Chanyeol smiled up that the sky as he flounced down the stairs of his university, his suitcase bouncing behind him. Today was the first day of spring break and he was heading home to relax. Most of his friends are going overseas or partying all break, but he wasn't in to that. All he wanted to do was go home and eat his mom's exquisite kimchi.

Kimchi was a traditional Korean dish that was very common in their daily culinary. Many Koreans loved kimchi and couldn't eat a meal without it, but Chanyeol was different. He didn't just loved kimchi, he worshipped it. He loved the way it crunched between his teeth, the spices dancing their hot dance across his tongue, the was the juice flowed in his mouth. He dedicated himself to the sensual taste of the kimchi. 

He didn't discriminate and loved all kimchi, but his favorite was his mom's. His mom's kimchi was what got him started on his addiction to kimchi. When he was young, he would eat four pounds of kimchi a day. Many people eat kimchi as a side to their rice, but for him, the rice was the side to the kimchi. The thought of eating his mom's kimchi sent a shiver down his spine, and he shook a little as he waited for the bus to take him to the subway station.

The bus finally came and he got on it. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet by the time it stopped at the subway station. He boarded the subway and before he knew it, he was at the front of his house. 

He rung on the doorbell and called for his mom. After a while when his mom didn't come out, he frowned in confusion. He looked up the flowerpot on the side, and sure enough, the spare key was there. He letted himself in the house.

"Mom? I'm home. Are you home?" he called, throwing the spare key on the dining table. A note caught his eye. 

Chanyeol, I don't know when you're going to be home, but just in case, I'll leave this note. I'm going out to pick up some things for dinner. There are some fruits I've already cut for you in the fridge. You can snack on them if you're hungry. -xoxo Mom

He signed letting the note fall back on the table, and walked over to the fridge, opening it. He sighed again when he saw that there was no kimchi left. He was hungry, but he didn't want to tarnish his taste buds with pears and oranges before he ate the godly kimchi. Closing the fridge, he slumped into one of the chairs at the table and waited for his mom. His fatigue washed over him. He had dashed home from the station by foot in excitement. He set his head down on the cool surface and closed his eyes.

He was woken by the sound of the front door opening and his mom bustling into the kitchen. He groggily looked up and saw his mom struggling with the groceries.

"Hey there sweetie. Can you help me unload and put away the groceries so I can start preparing dinner. It's getting late."

Rubbing his eyes and yawning, he nodded, "Sure." he mumbled as he stretched out his long limbs.

He bustled through the bags and began putting away the groceries. Lettuce, radish, carrots, fish, beef, kimchi..... Wait. Kimchi?

"Mom, you bought kimchi?" he asked, "I was looking forward to your homemade kimchi."

His mom looked up from her end of the groceries, "What are you talking about sweetie?"

"This kimchi. Why did you buy it? I wanted to eat your homemade kimchi. I missed it in college."

His mom's face contorted in obvious confusion, "Chanyeol, you know I can't make kimchi. I've always bought it."

Chanyeol's mind went blank for a split second. Then it was flooded with questions.

What did she mean she didn't make kimchi? She didn't know how to make kimchi? Then that means my entire life, I've been worshipping the wrong kimchi maker. My entire life, it has been a lie. How could I have not noticed. Who made this kimchi? WHO MADE THIS KIMCHI? No. It can't be, my mom, she can't be a fraud.

"Chanyeol." his mom's voice broke through his train of thought, "Is there something wrong sweetie?"

"You're a fraud." he whispered.

"What sweetie?" 

He looked up and faced his mom, staring her down with angry eyes. 

"You are a fraud." he deadpanned.

His mom looked at him in confusion. "Sweetie, are you okay? You seem angry."

"Of course I'm angry!" he shouted, spit flying, "My entire life mom! My entire life, I thought you made this kimchi. It was the only real reason I loved you. What are you going to tell me next? That "Mom" isn't your real name? How can you do this to me? I thought you loved me!" 

He felt his eyes slowly filled with tears. Where did he go wrong? How could God be so cruel? He tried his best to be good. He looked up at the ceiling of his house. He closed his eyes and felt the tears fall down on the side of his face. 

Ah. he thought This is what they mean when they say bad things happen to good people. 

He slid down and collapsed on the floor, and laughed silently as his tears continued to fall. His mom looked over at him, concerned. How can she have the nerve to be concerned? She was the reason why he was like this in the first place. 

"Chanyeol, I don't know why you're so upset about this kimchi, but if it makes you feel better, I can tell you where I bought it so you can bring some to your dorm.”

He looked up, his vision blurred with tears. His mom was kneeling over him with obvious concern written all over her face.

Wait. There can still be hope. I can find the girl who made this kimchi and marry her. Then I can spend the rest of my life indulging in kimchi made by the kimchi goddess. 

He sniffled, “I…I would like that very much.”

His legs powered through the marketplace. In his hands, he gripped the piece of paper his mom gave him with the address of the shop where she bought her kimchi. Nervous with anticipation, his sweat had cause the paper to grow slightly damp. He was scared, scared this was just another lie, another false lead. He had already been hurt once, and he wasn’t sure if his heart can handle this much heartbreak and disappointment in one day. 

He laughed to himself. Some type of spring break this is he thought as he walked down the crowded outdoor market.

Finally he was standing in front of a little shop. He looked down at the piece of the paper and looked up at the store’s name, Byun’s Kimchi. He was in the right place.

He felt his heart sink to his feet. How can such good kimchi be made in such a shabby place. They should be making thousands of dollars on their kimchi. Did people have no taste? Maybe his mom gave him the wrong address.

He shook his head and tightened his grip on the small piece of paper, crushing it. There was no point standing out here. He went all his way to get here, might as well go inside. He in a deep breath and walked into the store.

“Excuse me?” he called, looking around the shop, “Is anyone here? I would like to buy some kimchi?”

The walls of the shop were lined with rows on rows of shelves, and each shelve was packed with jars of kimchi, varying in sizes. There wasn’t a lot of light entering the shop, and the kimchi looked murky and unappetizing. From the sight, Chanyeol felt his hopes rapidly disappearing. This probably wasn’t the right spot. He was never going to find the kimchi maker.

He started to turn around and leave when he heard a set of footsteps rushing down from upstairs. He turned back around to see a smaller boy skidding to a stop in front of the cash register. 

The boy flashed him a smile, “Sorry about that. There was a small accident upstairs with one of the jars and I was just cleaning it up.”

Chanyeol stared at the boy in surprised. When his brain finally caught up, he saw that the boy was very.. pretty. He had a very small face with soft features settled on milky white skin. His build was very small and delicate. He was a boy, but Chanyeol admired him more than any women he’s met in his life. 

“Oh.” he stammered and cleared his throat, “Ahem. I’m here to buy kimchi.”

The boy smiled, “Okay. How much would you like to buy?”

Chanyeol snapped himself back into focus. He was here to meet the maker of the delicious kimchi, not chat up pretty boys. 

“Before I buy the kimchi, can I have a taste?” he asked the boy, hardening his face again.

The boy’s smile didn’t falter, “That’s not a problem.” he chirped moving towards the shelf examining the kimchi. After a while, he went “ah” and reached for the kimchi on a high shelf. He wasn’t tall enough and turned sheepishly to Chanyeol.

“Can you help me get that jar?” he asked, scratching the back of head nervously. 

Channel looked at him, puzzled, “Can’t you just grab on of the jars on the lower shelves?”

“No. The jar I want is fermented perfectly as of today. The other jars aren’t ready to eat yet.

“They look done to me.”

They boy looked at him in shock. The shock faded away, and in its place was a look of annoyance. 

“Well, it’s not done. Some of them aren’t done fermented, and some of them the vegetables haven’t completed marinated in the juice and spices. So you can either stand there and try bland and flavorless vegetables, or you can help me and try kimchi.”

Chanyeol was shocked once again. He never met anyone, besides himself, who got so fired up about kimchi. He walked over and grabbed the jar of kimchi and set it over on the counter next to the cash register.

Baekhyun began unscrewing the lid, and when he removed it, Chanyeol was attacked with aroma of the kimchi. Oh, it was the perfect smell. The spiciness of the powdered chili, the distinct smell of the fermented vegetables, and the various seasonings that mingled together in harmony. Upon smelling it, a part of him began to fire up again in hope, he was, in fact, in the right place.

He watched as Baekhyun served some kimchi on a small palette for him. He handed it to him. Channel took it hesitantly, “Did you mom make his?” he asked quietly.

Baekhyun snorted, “My mom?” he laughed, “If she made the kimchi, we’ll go bankrupt. No, I make the kimchi.”

Channel almost dropped the kimchi from his chopsticks. This beautiful boy was the creator of the kimchi? He swallowed. It wasn’t that he was nervous about the kimchi goddess being the kimchi god, didn’t matter to him. His uality wasn’t important, he only cared about kimchi. His uality was probably kimchi and kimchi makers. No, he was nervous because he was probably face to face to his beloved idol from when he was younger. A title he thought belonged to his mom. He looked at the kimchi hanging on the end of his chopsticks, and slowly he brought it up to his mouth and took a bite.

The flavor came like a bomb. It exploded, and his taste buds couldn’t handle it anymore. This nostalgic taste, this was the taste he missed those long nights he spent studying, those stressful weeks of exams, and the harsh life of a college student. This was the taste that cheered him up after a hard day when he was younger. He felt himself tear up for the second time today. Tears from the nostalgia, and tears from the happiness he felt of finally finding the one he’s been looking for.

He looked down at Baekhyun was staring at him in awe. “Baekhyun…” he whispered, tears falling down his face, “I love you. My entire life, I’ve eaten this kimchi, I’ve fallen in love with the creator of this kimchi. At first I thought it was my mom, so I formed a platonic love for her, being my mom, but she was a fraud, and my love for her no longer exists. My love has no been transferred over to you, like money in a bank. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you will accept it”

Baekhyun blinked. He’s never been confessed to with such raw feelings. It incased him like the kimchi in a jar, He was the napa cabbage, and Chanyeol’s emotion flowed over him like the powdered chili and the seasoning, and he was absorbing it. He never met anyone so profoundly appreciative of kimchi before. His own mother who owned a kimchi shop, merely selected a random jar off the shelf instead of taking the time to pick the perfect one. 

He smiled up at the tall boy, and nodded, “I never met anyone who appreciated kimchi as much as you before Chanyeol and I have to say, it’s refreshing. I’ve always been treated as an outcast. The kids at school called me names and made fun of me for devoting my life to kimchi. How are you going to make money they asked. Kimchi was just a side dish at their home. My dream was to supply the best kimchi to all of Korea, and I never thought I’ll find someone who will support me, but looking at you, i think you might be the one to.”

Chanyeol nodded, “That sounds like a wonderful dream. You’re willing to share your kimchi with those who don’t appreciate its holy presence. You are ambitious and kind, and I would be lucky to have you.”

And thus, begins their spicy love.

Epilogue: Chanyeol and Baekhyun's love grew beyond kimchi, but they never forget their orgin. They had their first time in a kimchi making tub, but decided to never do that again because Chanyeol got to excited and the next morning, not only was Baekhyun's limbs sore from fitting in the stupid tub, but his burned because the stupid, lumbering giant decided he wanted to kimchi powder out of his . He didn't talk or make kimchi for Chanyeol for a full month after that and only agreed to after Chanyeol begrudgingly signed a contract stating he would never do that again.