Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

59 [live]

Mingi and Jongho take their focus to the area of the kitchen where Byul and San are currently in front of the stove, after her fourth attempt of trying to switch on the gas fails. She would put her hand on the knob, eyes trained on the burner but as she sees the spark, her hand is automatically retracted. She curls her fingers when she notices the others looking at her, anticipating that maybe, she could find the courage to let the fire burn for once.

"You don't have to do it if you still can't," San mentions. "We're not forcing you or anything."

"San," she manages, throwing a look back to Jongho and Mingi, who are giving her encouraging smiles and thumbs-up. She turns to look at San who looks placid; the events on the rooftop where Han Byul had revealed herself desperately buried back as he tried to get back on his own two feet. "We promised that we would somehow learn to cook together, and I wanted to do that before we don't get a chance. At least one edible dish."

San puts his palms together, then tightens the knot of his apron before nodding. "Right, we can do this. What about trying to cook some fried rice? We can use the leftover rice, and it's one simple dish where you can try to throw in every ingredient you can think of. The first step is to get on with the fire."

"You can do this, Byul!"

Mingi shakes his arms in the air, looking very supportive as his glasses slide down and he pushes it back up with his shoulder. Beside him, Jongho is more of a silent spectator, and he looks less believing in her effort to cook, but he stays there nonetheless. Both of them are allowing themselves to be the guinea pigs to taste her cooking, Mingi more willing while Jongho more reluctant. It seems the latter is starting to question his decision, as Byul couldn't even get past the stage to ignite the fire.

Putting her head down, she steps a little bit away from the stove, gesturing for San to come close to it. Without questioning it, he understands what she's asking him to do, so he twists the knob, hearing the familiar ticking as the sparks catch on fire.

Nodding with determination, based on the cooking video San showed her that she might or might not have repeated for a thousand times this morning, she picks up the non-stick frying pan first, throwing the utensil on top of the burner as the fire seems to be dancing to lick her skin. It falls with a clang, but surprisingly, it lands perfectly on the centre of the burner.

"Show-off," he teases, but there's a decreased enthusiasm behind it, as he's trying to draw the line between them. "That's a good improvement. Now next, the cooking oil."

He hands over the bottle of cooking oil to her, which almost slips out of his hand but she catches it, pouring in an amount that would clog their arteries. It seems that she's trying to kill them in the long-run, but he doesn't comment on it. She's only starting to gain her confidence; ignoring the fire but focusing more on what's on top of it. In fact, the fire might even be invisible to her now.

The ingredients are spread around on the kitchen counter, and in they go, the chucking of the first few uncertain, but it grows to become more confident as she throws in the rice. She cracks two eggs into the pan, beating them up with her spatula as they sizzle. She stirs the fried rice, making sure it doesn't spill out as the final amount of rice together with the rest of the ingredients rose to the rim of the pan. A few dashes of salt go in as San looks at the contents of the pan, amazement etched on his face. She plates them into three different ones, the last having the most as she wipes her brow. He goes to switch off the fire, and immediately takes up a spoon to taste it.

He stays quiet as he swallows, his expression unreadable as Mingi and Jongho approach them carefully. With anticipation he peeks at them, as they take a bite one by one. Like San, both of them remain speechless.