I was about to upload this for wenrene day but decided to do it now since it's still pretty long from date 15 and just consider this as an early gift from me. enjoy the story :)

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Seulgi gasped as she read the article of the food magazine that she just bought on her way to her working place. She can’t believe that it will happen now, especially when they just opened up the main door of the restaurant two years ago. And now, the most acclaimed food critic in the country will come to their place to taste their food.

“Where is Chef?” asked her a bit rushed as she opened the back door of the restaurant that connected immediately towards the kitchen with such force, like someone bad was trying to kidnap her and this is the only place to keep her safe.

“Did you just run all the way from the station to here?” asked Sooyoung as she stopped her activity of mopping the kitchen floor. Looking at Seulgi who was standing there in front of the door in such a messy appearance. Her baby hair flew everywhere, alongside her quick breath that was caused by the excessive running. And also, a food magazine that she rolled on her hand.

Seulgi spotted the tall woman who was still holding her mop, and didn't care if she was going to be mad at her because she just stepped on the fresh cleaned floor to reach Sooyoung’s place. “Tell me if I didn’t misread the headline of the article.”

Sooyoung raised her eyebrow. “What article did you talk about?”

“Here!” stated Seulgi as she hastily opened up the folded magazine and showed her the article that makes her panicked like this.

Sooyoung furrowed her eyebrows as she read the article carefully. A gasp escaped from as she finished reading the headline and the first paragraph of the article. “Is this for real?”

“This food magazine is the bible of food in here, Sooyoung. Lots of people follow this magazine just to find a gem in the middle of the nation. And this,” pointed out Seulgi, stopping for a while because she needs to take a breath, “is serious.”

“But we are not even that long of existence yet,” muttered Sooyoung in disbelief.

Seulgi nodded hesitantly in her movement. “I know. That’s why I’m running all the way from the station to here because this is a big deal.”

Sooyoung looked at the huffing woman with a focused gaze as her mind was racked with tons of possibilities that could happen. She shoved the magazine back to Seulgi rather harshly as the grip on the mop tightens. “You go tell Chef about it. I still need to clean this up and taking care some things up my sleeves. And where is that damned Kim Yerim?! This was supposed to be her job and she was nowhere in sight and Chef ended up assigning me to do this !”

The slightly smaller woman gulped at her wrath as she slowly took her steps away from the long-haired woman who was still throwing curse at their saucier who was still not inside the box room filled with utilities to cook food, going towards the Chef’s working room right beside the main kitchen.

Seulgi took a deep breath before she planted her knuckles on top of the wooden door, knocking it three times softly. Afraid if she was disturbing the Chef inside.

“Come in.”

“Hi, Chef. I’m not disturbing you, right?” asked Seulgi as she peeked inside Chef’s room, trying to see if she was indeed disturbing or not.

The Chef sent her a small smile. “No, Seulgi. You are not disturbing. I’m just checking my emails like usual.”

The maître d’ hotel of the restaurant let out a soft sigh as she stepped inside the room, carefully shutting the door before making her way towards her desk. “So, I looked at this magazine on my way here, and I found this.”

“La Rouge magazine. The so-called holy bible of anything related with food,” muttered Chef as she held the magazine Seulgi just gave her. The raven just nodded slightly as she opened the pages of the magazine. “Now what is it that you want to show me?”

“Here, Chef,” said Seulgi as she leaned forward to help her reach the page that she intended to show her to. “This one.”

The brunette frowned as she read the headline of the article. “Kingdom Come, the most overrated new restaurant of the year. Huh, that’s funny.”

“I think you should read the first paragraph of the article too, Chef.”

“Bae Joohyun, the nation’s most acclaimed food critic, has made a quite controversial statement that has caused a stir in the culinary world. Kingdom Come, the three Michelin star restaurant that is owned by the nation’s food gastronomy prodigy Son Seungwan, has been said by her to take the title of the most overrated new restaurant this year,” muttered Seungwan as she read the article out loud with her raised eyebrow. “Huh. So?”

Seulgi blinked in disbelief. “So? Chef, that statement alone can ruin the reputation that we have held for ages!”

“Seulgi, we just opened Kingdom Come two years ago. It’s not that long.”

“But still!” groaned Seulgi out of frustration. “I think she declares a war with us. I mean, no offense to her but she never stepped her foot inside Kingdom Come at all and she dares to say that statement?”

“Yeah, she said it. But she also said that she will come here this month. Here. Take a look at this,” pointed Seungwan as she put her finger on top of a certain part of the article. It is said that Bae Joohyun will finally pay a visit to the restaurant to prove her controversial statement this month, but didn’t say when.

Seulgi frowned, completely forgetting that part of the article. “Then she can come here anytime?”

Seungwan nodded. “She can come here anytime. And it’s a good game play of her, actually. Showing up just like that unannounced when she already makes that statement.”

“It is a declaration of war then,” said Seulgi firmly. “What are you going to do, Chef?”

“Honestly, nothing,” sighed Seungwan easily as she gave her the magazine back.

The woman in front of her blinked, looking at her blankly as her mind trying to come up with something. “You are going to do what?”

“Nothing,” shrugged Seungwan. “Just let her come here and taste our food, that’s all.”

Seulgi, still looking at her blankly, didn’t believe the words she just said to her. “That’s it? No planning at all?”

“Why should I?”

“She is the most important food critic here. One single comment from her alone could sink our restaurant into a bottomless ocean.”

Seungwan nodded understandingly, knowing clearly the reason why the woman in front of her acted like this. “Say, Seulgi. Do you trust me?”

Seulgi quickly nods to answer that question. “Of course I am, Chef!”

“Then you trust me for this matter, right?”

“I suppose,” muttered Seulgi softly, feeling a little bit unsure.

Seungwan smiled from the answer. “Just tell me when she finally stepped inside the dining hall. I assume you can do that, Seulgi?”

“Yes, Chef!”

“Great,” grinned Seungwan. “Now, let’s start our usual morning meeting.”

---

“Order for Table 2! One scallop and one chicken! Order for Table 4! One beef and two kimchi pancakes!”

“Yes, Chef!”

“Jaehyun! How long for the scallop?”

“Three minutes, Chef!” stated Jaehyun as he switched his gaze from the halibut that he currently cooks to the new empty pan that was about to be filled with a bunch of scallops.

Seungwan hummed as she wrote the number three beside the scallop order. “Doyoung! How long for the chicken?”

“Uh, seven minutes, Chef!”

“That can’t do,” muttered Seungwan as she raised her gaze from the receipt towards Jaehyun who was about to put the scallop on top of the pan. “Jaehyun! Focus on finishing the halibut first! After that, you can cook the scallop.”

“Yes, Chef!” nodded Jaehyun as he put back the scallop to the steel plate and focused back towards his cooking halibut.

“Momo! How long for the beef?”

“Four minutes, Chef!” answered Momo as she put the beef on top of the sizzling pan with a melted butter.

Seungwan nodded as she wrote the number four beside the beef. “Yerim! Where is the sauce for the lobster?”

“Right behind you, Chef!” yelled Yerim as the woman swiftly moved in-between the other chefs while bringing a hot pan filled with a thick, brown sauce. “Here you go, Chef,” announced her as she put the pan right beside Seungwan.

The brunette swiftly takes the spoon at her right side and dip it inside the brown sauce, tasting it to make sure that liquid filled with savoury didn’t lack perfection. “Good job. Now go make the kimchi pancake. Don’t forget it’s two.”

“Yes, Chef,” nodded Yerim as she went back to her station, preparing to cook two kimchi pancakes.

“Sooyoung, add this sauce to the lobster. I’m going to garnish the halibut,” ordered Seungwan as she passed the hot pan filled with sauce towards her sous chef who was still taking care of the plating of the lobster.

“Yes, Chef,” said Sooyoung, receiving the hot pan and pouring the sauce meticulously around the lobster.

Seungwan hit the bell after all the plating was done. “One lobster and one halibut for Table 1,” ordered her as she gave the two plates towards the waiting server.

The server, with a trained grace, swiftly brings the food out from the hellish and messy kitchen towards the elegant dining hall of Kingdom Come. The hall was filled with upper-middle class people who can’t wait to finally get the taste of what three Michelin star dishes tasted like.

They all dressed formally, like they were about to attend the most important ball their nation could possibly hold off. Sipping the red and white liquid of the finest wine the restaurant had, coming straight from every beautiful country that could produce exquisite wine in their land.

“Hello. I’m Kang Seulgi, maître d’ hotel of Kingdom Come, and I will serve you personally the food that you ordered earlier,” stated Seulgi while flashing her professional smile towards the customer at Table 1. “In here, you have a beautiful lobster tail confit cooked in garlic butter and topped with parsley and parmesan au gratin and our special demi-glace sauce. And this is a beautiful pan-seared halibut served with petals of potato and asparagus dressing. I hope you enjoy our food.”

Seulgi gave them her last bow after finishing explaining the food to them, when she spotted someone that she dreaded for the whole month to show up at the main door of Kingdom Come. Walking so gracefully like a devil finally arrived back at Hell to sit at their throne.

The dining hall that was filled with sounds of clanking utensils and people conversing about everything that somehow made them bothered with it, suddenly going silent as their focus changed to the person who just arrived at the glorious restaurant of Kingdom Come.

The notorious, food pioneer, most acclaimed food critic in the whole nation. Bae Joohyun.

Seulgi can feel her jaw slacken. Can’t believe that the number one, most important person in the food universe has finally stepped their foot down on this restaurant. After two years of hard work and building reputation, one of the most awaited customers has finally arrived.

The maître d’ hotel decided to take a deep breath, trying to calm herself and erase all the nerves inside before greeting the great Bae Joohyun a warm welcome. She prepared her professional smile once again as she walked towards the food critic who was already seated at her table after being escorted by one of the servers.

“Good evening, Ms Bae,” bowed Seulgi politely as she opened the mini card filled with the menu list of the night, giving it to the long-haired woman. “Welcome to Kingdom Come. You can see the menu list that we serve tonight in this card-“

“I assume you are the maître d’ hotel of this restaurant.”

Seulgi blinked, and didn't expect that Joohyun would cut her sentence just like that. “Um, yes. I am the maître d’ hotel of Kingdom Come. Kang Seulgi.”

Joohyun nodded as she gave the menu card back to her. “Tell Chef Son that I want a full-course meal that is prepared by her personally. It would be an exquisite act of her if she decided to didn’t use tonight’s menu at all to serve me the food. But if she can’t, then I’m fine with it.”

Her cat-like eyes just keep blinking, still didn’t expect that Joohyun will just straight up do that infamous move of her to the restaurant. A surprise order. She let out a soft cough, trying to get back her composure of professionality before finalising the order. “Okay, Ms Bae. I will tell Chef Son about your order. Anything else?”

“Yes, actually.” Joohyun sent her a tight-lipped smile, making chills running through the back of the poor maître d’ hotel as she needed to look at it with her own eyes and deal with it alone. “No alcohol for tonight. Thank you.”

Seulgi bowed out of politeness to the customer before she took her leave and went to the kitchen to give the food critic’s order.

“Oh, Seulgi,” muttered Seungwan as she noticed the person who just walked inside the kitchen, failed to see the pensive expression that she currently wore on her face. “I need to you to bring this to-“

“She’s here.”

Seungwan frowned, and didn't understand what she just meant with her sentence. “Who’s here?”

“She’s here, Chef,” gulped Seulgi nervously. “Bae Joohyun is here.”

All the chefs inside the kitchen gasped loudly, stopping their cooking activity when they heard the sentence coming out from Seulgi’s mouth. The loud noise of the kitchen that usually came from utensils and cooking sounds instantly changed into a hushed tone and panic voices of the chefs.

And that act irked Seungwan to the most.

“If all of you still do not continue to cook, I swear to God this will be your last time stepping inside this damn kitchen! Understand?!”

“Yes, Chef!” answered all of them hurriedly as they continued their activity of cooking.

The executive chef stays silent, signalling her to continue.

“She ordered whatever cuisine you want to serve her tonight. Outside tonight's menu will be great, but she is still okay if you decided to give her cuisine from tonight’s menu. And, she doesn’t want any alcohol tonight.”

Seungwan raised her eyebrow. “Doesn’t want any alcohol tonight? That’s new.”

“What are you planning to do, Chef?” asked Sooyoung, still doing her plating of their beef cuisine.

“Tell Ms Bae that she needs to wait for some time if she wants me to cook her cuisine. I need to finish the rest of the orders first before I make her a plate of her dinner.”

“Yes, Chef,” nodded Seulgi, didn’t questioning her decision as her legs swiftly brought her back to the dining hall.

“Sooyoung, Yerim, Chaeyoung, come here. Doyoung, take care of the things that Yerim left and Jaehyun, help with the plating.”

“Yes, Chef,” answered both of them as they quickly changed their station, while the other two chefs joined Sooyoung to stand right in front of the executive chef.

“Yerim, do you remember the spicy rice cakes that I told you about last week?”

Yerim frowned. “The deconstructed spicy rice cakes?”

Seungwan nodded. “We are going to make that. You do still remember the step by step of it right?”

“I guess,” shrugged Yerim.

“Yerim,” sighed Seungwan.

The saucier rolled her eyes. “Yes, Chef. I still remember.”

“Thank God. I want you to take care of the sauce and the rice cakes while I’m taking care of the fish cakes and the rest.”

“Noted.”

“And Sooyoung, I want a pan-seared wagyu beef with fried string potato underneath and also another bunch of small vegetables, and a mushroom sauce.”

“The Day at the Farm? Are you sure, Chef?”

“Yes?” said Seungwan as she raised her eyebrow. “Why? Is there something wrong?”

Sooyoung shrugged. “I thought you were going to give her our chicken dish.”

“She doesn’t like chicken.”

A frown bloomed on the sous chef’s forehead. “How do you know about that?”

Seungwan raised her eyebrow. “Have you seen her giving a good review for chicken-base cuisine?”

Sooyoung shook her head.

“Exactly. That’s why we are doing the beef dish.”

“Whatever you said, Chef,” muttered Sooyoung while rolling her eyes. “What should I do?”

“Prepare the potato and the vegetables. I will take care of the wagyu and the sauce myself.”

“Yes, Chef.”

“And Chaeyoung?”

“Yes, Chef?” asked the pâtissier with her sweet voice and wondering eyes to Seungwan.

The executive chef flashed her a wide smile. “Bake the carrot cake tonight.”

“The new recipe of carrot cake that you gave to me a couple days ago, Chef?”

“Yup, that one.”

“Okie dokie, Chef!” exclaimed Chaeyoung happily. “You will take care of the cream cheese frosting, right Chef?”

Seungwan laughed. “Yes, I will take care of the frosting myself. Now, let’s do this!”

“Yes, Chef!”

---

Her doe eyes moved to examine the elegant dining hall that was still filled with a bunch of people who were currently sipping their fine wine from the glass slowly. Talking about several things that just happened that day, trying to catch up with one another when their soul was being drowned with the calm ambience that Kingdom Come served.

Joohyun clicked her pen, jolting something down inside her note after she finished examining the hall. The act that makes Seulgi bit her bottom lip nervously now, wondering what the Bae Joohyun just wrote inside her note.

She looked towards the dark aisle that was linking the dining hall with the kitchen, trying to see if there was any server who just left the kitchen when she spotted Johnny bringing another plate filled with extravagant, crafted cuisine of Chef Son towards their customer.

“Psst, Johnny!” half-whispered Seulgi.

“Yes, Ms Kang?” asked Johnny politely, stopping his steps to talk with Seulgi who was standing right at the end of the aisle.

“Did the Chef already finish cooking the dishes for Ms Bae?”

Johnny shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t know. I see Chef still plating another dish with Jaehyun earlier. I haven't see Chef cooking or doing anything yet.”

Seulgi sighed nervously. “I will check the things inside. You go give the customer their food.”

“Yes, Ms Kang,” nodded Johnny as he swiftly sauntered towards one of the tables the food was assigned at. Seulgi quickly makes her way towards another end of the slightly dark aisle, wanting to see the condition of the kitchen herself.

She spotted Seungwan still doing the plating for another dish. Her panic quickly jumped up because of that. “Hi, Chef.”

Seungwan looked up slightly, before focusing again on the plate beneath her. “No, Seulgi. I haven’t cooked the food yet.”

Seulgi let out a groan. “Chef, are you really sure to make her wait? She just wrote something that I didn’t know inside her note and it drives me crazy because I don’t know what she just wrote!”

 The executive chef just hummed from her worrying and panicked act. “Did you give her anything to kill some time?”

“Yeah. I told Taeil to make her some hot tea.”

“The bartender?” chuckled Seungwan in fascination as her eyes kept focusing on the beef. “You told a bartender to make a hot tea?”

“Hey! Don’t underestimate Taeil’s capability of brewing the best tea you have ever tasted in your life!” huffed Seulgi in annoyance. “Well, beside mixing a great cocktail too.”

“Whatever you say, Seulgi,” snickered Seungwan softly. “Yerim, are you done with the spicy rice cakes yet?”

“One more minute, Chef!” yelled Yerim.

“Just in time,” sighed Seungwan as she wiped her hands with the crumpled cloth on top of the desk. “Jaehyun, take care of the rest of the plating, can you? It’s just two more dishes left for you to plate.”

Jaehyun nodded as he slightly looked up to lock his gaze at Seungwan. “Yes, Chef.”

“Great,” muttered Seungwan as she pushed the plate that she just finished doing a plating earlier to Seulgi. “Bring this to Table 10. After that, quickly come back here to serve Ms Bae her food.”

“Yes, Chef!” answered Seulgi as she took the plate and swiftly left the kitchen to serve it.

Seungwan cracked her fingers, releasing the nerves out from her body as her lips creeped up to make a smirk. “Let’s do this.”

---

“Good evening, Ms Bae,” bowed Seulgi as she put the first plate to her table. “Here’s the appetiser for the night. The deconstructed spicy rice cakes with a baked egg sheet and fish cake tuile.”

“A fish cake tuile,” muttered Joohyun softly as she examined the plate of her appetiser. “That’s interesting. And also the fact that a three Michelin star restaurant serving a street stall food, deconstructed even, is quite a bold move.”

Seulgi smiled. “Chef Son does have an interest in twisting up that kind of food, Ms Bae.”

“Using her gastronomy skills to change a comfort food into a modern food,” snorted Joohyun as she took a fork and a knife to start eating the appetiser.

“Enjoy your dinner, Ms Bae,” bowed Seulgi as she was about to go back to the kitchen, waiting for the main dish to be done. “I will come back with your main dish soon.”

Joohyun ignored her bid, still focusing her gaze on the plate beneath her. Seulgi just sent her an awkward smile before dashing herself away in a graceful way back to the kitchen.

“Sooyoung, have you marinated beef yet?” asked Seungwan as she positioned the fresh cut raw potato into a form of a bird nest.

“Yes, Chef,” answered Sooyoung as she shows her the bowl of wagyu beef being drowned inside a special marinate liquid that she came up with earlier. “Should I make the sauce now, Chef?”

Seungwan shook her head. “I will do it later. In the meantime, fry this potato and keep the form exactly the same.”

“Yes, Chef.”

“Chaeyoung! How is the carrot cake?”

“I already inserted the batch into the oven, Chef!” screamed Chaeyoung from the baking area of the kitchen.

“Great,” smiled Seungwan. “Now it’s time for me to craft the vegetables.”

Thirty minutes later, Seulgi came out from the kitchen while bringing a plate of main dish for Joohyun. She put the plate on top of the table carefully as she was about to begin the explanation about the food.

“In front of you there is ‘The Day at the Farm’. A pan-seared soybean paste marinated wagyu beef that has been injected with a soy sauce, served on top of a fried potato bird nest with flavoured cherry tomatoes, asparagus and green beans puree with mushroom sauce.”

“Flavoured cherry tomatoes?” voiced out Joohyun as she picks up the delicate cherry tomato with her fork. “Using the liquid olive concept that El Bulli came up with. Pretentious.”

Seulgi bowed again before she left her table. Didn’t forget to ask Taeil to ask her to refill her tea as she passed the bartender’s counter.

“Sooyoung! Where is the mixer?”

“Right here, Chef.”

“Put it here,” stated Seungwan as she pointed to the desk in front of her that was already filled with a block of cream cheese, vanilla essence, and rose water.

“Rose water?” wondered Sooyoung, scanning the ingredients on top of the table. “Are you going to add the rose water into the frosting?”

“Yes,” muttered Seungwan, starting the mixer to loosen the firm cream cheese into a thick liquid. “I’m using it to be the main aroma of the frosting. While I use the vanilla for the flavour, and maybe a slight hint for the aroma.”

“That’s new,” uttered Sooyoung softly. “Do you need another help, Chef?”

“Yes, actually. Can you cut the carrot cake into the size of a coin?”

Sooyoung frowned at the choice of the cake size. “Um, yeah. Sure.”

“And please, Sooyoung, do it tidily.”

“Yes, Chef.”

Seulgi came out from the kitchen with the last plate, swiftly putting it on top of the table with such grace to not ruin the form of the cake. “Here you go, Ms Bae. The dessert for tonight, carrot cake.”

Joohyun raised her eyebrow as she inspected the plate in front of her. “Carrot cake? For real?”

The carrot cake was cut into a small size, stacked with the special cream cheese frosting in-between as the stick in the middle supporting the stance of the cake so it will be rigid and not wavering. Like a lollipop made from carrot cake.

“No special techniques were used in this cake.”

Seulgi bowed. “Enjoy your dessert, Ms Bae. I will be back soon.”

“How was it?” asked Seungwan immediately once the maître d’ hotel came back from the dining hall.

“She’s currently tasting it now,” sighed Seulgi. “Are you seriously just giving her a carrot cake as a dessert, Chef?”

A frown shows up on Seungwan’s forehead. “Why? It’s not wrong to make a carrot cake.”

“I mean, isn’t it too simple for someone like her?”

Seungwan smiled. “There is no food that is too simple for someone. Believe me when I said this, Seulgi.”

“I guess,” shrugged Seulgi softly.

Johnny suddenly barges inside the restaurant looking a bit rushed by how he just opened the kitchen door. “Ms Bae wants to see the Chef now.”

Seungwan blinked. “Well, that was pretty fast,” muttered her as she prepared herself to meet the food critic at the dining hall. “Let’s go, Seulgi.”

“Yes, Chef.”

The two important people of the restaurant stepped out from the kitchen, going to the table that was occupied by someone who is sitting alone and currently sipping on her hot tea. Looking at the two walking figures with indescribable gaze.

Seulgi bowed again. “Ms Bae, this is Chef Son Seungwan, the one who cooked your-“

“Cut the slack, just get to the point,” cut Joohyun rather harshly. “I wish to be left alone with Ms Son right here.”

Seulgi’s jaw goes slack, she didn't believe what she just heard or what was just happening in front of her. Seungwan chuckled at that sight. “Go back to the kitchen, Seulgi. I will catch up soon.”

“Ah, yes Chef,” muttered Seulgi softly, still didn’t believe what just happened. She bowed to Joohyun for the last time unconsciously before coming back to the kitchen.

Her doe eyes locked with her dark brown ones. Didn’t move anywhere as they just kept looking at each other with no intention to start the conversation. Joohyun decided to break the gaze as she looked down to her note, seeing what she had written earlier. “That’s quite the pretentious dish you just gave to me, Chef Son.”

Seungwan shrugged. “I just did what I usually did every day.”

Joohyun raised her eyebrow. “The first dish. That’s quite brave for you to make it like that.”

“The food is still the same. The concept of serving it that I choose to twist and play with it a bit.”

“Which is why I told you that it is a quite brave act to do that to a comfort food, especially to the most familiar one.”

“One can imagine whatever they want to do with food, right?” smiled Seungwan.

Joohyun just sent her an unreadable look. “The main dish. The cherry tomatoes.”

Seungwan made a wide grin. “Did you like it?”

“That’s quite pretentious to do the technique that was made by El Bulli in the past.”

“I was just trying to expand what a tomato can do. And that technique helped me to reach my goal.”

Joohyun immediately jolted down something inside her notes. “And the dessert. After what you gave me for the appetiser and the entrée, I’m quite expecting an extravagant dish to close my night. Turns out, it’s just a humble carrot cake.”

“Because sometimes, humble things can be something extravagant to close the night, Ms Bae,” said Seungwan softly, still with her soft smile.

Joohyun just looked at her after she was done saying it, like she was contemplating what more to say to the woman in front of her before standing up to bid her goodbye. “Thank you for the meal,” muttered the food critic softly, turning around as she left Kingdom Come dining hall immediately.

Seungwan sent her a last smile, looking at her figure gone inside the darkness of the night street before doing the same thing too as she went back towards the kitchen at a light-hearted pace.

“How was it, Chef?” asked Seulgi once the executive chef came back to the kitchen that was currently filled with thick tension.

A soft frown was formed on her forehead, and didn't expect this kind of tension to welcome her back. She quickly erased it off as she found Sooyoung with her dark brown orbs. “Sooyoung, bring out a couple Sauvignon blanc that we have inside the chiller.”

“Yes, Chef,” answered Sooyoung with an unsure glazed her tone.

“Yerim, Doyoung, go get the glass.”

“Yes, Chef.”

Seulgi frowned. “Chef, what are you doing?”

Seungwan smiled reassuringly at her maître d’ hotel, trying to calm her down. “Celebrating tonight, of course. I think we at least deserve that.”

“But what about Ms Bae?”

“I don’t know,” confessed Seungwan honestly as she accepted the wine glass from Yerim. “We can only know about it once La Rouge released her article. But now, let’s just celebrate tonight.”

The bottles of the finest Sauvignon blanc get passed through the kitchen as each personnel of the restaurant poured themselves a decent amount of white wine into their glass. Small smile plastered on their face, getting giddy with the night’s celebration that rarely happened in the kitchen.

“Attention everyone!”

All the people inside the big kitchen stopped their conversations and focused their gaze on the executive chef who was standing right at the front part of the kitchen. She raised her glass a bit higher before speaking up with her speech.

“Tonight is one of the nights that we rarely experience. An important person in the culinary world pays a visit to Kingdom Come to taste our dishes. We won’t know what she thought about our food until the article was released which is probably next week.”

The kitchen was as silent as it could be. No one dared to speak up nor make a noise once Seungwan was doing her usual speech. Especially now, when they rarely get their night speech.

“But, it’s not what I’m going to talk about. All of you did really well with tonight’s serving. And I am so happy that all of you can help each other with such perfection and still nail it as best as ever, even though you need to switch to another region of cooking that you haven’t got assigned to. And I’m so proud of all of you because of it. That’s why we are going to celebrate tonight with a glass of white wine. Good job everyone! Cheers for all of us!”

“Yes, Chef!” yelled all the personnel as they raised their glass immediately, clinking against one another before putting the rim of the cold glass into their mouth. Tasting the smooth taste of white wine, cascading slowly on their throat.

The brunette flashed her small smile from the act of her cooking crew, before covering it with the wine glass and basking herself in the feel of alcohol.

---

Seungwan touched the lock button tiredly, pressing a bunch of password numbers before managing to unlock the door of her penthouse. “I’m home,” answered her in a tired voice, followed by a sound of an automatically locking door.

“Welcome home,” the reply coming from the other end makes a smile bloom on her face. After she put her specially modified shoes inside the shoe rack, she was greeted with the sight of her gorgeous wife who was ready to welcome her with a tight, big hug. “How’s your day?” asked her as she engulfs her inside her arms.

“Pretty amazing actually,” answered Seungwan still with a smile plastered on her face. The gap between their faces is too close even the tip of their noses touching each other softly. “An important person came to my restaurant today.”

Her wife raised her eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Who?”

“The most acclaimed food critic in this nation. Do you know who?”

The woman in front of her frowned playfully. Trying to come up with a name. “I don’t think I know. Did they say something about your food, Chef Son?”

“It’s a she, and no, she didn’t say anything about my food, that’s why I’m about to ask her now.” Seungwan grinned widely, circling her arms on her wife’s waist comfortably as she did the same thing on her neck, keeping their gap close with each other. “What do you think about my food, Ms Bae Joohyun?”

Joohyun let out a loud laugh from her silly question. “Magnificent, as always,” answered her as she leaned forward to capture her lips into a soft kiss.

“I’m glad you like it,” whispered Seungwan softly before capturing her lips again, feeling too addicted with the beautifully crafted lips of her wife.

The long-haired woman frowned after the kiss. “Did you just drink wine earlier?”

Seungwan let out a wince. “Yeah. I held this small party for the crew after tonight’s serving. That’s why I’m coming home late. I’m sorry.”

“On what occasion? Having me as a guest?”

A loud laugh slipped out from the brunette’s throat. “Much more like they can handle several things that weren't, in particular, their field. I am already planning to do that to them if you really come to Kingdom Come.”

“You are such a wicked executive chef,” protested Joohyun playfully. “Should I write it in my review that you are so sly and manipulative towards your subordinates?”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad,” chuckled Seungwan as they walked inside. “I just want to test their capabilities in case something happens in the future.”

“Yeah, right,” snickered Joohyun. “It’s a good Sauvignon blanc, by the way.”

Seungwan just laughed from her answer. As expected from the nation’s greatest food critic.

“And the choice of the food? Seriously? Spicy rice cakes and carrot cake? My favourite?”

“Why? You love it, right?”

“Of course I am,” sighed Joohyun lightly. “I just didn’t expect you to cook that.”

Seungwan smiled. “It’s a surprise from me to you, then.”

Joohyun chuckled softly from the answer. Her wife and her addiction to give her surprises. “I just finished making dinner earlier. Are you hungry?”

Thank God Seungwan refused the invite of eating together with the crew after the small party in a barbecue restaurant owned by Sooyoung’s friend as she flashed her wife a wide smile. “I’m starving.”

Joohyun smiled from the sight. “It might not be as extravagant as your dish, but I tried.”

Seungwan let out another laugh from the tease, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for cooking for me,” she whispered as she seated herself on the seat, looking at the dinner that had already been served on the table.

“So, how is their reaction to me coming to Kingdom Come?” asked Joohyun as she watched her wife eating her food with such gusto lovingly.

“Incredible,” answered Seungwan after she swallowed her food. “Seulgi once showed me the article in La Rouge that was typing about your statement of Kingdom Come as the most overrated new restaurant of the year. She started to panic that your statement will stain our reputation.”

“And? What about your response?”

“Me?” asked Seungwan as Joohyun nodded to confirm her question. “Well, I’m not really care about that. But, knowing my wife coming to my restaurant for the first time is such a big event for me, you know?”

“The second time I came there,” scoffed Joohyun as she took Seungwan’s food a bit using her fingers. “I already came once when your restaurant just finished the building of it, remember? You even cooked for me.”

“I mean publicly, sweetheart,” fixed Seungwan, sending her a wink making her wife gagged playfully from that action. The brunette just let out a soft laugh from that reaction. “And yeah, I’m the only one who were calm throughout the night, I think. Even all the chefs in the kitchen stopped their cooking when Seulgi announced about your arrival.”

Joohyun smiled softly from Seungwan’s grumble. She always didn’t like her chefs slacking off during the serving. Their dishes are the kind of dish that need their utmost attention to be crafted beautifully and tasted fabulous. “I think I know now why Michelin immediately gave you three stars at your first year of opening.”

“Oh yeah?” blinked Seungwan, a bit incoherent since she was still chewing her food. “Why?”

“It’s your making. That’s all.”

Seungwan scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

“I mean it!” defended Joohyun. “You, who learned literally from the maestro of the culinary world, deserve that achievement. Should I even list who you learned from after all those excruciating years?”

“Alright, alright. I understand, geez,” muttered Seungwan softly, feeling shy if she was really about to start listing her past mentors.

Joohyun smiled widely. “Chef Son Seungwan, the owner of three Michelin stars. Sounds really beautiful.”

“Yeah, right,” snickered the brunette shyly as she stood up from her seat while bringing the dirty plates with her. Avoiding this kind of topic because she always felt modest with her own capabilities. And her wife found her own joy whenever she tried to bring that topic up, trying to using it. She was rinsing the plates when a question came up inside her mind. “I was wondering something actually.”

“What is it?” asked Joohyun who already stood right by her side. Helping her to dry the freshly washed plates.

Seungwan looked at her wonderingly. “Why did you refuse to have alcohol earlier? I mean, you always love to have them.”

Joohyun bit her bottom lip nervously, making her wife frown in confusion. “Yeah, about that.”

“Why? Is there something wrong?” asked Seungwan with worry in her tone.

The raven chuckled. “Well, if you counted this as that-“

“Hyun, please tell me, sweetheart,” cut Seungwan, her tone already glazed with fear.

“Well,” sighed Joohyun nervously. “You do remember the program from months ago, right?”

“Yeah,” answered Seungwan, this time with confusion. “What about it?”

Joohyun smiled shyly. “Maybe we made it with the program.”

Seungwan blinked. Didn’t understand what Joohyun just said to her. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand-“

“I’m pregnant, Seungwan,” cut Joohyun giddily. “The program is a success.”

Her declaration got answered with silence. Seungwan looked at her with wide eyes, was gaping from something she had no idea. She kind of expected this reaction coming from the woman in front of her by how she loved to overreact.

“We will have our own baby, Seungwan,” said Joohyun softly once again, taking Seungwan’s wet palm and putting it on top of her soon-to-be growing belly. “You and me.”

Seungwan eyed her palm that was on top of her belly. Still didn’t say anything.

Joohyun started to frown from worry because of that, afraid if this news was too shocking for her to handle. “Seungwan? Are you-“

“The program,” breathed out Seungwan suddenly, gulping whatever blocking before continuing her sentence, “is a success.”

“Yes, it is,” nodded Joohyun excitedly as Seungwan walked closer to her.

“You are pregnant.”

“I am.”

“Our baby.”

Joohyun let out a loud laugh before she nodded again. This time happy tears cascading down from her eyes. “Yes, Seungwan. It’s our baby.”

“Wow,” gasped Seungwan in disbelief. Slowly, a smile started to bloom on her lips. “Wow. Oh my God, wow!”

The raven laughed from her action as her wife kneeled in front of her, levelling her eyes with her belly.

“Hi, tiny bean,” whispered Seungwan lovingly. She can feel Joohyun’s fingers lacing themselves against her short hair, it softly. “This is Mom—wait, I still don’t know whom I should be called with. Me and your other mother haven’t decided that yet.”

Joohyun laughed again from Seungwan’s dumb sentence, still looking at her lovingly.

“Thanks for coming into our world. You have no idea how much happiness you brought to us,” muttered Seungwan as she the belly softly, trying to have contact with her baby. “Please protect your mother when I’m not right beside her because of my work, okay? I’m trusting you for this. I love you, tiny bean.”

Seungwan leaned forward, kissing her belly softly. Wanting to express her love to their future child in the most possible way. The brunette stood up, kissing the lips of her wife this time. Saying thousands unsaid words that lingers between them. Erasing the tears that wet her cheeks using her thumbs softly, cradling her face gently with her warm palms.

“Thank you,” whispered Seungwan, pecking the lips softly before continuing. Circling her arms naturally on her waist like it was meant to be there. “Thank you so much, Joohyun. God, really, thank you so much.”

Joohyun giggled from her words as she leaned forward to capture her lips in a longer kiss this time. “I love you, Seungwan.”

“Love you more, sweetheart.”

The raven kissed her lips once again, and didn't want to stop from the act. “Should we announce this news to your co-workers the same time I’m finally being announced as your wife?”

Seungwan smiled from the suggestion. “Let’s do it after your article is released. How about that?”

“Deal,” whispered Joohyun, sealing their agreement with another kiss. “Why are you keeping me from them for two years, by the way?” asked her once they broke from their kiss as the question suddenly popped up inside her mind.

“Maybe because I want you by myself for a little while.”

“Yeah, right,” scoffed Joohyun as she rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Seungwan.”

Seungwan laughed softly as she tightened her hold on her waist. “I think it will be quite shocking if I reveal it to them that I got a food critic as my wife. The most acclaimed one, to be exact. And they will start bothering me with questions, especially Sooyoung.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Like how do I win your heart.”

“Really?” asked Joohyun as she raised her eyebrow. “And how do you think you win my heart?”

“Easy,” shrugged Seungwan softly. “A woman’s way to win another woman’s heart is by using a good, heart-warming food.”

A laugh escaped from Joohyun’s throat. “God, Seungwan. I hate you!”

Seungwan just smiled as she pulled her into another sweet kiss. “And I love you. Always.”

---

the meaning of several terms that i took from wikipedia (yeah im pulling a wendy)

executive chef: is responsible for overall management of kitchen; supervises staff, creates menus and new recipes with the assistance of the restaurant manager, makes purchases of raw food items, trains apprentices, and maintains a sanitary and hygienic environment for the preparation of food.

sous chef: receives orders directly from the executive chef for the management of the kitchen, and often serves as the representative when the executive chef is not present.

saucier: prepares sauces and warm appetiser, completes meat dishes, and in smaller restaurants, may work on fish dishes and prepare sautéed items. this is one of the most respected positions in the kitchen brigade.

chef de partie: is responsible for managing a given station in the kitchen, specializing in preparing particular dishes there.

pâtissier: prepares desserts and other meal-end sweets.

maître d’ hotel: the head server of a restaurant. supervising the waiting staff, welcoming guests and assigning tables to them, taking reservations, and ensuring that guests are satisfied.

god the lack of culinary/chef/food au in wenrene story GIVE US MORE!!!! anyway, im really enjoying writing this kind of story or alternate universe btw since culinary world is something that fascinates me the most and chefs is also hot iykwim. and chef seungwan is a trope that has bugging my mind for long and this time i finally took her out and serve it to you guys. let me know what do you think about this story! see you soon in another one-shot! ;)