Archive of Our Own

“While hyung and the kids are busy reading your comments, let’s first get our breading ready. For that, you’re gonna need two large eggs, three if you have small sized eggs, and whisk them lightly into a bowl.” He said, cracking two eggs into a transparent glass bowl.

“Oh, first question.” Dobin piped up. “What’s your favorite dessert of all time?”

“Black Forest cake, but only when Jaehee isn’t around.”

“I’m allergic to cherries.” Jahee supplied helpfully.

Da-young thought it must have been a really bad cherry allergy if he was banning viewers left and right for saying they liked cherry.

“Next question, hyung. If given the chance, would you rather travel back in time or time-travel to the future?” Jaehee relayed, his voice cracking a little. Da-young supposed he was trying not to laugh. “Mmh. Very philosophical.”

“Once you finished whisking your eggs, mix the panko, granulated garlic, onion powder, dried oregano, crushed red pepper, and at least three-fourths of salt in another bowl.” Hajun instructed before humming in thought. “And to answer that question… neither choice seemed appealing to me.”

“Why?” Jaehee followed up.

“Because I really like where I am right now. My husband is here and the three of you are here.”

“Hyung, I love you, and I will die for you.” Dobin sniffled.

“Please don’t.” Hajun deadpanned, making Da-young laugh. Hajun could be so funny without even trying.

“Does your husband cook?” Yehyun snorted, which pretty much answered the question before Hajun could even give his response.

“Hmm… That’s a bit tricky. He’s not very good in the kitchen, but he does make the most amazing omelettes.” Hajun flushed, his cheeks and ears turning a bright shade of red that it translated even through the camera, before he quickly added, “And I’m not just saying that because he’s my husband!”

“Sadly, it’s true.” Yehyun sighed.

“We love hyung’s omelettes, right, Yuje?”

“Yep! It’s a favorite!”

The live continued pretty much the same way throughout — the viewers typing in their questions, either one of the trio reading said questions to Hajun, and Hajun answering them all while also teaching them how to air-fry some zucchini until the end of the stream an hour and a half later. It was a pretty entertaining broadcast as usual, and Da-young certainly learned a lot of things.

She was excited to try recreating the recipe, but first, she had notes to organize and a claim to defend.

Still reeling from the shock of getting to watch two videos in one day, Da-young momentarily forgot about her current mission of proving that Yoon Eden is Husband-nim in favor of checking out the second video uploaded on Hajun’s channel not even seven minutes ago.

There was probably something important on it if they’re posting it the same day they did the live, so Da-young was not missing it for the world.

“Hi again, everyone! We’re your Kitchen Diaries crew, minus my husband who’s working today, welcoming you back to our channel.” Hajun appeared on the screen, flanked by Yehyun and Dobin on both sides, the three of them waving at the camera while Jaehee’s hand came up in front, his pointer and thumb forming a heart. “You might be wondering why we’re posting a new video right after we finished our live, and well…” Hajun gave a wry smile. “We actually wouldn’t be able to film anything or go live in the next few weeks, so we decided to record this video in advance as a sort of apology and to also talk about our plans for this channel’s upcoming anniversary, which we will be announcing at the end of this video.”

“Oh right. That’s next, next month, isn’t it?” Da-young mumbled, reaching for her popcorn bowl and grunting in disappointment when she realized it was empty. “Does that mean the channel will be on hiatus until then? I wonder why?” Is there anything — ah!”

Of course.

Yoon Eden was scheduled to tour the country to promote his latest album, and him being Husband-nim — Da-young was now a hundred percent sure — meant that Hajun would most definitely be with him to support him. Hence, the hiatus.

Still.

Da-young was going to miss them.

As if reading her thoughts, Dobin voiced what she was thinking. “Don’t miss us so much, okay? And to make sure you don’t miss us that much, we’re going to make,” he paused, looking at Hajun with big puppy eyes. “What are we making, hyung?”

“Since a lot of our viewers have been asking for dessert recipes lately, I decided to make some Coconut Flan.”

“The calories.” Yehyun despaired, uncaring of his suffering, the camera zoomed in on his pained expression, one that Da-young took as many screenshots as possible to be used for a meme template.

“I really love desserts, so I’m super excited to make it.” Hajun added, his entire demeanor as bright as the afternoon sun.

And as a testament to the creative and chaotic prowess of their team, the video switched to a split screen showing Hajun’s smiling face next to Yehyun’s gloomy one.

The text at the bottom of the screen read, its color indicating that it was Jaehee making the commentary.

Da-young cackled, throwing her head back in her mirth. Seriously. They never fail to make her laugh.

“To be honest, it’s also my first time making this, so I hope it turns out well.” Hajun continued on, completely oblivious to the Yehyun-shaped cloud of gloom next to him. “You can find the detailed steps and required ingredients on the link in the description box.”

True to his routine, Hajun began listing off all the ingredients for the coconut flan, citing things like caramel sauce, toasted coconut shreds, eggs, and so on, looking more and more giddy at the mention of each ingredient. Cute.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Yehyun suddenly spoke up as he helped Hajun spray oil over the bundt pan. “How did you and that guy even meet? Your personalities couldn’t be more different from each other, so I’ve always been curious to know how you got along so well.”

Oh-ho? Da-young exclaimed. They’re the ones asking each other questions? Interesting.

“My husband? We met when we were both still in high school.” Hajun actually giggled at that, Da-young figured it must have been such a fond, if not funny, memory for him if it made him giggle like that.

“We’re not classmates or anything.” Hajun elaborated, turning on his oven and reminding everyone to preheat it for at least three-hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit before continuing his story. “We were just at the right place and time back then.”

“Agreed,” Da-young nodded, pointing at her screen in agreement before focusing on Hajun’s story again.

“So the full story is that my siblings and I were celebrating my brother’s acceptance to his dream company in this really old karaoke bar. We rented a private room and everything, and since I’m the only one who can sing between the three of us, my sister kept telling me to sing.” Hajun shook his head fondly, an amused smile dancing on his lips. “And I guess because the place was old, the soundproofing wasn't working as well as before.”

“Here, I’ll take care of it.” Yehyung said as he took the pan caramel sauce from Hajun, using it to coat the sides and bottom part of the bundt pan.

“Thank you, hyung.” Hajun tilted his head in thanks, moving on to grab an electric mixer. “So anyway, I was in the middle of my fourth song when someone barged in our room. I bet you can guess who that someone is. Turns out it wasn’t just the soundproofing that was broken. The locks were pretty messed up, too.”

“Hyung, do you remember what song you were singing?” Jaehee asked, handing Hajun the vanilla extract.

“Yes. It was Merry Go Round.”

“Wait, so [bleep] -hyung just barged into your private karaoke room!?”

Da-young’s jaw dropped. He didn’t.

“Dobin-ah!” Yehyun exclaimed in alarm.

He did!

“Whoops! My bad!” Dobin apologized, although by the sounds of it, he wasn’t too sorry. “I’ll just put air horns or something over the audio during editing. But did hyung really do that?”

“Mhm.” Hajun nodded, now beating the wet ingredients with the help of the mixer. “It was really scary.”

Yehyun raised an eyebrow. “Scary?”

“He looked like a delinquent. In fact, my brother thought the same, and my sister was getting ready to call the security.” Hajun answered, and Da-young had to suppress her laugh. Imagine almost getting the security called on you because the love of your life’s sister thought you were some kind of delinquent. “He had silver hair.”

Oh, Da-young would love to see that. She’d seen Eden with red hair before, but not silver. She bet he would have looked super good in it.

“He was very polite though,” Hajun narrated, pouring the mixture into the pan. “Apparently, he heard me singing, and he really liked my voice. He said he absolutely needed to meet me.”

Da-young watched the way Hajun’s face softened the more he got into his story, and she thought how lucky they must have been to meet each other when they did.

“Wow. I can totally see hyung doing that, but still. Wow.”

Yep.

Da-young could understand Jahee’s awe. But then again, that really was such a Yoon Eden move to do.

“That wasn’t even all of it because for some reason he ended up joining us. We even sang some duets together. He fit in so well with us you’d think we’ve known him for a while.” Hajun spoke softly, his smile going from amused to smitten in seconds. “In hindsight, I should have known he’d be staying for a really long time.”

“Then, what happened next?” Dobin prompted, sounding just as invested in the story as Da-young.

“He asked for my number.” Hajun gestured around him with his hands. “And well, here we are.”

Da-young squealed as Hajun concluded his story, kicking her feet in the air a little. That was so fucking cute. They’re so fucking cute. In fact, their cuteness was so powerful Da-young ended up missing the second of half of the video thinking about how cute they were.

And before she knew it, it was almost the end of the video, and Hajun was already making his announcement.

“…and since the channel’s anniversary is coming soon, we’re going to conduct a raffle for all subscribers of the channel, so if you haven’t subscribed yet, now is your chance. We’ve prepared a lot of exciting things for you guys, so don’t miss it.” Hajun said, handing plates and forks to the other three while he talked. “Jaehee will be posting the mechanics on how to enter the raffle in all our socials, so make sure to keep an eye out for that as well.”

Then on the screen, a paper with the words Good luck! written on it appeared briefly, staying there for a couple of seconds before it was lowered to once again reveal Hajun who was already eating his slice of coconut flan. Most likely noticing the camera on him, Da-young watched him hastily wipe his lips with a table napkin before composing himself again. She would have thought nothing was amiss if she couldn’t see his ears turning red in embarrassment.

“Until next time, everyone. See you in two months!

And then he was gone, the usual end credits of his videos taking over her screen.

“Let’s do this,” Da-young rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles.

She had two tasks to complete for the day: sign up for the raffle and post the next part of her thread.

“It’s show time, baby.”

“Thank you so much for waiting for us all this time.” Hajun said, clearly overwhelmed by the love and support pouring in from the channel viewers. “It’s been a hectic month for all of us, and to be honest, my husband and I have just recently returned home after a work-related trip. We’ll probably talk about that some time on the channel, too. But for now, I’ll be teaching you to make another dessert, namely a gluten free, dairy free Apple Crisp.”

“Why this particular recipe, hyung?” Dobin asked from somewhere behind the camera.

“Ah, well, I figured some of our viewers may have food allergies, so I wanted to try making a recipe that’s free of some of the most common food allergens.”

“That’s actually really thoughtful.” Jaehee, who was probably the one who could relate most to having a food allergy, commented. “I’m actually super excited to try the finished product.”

“Yes, but before that, I would like to give our viewers something to look forward to, so I’ll be sharing with them the prizes for our raffle.”

“I’m sure they’ll be blown away by them.” Yehyun adds, and Da-young gripped the edges of her desk. If Yehyun was saying that, then, it must be true.

“Well, most of the prizes are my husband’s idea, and” — Hajun shrugged — “you know how he is.”

Hajun waved at his husband who immediately returned the gesture, his hand coming into focus.

“So what are the prizes, hyung?” Dobin asked.

“For our prizes, we’re giving away ten tickets to the upcoming food festival in Busan next month. My husband helped me secure those tickets for us, so don’t forget to thank him, okay?” Hajun said, raising his fingers to emphasize his point. “Next, two people will get a chance to dine at Moso Seoul, and they each get to bring a plus one.”

“Wow! That’s a really famous restaurant, isn’it?” Dobin exclaimed.

“It is, yes.” Hajun nodded before directing a mischievous grin at the camera. “But those are just consolation prizes. Our grand prize winner will be getting an all-expense paid trip to Jeju Island, which will be paid by my husband.”

“Holy shit,” Da-young’s eyes widened. Those prizes were no joke, and with how grand they were, she just knew it was all Yoon Eden’s idea. Seriously, just how much did Yoon Eden love Hajun? Apparently, enough to pay for someone else’s vacation.

“So, did our prizes get your hearts pumping? Well then, stay tuned until the end of this video for the announcement of the winners. For now, let’s get cooking. Like always, the link to the full recipe can be found on the description box.”

The channel then went on to run with its usual format, Hajun giving them the step-by-step guide on how to make the gluten and dairy free apple crisps while answering some questions from the fans or talking about some random facts about food. Not that Da-young was able to catch much of what was being said — thank god Hajun always posts his livestreams as a normal video after each broadcast — because she was too busy praying to all the gods she knew to at least let her win one of the prizes.

Da-young was on her thirtieth prayer when the beeping sound of Hajun’s oven startled her out of her trance. It would seem that the apple crisps were done.

“Now that our crisps are done, we can leave them on a rack to cool them down a bit.” Hajun said, transferring the newly baked crisps on a cooling rack. “And while waiting for them to cool, how about we announce our winners now?”

“Good idea.” Yehyun, who had somehow moved from off the frame and next to the counter agreed.

“Ah, but I shouldn’t be the one announcing our winners, don’t you think so, hyung?” Hajun gave a thoughtful frown, and for a brief moment, Da-young thought he was doing some sort of delaying tactic to increase the viewers anticipation. However, the thought quickly vanished at Hajun’s next words. “Should I call my husband over here to help me announce the winners?”

Wait. Wait. Wait.

Da-young scrambled to get closer to the screen, her brain screeching to a sudden halt as someone — Husband-nim! — came into frame.

“Yo.”

Music superstar Yoon Eden saluted at the camera, a cheeky grin on his face before striding over to where Hajun was standing and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, Jun-ah.” Eden said, one hand reaching out to steal the apple crisp Hajun was holding.

And Da-young screamed.