Work Text:
“Lucas just called,” Dejun mentions calmly as he munches on his breakfast muffin.
Except that it is never something calm when Lucas calls at 7.30 in the morning when Kun just arrived and hasn’t even clocked in yet.
Heck, he hasn't even put his belongings in his locker yet.
“Any problem with our trial last night?” Kun knows there was definitely a problem.
Dejun nods, again far too calmly when there is a problem with a trial involving two hundred litres of milk drink that is now possibly going down the drain. “He said there was sedimentation found at the bottom of mixing tank three when the milk was transported to the Filling area. I checked the list, and strawberry matcha flavored milk was the one in mixing tank three.”
Kun rubs his face. “I knew it, either the bulk density or the particle size of the matcha powder must be too big for our milk drink, so it settles at the bottom if we use a huge amount.”
Dejun shrugs. “Lucas is now keeping the drink in the aging tank, so it is probably still able to be saved if we whip up a new formulation quickly.”
“We have to use a stronger stabilizer for this one. Xanthan gum definitely won’t do.” Kun mumbles, his brain trying to list down different types of stabilizers that are possibly strong enough to keep the matcha powder afloat and not sediment at the bottom.
Dejun grins. “You know you can just call Ten and ask him to come over and bring some samples, right? He literally knows a zillion types of stabilizers and their characteristics by heart. He definitely knows what we need.”
Kun snorts. “Where is Winwin? I’ll ask him to call Ten. Ten always loves it when Winwin is looking for him.”
“He is going to that FSSC certification training with Taeyong as representatives from our company, remember?” answers Dejun.
“Then you call Ten and meet him later. I need to meet Lucas at the moment to discuss this issue.” Kun quickly rebuts.
Dejun’s grin gets even wider. “Kun, you can ask any of us to call and meet Ten, but you know that he won’t leave our lab before he can meet you , right?”
Kun groans. “As my staff, don’t you think you’re too invested in your boss’ love life?”
“Oh my god!” Both Kun and Dejun jump when they hear a high-pitched voice coming from their laboratory’s door. “So you finally admitted that Ten is part of your love life! Damn, why didn’t I record it just now-”
“Yangyang,” Kun says (as sternly as possible, because this is Yangyang that he’s talking to, and Yangyang never takes him seriously when it comes to things outside of work). “I said it because you guys always talk about Ten with a romantic context, not because I was admitting that there is anything romantic between us .”
“Oooh, you sound bitter though,” Yangyang says mockingly as he puts his belongings into the locker.
“No, I am absolutely not.” Kun answers while wearing his safety helmet and boots. “And you’ll be the one calling Ten, asking him to come here with samples, and discussing with him.”
Yangyang frowns. “Wait, hey hey Kun, why me? What about you? You’re the head for god sake??”
“I need to go and meet Lucas to see how our trial samples are doing in the aging tanks and ask for details from him. I am not sure how long it will take, but you guys better behave while I am away.” Kun points his latex-gloved index finger at both Dejun and Yangyang.
Dejun, who has been quietly watching Yangyang and Kun’s banter, suddenly snorts. “Kun, it’s not like you’re going out of town for a week, you’re only going to the production floor for two hours, tops. Of course, we’ll behave like the good kids we are.” Dejun says sarcastically.
Kun only waves his hands dismissively before going out of their laboratory.
Meeting Lucas might be the thing he needs while he is preparing himself (and his heart) before meeting Ten later.
_____
“Good morning, Kun!” Lucas greets loudly as Kun enters the noisy production area.
“Good morning, Lu,” Kun answers with a loud sigh. “I wish I could be as energetic as you are in the morning, especially after knowing that my baby is giving you so much trouble.”
Lucas laughs heartily. “Hey, your baby is okay, don’t worry! I have set the temperature of the aging tank at two degrees celsius, I am sure it will be able to stay there for another two or three days without any issue. I have already asked Taeil to conduct some microbiology tests on your baby, just to be safe, but I am very sure it will survive just fine before we continue with sterilization and bottling!”
“I heard my name being mentioned.”
Lucas and Kun quickly whip their head to the source of the sudden voice coming from behind them, which is shaped in the form of a tiny man in his oversized lab coat.
“Good morning Illie!” Lucas greets the newcomer as loudly as to how he greeted Kun earlier. “I am glad that my message was finally conveyed properly to you!”
“Of course, Chenle knows which message is important enough to be conveyed to me,” Taeil grumbles as he stands next to Kun, who immediately pats Taeil’s shoulder as a form of greeting.
Lucas’ eyes widened. “How could you? Johnny saying that he hadn’t seen you for four days is a very important message!”
“Anyway!” Kun quickly interrupts, sensing that Taeil hasn’t taken his morning coffee and definitely is not in the mood for… whatever matchmaking shenanigans Lucas is having in mind. “Taeil, have you had the results on the microbiological tests?”
Taeil takes out a folded sheet of paper from the inside part of his coat and gives it to Kun. “The numbers still look good so far. As long as we don’t open the tank or let anything contaminate it, it will survive up to three days before it turns sour… and you really have to let it go, the whole two hundred litres of it.”
Lucas and Kun shudder involuntarily, imagining two hundred litres of milk flowing freely into the waste lagoon, together with all the money that the company had spent to - literally - waste.
“Well, I hope we will be able to solve the problem before three days then,” Kun says glumly as he climbs up the stairs that will bring him to the row of aging tanks, followed by Lucas and Taeil. “So, in which aging tank are you keeping my problematic baby, Lucas?”
Lucas laughs before pointing at aging tank number five at the far corner. “Number five over there. Hey, don’t call her problematic, or else she’ll get upset and grow some microbes faster than it’s supposed to be!”
Kun slaps Lucas’ shoulder with a laugh then walks over to aging tank number five. He crouches and peers through the viewing window located at the bottom of the tank, and he can clearly see a thick, moss-looking pile of dark green-coloured sediments at the bottom of the pink-coloured milk drink.
Definitely not an appetizing look, especially since they use clear glass bottles for their SippySip products.
“Euw,” Kun grumbles, while Taeil scrunches his nose in disgust.
“I know right, euw ,” Lucas adds on.
“Honestly, if the sediment is… I don’t know, maybe brown in color? Then it will still be acceptable because it looks like brown sugar sauce or something like it. We can just ask our consumers to shake the bottle before drinking and that’s it, problem solved. But this… ” Taeil scrunches his nose again. “It will look like… you have some moss growing inside of your bottle. And my department will end up having never-ending complaints about our product turning bad before its expiry date just because of this look, although it is still perfectly fine to consume.”
“Yes! That’s what I was thinking too!” Lucas exclaims. “The other new variants worked just fine with xanthan gum, even the cocoa powder was able to be mixed well in the chili-infused milk without any problem, albeit having the same particle size with the matcha powder. I wonder why this matcha powder is just so... stubborn .”
“This matcha powder has higher bulk density than the cocoa powder, Lu.” Kun explains. “So in the end, although they have the same particle size, the matcha powder becomes heavier than the cocoa powder and settles at the bottom. Xanthan gum only works well for those with lower bulk density, I guess.”
“Then why don’t you just use a higher dose of xanthan gum? That way it will make the drink thicker and stabilize the matcha powder better, right?” asks Taeil.
Kun shakes his head. “We tried using a higher dose of xanthan gum before when we thought of using chili flakes instead of chili-infused milk for the chili chocolate flavor, but the mouthfeel of the drink turned out… not nice . It had that kind of sticky feel on my tongue, so the dose that we used for this strawberry matcha milk is the highest that we can go without having that sticky feel.”
“I see.” Taeil nods understandingly. “So, that means you have to either use a new stabilizer or change the brand of matcha powder to one with lower bulk density.”
Kun nods weakly. “Our only choice now is to change the stabilizer. I don’t think we can change the matcha powder, because this brand is already the best one for us. It has the lowest bulk density among all brands, but it is still able to give a strong matcha flavor to the milk without overwhelming the strawberry flavor.”
Lucas suddenly hums. “Time to ask Ten, then.”
Kun sighs. Even Lucas said so.
“Yeah, I know. I already asked Yangyang to call him and ask him to come over today, if he is not busy.”
Lucas grins widely. “He will never, ever be too busy for the R&D department, Kun. You just need to give him a call and he’ll come over immediately. He’ll even come running .”
Taeil and Kun look at each other, both of them sharing a look of ‘see, he’s at it again’ .
This is what happens when the head of Production is trying too hard to get the title of NeoVision’s resident matchmaker.
_____
“Hi, Kun! You’re back!” A cheery voice suddenly greets Kun when he comes back to his lab.
The voice that has been bugging his mind for the past few months.
“Hi, Ten.” Kun answers awkwardly. “Thanks for coming over on such short notice. I hope Yang didn’t give you too much trouble.”
“Hey!” Yangyang exclaims defensively, as defensive as a person can be while holding a glass beaker full of pale green-coloured milk. “You better thank us later with a hotpot feast if this works well!”
“Where is Dejun?” Kun asks instead as he takes off his safety helmet and boots.
(And he swears he heard a little gasp coming from Ten when Kun had to flex his biceps a little as he re-ties his hair and put his R&D lab coat back on)
“He is at the QC lab, measuring the viscosity of our samples with Chenle. I think we have hopes, Kun! Ten’s magic powder really helps!” Yangyang grins widely.
Kun’s eyebrows furrow. “Magic powder? What magic powder?”
The owner of the said magic powder reveals a small vial with fine, white-colored powder inside. “This! I just got it sometime around last week from one of our trusted manufacturers in Japan, and I gotta say this is my favorite stabilizer at the moment. It even mixes well with agar and forms a stronger gel than the one formed by agar alone. You can even consider this as one of the gelling agents for your jelly drinks, Kun!”
Kun squints his eyes and tries to identify the white powder (that looks exactly like crack, to be very honest) but fails, so he steps closer to Ten and stretches out his right hand to get the vial from Ten’s palm.
But just when Kun’s finger is about to touch the vial, Ten immediately retracts his palm that causes Kun to lose his balance. He almost, almost fell flat on his face if Ten didn’t promptly (bless his quick reflexes) hold his waist.
As Ten’s hand touches Kun’s waist and a little spark of electricity suddenly emerges, Kun’s mind goes haywire instantly.
Wait, why is he so close? Does this count as hugging? Is he hugging me right now? But my arms are still in the air, should I hug back? Won’t that look awkward though? Gosh, why does he smell so good, is that Jo Malone-
“Geez, now I am regretting why I didn’t join Dejun at the QC lab,” Yangyang deadpans. “I bet you two would kiss if I wasn’t here.”
Kun blinks. Just like getting broken from a spell, he is back to his senses, then he scrambles to stand up and release himself from Ten’s (admittedly, pretty awkward) one-way hug.
“W-what are you saying?” Kun’s cheeks slowly turn cherry red. “No, we were definitely not going to kiss!”
“Aww, so you don’t want to kiss me, Kunkun?” Ten asks sadly.
“No! Wait, that sounds really rude. Ten, I don’t mean it like that! Of course it’s okay if we kiss! Uh, wait, I mean-”
“Kunkun,” Ten smiles as he softly holds Kun’s hand and thrusts the vial into his palm. “I was kidding, no need to panic like that.”
“No, I wasn’t panicking.” Kun huffs as he takes a close look at the vial and shakes it. “So, uhm… what is this again?”
“Wow, good job in diverting the main issue, Kun.” Yangyang comments.
Kun glares at him and raises the vial. “ This is the main issue, Yang. We only have less than three days, or else two hundred litres of milk will just go down the drain and all of us will be in trouble.” Kun says sternly. “Ten, can you please tell me what this is?”
Ten, sensing Kun’s serious mode, immediately switches to serious mode as well. “It’s konjac gum, a stabilizer obtained from a plant grown in Japan. More specifically, from the corms of the plant, so it’s all-natural and it can be used for any green label product, including yours. This is currently the only stabilizer that I have with the highest viscosity, so if you want to thicken your drinks or even sauces, a little goes a long way.” Ten explains. “Another good thing is, even if you increase the dose, it won’t give you that sticky feel on your tongue. Yangyang tried it just now and he gave the right description for this baby: it feels creamy . I think that’s why this gum is widely used as a thickener for sauces and low-fat mayonnaise nowadays.”
“Wow, that good ?” Kun shakes the vial again. “Is this expensive though?”
“More expensive than your usual xanthan gum, of course,” Ten says. “But! Yangyang tried on the formulation just now, and apparently he only needed a third of the usual dose for xanthan gum to get the same thickness! In the end, the cost for each bottle will be more or less the same as the one that uses xanthan gum, I think.”
Kun gives a satisfied nod. “Then that’s good. Now we just need to wait for Dejun to, hopefully, bring us the great news.”
Right after Kun finishes his sentence, Dejun bursts through the door with a wide smile.
“Ten, oh my god, thank you, you really are our savior! Woah Kun, you have to see this!” Dejun waves a piece of freshly printed paper in his hand.
Kun takes the paper and reads the content carefully. “Okay, so like what Ten said just now, a third of the usual dose really gave the same thickness value as that of the usual dose for xanthan gum. That’s great. And… Dejun, aren’t these pictures from a centrifuge test?”
Dejun nods vigorously. “ This is actually the result that we need right now, Kun. Just now, when Chenle and I were waiting for the results for the viscosity test, Taeil came back from the production floor and suggested we do a centrifuge test as well, then compare the results with the one that uses xanthan gum, basically the one with our initial formulation. He mentioned that the centrifuge would spin the drink using a very high RPM and cause separation in the drink, so we can see whether the stabilizer can really prevent sedimentation from happening. And guess what? The one with the xanthan gum, as expected, has thick green sediment at the bottom as you can see in the picture here, but the one with the konjac gum doesn’t! I mean, if it can survive centrifugation at three thousand RPM, then it definitely can stay for a long time in a glass bottle!”
Kun lets out a long, relieved sigh.
“Yes, that’s really, really great. Yangyang, the mixture that you just made in the beaker? Transfer it into one glass bottle and keep it in the fridge, we’ll observe how it behaves overnight. If it turns out well, we can start mixing this konjac gum into our strawberry matcha milk in aging tank five and let it pass through one round of homogenization and sterilization before filling them into bottles.” Kun instructs. Yangyang immediately nods and stands up from his seat to get one sterilized glass bottle in their autoclave.
Kun then turns around and looks at Ten with a soft smile. “Thank you so much, Ten. We wouldn’t be able to solve this problem so quickly without your help.” Kun then scratches the back of his head sheepishly. “So… I guess I owe you one hotpot feast, right?”
Ten beams.
_____
Ten hums happily as he walks out of the R&D lab, then he takes out his phone and quickly dials a number that he’s been too familiar with.
“Yo, hello, what’s up lil guy?”
“Bitch, he just said that he didn’t mind kissing me and I think, I think, we are going to have a hotpot date. I am definitely more than one step ahead. You better step up your game, dude.”