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A loud growl echoed in the middle of the dorm, alerting the other dorm members who were in with the young Kim Chaewon at the time. It was easy to feel the gazes of the other trainees and Chaewon lowered her head, silently praying to the gods above to bury her whole in the couch.
"Go heat up a croquette. Eunbi brought some from her part-time job."
Suyun said above the magazine she was flipping through, grumbling about all the pretty models, earning a laugh from Sohee who sat next to her. The other trainees liked to look after her and she was grateful but still found it hard to express herself around them.
She slowly stood up, one careful step at a time. She didn't want to make a lot of noise that would wake up the eldest in the next room over (they would face the wrath of a tired Eunbi, and no one ever wanted to go through that hell again). She poked her head into the kitchen, spotting a paper bag on the table with a small note that said "eat me <3".
A small smile lifted, Eunbi was always looking out for them even when she was busy working.
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she popped open the paper bag, it was kept well enough that it smelled like it just came out of the oven. Her stomach growled again, making Chaewon flush when she heard a giggle behind her. It made her scramble for the croquette in the bag and try to devour it whole.
"Why don't you heat it up? It tastes better that way!"
Sohee suggested as she strolled past her, reaching for a bottle of water in the fridge.
Chaewon paused before the croquette fell into her mouth. It didn't sound like a bad idea, it'll just be like something hot and fresh out of the oven.
She soundlessly retrieved a plate from the cupboards and placed the croquette on it. The plate was way too big for it but Chaewon couldn't be bothered to find something smaller. She popped it into their microwave and pressed a button.
The microwave beeped, but didn't move.
…
Chaewon blinked.
She pressed a button again, and the microwave beeped in response once more.
...
"Sohee?"
"Hm?"
The younger trainee turned around, blinking at her. Chaewon's eyes were focused downward, her cheeks a tinge of red as she pointed at the microwave.
"... Oh are you trying to use the toaster option?" Sohee smiled at her, her eyes crinkled with laughter but she tried to hold it back so she wouldn't further embarrass her.
Chaewon nodded wordlessly, stepping away to let her help.
Chaewon begged Sohee to never tell anyone about the microwave incident and bless her kind and young soul, she kept to her word. She wouldn't be surprised if Suyun knew at this point but she never dared to ask.
When Chaewon made it into IZ*ONE and moved into the dorms, she watched the other members like a hawk, noting in her mind how they operated all the new machines that were around the dorm (including their fancy microwave, she didn't want to repeat the croquette incident).
(She's lucky that Hyewon, Yena, Yujin, and Eunbi had melted cheese string parties almost every night, she learned how to microwave things almost instantly.)
However, her lack of experience in cooking was shown on camera when she tried to scramble an egg using a metal spatula.
(There was nothing wrong with her scrambled eggs. Sure the entire thing wasn’t completely yellow and didn’t look as half as fluffy and golden like Sakura’s, but they tasted the same. She was sure of it. Sakura was just over dramatizing her cooking style.)
When the members watched that episode of IZ*ONE Chu in their living room, they wouldn’t stop teasing her about how bad hers looked compared to Sakura’s. Even the always polite, always kind, and always on her side (or well she thought) Hitomi jabbed at her.
Cooking and Chaewon were never two things that were put together, but Chaewon’s pride took the embarrassment she felt and hid it away for a long time until she could prove to the members she wasn’t that bad of a cook.
(She had to prove she was at least better than questionable spam knife opener Kim Minjoo.)
And that opportunity came a year and a half later in the form of Chef Eunbi’s kimchi fried rice cooking lessons.
[chaewon > yeonhee]
chaewon: yeonhee i need your help
yeonhee: ?
chaewon: do you know how to make kimchi fried rice
yeonhee: oh yeah, it’s a staple in our dorm. It was basically the only thing juri-unnie knew how to cook lol. what’s up?
chaewon: can you send me the recipe, i need to beat my members in a competition
yeonhee: is this about the microwave thing, chaewon that was years ago-
chaewon: who--
yeonhee: never mind, give me a second
Chaewon knew she could always rely on the Rocket Punch members to help her when she couldn’t turn to her own members (it’s a competition, she needed all the competitive edge she could get to beat Miyawaki Sakura ). Yeonhee sent her a recipe within two minutes. She scrolled through it, reading out the ingredients and the cooking instructions.
There was some prep work involved but other than that, it seemed relatively simple. Chop up ingredients and fry said ingredients.
She nodded confidently, how hard could that be?
She glanced around her dorm, it would be dangerous to do it here because some of them lingered around and would bother her (she didn’t want them to know anyway) or the ones that were out could barge in at any time…
But… The other dorm was almost completely empty.
[chaewon > nako]
chaewon: oh sweet purest cutest angel nako--
nako: favours come at a price unnie.
chaewon: when did flattery become devalued
nako: the world is a cold and dark place, things don’t come for free nowadays.
chaewon: stop learning weird Korean from Yena-unnie
chaewon: can i use your kitchen for an hour or so. I need to cook something.
nako: why can’t you use your own kitchen
chaewon: … eunbi-unnie is using it and i need it now
nako: eunbi-unnie is out with chaeyeon-unnie
chaewon: uhh, hyewon-unnie is cooking something-
nako: she just sent me a pic of her chicken like ten mins ago
chaewon: yena-
nako: stop
chaewon: … what's your price?
nako: now we’re talking. Superstar IZ*ONE gacha won’t pay itself you know.
Chaewon was thankful that Nako was merciful despite what her text messages implied. She pointed out everything in their kitchen for her so she wouldn’t fumble her way through and even let her use whatever ingredients she had left from her cooking adventures. After that she promised that she would try to ward off the other members from coming in to give her the privacy she wanted.
Of course it all came at a price, but ”they all had to make their way somehow in this cruel and cold world” .
She really was going to have to talk to Yena-unnie about teaching the Japanese line weird Korean again. Or get Eunbi-unnie to talk to Yena-unnie, which usually yielded better results.
“Kimchi, rice, onions, meat…”
Chaewon pointed to each ingredient, mumbling underneath her breath to make sure she had everything she needed.
This was easier than Produce--all you had to do was cut up the ingredients, add sauce while frying it, and then you were finished. Why didn’t she take up cooking before if it was this easy? As much as ordering fried chicken, tteokbokki, and cheese balls every week was great, there was something to cooking that made it… enjoyable. The thought of eating something that you made from the bottom of your heart also filled her with joy.
She tapped at the root of the onion, there was no way that she could eat this so she should cut it off. She set the onion down and raised her knife.
The root of the onion fell off after some grinding but gasses filled the air as soon as it rolled away on the cutting board and Chaewon let out painful gasp. The knife cluttered to the cutting board as Chaewon evacuated the kitchen as soon as she could, tears sweeping out from her eyes.
Cooking: 3, Chaewon: 0
[chaewon > nako]
chaewon: nako do you have a hazard suit
nako: no but chaeyeon-unnie has some goggles and rubber gloves in the laundry room
chaewon: thanks
One onion cut and diced, and now one last one to go.
Chaewon took a deep breath, slightly gagging and coughing at the remnants of the gasses the first onion left in the air. She was thankful for the goggles she wore because they protected her eyes but cursed them before they couldn’t protect the other senses.
Once again, she peeled the onion and set it down carefully. Her knife rested on the surface just above the root as she took in deep heavy breaths. Okay. As long as she held her breath and only took in air when she needed to, she should be protected from the dangerous fumes.
Okay, one, two…
“Chaewon-unnie?”
Her knife clattered against the cutting board once more and she scrambled away, wide-eyed and frightened at the sudden intrusion.
She met with confused brown eyes of one of the Japanese members that wasn’t Yabuki Nako.
“... H-Hitomi…!”
Her voice hitched high that she probably could be mistaken for hitting Yuri’s high note in To Reach You .
Hitomi stared between both her and the ingredients behind her, silent as she was trying to comprehend the situation. Her stare slowly moved onto her.
"Chaewon-unnie, do you not know how to cut an onion?"
Chaewon blinked, her eyes narrowed behind the goggles she wore tightly and proudly. This was going to be ‘Microwave 2.0’ but with an onion and a cutting board now wasn’t it. She stood up tall, turning her back around and retrieving her knife and bearings. She couldn’t let Hitomi see her cool Unnie, well… uncool.
“Of course I do.”
“With the way you’re holding your knife and wearing goggles, I don’t quite believe you.”
Chaewon’s pride was hurt but now it was beaten, battered, and bruised after hearing that it came from Hitomi. She had to defend herself.
“Onions are dangerous--if you divide them they make you cry.”
She missed padded footsteps coming to her side and a small snort in amusement as fingertips gently grazed and danced across her hidden fingers. They’re delicate but firm, sliding just under hers to take the knife and onion away from her cladded hands.
"Here, let me do it for you. I'm surprised Chaeyeon-unnie and Kkura-unnie let you in the kitchen."
Under careful eyes, she watched Hitomi cut the onion in half (Chaewon raised her hands up instinctively and took a giant step back to fend herself from the fumes) and then started to glide the knife through the onion with ease. Her chops and strokes were much cleaner and even sounded stronger as it hit the cutting board.
Her mouth made a small ‘o’, shocked at how well she could cut the onion.
“... Hitoma…”
“There.”
A smile lit up Hitomi’s face as she set the knife away and gently placed the cutting board closer to Chaewon. Chaewon rubbed the goggles, her pride mended slowly with the bright smile that was across Hitomi’s face.
“Why are you here anyways? I thought Nako-chan was the only one here.”
“Ah… Well… You… know we’re going to film tomorrow for that cooking competition, and well...I… wanted to show that I could cook really well, you know.”
She stammered, looking absolutely flustered and ridiculous under the goggles and gloves that were normally used for laundry and cleaning.
Hitomi didn’t seem to mind, her eyes glinting in amusement yet understanding. “Ah, I see. I guess we are a competitive family aren’t we.” She giggled lightly before slowly sidling up to her, fingers danced against her once more, first moving to take the goggles off and then slide the gloves off her hands.
“Let me help. I can at least teach you how to hold a knife properly.”
Chaewon’s eyes darted away and a flush hit her cheeks but she nodded.
Cooking: 3, Chaewon: 1?
“Always curl your fingers inwards so you don’t accidentally cut yourself. Or in your case, you don’t slice the rubber off of the gloves.”
“Okay--hey!.”
Chaewon doesn’t look threatening at all, even with the sharp kitchen knife in her hand as Hitomi grinned cheekily at her.
“Don’t use a metal spatula when you’re frying. It can scratch the pan and it’s harder to control.”
Hitomi suddenly ducked underneath her arms, fitting in snugly between her and the stove in front of her. Chaewon’s breath hitched in her throat as all of Hitomi invaded her senses. Hitomi’s hand landed on hers, gently removing the metal spatula from her hand and replacing it with the wooden one she brought.
She doesn’t know where to concentrate: on her rice mixture in front of her or the girl that fits almost too perfectly in her arms.
“Hold this firmly and push.”
Hitomi’s other hand rested on the one that’s clutching onto the handle of the pan, as she helped Chaewon push the rice around the pan.
Chaewon eventually settled her chin on top of her head, eyes narrowing as she tried to concentrate on the pan in front.
“Are you going to use scrambled eggs for tomorrow?”
Chaewon was plating the rice (or well trying to) as Hitomi brought out two eggs. She glanced up from the plate, shaking her head. In general, fried rice used some form of egg mixed in, but for Kimchi fried rice the traditional recipe always used a sunny-side up egg. You could use both scrambled egg and a sunny side up but that was… being extra .
“A sunny side one only.”
“Ah, okay. I’ll teach you how to make the perfect one then.”
Hitomi faced the stove once more, waiting for the pan and the butter to heat up. Chaewon abandoned her plating (it was good enough anyways) and slid up behind her. Her arms reached around, clasping gently onto Hitomi’s hands. She placed her chin on the top once again.
“... You don’t mind, do you?”
She asked. It was hard to ignore the feelings, the tension, the warmth that she felt when they were cooking earlier. Hitomi stiffened underneath her grasp, but soon relaxed and she felt a gentle bump against the bottom of her chin.
“No. I like this, with you.”
Their hush whispers felt like confessions that were locked up away, only to be seeping out under the guise of doing a cooking lesson.
“Where did you learn to cook so well?”
“I picked up a few things here and there. Nako-chan and I experiment when Kkura-unnie and Chaeyeon-unnie are away.”
Chaewon hummed, almost chuckling as she imagined the Japanese twin duo sneaking into the kitchen after their parents left so they wouldn’t be strangled alive for blowing up things like eggs.
“I wanted to cook some things that I missed at home, and I wasn’t going to learn from the horrible instructions from my brother.”
Home. She missed home.
“I… hope you can find a home here.”
She can’t see the reddened cheeks and the shy smile in front of her.
“I think I already have.”
Chaewon burst through the dorm, holding a tightly locked container and a paper bag in her grasp with a smile that reached both sides of her ears.
“Hitomi, I-”
A glare stopped her in her tracks as Hitomi placed a finger against her lips and told her to be quiet.
Ah right. Chaeyeon still wasn’t feeling well.
“Sorry.” She tilted her head down as an apology but quickly shook it away, holding up the container. “I won though, they picked me (and Nako too I guess) as the winner!” She contained her excitement (and grumble) in a hush whisper. “Thank you so much for helping me yesterday.”
Chaewon held up the container to her. “I made some for you. Ah and… these um, are from the baking session we took over. Yuri, Minjoo, and Wonyoung wanted me to pass them to you.”
Hitomi seemed to be delighted as she took both the container and the paper bag. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the paper bag. “Are these good? I trust you Chaewon-unnie, but I don’t know about trusting Minjoo to be able to bake.”
“... Ah yeah, avoid the green ones. Minjoo made those.”
An amused snort came from Hitomi as she placed the bag and the container down. “I’m glad that you were able to win, Unnie. I’m always happy to help you.”
The words made Chaewon inhale a deep breath and carefully swallow as the words formed on her tongue.
“Then, let’s cook again. Together. I… I want to learn how to cook so I can make dinner for you.”
Hitomi blinked, her eyes moving away. Chaewon faltered slightly, thinking she might have said too much. Did she say too much? Was that being too straightforward? Could she even make dinner--
A small blush and playful smirk played on Hitomi’s features, it made Chaewon sigh out in relief.
“I don’t know, Unnie… Are you going to look like you’re preparing to do the Sunday laundry again?”
“No! I promise I’ll just wear an apron!”
“And hold the knife the way I taught you?”
“One hundred percent.”
“And know how to use the microwave?”
“Of course -- wait, how do you know?!”
Hitomi winked, before she leaned in, her whisper danced against the edges of Chaewon’s ears.
“I look forward to it then.”
Cooking: 3, Chaewon: … probably 3.