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"You know how the school has a class on the fundamentals of cooking as one of its elective courses? Maybe you should take it, colonel."
"Only if you take it with me"
And this was how they ended up in the home economics lab, dressed in pristine aprons over their uniforms while listening to their teacher explain the objectives that should be achieved today. Originally, Shin was reluctant to join, but after a fraction of insistence from Lena, he agreed. Obviously, it meant they could spend more free time together, but Lena hid that fact under the guise of "competition", he doesn't have to know. To her misfortune though, it's not just Frederica taking this course anymore, since more soldiers have joined the military and have more time on their hands right now, there are at least 30 people in this room, meaning more pressure and embarrassment in case something goes wrong.
"Now that I am done going over the rules, it's time to reveal your challenge. Since this is our first experiment together, we will start with an easy recipe!" Declared the teacher, whose youthful appearance and familiar uniform managed to ease Lena's anxiousness a bit. "To ease you into this, you shall attempt making roast chicken, please include at least 1 side dish like rice or sautéed veggies. Use the cookbook in front of you as your guide and open page 47. The duo with the winning dish will decide on our recipe for next week! You have 90 minutes starting in 3...2...1...GOGOGO!"
As the students started to scramble, Shin and Lena stood still trying to process the information they were just given.
"The thing is...I thought we'd be instructed to cook whatever we wanted...I was planning on making French toast since that's my specialty" said Shin while sulking.
"I thought so too, but it makes sense in terms of budgeting and giving everyone equal chances I guess..."
Panic started to settle in as Shin realized he can no longer show off and is most likely doomed to fail as much as Lena will.
"U-um I don't know where to start..." Lena confessed, sounding overwhelmed. She reaches for the book and starts skimming through the pages, luckily they have the equipment and ingredients already laid out in front of them. Glancing over at Shin who seemed completely unfazed it made her slightly jealous, she asked "should we start with the rice? It seems the most simple, then we can go on from there."
"Alright, you're the colonel" shrugged Shin jokingly. This only made Lena more nervous though, he's letting her be in charge which is not a position she is confident in right now, so cunning ugh! I wish I was directing a battle instead. Shin had already placed a metal pot on the stovetop and started pouring the rice into it directly from the sack.
"W-wait!" startled Lena, "aren't you missing a step or two??" Shin stared back dumbfoundedly. "Don't worry I will add water after".
"That's not what I meant, shouldn't you wash it first?"
He looked even more confused now "But why?"
"Well for starters that's what some of the others are doing right now. Plus it looks...dusty."
"Fine", despite being embarrassed for being the first one to mess up, Shin pretended to act indifferent of the situation. Lena actually gained a speck of confidence following this. For someone with sharp senses and great observational skills on the battlefield, Shin is the complete opposite in normal daily activities. It's kind of cute.. she thought. Perhaps it's his way of relaxing and compensating for the constant noise surrounding him, a way to lose focus and distract himself. That thought instantly soured Lena's mood though.
Moving onto the next task, Lena put on gloves because she was secretly dreading this part. After removing the wrapping off of the chicken, she instinctively went to the sink to wash it. A few minutes later that felt like an eternity to Shin, Lena returned with a chicken even soggier than before. Something tells her she overdid it, but she obviously won't admit that. She can't even if she wanted to, afterall, she was breathing through her mouth.
"...you okay?" Shin seemed concerned, her eyebrows were knitted and her nose scrunched.
"Yeah, it just...smells...strange." Shin wanted to laugh at the sight before him but held himself back with effort. This class turned out to be very amusing after all.
She felt immature, while she cannot handle the smell of real chicken, the 86 had to handle human flesh on the daily. She can't help acting spoiled but it only seems to feed into her guilt even more these days. Shin kindly offered to cut up the chicken after he witnessed the way she flinched when it splattered onto the cutting board and chicken juice flew onto her apron. Instead of standing there, she decided to start working on the vegetables. Beginning with the carrots, she had great difficulty slicing through them. It made her progress slow while Shin was done cutting up the chicken already.
"Shin, can you please get rid of the white parts?"
"You mean the fat? ....okay?"
"T-thank you"
"No worries, also, you're holding the knife the wrong way, Lena"
Great.
She was holding it at the very edge, so Shin moved her hand closer to the heel, guiding her through the correct motion. As someone who's cursed with blushing readily, Lena silently obeyed in hopes he'd quickly understand she had learned the technique successfully and can leave her to it, this proximity wasn't helping.
"Okay I get it now! You can go back to seasoning while I finish-"
"I'm done though"
"WHAT"
She yanks her head to see that the chicken has a few black specks here and there which she can only assume is black pepper.
"Shin...why? You have a lot of spices at hand, you didn't even lather it with any oil like the book stated! I know I have zero knowledge on this topic but even I can tell it won't turn out appetizing that way" Lena looked visibly upset.
"Honestly, there were so many options I didn't know which ones would go well together, so I went with something simple. Besides, I am used to eating anything, I'm sure that whatever the outcome is, it won't be as bad as plastic explosives" he stated almost proudly.
"Oh my god you really are dull"
"..."
"I'M SORRY I meant dull as in palate I didn't mean- you aren't dull please forgive me I apologize-"
"I don't think I can recover from this" Shin held back from laughing again but Lena was too distressed to notice.
"NOOOOO"
At this point they were garnering more attention than before, it made them both go silent and continue their tasks. Lena couldn't believe she allowed herself to behave this way in front of her colleagues. How unladylike.
Almost done with chopping, it was time for the last item, onions. The book didn't provide any warnings, and no one had mentioned this before, so it was a great shock to Lena as to why she started crying despite not being sad. She didn't want Shin to see her cry (again), or anyone else for that matter. This phenomenon was so foreign to her she thought her mental state was to blame. In an attempt to hide her tears, she tried to excuse herself until Shin realized why she was being so evasive and stopped her. Oh my god this isn't happening right now he'll think I'm crazy.
"Here Lena let me finish off these, seems you weren't aware but onions irritate the eyes which is why you're tearing up"
"sniff...really?...sniff"
I am a total idiot. This is horrifying.
"Mhm, good news is we're basically done. All that's remaining is cooking time."
She breathed a sigh of relief not believing it was almost over and no disasters had occurred. All that remains on the list is to not commit arson and this mission would be a success.
"Aaaaaand TIME'S UP!" exclaimed the teacher. Surprisingly Shin and Lena finished before the alarm went off which gave them enough time to plate their meal and present it nicely. Neither of them dared to taste it though.
"Let's see what we have here" it was their turn, both of them held their breaths as if this wasn't the least stressful event they had to endure in their lives so far.
The teacher took a few bites of everything before formulating a response, she didn't wince though which was a good sign. "Your presentation is good, although the rice is quite overcooked, so make sure to be aware of that next time. Fortunately the chicken is well roasted but the seasoning is clashing. It's kind of confusing..is that ginger powder that I taste?"
Lena nudges Shin in the side while he clears his throat "yes of course".
"Hmmm, interesting. I don't think it fits with the selection of spices you decided to use, but that just requires practice and experimentation! The combination of carrots, potatoes, and zucchini compliment each other though. Bonus points for attempting 2 side dishes. I'd give this meal as a whole a 7/10. Good job you two!" As she moves onto the next duo Shin and Lena finally relax. Lena smiles and raises her hand up for a high five which takes Shin a second before he catches on.
"This is a much higher score than I was expecting to be fair" laughed Lena.
"Agree"
"I hope there is a cookoff soon, I want to test my true potential against yours!" she said mischievously.
"Yeah that won't be happening because I am dropping this class"
"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"
This time Shin couldn't not laugh at her horrified expression, one of the rare times where he laughed freely. This made Lena start laughing along too despite the matter at hand. Of course neither of them would drop this class, chances to spend time together aside from work aren't common.
Which is why Lena does not regret asking him to join, even at the cost of her dignity.
But he doesn't have to know.