Cosplay Shenanigans

11 - of friendship plans and basement dwellers

As much as Abel refused to acknowledge, the second his nostrils were blasted with the powerful aroma of fried noodles straight from the pan, saliva continuously surged and flooded his mouth. Not only did he have to swallow them back, but he also had to resist the temptation to pounce on the freshly cooked food lying in front of his very eyes.

Screw this.

Forcing himself to stare as Mairi opened up the basket - watching the vapor breaking free was kind of satisfying though - and revealed the dim sums was the perfect epitome of mental torture. Not to mention, the smooth texture of the noodles and its golden brown color made him gulp as his empty stomach groaned in pain.

Come on dude, you can't give in. He clenched his hands. Keep your cool.

"This is our special chow mein and dim sums," divulged Mairi. "Careful, they're extremely hot," she warned before Abel could respond. "I understand gobbling them up but then you wouldn't want to burn your tongue."

"Appreciate your concern, Mairi, but I ain't doing that shit," he scorned. "I'm simply looking at the presentation, and so far..." he pulled up, breaking apart his chopsticks. "... it's not as bad as I expected, but it all comes down to the taste."

On the bright side, at least the meal served as something he could focus on instead of having to directly confront Mairi. Perhaps a couple of glances sufficed, but he wasn't risking himself to strangely react to all of her mischief, which had always succeed on making him look like a total freak. Fuck... why do I get so easily flustered these days?

That didn't stop his peripheral vision from peering at the poker-faced server, who stood there with no additional helpful comments. Instead, she gestured two thumbs-up before she ultimately withdrew, sprinting for some pick-up orders. What a seal of approval.

With her out of the way, what was he waiting for? With everything prepared, Abel could immediately dig into his exceptionally late lunch. Regardless, he wasn't intending on becoming a voracious pig, so after some deep breaths, he slurped the noodles.

Not even a second ticked by, and a burst of savory flavor diffused to every corner of his taste buds. Not only did the spices punctured through his tongue, but the crisp consistency of the noodles... it practically sent his tired soul right into the utopia it had been nagging for. What the fuck... this is just too...

Yeah, he wasn't going to waste his time finding further descriptions for this shit. His appetite had broken through the roof and knocked all of his other reflections out of his head. Turning into a hog was the least of his concerns, especially now that he had crammed down a huge chunk of the noodles.

I need this so fucking much... This is literally heaven compared to Mom's cooking.

The dim sums were ineffable. Even vividly describing the soft texture of the food would be an underplay. Nothing even mattered anymore; he should be devouring every single food from this restaurant. I have been to a lot of places, and never have I eaten something like this before...

"You watched Food Wars before? You looked exactly like that blonde girl."

Ugh, Mairi...

This friend of his was really determined in pulling Abel out of his euphoria and shoving him back to the bleak reality. With his twitching brows and a withering smile, he contorted his face and waved his chopsticks. "Can't you see I'm eati-"

"I can finally understand why the characters from that show have such lewd faces. Your orange-head friend was like that too." And obviously, she also had the need to interrupt him. "It's like what the dumpling-pregnant boy said... something to do with foodgasm."