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Jiale arrives in the locker room with a flyer in hand and excitement all over his face. He makes a beeline to his doubles partner, who has just closed his locker, shoving the paper at the team vice captain. Dachi raises an inquisitive eyebrow as he takes the paper, a small smile on his lips, before he blinks a few times as he reviews the contents of the flyer.
Cooking classes are being advertised as a 2 for 1 deal. A deal for date nights. For couples.
“Uh...Jiale...?”
“We totally should go to this class! I mean, we’re going to have to learn to cook eventually, so let’s do it while the classes are cheap! I mean, I don’t wanna starve or eat crappy food when we start university next year.”
Dachi is thoughtful for a moment; Jiale has a point. Dachi is pretty sure his parents aren’t going to consider instant noodles to be a proper diet, so this would actually be a good chance to learn an important life-skill. And it would help him save money during university by not having to eat out all the time.
“That’s a really great idea, Jiale. Let’s do it.”
“Alright! I can’t wait!” The two high five, then squeeze each other’s hands before they’re interrupted by Qiao Chen.
“What is it you can’t wait for, xuezhang?”
“Dachi and I are going to take cooking classes! It’s going to be so fun.” Jiale hands the flyer over, but it’s intercepted by Zhuo Zi, who seems to appear out of nowhere. He glances at the paper before arching an eyebrow first at Jiale, then Dachi, with a slight smirk. Qiao Chen doesn’t seem to notice, and barrels ahead with his questioning.
“If you make something good, can you save some for me?”
Dachi chuckles at the question and pats the junior on his shoulder. “C’mon everyone. Let’s get to practice.”
Jiale slings an arm over Dachi’s shoulder as they head toward the courts. Zhuo Zi pulls Qiao Chen aside and shows him the flyer, to which the junior can only react by gaping like a fish.
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In the end, the Golden Partners sign up for a series of 3 classes designed to teach them the basics around the kitchen. They are the only same-sex pair in the class of 8, and they get some raised eyebrows. The person doing registration even questions if they are doing the class together, to which Jiale cheerily replies “Of course!”.
The first class is all about knife skills and terms: dicing, julienne, peeling, carving, saute, searing, whisking, flipping. Being the dutiful student he is, Dachi takes meticulous notes, complete with diagrams. Jiale listens for a while before resting his chin on Dachi's shoulder to "supervise" the notetaking. Every now and then, he points to something and quietly gives his partner small corrections, earning him a grateful smile from Dachi. The two are totally oblivious to the looks on the faces of their instructor and classmates, unaware that they are being observed. They get to the practical portion of the class where they are to try cutting different vegetables in various ways. As one might expect, Dachi is methodical, and takes his time to ensure each piece is the same size. Jiale is quick, and has a showman's flair. While his results are good, he somehow manages to nick a finger with the sharp blade, something that Dachi's watchful eyes don't miss.
"Jiale! Are you okay?" He gently takes his partner's hand before rummaging through his bag for the bandages he knows he has. "Careful. What would I do if we couldn't play together anymore?"
As Jiale nods with a silent promise to be more cautious, Dachi gently applies the bandage before giving the acrobat's hand a light squeeze. Neither of them notice that the entire class has stopped chopping vegetables, and are watching them with wide eyes after clearly misinterpreting Dachi's words. The instructor has to clear their throat to bring everyone back on task. The rest of the class passes uneventfully, and no one asks them about who they’re taking the class with again.
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For the following week, they are putting things they learned from the first class into use; they will be tackling an omelette. Jiale gets super excited given how much he enjoys omurice, and Dachi can't help but chuckle. As a precaution, Dachi takes it upon himself to do the chopping just in case, leaving Jiale to deal with the eggs. Even though he’s watched the teacher demonstrate how to crack the eggs, he hasn’t quite figured out how much strength to use. The first few taps don’t get him anywhere, so the next one gets a little too much force, and the shell cracks almost all the way through.
“Ah! Ah! Dachi! Help!!” Jiale stops all his movement to keep the egg from falling completely all over the counter, his hands cupping the drippy mess as much as he can.
Dachi stops what he’s doing and rushes over to help. Standing behind Jiale, his arms wrap around his partner, his hands covering Jiale’s in an effort to save the broken egg. The yolk is precariously wobbling within the egg white, and their hands are slippery as they slide against each other. If Dachi notices the slight flush on Jiale’s cheeks, he doesn’t say anything. If Jiale notices the rapid beating of Dachi’s heart against his back, he doesn’t say anything. Together, because that’s how the Golden Partners do everything, they salvage the egg, with no shells making their way into the bowl. The pair laugh off the small misadventure and go back to their tasks. Jiale puts Dachi in charge of flipping the omelette because he thinks both of them need to be good at flipping something, much to Dachi’s chagrin. As usual, there was no reason for Dachi to worry - he pulls it off perfectly, earning him a hearty cheer and hug from Jiale.
They get to sample their creation at the end of class, and Jiale looks like he’s on cloud nine. His portion is gone in a flash, and he can’t help pouting. Dachi’s expression is amused as he pushes his own plate over to Jiale.
“Why so upset? Now you can make it whenever you want.”
Jiale gratefully takes the plate and grins at Dachi. “Yeah, but it tastes better when we do it together.”
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The final class is an easy pasta dinner and chocolate mousse for dessert. Like everything they do together, Jiale and Dachi seem to have developed an easy flow to how they operate in the kitchen next to each other. Jiale is working on the cream sauce for the pasta, while Dachi is chopping chocolate for the mousse. Even though Jiale doesn’t say anything, Dachi knows his partner is dying for a taste of the chocolate, and doesn’t hesitate to grab a small chunk before motioning for Jiale to lean over so he can drop the piece carefully into Jiale’s waiting mouth. No one in the class seems at all surprised when this happens, nor when Dachi gently rests the side of his hand against Jiale’s cheek in order to make sure the chocolate gets to where it’s meant to. Well, that’s not totally accurate; Jiale’s eyes go a bit wide at the gesture, his stirring hand slows to a stop, and both of their cheeks go a little pink as they can’t seem to stop staring at each other.
“Is it good?” Dachi’s voice is gentle and quiet, but Jiale has no trouble hearing him.
“Yeah...really good.” Jiale can barely seem to get the words out, but he feels like the chocolate is warming him up from the inside out.
Dachi smiles again before clearing his throat nervously, and returning to his chopping. They finish their meal prep in a comfortable silence.
The classroom gets converted to what looks like a small bistro with checkered tablecloths and candlelight. The instructor congratulates them all on completing the classes and hopes they all enjoy their dinner date. Jiale and Dachi look at each other a bit sheepishly from over their plates before picking up their forks and digging in. It doesn’t take long for them to forget about the setting and become absorbed in the food, and each other’s company.
“I think we can totally handle omurice now.” Jiale asserts confidently. Dachi grins as they high five each other.
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EPILOGUE
About a week after the cooking classes finish, there’s a small surprise waiting for Jiale as he opens his locker. It’s a nondescript book, so he opens it with curiosity before shutting it quickly, looking around to see if anyone else is around. Seeing that he’s alone, he carefully flips through the book of photos. Not just any photos either; they are photos of him and Dachi at their cooking class in rather...incriminating positions. Dachi’s arms around him, Dachi feeding him chocolate, him resting his head on Dachi’s shoulder, him feeding Dachi his last bite of pasta. A small note card is sandwiched inside, and Jiale recognizes the handwriting immediately. All it says is:
“But you guys are totally not a couple, right?”
FIN