Chapter Text
The first time Yuri Plisetsky was in the MasterChef kitchen, he was seven years old and the youngest Junior MasterChef contestant yet. Viktor Nikiforov had been a judge for only two years then, and his hair was still tied back into a bun whenever he went around the stations to check on all the contestants. He was the inviting type, always speaking to the children like they were his equal, but he would never leave them alone if they were ever caught in a mess of their own work.
Viktor was especially nice to Yuri in the beginning, almost babying him in the process.
Yuri abhorred that he was treated like something so fragile, so he gave it his all on the first challenge. He proved his competence with his dish, serving Chilean sea bass with wilted spinach and baby eggplant. This, along with his biting personality, won the hearts of the judges and the world.
Viktor made him a promise soon after that if he won the first Junior MasterChef, Viktor would take him under his wing for his Michelin Star-awarded restaurant, the Stammi Vicino Cuisine.
So Yuri fought hard to win. He did, and history was made. Viktor took him in, the only child apprentice he has ever had, just until after he turned ten.
Yuri left Stammi Vicino to start up his own establishment: a fine dining restaurant he made in honor of his grandfather. Agape, he named it. His grandfather managed it whilst Yuri worked in the kitchen.
He was fifteen now, and he was called back to the MasterChef Kitchen. It was their tenth season, and what better way to celebrate than to invite back their past MasterChefs to compete against each other. Declare the winner among winners. They were adamant to call back the most successful, and the most well-loved of the previous MasterChefs.
This time around though, it was a little different for Yuri. Yuuri Katsuki made his way towards the Kitchen himself, replacing Christophe Giacometti as one of the leading judges.
His family were legends in the cooking world. After three generations, it was his time to lead the Yu-Topia Akatsuki, a chain of traditional Japanese restaurants available around the world. He was equally a chef as he was a businessman, and no other had bested him in his field anywhere in the word.
Upon his return to the studio, Yuri noticed that Viktor was definitely more annoying. He looked more content, as if he didn’t want to be more successful than he already was, and really, what more was there than topping the top? Yuri wanted to surpass Viktor, but not while he was incapacitated. He didn’t even flinch when he saw Yuri enter. He merely smiled and gave the boy a hug.
And the third judge was about to put them both in their place.
“Today,” Viktor announced in front of the cameras to the contestants of the new season, “we have some exciting news. Our best contestant yet returns to the kitchen after eight years to help Yuuri and I pick the master among masters. Please help me welcome, the best of the best, our first ever Junior MasterChef: Yuri Plisetsky!”
An applause erupted from the stations, and Yuri stepped out into the judges’ platform. He stood, looming over the contestants, looking down on them with his chin high and hand on his hip. “I will make this season your hardest yet. Good luck. You’ll need it.”
With that, he took his place in between Yuuri and Viktor, and thus declared the first challenge.
Four episodes in, Yuri was starting to hate himself.
On the first eviction night, Jean-Jacques Leroy was supposed to be the first to leave, but two out of three judges—and you can really guess who—chose to let him stay. JJ, whose overwhelming confidence became the bane of his work when the pressure was on, messed up the sandwiches during their first team effort. Yuri made it a point that he was going to know that he fucked it up for his entire crew.
“What are you?” Yuri said while holding two pieces of bread on both sides of JJ’s head.
“An idiot sandwich.”
JJ put up a good fight against the young judge at first, but in the end had relented when push had come to shove. He had had a small panic attack in the waiting area after the challenge, but because of this, he was able to learn and make an exemplary comeback during the elimination. All the judges were stunned, but Yuri didn’t budge and stood by his choice to let him go.
Majority won, however, and Yuri could only stomp his feet in frustration when the cameras stopped rolling.
During their second group challenge, both three judges and the contestants headed out for a burger cook off. Yuri was not about to let them off the hook this time.
“Come on, guys. Your fucking patty is pathetic. It’s overcooked and greasy as fuck. Pull yourselves together,” Yuri screamed.
“Yes, Chef Yurio,” one of them said in reply.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
“I mean Chef Yuri! We’ll do our best, Chef Yuri.” He scampered away towards the fry station. Guang-hong was the smallest and the youngest of the chefs sent back to the kitchen. He was the shyest of the bunch, too, but Yuri wasn’t about to go easy on him because of that.
The blue team consisted of Guang-hong, Sara, JJ, and Mila.
Mila, one of the two female chefs back, was the team’s pillar. She was the leader who picked up her team’s mistakes, and Yuri took a liking to her because she had the cooking and the management skills of a deserving MasterChef. She was a little playful, though, and wouldn’t back away when taunted by the judges. She was equipped with a sharp tongue, and an even sharper personality.
Sara complemented Mila immensely. She was gentle but meticulous, not only to the food but to the group as well, should the challenge call for it. She watched for every little mistake and called out anyone who made it.
The other team, consisting of Seung-gil, Georgi, Leo and Emil, was under the guidance of both Yuuri and Viktor. There was absolutely no need for two judges to be watching over just one group, especially if Yuri’s team only had him as a coach. Despite this, Yuri could already feel that they were the weaker team. He felt almost sorry for them, but they should really know better.
Since the season began, Yuuri and Viktor were almost inseparable. They conducted contestant interviews together, and would often banter in front of the rolling cameras. At first, Yuri thought this was for the sole purpose TV presence, considering Yuuri was new to the whole television fame. But as time progressed, Yuri started to get suspicious. Behind the scenes, he would see them together all the time. And if Yuri didn’t see either one of them, it usually followed that the other had disappeared as well.
“Hey!” he shouted from one side of the field to the other, “quit your flirting and get on with the fucking show. This isn’t The Bachelor, you fucktards.”
Yuuri grew red from where he was standing next to Viktor, but he made no effort in moving away. Viktor only laughed, and continued telling the rest of the contestants that their burgers were a failure.
“Idiots.”
In the end, the red team lost. Leo and Seung-gil had to say goodbye after performing the poorest during the elimination round. Before leaving, the judges invited them to a dinner with all the other contestants for a gathering, and it was held in none other than Viktor’s massive apartment in Manhattan. Yuri himself had been in one of Viktor’s many residences all over the world, but this one was by far the grandest.
The first thing he noticed when Viktor opened the door was the floor to ceiling windows that offered an amazing view of the city, extending towards the sea. His red velvet curtains were drawn, letting in some of the light from the setting sun. There was a bark from a corner of the living room, beside the grand piano that stood by the entertainment appliances.
Makkachin came charging at him, so he leaned forward to pet the dog as it stopped just in front of his legs.
“He misses you,” Viktor said.
“Ah, is Yurio here?” came a voice from kitchen. Yuuri was busy with tonight’s dinner. He scurried from the oven to the stoves, graceful even when he had too many things going on at once.
“You live here now, Katsudon?”
“Uh, no.” Yuuri looked away, appearing to be busy—which he probably was, but Yuri was well aware that the man could keep a conversation going while preparing a meal.
“Viktor, you guys should cut it down on the flirting.”
“What do you mean?”
“You and Katsuki. You’re joined at the hip. You’re distracting our contestants—”
“I don’t see how that’s our fault, Yurio. They lost because they didn’t do their best.” Viktor shrugged.
“—and you’re distracting our audience. This is supposed to be MasterChef.”
Viktor had the gall to smile at him. A genuine, godawful smile, with his eyes crinkling at the sides and his cheeks rising.
“What?”
“Nothing. You’ve grown up, Yurio.”
“Stop calling me that, and get me my fucking dinner.”
“Of course. We are chefs, after all.”
The night went as smoothly as it could.
The rest of the guests arrived shortly after Yuri did. Emil, JJ, Guang-hong and Leo were quick to head to the entertainment systems, abusing Viktor’s gaming consoles during the wait for their dinner. Mila and Sara offered to help with the preparations, and they created a splendid display on the dinner table. Georgi and Seung-gil were sat on the breakfast nook, discussing techniques and ingredients for healthier snacks.
Once everything was on Viktor’s gigantic dinner table, they gathered around and dug in.
Yuri had to admit, Katsudon’s katsudon was really good. Almost as good as his world-famous signature pirozhkis. He commended it by stuffing his mouth with as much of it as he can.
“You recently moved in, Viktor?” Mila asked nonchalantly as desserts were served.
“Oh, no. I live here most of the time since most of my restaurant branches are around the area,” Viktor said, forking his chocolate cake.
“Then whose suitcase is that?” There was a sly smile on Mila’s lips.
Yuri whipped his head to the direction she was pointing, and lo and behold, there was a maroon suitcase by the stairs. He shifted his gaze at Yuuri, who was awfully quiet and stoic during the exchange.
“It’s an empty suitcase I keep around for when I need to travel. I may have lived here the most, but I am a busy man, Mila.”
Mila shrugged, but the grin remained. “Pardon me, then. Just got a little bit ahead of myself.”
“You’ve noticed, too?” JJ exclaimed. “I do love a little drama, Chefs, but no need to take the spotlight away from us.” It was a lighthearted complaint, but there a hint of truth to it.
JJ was a naturally obnoxious man. Normally, Yuri hated how he wanted to be on centerstage all the time, but he found himself agreeing with him just this once.
“Love does tend to take the spotlight,” Georgi voiced. He placed a hand on his chest with his head bowed low, putting on a small smirk.
“Georgi!” Yuuri exclaimed.
“Let’s just finish dinner.” Guang-hong said from one of the far end of the table. “This chocolate cake is amazing, Chef Yuuri.”
“Of course! It’s Viktor’s recipe I used, and it took me a while before I was able to get it correctly. But Viktor has been—I mean. I’ve been... er. Asking tips from Viktor whenever I couldn’t get it right.”
“And they sure did help, huh?” Viktor said, facing Yuuri as he did.
“If you fuck up our demographic, I’m fucking leaving MasterChef forever.” With that said and done, Yuri stood and headed to the paused game of Final Fantasy XV, plate completely clear of any cake.
It was probably early morning where Otabek was, what with being in a completely different country and Otabek’s voice being groggy and slurred.
Yuri had woken him up from his sleep, but his friend reassured him that it was quite. Yuri had barely any time to talk to him now that he was on MasterChef and now that Otabek had a TV gig for himself, so they were both thankful for whatever free time was given to the both of them.
“I swear to God. Those two are dancing around each other like butterflies. What’s annoying is that Viktor thinks I don’t know. Like I don’t get it because I’m a kid.”
Otabek grunted, still clearly hazy with sleep. “I’m sure they’ll come around.”
“There was a suitcase in Viktor’s apartment that was so clearly Katsudon’s.”
“Why do you call him Katsudon?”
“That’s not important right now, Beka. But Viktor just—he deflected the idea that Katsudon could be fucking sleeping in his apartment like he couldn’t care less.”
“Right.” There was rustling on the other end. “What’s the problem here, exactly?”
“I don’t like being lied to. Especially not by my former mentor. Especially not while we’re on international TV. I’m not some dumb child.”
“Just give them time. Maybe they have some issues they haven’t figured out yet.”
Yuri settled in his bed, the weight on his chest lifted just a little bit. “Tch. Maybe. Anyway, I’ll be sleeping now, Beka. Good night. Talk to you later.”
“Good night, Yura.”
Emil had gone after the third elimination round, and the events were pretty similar. Viktor and Katsudon did manage to stay away from each other as much as possible, but it was still a hopeless cause.
Yuri brought it upon himself to be quicker and go have a runthrough through all the stations. If he were harsher than usual, then no one brought it up.
When Guang-hong left after the fourth elimination, it was the most emotional one yet. He had a lot of supporters outside the kitchen; not to mention, his gentle demeanor and happy-go-lucky attitude won the hearts of his fellow competitors. His dish for the round was his best, as the judges said, but it wasn’t enough to beat the other chefs.
When all was said and done, Yuri took a look at the MasterChef hashtags to see what the audience thought. Even though the food and its integrity always came first, Yuri knew what it meant to be on TV. It helped that his personality was TV-worthy already, or else he’d have to put a lot more effort into getting noticed.
It helped that they were filming that episode during Leo’s very timely visit. He even gave a speech for Guang-hong while the latter was cooking, amping up the story and the views. When the result were announced, Leo came down and stayed beside Guang-hong, holding his hand while the judges gave their remarks. They were best friends before even entering the competition. It was only expected of Guang-hong to want to be needing comfort from someone he knew in an intimate level.
The first few tweets were of Guang-hong’s emotional exit. Gifs of him with the rest of the contestants and even the judges hugging were already spreading. There were some that said the episode was scripted, because of the coincidence of Leo’s visit and Guang-hong’s loss. This irked Yuri, but he ultimately ignore them, considering there’s not much he could do to convince people otherwise.
But what overwhelmed him most was another tag that really shouldn’t have surprised him in the first place. It was harmless enough at first, since he really couldn’t understand what it was.
‘#VikYuu’ stared at him in the face, accompanied by ‘#MasterChef10,’ their official hashtag for the season, and a picture of Viktor and Yuuri. The latter was looking at something offscreen, and the former, so stricken with awe and infatuation, was looking at Katsudon. More and more similar tweets appeared as he scrolled further down.
Sets of pictures of Viktor’s hand on Yuuri’s shoulders. More gifs of them eye-fucking. Even a time where Viktor was so enraptured with the food, he grabbed hold of Yuuri’s hand and brought it to his chest. Tweets about Viktor and Katsudon in general overpowered the actual events that transpired in MasterChef.
It almost made Yuri barf, but anger surged first before disgust could even register in his brain.
He dialed Viktor’s number. The phone rang twice before the sound of Viktor’s voice filled his ears.
“Yurio, it’s two in the morning.”
“Have you checked Twitter?” Yuri screamed at the phone. “And stop fucking calling me that.”
“No, I haven’t. Because it’s two in the morning.”
“God, you’re annoying. Check it when you’re awake. And don’t give me bullshit excuses.” Yuri hung up and had reached a decision.
If he couldn’t beat ‘em, might as well fan the flames.