chasing girl wonder

mise en place

A/N: Do you know The Bear series on Hulu? I binge-watched the three seasons a couple of weeks back and I drew a lot of inspiration from it. It's probably my favorite series to date, and coincidentally the vibe kind of matched this fic. I cry.

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It was D-Day. Day of decision? Of disembarkation? Probably. But Roseanne still could not decide which black dress to wear to the 'funeral dinner' that Poached Wohnen was holding that Saturday. She had to arrive fashionably and enticingly when she and Lisa had not seen each other—and barely texted—for the past four days.

The day after the article was released, Lisa gathered up her crew, together with Sorn, to hold the last dinner at Poached before its official sunset, with full support from Sinn. It was the end of an era as Suzy had plans to change the restaurant anyway, and Lisa was not the least bit bitter about it since her crew was so damn loyal that nobody would share a single recipe outside that group, and she was ready to take on a new journey in Seoul with her friends. Roseanne expressed her complete agreement with that, elated, quite extremely, that Lisa did not feel as bad about it anymore.

The dinner would be exclusive to friends and family, 'Christmas in Whoville' as Lisa told her when she invited her to come with her friends. In that short time they talked over the phone three days ago, she prodded Lisa to invite Nichkhun at least. Sinn had been discharged just in time anyway, and maybe they could have that much-needed family talk without any nuisances. As she expected, Lisa was adamant about the idea, and they sort of bickered about it, but eventually, she convinced Lisa—after acting all cute about it—and asked Tiger JK to pass the word to Nichkhun, unfortunately, Nichkhun would not be able to make it.

Lisa was half-relieved while Roseanne was pissed that all her cute act, baby talk, and a couple of forced selfies, were useless in the end.

"Rozzzaaaannn?" Alice knocked on Roseanne's bedroom door twice, and then flung it open.

"In here!" Roseanne answered from the walk-in closet, holding up two hangers with little black dresses. One was a tube-style dress with a rucked-up slit on the left side covered with lace while the other was a backless, halter dress.

"It's breakfast time, little sisterrrrr. Mom and dad hate late, especially at the breakfast table, so—whoa, what's going on?" Alice stopped short upon seeing several black dresses, skirts, and tops scattered on top of the ottoman. "Where's the funeral?"

Roseanne shot Alice a blank stare. "I told you Poached is closing forever."

"Mhm. A funeral dinner, huh?" Alice walked toward Roseanne; arms folded against her chest. "And you think either of those dresses are appropriate and respectful?"

"You know what? Maybe they're not." Roseanne tossed the dresses on the pile of clothes on the ottoman. "But it'll be great if you actually help me decide because Felix will pick me up at ten." She turned on her heel to find a more appropriate and respectable dress, but she had already rummaged her entire wardrobe and pulled the best choices out.

Alice did not need to check the time on her watch. She always joined her family every weekend for breakfast, sometimes lunch and dinner too, and they always served breakfast at seven in the morning. Sharp. "You still have three hours."

Tugging at her necklace, Roseanne cried, "That's not enough time! I still need to get the dress pressed before packing, do a last-minute review of the supplies that came in this morning at the café, and review Joan's latest photos to promote our limited-edition meringue cold brew today, and—and more, alright!"