to be reciprocated. Curious thoughts are given answers. Connections are re-sparked time and time again. Minds and hearts are united. 

And you’re both aware that you both don’t want this to end.

author’s note. i’m not sure how this sports!au fic will turn out, but we shall give it a shot! (haha, no pun intended) sjkdhfskjdhf let’s see how this will turn out, shall we? 

RE: TAGLIST — if you would like to be a part of the taglist, you know the drill :-) reply to THIS post so that you will be included in the taglist for this fic!

#neowritingsnet #cznnet #ankathia #jaehyun #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun angst #jeong jaehyun #jeong jaehyun scenarios #jeong jaehyun imagines #jeong jaehyun x reader #jeong jaehyun x oc #nct #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct x reader #nct x oc #nct fluff #nct angst #nct 127 #nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 x reader #nct 127 x oc #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 angst

[everything-fine-n-peachy]

Recess: playground fight

A series of drabbles and a little window into Jaehyun and Felicity’s life as a couple. From the story, Grad School (Special Term): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Their first fight happens on a Monday. Felicity yells at Jaehyun and she expects him to yell back.  Instead he embraces her as the rage in her chest wearily pulls off its mask to reveal loneliness. 

“Sorry for being difficult,” she sobs, “I… I don’t want to be a bother.” Jaehyun’s heart constricts. 

“Hey,” he says, gently pulling Felicity’s face up, “I’m the bad texter. I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention,” he says, leaving a small peck on her nose.

“Next time, tell me when you need me, okay?” 

Jaehyun loves his job, yes, but he’d do anything for Felicity.

#jaehyun drabbles #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagine #jaehyun timestamps #jaehyun x y/n #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x reader #jaehyun boyfriend #nct boyfriend #nct 127 boyfriend #jaehyun fluff #nct fluff #nct 127 fluff #jeong jaehyun #jung jaehyun #jaehyun nct #jaehyun nct 127 #nct fic #nct 127 au

[mkjeong]

Fallin’ all in you - JJH (part 1)

PROLOGUE - The second the door burst open, my eyes landed on him. The memories played smoothly like a song I’ve played many times before even after 8 years of trying to break that record, here we are sitting face to face like we used to back on that very rooftop. Only, now his eyes are void of emotions. Unlike the warmth of comfort we once shared, we’re strangers again.

Pairing/Characters - Jaehyun x Dayeon (oc fem reader), Jaemin x Si-eun (oc fem reader)

Genre/Category - angst, romance, enemies to lovers, enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, exes to lover, rekindled romance, ceo!jaehyun, ceo!jaemin, mentions of mingyu, highschool to working

Content Warning - strong language, slightly implied 🔞 but nothing much, mentions of heartbreak

Status - on-going

Masterlist

FLASHBACK

As I began to pack my remaining clothes away, for every item I placed into this box. It gradually unawakened memories from my very childhood one by one. Some were delighted, while some, not so much. Taping all these boxes, locking all those memories. A new chapter awaits me. Taking a one-way route starting destination; Busan, final destination; Seoul. Seoul, what a big beautiful city, but only welcomes certain kinds of people. I definitely do not fit into one of those fortunate categories. So you see, my mother owns a small little seafood restaurant down by the shores where she serves fresh seafood at an affordable price. My father is a proud taxi driver with a love for our hometown and the knowledge of every single route you can possibly take here in Busan. But moving to Seoul erases all that knowledge of those routes my father learned here in Busan. Whereas I, a 17 year old girl who likes to wear baggy shirts and play in the mud, searching for clams after a rainy day. I’m not that uncultured, I know Seoul wouldn’t exactly welcome our kind of family with open arms. It’ll be hard to adjust but for a better education and a better future ahead of my siblings and I, our parents made a huge sacrifice for us to achieve it. 

After hours of endless roads, we’re here. Pushing through the small door to a comfortable small space we now call home, with our individual luggage we settled into our separate rooms. By separate rooms, I meant, my parents room and the other small room I had to share with my two adorable little siblings. We’re not the richest of people but you can say, we’re quite comfortable with what we have. We were taught to appreciate what we earned so this rooming arrangement doesn’t bother me as much as you thought it would. 

After spending our whole weekend unpacking and purchasing a few more necessities like stocking up our fridge, now comes Monday. Marks the start of my new beginning. As my hands grip tighter to the straps of my bag I slowly set foot into my new homeroom. I can feel stares practically piercing through my back, upon my shoulders now lies a big target as I’m considered the “new” girl on campus. 

“Good morning class, welcome to the start of your senior year. I’m glad to see many familiar faces and also more than grateful to see some new faces. To those who are new here, my name is Mr. Moon Taeil, you can me Mr. Moon.” 

“ NO! Your name is Master Moon.” the blonde-haired dude said quietly. I shift my eyes to the black-haired boy sitting next to Mr blonde-hair boy who seemed to be distracted by the window. 

Laughter abrupts the class, “Jaemin, be quiet.” said Mr. Moon.

“New students please come to the front and introduce yourself to your classmates.” 

Walking up to the front, I can still feel eyes on me. I stood behind a fellow new student, waiting for my turn to go. Once he had finished his introduction, it was my turn. 

“Hello everyone, my name is Kim Dayeon and I just moved here a few days ago from Busan. I hope we can all get along and please take care of me.” 

#nct 127 #jaehyun #jeong jaehyun #najaemin #jaemin #nct #nctdream #jung yuno #nct imagines #nct scenarios #jaehyun x oc #jaehyun x female reader #jaemin x oc #jaemin x female reader