Genre: Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, Food

Summary: Scroll down the page to find yourself transported in Chef Chaewon’s world as she lands herself in Hitomi’s fireplace just for one potion, setting the flame alight for a new chapter in their lives with a hint of home-cooked food.

Word Count: 9571

Hashtag: #SSBB_YellowFlame

Yellow Flame

Flipping the sign with a flick of a coral wand, the restaurant finally opened its doors to the snaking line leading down two blocks.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Ordinary people filled into the kitchen, lifting up their arms slightly to allow the soft cotton of their pristine white jackets to hug their figures perfectly as they made small talk among themselves prior to heading off to their respective stations, their straight toque blanches settling themselves comfortably atop their heads.

Soon enough, with a flick of everyone’s wands at their own comfortable pace, silver equipment popping out of the blue on the stoves.

Flames soared high on silver pots and pans as the kitchen burst into life with the evening crowd streaming in. trickling in the cramped restaurant. Bottles of wine, chili powder and any other condiments that came to our minds flew above the chefs as orders were passed to the respective chefs handling the dishes for the day. With the warm comforting smell of Chinese Napa Cabbage Soup wafting through the air, it lulled the customers into a jovial mood.

However, despite the evening flowing smoothly, it didn’t take much time for the executive chef to lash out at the newbie, Kim Chaewon.

After avoiding a harrowing throw of a boiling pot of miso soup thanks to a spell that she quickly muttered, Chaewon was forced to back up against the exit of the kitchen with a short sky blue wand pointing itself menacingly at her.

“What is the meaning of this dish, Chef Kim! Galbitang, my ! Hell, you don’t even deserve the title of a chef to be pinned on you,” The executive chef, Yabuki Nako yelled out as she firmly grasped on Chaewon’s collar, bringing the helpless lady down to Nako’s petite stature, a stark contrast to her explosive demeanour as Chaewon’s white hat toppled onto the rough floor.

“Uhhh…” Chaewon blinked in surprise as she hastily hid her wand behind her back.

“Leave her alone, Nako. She’s new to the game so what do you expect? A five-star Michelin straight out of air? Give her another week and I’m sure she’ll be producing art that everyone raves about.” Lee Chaeyeon muttered softly as she proceeded to line the edges of the scallops with lemon sauce spurting out of her emerald coloured wand.

“Fine. Just this once, Kim Chaewon. Just this once. You’re lucky Chaeyeon didn’t go off for a break today.” Nako muttered as she backed away to her station.

Chaewon watched as the petite executive chef backed off, her fiery gaze never once leaving her.

“Don’t mind her. She gets angry easily since she doesn’t have that much space to store her anger in.” Chaeyeon said as she handed the plate over to the waiter on hand, a sweet smile plastered on her face.

“Are you the second in command?” Chaewon meekly asked as she heaved herself up, snatching the dusty hat.

“The Sous chef, you mean?” Chaeyeon nodded in response as she criticised a passing dish, a hint of undercooked scallops floating past them.

“Yuri, you might want to sear your scallops a bit more.” Chaeyeon yelled out into the vast kitchen.

A ‘yes chef’ rang out before it was soon overwhelmed by the bustling noise of the kitchen.

“Anyways, why don’t you follow me for the rest of the week? I can slowly hand you over to the other Sous Chef. See that dark-blue haired lady with the purple wand, that’s Kwon Eunbi for you.”

Twisting her head, Chaewon caught sight of the other sous chef tailing another chef, a rolling pin tailing dangerously close to the escapee ready to smack her.

Averting her gaze from the scene, Chaewon swiftly followed behind Chaeyeon who moved quickly, narrowly avoiding passing boiling pots of soups and platters of dishes.

With a silent murmur and a swish of Chaeyeon’s wand, a small station was assembled neatly in front of the pair.

“You know, you have a wand for a reason?” Chaeyeon smirked before whipping out her wand to brandish a few sharpened knives, bronze pots and a silver ladle out of the thin air.

“Ah yes.” Chaewon blushed in embarrassment before she quickly d around for her mint green wand.

“That’s one interesting wand colour. Hadn’t seen that one in a few centuries. Rumour has it that those who possess wands with the shades of green are naturally gifted in the art of culinary. Well, I don’t want to put too much pressure on you but perhaps you would turn out to become one of them?” Chaeyeon said as she flicked her wand, an orange fire lighting up below the pot.

Scratching her neck, Chaewon let out a slight cough to switch topics before asking meekly, “Well, can I try making the soup myself?”

“Well, we have plenty of resources so give it your best shot. I wanted to ask you to take notes but maybe it’ll be better if I just improve on your current techniques from my own eyes” And with that, the sous chef stepped aside giving way to the junior chef.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Chaewon stepped forward and arranged her sleeves methodically. Taking a long squint around her surroundings to familiarise herself with the rough shapes of sharp objects, she exhaled. With a flick of her wand and a few well muttered phrases, the knives began to raise themselves in a poised motion above the walnut wood cutting board. A few onions and a handful of cloves of garlic rolled itself atop the cutting board, each one waiting in line to be chopped up uniformly by the sharp knife. 

Meanwhile, crystal clear water flowed out of the tip of Chaewon’s wand, hitting the bottom of the bronze pot. Slowly, the pile of chopped onions and garlic were lifted up before Chaewon’s magic began wavering.

From the steady stream of water which slowly trickling into droplets and the onions and garlic dropping haphazardly on the kitchen counter, Chaewon could only mutter a soft ‘’ before dropping her wand in shock.

“I think I forgot to mention something, green wand holders tend to splurge all their energy in one go.” Chaeyeon shook her head sadly as she muttered a cleaning up spell which siphoned everything out of the kitchen counter back into her emerald wand, splatting out to the trash bin.

“Take the time off for this night and return tomorrow. Drink black tea with lime honey. Works wonders for your nerves which I suppose had been fried by Nako. If you can excuse me, I need to attend to Yuri before she sets the scallops on fire again or Eunbi will come for her neck.” Chaeyeon hastily washed her hands before rushing to Yuri’s aid, dousing the little flame with a jet of water.

Chaewon could only muster a couple of heavy farewells to the other chefs on duty before removing her slightly crumpled toque blanche and jacket to stow away into her locker.

Checking that her belongings were securely tight in her knapsack, the deflated lady adjusted the minuscule compass on her neatly pruned broomstick, the tiny needle pointing north before it flipped, showing the weather conditions for the dark night.

With a hard kick on the muddy grounds, Chaewon soon lazily drifted her way back home, using the clouds as a thick cover from wandering eyes as she enjoyed the warm evening breeze which passed by in a blurry motion.

After half an hour,  Chaewon made a swift turn towards a short brick building which laid quietly beside a shallow turquoise ocean to which she made a slow descent towards the seemingly deserted porch.

‘, why isn’t this broom stopping? I’m going to hit the bushes. Oh no. Oh-“ 

Without any warning, Chaewon crashed into the dense bushes, twigs scratching every possible surface of skin they could encounter. With a final touch, the stubborn broom bucked Chaewon off before heading straight into the house to settle into a comfortable upright position beside the front door.

Releasing a slew of swear words, a blurry head popped out from a window above her from the sudden commotion.

“Chaewon?” Choi Yena’s voice sounded above as she struggled to rip off the tightening twigs on her arms.

“Help me out, you idiot! I got trapped in your venenum bush!” Chaewon yelled before rolling herself out of the thick bush that released its grip on her upon a powerful blast from a yellow wand.

“Well, I helped you so cook dinner tonight. I’m starving to the point that I could eat all the creatures in the ocean.” Yena trotted around Chaewon before lifting her into the house effortlessly with just a wand.

Within seconds, Chaewon found herself on their worn out couch from the 1800s as Yena bombarded her with questions whilst applying aloe vera gel on her thin cuts.

“Spare me the talk tonight. I had it rough with your ex-boss, Nako.” Chaewon slightly winced as the gel seeped out the black poison which dropped on the mahogany flooring, hissing sharply as it blended into it.

“Strange, I thought she’d taken a liking to you immediately, considering your cooking skills” Yena murmured as she gathered the little excess globs of aloe vera.

“It got stunned, I suppose. Working with so many chefs at one sitting got on my nerves.” Chaewon grumbled as she made her way to the kitchen as she lifted her wand, summoning a chopping board out of a drawn drawer, potatoes and carrots rolled out of their enclosed nets with clear chicken broth flowing out of Chaewon’s wand straight into the pot.

“Smells nice.” Yena voiced out as she sauntered into the kitchen.

"Don't think of double dipping with your nasty spoon." Chaewon warned as she turned her back to summon bowls and spoons, squinting her eyes to locate the glasses.

With her dirty spoon in her hand, Yena sneakily reached out to taste the boiling pot of soup before being intercepted by a sharpened knife which went straight for her denim sleeve which effectively pinned her down on the chopping board as her face slammed alongside the neatly chopped up pile of vegetables.

"Switch the spoon to your other hand and I'll make your dearest pet duck, the highlight of our meal tonight." Chaewon growled as she continued to pull out a tumbler of honey lemon tea.

"Fine. Fine" With that sentence, Yena resigned herself to her seat as the steaming pot of simple chicken soup poured the contents into their bowls.

Saying their thanks for their meals, the pair dug into the simple yet scrumptious meal.

With not a single drop of broth left in their bowls, Yena leaned back comfortably as she pat her satisfied tummy. With a lazy flick of her wand, the remaining soup poured itself into containers to be used for tomorrow's meal. The dirty wares followed behind making a beeline to the sink to be washed up.

"You know." With a small pause, Chaewon took a slow breath in before continuing.

"I wished I had as much energy as you have." 

"What do you mean?" Yena questioned as the dishes were lifted to be drained off at the drying racks.

"Everytime I land myself in these jobs. Thanks to you of course."

"My pleasure." Yena nodded as she poured them each a piping hot cup of hot chocolate.

Another pause ensued before Chaewon proceeded.

"My body feels like it's been sapped of its life every time I work in those kitchens. Like those tilapias that our knives mercilessly plunge themselves straight into." Chaewon murmured as she stirred her hot chocolate.

"I don't have any remedy for that but I've heard of rumours that the grand high wizard is able to provide recharging potions, the Viribus to deserving witches or wizards. The question is how to find the grand high witch?” Yena chuckled as she ladled herself another cup of hot chocolate.

“I think the real question is whether such a potion exists? It’s against the International Council for Magic Matters to have possession or to even brew such illegal potions which modify our natural abilities.” With her eyebrows furrowing deeply, Chaewon slumped in her chair, deep in thought.

Suddenly, Yena shot up straight from her chair as she lunged towards the stairs. Soon enough, she returned with a thick book, caked with a layer of dust to which she set on their table.

Flipping through the fragile pages frantically, the exasperated witch finally landed on a page which had a little leather pouch squished flat.    

Untying the knots, Chaewon watched curiously as Yena checked the contents of the pouch carefully.

“Alright, there’s enough Peregrinate powder for you to travel to the fireplace of the grand high witch.”

“Isn’t this rare. Like extremely rare?” Chaewon questioned as she squinted at the pouch, trying to make out the blurry words on the pouch.

“Working those odd jobs at times give me plenty of surprises and this is one of them.” Yena shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as if the powder held no value.

“But why are you even giving it to me?” 

“Just consider it as a birthday treat for a whole century.” Yena smirked as she lit the fireplace on fire, engulfing the floor in a blanket of warmth.

“With your way of words, I’ll be expecting you back here before the low ocean tide approaches. Best if you go now before the night settles over us.”

Without a word, Chaewon grabbed her worn out knapsack as she wore a sophisticated caramel coat, heading straight for the flames of the fireplace.

“How can I ever repay you? I don’t think considering this as a birthday treat for a century is enough.” Chaewon mumbled as she secured her knapsack before proceeding to tie her dark-brown hair up in a high ponytail.

“Hm. Just get that Chef Yuri’s address so I can mail her my love letters.” 

“Easy enough. Looks like I’ll head off now.” Emptying the contents of the letter pouch into the humongous fireplace, the bright orange flames burnt into dark beige flames.

Chaewon took a deep breath before stepping into the beige flames allowing her to catch a brief moment of Yena’s cheery wave before the beige flames swallowed her blurry vision.

Coming face to face to orange flames, Yena sighed to herself as she collected the items on the dining table. As her hands brushed against the leather pouch, a little note fell off behind it.

Property of the Inutilian 

“Well, s about to go down real hard on her tonight” Yena swallowed nervously as she stared intensely at the fire, knowing very well it would be past her magical abilities to retrieve Chaewon in the advanced world of the Inutilians

Meanwhile, Chaewon landed herself face down on the bottom of someone’s chimney. Coughing badly, Chaewon spat out small charcoal bits as she crawled out of the cramped place. Chaewon squinted her eyes as she tried to make out a rough description of her surroundings, past a black haze. She could barely make out a grandiose mahogany staircase leading to two separate directions along with other sets of furniture lining the dimly lit room.

“Mommy, did Santa come and visit us?” A sweet voice called out before a young cherubic girl popped up at the bottom of the stairs.

‘I thought members of the International Council are forbidden to have offspring to minimise the risk of distractions to their jobs?’ Chaewon wondered as she caught sight of the little lady toddling towards her, face full of curiosity.

“Akari, wait for me. Mommy wants to meet Santa with you” A mellow voice followed over to which Chaewon caught sight of a woman clutching the young girl closely upon catching sight of a charcoal coated Chaewon lying in an awkward position in their fireplace.

“That’s no Santa, Akari. That’s Santa’s ugly elves. Why don’t you go back up to bed?” Quietly ushering the young girl up the stairs, Chaewon came face to face with an infuriated lady.

Trying to ignore the snide remark, Chaewon mustered as much of a sweet tone she could despite not being able to catch a clear face.

'Dang, I should have brought my glasses. I can barely see in this house.' Chaewon grumbled mentally.

“Are you the grand high witch?” Chaewon proceeded, not wanting to hold the conversation longer than she wanted.

“A what?” With a quizzical look, the woman stared at Chaewon as if she had spoken gibberish.

“Well you know, the highest position of the International Council of Magic Matters, Miss?” Chaewon asked as she lifted herself off the floor, dusting off the excess charcoal bits stubbornly stuck on her blue and white striped sleeved shirt along with her cuffed denim pants.

“I don’t know what council you are talking about or the grand high something. But I can just assure you, I am a perfectly content Inutilian woman spending Christmas with my daughter. So if you please, go back the way you came from.” The lady said as she headed straight for the front door to kick the unwelcome guest out of the house.

“Did you say Inutilian, Miss?” Chaewon choked out, realising that a sworn enemy stood in front of her.

“Yes. Inutilian. Do you have a problem with that?” 

“Apologies, Miss. Before I would like to excuse myself out of your home, would you be able to tell me your name? For pleasantries of course.” Chaewon softly smiled as her nimble fingers wrapped around her mint green wand whilst reciting the same exact spell over in her head.

“I’m Honda Hitomi. The third generation of the Honda Clan, known for their cooking reputation. Do you have any clue?” Hitomi questioned as her grip on the door knob tightened.

“Well, you see..”

With a flick of her wand, Chaewon muttered a quick spell to which Hitomi deflected with her already drawn beige wand.

“What the hell!” Chaewon muttered as she realised her spell backfired.

“Look, Miss Stranger.” Hitomi’s eyebrows furrowed as her hands gripped tightly round her beige wand.

“It’s Chaewon for you.” Chaewon tutted as she withdrew her wand.

“Okay. Look Miss Chaewon, from whichever region you have magically popped up from.”

“I came from your dusty fireplace.” Chaewon cut across sharply.

“Look, mind if you stop cutting my sentences. You’re getting on my nerves. Anyways, I’m just going to straight up reveal that I am indeed the Grand High Witch and I would highly advise if you could return to your own region. Look I’ll even give you enough gold to last you for a century.” A pile of gold suddenly appeared in Hitomi’s hand as she offered the tempting pile to Chaewon who shrugged it away.

“I have no interest in gold for it just brings more greediness in my life. However, I've come to ask for an important potion.”

“There’s plenty here. Just simply name it and I’ll get it for you.” Hitomi smirked as her grip on the beige wand loosened.

“It’s not something exactly legal.” Chaewon rubbed her neck in embarrassment as the pair entered the simply furnished kitchen which contained a lone mahogany island, surrounded by maroon cupboards and a matching pair of fridge together with four stoves with a well-sized oven, each of the kitchen apparatus lined with a golden stamp of seal.

“Nonsense. Every potion in the world of the Witches is legal.” Hitomi shrugged as she swept across the room to scour for something.

“Even the Viribus Potion?”

With a sudden halt in her steps, Hitomi crouched down carefully to open a cupboard, filled to the brim with different bottles of potions, some of which were fizzing incredibly or even having flames dancing within it.

“Well, I may have to retract my earlier statement. Some potions are certainly not legal within the boundaries of this world. But I can certainly do a little under the table deal once in a while.”

“Really?” Chaewon asked as she watched Hitomi remove cork stoppers on some bottles to inhale its contents before closing them again.

Finally the leader came to a minuscule bottle labelled ‘Viribus’ with hardly a single drop evident in it.

“Looks like I forgot to conduct a monthly stock check on my potions.” Hitomi sadly muttered as she closed the doors.

“Can’t you restock it?” Chaewon treaded carefully as she pocketed her wand.

“Well, would you be willing to wait for a whole month for one potion?” Hitomi challenged as she drew her wand.

“Anything. I’ll go off then. Can’t have the grand high witch distracted from her work.” Chaewon said as she summoned her knapsack from the chimney.

“Clearly a century in Schola had not made a dent in your non-existent brain. Do you not recall page 394 of your potions book?”

“I don’t see the point in remembering a useless page number that serves no purpose in the world of cooking.” Chaewon remarked.

“Well, to put it simply for your simple-minded self. The Viribus potion requires a single strand of hair plucked from the person to consume the potion, every day for an entire week and unless you’re telling me that your lazy is willing to travel back and forth to a single strand of hair for a potion.”

“There’s no shortcuts?”

“Unless you want to turn into a weak vegetable within days then surely I can whip up the potion in seconds.” Hitomi remarked as she lit a fire on the stove.

“Can’t I just mail it to you or something?”

“And have Inutilians intercept it easily due to common mailing patterns. Certainly not when I have a little witch to bring up.” Hitomi muttered as she placed a pot atop the fire.

“Are there any bargains you have to offer?” Chaewon who was exasperated at this point, was willing to do anything to get the potion.

“Well, my personal assistant lost her life to a dragon. That dumb slipped on a rock and the hungry dragon ate her up. She’s a ghost now but either dimension, she’s still a clumsy fool.” Meanwhile, Hitomi manually poured water in the pot.

“Are you suggesting I take up the job of a personal assistant to you?”

“Well, it’s only a week. I’ll pay you handsomely for it if you want.”

“I have no other choice so..” Chaewon muttered as she removed her, the heat of the sweltering hot kitchen catching up to her

“Awesome, here’s the contract and you can sign it.” Hitomi beamed as a parchment of paper rolled open to reveal a detailed contract.

“Got any ink?” Chaewon questioned as she brandished her personal ostrich quill, taken aback by the sudden eagerness of the leader.

“Prick your finger and place your fingerprint.” 

“That makes it a binding contract then.”

“So you want to back out now?” Hitomi growled softly as she withdrew her wand.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter