The promise with stomach (MyungYeol version) - Oneshot
Title: The promise with stomach
Pairing: Myungsoo/Sungyeol
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, failed! Humor
WC: 4,609
Summary: Sungyeol joins a cooking competition. Like, a real cooking competition.
Warning: failed humor, really sorry :(
A/n: So, this is a remade work. I found it today and um… I thought it suits MyungYeol. Okay IDEK :( Considering it as a small apologetic gift for all the angst fic I’ve written recently. I should be back to my angst era now, because I’m hopeless in fluff :(
Anyway, enjoy ^^”
The promise with stomach:
<
Watch Out 사랑때메
모두 다 걸었어
Got Ya 점점 타오르는 불처럼
뜨겁게 내맘을 모두 고백할거야
Watch out, there's a man who only looks at you
Watch out, I staked my all because of love
Got ya, just like the gradually blazing fire,
My burning heart, I'm going to confess it all to you>>
“Seriously, Howon, I CAN’T do it! Stop immediately the thought of throwing me into that stupid competition.”
Sungyeol whined for the nth time of the day and stormed his feet angrily at the boy sitting on the front row of the lecture hall. The other just took off his glasses and narrowed eyes, answering dryly:
“Nope. Sorry, I’ve already used your name to sign up for the competition, so no more protest.”
The tall boy stared blankly at his friend for five-odd seconds before an outburst really showed up. Sungyeol pointed his finger at the other while yelling hysterically:
“WHAT THE HELL LEE HOWON??? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??? OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU DID THIS TO ME!!! I THOUGHT… Uhm… Uhm…”
“Calm down Sungyeol or everybody in the hall would think that I were to strangle you.”
Howon used his hand to cover Sungyeol’s mouth and kept him sitting back down on the bench, prevented his friend screaming. After some seconds the struggle gradually died down and the other gave a hand gesture to show that he was finally calmed, so slowly Howon released his friend from the grip. Sungyeol had no longer been yelling, but now glaring with two eyes burned in anger and cursing under his breath something only himself could hear.
“Don’t look at me like that okay? It’s not all my faults anyway. The school president told me that there was hardly any male student joining the cooking competition this year, so I needed to find some male students who can cook and support them to take part in the activity. You know clearly that it’s not fun at all if there’re just girls cooking right?”
“I know, but I don’t know how to cook!!! Are you kidding me???”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” Howon straightened his back and suddenly a huge grin broke across his face. He glanced at the latter slyly: “Do you still remember the winter break last year when we had a psychology project together?”
“So what?”
“That time whenever I called your home number, I always met your mother and she always answered me that YOU were COOKING.”
He emphasized, his face now looked like nothing but the face of Chesire cat. Sungyeol couldn’t help but gape dramatically at his friend in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
Screw Sungyeol for having a mother who always wanted to show that her son was a perfectionist. Screw him for having such a good friend who was always ready to dig up his personal life.
Seriously, during 21 years living on Earth, Sungyeol had never held a knife to peel an apple, let alone cooking. How could he cook, seriously?
“It’s just misunderstood Howon, really. I don’t even know how to distinguish between sugar and salt.”
“Don’t be shy Sungyeol, you’re really a little chef. Even Woohyun told me that.”
What?
Sungyeol blinked.
Woohyun?
Nam Woohyun?
The Nam Woohyun who was his roommate?
If not him then who else? Sungyeol just knew only one person in this world named Woohyun.
But Woohyun knew clearly that he couldn’t cook.
.
.
.
What. The. Hell???
Sungyeol screamed, literally, in his mind while resisting the urge to bang his head on the wall nearby. Great, first Howon betrayed him, and now Woohyun made up something about him being a good chef. A CHEF, while he had never cooked even one time in his life.
“Where’s Woohyun?”
The choding asked weakly after a while trying to adjust his new situation.
“I think he’s in the library…” Howon trailed off. Good, Sungyeol couldn’t kill someone in the library.
“Ah, here he is!”
The boy exclaimed loudly and Sungyeol turned his head back just to find Woohyun walking into the lecture hall with a satisfied expression on his face.
Oh, how Sungyeol wished he could punch that stupid face immediately.
“Hi guys I-Ouch!!! What the fuck are you doing Lee Sungyeol???”
Woohyun was grinning ear to ear as he had just approached Howon’s desk when suddenly Sungyeol stood up and stepped angrily on his foot. The said boy cried out in pain while holding his left feet (or his left shoe, whatever). Sungyeol just glared at him and yelled:
“I should be the one asking you that question Woohyun. Why did you tell Howon that I knew how to cook?”
“I told him like that because you really know how to cook okay?”
Sungyeol gaped for the second time of the day and looked back at Howon, who just shrugged and made a face read ‘see-I-told-you’.
Everything had gone too far.
“Are you nuts??? We’ve already lived with each other for two years and I’ve never cooked for you, and you know clearly the reason.”
Woohyun took a small glance at Howon who was feigning to concentrate on his textbook and secretly gestured Sungyeol to come out the hall. The taller boy protested at first, but then the curiosity overtook him and finally even with the burning head, he still found himself outside with the source of his trouble (actually it was his mother, but he couldn’t call her like that. He was still her son anyway.)
“Look, I’m sorry for not telling you that Howon and I wrote your name down the list of competitor without your permission. But we wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been good for you.”
“Excuse me, first, I have never told you to sign up for me. And second, if throwing me into that stupid competition and watching me be embarrassed in the crowd are helping me, then yeah, good job Nam Woohyun.” Sungyeol scoffed sarcastically. Woohyun looked at his friend and sighed:
“You have to believe me Sungyeol. We’ve been friend for years and I know what I’m doing.”
“You don’t know anything Woohyun. Since the day you had Sunggyu as your boyfriend you have been already nuts. Now shut up and…. What…?”
Sungyeol stopped at the mid-sentence as the other leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear:
“Myungsoo is one of the judges this year.”
Seeing the choding’s ears turned red all of a sudden, Woohyun knew that he had hit perfectly on the other’s weak point. The boy grinned slyly at his friend and trailed off:
“There are two more weeks before the competition starts. You should practice immediately Sungyeol. And don’t worry, I’ll help you. At least I know how to cook, thanks to my mom.”
***
Had you ever heard that if you wanted to have a man’s heart, you should impress him by your cooking skills?
Men didn’t love by heart, but by stomachs, seriously.
***
Day 1:
“Trying to trim this into the flower shape, understand? I will give you five minutes.”
Woohyun said as he threw at Sungyeol a carrot. The taller boy made face and grumbled angrily, his hand rotated the carrot. Sungyeol really didn’t know what to do with all the trim thingy. The carrots after all would just stuffed into mouths, so where’s the profit of trimming it into some only-God-knew shape? It’s a waste of time.
But still, he took the knife on the dining table nearby and started abusing the piteous object in his hand (the carrot had never been piteous until the moment it laid on Sungyeol’s hands.)
Five minutes later…
“What the fuck is this?” Woohyun asked while picking up the red, confused mass on the plate which had just been a carrot some minutes ago. Sungyeol just shrugged and mouthed something in defense, like: “It’s flower, a new kind of flowers.” Woohyun stared back at his friend and shook his head disbelievingly.
Everything would be more complicated than he had predicted.
Day 2:
“Do you know what to do with a living fish?”
Woohyun asked as they were standing in the kitchen, watching the living object swishing in the water. Sungyeol took a few steps back in confusion, feeling afraid while staring at the way the fish struggled violently. How could he do something with it when the fish was still alive? He didn’t want to show that he was dumb for not knowing what to do with the fish, but really, he didn’t know what to do with it. The boy closed his eyes and thought hard before a light bulb popped up in his mind.
After all the fish would just be cooked right? Sungyeol thought, trying to ease the uneasy feeling in his chest.
He looked at Woohyun with a bit of hesitance:
“Of course I know.”
“Well, then show me.”
Woohyun stepped back to give space for his friend. Sungyeol opened the cupboard and found a pestle in it. The boy took a deep breath as he handed the object and approached the sink full of water. He stared down at the fish, mumbling quietly:
“Forgive me fish. Rest in peace.”
Just when Sungyeol swung the pestle hesitantly and was about to beat it down, Woohyun held his hand back and asked him in panic:
“What are you doing Sungyeol?”
“Well, I’m trying to do something with the fish. But…” He trailed off, then bursting into tears dramatically: “I can’t Woohyun, it’s a living creature like us.”
Woohyun rolled eyes at his friend. Seriously, why did Sungyeol start thinking ridiculously like that? The older boy couldn’t help but feel as if there was another Jang Dongwoo in their shared dorm
Actually, how could Woohyun even be friend with that dramatic queen during those previous years?
The boy sighed and took a knife on the countertop:
“The fish needs to be fresh so it can taste well when you cook it. If you want to prepare a fish, watch me.”
The next thing people could hear from the two boys’ apartment were Sungyeol’s screams something like: “Your murderer!” or “The fish’s innocent, why did you kill it?” etc, etc,…
Anyway, rest in peace, fish.
.
.
.
Day 5:
Sungjong dropped by the two boys’ apartment after her economy lecture just to find a burned kitchen and Woohyun using some kind of ointments to apply on Sungyeol’s burns on his hands.
“What’s the problem today?”
He asked and sank down on the couch comfortably.
“You’ve seen Jongie, he burned our kitchen with water and an oily pan.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Sungyeol protested weakly at Woohyun’s accusation. Sungjong just sighed as he glanced over the young boy’s pale hands which were covered with cuts and burns:
“I don’t think it’s a good idea hyung. It’s just the fifth day and Sungyeol’s hands have been already full of wounds.”
“So what should I do now? Don’t tell me to go and bribe the judges.”
Woohyun snorted, but then he couldn’t help looking apologetically at Sungyeol. If he hadn’t forced the latter to join the competition then his friend wouldn’t have been tortured like that.
“Sungyeol should have just met Myungsoo and asked him out. It’s better than doing all those things. You hate cooking anyway.”
“If I had the guts to do it…” Sungyeol muttered slightly. Even standing near Myungsoo made him faint. He rubbed his temple and trailed off: “I don’t even know what to cook for that contest… No idea.”
Sungjong thought hard for a while and slowly trailed off:
“Actually I think that if you join the cooking contest because of Myungsoo…” Sungyeol’s face suddenly turned red like a tomato “…so you just need to please only Myungsoo…”
“What do you mean Jong? What about other judges?”
“I mean, you need to cook something delicious and it also needs to be liked by Myungsoo so you can impress him. If you’re lucky enough then the first prize will come to you, but the main point here is Myungsoo will remember you as someone can cook him his favorite food and he will want to know more about you. Then he will ask you out and you two will date and finally end up with a marriage. Happy ending, right?”
“So I have to cook something Myungsoo likes?”
“Yup.”
The petite boy grinned with her own plan. Woohyun stared blankly at his friend for a while and then slowly a huge grin also broke across his lips. The boy quickly grabbed his cell phone and exclaimed loudly:
“Good idea dude. I’ll call Sunggyu.”
“What to do with Sunggyu???”
Sungyeol asked, feeling slightly irritated. Had Woohyun already told everyone about his huge crush on Myungsoo?
“Don’t you remember, Sunggyu is Myungsoo’s friend! He must know what Myungsoo likes and dislikes.”
Ah… So that’s why Sungyeol needed to stay still and calmly waited for his best friend, along with the cheesy talk he had with his (not so) little boyfriend Kim Sunggyu.
***
Two days later while Sungyeol was playing video games on the TV screen with the thought of the cooking contest had been pushed deeply to the back of his mind, Woohyun came home. The first thing the boy did was shoving a piece of paper on the choding’s face and said proudly:
“Take it Sungyeol. Thanks to Sunggyu finally we have it.”
“You don’t need to promote your boyfriend like that.”
The younger boy grumbled and paused the unfinished game on the screen before looking back at the paper on in his hands. Behind him Woohyun was changing his clothes into something more comfortable.
“Wait, Woohyun. Do I need to kill a living chicken? In this paper he wrote ‘chicken’.”
There was a brief pause between the two boys before the other boy finally answered:
“Don’t worry. The super market sells chicken meat so we don’t have to buy a living chicken. I will search some recipes on the net for you. Tomorrow we will go and buy cooking materials.”
“Thanks a lot Woohyun.”
Sungyeol murmured without him realizing. He had to admit that all the things Woohyun had done for him lately, even when they were so ridiculous and embarrassing, but he was deeply moved by them. If it hadn’t for his help then Sungyeol wouldn’t have known what to do.
The latter just drew a huge grin on his face and nudged Sungyeol on the back:
“Dude, we’re friends, right?”
After all, having someone like Woohyun as a best friend wasn’t a bad idea.
The whole following week Sungyeol spent to practice the recipe he decided to use. Everything wasn’t bad much, or at least Sungyeol had stopped cutting his hands instead of the vegetables and known how to distinguish between long onion and leek. Woohyun didn’t have to nag his friend and prevent him from doing something stupid, but he had become the white mouse for the brunette’s experiments. And just on the fourth day the older had to wave the white flag in surrender:
“Please, Sungyeol, I have already had the dyspepsia because of that dish.”
Sungyeol pouted, but then finally released Woohyun and found another object. Until the day that contest took place he still needed to practice more and more. He had to ensure that Myungsoo would like his dish, and also the person who cooked it.
***
The day the cooking contest took place finally came.
Sungyeol inhaled and exhaled softly as he watched other competitors prepare their cooking materials. His heart nearly jumped out of the ribcage in worry and the boy kept on standing up, then sitting down without him realizing. Sungyeol wiped his hands soaking in sweat onto his pant, and suddenly the fear of being defeated overtook him. What if he failed, seriously? The tall boy tilted his head and looked around the hall in an attempt to find his friends. At the left of the audiences Woohyun was sitting beside Sunggyu, along with Sungjong, Howon and DongWoo. All of them looked up and even among the huge, noisy crowd Sungyeol still heard them calling his name and saw their encouraging smiles. The boy smiled back weakly before turning to the judges. Some other students Sungyeol had already known like JinKi from history major, Hyosung from literature major… His eyes trailed and then stopped at Myungsoo, the boy was talking to Hyungsik sitting beside him. All of a sudden he looked up and their eyes met. The contact just lasted for some seconds, but Sungyeol swore he had seen a small smile tugged on the other’s face.
After more than one hour preparing and cooking, finally the contest came to the judgment time. Sungyeol watched as the judges went and tasted the dish cooked by other competitors. He observed Myungsoo’s face carefully, his expression still hadn’t changed much.
“And now, the judges are standing in front of the table of the 13th competitor. He is Lee Sungyeol and his major is technology. Ah… I actually have never expected to see a guy who’s cute like him here, let alone his AWESOME cooking skills.”
JongHyun, who was acting as the compere of the contest said with his mocking tone. If it hadn’t been for the presence of the judges then Sungyeol swore he would have just hit JongHyun with the frying-pan nearby. It wasn’t like they didn’t know each other.
Myungsoo took a small bite into the food on the dish before nodding his head in agreement. The other judges smiled encouragingly at him and Kevin asked:
“Why did you choose to cook that dish?”
Sungyeol couldn’t help but smile a bit. Of course he had to prepare for that question as he had already known that 95% the judges would ask him it. He couldn’t say that he chose chicken, pineapple, onion, field mushrooms and vegetables just because he knew Myungsoo liked them. He needed to make up something as his answer.
As the choding trailed off his words, he couldn’t help but glance at Myungsoo. The boy didn’t look directly at him, though he still heard his answer, Sungyeol could tell that. But it was clear that Myungsoo was smiling, or should he say ‘giggling’? Why did he giggle like that? Sungyeol thought to himself while feeling butterflies all over his stomach. Seeing Myungsoo smile wasn’t good for his heart much, Sungyeol had come to that conclusion as his heartbeat started increasing.
Half an hour later the judges finally announced the result of the cooking competition. Sungyeol shifted on his foot nervously while staring intensely at JongHyun standing on stage. The small speech swept past Sungyeol as he just wanted to know the final result as soon as possible.
“Okay, here we come to the third prize of the competition today. Congratulations Han SeungYeon from history major!”
Han SeungYeon, not Lee Sungyeol? So he still had hope for the second and the first prize right? Or maybe he wouldn’t gain any prize. Everybody there had cooked many times while he had just begun. Sungyeol gave a small mental note but still kept concentrating on the boy on stage.
“Now we’ll come to the second prize today. Well, it’s a bit surprised to me as I have never thought that he would gain a prize. But still, what have you done today is really awesome. Good job, Lee Sungyeol. Congratulations!”
What?
He?
Lee Sungyeol?
The second prize?
Suddenly all his senses had been taken away. With the blank mind, he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Sungyeol just felt like someone pushed him forward, and then Howon pushed him on the stage to receive the prize. Even the legs now didn’t seem like they belonged to him anymore, as if Sungyeol had borrowed other’s legs and went with it. Finally all the cuts, burns, wounds, attempts and works had been compensated.
But wait.
If he was the second prize, then the first prize would be given to another person, right?
Sungyeol thought and all of a sudden his heart sank down his feet in disappointment. When the competition ended people would just think about the winner, who would care about the second and the third? Myungsoo would definitely never care about him… The boy thought bitterly while biting his lower lip in an attempt to keep tears not falling down.
He should be happy that at least he still got a prize, but…
Everything was so empty and nonsense.
Sungyeol turned his head around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Myungsoo but the other had no longer been in his sight.
***
“It’s okay Yeol. You’ve done very well.”
DongWoo patted his back lightly, trying to ease the tension on Sungyeol’s shoulders. They were all sitting on the grass outside the university’s blocks.
The cooking competition had come to the end for half an hour ago.
The choding looked up just to find Woohyun, Sunggyu, DongWoo, Howon and Sungjong surrounding him, the worry was written all over their faces. He smiled slightly and said in a small tone:
“No I’m fine. I’m just tired a bit. Finally this stupid contest has been over and I had a prize. At least Howon and Woohyun will no longer torture me with it.”
“You talked as if you really hated us.”
Woohyun glared and muttered under his breath. Sungyeol laughed lightly while hitting his best friend’s arm playfully before standing up from his seat. He stretched his arms out before starting walking towards a building nearby.
“Where are you going Yeol?”
“Just take a small walk. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry.”
“Remember Howon’s having a small party to congratulate you.”
“I know.”
Sungyeol shoved his hands into his pockets and watched the clouds on the sky far above his head. The boy stood on the rooftop for quite a while before he heard some footsteps behind him. He turned around and was about to tell that person (probably Woohyun) to leave him alone, but then Sungyeol just froze in his track.
It wasn’t Woohyun but Myungsoo.
Myungsoo stood a few feet away from Sungyeol for some seconds before slowly approaching him. The taller boy tried to hide his confusion by turning his head away and stared at the sky again, but that time his mind didn’t concentrate on the clouds anymore. His breath nearly stopped at the moment Myungsoo stood beside him and his arm brush his own one lightly.
The two boys sank into the awkward silence for pretty long before Myungsoo cleared his throat and started saying:
“So, since when?”
“Since what? Sorry Myungsoo-ssi, I-I don’t understand…”
Sungyeol asked back, looking bewildered. Myungsoo stared blankly at the other male for some seconds before shaking head and giving a soft chuckle. “You must be kidding me.” He muttered under his breath.
“You know, I even knew you before Woohyun knew Sunggyu. We took part in the same political science class two years ago and you always sat on the second row with that Sungjong kid.”
Sungyeol jerked his head in surprise and stared at Myungsoo in disbelief. All his words had left him and at that moment Sungyeol didn’t know what to say or what to do than gaping at the other.
“I tended to approach you many times but whenever you saw me you just kept running away, you… um… wasn’t fond of me, I guessed.” The jet black haired boy said, pausing briefly: “It wasn’t that I didn’t notice you, it was just you have never given me a chance.”
Sungyeol’s eyes widened as Myungsoo’s words. Seriously, he ran away just because he was afraid, not more. How could he hate Myungsoo?
“When Sunggyu started dating Woohyun, I’ve tried to drop a hint at him that I wanted to meet Woohyun’s best friend, but that hyung was too dumb, I think. He didn’t understand what I wanted to say. Besides I was scared that you didn’t like me, so after sometimes I finally gave up… Two weeks ago when I saw your name on the list of competitors of the cooking competition I was really surprised. I didn’t know that you were good at cooking. Even JongHyun also told me that you didn’t know how to cook, so I was very curious. I didn’t know why you joined the contest.”
The shorter boy trailed off. Sungyeol turned his head a bit just to find that Myungsoo was staring at him intensely.
Slowly, he asked:
“It’s because of me, right?”
Should Sungyeol run away now? Or he would just stay and tell Myungsoo everything he had kept for two years? That he had fallen for him at first sight, that he always tried to be interesting and funny to impress him? That even when Sungyeol hated cooking, he still accepted all the scars on his hands just because he wanted to make something special for Myungsoo?
Before Sungyeol knew what should be done, he had nodded his head without thinking. Myungsoo widened his eyes a bit in surprise, but then a grin was drawn across his face. Without a word, the boy leaned in and pressed their mouths together. Sungyeol’s hands automatically came up to rest on Myungsoo’s shoulders while Myungsoo just simply placed his hands on Sungyeol’s waist. He brought Sungyeol closer and they kissed slowly, savoring the time together.
***
“Are you free this weekend?”
Myungsoo asked while they were holding hands together, walking down the street to Howon’s apartment. Sungyeol blushed lightly at the words as he knew clearly what the other meant:
“Are you asking me out?”
“If you think so, so yeah, I’m asking you out.”
The other smirked as he leaned closer to Sungyeol’s face and the boy quickly shut his eyes, being ready for the second kiss. His heart fluttered wildly due to the feeling of Myungsoo’s hot breath on his face, right above his upper lip.
But then there was no kiss, instead it was just Myungsoo’s laughter ringing through his ears. Sungyeol opened his eyes and blinked twice before slapping the other’s shoulder half-heartedly. His face flushed in embarrassment:
“Yah, how could you do this to me? You should appreciate your date.”
“It’s just my small revenge. Don’t you know that the food you cooked this afternoon was the kind I really hate?”
“What?” Sungyeol asked and stared at Myungsoo puzzlingly.
“I hate chicken, pineapple, onion, field mushrooms and vegetables.”
“But the list…”
“The one Woohyun and Sunggyu gave you right? It’s the list of foods I tended to give my mom and tell her not to buy them for me. But then it disappeared mysteriously. I asked Sunggyu but he denied taking it. It’s not until today that I knew where the list has gone to.”
“But you still ate my food.”
Sungyeol asked. Realization all of a sudden dawn on him again and the boy’s face now looked like nothing but a ripe tomato.
“Just because you cooked them for me, okay? And don’t try to cook anymore, seriously. I hate seeing your hands like this. Even if you don’t know how to cook I still like you. Now I think we should hurry up before the party starts.”
The choding couldn’t help but smile shyly at the feeling of Myungsoo’s hand touched and held his one tight as they continued their small journey.
After all men still loved by hearts, right?
END.
Pairing: Myungsoo/Sungyeol
Rating: PG
Genre: Romance, failed! Humor
WC: 4,609
Summary: Sungyeol joins a cooking competition. Like, a real cooking competition.
Warning: failed humor, really sorry :(
A/n: So, this is a remade work. I found it today and um… I thought it suits MyungYeol. Okay IDEK :( Considering it as a small apologetic gift for all the angst fic I’ve written recently. I should be back to my angst era now, because I’m hopeless in fluff :(
Anyway, enjoy ^^”
The promise with stomach:
<
Watch Out 사랑때메
모두 다 걸었어
Got Ya 점점 타오르는 불처럼
뜨겁게 내맘을 모두 고백할거야
Watch out, there's a man who only looks at you
Watch out, I staked my all because of love
Got ya, just like the gradually blazing fire,
My burning heart, I'm going to confess it all to you>>
“Seriously, Howon, I CAN’T do it! Stop immediately the thought of throwing me into that stupid competition.”
Sungyeol whined for the nth time of the day and stormed his feet angrily at the boy sitting on the front row of the lecture hall. The other just took off his glasses and narrowed eyes, answering dryly:
“Nope. Sorry, I’ve already used your name to sign up for the competition, so no more protest.”
The tall boy stared blankly at his friend for five-odd seconds before an outburst really showed up. Sungyeol pointed his finger at the other while yelling hysterically:
“WHAT THE HELL LEE HOWON??? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE??? OH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU DID THIS TO ME!!! I THOUGHT… Uhm… Uhm…”
“Calm down Sungyeol or everybody in the hall would think that I were to strangle you.”
Howon used his hand to cover Sungyeol’s mouth and kept him sitting back down on the bench, prevented his friend screaming. After some seconds the struggle gradually died down and the other gave a hand gesture to show that he was finally calmed, so slowly Howon released his friend from the grip. Sungyeol had no longer been yelling, but now glaring with two eyes burned in anger and cursing under his breath something only himself could hear.
“Don’t look at me like that okay? It’s not all my faults anyway. The school president told me that there was hardly any male student joining the cooking competition this year, so I needed to find some male students who can cook and support them to take part in the activity. You know clearly that it’s not fun at all if there’re just girls cooking right?”
“I know, but I don’t know how to cook!!! Are you kidding me???”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” Howon straightened his back and suddenly a huge grin broke across his face. He glanced at the latter slyly: “Do you still remember the winter break last year when we had a psychology project together?”
“So what?”
“That time whenever I called your home number, I always met your mother and she always answered me that YOU were COOKING.”
He emphasized, his face now looked like nothing but the face of Chesire cat. Sungyeol couldn’t help but gape dramatically at his friend in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
Screw Sungyeol for having a mother who always wanted to show that her son was a perfectionist. Screw him for having such a good friend who was always ready to dig up his personal life.
Seriously, during 21 years living on Earth, Sungyeol had never held a knife to peel an apple, let alone cooking. How could he cook, seriously?
“It’s just misunderstood Howon, really. I don’t even know how to distinguish between sugar and salt.”
“Don’t be shy Sungyeol, you’re really a little chef. Even Woohyun told me that.”
What?
Sungyeol blinked.
Woohyun?
Nam Woohyun?
The Nam Woohyun who was his roommate?
If not him then who else? Sungyeol just knew only one person in this world named Woohyun.
But Woohyun knew clearly that he couldn’t cook.
.
.
.
What. The. Hell???
Sungyeol screamed, literally, in his mind while resisting the urge to bang his head on the wall nearby. Great, first Howon betrayed him, and now Woohyun made up something about him being a good chef. A CHEF, while he had never cooked even one time in his life.
“Where’s Woohyun?”
The choding asked weakly after a while trying to adjust his new situation.
“I think he’s in the library…” Howon trailed off. Good, Sungyeol couldn’t kill someone in the library.
“Ah, here he is!”
The boy exclaimed loudly and Sungyeol turned his head back just to find Woohyun walking into the lecture hall with a satisfied expression on his face.
Oh, how Sungyeol wished he could punch that stupid face immediately.
“Hi guys I-Ouch!!! What the fuck are you doing Lee Sungyeol???”
Woohyun was grinning ear to ear as he had just approached Howon’s desk when suddenly Sungyeol stood up and stepped angrily on his foot. The said boy cried out in pain while holding his left feet (or his left shoe, whatever). Sungyeol just glared at him and yelled:
“I should be the one asking you that question Woohyun. Why did you tell Howon that I knew how to cook?”
“I told him like that because you really know how to cook okay?”
Sungyeol gaped for the second time of the day and looked back at Howon, who just shrugged and made a face read ‘see-I-told-you’.
Everything had gone too far.
“Are you nuts??? We’ve already lived with each other for two years and I’ve never cooked for you, and you know clearly the reason.”
Woohyun took a small glance at Howon who was feigning to concentrate on his textbook and secretly gestured Sungyeol to come out the hall. The taller boy protested at first, but then the curiosity overtook him and finally even with the burning head, he still found himself outside with the source of his trouble (actually it was his mother, but he couldn’t call her like that. He was still her son anyway.)
“Look, I’m sorry for not telling you that Howon and I wrote your name down the list of competitor without your permission. But we wouldn’t have done it if it hadn’t been good for you.”
“Excuse me, first, I have never told you to sign up for me. And second, if throwing me into that stupid competition and watching me be embarrassed in the crowd are helping me, then yeah, good job Nam Woohyun.” Sungyeol scoffed sarcastically. Woohyun looked at his friend and sighed:
“You have to believe me Sungyeol. We’ve been friend for years and I know what I’m doing.”
“You don’t know anything Woohyun. Since the day you had Sunggyu as your boyfriend you have been already nuts. Now shut up and…. What…?”
Sungyeol stopped at the mid-sentence as the other leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear:
“Myungsoo is one of the judges this year.”
Seeing the choding’s ears turned red all of a sudden, Woohyun knew that he had hit perfectly on the other’s weak point. The boy grinned slyly at his friend and trailed off:
“There are two more weeks before the competition starts. You should practice immediately Sungyeol. And don’t worry, I’ll help you. At least I know how to cook, thanks to my mom.”
***
Had you ever heard that if you wanted to have a man’s heart, you should impress him by your cooking skills?
Men didn’t love by heart, but by stomachs, seriously.
***
Day 1:
“Trying to trim this into the flower shape, understand? I will give you five minutes.”
Woohyun said as he threw at Sungyeol a carrot. The taller boy made face and grumbled angrily, his hand rotated the carrot. Sungyeol really didn’t know what to do with all the trim thingy. The carrots after all would just stuffed into mouths, so where’s the profit of trimming it into some only-God-knew shape? It’s a waste of time.
But still, he took the knife on the dining table nearby and started abusing the piteous object in his hand (the carrot had never been piteous until the moment it laid on Sungyeol’s hands.)
Five minutes later…
“What the fuck is this?” Woohyun asked while picking up the red, confused mass on the plate which had just been a carrot some minutes ago. Sungyeol just shrugged and mouthed something in defense, like: “It’s flower, a new kind of flowers.” Woohyun stared back at his friend and shook his head disbelievingly.
Everything would be more complicated than he had predicted.
Day 2:
“Do you know what to do with a living fish?”
Woohyun asked as they were standing in the kitchen, watching the living object swishing in the water. Sungyeol took a few steps back in confusion, feeling afraid while staring at the way the fish struggled violently. How could he do something with it when the fish was still alive? He didn’t want to show that he was dumb for not knowing what to do with the fish, but really, he didn’t know what to do with it. The boy closed his eyes and thought hard before a light bulb popped up in his mind.
After all the fish would just be cooked right? Sungyeol thought, trying to ease the uneasy feeling in his chest.
He looked at Woohyun with a bit of hesitance:
“Of course I know.”
“Well, then show me.”
Woohyun stepped back to give space for his friend. Sungyeol opened the cupboard and found a pestle in it. The boy took a deep breath as he handed the object and approached the sink full of water. He stared down at the fish, mumbling quietly:
“Forgive me fish. Rest in peace.”
Just when Sungyeol swung the pestle hesitantly and was about to beat it down, Woohyun held his hand back and asked him in panic:
“What are you doing Sungyeol?”
“Well, I’m trying to do something with the fish. But…” He trailed off, then bursting into tears dramatically: “I can’t Woohyun, it’s a living creature like us.”
Woohyun rolled eyes at his friend. Seriously, why did Sungyeol start thinking ridiculously like that? The older boy couldn’t help but feel as if there was another Jang Dongwoo in their shared dorm
Actually, how could Woohyun even be friend with that dramatic queen during those previous years?
The boy sighed and took a knife on the countertop:
“The fish needs to be fresh so it can taste well when you cook it. If you want to prepare a fish, watch me.”
The next thing people could hear from the two boys’ apartment were Sungyeol’s screams something like: “Your murderer!” or “The fish’s innocent, why did you kill it?” etc, etc,…
Anyway, rest in peace, fish.
.
.
.
Day 5:
Sungjong dropped by the two boys’ apartment after her economy lecture just to find a burned kitchen and Woohyun using some kind of ointments to apply on Sungyeol’s burns on his hands.
“What’s the problem today?”
He asked and sank down on the couch comfortably.
“You’ve seen Jongie, he burned our kitchen with water and an oily pan.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Sungyeol protested weakly at Woohyun’s accusation. Sungjong just sighed as he glanced over the young boy’s pale hands which were covered with cuts and burns:
“I don’t think it’s a good idea hyung. It’s just the fifth day and Sungyeol’s hands have been already full of wounds.”
“So what should I do now? Don’t tell me to go and bribe the judges.”
Woohyun snorted, but then he couldn’t help looking apologetically at Sungyeol. If he hadn’t forced the latter to join the competition then his friend wouldn’t have been tortured like that.
“Sungyeol should have just met Myungsoo and asked him out. It’s better than doing all those things. You hate cooking anyway.”
“If I had the guts to do it…” Sungyeol muttered slightly. Even standing near Myungsoo made him faint. He rubbed his temple and trailed off: “I don’t even know what to cook for that contest… No idea.”
Sungjong thought hard for a while and slowly trailed off:
“Actually I think that if you join the cooking contest because of Myungsoo…” Sungyeol’s face suddenly turned red like a tomato “…so you just need to please only Myungsoo…”
“What do you mean Jong? What about other judges?”
“I mean, you need to cook something delicious and it also needs to be liked by Myungsoo so you can impress him. If you’re lucky enough then the first prize will come to you, but the main point here is Myungsoo will remember you as someone can cook him his favorite food and he will want to know more about you. Then he will ask you out and you two will date and finally end up with a marriage. Happy ending, right?”
“So I have to cook something Myungsoo likes?”
“Yup.”
The petite boy grinned with her own plan. Woohyun stared blankly at his friend for a while and then slowly a huge grin also broke across his lips. The boy quickly grabbed his cell phone and exclaimed loudly:
“Good idea dude. I’ll call Sunggyu.”
“What to do with Sunggyu???”
Sungyeol asked, feeling slightly irritated. Had Woohyun already told everyone about his huge crush on Myungsoo?
“Don’t you remember, Sunggyu is Myungsoo’s friend! He must know what Myungsoo likes and dislikes.”
Ah… So that’s why Sungyeol needed to stay still and calmly waited for his best friend, along with the cheesy talk he had with his (not so) little boyfriend Kim Sunggyu.
***
Two days later while Sungyeol was playing video games on the TV screen with the thought of the cooking contest had been pushed deeply to the back of his mind, Woohyun came home. The first thing the boy did was shoving a piece of paper on the choding’s face and said proudly:
“Take it Sungyeol. Thanks to Sunggyu finally we have it.”
“You don’t need to promote your boyfriend like that.”
The younger boy grumbled and paused the unfinished game on the screen before looking back at the paper on in his hands. Behind him Woohyun was changing his clothes into something more comfortable.
“Wait, Woohyun. Do I need to kill a living chicken? In this paper he wrote ‘chicken’.”
There was a brief pause between the two boys before the other boy finally answered:
“Don’t worry. The super market sells chicken meat so we don’t have to buy a living chicken. I will search some recipes on the net for you. Tomorrow we will go and buy cooking materials.”
“Thanks a lot Woohyun.”
Sungyeol murmured without him realizing. He had to admit that all the things Woohyun had done for him lately, even when they were so ridiculous and embarrassing, but he was deeply moved by them. If it hadn’t for his help then Sungyeol wouldn’t have known what to do.
The latter just drew a huge grin on his face and nudged Sungyeol on the back:
“Dude, we’re friends, right?”
After all, having someone like Woohyun as a best friend wasn’t a bad idea.
The whole following week Sungyeol spent to practice the recipe he decided to use. Everything wasn’t bad much, or at least Sungyeol had stopped cutting his hands instead of the vegetables and known how to distinguish between long onion and leek. Woohyun didn’t have to nag his friend and prevent him from doing something stupid, but he had become the white mouse for the brunette’s experiments. And just on the fourth day the older had to wave the white flag in surrender:
“Please, Sungyeol, I have already had the dyspepsia because of that dish.”
Sungyeol pouted, but then finally released Woohyun and found another object. Until the day that contest took place he still needed to practice more and more. He had to ensure that Myungsoo would like his dish, and also the person who cooked it.
***
The day the cooking contest took place finally came.
Sungyeol inhaled and exhaled softly as he watched other competitors prepare their cooking materials. His heart nearly jumped out of the ribcage in worry and the boy kept on standing up, then sitting down without him realizing. Sungyeol wiped his hands soaking in sweat onto his pant, and suddenly the fear of being defeated overtook him. What if he failed, seriously? The tall boy tilted his head and looked around the hall in an attempt to find his friends. At the left of the audiences Woohyun was sitting beside Sunggyu, along with Sungjong, Howon and DongWoo. All of them looked up and even among the huge, noisy crowd Sungyeol still heard them calling his name and saw their encouraging smiles. The boy smiled back weakly before turning to the judges. Some other students Sungyeol had already known like JinKi from history major, Hyosung from literature major… His eyes trailed and then stopped at Myungsoo, the boy was talking to Hyungsik sitting beside him. All of a sudden he looked up and their eyes met. The contact just lasted for some seconds, but Sungyeol swore he had seen a small smile tugged on the other’s face.
After more than one hour preparing and cooking, finally the contest came to the judgment time. Sungyeol watched as the judges went and tasted the dish cooked by other competitors. He observed Myungsoo’s face carefully, his expression still hadn’t changed much.
“And now, the judges are standing in front of the table of the 13th competitor. He is Lee Sungyeol and his major is technology. Ah… I actually have never expected to see a guy who’s cute like him here, let alone his AWESOME cooking skills.”
JongHyun, who was acting as the compere of the contest said with his mocking tone. If it hadn’t been for the presence of the judges then Sungyeol swore he would have just hit JongHyun with the frying-pan nearby. It wasn’t like they didn’t know each other.
Myungsoo took a small bite into the food on the dish before nodding his head in agreement. The other judges smiled encouragingly at him and Kevin asked:
“Why did you choose to cook that dish?”
Sungyeol couldn’t help but smile a bit. Of course he had to prepare for that question as he had already known that 95% the judges would ask him it. He couldn’t say that he chose chicken, pineapple, onion, field mushrooms and vegetables just because he knew Myungsoo liked them. He needed to make up something as his answer.
As the choding trailed off his words, he couldn’t help but glance at Myungsoo. The boy didn’t look directly at him, though he still heard his answer, Sungyeol could tell that. But it was clear that Myungsoo was smiling, or should he say ‘giggling’? Why did he giggle like that? Sungyeol thought to himself while feeling butterflies all over his stomach. Seeing Myungsoo smile wasn’t good for his heart much, Sungyeol had come to that conclusion as his heartbeat started increasing.
Half an hour later the judges finally announced the result of the cooking competition. Sungyeol shifted on his foot nervously while staring intensely at JongHyun standing on stage. The small speech swept past Sungyeol as he just wanted to know the final result as soon as possible.
“Okay, here we come to the third prize of the competition today. Congratulations Han SeungYeon from history major!”
Han SeungYeon, not Lee Sungyeol? So he still had hope for the second and the first prize right? Or maybe he wouldn’t gain any prize. Everybody there had cooked many times while he had just begun. Sungyeol gave a small mental note but still kept concentrating on the boy on stage.
“Now we’ll come to the second prize today. Well, it’s a bit surprised to me as I have never thought that he would gain a prize. But still, what have you done today is really awesome. Good job, Lee Sungyeol. Congratulations!”
What?
He?
Lee Sungyeol?
The second prize?
Suddenly all his senses had been taken away. With the blank mind, he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Sungyeol just felt like someone pushed him forward, and then Howon pushed him on the stage to receive the prize. Even the legs now didn’t seem like they belonged to him anymore, as if Sungyeol had borrowed other’s legs and went with it. Finally all the cuts, burns, wounds, attempts and works had been compensated.
But wait.
If he was the second prize, then the first prize would be given to another person, right?
Sungyeol thought and all of a sudden his heart sank down his feet in disappointment. When the competition ended people would just think about the winner, who would care about the second and the third? Myungsoo would definitely never care about him… The boy thought bitterly while biting his lower lip in an attempt to keep tears not falling down.
He should be happy that at least he still got a prize, but…
Everything was so empty and nonsense.
Sungyeol turned his head around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Myungsoo but the other had no longer been in his sight.
***
“It’s okay Yeol. You’ve done very well.”
DongWoo patted his back lightly, trying to ease the tension on Sungyeol’s shoulders. They were all sitting on the grass outside the university’s blocks.
The cooking competition had come to the end for half an hour ago.
The choding looked up just to find Woohyun, Sunggyu, DongWoo, Howon and Sungjong surrounding him, the worry was written all over their faces. He smiled slightly and said in a small tone:
“No I’m fine. I’m just tired a bit. Finally this stupid contest has been over and I had a prize. At least Howon and Woohyun will no longer torture me with it.”
“You talked as if you really hated us.”
Woohyun glared and muttered under his breath. Sungyeol laughed lightly while hitting his best friend’s arm playfully before standing up from his seat. He stretched his arms out before starting walking towards a building nearby.
“Where are you going Yeol?”
“Just take a small walk. I’ll be back soon, don’t worry.”
“Remember Howon’s having a small party to congratulate you.”
“I know.”
Sungyeol shoved his hands into his pockets and watched the clouds on the sky far above his head. The boy stood on the rooftop for quite a while before he heard some footsteps behind him. He turned around and was about to tell that person (probably Woohyun) to leave him alone, but then Sungyeol just froze in his track.
It wasn’t Woohyun but Myungsoo.
Myungsoo stood a few feet away from Sungyeol for some seconds before slowly approaching him. The taller boy tried to hide his confusion by turning his head away and stared at the sky again, but that time his mind didn’t concentrate on the clouds anymore. His breath nearly stopped at the moment Myungsoo stood beside him and his arm brush his own one lightly.
The two boys sank into the awkward silence for pretty long before Myungsoo cleared his throat and started saying:
“So, since when?”
“Since what? Sorry Myungsoo-ssi, I-I don’t understand…”
Sungyeol asked back, looking bewildered. Myungsoo stared blankly at the other male for some seconds before shaking head and giving a soft chuckle. “You must be kidding me.” He muttered under his breath.
“You know, I even knew you before Woohyun knew Sunggyu. We took part in the same political science class two years ago and you always sat on the second row with that Sungjong kid.”
Sungyeol jerked his head in surprise and stared at Myungsoo in disbelief. All his words had left him and at that moment Sungyeol didn’t know what to say or what to do than gaping at the other.
“I tended to approach you many times but whenever you saw me you just kept running away, you… um… wasn’t fond of me, I guessed.” The jet black haired boy said, pausing briefly: “It wasn’t that I didn’t notice you, it was just you have never given me a chance.”
Sungyeol’s eyes widened as Myungsoo’s words. Seriously, he ran away just because he was afraid, not more. How could he hate Myungsoo?
“When Sunggyu started dating Woohyun, I’ve tried to drop a hint at him that I wanted to meet Woohyun’s best friend, but that hyung was too dumb, I think. He didn’t understand what I wanted to say. Besides I was scared that you didn’t like me, so after sometimes I finally gave up… Two weeks ago when I saw your name on the list of competitors of the cooking competition I was really surprised. I didn’t know that you were good at cooking. Even JongHyun also told me that you didn’t know how to cook, so I was very curious. I didn’t know why you joined the contest.”
The shorter boy trailed off. Sungyeol turned his head a bit just to find that Myungsoo was staring at him intensely.
Slowly, he asked:
“It’s because of me, right?”
Should Sungyeol run away now? Or he would just stay and tell Myungsoo everything he had kept for two years? That he had fallen for him at first sight, that he always tried to be interesting and funny to impress him? That even when Sungyeol hated cooking, he still accepted all the scars on his hands just because he wanted to make something special for Myungsoo?
Before Sungyeol knew what should be done, he had nodded his head without thinking. Myungsoo widened his eyes a bit in surprise, but then a grin was drawn across his face. Without a word, the boy leaned in and pressed their mouths together. Sungyeol’s hands automatically came up to rest on Myungsoo’s shoulders while Myungsoo just simply placed his hands on Sungyeol’s waist. He brought Sungyeol closer and they kissed slowly, savoring the time together.
***
“Are you free this weekend?”
Myungsoo asked while they were holding hands together, walking down the street to Howon’s apartment. Sungyeol blushed lightly at the words as he knew clearly what the other meant:
“Are you asking me out?”
“If you think so, so yeah, I’m asking you out.”
The other smirked as he leaned closer to Sungyeol’s face and the boy quickly shut his eyes, being ready for the second kiss. His heart fluttered wildly due to the feeling of Myungsoo’s hot breath on his face, right above his upper lip.
But then there was no kiss, instead it was just Myungsoo’s laughter ringing through his ears. Sungyeol opened his eyes and blinked twice before slapping the other’s shoulder half-heartedly. His face flushed in embarrassment:
“Yah, how could you do this to me? You should appreciate your date.”
“It’s just my small revenge. Don’t you know that the food you cooked this afternoon was the kind I really hate?”
“What?” Sungyeol asked and stared at Myungsoo puzzlingly.
“I hate chicken, pineapple, onion, field mushrooms and vegetables.”
“But the list…”
“The one Woohyun and Sunggyu gave you right? It’s the list of foods I tended to give my mom and tell her not to buy them for me. But then it disappeared mysteriously. I asked Sunggyu but he denied taking it. It’s not until today that I knew where the list has gone to.”
“But you still ate my food.”
Sungyeol asked. Realization all of a sudden dawn on him again and the boy’s face now looked like nothing but a ripe tomato.
“Just because you cooked them for me, okay? And don’t try to cook anymore, seriously. I hate seeing your hands like this. Even if you don’t know how to cook I still like you. Now I think we should hurry up before the party starts.”
The choding couldn’t help but smile shyly at the feeling of Myungsoo’s hand touched and held his one tight as they continued their small journey.
After all men still loved by hearts, right?
END.