Light A Flame || Hoshi

Chapter 27

"Soon, did you check the oven?" Jang-mi yelled, running around the stove with what looked like a witches' annual meeting worth of substances bubbling in different pots and pans.

"It doesn't look like it's burning," he dismissively replied. Jang-mi huffed, bending down to notice a very browned pan sitting on the rack. She grabbed a mitten and took out the blackened substance.

"Jagi, I love you, but in what world do unburnt brownies look like a pan of charcoal?"

"It's a signature recipe!"

She rolled her eyes, grabbing a whisk and stirring the different components on the stove simultaneously. Hoshi quickly came up to her, hugging her waist from behind and whispering in her ear.

"Mi, you realize it's just Chan and Mira coming over, right? You're cooking as if the president announced he's visiting. I'm sure they'd be happy with just takeout," he said, blowing air in her ear which caused her to giggle.

"I haven't cooked in a while like this and I'm really excited to have them over, so I thought I could mark the occasion with a nice dinner," she explained, grabbing a spoon and tasting a little of a dark red sauce. She took another spoonful, feeding it to Hoshi over her shoulder.

"More salt?"

"More salt."

She nodded, turning to grab the shaker, but Hoshi beat her to it. He ran across the kitchen, kneeling down onto his knees in front of her and holding the salt over his head as if presenting a crown to a queen.

"Your spices, ma'am."

"Thank you, Soonie, but salt isn't a spice," she smiled, dispensing a little of it into the sauce and stirring.

"It's a thing you put into food to give it flavor. That's the definition of a spice," he argued.

"Well, it's a condiment, which is sort of similar but also not. Like leopards and cheetahs."

"All this kitchen stuff is making my head hurt."

She scoffed. "Wow, even with my expert analogy. How did you even survive before I got to cooking for you?"

"Well, I went out into the forest and foraged for berries and leaves, the natural way. If I got lucky, I could hunt a bear or a deer or something. Now that was a dinner."

Jang-mi rolled her eyes again. "I was expecting you to say that Mingyu cooked for all of you, but somehow I wouldn't even be surprised if you aren't lying."

"Well, yes, he did. After moving to my own place I mostly lived off of the kimchi Jongga sent me every month," he explained, somewhat proud of himself.

"You have no essential life skills."

"What? Kimchi has great nutritional value!" Hoshi retorted, plopping down onto one of the bar stools to watch Jang-mi do her thing.

Jang-mi took in a breath, sensing a whiff of something burning in the air. She followed the smell down to the pan with some darkened chicken. She flipped one around, observing a very black surface on its bottom.

"Soon, I told you to watch the chicken breasts!"

"I was, then I went to go get the salt-"

"Fine. Can you just... saw the bottoms off of them or something, please? I'm not sure how salvageable they are now," Jang-mi said, giving the pan and a cutting board over to him.

"Fuck the chicken breasts. We can go vegetarian tonight," Hoshi offered, earning a smile from Jang-mi.

"I wish, but Dino's allegedly trying paleo so we have to have some sort of protein."