taste buds | kim seokjin [bts] a.u

dish 8 ;; maeun-tang

"kimchi bokkeumbap?" minah repeated, her mind going back to the first meal her neighbour had sent at her doorstep.

"yes, i thought it would be a nice dish to start with for now," seokjin smiled, gaining minah's attention again. "it's easy to make and gives off that family snack feel." minah nodded, pulling the rack of clothes towards seokjin before taking out a set of shirt and pants.

"you can start with these simple colours and once you feel more comfortable, you can opt for something more stylish," minah handed the set to seokjin and gave him a small "fighting!" before leaving the room with a smile.

she made her way to the set to make sure all the ingredients needed were present and when the kimchi wasn't in the fridge, minah almost lost it. "yah," she yelled out to one of the staff members handling some clothes in the corner. the girl came running, bowing respectfully. "why isn't the kimchi in the fridge? what did i say about people making mistakes? do you want to get fired?" the girl stayed quiet, keeping her head down.

"minah-sshi," seokjin stepped into the situation, the kimchi box in his hands as he sent the girl a smile, gesturing for her to get back to work. "i was just bringing this in, why are you getting so worked up over kimchi?" seokjin tried to joke, but the look on minah's face wiped the smile off of his own.

minah was stressed. seokjin could see it in her eyes and her actions; the way her face slightly twitched whenever her eyes raked over the set, her slightly trembling fingers and the licking of her lips every few seconds. seokjin could see it all. hesitantly, he placed his hand on minah's shoulder and tapped lightly. "it's going to be alright," he whispered, before going off towards the fridge to place the kimchi inside. usually, minah would have responded with a glare or sigh, but somehow, seokjin's soft voice kept ringing in her ears, allowing her to breathe comfortably.

"is your director always like this before the shoots?" seokjin questioned a moody jaehwan, who was seated on a bench outside the set. "she seems really stressed."

jaehwan shook his head, letting out a sigh. "it's our first ever male fashion line, so she must be really anxious, especially with her father having such high expectations of her–" slapping his mouth shut, jaehwan's eyes widened at the information he let out.

"why did you stop?" seokjin asked, raising a brow.

"she hates it whenever we mention her father, and it's sort of... illegal? for this stuff to come out in front of anyone other than her employees." jaehwan explained. he shrugged after a few seconds and left seokjin to ponder on his own with just five minutes before the beginning of the first shoot.

***

"great work, everyone," minah clapped and seokjin watched as her lips pulled up into an effortless smile. she's truly happy with everyone's hard work, what an angel. "you can all wrap up from here and head home, you worked hard!"

thank yous were heard from the staff as some of them began packing up, but seokjin stood behind the counter, his kimchi fried rice on the table. it was still warm and he had cooked a lot, so he gestured for some of the ladies to come over and taste some. "it's too much for me to take home, and food shouldn't be wasted," seokjin smiled, his eyes searching the set for minah.

"director park," the photographer grabbed his camera case, calling minah over. "the photos should be ready by the end of this week, but since we have a few more shoots, ill send them all over together, if that's okay with you?"

minah thought for a moment, before nodding, "yep, that's fine. thank you for your hard work." 

just as the photographer left, seokjin made his way towards minah. "you should come try some fried rice," he suggested, and minah nodded happily, trying to hide the little bubble of happiness that was forming in the pit of her stomach whenever she looked at her model.

seokjin led the way back to the middle of the set where a few staff members were already munching away at his delight. "director park," one of the ladies spoke with a mouthful of rice. "this is amazing, try some!" seokjin grabbed a small plate for minah and handed her two big spoonfuls of the food, waiting for her to taste it. a small lump grew in his throat, his mouth watering nervously as he waited for minah's reaction.

familiar. the first thing that came into minah's mind. this taste is too familiar. she was too busy trying to figure out where she had eaten the same kimchi fried rice that she didn't notice seokjin's facial expressions falling slowly. he began to think her taste buds were disgusted. "i–is there anything wrong?" he stuttered, only to have minah ignore his question. "minah-sshi?" she looked up at him quickly, swallowing the remnants of rice that were still in her mouth.

"a–ah, it's wonderful," she laughed. "sorry... i just feel like ive tasted this somewhere before." seokjin raised a brow, it's my personal recipe, how can anyone else know how to make it like this? "but it's really nice; you're a great cook, seokjin-sshi."

"please, call me jin."

"j–jin?" minah repeated, the sound of his name suddenly feeling very weird on her tongue. "are you sure?" seokjin nodded eagerly, offering more fried rice, but minah kindly declined, her mind wandering off to dinner time when her neighbour would set a fresh dish at her doorstep. "speaking of, what's the time?"

"it's... almost 6pm," seokjin answered, wondering why dinner time was such an important event for minah. every single day, he noticed her leaving for dinner, just before he would leave to feed his neighbour. "do you need to be somewhere?"

minah nodded shyly, taking one last spoon of the fried rice, before handing seokjin the plate. "ill get going now, have a good evening and see you tomorrow." she left in a hurry soon after, excitement filling her insides.

maybe it was about time she confronted her neighbour about the meals? "are you confident enough to do that, minah," she mumbled to herself. and then the idea came to her, like god himself coming down to aid her situation. as soon as minah took the driver's seat of her car, she rummaged through her folders for seokjin's résumé, and then rang his mobile number impatiently.

"hello? s–jin?"

"he- wait, minah-sshi?"

minah let out a nervous laugh, "im sorry if this caught you off guard, but i have a situation..."

half an hour later, seokjin was running across the parking lot with a bowl of freshly made bokkeumbap in his hand. minah watched her model, letting out a small giggle as he reached her car, panting for breath. "what was the rush? did something happen?" he questioned in between deep breaths. minah took the bowl off of seokjin and got into her car.

"ill explain later, but thank you so much for doing this for me, you're a lifesaver, jin." as hasty as her response was, seokjin didn't feel the need to ask anymore. he was happy that minah turned to him, of all people, for help.

minah drove at full speed towards her apartment building, worried that her neighbour might have placed her dinner a while ago, but once she jogged towards her apartment, there was nothing at her doorstep. maybe she's running a bit late? minah shrugged and unlocked her door, stepping inside and automatically placing the kimchi fried rice on her kitchen counter. the rice was warm and it smelt delicious, so before minah's mouth watered, she headed to her room to change

when her doorbell rang, minah took her time to reach the door. she was going to make up for it soon and she couldn't contain the excitement. waiting outside her door was a warm bowl of spicy fish stew. the scent was floating across the hallway, the strength of the spice making minah's taste buds itch. she took the dish tray in and happily sat on her couch, inhaling the sharp smell. she sipped some of the soup off of a spoon and immediately looked up in satisfaction. "wau," minah moaned as she savoured every bite of the stew. every single time she took a bite out of the meals she was gifted, her stomach would burst into fireworks, and that's when she came to the conclusion that although she may not have had time for a romantic relationship, she was definitely falling in love with her neighbour's cooking.