#25 – Starve

It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Really it had.

Taemin had wanted to do something special for Kibum for their anniversary, the first anniversary that they would celebrate together in their own apartment.  He thought that it would be nice if he did something for Kibum, since it always seemed like the older man was doing things for him. 

So he had decided to make dinner for Kibum.

Sure he had had issues with cooking in the past, but it had been a couple of years and he helped Kibum in the kitchen all the time now, so nothing to catastrophic should happen – right?

So he had set about trying to make a stir fry, he cut up bell peppers and onions and set about clunking around the kitchen trying to find all of the right pans.

Kibum had a schedule today, sitting on a panel on the latest rendition of an Idol/Talent type of show.  Koreans from all over the country were willing to debase themselves in front of the entire country for the shot of a few minutes on television.  But that gave Taemin the time that he would need to get everything together.    

The rice was simple – the same that always accompanied their meals. 

And he managed to cut all of the peppers and onions without injuring himself, those his eyes watered so much from the onions that he had to physically walk out of the kitchen and out onto their little balcony to allow the chill fall air to clear his eyes.

He finally went back in and set some oil to heat in a pan on the stove.  This was were the meal started to go wrong.

Taemin had set about slicing up the beef to cook into the stir fry, but got so consumed with the task that he forgot about added the chopped up vegetables into the heated oil.  Soon the hot liquid was squirting out of the pan and splashing up against the backwash.  It wasn’t even the growing the noise that alerted him though – it was the sudden searing spots on his arm as the flying oil finally made contact with his skin, causing him to practically jump out of his skin and forcefully lower the flame.

He ran his arm under the cold water from the sink to try and lesson the sting. 

He finally moved back to the stove and threw the vegetables into the oil to let them heat up before shaking off the whole incident and moving back towards the meat to finish slicing it, now making sure to check in on the pan on the stove every few slices. 

And as the peppers began to soften, and the onions to caramelize, Taemin suddenly started.

“Dammit!” He muttered under his breath. 

He couldn’t add the uncooked meat to the vegetables.  The amount of time it would take to cook the meat thoroughly would overcook or even burn the vegetables.

He turned off the burner and stared despondently at the pan, before sighing and pulling out yet another pan and undergoing the ordeal of heating up the oil again before adding the meat to the lightly sizzling liquid.  He turned over the meat and continued cooking them until he couldn’t see any pink or the blood anymore. 

At that point he dumped the vegetables from the first pan into the second and he realized that they vegetables had started to burn slightly during their first cooking.  Taemin glanced up at the clock and bit his lip.  Kibum would be home in a few minutes so as long as Taemin was careful, everything should be alright.

He stirred the vegetables and meat together as the door opened.

“I’m ho~me!” Kibum’s voice drifted down the hallway and into their kitchen. 

“Welcome back!” Taemin called back and smiled at the older man as he walked into the kitchen.

Kibum came up short, “You’re making dinner?”

“Yea, stir fry!” Taemin said excitedly.

Kibum smiled, but was unsure.  Taemin was infamous in the kitchen.  Kibum never let the dancer actually cook the food or measure anything out other than the rice when Taemin helped him cook. 

“Great!” Kibum said, turning and moving to leave the kitchen and head towards their bedroom to change into something more comfortable than the constricting clothing that he had been made to wear for the judging earlier today. 

He bit hip lip heading down the hallway…he hoped that this would not end badly. 

He returned to the kitchen, now wearing sweatpants and a stolen t-shirt of Taemin’s and walked up behind the dancer.  He wrapped his arms around Taemin’s middle as the younger man placed a pair of plates down on the table. 

“Happy anniversary!” Taemin said gently, grabbing Kibum’s hands where they rested on his abdomen. 

“Happy anniversary.” Kibum muttered into the dancer’s back, “I love you.”

“Love you too.” Taemin looked over his shoulder and smiled gently at his lover.  “Now let’s eat.”

Kibum sat down apprehensively at the table, struggling to keep a smile on his face despite his fears for the meal awaiting him. 

When Taemin poured the white wine that he had bought for the meal, Kibum grabbed at his and tried to figure out how to take a large enough drink to awash his mouth without Taemin knowing what he was doing. 

He clicked together his chopsticks before experimentally bringing some of the meal to his mouth.

Kibum tried to not let his thoughts show on his face, but he wasn’t the sort to hold back.  He was honest to a fault and it went against his nature to not just voice exactly what he was thinking to those around him.

Instead he continued chewing the toughed meat, trying to get it to the point where he could manageably swallow it.  For the vegetables he had the opposite problem.  If he wanted to keep them down at all he would have to just swallow them right away and try to not let them linger around his mouth long enough to leave their burned taste.

Kibum suppressed the shudder his body wanted to give with an attempted smile that came out more like a grimace.

Taemin, who had also sampled the food after watching Kibum eat a few bites suddenly threw down his chopsticks and cupped his hand around his mouth before grabbing their kitchen garbage can and dragging it over to the table, spitting out his mouthful at the same time. 

“It’s nasty!” Taemin exclaimed, grabbing his and Kibum’s plates and dumping them into the can. 

“Oh thank god!”  Kibum announced, spitting out what had remained in his mouth. 

“I’m sorry Bummie…” Taemin seemed rather dejected.

Kibum grabbed at Taemin’s hand across the table.  “I appreciate the effort Taemin.”

“God, can’t I cook anything right?!” Taemin ran his free hand through his hair as he plopped down in his chair.

“The rice was good!” Kibum tried. 

Taemin just quirked an eyebrow at his boyfriend.  “Well yeah!” Taemin said with fake enthusiasm, “At least I can make rice!”

“Awww baby, I didn’t mean it that way…” Kibum tried again. 

“I know, I know,” Taemin sighed, thumping his other hand down on the table. 

The couple was quiet before Kibum’s stomach growled rather loudly and interrupted their moment.

Taemin snickered. 

“Let’s order something out before you starve to death.”  Taemin ran over to the fridge and grabbed the order out menu from Kibum’s favorite place and placed the order for their favorite dishes while Kibum took it upon himself to clear away the dishes and clean up the remains of Taemin’s attempt at dinner. 

It would be another one of the many stories that they could pass on and share, and it would be one of those moments that would stand out to them as a couple.  As they shared their gifts to each other over carry-out containers, wearing slightly dingy clothing, and sitting on their couch watching over-done dramas and just enjoying their time together.

It was a celebration of their time together that truly reflected them as a couple.  It wasn’t perfect, but they tried and the understood when one would fail.  It wasn’t the end of the world, it was just another story, another part of their lives and part of what made them, them. 

Now, I usually don't do this.  I usually don't care about how many reviews I get for the chapters, mainly because I usually get a handful and that contents me.  However with the last update (when I put up 22, 23 and 24 within the same hour) I got a grand total of TWO comments.  That is a little disheartening.  I write these for me, but I'm posting them for you guys, so please comment. 

On behalf of everyone who posts on this site, and fanfiction writers everywhere:  We take the time to craft these stories and put them up for you guys, please take a minute after you read the chapter to comment on it.  I'm not saying that you have to comment on every single chapter of every story you read, but every few chapters, take note and try and find something within the story to comment on, good OR bad (but please be constructive if it's a comment of something bad).

Okay, I'm down off of my soapbox now. 

And if I don't post again before Monday - Happy Halloween!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this latest enstallment.