Chasing Perfection || Lee Know

Stress Call

The ride back home is filled with their chatter — Hyejin recounts the chaos, the funny moments, the small victories — while Minho simply lets her talk, glancing over to appreciate how much happier and more alive she looks.

He reaches over at a red light, intertwining his fingers with hers. "Did you remember to eat today, Chef?"
Hyejin tilts her head. "...I tasted everything. Does that count?"
He just sighs and prepares a mental list for dinner — something hearty and comforting.

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Back home, the moment the lock clicks, the cats come to greet them — Dori weaving around their legs, Soonie meowing their complaints about the day's unfair separation.

"See? They missed their food supplier."
"That's their new nickname for me?"
"That... and their furniture."

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While Minho starts adding ingredients to a pot — Korean army stew (with plenty of ramen, tteok, and veggies) — Hyejin perches on a stool at the kitchen counter.
She finds herself smiling quietly, thinking about how much things have fallen into place.

"It feels... real now, you know? Like I'm not a mess trying to be something I'm not. I'm a chef. The kind I want to be."
He glances back, stirs, then crosses the space to cup her face.
"With or without a restaurant, you're a chef — the best there is — and I'm proud of you."
He drops a small, affectionate kiss on her lips.
"Also... I made sure there's pudding for afterwards."

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Minho and Hyejin sat across from each other in the living room after dinner. Minho on the armchair and Hyejin on the long sofa. Hyejin had been telling Minho small details about her day, animating with her hand and her tone going up and down based on how much the memory excited her, when all of a sudden she looked up and saw him not even paying attention to her.

"Minho."
Silence — or more accurately, the gentle soundtrack of his phone's notifications and his thumb gliding up and down, up and down the screen.
"MIN-HO."
He tilts his phone just a millimeter, reluctantly glances up. His eyebrows raise in a silent "huh?", then drops back down, ignoring you once again.

Hyejin crosses her arms, pouts just for a moment — then a mischievous spark glows in her eyes. Without a warning, much faster than Minho expects, her hand dart-forwards and snatches the phone from his grip.
He lets out a dramatic, wounded gasp — "Yah! Hyejin!!"— as his phone leaves his grip and finds refuge in her hands.
"Give it back Jinnie!" He warned getting up slowly from the armchair .
"That's a big 'no' from me today, Mr. Lee."
He stands up, and chases after her, a mess of disbelief, affection, and pure chaos.
"That phone contains my entire social life! Come back here, you gremlin!!"
"That's precisely why I'm saving you from it!!" Hyejin giggles, darting toward the living room, phone held high above her. Soonie, Doongi, and Dori immediately respond to their humans' chaos —

Soonie zooms alongside her, weaving gracefully between her feet,
Dori drops from the cat tree directly into their path,
and Doongi, the majestic fluff-ball, pounces up on the back of the sofa, adding to the riot.

"Hyejin!! I'm not kidding... I'm... I'm gonna... TICKLE YOU."
He drops into a crouch, eyebrows furrowing in a dramatic, mischievous way — a pure Lee Minho battle tactic.

"That's a threat I'm not afraid of!!"
Hyejin climbs up on the armchair, then perches boldly at the back of the sofa, phone safely raised above her — much to Minho's disbelief.
He climbs up after her — carefully, not to step on Dori — and then lunges forward with a mischievous growl.
He's close... Oh-so-close...