𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 (Discontinued)

Chapter 51 - Yeji

The steam escaped the meat, the whole kitchen was filled with different aromas as the smoke surrounded Yeji and Y/n. Y/n turned the ventilation on and soon enough the smoke started to clear up as Yeji stirred the pan full of meat. Y/n's face was bright with joy, he had a beautiful burning passion for cooking. Y/n loved the way he made different tastes surface from the ingredients with just the right stir with his spatula or just the right amount of sauce be put into the pan as he made 3 dishes at the same time with the help of Yeji. Yeji on the other hand was not focused in the cutting she was assigned to do. Yeji was staring at Y/n while she cut some garlic into small pieces. The sharp knife was getting closer and closer to her finger as she slowly cut the garlic, she was happy to see Y/n so bright and happy. Y/n glanced at Yeji who was distracted, the sharp knife reflected the kitchen light as it moved closer to her pointer finger. Y/n immediately stopped his spatula to the counter and held Yeji's hand, the one that held the sharp knife. Y/n had a shocked expression, "Noona, focus on cutting the garlic. Not your finger." Y/n said as he sighed in relief as he held onto Yeji's forearm. Yeji stared at him for a second, processing what just happened in the quick minute. "Noona, do you need a break? It's fine you can get some water to drink." Y/n said grabbing the knife from Yeji's hand. Y/n opened Yeji's palm and grabbed the knife and laid it on the cutting board before leading Yeji out of the kitchen "Maybe you should join the others, the food is almost done. Thank you for your hard work." Y/n said patting Yeji's back and walking back to the stove, checking on the pans. Yeji sighed and grabbed a glass and went to the refrigerator, getting some water and drinking it slowly. She was lightheaded from the steam and the constant burning aroma of different ingredients, Y/n was right, she needed a bit of a break. Yeji leaned on the refrigerator as she stared at Y/n as he danced in the kitchen, elegantly. It was a sight, seeing how Jolly Y/n was playing the food as the smoke cleared a bit with the help of the vents. Yeji took a sip of the water, savoring the taste as her mind was focused on Y/n. Lia had told the story already. Everyone was taken aback but they all talked it out, everyone sorted their feelings out. They all have resorted to trying to talk it through with Y/n because they all didn't want to get their hearts broken. Y/n on the other hand was doing his best to avoid the 5 women the best he can, training for 4 hours straight, getting back from school at 7 at night, meeting Chan and getting producing lessons. He did his best and it was working. For the last 5 days Y/n and the girls of ITZY had not crossed paths, that is until today. It was sudden and Y/n didn't like that Kyung-jae invited them without a warning.

Kyung-jae, on the other hand, was tired of Y/n tiring himself out just to avoid some women he had a crush on. Kyung-jae thought it was idiotic of Y/n to do such childish things, avoiding your crush was not a viable option for him. Kyung-jae kept trying to convince Y/n to at least take a break but Y/n would brush him off since he was too tired to talk. Kyung-jae had enough of Y/n's constantly ignoring his health just to ignore his crushes. He hated seeing Y/n limp to bed because he was so sore from working out in the gym for hours. Meanwhile, Yuna, Chaeryeong, Lia, and Ryujin, with the help of the other members of Vortex, as they prepared some of the utensils and dishes for the food. Yeji soon joined in on the 8 chatting and joking together in the living room. Yeji was taking a break from the smoky atmosphere in the kitchen and sat down on the couch as the others kept talking. They were loud voices that Yeji was just gazing at them. Yeji conversed with them but halted her actions from the loud voice of Tae-woo arguing with Kyung-jae. Both boys raising their voices as Yeji's anxiety grew. She didn't like crowded places, for the one reason that the volume of their voices would be too loud to handle, and she was correct for the most part.

"Yah, Kang Tae-woo, Seo Kyung-jae, shut up." Y/n said in a stern tone as he entered the living room. Y/n carried plates on plates as he slowly walked to the living room "Food's here, you guys can start. I'm gonna cook a little bit more." Y/n said laying the plates down on the table and wiping his hands on his apron. Yeji looked at Y/n with nervousness prominent in her eyes, clearly uncomfortable. Y/n noticed her gaze and extended his arm "Wanna come with?" Y/n invited Yeji with a small smile, Yeji took Y/n's hand and Y/n led Yeji to the kitchen again. The whole kitchen was clean, from the stoves to the whole atmosphere. Y/n turned to Yeji "Hey noona, you feeling okay?" Y/n said in a soft tone as he held onto Yeji's hand "Yeah, just I-i was a bit dizzy from the noise." Yeji said with a nervous laugh, Y/n's gaze softened "You still wanna help?" Y/n asked with a small smile while he led Yeji to the stove "Sure." Yeji replied with a small smile, Y/n and Yeji were chatting while they prepared the last bit of food together. Y/n was done with the Tteokbokki and started putting the food on a plate, Yeji glanced at him and whined playfully "You're too fast Y/n." Yeji pouted as she stirred the Bulgogi on the pan "Hahaha, You okay there Ajumma?" Y/n joked as he leaned on the counter facing Yeji "Yah! Don't call me that." Yeji said whining even more as she stomped her feet like a child "Okay okay, I won't call you that. I'll call you Ajumma~" Y/n teased Yeji as she finished with the Bulgogi "Y/n! Aish." Yeji shouted at Y/n playfully as she transferred the Bulgogi onto a plate. Y/n laughed it off as they both carried plates to the living room again. The both of them laughing the situation off. Soon enough, the food was almost gone, along with the liquor. Y/n took another shot of Soju, feeling of the liquid burning his throat slightly as it passed by. Y/n was not planning to get too drunk since tommorow morning he had a mission, unlike the other boys who are currently giggling messes. Y/n stared at them as they sang wildly to any song that played on the radio on Kyung-jae's cellphone. Y/n took a bite of Tteokbokki and stared at them furrowing his eyebrows before grabbing his cellphone. The other girls were surprisingly not drunk, tipsy but not drunk. Y/n was a bit buzzed as it was his 7th shot of the night. Y/n started recording the other boys as they danced along the living room, shouting the lyrics to the new Straykids song God's Menu. Y/n was laughing as they all flopped down on the couch tired as they were using all their energy to sing to the song while dancing to it as well. Y/n was laughing as he got the clips he needed and put away his phone. Y/n leaned back and let himself lay down on the hardwood floor sighing heavily. He was checking to see if the alcohol affected him enough just to see if he could take another shot, he was testing if he was tipsy yet. Y/n inhaled sharply before sitting up and pouring himself another shot. All of the ITZY girls stared at Y/n as he drunk his 8th shot of the night before standing up, they were preparing for another performance. Once Y/n got up Kyung-jae sat up and called out, "Yah Y/n, you know you-you're and idiot right?" Kyung-jae said as Y/n approached him "Yeah yeah I know, you said it before hyung. Come on let's get you to bed." Y/n said pulling Kyung-jae up, Kyung-jae was unstable on his feet but pushed Y/n away "No! You have to tell these girls how much you've been liking them these days! You're always training, school, songs..." Kyung-jae ranted on as he was under the influence of the liquor, Y/n rolled his eyes and groaned "Yeah keep talking." Y/n said pushing Kyung-jae to their shared bedroom. Y/n was embarrassed by Kyung-jae's words, and he said it right infront of the girls as well.

"This is gonna be a long night isn't it?"

To be continued...