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The broth was cooking nicely. Hyun deliberated over the pot for a few seconds, then added some more water and checked the consistency of the beef with chopsticks. The meat was coming out nice and tender, but it was still a bit difficult to pull into pieces, so he left it in the pot and covered it with a lid.
He turned towards the kitchen table and gave the sauce he made earlier another thorough mix, before covering it up and setting it aside. Then he leaned back, hands on his hips, and eyed the dishes already piling up in the sink. He still had to chop up the remaining ingredients, but now he was considering cleaning up as much as he could so he would be able to save time later.
He nearly jumped out of his skin as a piece of fabric was suddenly swung in front of him, nimble hands tying the belt at the base of his spine in a neat bow. Rui then pulled on his waist to turn him around, and helped him put the loop of the apron over his head.
“Do this properly,” Rui chided.
Hyun smoothed down the front of the apron. “You startled me,” he said, pouting.
“I tried to get your attention, but I guess you didn’t hear me.” Rui waved a hand dismissively. “You seem very focused.”
Rui had such a soft voice, it was hardly surprising that Hyun completely missed him with the pot cheerfully bubbling away under his elbow. He smiled awkwardly and nodded in response.
Rui leaned over to study the pot lid frosted up with steam. “What are you making, chef?” He asked teasingly.
“Yukgaejang.” Hyun tapped the tips of his index fingers together. “I thought it would be fun. To make.”
The smile Rui gave him was cryptic, and Hyun half expected to be called cute, or something similar. Instead, Rui said, “Is it difficult?”
“No, not at all.” Hyun glanced at the stove. “It’s pretty straightforward.”
The phone timer buzzed in his pocket, and he swooped over to take the lid off again. Rui watched very attentively as Hyun scooped up some mushrooms out of the broth, accidentally dropped them back in after getting burnt by the spitting boiling liquid, then scooped them out again and plopped them in a bowl.
Hyun looked down at the bowl, then helplessly back at the vegetables.
“Give me something to do,” Rui said. Hyun gave him a surprised look as Rui rolled his sleeves up to the elbow.
“Are you sure?” Hyun blinked at him.
Rui narrowed his eyes. “Are you doubting my cooking skills?”
“Nope!” Hyun knew better than that. “Can you chop the garlic for me?”
Rui ignored the knife already near the cutting board, opting for rummaging through the drawer to source one that he liked, and got to task. He worked slowly, but neatly, his cuts more consistent in size than Hyun’s tended to be. Hyun bit back a smile and got back to saving the meat and onion from overcooking in the broth.
The rhythmic chopping noises on wood turned to scraping as Rui emptied the chopped garlic onto a plate. Clothes rustled as Rui brushed against Hyun to rinse off the bean sprouts and gosari under the faucet, humming to himself. Hyun traced the lines of his brow bone and nose with his eyes, caught the flutter of his eyelashes as he blinked. Sensing the stare, Rui looked up and smiled knowingly. Hyun quickly looked down to adjust the heat on the stove.
Haru’s appearance didn’t catch either of them by surprise. They both heard the door opening and then slamming at the other side of the dorm, the sound of shoes being kicked off, footsteps as Haru wandered around, looking for whoever happened to be at home. It didn’t take long for him to poke his nose into the kitchen. “Hey!”
Rui looked up from the cutting board. “Hi there.”
Hyun raised the tongs in greeting.
Setting his bag against the wall, Haru curiously looked on as Rui and Hyun moved around, each focused on their respective task. “What are you making?” He asked.
“Yukgaejang.” Hyun huffed and shook his head to try to get his fringe out of his eyes. “Have you had it before?”
Haru shook his head.
“Okay! You can try it this time.” He felt Rui’s hand helpfully brush the hair back behind his ears.
Haru looked around. “Can I help?”
Hyun paused. “There’s not much left to do-“
“You sure can!” Rui happily handed the knife over to Haru and settled down at one of the dining chairs. “I’ll take a break.”
Hyun rolled his eyes, then pointed to the half-chopped green onions. “Haru, can you handle these?”
“Yeah!” Haru obediently grouped together the green stalks and carefully began to chop.
“Cut some up for the garnish, too.” Hyun called.
“Cut some for garnish,” Rui repeated.
Haru nodded. “Yep.”
Hyun picked up the bowl with the sauce and stared at it, calculating, then scooped some of it up with the tip of a chopstick and tasted it. It might need a bit more salt.
Rui leaned forward. “Can I try some, too?”
Hyun picked up the second chopstick and held it out to him. Rui glanced at it dismissively, then opted for Hyun’s already-used one, his hand gripping Hyun’s as he dipped it in the sauce and licked it off.
Hyun stared, all sound muffling around him like he was underwater. Rui was making obscene levels of eye contact as his tongue parted from the stainless steel.
“I like it,” Rui said simply, and let him go.
“Oh.” Hyun suddenly felt lightheaded and had to steady himself with a hand on the refrigerator. “That-that’s good. Great.”
“Maybe a bit more salt,” Rui added helpfully.
Hyun nodded mutely. He couldn’t remember where he put the salt.
“Hyung,” Haru said behind him. “The soup?”
“Right!” Hyun whipped around, dropped the chopstick, and nearly bumped into Haru in his hurry to pick it up. “Where’s the sauce?”
“Still here,” Rui said smugly.
Hyun huffed and moved the bowl away from Rui and the too-amused look on his face, and dropped all the chopped up ingredients into the sauce on autopilot.
Haru looked into the bowl. “Wait, weren’t those ones supposed to be for garnish?”
“The garnish was-“ Hyun looked closer, then sighed and did his best to scoop out some of the thinly sliced circles of green onion. “Can someone slice the mushrooms?” He asked weakly.
“I’ll do it!” Haru called and darted over to the cutting board like it was a competition, even though Rui made no move to even offer his help.
By the time they got their shit together enough to sort everything out, add all the ingredients to the pot, and even remember to turn on the rice cooker thanks to Rui, the front door opened again. Keys jangled in the other room, and a few moments later Wumuti materialised in the doorframe, hair messy from being out in the wind.
“You guys are busy,” Wumuti commented.
Rui twisted around in his chair. “Hi!”
Wumuti wandered over and studied the stove curiously. “This smells very good. Do you need any help?”
Hyun suddenly felt shy. “No, it’s almost done.”
“Yeah, yeah, we handled it.” Haru waved Wumuti over the to table. “You can make yourself comfortable!”
“Hyunie was hiding his cooking skills from us this whole time,” Rui whispered conspiratorially as Wumuti sat down next to him.
Hyun raised his palms in front of his chest. “Nothing like that! I just wanted to make this recipe.”
Wumuti smiled warmly. “I’m excited to try it.”
Hyun nodded timidly and turned back to the stove, taking the lid off the pot. Haru peeked around him and let out a satisfied “ooh” noise. The soup was bubbling pleasantly, and smelled even more amazing after soaking in all the sauce from the vegetables.
“How’s it look?” Rui called out.
“You’ll see in a second!” Hyun called back.
Rui let out a dramatic groan and slumped over the table. Wumuti laughed and patted his back.
The yukgaejang looked very good from a visual standpoint, too. Haru was simmering with anticipation while he waited for Hyun to find a pot holder. Before he knew it, Haru already had oven mitts on, ready to take the pot over to the table.
Hyun let Haru pass by him, and felt a hand on the back of his waist as Wumuti moved behind him. “I’ll just get the rice,” he said.
Hyun nodded gratefully. He finally untied the apron, throwing it over the back of a chair, and fanned himself with a hand. The kitchen was incredibly warm now.
He couldn’t help feeling flattered when he saw all three of the others take out their phones and focus on taking pictures of the meal from different angles.
“I’ll decide who to brag to later,” Rui murmured, seemingly to himself, as he pocketed the phone.
Biting his lip, Hyun watched intently as Wumuti brought a spoonful to his mouth, his lips lightly touching the liquid.
“It’s good!” He said brightly.
“You barely tasted it,” Hyun sighed.
Wumuti shrugged with a small smile, then slurped up an actual spoonful of the broth. “Oh, it's very good!” He sounded so earnest that Hyun decided to believe him.
“You were going to say it’s good no matter what, weren’t you?” Haru snickered.
“Of course not!” Wumuti protested. “I’m a fair person!”
“I like it too, hyung,” Haru said over Wumuti.
The real test wasn’t their leader, though. Hyun watched with trepidation as Rui neatly picked up a piece of beef, studied it, then slowly put it in his mouth and chewed it.
“It’s delicious,” Rui declared. Hyun let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding while Haru giggled next to him.
“Okay,” Hyun said. “That’s… that’s great!” He visibly brightened up, so much so that Wumuti reached over and patted his shoulder.
“Thank you for cooking, Hyun,” he said warmly.
Hyun lowered his eyes and smiled to himself.