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Saturday afternoon and Chikage had dragged Sakuya on a mini road trip. Their destination? A new Korean diner that opened in another city. Chikage had heard of a worthy spice challenge that he was eager to try, so he dragged the first person he found along with him; that was a lie he had full intention of taking Sakuya along with him. “It will help build your tolerance!” he claimed, but they all knew the real reason.
“Are we almost there?”
“No, go back to sleep”
“I’ve napped plenty!”
“Well sit tight just for a bit longer”
“Hey what if I tried driv-”
“NO”
It was another half hour till they reached their destination, and enough time for them both to get hungry. Omi had packed them some onigiri to eat on the road and to make sure Chikage doesn’t feed Sakuya anything too spicy on an empty stomach. Chikage argued that he does it all the time but had to be reminded that he has the tolerance of a truck.
Upon arriving, he parked the car outside the place and they made their way in. The place had a modern look to it while also maintaining a traditional feel somehow. Upon stepping in, the interior looked and felt cozy, unlike the kinds of places where one felt pressured to eat and leave, this one gave the impression that you could sit there for hours undisturbed, with friendly staff and good looking food to top it off, but what Chikage was really interested in was a particular dish on their menu. The hostess greeted them by the door and led them to an empty table, handing them each a menu before leaving to tend to another table.
A few minutes later, a waitress approached them with a notepad in hand ready to take their order, turning to Chikage first.
“Welcome, I’ll be your server for today, may I take your order?”
“아 네, 저의 고스트페퍼짜장면 1인분하고요, 로제떡볶이 1인분 주세요.”
“...”
“어! 네 알겠습니다. 곧 준비해 드리겠습니다!”
“감사합니다.”
With that said she disappeared to the back door leading to the kitchen, a stunned Sakuya sitting there staring at Chikage as if he didn’t just surprise them both.
“You can speak Korean??”
“A little yes.”
“That’s awesome….wait I didn’t order!!”
“Oh don’t worry I picked something for you.”
“Actually how did you know the waitress spoke Korean…?”
“...I was hoping my hunch was correct”
“Ah I see.”
Around fifteen minutes later the waitress returned to their table with two big bowls of food, setting it down in front of them. It appeared to be noodles of some sort although Sakuya simply looked at Chikage for an explanation. “Enjoy your food!” the waitress said, before disappearing again.
“Wait wait wait, we need to take pictures first.”
“Never took you for a foodie, Sakuya.”
“I’m really not, but I figured I’d document this visit at least...for the rest you know!!”
“Uh-huh, sure”
Chikage waited a few minutes while Sakuya took a few shots from different angles, including an aerial shot and one of Chikage holding the bowl up, deep down he knew it was for Kazunari but he said nothing while the other continued snapping pictures. When he was finally done, he put his phone away and turned to the food that was luckily still warm.
“So...what is it?”
“Well, I figured you can’t do that well with spicy so I got you a rose tteokbokki, which is still a little spicy but nothing you can’t handle~” Chikage explained, continuing on to his own food
“As for myself, I heard they did these ghost pepper noodles so I thought I’d try for myself”
“It looks deadly…”
“Then it must be delicious, let’s dig in.” he happily said, picking out a pair of chopsticks from the holder and breaking them apart.
The deadly looking sauce was generously poured all over the noodles, cucumber sliced into matchsticks nestled right in the middle. He used his chopsticks to coax the sauce into the noodles, making sure every single piece was covered. After a good amount of mixing, the noodles had a beautiful glossy look to them, that shined whenever he picked them up with his chopsticks. The smell alone was a kicker too, with the aroma travelling across the table to Sakuya’s nose, alerting his brain of how hot the dish was. Chikage however, was unfazed, as he used his utensil to pick up a few noodles and twirl them around till they formed a roll on his chopsticks, a generous bite for starts as he slurped the noodles into his mouth, a few drops of sauce escaping back into the bowl from how fast he inhaled. Sakuya could only watch in wonder, almost forgetting his own dish, as Chikage made the dish look harmless and almost delicious from how he was eating it.
“Your food’s getting cold”
“Ah!” Sakuya quickly snapped back to reality, hastily picking his own chopsticks up and pushing the food around trying to figure out what it was.
“Theese are rice cakes, they’re bit chewy and squishy”
“Like mochi!”
“Mmmmm, they have similar components but not quite”
“I thought it was pasta to be honest…”
“Well these ones are a different shape.”
While typically short and thick, these unusual rice cakes were thinner and longer, giving the impression that they’re like noodles while still retaining their integrity as an ingredient. The sauce was thick enough to coat each one to ensure nothing is missed with each bite, and the little specks of chilli gave it just a slightly bigger kick. The onions cooked in the sauce were soft and almost translucent, while also contributing a good amount of sweetness to the dish; and of course, for some protein, mini sausages were scattered across the plate, having also been simmered along with everything. There was no way to miss any of the sauce, but…
Cough
“Are you okay, Sakuya?”
“It’s a little... cough ..spicy…”
“Shame, I thought this would be okay for your level, here have some water~” Chikage replied, sliding a glass of water towards him. He didn’t think to order refreshments but looking back that would have helped a little.
Feeling up to the challenge after hearing that, Sakuya opted to finish his meal, despite the minor obstacle. After the fourth or fifth bite his mouth was getting accustomed to the spice and he began to enjoy it, after all the cream was helping to mellow it out. Chikage on the other hand, was happily slurping at his noodles, seemingly unfazed by the spice although his cheeks were starting to get a little red, not that Sakuya dared to bring it up.
“Say, do you want to try some of my food?” Chikage asked, holding the bowl up to indicate he still had some left in the bowl.
“I...don’t think I can handle it” Sakuya surrendered, given his tolerance that’s just not yet there.
“If you have one noodle I’ll let you pick a dessert place!”
“DEal.” They shook hands to confirm the agreement.
Chikage knew this was not going to end well, which was why he brought his phone out and began recording a video, just to immortalize the occasion. Sakuya hesitantly picked a noodle out of the bowl, one on the longer side much to his dismay. Giving it a good look, he tipped his head back and dropped the noodle right into his mouth. Bringing his head back down, Chikage could see his face already turning red, much like his beloved tomato. The coughing came soon after and the gasping for air as he stuck his tongue out to let it “breath”. Chikage felt a little bad but also couldn’t hold back a chuckle as he continued taking the video. Sakuya continued to take sips of water till it eventually subsided but swore to never touch anything ghost pepper related ever again.
“You’ll get there one day, Sakuya.”
“I’d rather not!”
After finishing their meal, Chikage paid for it and they were off to find a dessert stop. The area wasn’t very familiar to them so Sakuya opted to look online for some reviews, while Chikage drove around the city. Eventually they landed on a spot that served French style cakes, a timeless classic for all ages one could say.
“Ooooh, their display looks gorgeous, Chikage look!! They almost don’t look real” Sakuya gaped at the display they had set up.
“That’s because these are fake” Chikage burst his bubble
“No way!”
Lucky for them the place wasn’t very busy so they were able to find a table easily. Chikage wasn’t big on sweets so he let Sakuya make all the decisions, and because he had to honour their deal. Sakuya on the other hand was having a blast picking out different things from the menu. They settled with a strawberry crepe cake, walnut torte, and a sakura cake that caught Chikage’s eye too.
“Honestly, if you were a cake, you’d be this one.” Chikage stated, snapping a picture of the dessert display they got.
“What does that mean!” Sakuya questioned him, worried the spice finally got to his head.
“I said what I said”. At the very least he was glad Sakuya wasn’t fussy about his coffee order and they both settled for brewed coffee to balance the sweetness out.
After getting some photos for social media and to please Kazunari, they finally dug into the cakes. The crepe cake was light and airy, with just the right amount of sweetness, the strawberries giving it just a hint of tartness that goes so well in it. The torte had a bit of a rough texture but also fluffy at the same time, a mild bitterness coming from the walnuts that tied it all together.
“Did you order the Sakura cake because of your name” Chikage asked
“N-no?”
“Too obvious”
“But you are enjoying it, correct?”
“Perhaps…”
They mostly ate in silence, making small talk here and there, but Sakuya was enjoying himself too much to find anything to talk about while Chikage...enjoyed watching him eat, oddly enough. At some point he noticed Sakuya had a little cream on his bottom lip that he had failed to notice and ended up doing the most stereotypical move, in which he reached over and swiped it off with his finger. After noticing what he did and Sakuya’s surprise he snapped back to his senses and quickly cleaned it off with a tissue; Sakuya stifled a laugh in response to the situation and commented that perhaps he had been reading too much shoujo manga recently.
“Say...when did you learn Korean?”
“Hm? Oh I just picked up on it some time back I guess”
“That’s really impressive!”
“Well thank you.”
“I was wondering...could you like...teach me something to say!”
“Huh..sure”
Chikage sat there and pondered for a second, before setting his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his palms, and saying
“Repeat after me: sa-rang-hae”
“What does it mean??”
“Just say it~”
“S-saranghae!”
“Heh...나도 사랑해”
“Eh what did you say! It sounds just like it!”
“Se-cr-et~”
“No fair!! What if I go around telling everyone at the dorms!”
“Please don’t.”
After finishing up their dessert, they realised it was starting to get dark and they ought to head home, but not before grabbing a few cakes for the sweet tooths back home. In normal circumstances Sakuya wouldn’t be overthinking it too much, but deep down he was immensely curious and Chikage would NOT budge. When they got home that night, they presented their offerings to the rest of the Mankai residents, and also to explain their absence that day, as Chikage had forgotten to tell anyone where they were going.
“Going off by yourself is fine but you took Sakuya with you!!”
“We had to find out through his Instablam posts…”
“Chikage let’s goal togather next time!”
“You mean together…”
When everyone else went off to bed, Sakuya found he was just unable to sleep. He plugged his headphones in and turned the brightness on his phone down. Citron was out like a light after telling another one of his stories and he didn’t want to disrupt his sleep. He laid there, glaring into his screen for a while, before switching to his messages and shooting Chikage a text. He knew for a fact that Chikage stayed up late and he was bound to be awake at this hour; true enough he got a quick response back.
“Hey, you awake?”
“Yea, what’s up?”
“Can I see you in the courtyard for a bit?”
“Sure, I will be there in a minute.”
With that he carefully got out of bed, slipped his slippers on, threw on a hoodie and snuck out. Chikage was already there waiting by the bench, fiddling with his phone, a puff of smoke coming out of his mouth as he breathed, the night was chilly after all. In an attempt to surprise him, Sakuya tried to sneak up from the back, but Chikage’s senses were something else.
“I can tell it’s you, Sakuya”
“Eek!”
“Come on, have a seat” he gestured, giving the empty space next to him a light tap
“Mm, no I’m okay!”
Sakuya made his way to the bench, instead choosing to stand for this, as he faced Chikage who was sitting down.
“I...I learned something! And I...I couldn’t wait to tell you…”
“I see...well go on”
“Y-yeah, here I go”
He stood there for a few minutes, reciting something in his head as his mouth slightly moved in an attempt to remember it properly.
“사랑 뭔지 안다면 너 때문에 알아”
Gasp
“D-did I say something wrong?”
“어떻게 나 때문에 그럴 수 있어, 넌 나에게 사랑을 가르쳤는데”
“What does that mean!”
“It means…How can it be because of me, when you were the one that taught me how to love”
“You!!”
With that, Sakuya gently placed his hands on Chikage’s cheeks, bringing his face up, leaning over, and sealing the deal with a kiss on the lips. Time felt like it froze for a few minutes, as neither of them wanted to let go, Chikage returned the gesture by holding Sakuya’s face in his hands. It was cold but they were warming each other up, and the second they let go, chills would run down their spines. Puffs of smoke escaping both their lips as they let out a breathless sigh.
“Never took you for the bold type, Sakuya”
“I learned from the best, yeobo.”