#hence washing anything made with the fishing weights

[braceletstea]

I haven't actually measured it yet but I think there's 10 or 11 feet of weaving here? I made a lot of mistakes in the last little bit but overall I'm very happy with it.

After removing it from the loom, I washed it in cold water and a leetle detergent because I used fishing weights and I am paranoid about lead even though the risk is pretty minimal.

Tomorrow I'm cutting it up to make lanyard wristlets! a nice Halloween vibe for the market on Saturday.

video description: a white person wearing a gray compression glove unwraps a long tablet weaving from a loom. the weaving is a narrow band with a Celtic twist pattern in orange and ivory. the first two thirds has an orange and cream border, and the last third has a dark purple border. The video is silent except for wooden loom noises and my own heavy breathing.

[cbspams]

District 4: Fishing

The kids from One and Two are pretty alright, all things considered. They have way more personality than the previous years at least. One was a little intimidating at first, with his aloof model smoulder but then, he’s a lot prettier when he’s giggling over a dumb joke. Or at least Chan thinks he is.

Technically the Career pack doesn’t always include Four. It’s kind of like an on again, off again relationship with an ex. Only the good tributes get in, the useful ones. Hence why Chan is sitting with One and Two while his partner is squirreled away at some table by herself. But there’s no sympathy to be had when Chan can see the ruthlessness in Hyunjin and Jeongin’s eyes. (But even then, Chan just knows he’s just going to check up on his partner later in the comfort of their apartment. Partner is a strange concept nowadays. Chan wonders when it will stop existing, when it will only be me and them. Kai says it happens when you least expect it. So Chan decides to never expect it.)

Lunch ends uneventfully. The Careers stick together in the afternoon, whistling and howling at each other, hyping each other up to the point that the other tributes might as well be candle flickers to their wildfire. The pack takes it easy but they’re never sloppy. Even when Jeongin complains, throws an ax without looking, he still hits dead center. It sends a shiver down Chan’s back. Not that he’ll let anyone know that.

Outside of the Careers, there’s a few others Chan’s interested in. The kid from Three is smart, eyes bright despite his stoic face. Five and Eight looks like twin stars, suns in different ways. They’ll probably soak up sponsors like nothing, with mega watt smiles and adorable freckles. Seven’s smart. Despite spending most of his time at the camouflage station and doing light cosmetic work, Chan notices how he studies every other tribute. Notices the shrewd pull of his lips into the tiniest frown. And finally the kid from Ten. The one who had slammed into the tension head first at lunch. He’s wicked sharp, testing the weight of knives before he slashes. His eyes burn like superheated iron. Chan keeps an eye on him especially, because an untamed beast is as much of a threat as anything else the Gamemakers can cook up.

And yet. All those other tributes? They’ll never amount to the same threat as the Careers. Not even the kid from Ten. All the other tributes are smaller, thinner, not quite as agile or flexible or any other adjective Chan can even think of. They’re all trained to survive, true, but they’re not trained to kill. Not like the Careers. No one is ever trained quite like the Careers. It’s only day one so Chan hasn’t gotten much information out of them but he knows the stories. And survival too can only bring you so far when you’re being hunted. In the end, only a pinch of victors made it through on survival alone. And no one has made it without a kill on their hands.

In Four, tributes aren’t specifically trained to survive or to kill. There’s nothing like the Center in Two or the Marble in One. There’s no struggle for food or drinkable water in Four. But Four tributes are taught everything they need to know in their day to day life. How to best hunt from a disadvantage. How to dive deep and dig in their claws and never let go of even the slipperiest of prey. And, as the gods no one believes in would have it, Chan was blessed from the start. He might not be tall but he’s strong. His shoulders are broad, his arms thick, his hands big. He was made to spear and row and lift. He’s strong enough, physically. It doesn’t hurt to be strong, physically.

In the end, though, that won’t matter. That’s not what will keep him alive, it never is.

No, what’s going to keep him alive are his easygoing charms, the ones that get people to open up to him. The soft smile he has when he’s congratulating Hyunjin on a complex knot (completed in record time). The light pat on Jeongin’s shoulder when he flips the trainer for the umpteenth time. He’s going to play the crowd, make them all see him as a sweetheart, and lower defenses until he can go in and gut them like a fish. It’s flawless, his mentor murmured in his ear at the beginning of the day. Get in close, take them down from the inside out. Kai is bold and fearless like that. Chan’s lucky they’re matched together. He believes Kai when he says they’re going back home when it’s all over. Back to the sea that washes everything away, blood and sins alike.

——————

The Gamemakers start filing in midway through day two of training, just before lunch. The Careers pretend not to notice, but of course they do. Everything starts to become more subtle, less outright intimidating and more intricately techniqued. The other tributes who’ve never trained wouldn’t even be able to tell the differences. Chan himself misses a few of the changes, not well versed enough in the different stations, but he grits his teeth and pays attention because he’ll be damned if he misses something that’ll kill him.

He knew this before coming in but One is good at mind games. Hyunjin’s cheerful disposition from before slips into something that’s not quite real but not quite fake. A sort of wide eyed in between. No one would believe he’s innocent, not with the way One champions and tributes have behaved in the past. But he does a damn good job pulling the look, a dreamy smile on his face, a sweet lilt to his words. He doesn’t quite look like someone who can kill and Chan shores up his defenses tighter for it.

Two takes the opposite approach, or it seems like that on the surface. Jeongin’s already scrappy, different from the usual Two champions. So he seems to overcompensate, becoming more flashy. The trainer who spars with him gets carted away with a snapped arm. The arrows split each other until the target looks more like some oddly feathered creature. The ax’s hit harder and he purposely picks out poison to harvest. But even still, Chan knows there’s more. He hasn’t touched any kind of small tool. Chan knows the game he’s playing. The crowd always loved a small kid with the biggest, unwieldy weapon after all. The Gamemakers do too.

The private sessions come and go. There’s no anxiety in the first few rows of seats, instead only an overabundance of confidence. But if Chan twists back, he can see and feel fear rolling off the tributes in waves. Of course the worst is twelve, cowering. Do they even have a mentor? Maybe, maybe not. They said that Twelve’s only champion was going to kick the bucket sooner instead of later. Eleven’s got brave faces on. Ten A looks almost bored though, Chan notes with interest. Five and Eight... Excited? Seven calculating. Three he couldn’t see but his posture, despite being ramrod straight, betrayed some kind of languid relaxation. So Chan had been right, to keep an eye out on them. Maybe he’ll scout them more, when he has time. But for now, he stands as his name is called and walks into the vast empty room. Half the Gamemakers don’t look at him. He’ll make them see. He’ll turn all their attention to him and make them see him as he is, Bang Chan, a victor. One Gamemaker waves a hand idly, sipping on a glass of what is surely champagne.

“You may begin.”

——————

Profile

Name: Bang Chan

Age: 18

District: 4

Specialty: Spears and chokeholds

[silverhandy]

House call - chapter 2

Chapter 1 I ao3

    Through his career, he’s been to a lot of places of varying degrees of decay, from the long-abandoned hotels subjected to evergoing gang disputes to the city’s garbage dump stretching miles upon miles outside of the city, a sea of trash and metal, often twisted into unrecognizable shapes, piling up into mountains, where every step meant a very real risk of slipping and impaling himself on a rust-bitten shard. Hidden in between were those unfortunate enough to end their journey in a place like this, abandoned by their rivals or hitmen too lazy to attempt hiding a body within the guts of the city. If they had a working car, and almost all of them did, it was way easier to just drive whatever was left of their target and dump it to be devoured by rats and whatever else evolved enough to survive in a place like this. Sometimes they wouldn’t even bother to check if the person they were leaving there was actually dead, hence the reason why he’d sometimes get calls begging him to fish a guy (or lady) down on their luck out. He found himself digging through trash more often than not, futile in his attempts to pinpoint his awaiting patient’s location. When he was starting out, the thought of giving up his search wouldn’t even cross his mind, he’d spend hours looking, even dragging along metal cutters with him, figuring they’d come in handy. They probably would’ve if not for the fact that he often wasn’t even able to find the person who called him, localization data too patchy to give him a solid lead on where he should even start.

    After a while, when he established himself and lost some of his rookie idealism, he put in a disclaimer that he wouldn’t go trash diving anymore, no matter the pay. A small step, but even at the beginning he tried to have standards.

    V’s apartment was far from Night City’s biggest trash dump, but something about the chaos within it reminded him of that when he switched on the lights. As if the hurricane had swept through the place, some of the furniture was tilted over, a pile of clothes, dangerously balanced on an overfilled laundry basket, threatened to collapse and spill over at any moment. A half-finished box of noodles laid abandoned on the counter, accompanied by a mosaic of pills from a knocked over bottle.

    Viktor found V curled up on the floor next to her bed, wearing a washed-out Samurai t-shirt and sweatpants, covers dragged along with her halfway between the linoleum and the mattress. He could barely see her face from the way she was bundled up. V didn’t move upon hearing his footsteps, didn’t even flinch when he kneeled next to her and reached out a hand to touch her shoulder.

    The ripper dropped the heavy bag at his side and gently cupped V’s face in his hands, wincing at how burned up the woman’s skin was, and turned it so he could take a quick glance. V’s eyes were rolled far back into her skull. Viktor started to have an idea of what he was dealing with here, has seen the wreckage that offensive hacking can cause many times before. They usually started out slow, identical to a bad case of flu but then, if dismissed, proceeded to stir fry one’s brain until not much was left.

    Viktor opened his bag and pulled out a small, remote biomonitor. It took a few seconds to fully calibrate, but eventually, the screen lit up.

    ‘V, can you hear me?’ he asked, not counting on her to answer. 'I’m going to connect your personal link now and see what’s going on in there, okay?' he reached for her wrist, already feeling her racing pulse, and connected it to the device. While it was loading, Viktor propped it up on the wall and grabbed V to lay her on her back to make the job easier for himself, and pulled out a few small gel-filled Ice-Pax. He knew she probably needed more, but those will have to do for now.

    Just as Viktor placed two under her arms and another on her groin, the monitor beeped. He reached over her to grab it and swiftly ran a basic diagnostics program, but save for the things he already knew, it didn’t spew out anything interesting. She was vastly overheated and her blood pressure shot up to a point where an angrily red window kept popping up to inform him of a 72% percent chance of an incoming cardiac event, but he dismissed it for now. Instead, Viktor chose a different angle and ran a more advanced version of the program, letting it comb through V’s frontal cortex and RAM.

    ‘There’s the rub’ he hummed to himself as the program kindly highlighted the results. He let out a long sigh. If V had come to see him a day earlier, he’d fix it in five minutes and she wouldn’t even notice, but now she’ll be out of commission for at least a week before she can even get out of bed. He’ll have to tell her a thing or two about responsibility, not that she’d listen to him anyway. Patients never did, but it still might be worth a shot.

    Viktor typed a few commands to enclose the scrambled code from her RAM and before pulling out V’s personal link, copied her real-time vitals chart onto his interface. After it appeared within his field of vision, he pulled out a worn-out connecting cord that he’s been promising himself he’d replace for ages now and inserted it into the neural port at V’s nape to get a better working field, now that he knew what the problem was. RAM damages were problematic in their very nature but pretty easy to fix once caught, not much of his medical knowledge needed. Viktor simply fired up what ripperdocs tended to call a “palate cleanser” and let it do the work, putting back together what the bug has managed to break.

    While the program was fixing up V’s tech, Viktor got to work on her body. Flipping the ice packs, he took a quick glance at her temperature and was glad to see that it had started to slowly go down, followed by her pulse and blood pressure, all three leaving the life-threatening territory. None of them were quite to his liking just yet, but at least now Viktor was sure V would pull through. Reaching into his bag, he eventually found an IV set, but decided it’d be better to move her onto the bed first, sparing himself all the gymnastics with the tubing and cables. Minding the biomonitor still plugged into her, Viktor leaned down to lift V and put her on the bed. She was quite heavy, the dead weight of her limp body adding to the feeling, but he didn’t even break a sweat carrying her. Taking the covers from the floor, he put them on her, straightening the wrinkled material intuitively.

    Having done that, Viktor grabbed her arm and carefully inserted the needle. To his relief, it went in on the first try. Glad he didn’t need to poke her any more than necessary, Viktor looked around and realized that V didn’t have anything even remotely resembling an IV stand, but when he looked up, he noticed a small hook, probably remains of a poster frame, conveniently placed over the bed. Stepping up on the edge of the bed frame, he placed the bag there, and after making sure that everything was in place, let it drip. That should do the job, maybe paired up with a shot of dopabenzamine if she won’t improve in the next few hours.

    Viktor let out a deep sigh of relief, feeling as if he’s been holding his breath ever since V called. Biomonitor’s estimated time kept shifting but eventually settled on six hours and twenty-three minutes. Viktor nodded to himself and turned around to take another look at the mess that V’s apartment has turned into. He leaned down and reached under the covers to grab the unpleasantly warm ice packs, and throw them in the freezer, wondering if he should clean up, just a little bit. Would V get mad at him for snooping around? Then again, she’ll need a few days to recover and this ever-growing mess around her surely won’t help. Or should he ask Misty? They were closer, he was pretty sure that she’s been over at V’s place at some point.

    Maybe he shouldn’t be overthinking this. Just a little bit, he told himself as he gathered the pills spilled on the counter, inspecting the label while he was at it. Strong shit, impossible to get by simply waltzing into a pharmacy. Viktor made a mental note to ask about it later, just to make sure that V doesn’t swallow these like candy. Of course she doesn’t, he reprimanded himself. She’s an adult, a stupid, reckless one, but an adult nevertheless. It still won’t hurt to bring it up, though.

    He put it back into the medicine cabinet and returned to the kitchen to deal with the noodles, and since they were on the verge of no longer being edible, he just tossed them into the trash can, along with other unfinished takeout he found in various places around the apartment. He didn’t want to snoop through V’s things, so he just folded the clothes that were sprawled all over the floor and couch and put them in a neat pile. When he was done, the place looked somehow presentable, so he settled on the couch opposite V’s bed.

    She appeared to be sleeping, although far from soundly. No longer completely unconscious, she kept tossing and turning, her face grimacing as her recovering brain no doubt served her a concoction of fever dreams.

    Just as Viktor leaned down to relax a little, he heard a ping of an incoming text message. He pulled it up

Misty

>that lady from Biotechnica is here to see you again, but you don’t seem to be in, what should I tell her?

                                                                                              >Tell her to fuck off

                                                        >I’m at V’s and have to stay for a few more                                                              hours, she screwed herself up real bad this                                                            time

>oh no what happened>

>?

                                                         >I’ll tell you all about it later, I got it covered                                                             for now

    He fully expected Misty to call him, alarmed, but apparently, he managed to reassure her just enough. He leaned back and closed his eyes, just for a second, but must’ve dozed off at some point, exhausted after over twenty hours without a chance for a shuteye. When he woke, a groan escaped his lips as the stiffness of his neck hit him with full force.

    That’s what you get for sleeping sitting up, old man, he told himself as he reached to grab his glasses off the floor. They must’ve slipped off at some point during his nap. Viktor stood up and stretched until he heard his joints crack. Still tired, he rubbed his eyes in a futile attempt to wake himself up and walked up to V’s bed to check on her. When he reached for the biomonitor to check the progress bar and see how long he’s been sleeping, V moved slightly. She opened her eyes and scanned the room, looking right over him, and furrowed her eyebrows. Finally, she looked up and saw Vik standing next to the bed and her expression went from blank to confused.

    ‘Vik? What…’ V cleared her throat. ‘What are you doin’ here?’

    ‘You don’t remember calling me?

    ‘Not quite’ she bit her lip, trying to gather her thoughts. ‘It’s a bit of a blur. I was feeling like absolute shit after that last job, thought I could just sleep it off.’ she said quietly, propping her head upon her elbow. ‘I didn’t expect it to grow into...whatever that was.’

    “A neurogenic cybervirus is what that is. Invisible until it starts to fry your brain. You gave me quite a fright.’

    “Fuck. I knew something was off about that netrunner, after she...eh, nevermind. Vik..how long have you been here anyway?

    ‘Uh,’ Viktor took a quick glance at the biomonitor ‘seven hours, give or take?

    ‘Fucking hell. I’m..’ she looked at him apologetically. ‘I’m gonna pay you back. What’s your house call fee again? I don't remember it being listed…’

    ‘Nah, it’s okay. I usually don’t do house calls, so consider that a favor. Just promise me that when you feel something’s off after a job, you’ll come to see me right away. There’s a lot of real vile stuff out there and you won’t even know until it gets you. That’s what you have me for.’

    ‘Sure, dad. You can spare me the lecture' she chuckled. ‘But for real, Vik. Thank you.’

    ‘No problem, really.’ he grabbed the biomonitor. Four minutes left. ‘You’re gonna feel like you were hit by a truck for the next few days, but there shouldn’t be any lasting damage. I’ll check up on you in a few days and send in Misty or Jackie in the meantime to help you out since I’d rather you didn’t get out of bed more often than necessary. Next time you see me, consider getting that new set of optics and a gun grip. Might save your ass next time someone attempts to do you dirty like his.’

    Something akin to a smile appeared on her face. ‘Doctor’s orders?’

    ‘Doctor’s orders.’

[jamaisjoons]

peach parfait I | ksj

⏤ 𝚜 𝚞 𝚖 𝚖 𝚊 𝚛 𝚢 : you and seokjin have always been at odds as the top two chefs at big hit academy of culinary arts. enemies to lovers au

⏤ 𝚙 𝚊 𝚒 𝚛 𝚒 𝚗 𝚐 : seokjin x reader

⏤ 𝚐 𝚎 𝚗 𝚛 𝚎 : fluff, smut, slight? angst

⏤ 𝚠 𝚘 𝚛 𝚍 𝚌 𝚘 𝚞 𝚗 𝚝 : 19k

⏤ 𝚠 𝚊 𝚛 𝚗 𝚒 𝚗 𝚐 𝚜 : female solo masturbation, slight nipple play, sex toys - ring vibrator

⏤ 𝚊 / 𝚗 : hello demons!!!!!! welcome to my first ever ksj au!!! it finally happened wow,,,, honestly this wasn’t supposed to be this long but here we are,,,, 19k in on the first part whoops. there will be a second part out [hopefully soon, i already have about 8k of it written] but until then, i hope you enjoy this! // lowkey this was inspired by shokugeki no soma skfjak

⏤ Part I | Part II ⇥ complete

“Kim Seokjin, a perfect 100!” Head Chef Hobeom called out.

Your entire body stiffened as if you had just been drenched in ice-cold water. You could feel the tell-tale scowl already forming on your face, your features twisting in annoyance as you took in the sight of Kim Seokjin’s smug face. His dark, slightly wavy locks fell loosely around his stupid forehead and he was dressed casually, in a plain white t-shirt, further accentuating his unnecessarily broad shoulders. Light wash jeans hung low on his hips, the material of the denim tugging around his ridiculously toned thighs. Not that you were admiring him. No. You would never admire your greatest rival. Which is exactly what he was. Your gaze fell back to his face, his nose slightly scrunched, luscious lips pulled into a half-smirk and eyes shining with mirth.

That smug bastard.

You could hear the screams and cheers from all the female students, and even some male, as Seokjin bowed to the rest of the class while you angrily threw your spatula down. You grumbled to yourself and began cleaning up, ignoring the cheers for Seokjin as best as you could. You knew why you lost. You had made a stupid, rookie mistake. One that you were now kicking yourself for. How the hell had you managed to forget to season the meat before cooking? It was probably the most fundamental step of any recipe and yet in the heat of the moment and under pressurised circumstances, you had completely neglected that crucial step and it had cost you the exam. Well not really, you still passed but Seokjin had scored higher. And now, Seokjin would be able to brag until the next time the two of you faced off. From the corner of your eye, you watched Seokjin saunter over to you and immediately growled to yourself, eyes narrowing.

Great, now he was here to gloat.

“Hey ____, that’s what, my three hundred and fifty-eighth win? Who’s winning right now? Cause according to my count it’s me” Seokjin taunts, his tone laced in both arrogance and glee. You could feel your eyebrow twitch, taking a deep breath before turning around, your eyes in slits as you scrutinised his smug face.

“Until the next round. You forget before this round, we were both tied at three hundred and fifty-seven” You spit out, tone saturated with hate and loathing. Seokjin, however, is unbothered, letting out a little snicker.

“Yeah we were both tied but you could have won this round. I can’t believe you lost because you didn’t salt the meat. Slacking a bit, aren’t you? Isn’t seasoning the most basic rule of cooking? Do you need to go back to the first year? Or if you really want, I could teach you? I think you’d benefit from my classes. We could call it, cooking for dummies: back to the basics” Seokjin jeers and you let out a low growl, slamming your most prized knife back into its case as you continue cleaning up your station. You’re trying not to let his words get to you, but you can’t help it. He’s completely right. You could have won if you had simply seasoned the god damned meat.

“Oh, bite me Seokjin, we’ve all done it once or twice. Or did you forget the time you forgot the soy sauce in a chow mein? A dish which is basically just noodles, bean sprouts and soy sauce. So, do us both a favour and kindly fuck off, I have pastry class now,” You sneer and Seokjin laughs as you grab your knife set before storming away. You can feel his eyes on your back the entire time, the hairs on your neck standing in irritation. You can still hear his stupid squeaky laugh up until you leave the class.

Once out, you take in a deep breath and calm yourself down, face pulled into a frown. There were many reasons you had lost that match. Many reasons the flavours of the dish didn’t tie in together as well as they should have. The biggest reason, was, of course, the lack of salt on the meat resulting in a bland tasting dish despite the number of spices and herbs mixed into the sauce. You had also overcooked the butter, leading to a slightly smoked flavour that offset the dish and because of that, you hadn’t been able to sauté the onions long enough and thus they weren’t caramelised enough to compliment the beef. You continued muttering what had gone wrong with the dish to yourself, noting them down so that next time you could and would beat Seokjin at his own game.

“Hey, you okay?” Jimin asked and you snapped out of your daze, slightly startled by your best friend appearing out of nowhere. You looked around, brows knitting in bewilderment as you wonder just when you’d gotten to class. Had you been lost in your thoughts that long?

“Huh? Yeah, sorry. I was lost in my own head” You said as you popped your knives under the counter and slipped your apron on, washing your hands before taking your place at one of the many counters in the room, awaiting the chef’s arrival.

“It seemed like you were mumbling about food. Oh wait, today was your exam with Jin-hyung wasn’t it? I take it, it didn’t end well” Jimin says and you scowl at him.

“I forgot to salt the fucking meat. And as usual, perfect Kim Seokjin’s dish was faultless. So yeah, that ass won” You lament and Jimin’s face scrunched in concern.

“You did pass the exam though yes?” Jimin asked, worry laced in his tone and you quickly shot him an exasperated look. Of course, you had passed. Failure in exams resulted in expulsion, no questions asked.

That was the reason Big Hit Academy of Culinary Arts was the best culinary school in the entirety of Asia. Less than 5% of the students who enter graduate. The Head Chef’s at the school pushed until you were tired and pushed even more after. The academy had no place for people who couldn’t stand the heat of the kitchen nor the pressure or competition. And you’d be damned if you weren’t in the top 5% of graduates. Of course, graduating paid off handsomely. Graduates from Big Hit were guaranteed to get jobs in the most prestigious of restaurants across the world. The Big Hit name carried weight; hell, even if you made it to the third year before failing would guarantee you a job in a high class, albeit small restaurant.

“Jimin, if I failed, I wouldn’t be here. I passed the exam. I came second, after stupid Seokjin. I scored a 95 whereas he scored a perfect 100” You replied and Jimin beamed at you, his eyes scrunching up into half-moons.

“That’s great ____! You should be really proud of that” Jimin says cheerily but at the annoyance still carved in your face, he deflates, rolling his eyes at you in exasperation.

“It’s in 90s ____. Some people would kill for that score. Some people never even reach that boundary, you and Seokjin-hyung are the only two to consistently get scores over 90 so stop pouting. Besides, I don’t understand why you both still go head to head. You’re trained in completely different backgrounds. Of course, Jin-hyung was going to do better on the exam. He’s a rotisseur. Someone who is trained and specialised in cooking meat and savoury dishes. You’re a god damn pâtissier. You bake bread and make desserts. They’re two completely different ballparks” Jimin, forever the voice of reason, argues and you shrug.

“It’s just always been like that. Ever since we both entered this academy. Besides we didn’t always specialise in what we do now. There was a time when we both cooked whatever. We still do. We just tend to focus on our specialities more now. You know the best chefs are experts in all disciplines and masters in their own discipline,” You refute and Jimin nods, barely paying attention to you now.

“Please don’t throw Headmaster Bang’s words at me. I still can’t believe he does that exact same speech at the start of every year. But I guess you’re correct. Besides, according to everyone, including the head chefs, you both are the best chefs this academy has seen in years. It’s alright though, the next exam is a sweet based one isn’t it? He’s never beaten you on one of those,” Jimin says offhandedly, as he too starts preparing for class and you nod.

It was true.

Ever since you entered Big Hit Academy of Culinary Arts those three years ago, you and Seokjin had gone head to head countless – except of course you both kept count – of times. But it was almost predictable at this point. If the exam had anything to do with baked goods or desserts, you would score nothing less than a perfect 100. You were currently unrivalled in the academy when it came to desserts. However, the same could be said for Seokjin and any meat dishes. He too had yet to score less than a perfect 100 on any of his dishes that included meat. Hence, you both would win those respectively and those exams were almost predictable. However, there were anomalies. If either of you were in an exam for fish, sauces or any specific cuisines, it was anyone’s game. Sometimes Seokjin scored higher; sometimes you would. Hence, the two of you were tied at three hundred and fifty-seven wins each. That was until today. When Seokjin took the lead with his latest win.

You scowled once more.

Stupid Seokjin and his stupid pretty face and stupid cooking skills.

“Alright. Welcome to today’s exam. As mentioned before, the theme is Chantilly cream. You will find an assortment of ingredients at your counter. You may prepare whatever you want, so long as you only use the ingredients at your counter. You have two hours to complete your dishes. You may begin,” Head Chef Sejin calls out and you immediately begin looking at your ingredients. This was one of the hardest challenges; everyone was given ingredients and could prepare whatever you wanted. However, you were limited by your ingredient supply and variety.

Your eyes quickly scanned over all the ingredients; butter, flour, vanilla extract; strawberries; cream; chocolate; sugar. Damn no eggs. You discarded any recipe at the top of your head that would need eggs. Suddenly, an idea popped into your head and your eyes lit up with excitement. You quickly began gathering the ingredients before grabbing any equipment you’d need. You looked up briefly, taking in the sight of the other student chefs, panic etched into their faces. Your eyes fleetingly wandered over to Seokjin, who like you, had already begun grabbing ingredients. You scowled slightly before going through the recipe in your head.

You slowly began to work, beginning by creating your base. You submersed yourself into creating the dough, white dust puffing up in a cloud around you as you added the flour. Your shoulders relaxed, fingers moving in soft circles as you incorporated the butter into the flour. Briefly, you glanced up, slightly startled when you realised Seokjin was watching you work. As soon as your eyes made contact, he winked at you. You felt the vein in your head pop and immediately grew agitated. Sneering at him, you went back to focusing on your kneading, now a lot less gentle than before as you began pounding the dough, working out your frustration with Seokjin on it.

Realising the force behind your kneading, you quickly stopped, fearing that you’d overwork it resulting in a tough pastry. Wrapping it in clingfilm, you placed it into the fridge to cool before taking a deep breath. You wouldn’t allow Kim Seokjin to crawl under your skin. No matter how irritatingly handsome he was. Wait- where had that come from? You quickly shook your head, thinking over your recipe as you hurry to begin your next step lest you run out of time. You grabbed the strawberries, as needlessly red as Seokjin’s lips, chopping off the leaves before dumping them into a saucepan along with vanilla bean paste, a squeeze of orange juice and cinnamon. Your secret ingredients to enhance the flavour of the strawberry coulis and gain an edge over whatever Seokjin had planned.

You waited for the strawberry mixture to begin boiling, stirring continuously as it began to reduce. The task was mindless and involuntarily your thoughts wandered off to Seokjin, a frown marring your face. You couldn’t resist chancing another glance at him, brows furrowing when you realised he was placing cake tins into the oven. An eggless cake? You scoff haughtily. Most of the other students were also making eggless cakes. You turned your attention back to your saucepan, the strawberries were completely mushy and reduced, leaving a thick scarlet sauce. You grabbed a bowl and strained it, removing any clumps of skin or seeds and leaving a completely clear coulis. Placing it to the side, you checked your timer before grabbing your dough out of the fridge.

Moving onto your next step, you grabbed your previously abused dough from the fridge. The heels of your palm pressed into the soft, chilled dough as you began working it once again. Once you deemed it was ready, you grabbed the rolling pin and began rolling and folding it into what was to become your puff pastry. From your peripheral vision, you noticed that Seokjin was idly standing around, leaning against his counter in a completely relaxed position. Your brows furrowed, wondering just why he was sitting around doing nothing when the timer was still running. You cursed internally; why the hell were you so caught up in what Seokjin was doing? He was your rival. If he failed, it worked out better for you. But that didn’t sit well with you. You wanted to win on your own merit, wanted to be better than him because you were better; not because he threw the exam. You look up once again, locking eyes with him.

This time, when your eyes meet Seokjin simply stares. Against your will, you send him a questioning, albeit concerned look. Seokjin reels slightly in surprise before he composes himself. His hand moves and soon he’s blowing you a kiss causing you to roll your eyes at his antics. You hear the female students swoon, cheers surrounding the entire class causing you to roll your eyes. Seokjin simply ignored them, smirking at you before getting to work on whatever he needed to. Satisfied that he was taking this seriously, you turned back to your dough. Realising it was ready, the butter marbled perfectly through the flour; you wrapped it in cling film again before placing it in the fridge once again.

Taking a look at the timer, you realised you had just under an hour. Clearing up your counter hurriedly, you began preheating the oven. The last bits would undoubtedly be the easiest; just whip the cream with vanilla and sugar in order to satisfy the Chantilly cream requirement and you’d be golden. All of a sudden, your individual timer went off; you swiftly wipe your hands clean and pulled the dough from the fridge once again, this time rolling it out and cutting it into perfect rectangles, placing them into the oven. Then, you continued clearing up, realising Seokjin was doing the same.

Both of you had your bases in the oven, which meant, you’d both most likely finish around the same time. Although, he was a bit pressed for time. It’d most likely take him longer to assemble and decorate his cake than you would. You both had about forty-five minutes left. It was time to get serious. You pulled your pastry out of the oven, ensuring they were golden and crisp, but more importantly, cooked all the way through. You needed to cool them quick; you walked to the blast chiller, depositing your tray into the machine. You turned around and bumped into someone, immediately apologising before you looked up and realised it was Seokjin.

“Hey ____” Seokjin sing songs, looking down at you with a small smirk, his voice playful, and you instantly rolled your eyes, crossing your arms. You watch as he carefully places his tins into the machine, just under your tray. The two of you stay by the chiller, your arms crossed as you look around at all the other chefs, some of who were panicking as they ran out of time.

“Looks like we’re both going to be in the top again,” Seokjin says nonchalantly and you snort.

“When are we not at the top?” You snidely retort. It’s a rhetorical question considering both of you were always in the top and Seokjin knew that. Seokjin simply shrugs, looking back at you, his eyes glistening with something you just can’t seem to place. If you didn’t know any better, you’d assume it was pride. But there was no reason for him to be proud of you. In fact, if it was pride, it’d mainly because he was proud of himself.

“So, what are you making? Didn’t look like a cake” Seokjin asks casually and you feel your eyebrow twitch. It seemed to do that a lot whenever he was involved.

“If you can’t tell then maybe you should just drop out” You sarcastically respond and Seokjin laughs in that squeaky, carefree way that he does, that leaves you wanting to punch him in the throat.

“Well I know you’re making a mille-feuille, I just thought you’d make something a bit more interesting, you know? I guess I overestimated your skills” Seokjin says nonchalantly and you can feel the nerve on your forehead throb in anger.

“Excuse me? Those are big words coming from someone making a cake” You retort and Seokjin shrugs.

“Yeah, maybe. But I’m not the pâtissier out of the two of us, am I?” He replies with a smirk and your fingers twitch, the urge to smack him coursing through your palms. How dare he? How dare he just come here and insult you like that!

“Anyway, my cakes should be cool now. See you at the end. Maybe I’ll win this round,” Seokjin says with a wink and your eyes widen before you let out an incredulous laugh.

“I don’t think so, Kim. You have yet to beat me when it comes to desserts” You replied smugly and Seokjin snickers, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“There’s a first time for everything. Maybe you’ll forget to add sugar to your dish, who knows” Seokjin taunts and you clench your jaw lest you scream at him.

That bastard.

As if you would ever make such a stupid mistake in your own discipline. That ass. One day you’d wipe that stupid smirk off of his stupidly pretty face. Really who was that stupidly pretty?!

You grab your tray from the blast chiller and stalk over to your counter, grumbling the entire time. You’d show him. You quickly whip up the Chantilly cream, ensuring it’s stiff but light and flavoured just right before you carefully begin assembling your mille-feuille. You place the first pastry layer on the presentation dish, dusting it with a light coating of icing sugar before pipping on the cream over, garnishing with the strawberries and drizzling a sparing layer of the coulis. Not too much; just enough to enhance the flavour but not enough to turn the pastry, that you worked so hard into making crispy and flaky, soggy. You continue layering until you hit the third and last layer.

You place the pastry gently on top, making sure all the edges line up. When satisfied, you pipe small dollops of cream, topping them off with strawberries and mint leaves to add some vibrant colours to your dish. You quickly glance at the time, smiling when you realise you have just enough to finish with a light dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon and then clear up so your counter is sparklingly clean. You finish up quickly and then gently cover up your dish. It’s a beautiful concoction of reds, greens, whites and golden brown. The dessert almost makes your mouth water and you know you���re sure to pass. It may not be extravagant but it was perfect.

“A minute left. Please start bringing your dishes up” Head Chef Sejin calls out and you grab your dish, walking up to the judges. You place yours down and bow, the chefs all smiling at you. From the corner of your eye, you see Seokjin bring up his own dish and briefly, very, very briefly you wonder what would happen if you just tripped him up. However, both of you believed in the integrity of healthy competition and neither of you had ever sabotaged each other before. So instead, you just glared at the huge expanse of the back of his shoulders as he walked up to the table, placing his own dish down.

Soon, other students began bringing up their dishes and you winced slightly at some of them. Even now, in the third year, people made stupid mistakes when cooking. It was why these exams took place, to put people under the time pressure and stress they’d face when in the kitchen of their own restaurants someday. One person had forgotten to cool down their cake and thus the cream was slowly melting. It seemed like another hadn’t had enough time to cook their cake, causing it to collapse in the middle. You grimaced at those two; a mishap that big was sure to lead in failure and as a result expulsion.

Sadly, Seokjin’s cake was as beautiful as your mille-feuille, with pristine piping, delectable, soft-looking peaks of Chantilly cream and a vibrant array of fruit from kiwis to summer berries. There wasn’t much you could fault him for in his presentation. Even when compared to your perfect dessert. The deciding factor would be the taste. You were sure of it.

The judging process slowly began, and slowly people were eliminated. The two who had panicked had received 0s like you had predicted. Other than that, the lowest score was 46 and the highest so far 78. And then, Head Chef Sejin looked at you and Seokjin. He regarded you both with smiles and you immediately feel nervous. Chef Sejin was currently the best pâtissier in Asia and he was your idol. No matter how many times he judged and approved of your work, you still got nervous, hoping it was up to his expectations.

“I take it you two are competing again?” Head Chef Sejin asks and both you and Seokjin nod, causing Chef Sejin to laugh. Your rivalry with Seokjin was widely known throughout the school, most people anticipating it. The Head Chefs even actively encouraged the friendly competition, sometimes pitting other students against each other in order to drive them further and give them a purpose, a reason to excel and do better than they already could. Of course, you and Seokjin had been non-stop competing for three years now.

“Alright then, Seokjin, I believe you are the current winner, from your last exam? Would you like to go first?” Chef Sejin asks and Seokjin nods. You watch with bated breath as Chef Sejin cuts up the cake, the judges oohing at the soft, airy texture of the sponge. How he managed that without eggs, you’d forever be surprised but you wouldn’t dare openly compliment him. The judges begin tasting small bites, all smiling and noting down their scores. They quickly look at each other, discussing the results and then Chef Sejin smiles at Seokjin.

“Truly, a beautiful sponge. Airy and soft, despite the lack of eggs provided. How did you manage this?” Chef Sejin asks and Seokjin smiles.

“I substituted the butter for oil to give the sponge a lighter texture and added both baking soda and baking powder with a little bit of lemon juice react with the two powders to make it airier,” Seokjin says simply and the corner of your lip twitches. Damn him.

“Ah, of course. A wonderful job, and 98, the highest score of the class so far. And now for ____ 's mille-feuille” Chef Sejin compliments Seokjin before looking at you kindly; however, your shoulders stiffen. That was an awfully high score. It meant you now had to score a 99 or perfect 100 in order to beat him. You could feel the hairs on your spine stand as you anxiously awaited the judging of your own dessert. You were almost sure it was perfect, to you it was. And granted, you’d never scored anything less than a perfect on a dessert or bread dish. But Seokjin was right. There was a first time for everything.

There could be a number of times in the future when your dish wouldn’t score a perfect. Today could be one of those times. You watched with bated breath as the judges cut up your mille-feuille, the pastry crackling under the knife before it glided through the cream and fruit. You sucked in a deep breath, watching as the judges daintily put a spoonful of the pastry and cream into their mouths. It was as if time moved slowly. Every chew, every ooh and ah. The palpitating of your heart pounded in your eardrums, your palms behind your back sweaty, wrists wringing nervously. Chef Sejin placed his fork down and then the judges began writing down their own scores. You can feel Seokjin near you but you’re too tense to even give him a second thought. You don’t notice the way he looks at you, a knowing look on his face. You don’t notice the way he lets out a small, displeased sigh before shaking his head.

“Once again ____, you’ve outdone yourself. This was… absolutely perfect. The texture of the pastry was crumbly and flaky, cooked to perfection. The cream soft but stiff and the sweetness of the strawberries are cut beautifully by the cinnamon and tanginess of the orange in the coulis. Truly a masterpiece. Congratulations, another perfect 100” Chef Sejin compliments and you release your breath, grinning brightly at the older man despite your still shaky hands. You quickly bow in thanks, your heart beating rapidly in your chest as you beam with pride. The chefs thank all the students before they begin leaving. You spin on your heels, grinning at Seokjin.

“Well, Seokjin. That brings us both to three hundred and fifty-eight. I believe that means it’s another tie. Of course, I’ll be sure to win the next round” You say and Seokjin looks down at you, his face blank. Your fists clench slightly because despite his blank expression, you can still see the slight disappointment in his eyes and you know it’s not because he lost.

“Any first-year could have made that. Like I said, I was hoping for something more. Besides, win? Lose? Who cares, at the end of the day, I still have this face. Therefore, who is the real winner here?” Seokjin says and with that, he walked away. You can feel your cheeks and ears burn with rage, your fists clenched on either side of your body. And that was exactly why you’d never compliment him on anything, his dishes, his looks or anything. Because not once, not a single time had he ever admitted your dishes were good or that you had done well. All he ever did was criticise you and your work.

God, you hated him.

Storming into your apartment, you slam the door shut, the vibrations reverberating through the room. You stomp into the living room, throwing your stuff haphazardly onto the sofa before making your way into your bedroom. You let out a frustrated scream, flinging yourself into the bed before kicking your legs rather childishly. You could not believe him. Where did he get off telling you that any first-year could have made your mille-feuille? It was perfect! You’d pay any first-year 500,000 won if they could replicate it!

You scowl into your pillow, eyes narrowed as your blood boils at the thought of Seokjin’s words. He was honestly so full of himself. You couldn’t wait to triumph over him and put him in his place. Granted, it would only last for a short time. But still! You were determined to come out on top. His words flash through your head once again and you let out another scream, this time muffled by your pillow. You grabbed your pillow and threw it against the wall, finally working out most of your frustration.

You sat up with a groan, a scowl still on your face. Your shoulders were tense and your back ached from standing up all day cooking. A shower, you decide, was the best course to work off not only the day’s grime but also to calm you down. You tut slightly at yourself, reprimanding yourself for allowing Seokjin to work you up so much. Getting off your bed, you stripped down to just your panties, exhaling with relief as soon as your breasts were out of the wretched cage that was your bra.

Stepping into the en-suite bathroom, you turned the shower on, letting it heat up for a few minutes before stepping in. With a loud sigh, you let the hot water run along your body. The heat of the water, powered with the steam, slowly worked your exhaustion and frustration out. You felt your sore muscles slowly relaxing, rolling your shoulders to remove the kinks. You lathered your body in soap, allowing the loofa to gently exfoliate your skin. It was almost ritualistic, with each stroke you could feel your ire at Seokjin slowly decreasing.

You spend another fifteen minutes under the shower, letting the hot water run over your body. Finally, when your fingers start pruning, you decide to step out. Wrapping a large fluffy terry cloth towel around yourself, you pad bag into your bedroom. As much as the shower has helped, you still can’t help but feel the slightest bit of tension persist in your muscles. Your eyes flick to beside your bed and you make a split-second decision. 

Crawling in bed, you made yourself comfy. You slowly unwrapped the towel from your body, dropping it to the floor. You shivered slightly, your nipples hardening from the cool air. The difference in temperate from the steamy bathroom to your cool bedroom was highly noticeable, especially considering you were completely naked. You relaxed further, sinking into your bed as you’re hand slowly drifted down to your stomach, working your way towards your naked sex. Your body was already slowly heating up and you can no longer register the chill of the room against your still slightly damp body.

Your fingers circled your belly button, your skin prickling under the sensation as you gradually lose yourself in the pleasurable haze, your breath hitching. Without a second thought, your hand slowly worked down towards your wettening pussy, letting out a low groan when your hand brushed lightly against your clit, the small bundle of nerves hardening against your hand. You loosely played with your slit, a finger barely dipping in before pulling out, spreading your wetness all over your lips.

You bit your lip at the sensation, needing more but wanting to draw out the feeling. Involuntarily, you rolled your hips, trying to get more friction against your hands, your breathing heavy now. Unconsciously, one of your hands moved to your breast and your eyes immediately slipped shut. You imagined a faceless man, with dark hair and broad shoulders hovering over you. You imagined it was his hand playing with your nipple instead, rolling your breast in his palms before flicking the nipple with his thumb. Vaguely, the man you’d imagined looked familiar to you, but in your lust induced haze, you didn’t care.

You moved your second hand to your other breast, lightly squeezing and massaging, pinching one nipple between your thumb and forefinger as the other continued rolling your other nipple. You let out a shuddering breath, hips now grinding against the bed as you pussy cried out for attention, weeping with your arousal. Your nipple aches against the hand pinching it, the delicious pain only making you cry out weakly at the sensation. You squeeze harder, twisting slightly and moaning at the sharper pain before releasing it. Desire burned in your veins, imagining the man squeezing even harder, wishing his puffy pink lips could wrap around them. Pink lips? When did the faceless man have lips?

Your mind floods with fervour, mouth dry as if all your wetness seeped from it towards your aching cunt. A wanton cry escapes your lips, your sex crying out to be touched, to give it some friction and relieve the ache deep within your cunt. You raise your knees slightly before spreading your thighs almost obscenely, shivering at the sensation of the cold air against your hot, needy pussy. Your fingers flit against the soft flesh of your sensitive thighs. You’re so close and you curse yourself for drawing out the pleasure for this long. You still imagine the man is over you; it’s him that’s teasing you and you now find yourself cursing him.

You gingerly move your fingers to your folds, back arching slightly. Your nerves are afire, your lust seeping into every pore in your body. Fingers slowly splay your pussy open, and you imagine it’s the faceless man’s crooked fingers instead of your own, shuddering once again at the cold air. The heady, musky scent of your arousal fills the room. Every one of your senses is clogged by desire; your arousal is so thick that you can both smell and taste it. You can feel the stickiness between your legs, your juices coating your thighs and you can hear the slight squelching of your pussy lips.

A prolonged, needy groan escapes your throat as your fingers finally come into contact with your hard clit. Your middle finger pushed down, pressing into the bundle and you exhale breathily, rolling it under the pad of your fingertip. Your finger slowly pushed down, spreading your lips and wetness coating your pussy before you curl your finger back towards your bud. You cry out again and again as you work your clit over and over again but you need more.

You blindly reach over to your bedside table, opening the draw as you continue playing with your clit. You open the drawer, reaching inside and feeling around until you touch the cool plastic of your vibrator ring. You claw at it, grabbing it before reluctantly removing your hand from your clit. You slip the ring onto your finger, before switching it on. Your hand hastily moves back to your sex and you cry out at the low reverberations of the vibrator strumming against your clit, eyes almost rolling back.

Your pussy is on fire, clenching and unclenching uncontrollably; your abdomen flips and tightens, your orgasm slowly nearing. But you’re still missing something. You let the vibrator rest against your clit, stimulating you over and over again, your heart beating rapidly, thundering in your ears. You suddenly plunge one finger into you, mewling at the sensation, imagining it was the man’s long crooked fingers instead, while simultaneously wishing your fingers were longer. Slowly, you press a second finger into you, wincing at the stretch before your mouth gapes open in pleasure. You imagine it’s the faceless man who is rapidly sinking two fingers into you, his plush lips pulled into a small smirk, nose slightly scrunched and strong, thick eyebrows furrowed as he brings you the most pleasure you’ve had in a while. You’re too lost in your own pleasure to even realise the faceless man’s features slowly forming.

Your cunt feels like velvet, gripping and rippling against your fingers, leaking with your arousal. Your hips grind down against your hand, thrusting into them as you force your clit harder against the vibrating ring, trying to press your fingers deeper into your cunt. You press a third finger in, wincing even more at the stinging sensation and the stretch but you need more and so you persevere against the pain, pushing deeper and deeper until your pussy swallows all three of your fingers. You almost shriek, pistoning them in harder, in and out, repetitively.

You grind harder and harder, moaning and groaning, eyes rolling back into your skull as you pant. Your orgasm is so close. Your pussy is dripping all over your hand and you’re sure you’ve left a slight puddle of your juices on your bedsheets but you don’t care. You push your hips harder once again and curl your fingers, pressing the pad against the rough skin of your g-spot. The overwhelming sensations of your thrusting fingers against the spongy highly sensitised skin inside you paired with the vibration against your clit has your legs trembling.

You feel yourself climbing higher and higher until finally, you release. You let out a stuttering scream. Your orgasm ricochets through you faster than you can process. You cry out louder, chasing your high and riding your fingers. Your walls ripple uncontrollably against your fingers, savouring the touch and high as you tremble and quake violently, legs spasming as you press the vibrator harder against your clit. You let the tide of your climax wash through you, carrying you along with the wave and drowning you in intoxication until you finally pull out, the sensitivity in your cunt too much to handle.

You breathe heavily, the buzzing of the vibrator still continuous as you come down from your high. You pant, your skin flushed and tingling from the post aftershocks of your orgasm, your sweat matted hair sticking to your forehead. Your brain slowly adjusts, pulling itself out of the lust-filled cloud it had found itself in. The man slowly faded from your mind’s eye. You let out a satiated sigh, wondering just who you had been imagining. Deciding not to dwell too much of it however, you slowly pull yourself under the covers, allowing sleep to take you.

It’s a week later when you see him. The exam period had ended and once again, the two of you were tied at three hundred and ninety-six each. You were getting frustrated which each and every win and loss. The balance had to tip in someone’s favour. You couldn’t keep winning and losing against him forever. You couldn’t tie forever. Someone had to give. You’re currently stood in the assembly area; you and the rest of the third-year students all gathered. A slight sense of dread fills you. You have no idea why you’ve all been gathered together, but it cannot be good. Headmaster Bang was known for throwing loops into the student’s schedules; planning hard tasks after exams to weed out the worst chefs and to have the top of the top chefs further excel.

“____!” Jimin called, running up to you with Jungkook and Taehyung in tow. You waved and smiled at the two of them. You were glad they had made it passed the exams. Jimin, was your best friend; the two of you as thick as thieves since your first class when Jimin had somehow preheated the oven too high, resulting in the glass shattering from heat and pressure. Don’t get it wrong, Jimin was a wonderful chef, albeit a bit clumsy. His own speciality was spice. The boy could create spicy foods that had your mouth screaming and your throat burning and yet you couldn’t help but spoon more mouthfuls as it was just that addicting. Jungkook was a ramen specialist. Give the boy some noodles and an array of ingredients and he could create a bountiful concoction of savoury flavours that would make anyone’s mouths water. Including yours. And finally, there was poor Taehyung.

You weren’t even sure how he’d managed to progress to the third year. He wasn’t bad per se but he wasn’t Academy level either. But somehow, he’d survived to the third year. His foods couldn’t rival with the top of the academy, but there was something about Taehyung’s food. It tasted like home. Kind of like a mother’s love. Homey and comforting. It may not have been perfect and he may not be at the top of the academy, but it was his. A style completely unique to Taehyung. The kind of comfort food you crave when sick or hungover, the food you crave after a broken heart, the food you crave when you miss home or your family. Soul food. That was Taehyung’s speciality.

The four of you stood quietly chatting amongst yourselves, wondering what Headmaster Bang had prepared for the third-year students. You continue looking around, realising that the exams had resulted in even more expulsions. At the start of your third year, there were roughly three hundred students still left and now, there were only about half of that, maybe a few more. The hair at the nape of your neck stands on edge and you feel the presence of someone behind you. You quickly turn around, yelping when you come face to chest with someone. You look up and almost growl when you’re met with Seokjin’s face. He’s surrounded by his best friends, Hoseok, Namjoon and Yoongi.

“Is there a reason you’re so close to me, asshole?” You scorn and Seokjin smirks down at you.

“Awfully hostile today, aren’t we ____?” Seokjin jests and you feel your eyebrow begin to twitch. Honestly, at this point, it was almost like a reflex whenever he was concerned.

“Can we not have a single time when we meet that you both don’t fight?” Namjoon asks and you pout. Namjoon was similar to Taehyung, as in no one had any idea how he’d managed to make it into the third year with next to no cooking skills. He was clumsy, often hurt himself in the kitchen and made stupid mistakes like the time he put his hand in boiling water to check if his udon noodles were done. However, if there was one thing Namjoon was good at, it was leading. He was incredibly intelligent with vast amounts of charisma and patience, all which made him excellent at any leadership role. Consequently, that was why he was training to be a restaurant manager rather than a chef. The boy couldn’t cook to save his life, but no one could run and lead a restaurant better than he could.

“He started it!” You childishly reply and Hoseok chuckles, shaking his head while Yoongi huffs.

“You’re not six ____,” Yoongi reprimands and once again you pout. Yoongi was a master fermenter. Anything from alcohol to cheeses, if you could ferment it, Yoongi would master it and ensure that anything he fermented was the highest quality.

“It’s not like Jin-hyung doesn’t act six himself whenever ____ is concerned” Hoseok defends and you quickly send him an appreciative glance, causing him to wink at you. Hoseok, for as bright and bubbly as he was, was a demon in the kitchen. Specifically, if it included seafood. He could butcher a hanging monkfish with precision unlike any other and deshell and plate a lobster blindfolded. The man was legendary when it came to seafood.

See the worst thing about Seokjin, were his friends. Not because you hated them or anything, your rivalry was with Seokjin and Seokjin only. Your hatred stemmed from the fact that they were also your friends. The issue was that both his friendship group and yours were pretty damn integrated, meaning that even outside of class you had to sometimes see and interact with him. Although, most of those interactions ended up with either the both of you challenging each other to another cook-off or you screaming and stomping away from how ridiculously annoying he could be. Before either you or Seokjin can retaliate, you notice everyone begin to stand straighter. You quickly turn back around to the podium, watching all the academy head chefs begin bowing as Headmaster Bang walks onto the stage. You take a deep breath, steeling in all your nerves for whatever he was about to announce.

“Good afternoon. You’re all probably wondering why, just after your last exams, I’ve gathered all third years here. Well, that is because passing those exams means that you are one step closer to your goals. Graduating from Big Hit Academy of Culinary Arts. For decades, my family has cultivated the best chefs in Asia through this academy. This academy has a reputation for producing the best of the best. However, that comes at a price. The exams are increasingly difficult and any failures result in immediate expulsion. However, this process has led to the production of world-class chef graduates. Congratulations to all of you who have made it here today. But, your assessment doesn’t end there. With the end of your exams, comes your next challenge” Headmaster Bang begins and as soon as the words leave his mouth, you hear everyone begin to groan.

“You are all third years, soon to graduate. However, we cannot let you graduate without first-hand experience of working in a restaurant. Therefore, you will all be paired up and placed in a restaurant for a week. Each restaurant has a different passing criterion, meaning the condition to pass in one restaurant will be different from the condition to pass in another. Anyone who fails to meet their criteria will fail and be expelled. Pairings are based on your performance within the academy within the last three years. Now, we will begin calling out your pairings along with the restaurant you will be working at” Headmaster Bang concludes and you let out a little sigh, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to catch a break for the next week at least.

Your small group of friends listen as names are called out along with pairings. Namjoon and Taehyung are paired together, which makes sense considering both of them somehow fail half their classes; Namjoon due to his lack of cooking skills – knowledge only helps so much – and Taehyung because of how nervous he can get during exams. Jimin and Hoseok are also paired off together with Yoongi and Jungkook making up another pair. You snicker slightly, wondering which idiot would be stuck with Seokjin considering all your friends are now paired up. You grin mirthfully when Headmaster Bang calls out Seokjin’s name, listening eagerly for the name of his poor, poor partner.

“Kim Seokjin and _____ _____, you will be in Hunan, a small Chinese restaurant. Please see head chef Hobeom for details” Headmaster Bang calls out and you immediately pale when your name is called out. Now that you thought about it, of course, it was you. Your grades were only matched by Seokjin so of course, it was you who was his poor, poor partner.

“Well, guess it’s you and me partner” You hear Seokjin snigger against your ear and immediately feel despair wash over you at his overly pleased tone.

This was, undoubtedly, going to be the worst week of your life.

A couple days later, you find yourself staring curiously at the restaurant your challenge would be taking place at. The academy had arranged for you and Seokjin to stay in a nearby hotel considering the restaurant was pretty far from campus. However, the more you look at the restaurant, the more you’re confused. It’s completely empty. At first, you had thought that perhaps it was just closed; but that wasn’t the case. The sign read open, the lights were on and you could see the staff milling about idly inside, doing nothing as they stared out the window. You frowned slightly before checking the time. It read 7:30pm, which was prime time for a restaurant to be busy. You looked around, the streets were bustling and other restaurants were full of happy customers. So why was this one completely empty?

“Weird isn’t it? I wonder why it’s empty” a voice says from right beside your ear and you immediately jump, almost screaming at the sudden presence of someone next to you. Seokjin lets out a shrill laugh, shoulders shaking as he watches you glare at him.

“Don’t fucking do that you ass!” You reprimand with a glower, Seokjin shrugging.

“Not my fault you weren’t paying attention. I did say hi, you just weren’t listening” Seokjin says and a small part of you wants to slap him but you know that won’t get you anywhere. So instead, you take a deep breath and calm yourself down.

“Whatever. Let’s go” You say, approaching the restaurant. The two of you enter, the staff immediately standing with bright, hopeful grins as one of the wait staff approaches both of you with menus.

“Hello! Welcome to Hunan! Table for two?” The man asks with a bright smile. So, the emptiness of the restaurant didn't have anything to do with the customer service then. You look at him sheepishly before bowing.

“We apologise, we’re not here to dine. We’re the students from Big Hit Academy, we’re here to work in your restaurant for a week” You say apologetically and the staff deflate immediately.

“I see. Let me go get the owner” The waiter says and you nod before watching him disappear into the back. A couple moments later, he returns, this time with a young, slender woman.

“Hello! You must be ____ and Seokjin! Thank you so much for coming. I’m Wei Meilin, but you can call me Mei. I’m both the owner and the chef of Hunan” She says, greeting you both with a bow. You and Seokjin both introduce yourselves with a small bow too.

“How can we help you?” Seokjin asks and Mei sighs, looking around forlornly.

“As you can see, my restaurant is completely empty. This has been happening for a while actually. You see, I was gifted this restaurant by my parents because it’s been my lifelong dream to own an authentic Chinese restaurant. It’s even in a prime location and the restaurant is newly renovated. But I can’t seem to draw in customers at all. That’s where you guys come in. I need help to bring in customers” Mei says and you immediately blanch. So, your entire challenge was to prevent a restaurant from going bankrupt and closing down? How the hell were you supposed to do that?

“We’ll try our hardest! But first, do you have any idea why the restaurant could be failing?” Seokjin asks and you gape at him, completely agog. Did he really believe there was a chance the two of you could save this place? You were just students, granted at the top of your class in the best culinary academy in Asia, but still, this seemed almost like an impossible task.

“Honestly, it could just be due to the competition. When I first opened, we had customers who wanted to try the new restaurant and business was good at first. But considering there are a number of Chinese restaurants around here, we just started losing customers until it became like this” Mei says, looking slightly downcast. Your heart gripes for her and you send her a reassuring smile, solidifying your resolve.

“We’ll help you in any way we can! By the end of this week, your restaurant will be back on its feet!” You say, determination sparkling in your eyes. Mei’s eyes widen and she immediately nods, fists balling up as she pumps them.

“I’ll show you both to the kitchen! I don’t know how I can help you because I’ve tried everything, but if you have any ideas please let me know! I’ll be in the office going over the books” Mei says before leaving you and Seokjin to yourselves. As soon as she leaves, you let out a sigh; glowering at Seokjin.

“What’s your issue?” Seokjin asks causing you to frown.

“What do you mean what’s my issue? Do you honestly think we could do this?” You ask and Seokjin’s left eyebrow rises.

“You’re the one who promised we’d get the restaurant back on its feet” Seokjin points out.

“Only because you said we’d try our hardest! We’re students, how are we supposed to stop a restaurant going bankrupt?” You snapped.

“It doesn’t matter, does it? Because this is our task. If we don’t complete it, we fail and both get expelled. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be expelled when graduation is so near” Seokjin says simply and immediately your anger deflates, knowing he was correct.

“Uh whatever, let’s just figure out the problem” You replied, taking a seat at one of the counters. Seokjin takes a seat beside you, flicking through the recipe book Mei had most likely left out for the two of you to browse through.

“Could it be the menu?” You asked curiously, peering over his shoulder to peep at the different recipes.

“No,” Seokjin says, shutting your question down immediately. You clench your fists, ire rising as you grow agitated at his short response. However, you take a deep breath, knowing that you needed to somehow work with him in order to complete the test set by your academy.

“And why is that? You grit out and Seokjin shows you Mei’s recipes. You quickly skim through them, a small frown marring your face when you reach the end.

“See? Her recipes are good. In fact, they’re great. Any of these dishes would be wonderfully flavoured. The spices are harmonious with each other and if the meat or vegetables are cooked to perfection, then she should have no issue with her actual food. It’s not the menu that’s the problem” Seokjin says matter of factly and you grimace.

“Yes, thank you, I’m not completely incompetent, I got that” You mutter under your breath even though you know he can hear you.

“Never said you were incompetent” Seokjin deadpans.

“You’ve never said I was competent either” You rebuke, Seokjin’s mouth quirks slightly before he shrugs you off. You sincerely hated how much he did that.

“If it’s not the menu, then maybe the location?” You ask and once again Seokjin shoots you down as soon as the words escape your lips.

“No. This is a prime location, she shouldn’t have problems with it, especially enough to be a completely deserted restaurant. You saw the number of people outside. The streets were busy” Seokjin recounts. You clench your fists tight, nails digging into your palms as he once again shuts you down.

“Then it has to be the competition like she said” You grit out through clenched teeth. This time Seokjin sighs, looking at you stoically.

“No. There are multiple Chinese restaurants, they’re all competing with each other. Why is it only Hunan that’s completely empty? It doesn’t make sense” Seokjin says calmly and this time, your fists bang into the table, startling him.

“What’s wrong?” Seokjin asks as you glower at him.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! You! That’s what’s wrong. You keep shutting down my suggestions. If it’s not any of that then what could be the issue? Considering you keep saying no to my suggestions, it means you have to know right? You know what’s wrong? Because you’re so much better than me. So, go on. What is it? What’s the problem Mr-I’m-Better-Than-You? Tell me so you can brag about how you figured it out before me and gloat about how much better of a chef than me you are” You finally blow up, unable to contain yourself anymore. Seokjin reels, baulking at you.

“Where is this coming from? Firstly, I’m not shutting you down, I’m just telling you that it couldn’t be the problems you raised. Was I being difficult or unreasonable? Or did I not give you valid reasons as to why the issues with the restaurant couldn’t be what you thought? Secondly, I have never once said I was better than you, nor have I ever thought it, so I have no idea where you got those ideas from” Seokjin says calmly and you let out a humourless laugh.

“Oh please. Don’t act like you haven’t. Of course, you think you’re better than me. That’s why you never compliment my dishes, that’s why we have this stupid rivalry where we continuously try to beat each other. Because you think you’re better than me. Because you think my desserts and dishes suck. Because you think your cooking is better than mine!” You exploded, pointing an accusatory finger at Seokjin.

"Is that why you think I don't compliment your dishes? Have you really deluded yourself that much that you think I don't compliment you because I'm better than you?" Seokjin questions, a mixture of disbelief and incredulity marring his face.

"Well, what else could it be? You always look disappointed every time I score higher on an exam. That's the reason for our rivalry, right? Because you're upset I beat you even though you think you're a better chef than I am?" You scoff. Seokjin shakes his head, letting out a little exasperated sigh.

"Is that the reason you're always so hostile towards me? Because you think that I think I'm better than you?" Seokjin asks, tone calm as he looks at you, completely bewildered.

"I mean... yes? Why else?" You say, now more confused than angry. Why was he just randomly bringing this up? What else could it have been? Your entire rivalry stemmed from how much he grated your nerves. From how he thought he was better than you. It's the reason you had started competing all those years ago. No one rubbed you the wrong way like Seokjin did.

"Okay. Well, let's get something straight. I don't think I'm better than you. Nor have I ever thought that. That's not the reason I'm disappointed nor is that the reason for our rivalry, at least not in my case. I don't understand how you've managed to twist this so much. Here I thought you got mad because we always drew or because we've always been around the same level and you wanted to do better than me. But clearly, that's not the case. If I had realised it earlier, I would have set you straight" Seokjin says; your brows immediately furrow, your back straightening as you regard him with scepticism.

"Well, then what's the reason?" You snap impatiently. You watch as Seokjin's shoulder slump slightly before he turns back to the menu, flicking through it idly.

"I have never once thought that you were beneath me, or that I was better than you. In fact, it's the opposite. I consider us both equals. You, as a chef, are entirely on my level. No one else could rival me the way you do, no one else could keep up with me the way you do. That's the reason I compete with you. Because you keep me on my toes. Because you make me a better chef. I like competing with you because you inspire me to do better, to make my dishes that bit more delicious, to make them a bit more appetising. No one motivates me like you do. No one makes me want to cook or be a better chef than you do" Seokjin starts and with each and every one of his words you're left astounded.

You're completely speechless, unable to reply or even say anything. Because really, what could you say to that? The entire time he speaks, he doesn't look at you but you see his ears turn from their lightly tanned shade to a bright red; a clear sign that he's embarrassed, even if it's not apparent on his face. You startle slightly, since when did you pay enough attention to Kim Seokjin to be able to read him like that?

"And the reason behind my disappointment every time you score higher has nothing to do with me thinking someone worse than me beat me. It's everything to do with how despite the fact that I consider you to be on my level, you have no faith in yourself. Have you ever realised how much you rely on others to compliment your dishes? How much you care about what the Head Chef's think? Okay sure, their words mean something as they're examining us. But it's like… if they said anything bad about your dish that you'd completely fall apart. You're entirely too reliant on what other people think of your desserts and I don’t like that. It disappoints me that my rival, someone who can keep up with me, someone I consider equal to me, cares so much about another person’s opinion. It annoys me that you don't have confidence in your own dishes" Seokjin continues; you take in a sharp breath, nervously shifting now. He turns towards you, staring at you straight and making you gulp.

There's a certain fire behind his eyes, a slight intensity that has you on edge. Because you know he's right. You never were confident in your dishes. You always focused too much on the what ifs. What if it was overly sweetened? What if you hadn't whipped the cream to perfection. What if you overworked the dough and the bread turned out to be hard and chewy rather than soft and fluffy like you wanted it? Often, you were held back by your own securities. Sometimes, you'd panic during exams and need to take a deep breath even though history has proven that you were at the top of Big Hit Academy. That is unless Seokjin was involved. The epiphany comes as a slight shock to you.

"Except for when you're in an exam with me. You're never as sure in your own dishes unless you're up against me. You're always confident and you believe that you can score a better grade than me. That makes me happy. It makes me happy that somehow you have enough confidence in yourself to trash talk and tell me that you're the better chef. But then the judging begins, and you turn back into that anxious ball of stress, so worried that you may not score high enough or that you may fail. Why is that? Why do you, the joint top chef with me, worry so much about failing? When have you ever scored a grade lower than a 90? I hate it. I hate that you rely on others opinions. Yes, as chefs we cook for other people. But what do other people's opinions matter when you're not confident in your own dessert or own dish? You need to learn to rely on yourself. You're only ever confident with me because your annoyance for me apparently outweighs your insecurities. But I want to see that in you always, in any exam. I want to see you be more confident in yourself, as a chef" Seokjin finishes and you're entirely blown away by his sudden tangent.

Your heart is palpitating in your chest as you realise that Seokjin was entirely correct. You were only ever confident with him, how had you never realised that? But more importantly, how much had Seokjin been paying attention to you to have realised that before even you had? You think back to all the times you had caught Seokjin watching you during any exams you'd both had together. Previously, you'd always believed that he was trying to unnerve you or trying to get under your skin, but now you wonder if he was simply watching you. If he was simply learning about you. You have no idea why, but the thought of it causes your heart to race even quicker, your face heating up.

"I- I didn't know that" You replied quietly, unable to look him in the eye. For three years you had hated Seokjin because you thought that he mocked you. Because you thought he thought he was better than you. You had always considered your rivalry something where you had to beat him, where you had to come up on top. Never had you thought of it like Seokjin had; as a way to make you a better chef. But now that you thought about it, it was true. Just like Seokjin, no one motivated you to do better. You always wanted to beat him and in doing so, you always wanted to experiment and strive to be a better chef. For three years you had hated Seokjin for reasons you had clearly deluded yourself into believing. But now, that wasn't the case. You had no idea what to say or how to respond.

"It's late. Why don't we call it a night?" You suddenly say, pushing your chair back as you abruptly get up. Seokjin jerks at the sound of your chair scraping against the linoleum tiled floor. He watches as you run out the kitchen, brows furrowed, wanting to call out to you. But you’re long gone.

You hurriedly walked through the restaurant, bowing to the servers and staff before quickly exiting. You take in a deep breath, Seokjin's words running through your head at a mile a minute. Your hand moves to your chest, palm flat as you try and still your racing heart. Confusion clouds your every fibre, as you ponder his words. Really what the hell was his problem? How dare he simply confuse you like that? You had spent three years hating him and now what? You knew very well that you couldn't hate him, not when he confessed that he didn't think he was better than you. Because now your hate isn’t justified and if you continued being hostile, it’d just be because you were being petty. You take another deep breath, once again trying to still your rapidly beating heart to no avail. Why did he have to mess you up and confuse you like that? And why the hell was your heart racing so much?

Damn Kim Seokjin.

He really was an ass.

The next day you walk into the restaurant, this time a lot calmer than you had been the night before when you'd all but run out on Seokjin after his confession. You hadn't even waited for him to join you, instead, racing back to the hotel as quickly as you could. You were still somewhat confused about where you now stood with Seokjin. You'd hated him for years and you knew you couldn't just continue hating him. Not when he had inadvertently made you a better chef than you thought. But you couldn't suddenly be best friends with him either, thus leaving you in a weird place where he was concerned. So, with determination coursing through your veins, you decide that you'd be civil. You enter the kitchen, noting that Seokjin is already there. Once again, he has the restaurant's recipe book out but this time, you note, he also has other pieces of scrap paper around him.

"Hey," Seokjin greets and you smile shortly, greeting him back. A large part of you feels completely awkward; this is foreign ground. You'd never been civil to Seokjin, much less had a pleasant conversation with him. But now, looking back at it, that was more your own fault than anything considering you’d usually be the first to get agitated. Of course, it didn't help that Seokjin taunted you either. But more often than not, you'd be the one who'd start the arguments.

"Hi. What's this?" You ask, pointing towards the papers littered around him.  The words are slightly stilted and your tone more than awkward but you remind yourself that you'd be polite and try and work things out with him.

"I visited a few restaurants nearby and took some notes. I think I figured out the problem" Seokjin says. You look at him with wide eyed wonder, quickly approaching him. You skim through the pieces of paper around him, realising they have restaurant names and then a few dishes under the name. With a frown, you realise that on each piece of paper there's one dish name circled.

"What's the issue?" You ask, taking a seat next to him.

"Signature dishes. Each and every restaurant around here has a signature dish that their restaurant specialises in. Hunan doesn't have that. I think that's the issue. A lot of the dishes between each restaurant are the same as Hunan's. But the others have a speciality that draws their customers in" Seokjin explains and your eyes bug out of your skull.

“That makes sense! That’s probably why other people are drawn to the other restaurants. If most of the menu is the same, there’s no reason to go to one over the other. But having a signature dish gives a restaurant a certain edge because no one can replicate that specific dish” You quickly respond, catching onto Seokjin’s explanation.

“Exactly and therefore since Hunan doesn’t have one, there’s no reason to come here. Especially when they could get any dishes on this menu at the other restaurants” Seokjin finishes.

“Wow, okay so we should create a signature dish for Hunan? What do you think we should do?” You ask and Seokjin lets out a small sigh, looking up at the ceiling as he ponders the thought.

“Well it needs to be something we can both contribute to, so desserts are out. We probably need something that includes both dough and something with meat. But nothing comes to mind right now and we also need to be sure other restaurants don’t have the same dish. I think we need to go around. I only managed to look at a couple restaurants before I had to be here. Do you want to go check the others out with me?” Seokjin asks, turning his gaze towards you.

“That sounds like a plan. Are we gonna sit in and try dishes or?” You question and Seokjin stares at you blankly.

“Why?”

“Well, it gives us time to look at the menu in more detail but also to check out their specialities, right? It’ll give us ideas for Hunan’s speciality if we try their food too” You explain, Seokjin nodding enthusiastically.

“That sounds like a really good idea. Come on, let’s go” Seokjin says, immediately grabbing your hand and dragging you out of the kitchen.

A few hours later, you find yourself treading besides Seokjin. The two of you had been to various restaurants around Hunan, and it was safe to say that you were more than full. In fact, you were sure the two of you had overeaten and you could feel your body becoming lethargic, needing a post food nap. You let out a slight yawn causing the man walking beside you to giggle. You felt yourself grow slightly agitated, elbowing him for mocking you. Although, even you could tell it had lost its usual angry lustre, now being more playful than anything.

“Sorry, you just look so cute yawning,” Seokjin says from beside you. His words are entirely nonchalant and he says them as if it’s no big deal but your entire body freezes and you instantaneously stop, gaping at his back as he continues walking. He gets a few steps ahead of you before realising you were no longer beside him. Seokjin turns around, raising his brow at you; silently questioning why you were no longer walking.

“What’s wrong?” He asks and you immediately close your jaw, shaking your head furiously as you stalk towards him. Your face is heated from his casual compliment and internally you curse him for his confusing words. You were rivals, why the hell was he calling you cute all of a sudden?

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing” You answer quickly, indignation lacing your tone. Seokjin stares at you in confusion before shrugging it off, chalking it up to one of your usual moods around him. You quickly catch up to him, but your pace is brisk and Seokjin is left reeling from your sudden mood change. He quickly thinks back to what he could have done to cause you to behave the way you are when it suddenly dawns on him. His entire face lights up, an impish smile on his face as he looks down at you.

“Are you embarrassed because I called you cute?” He asks slyly and your blood freezes before you shake your head furiously.

“No! Of course not! Why would I care what you think? Me? Embarrassed? Ha! Absolutely not. I’m not embarrassed that you called me c-c-cute. No, absolutely not!” You rapidly blurt out, flailing your arms around you. Seokjin watches you with poorly masked amusement and as soon as you stutter out your final words, you quickly catch yourself.

“Right, of course, you’re not,” Seokjin says, a knowing smile on his face. You let out a small scowl before clearing your throat.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Come on, let’s get back so we can brainstorm new ideas for Hunan’s speciality” You say quietly, tucking your hair behind your ear before once again stalking off.

“Cute” Seokjin chuckles, watching your retreating figure before jogging to catch up with you.

Another few hours later, the two of you find yourself in your hotel room. Seokjin is sat on the floor, leaning against your bed with a cushion in his lap while you lie on the bed beside him. You’ve both got various recipe cards, scrap paper with a mix of yours and Seokjin’s notes scrawled on them and various snack wrappers littered around you. Both your hair is messy from running your hands through it as you brainstormed different ideas but nothing was clicking so far.

“How about a signature hotpot?” Seokjin suggests and you shake your head once again, pointing towards a scrap piece of paper.

“There’s literally an entire restaurant dedicated to hotpot,” You remarked, Seokjin groaning.

“That was such a good idea. Everyone loves hotpot” He comments and you snort.

“Agreed, hotpots are amazing. But how was it a good idea? What would I have contributed?” You question and Seokjin shrugs.

“I don’t know, the noodles?” He jokes and you playfully smack the back of his head.

“You know I’m not a noodle expert. They don’t count as part of my discipline” You point out, causing him to sigh. He throws his head back, neck rested on your bed as he stares at the ceiling.

“Are we ever going to find something? The more I think about it, the more I think that our disciplines are complete opposites. Is there something that we could both create together?” Seokjin mumbles, more to himself than anything. You share in his slightly dejected thoughts. The number of Chinese restaurants around meant that there were very few things that weren’t already specialities and then if you added that you both needed to contribute, it was even slimmer to find a perfect dish. You quickly glanced over to the clock on your bedside table, before exhaling deeply.

“I think it’s time to call it a night. we’re both exhausted and we’ve been at this for hours. It may help to get a good night’s sleep and looking at this with fresh eyes in the morning” You say, Seokjin nodding as he yawns loudly. You watch his lips in a slight trance, the way they stretch out before returning to their usual plush and puffy state. Briefly, you wonder if they feel as soft as they look before shaking your head. You look away, gaping at the wall. Just how tired were you that your thoughts were straying to completely unnecessary and uncharted territory?

“That sounds like a good plan. I’ll see you tomorrow then” Seokjin says, grabbing the snack wrappers before standing to his full height. Your neck strains to look up at him from your position and you’re taken aback from how tall he really is. You’d never really noticed it, usually too busy scowling at him as you thought up ways you could beat him in your exams. But now that the two of you were alone, and on more civilized terms, you were truly able to take in his figure.

He was tall; so tall that he stood an entire head over you. And ridiculously broad; was it even possible to have such broad shoulders naturally? Especially with how narrow his waist and hips were, leading to long legs and thick thighs. With a startling realisation, you realise that Seokjin is handsome and far more beautiful than you had ever pegged him for. It should have been illegal or at least completely impossible to have been built like that with a face like that. It was unfair; how was anyone supposed to compete? You’d always thought he was stupidly attractive but this level of handsome was completely unnecessary.

“____? You okay?” Seokjin calls out and you abruptly jerk back, realising how close he was. His face is almost touching yours, and you can feel his warm breath against your lips as he stares curiously at you. All of a sudden, you let out a little squeal, pushing him away as you roll, trying to put more distance between him and you.

“Woah, you okay?” Seokjin asks and you nod rapidly, trying to stay as calm as possible despite your previously traitorous thoughts and rapidly pumping heartbeat.

“Perfectly fine!” You call out, quickly getting off the bed before placing your palms on his chest in an effort to push him out of your room. The minute your palms touch his chest however, you’re quickly wondering just what he looks like underneath his shirt because his chest feels hard and perfectly chiselled.

“____?” Seokjin asks curiously, and once again you realise that your mind was wandering to places you definitely did not want it to be.

“GOODNIGHT! BYE” You all but scream, pushing him towards the door before practically throwing him out, slamming the door in his face. As soon as he’s out, you scrunch your flushed face, leaning your head against the cool door.

“What is wrong with you? Get a grip of yourself! He’s your rival! Whether you’re on better terms not or not! You still have to beat him” You chastise yourself, reigning in your mind as you refuse to let your treacherous mind wander into that territory once again. You quickly slap your face with both hands before rushing into the bathroom to get changed. This was, undoubtedly, going to be a long week.

Two days later and you and Seokjin still haven’t come up with a solution to your task, no matter how much you’d brainstormed. You walk into the restaurant dejectedly on the fourth day. You had four days left until your challenge ended, which included today. How you were going to pass, you had no idea. You press open the steel door of the kitchen; however, instead of seeing Seokjin hunched over the counter with various pieces of paper like you were used to, you see him grinning with a wide array of ingredients around him. Your face crunches as you approach him curiously.

“What’s going on?” You ask as Seokjin throws you a chef jacket.

“BAO!” Seokjin all but yells in triumphant and you lurch slightly, astounded by his sudden outburst.

“What?” You question, puzzlement lacing your tone.

“Bao! I don’t know how we didn’t think of it before! But Hunan’s speciality should be Bao!” Seokjin explains and your eyes widen, shining with hope as you nod enthusiastically.

“Yes! Oh my god! That’s perfect!” You cry, abruptly and inadvertently throwing your hands around him in joy. Seokjin’s arms instinctively wrap around you and soon you’re both stiffening, unsure how to respond to the unfamiliar situation. You stare up at him, his dark gaze on you. It takes you a couple moments for you brain to kick back into gear; realising exactly what you’d done, you quickly let him go before clearing your throat, trying to stifle your blush.

“Right. Sorry about that, I wasn’t thinking” You quickly apologise; Seokjin simply laughs it off, hand rubbing the back of his head as he tries to play it cool, despite his red-hot ears.

“That’s fine, you were excited, it’s completely understandable,” Seokjin says, brushing it off. The two of you stand still, unsure of how to continue as an awkward tension washes over the two of you.

“So… how did you come up with bao?” You ask, trying to move on from the painful silence.

“Oh! I visited a small convenience store and they were selling frozen bao and it got me thinking. There is not a single bao restaurant in the vicinity and none of the restaurants have them on their menu. I think that’s why we completely forgot about them. But, it has both our disciplines. I can make the meat filling and you can make the bao dough yes?” Seokjin asks with a grin, beaming with pride.

“That’s…” You start with a smile before it slowly falls off your face. You want to congratulate him and tell him he’s done well, but you’re unsure how to. This was completely new territory for the both of you. You glance at Seokjin, realising he’s waiting for you to continue. You take in a deep breath, gathering all your strength and courage before stomping down your own screaming pride. Plastering a genuine smile on your face, you beam at him.

“That’s amazing Seokjin. Thanks…. I was starting to lose hope in completing this challenge” You mumble earnestly, rubbing your arm shyly. Seokjin’s eyes soften at how small you look before placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey! We’re two of the best students at the Academy. There was no way we’d fail this, right?” Seokjin says in an effort to cheer you up. You nod, the entire situation slightly jarring because here was Kim Seokjin, you sworn rival, comforting you. You shake off your thoughts, instead, taking off your outer jacket and slipping on the chef jacket as you get ready to work. You quickly tie your hair up and wash your hands, turning to him in determination.

“Alright! Let’s do this. You get started on the meat filling and I’ll start the dough” You immediately delegate. Seokjin raises his eyebrow at your sudden change in demeanour before he lets out a lopsided smile. With a mock salute, he turns and begins pulling out various meats from the fridge, getting to work.

Half an hour later, you spot Seokjin placing his pork into the oven. You turn back to your dough, kneading it as hard as you can as you try to get it to the correct consistency. Seokjin quickly clears up before walking up to you, watching you curiously. He takes a look at the large bowl, letting out a whistle at the amount of dough you have inside.

“That’s a lot of dough” Seokjin comments and you roll your eyes at the obvious statement.

“Yes, well done Sherlock. I figured we’d need more than one portion considering we need the staff to try it. Also, I assume you have more than one type of filling” You reply but Seokjin simply shakes his head, rolling his sleeves up.

“No, I thought we’d keep it simple and go with a classic. Char Siu Bao, a fan favourite and guaranteed to draw customers in” Seokjin states, sending you a thumbs up, as if he’d just advertised the best dish. You deflate slightly.

“It’s a good plan but this just means I’ve made too much dough” You almost whine, your arms already tired from all the kneading. Seokjin simply pats your head, drawing closer towards you.

“Here, let me help,” He says before placing his hand into the bowl with you. Your startle slightly, gawking up at him in astonishment. He ignores you, instead, focusing on kneading the dough in the bowl with you.

“I know I’m handsome but are you just going to stare or are you going to help? Your hand’s kind of in the way” Seokjin grins playfully and you feel the vein in your forehead throb as you tut at him.

“With the amount you call yourself handsome, some would think you were in love with yourself,” You remark, Seokjin chuckling at you.

“Is there something wrong with loving yourself?” He asks.

“I said in love with yourself, not loving yourself. There’s a difference” You reply, causing Seokjin to shrug.

“In love, loving yourself. It’s all the same when you have a face like a flower” Seokjin says, flicking his hair out of his forehead before fluttering his eyelashes at you. You burst into laughter at his ridiculousness, giggling as he grins at you.

“Wow, never thought I’d see the day you actually laughed at something I said. Usually, you’d just insult me and walk away. Does this mean you no longer hate me?” Seokjin questions out of curiosity and you immediately sober up from your giggling fit. Having Seokjin point it out feels weird, but the more you think about it, the more you realise he was right. This was weird. You were having a pleasant conversation with your rival and hadn’t felt the surge of hatred you usually felt when interacting with him.

“Hm. I guess I don’t. It’s easier to not hate you when I know you don’t think I’m beneath you. Besides, if I continued hating you now, it would only be out of pettiness” You explain, Seokjin grinning at your words.

“Aha! I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist my charms for too long” Seokjin teases, eyebrows rising suggestively, and you roll your eyes at his antics, refusing to even dignify him with a response.

“Yes, that’s what happened. Let’s just go back to kneading the dough. We still have the challenge to pass” You say, ending the conversation. Seokjin nods, saluting once again causing you to roll your eyes again.

You focus on kneading the dough once again; it’s almost to the consistency it needs to be; but with the amount of dough in the bowl, you know it’s going to take slightly longer than planned. Suddenly, you feel Seokjin’s hands bump against you, your fingers brushing against each other’s as he gently but firmly kneads the dough. Involuntarily, you watch the way his long but slightly crooked fingers work the dough, heel of his palm pressing into the bao mix... You’re almost mesmerised by the movements; you had never truly taken time to watch Seokjin work but right now, as he was gently working the dough, you realise that he, like you, truly loved cooking. You could feel the amount he cared for his craft through the gentleness of his touch, slowly but surely kneading the dough into submission. You watch the way his heel compresses into the soft mixture, dough pooling on either end of his palm.

“It looks about done, right? What do you think oh great Dough Master?” Seokjin jokes, looking at you for advice on whether to keep going or to stop. You glance up, and you faintly acknowledge that he’s said something. In fact, his lips are moving but you can no longer focus on his words, nor can you comprehend them. Instead, you’re completely lost in the way his lips move. They look incredibly pillowy and pink, a slight sheen on his upper lip from the heat of the kitchen. You wonder what they’d feel like against your own lips.

“____?” Seokjin finally says, waving dough covered hands in front of your face. You blink owlishly, your eyes coming back into focus as you’re brought out of your thoughts. You stare up at him questioningly, hoping he’ll repeat himself.

“What?” You say, but Seokjin can tell that you’re slightly dazed. He stares at you, puzzlement etched into his face before pointing at the dough.

“Do you think this is okay? It looks pretty much done” He repeats and you turn back to the dough, blinking owlishly. Your brain slowly kicks back into gear and your face heats as you nod furiously.

“Oh! Um yes! This is perfect! It just needs to rest for two hours now” You say, hastily letting go of the dough, almost as if it had burned you. Briskly walking to the sink, you wash your hands, silently berating yourself for once again getting distracted by Kim Seokjin.

The next few hours move quickly, you and Seokjin throwing yourselves into creating the char Siu bao to the best of both your abilities, presenting the dish to Mei and the rest of her staff. Thankfully, everyone loves the idea of a speciality dish and you and Seokjin grin at each other, happy that you had some sort of plan to tackle Hunan’s lack of customer base.

The following days passed in a blur. Day five sees both you and Seokjin teaching Mei how to create Hunan’s signature bao. Seokjin and Mei work on the meat filling together, Mei chiming in with her own two cents every now and then on what ingredients would make the dish more authentic and which spices would complement each other better, bringing out the flavours of the pork even more. When she’s done with Seokjin, she works with you learning your dough recipe and some techniques you’d picked up during your three years on how to create the perfect dough texture every single time.

Days six and seven you have no time to speak to Seokjin; you both take turns, one trying to promote the new bao on the street, drawing in customers while the other helps in the kitchen. By the end of both days, you’re both completely exhausted and as soon as you get to your hotel rooms, you crash. Luckily, by the end of the week, you’re back in the academy in your own studio apartment, ready to sleep for an entire week after having accomplished your challenge. You were completely exhausted, from your exams, which you had not managed to recover from and from the consecutive week-long excursion to Hunan, in order to gain some restaurant experience.

“Hey ____, your burner is too high. We’re supposed to slow cook the meat,” Seokjin says from a counter diagonally to yours. You hear everyone take in a deep breath, the head chef at the front of the classroom suddenly sitting straight. You know exactly why the class responded the way they did; they were most likely expecting you to blow up and yell at Seokjin to mind his own business, the head chef even getting ready to break up the impending fight.

“Oh? You’re right. Thanks, Jin,” you simply say, turning your burner down before turning back to your task of chopping up the vegetables. Everyone stares in disbelief at your casual acceptance of Seokjin’s advice. The head chef is completely still, mouth dropped at the unexpected occurrence. In all three years of teaching both you and Seokjin, you had never once been civil. The class slowly came to life, some students eagerly whispering to one another, undoubtedly gossiping while others just stared nervously at both you and Seokjin, wondering what the hell had happened.

The rest of the class follows without a hitch, and as usual, you and Seokjin scored the top marks in the class, although Seokjin scores slightly higher than you. Surprisingly, you’re not filled with a burning all-consuming rage to beat him. It had been a month since your trip to Hunan and unsurprisingly you and Seokjin were on much friendlier terms; although no one was as happy as your little friendship group, who were just glad that you could all hang out without you and Seokjin being at each other’s throats. Or, well, more you being at Seokjin’s throat. Sure, the two of you still argued and still had your little competition to see who was the better chef, but everyone could tell that there was no real heat behind the little spats anymore. Now, whenever Seokjin teased or taunted you, you were filled with annoyance and exasperation more than hate.

Seokjin catches your eye as he’s leaving the room; he pauses briefly before grinning, winking and then waving as he leaves. You awkwardly wave back at him before you continue gathering your things. Everyone else, however, just stands in complete astonishment as they watch the little interaction between the two of you. You slowly wander down the long corridor, face slightly scrunched as people stare at you, whispering between themselves. You strain your ears slightly, trying to listen to the hushed conversations.

“Do you think they’re together?”

“Oh my god, Seokjin totally winked at her and she didn’t even yell at him! She just smiled and waved back!”

“Have you noticed that they actually… like, get along now?”

“Yes! They don’t fight anymore, it’s so weird. I never thought I’d see the day”

“It’s really kind of weird… like it’s just weird to see them getting along”

“Really? I always thought they’d end up together”

“WHAT?”

“What? You can’t hate someone that much without wanting to fuck. They always say there’s a thin line between love and hate”

“You’re right! And oh my god, weren’t they paired up for the restaurant challenge? And they stayed in a hotel away from campus!”

“Oh yeah they totally hate fucked and now are in love with each other”

“Ugh, she’s so lucky!”

“Wah! I could totally see that! Even when they argue now it’s like flirting more than an actual argument”

“Agreed! They’re totally secretly dating.”

Throughout your entire eavesdropping session, your face slowly grows warmer and warmer until your ears are hot red. For most of it, you can ignore them. They’re just baseless rumours running through students who had nothing better to do with their time. However, the last few have you suddenly stopping and instantly turning on your heel, stalking towards the two girls who had now moved on from speculating that you and Seokjin were both secret lovers to when it began. They watch you approach them, immediately shutting up as their eyes widen in slight fear, exchanging a nervous glance between each other.

“No! That would never happen! How could you even think of such a thing? M-M-Me and him? Not in this world! Not in any alternate world either! So, what if we get along now? Nothing wrong with it… right? RIGHT! Yes, we just get along. But that would never happen. No, no it wouldn’t! It couldn’t! He likes cooking meat and I like cooking sweet things! See, complete opposites. It would never happen!” You burst, arms flailing around before stomping your foot down. You cross your arms and nod as if you’d made the world’s most flawless argument.

Everyone stares in confusion, murmurs of ‘what is she talking about’ and ‘did you even understand her’ roaming around the corridor. You grow slightly sheepish as even more eyes stare at you. You quickly pull your bag closer to you before briskly walking - really you were practically running - down the corridor. The students all stared at your back, wondering if your rivalry with Seokjin had finally caused you to lose the plot and go insane.

“That was weird right?”

“Do you think she was listening to us?”

“I mean, even if she was… I still have no idea what she was talking about.

“Bro… she didn’t even make any sense”

“God, I can’t believe they thought Seokjin and I would be secretly dating… it’s completely insane! We’re rivals… nothing more! Although we are becoming friends I guess,” You begrudgingly admit to yourself as you slowly open your apartment door. You place your bag down by the door before taking your shoes off and slipping into your house slippers.

“There’s no way. I don’t even like him like that… right?” You speak out loud, more to yourself than anything. But even you have to admit that it sounded more like you were trying to convince yourself than anything. Admittedly, you’re still somewhat confused by your entire relationship - or lack thereof - with Seokjin. It was strange to go from hating him to suddenly being somewhat friendly with him. Although, you have to admit that you had always been moderately confused by Seokjin. Even when you had hated him, you had somewhat admired him reluctantly. A small part of you even acknowledges that the admiration was most likely why you needed him to admit you were a good enough chef. Granted, he now had admitted he thought you were a good chef, hell he’d even said he considered you on his level. Perhaps that was why you were suddenly flustered by him.

Yes. Of course! That had to be it!

Hours later, you were still plagued by thoughts of Seokjin. You lay in bed, mindlessly scrolling through twitter, barely reading the tweets. Your eyes flicked to the top of your phone, groaning when you realised it was nearing two am. You jostled in bed, turning onto your side as you continued scrolling aimlessly, mind still preoccupied on Seokjin. Ten minutes later however you stumbled on a video of two teens snorting crushed ramen. You shook your head, wondering just where people got the idea for this stuff. However, at that very minute, your stomach began growling and suddenly you were craving something sweet.

You pulled yourself out of bed, trudging through your bedroom and into the kitchen. You quickly opened the cabinets, realising you had absolutely no snacks before checking your fridge, hopeful that maybe you had something left over from one of your earlier experiments. However, you had no such luck. Your stomach growled again and you shut your fridge with a groan. You swiftly threw on your jacket, slipping into your trainers before grabbing your keys and wallet, heading out to the twenty-four-hour convenience store next to campus.

The spring night air is crisp and the cool breeze chills your bones slightly, causing you to pull your jacket closer to your body. You wander through the well-lit streets, thoughts once again wandering to Seokjin and your bizarre friendship with him. No matter how much you think about it, you simply can’t comprehend him nor the sudden confusion that clouds your mind whenever it comes to him. Briefly, you wonder if you’ll ever be able to figure it out. It had been hours and you couldn’t come to a single, plausible solution that made sense to you.

Soon you arrive at the convenience store, however, just as you’re about to go in, someone steps out. And of course, that person is none other than the man who had been plaguing your thoughts for most of the day. You blink owlishly, staring at the tall man in front of you. He’s dressed in a loose white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, a long blank jacket draped over him. Your gaze briefly snaps to the plastic bag he’s holding, your face scrunching up before you burst into laughter at the contents of his bag.

“Yah! What the hell are you laughing at?” Seokjin says in indignation, in the same loud voice he usually speaks in whenever Jungkook insults him.

“Why do you have instant ramen?! Oh my god, this is priceless” You cackle, eyes practically tearing up and doubling over as you point at his bag. Seokjin’s ears immediately turn red and he swiftly hides the bag behind him, tutting at you.

“What’s wrong with instant ramen? I’m allowed to buy it!” Seokjin grumbles but his words only cause you to laugh harder.

“Because you’re a top-rated chef, that’s why! Oh my god, I cannot believe you’re buying instant ramen at 2am…” You gasp out, trying to catch your breath from your sudden fit of laughter. Seokjin glowers at you, grumbling to himself before shoving his hands in his pocket, the plastic bag hanging from his wrist.

“Shut up… I was hungry and I didn’t have anything that I could make quickly” Seokjin reasons, but you only grinned brightly at him, as if you had been handed the best prize in the world.

“There, there. I’m only joking” You say and Seokjin nods curtly, his ears still red.

“So why are you here?” He asks, cocking his head to the side.

“I was craving something sweet cause I was hungry… but I think I could do with some ramen too. Come on, let me go buy a packet and I’ll make it for you” You say, grabbing his jacket sleeve without thinking before dragging him back into the store. Seokjin allows you to pull him toward the ramen isle and you soon pick your favourite ramen off the shelf as well as some eggs before paying for it. You and Seokjin walk outside toward the little ramen area.

“Why are you making it for me?” Seokjin asks curiously as he hands you his ramen packet, watching the way you open it, placing the noodles in the tin foil before adding the sachet and hot water.

“Jungkook specialises in ramen remember? His guilty pleasure is instant ramen. But you can’t tell anyone that! He’ll lose his credibility as a ramen master! Anyway, he’s taught me a thing or two about perfecting instant ramen” You explain Seokjin laughing mischievously.

“Oh, that’s some good blackmail material for when he calls me old” Seokjin says and you turn to him, eyes wide before shaking your head furiously.

“No! Absolutely not! I’m the only one who knows, so if you bring it up he’ll definitely know it was me that told you,” You quickly retaliate, your eyes wild at the thought of what Jungkook would do if his little secret got out.

“It’s really not that bad-” Seokjin starts, but you cut him off.

“No! Promise me you won’t say anything!” You quickly shout and Seokjin immediately nods, deflating slightly.

“God! Fine! I won’t say anything. I promise” Seokjin calls out and you smile, nodding before turning to the ramen.

“Oh, nice! It's done! Come eat” You call, grabbing the two tinfoil containers before sitting on one of the wooden benches. Seokjin sits opposite you; you offer him the disposable wooden chopsticks but he shakes his head, pulling out his own from his jacket.

“Why the hell do you just carry chopsticks in your jacket?” You ask, blowing on your ramen before slurping on them.

“You never know when you need them! Like now, see. Now I’m not wasting disposable chopsticks like some people,” He says pointedly causing you to roll your eyes.

"Okay yeah, whatever just eat your damn ramen" You retort, Seokjin laughing before picking some noodles between his chopstick, blowing and placing them in his mouth.

“How is it?” You asked curiously.

“Hmm. It’s good” Seokjin replies as he slurps some more. You grin, tucking into your own container. The two of you sit in silence for a couple moments, unsure of what to say. You haven't really been alone with him since a month ago when you'd both been paired up for the restaurant challenge.

"So," You say, uncomfortable with the tense silence between the two of you. You had foolishly offered to cook him ramen in a spur of the moment decision but you had completely forgotten that you'd have to sit and eat with him. Of course, you had sat and eaten with him when you’d visited all those restaurants at Hunan, but at least then you could talk about the menu and food. What were you supposed to do now? Talk about the history of ramen?

"Why did you become a chef?" Seokjin asked, breaking the silence. He looks at you curiously, slurping some more ramen into his mouth.

"That's... kind of a personal question don't you think?" You answer back, Seokjin snorting slightly before pointing his chopsticks towards you.

"I thought we were friends" comes Seokjin's direct reply.

"I mean... I wouldn't go that far but okay" You respond, looking away, his words startling you. Were you friends? Sure, you weren't exactly enemies anymore, but wasn't friends pushing it? If it were up to you, you'd call it casual acquaintances or something similar.

"Go on then, why did you become a chef?" Seokjin repeats. You let out a little sigh before placing your chopsticks down. You glance up at the sky, the city lights drown out most of the sky, but there are still a few stars that lit up the night sky.

"My parents used to run a small cake shop in our town, so I basically just grew up baking and making desserts. I learnt a lot from mom and grandpa and eventually just got better than them. I think the first time I baked one of grandpa's recipes was around the age of five. Mom helped obviously, but grandpa loved it so much. He'd started baking for grandma and he loved that I picked up the skill and well, that's why I started baking" You say, a small wistful smile on your face as you remember your grandfather's smile when you'd presented the cake to him.

"That doesn't explain why you became a chef though. A pâtissier yeah, but not why you joined Big Hit. You don’t have to have studied professionally to run a family-run cake shop" Seokjin points out and you turn back to him, cocking your head to the side.

"That was because by the time it got to applying for universities, mom and grandpa knew there was nothing more they could teach me. They both had been saving up to send me here because they thought my talents were wasted in their little bakery and well, after all the years of saving, I didn't have the heart to tell them no and so here I am, three years later. It was probably the best decision of my life" You say, a wistful smile on your face as you remembered their kindness.

"So, you decided on a whim then?" He clarifies and you shrug.

"I guess so. I never really thought about anything other than baking in grandpa's bakery but they both knew there were bigger things out there than a small cake shop in Busan" You say Seokjin nodding.

"That's fair enough, I just thought that maybe it would have been a big dream of yours of something. I always wondered why you were so hell-bent on always being the top," Seokjin comments offhandedly and you sneer slightly at him.

"Grandpa and mom spent a lot of time and money on my tuition here. I can't exactly disappoint them by failing, now can I... especially now after I've come so far" You point out, Seokjin nodding in accord.

"Still doesn't explain why you wanted to beat me so bad. You didn't have to fail but that didn't mean you had to try so hard to be first either" Seokjin points out, causing you to scowl at him again before your face turns passive once again.

"No, you’re right. A lot of that was to do with how much you annoyed me," You deadpan, Seokjin snickering, causing you to roll your eyes.

"Okay, enough about me. Why did you become a chef?" You ask, curious to find out Seokjin's reasons for becoming a chef.

"It's not as meaningful as yours. I did it more as an act of defiance than anything" Seokjin replies, both of you long since finished with your ramen. You quirk an eyebrow, waiting for him to delve deeper into his explanation.

"Well my dad wanted to go into the family business, but I really didn't want to. This was... let's say a compromise" Seokjin responds.

"Okay yes, because that isn't cryptic or anything... come on! I told you my reasons" You whine slightly, and Seokjin chuckles.

"Stop pouting, I can't say no to you when you do that," Seokjin says all of a sudden and you immediately jerk, face flushing as you process his words.

"W-What? Don't just say things like that!" You scream, pointing at him accusingly. Really, what was his problem? What was he so flirty for?

"But if I didn't then I wouldn't be being true to myself. But anyway, if you really want to know... my dad's a CEO, he owns a chain of restaurants and wanted me to take over even though I didn't want to. I wanted to be an actor but he said no to that. My other hobby was cooking considering I’d been in professional kitchens since I could walk, so I said I'd take over if he let me attend Big Hit Academy. He agreed" Seokjin elaborates but you simply scrunch your eyebrows.

"Where's the compromise in that? Doesn’t he get what he wants in the end anyway?" You refuted but Seokjin just sends you a sly glance before leaning in.

"See, what he doesn't know is that I'll only be taking over one restaurant, which I won't manage but be the head chef of" Seokjin loudly whispers, his tone conspiratorial.

"Won't that piss him off? But also, who will run the restaurants then?" You ask, curious about Seokjin's future plan. Seokjin's face contorts with pride as he grins at you.

"It won't matter because I'll be in charge anyway so he won't have a say in it. But also, I'll just hire a professional CEO or something, someone who could actually manage the restaurants. To be honest, as graduation is nearing, I was wondering if I could just hire Namjoonie to do it. No one is as good a manager as him, plus it's all boring like numbers and graphs and he likes that stuff, right?" Seokjin asks, staring at you earnestly. You giggle slightly, imagining Namjoon's face if Seokjin offered him the job before nodding enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I think he'd really love that to be honest," You replied, smiling softly at Seokjin, causing him to respond with his own smile, the wells in his cheeks at the corner of his lips deepening. It's adorable and only further draws attention to his already perfect lips. How had you not noticed them before?

"Damn, it's almost three am. Do you want to head back? I'll walk you home" Seokjin offers as he gathers up your empty foil containers, plopping them in the bin before wiping down his chopsticks, placing them back in his pocket.

"Oh, you really don't have to! It's not a long walk from here anyway" You quickly say, trying to refuse his offer. Seokjin simply sends you a look that has you sighing, immediately knowing that there was no way he'd be letting you off that easily.

"Come on, I can’t let you walk alone at this time of the night," Seokjin says and you quickly follow him, leading the way.

The two of you spend the short walk speaking more about your life out of the academy. You tell Seokjin about running the little cake shop with your mother and grandfather, your father spending most of his time in the city with his office job. You don't even stop and think about opening up to him as it all comes naturally to you. You'd never really noticed how easy it was to talk to Seokjin, not that you'd really had any reason to beforehand considering your - now that you thought about it - petty rivalry. You tell him about how you'd bake a special cake for the bakery once a week that would have people bustling in for your desserts. You even tell him about how you and your grandfather bake a special cake for your mother on her birthday. In turn, Seokjin tells you more about his home life. His father, as loving and doting as he was, would usually be too busy running the business, leaving his mother to look after both his brother and himself.

"If I was being completely honest... the reason I started cooking wasn’t that I grew up around kitchens. Sure, it interested me… seeing how basic ingredients turn into something else. But, I started because my mother is an awful cook and my brother is no better. I got tired of eating inedible food and took over the cooking in the house. And well, it turned out that I was really good at it. Sometimes I wonder if I should stop and just take over the family business like dad wants but then I remember my mother's smile every time I would cook her something, and I remember why I started and how much I love it, and it just motivates me to keep going" Seokjin says, a wistful look on his face as the two of you near your apartment complex. Your head snaps to him in slight awe of his sudden confession.

"Wow... I had no idea you thought about quitting or giving up" You mutter, Seokjin looking down at you with a rueful smile.

"Does it not get too much for you sometimes? The pressure...? Everyone expects you to always be at the top or for you to come up with amazing dishes time after time. Sometimes I forget how much I love cooking and the pressure just builds up but I just remember mom and her smile and everything gets better" Seokjin states, his tone light again, a genuine smile returning to his face. Your fingers twitch slightly, wanting to reach out and grasp his hand to offer him some semblance of comfort. But you can't do that. You may be somewhat friends, but your relationship was nowhere near that level of intimacy. So, you settle for the next best thing.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm glad you didn't quit. I'd miss our rivalry... and you do make me a better chef" You admit grudgingly, Seokjin raises an eyebrow at your statement, an amused smirk on his face. You immediately flush, "B-Besides, winning by default isn't really winning" You stammer, trying to explain yourself but you and Seokjin both know you're lying.

"I'm glad I stayed. You make me a better chef too" Seokjin says with a wink. Your face heats further and you try to respond, but instead, you simply stutter, unable to think of a response.

"Oh look! We're here! Wow, it's really late. I'll see you at the academy!" You suddenly blurt, your words rushed as you try and get away from him. Seokjin instantly reaches out and grabs your hand, pulling you back.

"Hey! We've got a break now, I won't see you for a week or something. Besides, that's not a proper goodbye" Seokjin points out and you scowl despite the prominent blush on your face.

"What do you... mean?" You start before trailing off, watching as Seokjin bends over to the rose bushes planted at the bottom of your complex. He plucks one off of the bush, it's not fully bloomed yet, only a few petals unfurling from the bud, before handing it to you.

"Goodnight ____," Seokjin says with an over-exaggerated bow. You roll your eyes at his antics before accepting the flower, breathing in the subtle scent of the rose. Seokjin stands straight again and then winks at you before turning around and walking away. You roll your eyes at him again before you too turn around and enter your building.

A couple moments later and you're back in your small studio apartment. You wander to the kitchen, pulling out a vase from the cabinet before filling it with water. Carrying the vase, you place it in the living room on your coffee table before placing the rose in it. The vase is slightly too big for the single flower, but it still looks pretty nonetheless. You glance at the rose one last time before returning to bed, a small smile on your face.

a/n: uwu what did you think?? please let me know!!

▷ Part II | Masterlist

[harrylee94]

Log Entry XXXXXX - Chapter 1

Summary: A new space station, complete with the most high spec and up to date technology there is to offer, has been set up at the edge of the known universe, a new way point for explorers to keep in contact with the rest of the human race. It has been carefully designed by the best scientists and engineers Earth could offer, and now 7 brave souls are being sent out to ensure everything works perfectly.

However, when Logan wakes from cryosleep from the journey, he is informed that several things are now in need of repair, though everything had been in perfect working condition when the station had been reconstructed before he and his crew had arrived. They will have to solve the problems they've been left with before the station is up and running, and yet Logan can't help but feel he's done this before...

Relationships: Intrulogical (Remus/Logan)

Warnings: Blood, Gore, Parasites, Remus having an overactive imagination, It’s an Among Us crossover so there will be bad stuff afoot.

A/N: For those of you who don't know, this story is based off of a comic by @fangirltothefullest which I HIGHLY recommend you check them out on the link above! Their art is AMAZING.

Note to everyone before we begin; there will be graphic descriptions of gore, dismemberment, possibly torture, and any other awful things that come with the territory of writing a story in an Among Us universe.

To read it on AO3 please click here.

Chapter 1: Log Entry #1

Stardate: October 17th XX20. 6:00 AM

Logan blinked his eyes open as the dim light of the cryodeck slowly brightened, emulating the rising of the sun back on Earth and offering a gentle escape from his induced hibernation. He waited patiently as his body began to realise that it was awake again and started to carefully move each digit. The tingle of pins and needles washed over him like a wave, but he'd been expecting it; he had taken the chance to research the effects that cryosleep would leave on the body, and had found it quite a fascinating read. Apparently it was very similar to freezing meat the preserve it, but the science behind it meant that the human body would be kept alive throughout the process, just severely slowed down, so when the process was reversed the human body had to take some time to recover. Hence the pins and needles.

He was just starting to curl his hands into fists when he heard the thud and slap of a body hitting the floor nearby, shortly followed by a long, low groan.

"You're supposed to wait until your blood flow has returned to normal," Logan said, his voice cracking for disuse.

The groan sounded again, followed by the sound of whoever it was who had decided that getting out of the pod immediately was a good idea crawling closer before a blurred dark head of hair with a streak of white revealed itself over the edge. Logan frowned.

"I thought Virgil was supposed to be in the same chamber as me."

Remus pouted. "Aw, don't you love me anymore, Ana-Logie?"

Logan raised an eyebrow at him at the nickname. "We were given specific cryochambers in which we were to be stored during our journey here. I can recall quite clearly that you were supposed to be with Roman while Virgil had been positioned next to myself."

Remus blew a raspberry at him and folded his arms over the edge of Logan's resting place, setting his chin on them. "Since when do I do what I'm told?"

That was a good point. "Then where is Virgil?"

"We swapped," Remus replied, biting his lip as he looked Logan up and down. "I didn't want to end up burning in an oxygen fuelled explosion and disappearing into the empty void of space unless it was by your side."

Logan smiled softly up at him and pulled his still tingling arm up to cup his cheek, humming when Remus leaned into it. "It is highly unlikely that we would have died in our journey. Everything was monitored by several A.I. systems, all of which have been tested on hundreds of previous missions. The chances of failure were miniscule."

"But it was possible," Remus said, his grin stretching the way it always did when he was thinking of something disturbing. "The cryochambers could have malfunctioned, turning us into frozen chickens, and we would have shattered into a thousand pieces when the chambers tipped over, which would have melted and we would have been all these bloody bits of bone and flesh, all mixing all over the floor, like a swamp where all the fish have died and it's turned the water rancid, and then the maggot and flies would have feasted on--"

Logan pulled himself up and shut him up with a kiss, making Remus freeze for a second before relaxing into him. Fingers wove into his hair, and the scientist sighed into Remus's mouth before pulling away, eliciting a moan from the man. "We didn't. We're fine. We are both awake and alive, and it is time we change."

"But I like you in skin tight latex," Remus said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"It would be more accurate to call this a synthetic polymer," Logan told him, pushing himself into a seated position and reaching past Remus for the glasses that had been stored in the side of the cryochamber, slipping them onto his nose he gave Remus an expectant look. "You know the only reason we would have been awoken would be that our arrival to the Station was imminent. I would much prefer it if you were wearing the correct safety gear for when we arrive."

"But wouldn't it be interesting to see what it was like for a human body to be exposed to the vacuum of space?" Remus asked, only to cackle when Logan pushed his face away.

"Get changed, Remus."

_______________________________

Stardate: October 17th XX20. 7:04 AM

Logan shifted the weight of his helmet under his arm as he headed towards the depressurisation chamber, the ship itself having docked only a few minutes after he and presumably everyone else had been awoken. Remus had taken every chance he could get to distract him and slow him down, so his usual twenty minute change into his suit had been prolonged, and he hadn't noticed the message until he was almost out the door.

Each member of the team had a set of keys, a security card and a tablet. Normally Logan would have checked the tablet for any news as soon as he had awoken, but it was only now he was stepping through the last door that he was reading the most recent message.

"Wasn't it supposed to be brand, spanking new?" Remus asked from where he was reading over Logan's shoulder. "Just spanking new?"

"Yes, that was the case," Logan said with a sigh, putting the tablet away in its pouch as the door closed behind him.

They were the last to arrive, as he had expected, and he did not appreciate the smug look that Janus was sending their way from where he was lounging in one of the seats near to a crate of supplies. Virgil was currently being led by Patton through some breathing exercises on the other side of the room while Roman rubbed his back in comfort. Orange was, as always, minding his own business, scrolling through his own tablet in the corner, his helmet beside him and ready to go. Remus immediately took the opportunity to flop on his friend in the yellow suit, much to Janus's chagrin, and Logan sighed.

"I take it everyone is aware of the situation we currently find ourselves in," he said, looking at each of them to observe their reactions before continuing. "It seems that the Station has been damaged in transit, so it will be our main focus in the upcoming days to repair the systems. It shouldn't take more than a day I expect."

"But what... What if it was something else?" Virgil asked between breaths, his eyes deeply shadowed despite the long sleep. "What if it was sabotage?"

"Yeah," Remus agreed with his usual grin. "What if it was the engineers who built it; maybe they made it to malfunction and kill us all! Or it could be a new HAL 9000, ready to blast us off into space one by one. Or maybe aliens-!"

Janus shoved him off his lap, shutting him up before Roman, who had been turning an alarming shade that almost matched his suit, could step in, Virgil's breathing becoming more erratic with each suggestion.

"The likelihood of it being anything other than some damage caused by transit is slim to none," Logan told them, adjusting his glasses. "I assure you, there is no reason to be afraid."

"And I shall be there to protect you," Roman said, placing a hand on his chest and posing as much as he could without removing himself from Virgil's side. "As is my sworn duty. No harm shall come to you as long as I am by your side."

Virgil did not look entirely convinced, but he nodded all the same, smiling at the flamboyant display.

"Either way, as we are all now here and have presumably taken a sufficient and healthy breakfast, shall we proceed?" Logan suggested.

Patton raised a hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand to speak, Patton."

"Oh, well then," the man in the light blue suit said with a happy grin. "I was just wondering if chocolate chip pancakes were healthy."

Logan blinked at him. "How can you-?"

"Yes, Pat, they're perfectly healthy!" Roman exclaimed, pulling Virgil towards the door. "Now let's go!"

Orange huffed and rose to his feet as he donned his helmet. "We're all ready, Blue."

"Yes, well," Logan said, adjusting his glasses one last time before twisting his own helmet into place. "I suppose so. Helmets everyone."

"Do we have to?" Remus moaned from where he'd been rolling around on the floor. "Wouldn't it be more fun if we-?"

"Put on the damn helmet, you rat in human form," Janus almost hissed, kicking him in the side for good measure. Remus laughed but put his helmet on, being the very last to do so, and shot up to his feet where he bounced in place as he waited, like a child on a sugar high.

The doors hissed as they opened, sliding apart to reveal the Sanders Space Station, the hallways near spotless and the lights bright and clean. It was almost like stepping into an Ikea or a show room, even coming with the smell of disinfectant, but a lot more technical. Having memorised the map over breakfast, Logan led the way through the maze of corridors to the cafeteria, as good a place as any to be called a base of operations, and stood by the central table as he waited for the six others to gather around. From the looks of it the integrity of the walls seemed intact, and nothing serious was wrong, as they knew, but still, it was better to err on the side of caution while they had yet to determine the status of the air.

"I thought we already had breakfast" Orange said, looking around in confusion.

"I thought it would be a good idea to set up a-" Logan pulled out his tablet and looked through his notes, "-'home base'. There are many tasks for us to do and I believe it would be more efficient if we split up to achieve them as quickly as possible."

"Because there is no 'I' in 'team'!" Patton agreed with a bright smile.

"Correct, you do not spell 'team' with the letter 'I'," Logan agreed with a nod, ignoring how several of the others snickered. "Now, from the list that has been sent to each of our tablets I can see that the Reactor has yet to be started, so I would suggest that Orange, as the most qualified with such things, would be perfect for the task." Orange hummed. "The engine would be a good place for you to move once you have completed that. Patton, I would suggest you take charge everything in Navigation, and Janus can take charge of tasks in Communications."

"I take it I've got the Medbay?" Virgil asked, his arms wrapped around himself, something he tended to do when he couldn't put his hands into his pockets.

"I'll go with you, Charlie Frown," Roman said, nudging him with his elbow.

"Actually, Roman, I was hoping you could-" Logan began but Roman waved him off.

"I will continue to ensure the safety of this vessel at Virgil's side," he said. "There's no need to worry, Specs."

"... Indeed," Logan drawled, turning to Remus at his side. "In which case, you can be in charge of the Weapons section. You and Roman can decide who can tackle the other sections that involve the security of the station."

As expected, Remus pulled him in for a hug, their helmets banging together as he tried to squeeze him through the fabric. "You're the best, my bleeding, puss riddled heart."

"Is there anything else we will be needed for in the near future?" Janus asked as the others either made disgusted faces as Remus's nickname or snorted as Logan tried to extricate himself from his partner's grasp.

"Uh, I just want you all to know that, should you come across any problems you come across that you believe will need a group effort, just set off the beacon in our suits and we can all meet back here. Any other tasks -- Remus would you put me down -- any other tasks you can do would be helpful."

"Sounds good," Orange said and spun on the spot, heading towards the reactor with a lazy wave over his shoulder. Roman and Virgil followed him soon after, the Medbay between the cafeteria and the reactor, and Janus went on his own towards the Communications room.

"Isn't this exciting?" Patton asked with a bounce. "I'm over the moon about everything!"

Logan sighed. It was going to be a long day.

_______________________________

Stardate: October 17th XX20. 11:27 AM

Logan had spent the better part of four hours trying to ensure that the oxygen filter was in correct working condition, along with all the wiring and such, but at last he felt he could safely say that it was up and running. For the last half an hour he'd been checking the oxygen levels in the Station and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had always been capable of supporting human life, so he checked it off his list with a satisfied smile.

He had heard Patton working in Navigation nearby, and Remus's maniacal laughter as he blasted the various detritus that had been gathering around the Station through the gun systems had been an enjoyable accompaniment, if a bit annoying after a while, and highly unnecessary, but now, as he rose to his feet, he could appreciate a break. Heading out into the corridor he took a quick left turn and came up behind Remus, who was sat on the the seat in the centre of the control area, and watched as he blasted a few more things on the screens.

"Take that you dry buttholes!" the man in green yelled as something exploded into dust on the right screen.

"Having fun?"

Remus immediately spun the chair around and pulled Logan into his lap. "Nerdy Wolverine!" he said, making sure Logan was straddling his lap and wrapping his arms around his back. "Here to give me a saucy lap dance?"

"I've actually decided that it was about time I had a break," Logan informed him, keeping his distance by setting his hands against Remus's shoulders. "That and..." He pushed himself back enough to be able to sit up without falling into his partner's chest and removed his helmet. "The air is breathable."

Remus stared at him for a few seconds before scrambling to remove his own and dropping them both to the floor with hollow thuds as he puled Logan in to kiss him thoroughly and invasively. Logan was all too happy to respond, grasping at the metal ring of Remus's collar. They had been asleep for years, travelling light years away from home, away from everything they knew, and while it might have been only a single sleep for them, it still felt like forever.

And yet the moment was broken, the beacon in their suits blaring loudly at them, and Logan pushed himself away from Remus in surprise.

"I'm going to disembowel whoever did that," Remus grumbled, allowing Logan up.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Don't be alarmed!" Patton said as he came in behind them. "I'm sure it's-. Hey! Your helmets are off!"

"Yes, the air is safe to breathe," Logan said, pulling Remus up.

"Did you do this?" the moustached man demanded with a sharp finger.

"No," Patton said with a frown. "I was just making sure the steering was straight and true."

Remus continued to glare at him for a few seconds before turning away, following Logan into the cafeteria.

No one else had arrived yet, though the three of them had been the closest to the cafeteria, and so Logan sat himself down at the central table as Remus wandered around the room, taking out his tablet to check on the tasks that still needed doing in the ship. From the looks of things they seemed to be on schedule, so whatever this was would only be a small hiccup in the scheme of things. Roman and Virgil had entered the room as he'd been studying the list, but still there was no sign of Orange or Janus.

"So we can take our helmets off now?" Roman asked as he looked between the three of them, all of them now bare-headed. "Thank God." He removed it quickly and set it down on the table, Virgil following his example, though he kept hold of it as they sat.

"Where's Orange?" Patton asked, looking past them.

"Oh, he's probably just-"

"He's dead."

Everyone turned to the door opposite the windows that showed the great expanse of space beyond. Janus stood there, leaning against the frame. There was a thick, shiny red liquid on his glove and smeared over his thigh.

"... What?"

_______________________________

Stardate: October 17th XX20. 11:51 AM

Orange was lying face up in the storage area next to the fuel tank, a smear of blood on the floor beside him, undoubtedly where he'd been lying face down before Janus had found him, as the majority of the front of the suit had been stained with his blood, and there was an uneven tear, revealing a mess of flesh, internal organs and bodily fluids. Blank eyes stared up through a cracked helmet. The six of them were stood around it in shock.

"... Are we sure we're alone on this ship?" Virgil asked after what had felt like an eternity of silence.

"We... We should be," Logan said, uncertainty rocking his foundations. This was supposed to be a safe mission. They were supposed to man the station until the rest of the crew arrived. They were only supposed to make sure everything was in working order. They were supposed to be safe!

"Should be?" Janus repeated with a sneer. "Orange is dead!"

"Yes! I've noticed that!" Logan snapped back, rubbing at his mouth as he watched Remus examine the body. "This... This shouldn't have happened."

"Well it did, didn't it," Roman said.

"What.... What should we do?" Patton asked, looking between each of them.

"We should put Orange in his cryotube before his bowels empty themselves everywhere," Remus said, getting to his feet. "Though I doubt we'll make it in time."

"Yes but, after that."

"Staying in groups," Logan said with a decisive nod. "Two or three per group at least. The more of us there are the less likely we'll be..."

"I'm with Log-in," Remus said, looking around the room and picking up a crate lid to shift Orange's body onto. "Need a hand, Ro. And preferably the rest of the body as well."

"Can you not!" Roman said in disgust but helped him move Orange onto the make-shift stretcher. "Storm Cloud, you're with me."

"Yeah, I'm not complaining," Virgil said.

Patton turned to Janus with an uneasy smile. "Well, I guess that means it's you and me-"

"I'll tag along with you two," the man in yellow said, pointing between Roman and Virgil.

"-Logan and Remus!" Patton continued as though that had been what he'd intended to say all along.

"Alright," Logan said and moved ahead of the brothers to ensure the pathways was clear for them. "Let's... get this over with."

_______________________________

Stardate: October 17th XX20. 12:20 PM

Orange had been sealed into his cryochamber, a task that had taken more effort than any of them had wanted, and there were now a few empty stomachs after smelling the half digested remains of his breakfast. Knowing the workings of death was not the same as experiencing them and no one was ready, not even Remus who was looking paler than usual. They were back in the cafeteria, sitting at the table and keeping an eye on all the entrances both Roman and Remus now with patches of blood on their suits from having to physically having to move the body.

Normally at his time Logan would have suggested they east something, but he knew none of them would be able to keep it down.

"What should we do?" Virgil asked, helmet now firmly back in place. "We can't just... wait here to get murdered."

"Logan did say that the more of us there are in one group, the more likely we'll be able to defend ourselves," Patton said with a forced smile. "Why don't we just, you know, stick together?"

"But then the alien might be going around sabotaging the Station," Remus pointed out, eyes flickering to every shadow as he touched each finger to his thumbs over and over again. "I mean, did Orange finish working on the reactor? And the engines; what if we weren't where we needed to be when the rest of the team arrives? They'd have to search for us, and that could take weeks! And then there's the Oxygen-"

As though Remus's words had been a prophecy the Station's alarm sounded and a yellow light flashed.

"Next time, keep your mouth shut," Janus said, pushing himself up from the table.

"We have to get to two panels," Logan informed them, painfully aware of the countdown that the overhead had begun in a tinny voice. "There's one in Admin and another next to the oxygen filter."

"We'll take Admin," Roman said, nodding to Janus and leading both him and Virgil in the right direction.

Logan, meanwhile, headed back to the oxygen station, but before he could get too far Remus caught his shoulder.

"Remus-"

"I'll go first," he said, moving ahead as he sent a grin his way. "If anyone's going to get disembowelled by a murdering alien it's me."

Logan felt almost physically sick at the thought but gave him a nod and followed behind.

Though there were only a few corners to turn to reach their destination, each one held a horrible danger and a potentially deadly encounter, turning the once safe and comforting realm into a nightmare. They held their breath as they stepped into the oxygen lab and Remus stood guard at the door, letting Logan get on with repairing the error. Although Patton's fidgeting at the side was a little distracting, Logan did notice that the error was actually fairly easy to fix, and it seemed to have been created remotely. That was odd. Very odd indeed. The only way for that to happen would be-

The voice stopped its countdown and the lights went back to their sterile glare as he closed the casing, confirming that the others had fixed their end, and they all relaxed minutely.

"That was a close call," Patton said, undoubtedly trying to sound optimistic but the wobble in his voice broke the illusion.

Logan nodded. "Let's go back to the cafeteria."

The three of them moved carefully back towards their meeting place, constantly on guard and feeling incredibly vulnerable with every step. It was an oversight to not keep something on the Station with which to defend themselves, and it was something Logan would certainly be bringing up with their eventual co-workers, but for now all they had was their suits and their tablets.

The cafeteria was empty and quiet when they returned, the vast expanse of space looming dark and cold out the thick, reinforced windows. Against all logical reasoning it made Logan feel more alone than ever and he reached out for Remus's hand, which he took with a squeeze in silence. They wandered to the central table, clustering together as they watched the door to Admin, waiting. Seconds passed, and those seconds turned into minutes, until the tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

"They should be back by now," Logan said, pressing closer to Remus's side.

"May... Maybe they went to check on the engines," Patton suggested, having come to stand on Remus's other side.

Remus continued to watch the stretch of corridor for a few moments, his face more blank -- more serious -- than Logan could ever remember seeing it before. "We should check."

Patton swallowed. "D-do we have to?"

There was another long pause before Remus nodded and he looked between the two of them. "I don't think they've gone to the engines."

Logan swallowed but nodded, having come to a similar conclusion himself. They would have returned here as soon as the oxygen situation had been resolved. He released Remus's hand to give him greater movement and followed close behind him when they headed onwards.

Each step seemed to echo, their breaths loud in his ears and the air was almost too cold. He didn't know what to expect, so his mind created images for him; a craze worker left behind by the construction crew wielding a bloody screwdriver, an android system that had become corrupted and was disguising itself as the very walls around them, some alien creature from the movies he and Remus had watched late at night back on Earth, using the shadows, the ceiling, and whatever else it could to get to them without being seen. Whatever it was it was still out there.

It was still out there, and it had killed not only Orange, but Janus as well.

The once yellow suit was now almost entirely saturated with blood, the domed glass of the helmet shattered and Janus's face stuck in a look of shock. Logan didn't know where all the blood had come from exactly, but it had started to pool around the body, and he stepped closer, almost hypnotised by it. The human body held approximately 10 pints of blood. There were a myriad of veins in the body. Janus was dead. If a main artery was punctured, say in the leg, neck or arm, it would take 30 seconds before unconsciousness and 3 minutes until death. Janus was dead. Similarly it could take up to 5 minutes to die if the heart was--

"Logan!"

He blinked, surprised to find Remus was holding his face.

"Hey, Nerdy Wolverine. You back with me?"

Logan blinked again and nodded.

"Good," he said, planting a kiss on his brow. "Now, we still don't know where Roman and Virgil are. It might be that they were taken by whoever-"

Darkness. Complete and utter blackness fell over them, the lights clicking off. Patton squeaked in fright somewhere near the door. Logan clutched at Remus. Remus pulled Logan close.

"Electrical," Logan said. "We have to go to electrical to fix the lights."

"How can we fix it if we can't see?" Remus asked, his warm breath brushing against Logan's cheek.

"The panel should have some battery powered light in it," Logan said, cursing that he'd left his helmet in the weapons bay; though it wasn't much they had a small light in them, one which would have been incredibly useful now. "Patton, can you come closer so we can all stick together?"

Silence.

"... Patton?"

Still nothing.

"Logan," Remus said, his voice low, almost a whisper. "I think..."

Logan's grip on Remus tightened and he nodded, the cold seeping into him as they stepped forwards together, creeping through the blackness. Until their feet hit something soft and wet. Logan whimpered.

"We have to get to the shuttle," Remus said, starting to pull Logan down the hallway, leaving Patton's corpse behind them. "We can lock the doors behind us and-"

"What about Roman and Virgil?"

"They're probably dead," Remus said, choking on the word but pausing all the same. "They're probably in pieces. Roman... We can't think about them. We-" The words cut off, choked with a gasp, and Logan felt him stiffen.

"R-Remus?"

"Logan... I love you. I love... I love you so much." Remus said, his voice wet and broken. He could hear a smile in his voice, and then he felt him fall. "You're... the best thing that ever happened to me."

"I love you too," he replied, tears streaming down his cheeks as he collapsed down beside him, reaching for his face to hold him. "Remus. Remus I love you so much." He could feel a presence behind him, the certainty of death creeping over him, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Remus had stopped moving had stopped breathing, and he sobbed in agony at the loss until he felt something sharp and serrated slice through the flesh of his throat.

It takes 30 seconds of blood loss from a main artery until unconsciousness...

_______________________________

Stardate: October 17th XX20. 6:00 AM

Logan blinked his eyes open as the dim light of the cryodeck slowly brightened, emulating the rising of the sun back on Earth and offering a gentle escape from his induced hibernation. He waited patiently as his body began to realise that it was awake again and started to carefully move each digit. The tingle of pins and needles washed over him like a wave, but he'd been expecting it; he had taken the chance to research the effects that cryosleep would leave on the body, and had found it quite a fascinating read. Apparently it was very similar to freezing meat to preserve it, but the science behind it meant that the human body would be kept alive throughout the process, just severely slowed down, so when the process was reversed the human body had to take some time to recover. Hence the pins and needles.

He was just starting to curl his hands into fists when he heard the thud and slap of a body hitting the floor nearby, shortly followed by a long, low groan.

"You're supposed to wait until your blood flow has... returned to normal," Logan said, his voice cracking in a somehow familiar way.

The groan sounded again, followed by the sound of whoever it was who had decided that getting out of the pod immediately was a good idea crawling closer before a blurred dark head of hair with a streak of white revealed itself over the edge. Logan frowned.

"Have... Have we done this before?"

[tsarisfanfiction]

Drown (Tales From The Heart)

Fandom: One Piece Rating: Teen Warnings: minor injury, drowning Characters: Penguin, Law, Shachi, Bepo

They'd got too confident. With the news that Doflamingo had finally left North Blue to go on to bigger and better things in the Grand Line, they'd stopped hiding and started acting a little more like pirates. You'd have thought that Penguin and Shachi, at least, would have remembered that there were always bigger fish around, but with Doflamingo their only focus for the past three years, they'd long since stopped seeing other pirate crews as a credible threat.

Hence Penguin's current situation.

"Listen kid," the clearly-drunk man spat in his face, saliva landing unpleasantly on his cheek. His breath stank, and it took everything Penguin had not to recoil in disgust. "Playing pirates is all well and good, but you've gotta do it at home, where you can run to Mummy once the day's done. Leave the real pirating to those that know what they're doing."

Penguin spat back in his face, grinning triumphantly when he scored a direct hit to his aggressor's eye. The vicious backhand he got was worth it, even giving him an additional liquid to spit, which he did, admiring how the crimson made it look like the man was crying blood.

"You punk!" one of the man's companions roared, kicking him solidly in the back. His hands shackled behind him, Penguin failed to keep his balance and crashed down onto his side. From the corresponding pain in his arm, he'd at the least pulled a muscle in all the chaos.

He hadn't been looking for trouble, per say. It had been his turn to do the supply run, while Law browsed the town for medical whatsits (the captain might have been teaching them basic nursing, but that didn't mean he understood half the jargon the younger teen spouted). Shachi and Bepo had been left behind to guard the Polar Tang. He'd thought – they'd all thought – that he could handle a small bit of trouble if it arose, but he'd failed to realise the drunk pirates were out of his league until it was too late. His shopping was long since ruined, trampled into the ground by muddied boots, and he knew he would be sporting a beautiful black eye the next morning, to say nothing of the bruised bones and cuts he'd suffered when the assholes revealed they weren't averse to using a knife on an unarmed kid.

Penguin figured he should probably start arming himself, if he was going to be trounced that easily by a group of drunkards. Of course, that relied on him getting himself out of his current situation without irreversible damage. The crude yet effective cuffs on his wrists were proving to be quite the problem, the locks out of reach to pick.

A rough hand grabbed his arm – the one with the probably damaged muscle, the bastard – and began to drag him down the cobbled street, towards the harbour.

"I'll show you what happens to disrespectful brats," the drunk pirate declared as Penguin bit back as many noises of pain as he could. They stopped at the end of the wharf; Penguin could see the grey of the Polar Tang at the other end of the harbour, recognisable only by its unusual shape. At that distance, Shachi and Bepo wouldn't be able to see him, and they weren't stupid enough to interfere with random fights. On the plus side, the Polar Tang wasn't that far… if, as he suspected, he got thrown into the water then he could just swim for it, leaving the pirates none the wiser.

That plan went out the window the moment his ankle was grabbed, hoisting his leg up and overbalancing him, leaving him suspended by the grip on his ankle.

"You think you can swim for it, little water bird?" His hat fell from his head to land on the boards below him. Of course the drunkard had read what it said, because he clearly wasn't so intoxicated he wasn't aware of his surroundings. Penguin cursed silently again, and tried to lash out with his foot as he felt something heavy clamp around his captive ankle. "Let's see how well penguins swim with their wings clipped, shall we?"

He barely had time to take a breath, storing as much air in his lungs as he could before he was flying through the air, helpless against gravity as he crashed into the surface of the water and sank like a stone.

He dimly heard someone scream his name as the water closed above his head, and looked up at the surface to see the distorted view of his captain throwing himself at the drunk pirates, short sword in one hand and a blue Room expanding from the other.

The water was Penguin's playground. He could cut through the waves as easily as Law's Amputate sliced through flesh, finding comfort and solace in the way the water moved against his skin.

Not this time.

He writhed, fighting against the cuffs binding his wrists together tightly behind his back, but the water hadn't weakened them at all, and his injured shoulder cried out in protest as he tried to manipulate it to get his bound hands in front of him to no avail. A problem, but not an insurmountable one. Penguin refused to panic. He'd swum without using his hands before. It was harder, but not impossible.

Swimming with his hands bound behind his back, a shoulder in agony, and lead weights tied to his ankle was outside of even Penguin's ability, he discovered in horror as his attempts to kick towards the surface were thwarted by the weight. With his arms behind his back, he couldn't manipulate himself to tug them off, so he renewed his efforts to move them over his head, gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder. A dislocation was better than death.

He'd managed to claim a decent amount of air just before being dunked, but it wasn't infinite. As he sank lower and lower, dragged down by his weighted ankle, the bubbles escaping from his mouth were increasing in number. His time was running out rapidly, and the exertion and agony he was putting himself through to try and contort his body into a position he could use to swim was wasting more air than he'd have liked.

It might have been smarter to let himself sink limply, preserving his air for as long as possible, but Penguin had no delusions about rescue. While Law had seen him sink, his captain couldn't swim and wasn't stupid enough to think his devil fruit would suddenly forget it hated him in light of Penguin's drowning. The Polar Tang was the other end of the harbour, and Law had been too busy fighting to call for Bepo or Shachi. Quick calculations told Penguin that his air wouldn't hold out long enough for one of the two to find him.

A particularly rough twist of his shoulder had him involuntarily crying out in pain, air rushing out of his mouth all at once before the water began to rush in. A rookie mistake, he cursed himself even as he tried to close his mouth to the invading water. His air was out now, and it would be seconds, not minutes, before the pressure forced him to gulp, drawing water into his lungs faster than Law could make a Room.

The harbour was deep – they'd chosen it for that exact reason – and the light was beginning to fade. It could also be the lack of air clouding his eyesight, Penguin realised as the pressure got too much for his jaw and lungs, wrenching his mouth open in search of air that was nowhere to be found.

As the water rushed in and his sight dimmed, he thought he saw a dark shape in the water, heading straight for him.

A whale? was his last, delirious, thought.

His eyes snapped open suddenly as he retched, water expelling itself violently from his mouth before he shuddered, pained lungs labouring to draw in the precious air between coughs that felt as if his respiratory system had decided his body was a dead weight and was seeking freedom from its limp confines.

"Oh, thank god," he heard someone breathe, fingers carefully dragging through his hair.

It was then that the hard surface beneath his side registered, and the sweet sweet oxygen filling his aching lungs.

He wasn't in the water any more.

His eyes didn't want to open, but Penguin fought them until they begrudgingly gave in. An orange blob floated in front of his face. Odd. He forced a slow blink, and then another, watching as it began to gain definition.

Shachi. A dripping wet, very worried Shachi. Oops.

"Is he awake?" That was Law's voice, strained and oddly choked up. "Penguin, can you hear me?" A familiar spotted hat forced its way into his view, and he gave a weak grin, his eyes finally focusing enough to take in the scene presented to him. Behind Law and Shachi was an arm. Just one, singular arm. It wasn't attached to anything at all. Beside it was a head, which seemed to be screaming profanities. Penguin hadn't even noticed, but the sight was satisfying. The drunk pirate still had that trickle of blood falling from his eye. "Penguin?"

Law sounded in pain, so Penguin returned his attention to him. He didn't look injured, but his eyes were red and slightly puffy. It didn't look right.

"Sorry," he finally rasped, feeling like he'd swallowed sandpaper and washed it down with an impressive dose of metal filings. "I lost the shopping."

"Who cares about the shopping, you dumbass!" Shachi erupted, the fingers in his hair tightening. Penguin didn't have the energy to wince. "Don't you dare scare us like that ever again, you hear me?"

Penguin grinned again, closing his eyes to a sharp call of his name from Law.

"Lemme sleep," he slurred, too exhausted from his ordeal to bother with proper diction. "'M okay, promise," he added as a small hand rested on his shoulder lightly. The action reminded him of his aching shoulder, and he let out a groan of protest, which devolved into further coughing.

"No, you're not," Law said sternly, sounding as if he'd entered his 'doctor mode', as the rest of them liked to call it. "Shachi, help me." There was a grunt of acknowledgement, and Penguin felt himself being manoeuvred to his feet, arms wrapping around him from both sides. Feeling utterly boneless, Penguin slumped forwards, almost dragging them back to the ground with him.

"Watch it," Shachi complained, but it lacked his usual bite as Penguin felt him readjust his grip.

"Penguin, you need to stay awake until we get back to the Tang," Law told him. "You can sleep there, I promise."

He let out a sound that was supposed to be acknowledgement as he felt them pull him along, although it sounded like a drunken slur, and tried to persuade his legs to cooperate with limited success.

He made it as far as Bepo, who sounded like he'd jumped off the submarine as soon as they were close enough, before he couldn't fight any more, collapsing into warm fluffy arms.

"Close enough, I suppose," he heard Law sigh as Bepo lifted him easily to carry him the rest of the way, before he knew no more.

[changeling-fae]

HPHM Character Profile

Thanks @batgirl-87 for tagging me!

General Information.

Name : Melody Kairi Prince

Age : 16 (currently)

Gender : Female

Nickname(s) :

Mel (by Jae)

Pip (by Jacob apparently)

Little troll (by her eldest brother William)

Cuttlefish (by her grandfather)

Date of Birth : March 1st, 1973 at 6:30pm

Astrological/ Zodiac Sign : Here’s her chart,

Ethnicity : Irish, Siren

Nationality : Irish

Species : Witch, Siren

Blood Type : A

Blood Status : Half-breed (quarter?)

Family :

Father - Halwyn Orpheus Prince

Halwyn and Eileen Prince were cousins, sharing grandparents making Melody and Snape second cousins.

The Prince family are very much like the Gaunts in once being wealthy pure bloods but are now reduced to a shadow of once they were.

They weren’t as poor as the Gaunts but we’re nothing like the Malfoys or Blacks in terms of wealth.

They clung to pure blood ideals however and can also tie their lineage to Cadmus Peverell.

Before his sons were born, Halwyn was the youngest and last male Prince.

He had two older sisters and Eileen his only first cousin.

He was disowned when he married Odella Gale, since she’s half siren.

He was placed in Slytherin just like all the Prince’s and proud of it.

He had a talent for potions, herbology, and DADA.

He was a very stoic and reserved man who could pick people apart psychologically if he was feeling malicious. He was soft with his family however.

He is eventually murdered by R/Cabal when Melody is 10.

Mother - Odella Aislinn Gale

Odella is half siren with a siren mother.

She was raised by her father on land but her mother would come visit from time to time.

She was placed into Slytherin which is where she met Halwyn.

She was aware of her blood status during the rise of pure blood supremacy and so worked extra hard out of spite.

She ended up as both Prefect and Head Girl of Slytherin.

She was a member of the Frog Choir.

She had a talent for charms, transfiguration, CoMC, and divination.

She was deeply in love with Halwyn and his sudden death hit her hard.

Jacob’s fall from grace and sudden disappearance right only a few months after Halwyn’s death pushed her more into grief.

At first she was paranoid of Melody running away (hence not letting her have a broom) but then swung the opposite, hardly ever home and throwing herself into work.

Melody looking for the vaults angered her further and their relationship hasn’t recovered.

Eldest Brother - William Halwyn Prince

Melody’s eldest brother who is 11 years older than her.

He can give Snape a run for his money as a cranky, sarcastic, jerk.

He is a loner who on the whole doesn’t like people.

Thanks to being part siren he’s ridiculously attractive and draws people to him despite his prickly personality.

He does have a soft spot for his family and would protect them, even he is mean about it.

The only person he actively likes is his best friend/boyfriend, Faran, a Ravenclaw werewolf.

He has a talent for DADA and potions and makes his boyfriend’s wolfsbane potion.

He becomes a curse breaker for Gringotts along with his boyfriend.

Second Brother - Jacob Corentin Prince

He’s 6 years older than Melody and 5 younger than William.

He’s more hotheaded than William and Melody but he’s good at hiding it.

Only originally looked for the vaults for fun but then got sucked into the more serious side once R got involved.

Once Duncan dies he becomes obsessed with breaking the curse to give meaning to what they did.

Once his dad was murdered he felt it was his fault and left to protect his family and get revenge.

He and William fought a lot growing up but he’s protective of Melody.

Has the attitude that only he’s allowed to tease her.

He didn’t get along with Snape because he reminded him too much of his brother William.

His best subjects were flying, DADA, and transfiguration.

Grandfather - Corentin Cian Gale

Odella’s father and his home is where the family lives.

He’s one of the top experts in Merfolk studies and a renowned magizoologist.

He helped Newt Scamander’s section on water based magical creatures and is longtime friends with him.

He’s also good friends with Professor Kettleburn.

He was sorted into Ravenclaw in his youth.

He’s a very patient and caring man.

Due to his work he has to be away from home a lot but makes an effort to come home to Melody during summer when he can.

He writes to her often when she’s at Hogwarts, trying to compensate for Melody’s sense of abandonment.

His best subjects were CoMC, herbology, and charms.

Grandmother - Kairi

She’s a cold water siren whose colony lives between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

She could only spend 7 years on land with Corentin before having to return to the sea.

The last 3 she was able to spend with Odella.

She’s much older than even Corentin since sirens age slowly and has children from previous matings.

So Odella has a few full siren half siblings.

Kairi visits her grandchildren during the summer sometimes and taught all of them how to hunt underwater.

She still very much loves Corentin even if she can’t be with him anymore.

Second Cousin - Severus Tobias Snape

Melody and Snape are aware of their relation to each other.

He’s technically welcome to their family but obviously he keeps his distance.

Because of this Melody and her brothers knew not to reveal their blood ties since Snape clearly doesn’t want it to be known.

Because of some of the similarities Snape holds with her father who had just died, she subconsciously latched on to him when they first met.

Snape is aware of this but is mercifully against mocking her for it.

He does get frustrated that none of his prickly barbs bother her.

Most of his animosity comes from not liking Jacob but some of it is from the fact that their backgrounds are similar (disowned parents) but her family clearly loves her, even with its problems.

Despite his acidic nature to her at times, he doesn’t actually want anything bad to happen to her.

Plus she does make the Slytherin house look really good and is the reason they win the House Cup every year.

Affiliation(s)/ Organization(s) :

Slytherin

The Frog Choir

The Potions Club

Charms Tutor

Assistant Curse-breaker

Magical Creatures Reserve Volunteer

Occupation(s) :

Future Healer for St Mungo’s

Future Healer for Hogwarts

Curse-breaker for Gringotts (William’s job)

Ministry of Magic (her parents)

Merfolk Diplomat (her grandfather)

Magical Characteristcs.

Form of Boggart : Emptiness, just silence.

Form of Patronus : Cuttlefish (though might become a sea serpent).

Form of Riddikulus : A surprise party.

What do they see in the Mirror of Erised? : Her family happy and whole.

Wand(s) :

-Length : 12 inches

-Flexibility : Surprisingly swishy

-Wood : Silver Lime

-Core : A scale from her grandmother’s tail

Description :

Animagus : Diving Petrel

Amortentia :

What she smells like to others; The very first hints of the sea, a summer storm, and honeysuckle.

What she smells; Parchment and ink, birdseed, and pine (Talbott).

Appearance.

Height : 5’3

Weight : 122 lbs

Complexion(skin tone/ conditions) :

Fair/pale skin that looks almost translucent in water.

Shimmering fish scales wherever water touches her.

If she hasn’t been in sea or lake water for over 3 days, her skin becomes red and patchy like a severe skin condition and she’ll start stinking like rotting fish.

Hair Color/ Style :

Silver white

Tight waves/loose curls

She almost always keep it long except during her 5th year where she cut it short as a way to cope with the trauma of watching Rakepick torture a random man.

She only needs sea or lake water to wash her hair and keep it healthy.

Eye Color :

A deep sea foam color in most cases.

When she’s pissed off it changes to almost a cold flat sea foam color and her pupils constrict to pins.

Hogwarts Information.

Worst Class(es) : She’s too much of a perfectionist to not do well but she does have least favorites.

History of Magic; Professor Binns has made it so boring for her that it makes it hard to pay attention.

Flying; ironic being that her animagus is a bird but she prefers using her own body as opposed to a broom.

DADA; she associates it with the death of her father since he worked in the hex removal department of the Ministry.

Best Class(es) :

Potions; she loves potions and has a natural talent for it. It also reminds her of her father.

Herbology; like potions it reminds her of her father and he taught her a lot in their family greenhouse before his death.

Charms; she really likes Professor Flitwick’s teaching method and has a natural talent for it.

CoMC; She’s good with creatures thanks to her grandfather and takes care of water based creatures back home during the summer since her home is a reserve.

Least Favorite Teacher(s) :

Professor Binns; he bores her to death and took the fun out of learning for her.

Professor Rakepick; her instinct always put her on edge around the woman and she never truly trusted her.

Favorite Teacher(s) :

Professor Snape; again, she subconsciously relates him to her father plus she just really loves potions.

Professor Flitwick; she loves his class and since she’s both a tutor and on the Frog Choir spends a lot of time with him. Plus she relates to him in that they’re both not fully human.

Quidditch :

She’s not all that interested in Quidditch if she were perfectly honest but Jacob was a huge a fan.

If she had to be a Quidditch player, she’d most likely be a seeker due to her strong hunting instinct.

Favourite Spell(s) :

Aguamenti

Lumos

Aqua Eructo Charm

Ebublio Jinx

Trivia.

(random facts about them, future job, face claim, theme song, etc.)

Her home is on the coast of Ireland and the area is a water creature reserve to protect wounded, sick, or endangered creatures.

There’s a female sea serpent that lives on it that she and her grandfather takes care of.

They also have 6 murtlaps and Melody is so used to taking care of them at a young age, that at Hogwarts she dives for the food for the ones under Kettleburn’s care.

Professor Kettleburn has known her since she was born thanks to his friendship with her grandfather.

Due to her siren heritage, she and her brothers and mother don’t use flirting or seduction if they actually are infatuated and instead will just come out and say it and are very blunt.

They only use seduction if they want something (like food).

Melody feels cold to the touch but her inner temperature is higher than a human’s, allowing her to remain in cold or freezing waters.

Melody, her brothers, and her mother are all exceptionally beautiful but don’t draw people in like part Veelas do, however once they’re in water they become almost supernaturally alluring and their voices become naturally seductive.

They can choose to hypnotize people with their song if they wish but it’s basically a death sentence for the affected person since they’ll become so obsessed they either drown themselves or try and kill the one who sang to them.

There is technically a cure and a way to become immune to siren songs but only the sirens know it.

Love potions don’t affect her and her brothers and mother the same way it does full humans. It basically makes them really drunk and frisky.

She witnessed her father die in front of her since he was poisoned so she can see thestrals.

She’s a Pisces, Jacob is a Cancer, and William is a Scorpio.

She really hates Rita Skeeter and Emily Tyler.

She has a huge crush on Talbott.

She was a hatstall between Slytherin and Ravenclaw but now if she wore the hat again, it would say Slytherin without a doubt.

You can find how I picture her home here.

You can find more siren headcanons here.

Ella Purnell is her face claim:

I can’t remember who all has done this yet so I’m tagging @persephone-chen @alsogolden-ana @skyline-timeturner and whoever else wants to do it!

[nadinehendrikka]

My memory isn't working as well as it should. Recalling things has started to become a chore, requiring me to physically pause and wrack my brains for a memory or a thing, the way you try to find something at the tip of your tongue, or a trivia question you know that you know the answer to. Apart from the everyday slip-ups of not knowing where my lip balm is five minutes after putting it away, I've had many moments of drawing a blank as to where I've placed crucial things, only to find them after I've panicked about it for a good few minutes and finally sat down to think. Things I did a day or two prior to recollection are fuzzy, and traveling is a huge blur without the help of photos. I tend to forget recent exchanges or decisions arrived at in work-related tasks, and just this afternoon my parents and I shared a laugh (a nervous one, for me) about something I'd forgotten I'd asked them for. Other than the pressure to reflect on the past year, one of the motivations for writing this down was that when Mitya asked me, just one week after we'd returned from Baguio, if my arm felt better, I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about. This alarmed me more than any of my many blunders, hence this attempt to recollect these events before I get too distracted with life in the next year to sit down, and end up forgetting this until the next time something jolts me enough into remembering. It doesn't help at all that I don't have pictures to use as references, at least for that part of the day, so I'll have to work with surrounding photos— and think hard. We had dedicated that third day in Baguio to searching for used book stores I'd read about online. Both places of interest were located along Session Road, and both no longer existed. We would later find out from a local artist that there was one near Harrison Road, which we eventually went to, but because we were so disappointed that day we decided to walk to the mall at the upper end of Session Road and scoured a Booksale instead. Afterwards we had nothing else to do, so we walked to Burnham Park, where we saw people riding bikes with frilly canopies, sidecars, tandem bikes and other similar vehicles— one kid was super chill on a unicycle— rented from various tents along a blocked two-lane stretch of the park. Core memory: When I was a little girl I watched one of my brothers teach himself how to ride a bike, and every afternoon saw his every fall and his every climb back up the sloped driveway of what used to be our garage, and watched him wheel down and fall again. I was told scars on the legs would make me ugly, and seeing my brother scrape his knees every time he fell, I balked at the prospect of learning for myself because I didn't want to add to the scars I'd gotten from bug bites and other scratches from playing. Later in life, apart from the incredulous looks I used to get from people when I told them I don't know how when it comes up in casual conversation, it never bothered me that I didn't ever learn how to ride a bike. My younger, nimbler self relied on standing on the sides of the rear wheels when my brothers rode their bikes to our grandmother's house or around the neighborhood, and as far as I was concerned, I didn't care if I needed to walk while they biked; they would have to wait for me, anyway. "It won't take thirty minutes," Mitya assured me when we walked toward the first tent that offered rentals. There were children, groups of friends, and families having their fun, and I decided to learn right there— it seemed as good a time as any. We rented one bike, good for an hour, and after hearing I was newbie, the attendant lowered the seat on the bike he'd chosen for me: it had washed out pink handles with stars in them, and the seat was too small for me, but I felt safe knowing I could reach the ground if I lost balance (I would later get sore in the nether regions because of this lack of oversight). The attendant assured me I would learn in no time. "Don't look at your hands. Look ahead," he said, and I heard the same advice from another attendant at a different tent when we had made a bit of progress down the road. I was far too self-conscious to remember this was a moment that needed documentation, and convinced myself it was too late in the afternoon to get steady shots, anyway. My returning fears of getting my legs scratched up were allayed by my choice to wear a stretchable pair of jeans for the trip, and soft, closed shoes so I don't break any toes. Half the time I was whining about how difficult it was for me, wobbling and either falling against Mitya, who was holding onto me on one side, or hitting the gutters on the other. The other half I was trying to save face and learn, while trying not to crash into unsuspecting people behind me and not to give up at the sight of small children cruising happily on their own, or teenagers giving me funny looks. Whenever he told me I was getting it right, that he didn't need to hold me anymore, I got nervous he would let go of me and messed up. Core memory: My three siblings taught me how to float by staying on both sides of me in a swimming pool, their arms outstretched and me laying on them. They let me kick my legs and flap my arms to keep my face above water while they took their hands away one by one, and I cried and told them not to let go or I might drown. They told me not to be a ninny, and that I wouldn't. They all let go. I learned. I was gripping too hard on the handlebars, and it showed. My wrists were hurting. Mitya told me I needed to relax my grip and control my direction without putting all my weight forward, or I'd keep falling. I now realize that advice would look great on a list of new year's resolutions, or inside a fortune cookie. By the miracle of newly built muscle memory, I found my balance and managed to bike a few hundred meters alone while Mitya jogged beside me, cackling in victory as I wobble-paddled. He said that was it, we would do it again the next day, and this time he would get a bike for himself because he didn't need to spot me anymore. It was dark by the time our hour was up. I was getting sluggish and bumped into a few wheels, (thankfully no injured people) and on the final turn around the strip, because I was so tired, I lost balance and ended up falling on the small island that served as the boundary between lanes. I broke the fall with my hand with the splint, but without hurting my arm too bad. When we returned the bike the attendant, who most likely saw me fall, politely asked if I'd gotten it, and Mitya beamed and said yes. I managed what I hoped was a smile, and not just an open-mouthed pant. It was peak dinnertime when we got out of the park, and across from it we found a deserted eatery and had dinner. We later learned the reason so few people went there was because their food was heinously overpriced. We walked along Session Road again and decided we deserved to get one of those foot spas where droves of tiny fish bit at your feet. Afterwards a nightcap of pizza and beer. The next morning I woke with ridiculous soreness everywhere, bruises and scratches on my ankles and feet. During our walks in the city I noticed my left bicep was tenser than the other. I got a cramp mid-conversation with a local and tried to play it cool by stretching it as if by habit. When we'd gotten back to our B&B my arm seized up again while I was bathing, and again in the middle of the night, waking me. Now that I am in the process of remembering things in detail, I recall how bad the cramp was, how it hurt ten times more because it was cold. That episode of cramping while I was in the bathroom (frigid water, mid-shampoo, embarrassment) was such a horrific time, yet my brain went ahead and clean forgot it a week later. It might have thought it was doing me a favor. Because I'm just about as active as a pile of slush, physically straining myself has gotten me cramps in the weirdest places (the last big one I had was both my thighs, together), and it doesn't help that my wrists are weak. My splint now has scratches in it too, so I guess that's a story I can tell the next occupational therapist I interact with. I'd love to hear what inner workings of the hand I'd stressed out because of my stubborness. Twenty-four seems like a pretty decent age to tell people I learned to ride a bike, though, so I guess I'll take it. While I have internet-searched a storm out of finding out what could be wrong with me, I'm far too young to have anything to worry about that I can't change over time— like better sleep, a better diet, or just learning to stop myself from doing what I do when I remember things I'd really rather not. We never got to rent out bikes again because I was in no state to ride, but the morning before we left I insisted we go back to Burnham Park to take photos of the biking road, because I knew that I'd be hard-pressed to remember things in detail without them. I would always look on in envy when I saw someone biking around campus in UP, and now I can't wait 'til the next time I can get my hands on a bike— hopefully with less people I might crash into. They say your body never forgets how to ride a bike once you learn, and boy, am I counting on that.

[bestchimneyinindia-blog]

Top 7 Air Fryers In India – For Healthy Lifestyle!

Kitchen appliances have made our lives much simpler in every aspect. Today we have cooking appliances such as coffee makers, toasters, sandwich makers, induction cookers, rice cookers, etc. that has simplified the task of cooking as well as reduced its time consumption. One such appliance that has gained immense popularity these days is the Air Fryer.

Air Fryers lower the fat content and calories of the fried food, It promises to cook food with 80% less oil, which allows us to enjoy our favorite fried dishes and snacks in a guilt-free manner. There are a diverse number of air fryers available in the market, such as Glen Airfryer, Philips Airfryer, Kenstar Airfryer, Havells Airfryer, etc.’

Want to know more about an air fryer? In this article, you will find air fryer reviews, we have also explained the mechanism of how does an air fryer works, along with its types and advantages. We have also provided perfect buyers guide and FAQ’s to go through. We have also provided a list of Top recommendations for you to make the right purchase and get yourself the best air fryer for your kitchen.

Top 7 Air Fryers Available in India Product Average User Rating Price Range Best Price Inalsa Air Fryer 2.9L Fry Light Our Choice 3.4/5 Check-Price Havells pro-life digi Easy to Operate 5/5 Check-Price Philips viva collection HD 9220 Value for price 4.1/5 Check-Price STok 2.6 L Air Fryer Quality on a Budget 4.2/5 Check-Price Kenstar Aster The Oxy Fryer 3.9/5 Check-Price Glen Air Fryer 3042 The safety Expert 3.6/5 Check-Price Hilton 3.5 L Air Fryer The Crunchiest Fry maker 3.9/5 Check-Price How Does Air Fryer Work? Air Fryers uses the mechanism of convection to cook food. It consists of a fan that spins in a rapid motion to provide hot air up to 200°C, which prepares the food evenly.

A chemical reaction occurs known as the Maillard effect, which gives the food a crispy outer covering making it crunchy and mouthwatering with a tender and juicy interior. We get the same delicious quality of the food more healthily.

Air fryers are safe and convenient to use. They also cook dishes much quicker than the traditional way of cooking. French fries, fried chicken wings or fried fish anything can be prepared in just about an average time of 15-20 minutes with the same delicious outcome. There is no difference in the quality of food.

Air Fryer gives the same crispy results in a much faster, more straightforward, and healthier way whether its chicken breast, steak, or cake.

The food to be cooked is placed in the preheated food basket with just about a tablespoon of oil. We then set the required temperature and timer; sit back and wait until it is done. Yes! That’s how convenient it is to be used by anyone.

Traditional cooking involves submerging the food entirely into oil, and the outcome leads to major health problems and heart diseases. Air Fryers also solves this issue by providing a healthier alternative to our favorite fried food. It only needs a tablespoon of oil to give us the same crunchy, crispy, and tasty dishes we love due to its rapid air technology.

Rapid Air Technology works on three principles :

Heat is transferred with very high intensity Heat is distributed over the food from all sides Heat can penetrate through a thick pile of food particles. So in Rapid Air Technology, strong upward moving air stream flows through the open food chamber and is focused at the food.

Not only frying but grilling, roasting, and baking of food are also possible in this appliance. It has air vents which expel air at regular intervals to remove any smell in the kitchen. Hence, one will not even know that food is being prepared, unlike traditional cooking, where even neighbors know what is being made at home! It overall enhances our cooking experience.

They come with a large pan capacity which enables us to prepare two to three dishes together for a family gathering. This saves us a lot of time and energy. Hence, we can say that Air Fryers is a kitchen appliance which should be possessed by every household. It truly does make life much simpler in all aspects. Why wait? Go for this product now!

Types Of Air Fryers There are different types of air fryers available. The types of air fryers include the following:

Paddle Type Air Fryers Paddle type air fryers are multipurpose air fryers. Apart from enabling us to prepare our favorite fried, grilled, or roasted food, we can also prepare liquid type dishes like curries. It is simple to use and requires little to no oil at all.

No intervention is required while cooking in these types of air fryers as they can turn over the food on their own. However, it is advised to keep a check on the cooking process to avoid any unwanted hazards.

Basket Type Air Fryers Basket air fryers are another type of air fryers. These fryers are most commonly used for preparing fries as they are much gentler with the coatings. They are unable to prepare curries like in paddle-type air fryers.

These air fryers come with food baskets with a large or small capacity to prepare food with only a teaspoon of oil. Having a longer lifespan, these air fryers are more popular among the consumers in the market.

Manual Mode Air Fryers

These air fryers have a manual mode of operation. They come with timers and temperature controls which are set with the help of a knob. In manual air fryers, the time and other restrictions are not visible on the appliance making it difficult for the consumers to set the controls. Apart from this, there is no other drawback in manual air fryers as compared to others.

Digital Mode Air Fryers Many brands have launched the innovative designs of air fryers which come with the digital display. These air fryers have all the features and specifications like those present in a normal air fryer to give us our favorite crunchy fries.

However, an added benefit in this is that we can set the time and temperature digitally. Moreover, we can view the timer and other controls on the digital display.

Buyers Guide – Know Your Air Fryer Before Buying There are several great products available in the market for Air fryers. However, there are certain things to keep in mind before you make a purchase. Here we provide a guide for the buyers so that they can make the right choice.

Ensures healthy and tasty food Air fryers can be used to prepare your favorite fried chicken, french fries, and onion rings in a guilt-free manner by lowering the fat and calorie content. It requires little to no oil at all to provide a healthier version of all your favorite fried food.

Faster and Convenient Cooking These appliances are a lifesaver in the kitchen as it takes just a few minutes to prepare the food. It saves you a lot of time and energy. Moreover, the adjustable temperature and timer controls help in making cooking more convenient.

Versatile Use Air fryers use a rapid air technology which enables you to fry, grill, roast, or even reheat food. Hence, you can cook anything in this appliance using less oil within a few minutes. It can also be used to re-heat frozen food.

Easy to Clean Most air fryers are dishwasher safe making it easy to clean. The baskets also have a non-stick coating that prevents food from sticking. Thus, these appliances are easy to maintain over a long period.

Cooking Capability The priority on your checklist should be the cooking capabilities of the Air Fryer. It should possess the rapid air technology which allows you to grill, bake, fry as well as roast the food items.

Not only that, the pan capacity should be adequate for your family. A small air fryer with a smaller cooking capacity will be perfect for a small family while for a large family you need a capacity of 3 to 4 Liters.

Hence, it is important to choose an air fryer based on the size of your family as well as the versatility of the air fryer.

Price Price is an essential factor in the purchase of any product. There are a diverse number of air fryers prevalent in the market ranging in different amounts.

It is not always necessary to go for a product with a higher price. Air fryers are also available at a reasonable price with similar specifications and features.

A high price does not always define quality. Hence, if the price is a restraint go for something within your budget!

Cleaning and Maintenance An air fryer needs to be well kept and maintained like every other appliance for its longevity. After its use, the food basket and frying tray are required to be washed properly.

Go for an air fryer which comes with a non-stick removable basket and tray. The non-stick coating prevents the food from sticking to it while the removable basket makes it easier to clean.

Cleanliness is also a sign of hygiene, which is an equivalently important factor in cooking. Thus, it is important to keep in mind these factors before purchasing an air fryer.

Size and space Product dimensions and weight also matter when it comes to air fryers. An air fryer large in size is a disadvantage for households with a smaller kitchen. It takes up too much space and creates an obstruction while working in the kitchen.

Moreover, due to its weight, it cannot always be shifted to a different place in the house.

Choosing an air fryer with a smaller size is always beneficial. Go for an air fryer with a compact size so that it does not take up much space and can be kept in one corner of the kitchen.

Food separator While selecting the perfect air fryer for your kitchen along with the cooking capacity, one must also check if it comes with a food separator. A food separator when present in the food basket or tray allows you to cook two to three different dishes at the same time. It saves a lot of time on the entire cooking process.

It is always advisable to go for an air fryer with a food separator. The food separator divides the basket into sections. Then we place the different food items in these sections and allow it to cook simultaneously. It is a lifesaver when you are having guests over but are short on time.

Warranty and after-sales service Yes! Warranty is an equally important factor which needs to be checked before buying your product. The air fryer you purchase should have a brand warranty of at least two years. It should cover all the manufacturing defects other than the normal wear and tear so that you don’t have to spend money again after a few months of purchase.

An on-site after service saves you from the hassle of carrying your air fryer to the service center for repair. Hence, it is important to choose a brand which offers you a proper warranty and a good after-sales service. Thus, even if not always, the brand does plays a role to a certain extent.

Power Consumption The power consumption of air fryer and requirement should also be checked. An air fryer which consumes less power is always preferred to save your electricity bill.

Most of the air fryers, as they are of 1500 watts consumes less than a unit of power.

However, high power consumption gives you the advantage of faster cooking of your food.

Safety features Apart from being convenient and easy to use, an air fryer needs to be safe to use. While purchasing this appliance, certain safety features should be taken into consideration.

It should come with a cool-touch handle and provide protection from overheating. Often the exterior of the air fryer gets hot due to overheating. This can prove to be dangerous while using. Hence having these features solves this issue by keeping the exterior cool.

Some air fryers also come with smart locks and child locks. So that you don’t have to worry if you have children in the house who have the tendency to touch and open things. Thus, having more safety features make that particular model a suitable choice for your kitchen.

Additional features The additional features which need to be analyzed are the temperature controls and timer of the air fryer. The temperature of the air fryer should be adjustable from 80 – 200 º C while the timer should be up to 30 mins.

These days certain models of air fryers also offer a timer up to 60 minutes. An indication bell at the end of the timer and LED notifications are added benefits.

Another Additional feature is the digital mode of operation in an air fryer. It is not very different from the manual air fryers. The only difference is that the digital display helps in monitoring the time, temperature, and other controls.

Look for extra benefits like a free air fryer recipe book with a variety of recipes or a free grill while purchasing your air fryer.

1. Inalsa Air Fryer 2.9L Fry Light – Our Choice Inalsa Air Fryer 2.9L Fry Light Amazon Buy Button

Inalsa is a brand that deals with a premium quality home, kitchen, and personal care appliances at the best prices. This Inalsa Air Fryer comes with a food basket capacity of 2.9 Liters and a large pan capacity of 4.2 Liters, making it a suitable option for a large family.

It uses smart rapid air technology for frying, grilling, and reheating food. The model comes with adjustable temperature and timer control for making the process of cooking much more convenient.

The auto-off feature automatically shuts off the appliance once the cooking is done to avoid over-cooking and extra consumption of power. This product is safe, easy to use, and dishwasher safe, making it an ideal choice.

Main Features Power consumption of 1400 Watt. Weight of the air fryer: 5.27 kg. Comes with a food basket capacity of 2.9 Liters and a pan capacity of 4.2 Liters. The smart rapid air technology allows grilling, frying, and reheating of food. Features a quick basket release button and a cool-touch handle. Comes with power and heating LED light indicators. It has adjustable temperature control. The knob enables you to set the cooking time. Warranty: 2 years. PROS (What we liked) It is a dishwasher safe and easy to clean. The food-grade non-stick coated basket prevents food from sticking to it. The timer control automatically switches off the appliance when the food is ready. Safe and easy to operate. CONS (What we didn’t like) Some users mention that the product had a few manufacturing defects. Amazon Buy Button 2. Havells pro-life digi  Air Fryer – Easy to Operate Havells pro life digi 1230 Watt Air Fryer Amazon Buy Button Havells India is known for its dynamic range of products which include home and kitchen appliances to fans and water heaters. One such product given to us by havells is the pro life digi 1230 Watt air fryer. This digital air fryer is undoubtedly our topmost recommendation.

It has a black exterior with a digital display which shows the time and temperature, perfect for keeping in any one’s kitchen. Cooking is made much simpler with this pro life digi air fryer. The food separator makes it even more convenient, allowing us to cook two to three items simultaneously.

Its rapid air technology allows grilling, baking, frying, reheating, and roasting of dishes with just a teaspoon of oil, giving us a healthier alternative to a delicious meal. This air fryer comes with a compact design and large cooking capacity saving both space and time.

The Havells India plastic 1230 Watt 4 L prolife digi is its latest release and possess all the features required in the perfect air fryer for your kitchen. This air fryer is an updated version of the previous havells digi model.

It is extremely light and compact to keep in your kitchen. This air fryer comes with a food basket capacity of 2 L and pan capacity of 4 L. The basket can be released on just a press of the basket release button.

These amazing specifications have enabled this product to take the markets by a storm within just a few months of its release. So, what are you waiting for? Grab this latest Havells digital model now!

Main Features Power consumption of 1230 Watt. It has a food basket capacity of 2 L and pan capacity of 4 L. It has an integrated timer with auto-off feature along with temperature control settings. Rapid air technology which allows grilling, frying, and reheating of food. This Havells digital air fryer also comes with a basket release button and an integrated air filter. It has dishwasher safe parts. Two years of Havells India warranty. PROS (What we liked) Its timer can be set up to 60 minutes. The food basket is of non- stick coated aluminum which prevents food from sticking. Its size and weight are very less compared to other air fryers. Food can be cooked for a large family gathering because of its pan capacity. The food basket is patented to have slots at the sidewall which leads to better air circulation. CONS (What we didn’t like) No cons were observed Amazon Buy Button 3. Philips viva collection Air Fryer – Value for price Philips viva collection HD 9220 Air Fryer Amazon Buy Button Philips is a leading and well-known brand in the area of electronics, healthcare products, and other appliances all over the world. Philips has come up with amazing models of Philips air fryers with its own unique and diverse specifications. However, the Philips Viva Collection HD 9220 air fryer is our recommendation and the second-best on our top 10 list of air fryers irrespective of its price.

This product also has unique rapid air technology, which allows you to enjoy your favorite grilled, fried, or baked dishes without the fear of health problems. It makes the food tender from inside and crisper from outside. The timer and temperature control is adjustable to give us the best possible results. It also has a nonstick removable food basket that allows easy cleaning and its technology promises its consumers an odorless kitchen.

The recipe book comes with various recipes to try out. Hence, you can very easily prepare something new and innovative every day.

Main Features Product dimensions – 38.4×28.7×31.5 cm. Product weight – 6.99 kg. Cooking capacity- 2.2 L. Power consumption is 1400 Watt. It contains a dishwasher, safe parts. It contains an integrated timer which allows you to set the cooking time to 30 mins and shuts off automatically. Grilling, frying, baking, and roasting of dishes are possible. (Multi-cooker.) Two years Philips warranty. PROS (What we liked) Its rapid air technology provides healthier dishes after frying, grilling, baking, or roasting. Its removable non-stick coated drawer and the food basket are easy to clean. It comes with a recipe book consisting of a wide variety of recipes. High power consumption leads to faster cooking. Ensures perfect texture and gives tasty results. CONS (What we didn’t like) It is quite heavy compared to other Air Fryers (6.99 kg) There is no digital display of the temperature and timer. Cooking capacity is less Amazon Buy Button Video Player

00:00 00:31

4. STok 2.6 L Air Fryer – Quality on a Budget STok 2.6 L Air Fryer Amazon Buy Button Quality of a product is not always defined by its brand. An example of this statement is the STok 2.6 L air fryer. This white Stok model air fryer is very reasonable compared to its specifications. It provides a budget-friendly option to a great product.

Its high power consumption and unique starfish design which circulates air for even heat distribution lead to faster cooking of our delicious meals. It comes with an elegant design and is easy to use due to its simple features.

A 2.6 L pan capacity is decent enough to prepare dishes for a small family. The timer comes with an indication bell which notifies you when the dish is done. It is also easy to clean and maintain because of its dishwasher safe parts.

Apart from these great specifications, we also get a free recipe book and an extra grill. Hence, irrespective of its brand, this air fryer is no doubt one of our top recommendations.

Main Features Product dimensions- 33×34.5×34.5 cm. Product weight-5.26 kg. The pan capacity is 2.6 L. It comes with adjustable temperature control and timer. Its power consumption is 1350 Watt. This white Air Fryer comes with rapid air technology. PROS (What we liked) Its rapid air technology allows grilling, baking, roasting, and frying of food. The temperature control can be adjusted from 80-200 º C. The timer can be set up to 30 mins, and it comes with an indication bell. The frying basket and frying tray can be easily and safely washed. It has a reasonable price and also comes with a free recipe book and an extra grill. CONS (What we didn’t like) The pan capacity is only 2.6 L, which is less as compared to other air fryers. Amazon Buy Button 5. Kenstar Aster – The Oxy Fryer Kenstar Aster 1500 watt oxy fryer Amazon Buy Button Kenstar is the pioneer of oxy fryers. Kenstar has designed this cherry red oxy fryer to meet the requirements of its consumers.

Kenstar air fryer helps us prepare our crunchy fries much quicker due to its high power consumption of 1500 Watts. It is convenient to move around due to its long chord and hidden handle.

It is easier for consumers to know when the heating is on because of its two LED lights. This oxy fryer enables us to prepare a large amount of food in one go and also prevents any kind of smell in the kitchen. This Kenstar Oxy fryer is designed to make you enjoy your overall cooking experience.

Main Features Product dimensions -36.5 ×31.5×30 cm Product weight- 7.23 kg Food tray capacity of 3 L. The power consumption of 1500 Watt. It comes with a hidden handle and two separate LED. Temperature control and timer is also present. The food basket is removable and can cook large amounts of food together. PROS (What we liked) The two separate LED notifies us when the heating is on, and the power is on. It can easily be moved around, and its long cord enables you to place it at a convenient spot in your kitchen. The air outlet vent prevents any kind of smell in your kitchen. CONS (What we didn’t like) This oxy fryer consumes a lot of power, leading to high electricity bills. Amazon Buy Button 6. Glen Air Fryer 3042 – The safety Expert Glen Air Fryer 3042 Amazon Buy Button Glen is one of the most popular names in the world of home and kitchen appliances. Among its wide range of products, its innovative line of air fryers has also received much appreciation from the consumers.

One such model is the Glen Air Fryer 3042. Our list of top ten air fryer recommendations would be incomplete without the mention of this product.

Along with the similar features it possesses like the other air fryers, it comes with a patented conical air circulation base that leads to faster frying.

On the other hand, its vapor steam system makes the fries much crispier even with a negligible amount of oil. It is one of the safest air fryers to use due to its safety features, and it is very useful to have in your home.

Main Features Product dimensions-32×32×40 cm. Power consumption- 1350 Watt. Cooking capacity is 2.25 L. It has a separate light indicator. It has a removable frying basket chamber of the pot with a base of food grade ss 304 Temperature control of 80-200 º C and an adjustable timer with a limit of 30 minutes. It has a conical air circulation base that is patented. 2-year manufacturer warranty. PROS (What we liked) It prevents fumes while frying food in the food basket. The swift air circulation technology leads to faster frying. Its vapor steam system results in making the food more crispier. It has a handle with a safety lock. It is a compact saving space in the kitchen. CONS (What we didn’t like) Cooking capacity is less. Food basket capacity is only 2.25 L. No digital display of the time and temperature controls. Amazon Buy Button 7. Hilton 3.5 L Air Fryer – The Crunchiest Fry maker Hilton 3.5 L Air Fryer Amazon Buy Button Hilton as a brand has launched various next-generation kitchen appliances; all having the same goal, of making cooking a less cumbersome task.

It has been successful in achieving this aim with the introduction of a wide range of roti makers, induction cookers, electric tandoor, air fryers, etc.

The Hilton 3.5 L air fryer is the most recommended air fryer among the list of other air fryers of the same brand.

This model is known for its spiral heat flow, which heats the food faster, giving us the perfect crunchiness on the exterior with an equivalently perfect tender and juicy interior.

A large cooking capacity allows us to make a large quantity of food at once. Moreover, it is safe to use and handle. A child lock is a definite added advantage, as it prevents children from any kind of injury.

You can’t miss out on this product! Hence, it is on our list of 6 ten air fryers.

Main Features Product dimensions-35×34×34 cm. Product weight- 6 kg Power consumption- 1400 Watt. Cooking capacity is 3.5 L. High-speed air circulation technology. Timer and temperature control present. Its exterior is black and made up of polypropylene. PROS (What we liked) Its high power consumption provides faster cooking. Easy to clean and handle. It comes with a smart auto-lock and a child lock preventing any accidents. The inner food basket creates a spiral heat flow that heats the food faster and makes it crunchier. Recipe book encourages us to prepare low calories and health-conscious food. CONS (What we didn’t like) It comes with only a one-year manufacturing warranty with no on-site after service. You need to carry this heavy product to the service center in case of any issue. Consumes a lot of power and makes a noise. Amazon Buy Button Frequently Asked Questions 1. How do I cool down an Air Fryer after using it? You can cool down an air fryer after use by turning off the power source. Allow it to cool down for at least 30 minutes before cleaning and storing it back into place.

2. How much time do I need for the Air Fryer to cook my frozen food? On average air, the fryer can cook frozen food within 15-20 minutes, depending on the type of food.

3. How better is an Air Fryer compared to a grill oven? The hot air gets circulated much faster in an air fryer compared to a grill oven. Hence, the food is prepared much more quickly and efficiently in an air fryer. On the other hand, an oven can take up to 30 minutes to pre-heat.

4. How to clean an air fryer? Before you start cleaning your air fryer, ensure that it is not connected to the power source. Let the air fryer cool down. Now, you can start by washing the pan, food basket, and tray using dish-washing detergent and hot water.

The outer part of the air fryer should be wiped using a damp cloth while the interior can be cleaned using hot water and a sponge. Also, use a brush to remove any food item that may be stuck to the heating elements.

Conclusion Here we come to an end to the list of the top 6 recommended air fryers. Any of these air fryers would be the perfect choice for your kitchen. All these air fryers are designed to make cooking a much faster and simpler process. Its main goal is to give you a healthier alternative to a delicious meal.

The Stok 2.6 Liter air fryer and Hilton 3.5L Air Fryer are the two budget-friendly air fryers in this list with all the specifications required in the perfect air fryer for your kitchen. On the other hand, if the price is not restraint, the Havells pro-life digi and the Philips Viva collection models would be your right choice.

The Buyer’s guide provides the list of specifications and features to keep in mind while purchasing the suitable model of air fryer for your household. You may also get some of the best deals on air fryer on e-commerce site like Amazon. So, go ahead follow the buyer’s guide, and we hope you find the air fryer which can meet all your requirements. This appliance is a true lifesaver!

[totalfanfreak]

Knight by Night Pt. 1

Knight by Night Pt. 1 [Not sure what I was thinking when writing this, I know I got to get on other fics soon, but I wanted to do a drabbles plus on AO3 it’ll be my 50th fic and I was kind of doing a little dance on it. This will be Daryl/ Reader multishot…I wanted something to pass through the locations or something like that – it will be M. I made it with a twist though, a crazy, messed up twist…bonus points if you figure it out beforehand.]

Atlanta Survivor Camp:

You yawned before opening your eyes, and you knew from how dark it was that you overslept. Clamoring out of the sleeping bag you hopped off the floor to change your clothes. It was hot, too fucking hot; it shouldn’t be this muggy with the sun down. But as the time kept passing you figured that was how the south was. You liked the people, the scenery was beautiful, but the sweltering heat always had you longing for home.

“Good morning sleepyhead, or should I say good night?”

You smiled, rolling your eyes. “Always funny, Amy. Everything okay today?”

She shrugged. “The same, except…”

You strapped your knife on, glancing back at her when you went to tie on your shoes. By Amy’s darting eyes and swaying something happened.

“What’s the matter? Did someone get hurt?”

Her brows rose. “No, nothing like that, Glenn and I thought it’d be a good idea to give you a warning.”

“Where is Glenn?”

Stepping out of the RV you were further immersed in the heat, though the smell of burning wood coming from the middle of camp was pleasant. The sky had turned to navy, some stars beginning to twinkle with barely enough pink drifting down the mountains. Making your way to the various chairs and logs you and Amy plopped yourselves down next to the young man.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Glenn shrugged, taking a huge bite from the skewered meat he held. “Thought you could use the sleep, you scavenged the whole night before.”

“Here you go, hon.”

Startled you turned to see Carol holding a plate out to you. “Thanks, I’m sorry I didn’t help cook, someone decided to let me be tardy.”

Glenn sputtered, talking around the food in his mouth. “This is what I get for being nice?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Glenn.”

Looking sheepish he nodded to the older woman. “Yes, ma’am.”

You nudged Glenn’s side. “Thank you for letting me sleep, I do appreciate it. I just want to pull my own weight around here. All you He-Men think you do everything, like to prove otherwise.”

“We do not.”

“Do too.”

“Not.”

Amy chimed in with you. “Too.”

You both giggled, Glenn feigning exasperation with you both.

“Amy said you both had a warning for me…very ominous.”

He shifted in his seat, looking back to his food. “Not really a warning, per se, we got a few newcomers to the camp. Just want you to be careful.”

You looked around the camp, counting the same number of tents as the night before. Amy pulled your arm.

“They set up their camp down that way.”

Squinting your eyes as they were still adjusting to the diminishing light you made out smoke as a fire was being lit, a bump of what had to be a tent set up on the edge of the cliff.

“Why’re they down there?”

“Loners I guess. They weren’t too friendly, tried to say hi and one grunted while the other made a pass at me.”

You laughed. “Oh, God, Glenn why didn’t you wake me! I missed out – if they like to be alone, why’d they come here?”

“Safety in numbers? That’s all I could come up with, not going to complain about it. They brought us food already.”

You realized what you had been shoveling in your mouth wasn’t fish. “Oh.”

“Hunters. I like them fine as long as they stay down there.”

Aghast, you scoffed. “Wow, Glenn, I never thought I’d see you be the unfriendly one, Walsh or me usually take that role.”

“They keep calling me Chinese. I told them I’m not, I’m freakin’ Korean!

You pinched his cheek. “Of course you are. Look at this face it’s too kawaii to not be Korean.”

He tried to look mad, failing, as a grin tugged his face. “That’s Japanese.”

“Still think it applies.”

One by one they started leaving you. Lori, Miranda and Carol going first to usher their kids to bed. Glenn and Amy always tried to stay up as long as they could with you but ended up succumbing to the night and going to bed. With that it was down to you and Dale who was dozing in the lawn chair on his RV. You stoked the fire, making sure it kept going to give you some help in the dark but low enough it wouldn’t attract much attention. You gathered the laundry that had been left out for the night; dirty clothes were never ending here – the ladies doing the bulk in the daytime with you doing what was left at night. You needed to check your traps too, so you headed towards the water with the basket on your hip. Going past you thought about seeing if the inhabitants of the new tent had anything that needed tending but with it so late you decided not to. You settled to tell them you’d be glad to take care of their clothes before you went to sleep. Setting the clothes in the water you put some dish soap on the stains, scrubbing the spot before allowing them all to soak, going to fold the clothes that were dry from the day. You climbed back up setting the clothes outside the designated tent, a rock on top to keep them in place. The net trap you had in the lake didn’t have much in it, so you repositioned it, praying it would have a better haul when you came back. With your penlight you ventured through the woods, checking the snare traps you had laid out near the camp. Only two had caught anything, but every one of them was missing the tiny bit of bait you used.

“Damn, animals are getting smarter.”

A small rabbit and a squirrel, to feed over twenty people. Besides the mushrooms Lori could find there wasn’t a lot of vegetation in the woods to find, so a stew seemed to be out. It would be hard but maybe you could talk everyone in letting you borrow a vehicle to go on a run soon. You didn’t like the idea of anyone coming with you, but they knew you were smart, and fast so hunger and need for supplies could be in your favor to let you go. You were heading back to the quarry when you heard twigs snapping near you. You halted, hearing silence, a walker wouldn’t have paused whatever made that was either animal or human. Turning behind slowly, you tried to see if anything caught your eye when it didn’t you pushed back forward.

“Hell ya think yur goin’?”

It wasn’t that it was human that scared you, but that it was unfamiliar. Gruff and pissed off – male for sure.

“I’m going back to my camp…what about you?”

Peering over your shoulders you searched again, the man coming from behind a thatch of branches.

“Didn’t see ya up there before, how I know ya ain’t lying and tryin’ ta steal something?”

Your eyes usually did well in the dark, but with the figure so far away you couldn’t make him out.

“You’re the new guys aren’t you, the hunters?”

The man didn’t reply, and your shoulders slumped. “If you have to you can ask Dale or Glenn in the RV. You know the one you keep calling a Chinaman.”

He came up to you then, dirty pale skin that was starting to tan coming in view. “Come on then.”

Leading you back out to camp, you waited to follow him to the RV but was surprised when he started going the other way.

“Hey. I thought you needed to…confirm my identity.”

He hitched a crossbow on his shoulder before looking at you with what could be described as feline eyes. Slanted, calculating, daunting, and colored in an unnatural shade of blue.

“Ya wanna wake them up we can, ya know their names unless ya been stalkin’ them didn’t see how you’d know them otherwise.”

“Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt then. Since you’re awake if you need someone to I can mend and wash your clothes for you. I don’t mean to brag but I’m pretty good at getting out stains. Just leave them outside your tent before you go to bed and I’ll get to them.”

His stare was meant to intimidate, but when you wouldn’t drop your eyes he relented shaking his head without a word while heading for his tent.

“I’m Y/N, if you were curious.”

He didn’t give you his, instead narrowing his eyes at you and gestured to the woods.

“Only thing I’m curious about is how the hell yur stupid enough ta go off in there when it’s dark. Ya that suicidal?”

You shook your head. “No, I’m not. I can’t be out in the daytime, and it might not be twenty-twenty but I can see well in the dark. I can handle myself decently. So I take night shift. Let people rest while I do what I can, hence, why I don’t mind to do the laundry. It keeps my hands busy.”

The question was easy enough on his face, making you sigh.

“I have solar urticarial it’s not as severe as it could be but I still can’t –“

“The fuck’s that?”

Giving a pensive smile, you shrugged. “I’m allergic to the sun.”

He hadn’t believed that shit at first. How can someone be allergic to the goddamn sun? It was easy to see now; you refused to go to sleep after last night, walkers infesting the camp so now you dug graves with the Asian boy. And with the clouds dispersing the sun beat down harder and he could see the harsh red welts forming on your hands, splotches on your face, the hoodie you had put on to cover you making it worse as sweat gathered on the spots.

“Give me that thing and get inside.”

He reached for the shovel, but you twisted it out of his reach.

“Thank you, Daryl, but no. They were my friends and I want to do this for them.”

Damn stubborn streak pissed him off, any other woman here would’ve handed the damn thing over.

“Ya look like a damn lobster.”

You gave a tired laugh, wiping the excess sweat from your face with a sleeve. “But a cute one right?”

He snorted. “No such thing as a cute lobster.”

The smile you flashed had his ears burning. “I’m from the north and I can tell you that’s not true.”

Yeah, he knew you were a damn Yankee, something Merle had loved to tease you over before he was gone. You hadn’t minded it either. He couldn’t help but stare at you as you continued working. Why the hell were you so nice to everyone? You had bitchy moments like the rest of them, but still you were nice. The only ones in camp to come over and ask if they needed anything, to see if they’d join the rest for supper, to see how they were. It was weird, and he waited the first week for you to come out and ask what you really wanted from them but it never came. Then Merle was gone, you continued to come over, but without his crude remarks to make you laugh it was mostly polite conversation and ill-timed smiles. But Daryl had started coming out more at night, claiming Dale’s old ass wasn’t doing any good falling asleep on everyone. He didn’t sleep much anyways. And one night he caught your attention while he was cleaning his arrows.

“What’re you doing?”

There wasn’t revulsion in your tone, nothing to say he was doing something wrong and you decided to judge him. Usually whenever you asked something he could hear the fascination inside, curiosity making the awkwardness fade.

“Fixin’ the carbon shaft so I can reattach the fletching to it.”

“May I help?”

“Ya ain’t got laundry to do?”

He wanted to hate that laugh, hated it more that he didn’t. “There’s always laundry to do. But this looks fun, might come in handy to know too. If you’ll let me.”

He stopped the knife on the shaft, clicking his tongue at the genuine interest on your face. “Fine, sit yur ass down and don’t ask too many questions.”

“He’s bit! JIM’S BIT!”

Both of you turned towards the camp, Jacqui backing away from the older man. He looked him over; he could smell guilt on him.

“Show us.”

Jim refused and when he was held down he ran up to look seeing the huge chunk out of his side. He needed to be put down, before it spread. Before whatever shit that saliva had got to his brain.

Everyone kept saying how he was human and didn’t deserve to be killed; they wanted to treat the shit like the flu like popping a few pills would cure him. Gripping the pick he had he lunged for Jim, stopping when you flung yourself on the man. When he froze he heard a gun clicking behind him.

“We don’t kill the living.”

That was funny, real fucking funny. And he started to stampede off when you stopped him.

“I do agree with what you meant Daryl. It’s going to be bad for Jim. It’s – he’s going to rot from the inside out until there’s nothing left of him. But the way you went about it was wrong.”

“How the fuck was I –“

“It was hateful. You were doing it out of logic and fear of what could happen –“

“I ain’t afraid of no –“

“Jim’s a good man, and he shouldn’t have to be killed like that. People like him shouldn’t have to die feeling hated. No one deserves that Daryl.”

He chewed his tongue, picking up his pickaxe to return to the bodies. “Get yur ass inside before I throw ya in.”

[thev2magzine-blog]

Top 5 tips on how to lose fat fast

Why people are searching different ways on how to lose fat fast. Because, obesity is becoming one of the most leading problems of the current century. Obesity refers to excessive fat deposit in the body leading to overweight. This leads to the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cardiac diseases, hypertension, and diabetes. All of these three diseases are a few of the most common diseases that have enslaved mankind over the past 2 decades. The lack of physical activity has largely contributed to the early onset of these diseases. If left untreated these diseases can lead to organ failure and eventually death. There is no known permanent cure for these diseases except diet and exercise. These diseases are like gum stuck to your hair, they are not so easy to wash away. Similarly, it is easier to prevent these diseases rather than work at curing them after affliction. But whatever the case, these diseases are one hundred percent treatable. But aside from the health impacts that fat has, it also increases our sense of inferiority and reduces self-esteem, this has made people to search sure shot way to how to lose fat fast. We live in a world where people are favored for their looks much rather than anything else. Many are desperate to make all their body fat go away. Sadly, they adopt hazardous means to do so and end up inflicting more damage to their body than good. So that’s the whole deal with fat, you are either worried that the whole world may not accept you just because you are fat, but even if that is not the case then there is the whole assortment of diseases for you to deal with. All you have to do is follow the following tips and techniques and you can lose fat fast. So what are we waiting for? Let us jump straight into the topic and discuss them right away!

1. Vegan becoming

The first step to losing fat is to lose the sources of fat you consume, particularly all forms of meat except fish, which is actually known to reduce fat. So that means pork, beef, mutton, and chicken. By becoming a vegetarian you will be able to see tremendous fat loss within 2 weeks this is the right answer to your query how to lose fat fast. Consume lots of fibers and leafy greens. Eat carrots, broccoli, celery, cucumbers, cauliflowers, and mushrooms. The good news with being vegetarian is that no matter how many veggies or fruits you consume your body won’t put on fat. Drink lots of fresh fruit juices or only lime juice (if you are a diabetic). Eat apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, pears, and watermelons to lose fat.

2. No carbohydrates and sweet treats

There are two main powerhouses of energy, they are carbohydrates and sweet treats. Eating carbs and sweets produces a massive amount of energy which the body has no use for more than half of. The remaining energy gets deposited as fat. Natural sweets like dates or honey or fruits are alright and help for how to lose fat fast. Another problem with sweets and carbs are that they are easily digested and hence leave our stomach craving for more. While fruits and veggies take time to digest and hence leave us full, carbs and sweets do the opposite. Plus, fruits and veggies have a low caloric value, indicating that you need to eat a lot to actually gain a lot of energy which is the opposite with sweets and carbohydrates.

3. The magic of Green tea

Green tea is a miracle drink. It is rich in antioxidants and hence burns all the fat in our body and easy way to lose fat fast.It is both refreshing and the best if you want to lose fat fast. Warm water is also rich in antioxidants and good for losing fat. They help the body by increasing its metabolism rate. This causes the body to begin burning fat. So you can be assured that your belly will become flat soon.

4. Cycling

Cycling is a very good way to lose fat faster than when you jog or walk or run. It helps us lose fat at an optimum level. The benefit with cycling is that it can be incorporated into our day to day life making it possible to save time and money while at the same time maximizing fat reduction.

Cycling works the legs, particularly the thighs and glutes, where a fat deposit is high and difficult to burn. Cycling also increases stamina. So that’s like an added feature to make a mental note of.

5. Push-ups and Sit-ups

Last but not least, it all amounts to intense exercise to lose fat fast.. What’s special is the fact that you don’t need a gym for performing these exercises. Push-ups are the ultimate exercise as they intensively work on your belly, thighs, calves,  chest and shoulder muscles. The push up itself is an all in one exercise routine that is more than enough to work your body and help you lose fat faster. When coupled with sit-ups, which focus on your thighs and belly, they provide a high-speed express to the fat-free city. Working out a minimum of one hour thrice a week is good enough. But remember not to exert too much of yourself at once or you may face a burnout. This will place all that you have worked out for at a waste. So remember to take breaks in between. But push-ups are not so easy to perform and it takes a week to perform a single push up if you are a newbie to the world of push-ups. You need to begin with the plank, an exercise in which you remain immobile in the push-up position. Then you kneel down and with your hands on the ground trying to push your chest up and down. On doing this for a week you will be accustomed to pushing up your own body weight. All these tips which answer the question how to lose fat fast. Read the full article

[ketohc]

Keto Chips – A Good Idea?

Keto Chips – A Good Idea?

People who love snacking might feel there are less options while on a keto-diet; especially for that time of the day when you feel the urge to munch on something, between your lunch and dinner.

So, what are you counting on these days? Mere salads and keto-bars are not going to keep you interested for a long time if those are the only choices you have in your mind; and anything you opt for needs to fit in the low-carb diet always.

How about Keto-chips?

Yes, it’s the long-awaited snack, that you only dream of now. Eating chips was so easy at one time. Just grab a packet or two, and go munching while watching a movie, your favorite series, working or partying. But we aren’t talking about the chips that are available in the market. We talk – Keto chips here!

Have you checked on the keto-friendly chips yet? If not, we have good information and some nice recipes to try out. Also, these are going to be fresh and healthy. What better can you expect your snack to give you, than letting you feel the guilt-free indulgence over something you can forever lean on!

Replacing Food

We all know that keto-dieting can be a little challenging, for the kind of restricted plan one needs to follow. No, it doesn’t have to be so depressing. Keto-diet is about cutting down on carbs and filling in fats, so pick your choice of healthy alternatives with low-carb, high-fat and replicate what you like eating the most.

How to add chips?

We haven’t forgotten about that yet. We had to tell you that every food is replaceable, provided you are open to integration. Make yourself a small bowl of keto-friendly chips, made from many low-carb items like radish, cheese, cucumber, zucchini, kale, spinach, coconut, cabbage, pork rind, etc.

Bring in all that you eat for keto, and see what wonders you are going to create in your very own kitchen.

What Are Chips and Why Aren’t They Low Carb-Friendly?

Potato chips are the first ones to hit us when we call chips, and then we have tortilla chips, equally tempting and a wonderful snack along with dips. These sound great for a non-keto dieter, however, for the followers, it’s essential to know that both are higher on carbs and not keto-friendly. To add more, these chips go through different processes, where they are treated chemically for enriched color and are fried in vegetable or canola oil, used commonly for processed foods (the later having major negative effects on the heart, blood, liver, and kidney as well).

If you are not worrying about it yet, you might like to know that 1 ounce of potato chips gives you about 15g carbs and 10g fat (not total saturated fats).

Are Keto Chips Low in Carbs?

We are focusing a lot on making the keto-diet interesting and variant. The sole reason behind it is to make the journey less disappointing for you because we understand that the transformation can be irksome at times. Hence, sharing new recipes, giving out information on the nutritional values and helping you understand the do’s and don’ts is the whole agenda.

So, let’s be practical

keto-chips aren’t going to be just how you thought (yummy potato chips or Doritos), No!

These will be different in taste, texture and looks; but we assure you that these are keto-friendly, and you can count on them any time of the day. These chips will be low in carbs, and diversely tasty too.

We would call you even luckier if you can find an organic store that sells out keto-chips! But if you know of none in your city, you’ll get more ideas here, on how to make your snack at home.

What Chips Can You Eat on the Keto Diet?

Like we mentioned above, there are many low-carb options you can consider for your keto-chips. Pick few and try out making them for a start if you like the taste, great! If not, try another one!

Radish Chips

Apart from being low on carb alternative to potato chips, radish can provide you with many nutrients like, potassium, vitamin B, vitamin C, manganese, and folate, that detoxifies your blood, promoting better health, great skin, improved heart health and weight loss at the same time. Why not try it for good?

Here is what you need to do to get yourself a small bowl of radish chips.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375°F

Wash the radish and slice it into thin chips

Spread a parchment paper over a baking sheet and then place the chips on it

Spray oil lightly over the chips and then sprinkle salt & pepper too

Bake this in the oven for about 10 minutes, take it out, turn them upside down and bake for another 6-10 minutes

Once they seem crispy, take them out of the oven and keep aside to cool

A cup of sliced radish has an only 2g net carb and zero fat. Isn’t that just perfect?

Cheese Chips

Cheese on a keto-diet is an advantage, really. At least you have something to rely on when you need to either top your salad, use as a dip or spread it over your regular meal. But, have you come across these amazing cheese chips ever?

With high-fat and low-carb content, cheese makes perfect chips for a keto-dieter. In fact, an ounce of this delicious crunchy snack will give you 6g saturated fat and less than 0.5g carb! Along with that, you will also receive a bunch of goodness from these chips, like important vitamins, zinc, calcium, and phosphorus.

Try these out and thank the creator later.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400°F

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully place the cheese slices on them (you can also cut them into shapes you like)

Bake these for 8-10 minutes, making sure occasionally that they don’t burn

There! You have your gorgeous looking cheese chips, totally keto-friendly and great as a snack.

Cucumber Chips

Over salad or just like that, cucumbers are so much healthy. Also, it gives you enough vitamins, manganese, potassium, and magnesium. With less than 2g carb in a serving, you can make this one ideal snack for you, every time a cucumber is seen lying in the refrigerator.

All you will need to do is exactly what you do for a salad, slice ‘em up!

Method:

Preheat your oven to 170°F

Use a kitchen towel to dry the moisture from over the cucumber

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cucumber slices over it

Bake them low & slow for 3 hours

Kale Chips

A green leafy vegetable like kale is majorly known for its anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that help the body defeat many diseases. Kale makes great salads and are pretty loved by many. Also, it’s ideal on a keto-list because it provides only 2g carbs and less than 1g fat in a serving of one cup.

It is low on carb. Hence, it is one amazing veggie to add in the list of chips. Try making these at home and start munching already!

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and keep aside

Remove thick stems from the leaves and tear the leaves into a size that you like

Bake them for about 10-15 minutes, till the edges of the leaves turn brown and look crunchy enough. Don’t burn them

These were quick and easily available recipes for you to make amazing keto-friendly chips, from the available items in your kitchen. Below we will be sharing more recipes on how to make incredible keto-chips. Some you’ll love to try right away.

Keto Tortilla Chips

Contrary to the above statement, we would like to add tortilla to this list. No, this is going to be a keto-friendly tortilla recipe, so you won’t feel bad about eating them.

These chips are going to taste just like your favorite tortilla chips but will be gluten-free and low-carb; plus, no wheat and no corns.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Two tbsp psyllium husk

¾ cup of Almond flour (powdered)

Salt (as per your liking)

¼ tsp onion powder (optional)

¼ tsp garlic powder (optional)

¼ tsp paprika (optional)

Method:

Heat your oven to 356°F

Take a non-stick saucepan and gently heat the cheese, while stirring constantly

Mix almond flour, spices, psyllium husk, and salt in the melted cheese and stir for a dough like the combination, and then knead it until it’s smooth

Dice the dough into two balls and roll them as thin as possible, between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid sticking on the rolling pin

Use a pizza cutter to cut-out triangle shaped of this flattened dough and spread them over the baking sheet, with enough space for them to stay untouched from each other

Bake these for about 8 minutes or till the edges turn brown (also, the thickness of the tortilla chips will decide how much time you’ll need to bake them)

You have your bowl of freshly baked home-made tortilla chips. Devour!

Almond Butter Cabbage Chips

Another great ingredient for a keto-salad, cucumber makes it to the list without an effort. With just about 5g of net carb and almost zero fat, this leafy veggie is apt to include in anything you want.

The kale recipe was simple and had not much to experiment with. However, you can try adding almond butter as a twist to the keto-chips’ idea. Also, this recipe will make a lot of chips, so you can store them in the refrigerator and munch on them later, or even share (if you can).

Ingredients:

900g Cabbage (cut into pieces)

Four tbsp Almond butter

One tbsp Coconut amino

Four tbsp Avocado oil

One tbsp Fish sauce

Two tbsp Hemp seeds

Method:

Keeping the cabbage aside, mix everything else in a large bowl

Whip it to form a nice and smooth paste (you can add water to the mixture if you think it’s too thick, but make sure to keep the pasty texture intact)

Take the cabbage leaves and coat them with the paste thoroughly

Keep them in the dehydrator for at least 6 hours at 145°F. These should be dry and crispy by then

You can store these chips in an airtight container and consume them within three days

Cinnamon Coconut Chips

While leafy veggies make great chips (as you’ve already read), coconut is not stepping back either. With the natural richness that coconut carries, cinnamon just adds to the flavor taking the nutty delight to another level.

Coconut chips are wonderful healthy snacks for keto-dieter, and even those who aren’t won’t deny taking a bite… no, several bites in fact. However, the carb content could be a little on the higher side, therefore, making sure not to overeat is recommended.

Making these amazing cinnamon coconut chips is super easy and consumes only about 5 minutes!

Ingredients:

1 and ½ cups of Coconut flakes

One tsp Cinnamon

Method:

Preheat your oven to 325°F

Take a baking sheet and spread the coconut flakes. Sprinkle the cinnamon powder over the flakes

Place the sheet in the oven and bake it for 5 minutes, turning them upside down occasionally, so they don’t burn and bake thoroughly

Once they look golden brown in color, remove it and let it cool

Advertisement - KetoHC Exogenous Ketones

CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS TODAY!

Though keto-chips might not replace the taste of those nicely packed potato chips or the tortilla chips, yet, you are never going to regret consuming them. And above that, you’ll find so many recipes to try for a new keto-chips’ idea.

People share new ways of making keto-meals or snacks interesting, because of the limited options available for the dieters, and you’ll never get bored of trying them too.

If you’re worrying about more options for a snack while on a keto-diet, worry not, you have several ways of making your snacks faultlessly ketogenic, and tasty too.

For instance, Fat-bombs that you can create yourself at home using either peanut or almond butter. Then we have Pork rinds for non-vegetarians, that is made of pork skin; Low carb tuna pickle, Guacamole as dips, Canned Sardines, Low carb onion rings, Peanut butter barks, Keto mug bread, Zucchini chips, Chia Seed puddings, Mixed nuts, Beef Jerky, Pumpkin seeds, and many, many more.

If you have forgotten eggs, let’s remind you that boiled eggs too make amazing snacks. Just boil them in the morning and eat them whenever you feel the pangs hitting in, or whenever you are bored. They are easily available, cheap and generally in the kitchen stock as well.

What more do you need?

If you want more variation, try checking out delicious recipes online. Make the most of your keto-diet program.

Happy munching!

References

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/195554?utm_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=J_Am_Med_TrendMD_1

https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/122/1/27/110405

https://www.peta.org/living/food/vegan-keto-tips-recipes/

https://asweetlife.org/why-i-chose-a-ketogenic-diet-for-diabetes-management/

https://wellandwealthy.org/easy-keto-recipes/

https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/717451

https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com

https://www.fatforweightloss.com.au/recipe/peanut-butter-cookies/

https://whatmollymade.com/peanut-butter-fat-bombs/

https://www.ruled.me/peanut-butter-pancakes/

WHAT TO READ NEXT:

JOIN THE KHC CLUB FOR KETO ARTICLES AND RECIPES

Thanks For Signing Up! We'll Be In Touch :)

Name This field is required

Email This field is required

JOIN THE KHC CLUB

Advertisement - Measure Your Ketones With On Breath

from Keto Health Care - Blog http://bit.ly/2At6bFX via IFTTT

[muldertxf]

For Every Star, There Is A Supernova

Set in 2009. Scully returns to the unremarkable house to reconcile with Mulder. It's rated T because of language. 2,104 word count.

The house didn’t seem right. On the air, cinnamon mingled with the faintest breath of fruit. She squinted. Light fixtures painstakingly doused the surroundings in an overbearing lemony-light. Wait, was that apple pie? In the most pavlovian way, she found herself drawn to the kitchen by the alluring scent. A gasp escaped her lips.

 An uneven grey paneling of newspaper clippings tacked by tiny red pins checkered the kitchen walls. A picture frame graced the space above their--no--his oven. She clenched her fists, then sighed. The syrupy humidity had messed up her hair that she had spent all morning on, and now in its place, wet, salty clumps lay in swirls on the back of her neck. She attempted to finger a strand, but was met with pain, as it tugged away from her in a frizzy knot. She had even cut her hair short again.

 Was this really worth it? She thought. A limp strand of red fell into her face, and the woman tucked it once more behind her ear. It was 2009--the year of the ox. She felt as stubborn as an ox.

 Her antique house phone’s panicked ring still echoed through her mind. She should have called him back that January. But instead of hushing the incessant ring by listening for his baritone in the receiver, she fought prickly ice flakes and listened for the wind. She had spent more nights sitting on snow drifts than her own couch that winter. Not that she would ever admit that. And eventually, the ringing tapered off into a hot silence.

 The kitchen linoleum boiled her feet.

 Mulder had tried screaming for her the way that he remembered she liked, but all that left his mouth was pure star breath. Traces of Milky Way, Andromeda, and Messier 81 collapsed from him in large sums in sheer animalistic panic. We are eternal, Dana Scully. Of course, he never said that out loud--it sounded too cheesy. It also sounded too similar to that romance novel he had found smuggled inside her pillow case that one time. But that’s all he ever wanted to talk about with her. He longed to tell her that they were the stars that trace the sky at night for all eternity. Their relationship was not over. It could not be over. For every star, there is a supernova. She couldn’t walk away before the explosion. The darkness would abate if she would just be there for it.

 Scully knew they should talk. This was not something to hint at in vague gestures between the crackle of eggs, not slight suggestions to be made during intimacy, and not to be uttered in a harsh whisper in the produce aisle. She clenched her jaw again, paining her molars. A prickle of anxiety steeled itself between the ridges of her spine. Her eyelids clamped shut to trap a tear. She could feel his arms enveloping her in a warm embrace again if she thought hard enough.

 He was ushering her away from the alien brightness and appley scent of his home, and back into his old apartment. They were holding hands now. The leather of his beaten sofa creaked beneath her weight as she fell into it, her face bathed blue by glow of his fish tank. A weak table lamp shined in the corner. His place was dark, like him. A faint smell of dust and fresh paper would permeate the air, floating behind the consistent hum of the tank. In his apartment, he had wept with her when his mother died. In his apartment, she had initiated their first time. And in his apartment, she had been there when he had told his landlord that he would be moving out. Scully removed herself from the cushiony thought, and faded back into the kitchen. The need to talk to him had called her back here. She took a deep breath.

 “Mulder?”

 A languid silence shrunk the room. Scully fidgeted. Despite being only 5’3, she felt like a huge monster tramping on daisies. She tried to reassure herself: I’m not trespassing. This was my home at one point, too. A thin smile creeped up on her. Monster. She was an X-File to be investigated. To be interrogated. Mulder loved those cases. He loved her.

 Scully jumped.

 A sharp scrape against hardwood ripped through the apple and cinnamon. The screen door clattered shut followed by heavy footsteps. A figure lumbered itself behind her, wielding an old baseball bat. “HEY! I WON’T LET YOU STEAL ANY OF OUR-” The baritone ceased, as his eyes fell upon her. “Oh…” The bat slipped from his grasp, thwacking painfully against the wood a few times, before settling. It rolled silently and met her painted toes with a small tap. “Sorry, I thought you were another…”

 “Mulder,” Scully croaked, inching the bat away from her toes with a foot. Her eyes widened noticeably, and a pink tint dusted her cheeks. He shaved and cut his hair. She maintained eye contact.

 “Taking roll call, are we?” Mulder casually said, stroking a non-existent beard. He looked towards his thick boots to kick the bat beneath the black leather sofa. He couldn’t tell if it was the heat or Scully’s eyes on him that caused a trickle of sweat down his neck. Slowly, his green irises settled on her once more.

 She sighed and bit her lip. “What’s that smell?”

 “I was uh...making something for the neighbors,” He chuckled. Scully’s forehead furrowed into little creases. He blushed. “I mean, for um, the b-birds, y’know. I had some stuff left over from my baked oatmeal scramble. Figured they might like it.” As if on cue, a little group of birds tweeted happily on the porch. “Think they can smell it from here? You’re a doctor.” He smiled.

 She cocked her head slightly. “Yes, doctor. Not a vet, if you remember correctly,” She said, as if she were reciting a bible verse. Her voice reverberated coldly off the walls. She looked to the newspaper again, and felt that same betrayal that had washed over her earlier when she had first found it. “What’d you do to the kitchen?”

 A worried look crossed his face. Scully thought she saw his hands tremble a bit. But before she could further prod that idea, he stole them away behind his hulking back. His green eyes slowly drew back to the wall, and onto the old highlighted clippings and marker streaked pages. He grunted.

 Scully felt a flare of anger snared inside herself poke the lining of her stomach. She pursed her lips, and her jaw clenched even harder, as did his. Mulder sweated profusely. They held eye contact for a good minute or two, eye-fucking. Mulder used to do this with Scully when they were at work at the bureau, when a kiss or hug could not be risked. However, this was not the good type of eye-fucking that he used to willingly partake in. No, he was helplessly shackled to her now, through Scully’s bubbling, pent up rage. The monster trampled over more flowers. He crumbled.

 “No, no... Scully. Dana. This isn’t what it looks like...I’m not…” He trailed off. A hobo? A bizarre conspiracy-driven loner who makes home decor out of news clippings? “I’m redecorating the kitchen...it’s just,” He deflated. “I’m sorry. I figured if you ever came back, you wouldn’t want to see the same dark place. I’m painting the walls, hence the newspaper. I’ve gotta find a green outlet for all this old paper I’ve accumulated, right? It does not mean anything to me now. I don’t value it and paste it over a cork board. I don’t examine it for hours on end. It’s merely scribbled and highlighted scraps now,” He gestured to the kitchen again. “I’m painting it yellow. The brightest color there is. I’ve installed new, more eco-friendly lights, which just happened to be brighter, as well. An added bonus,” he said, taking her hand.

 She squeezed his damp hand back. It felt like a soggy, quivering leaf. A tear slid down her cheek. “Mulder, we need to talk.”

 They shared a long, lustful but teary glance, this time both of them not daring to break eye contact at all. The tweeting of the house sparrows that surrounded the house ceased. And beneath his worn boots and her tired feet, the beaten wood gave out. A mesh of icy ivy, frozen oak, and dead willow entwined around their forms like the weaving of a fragile fabric. They didn’t bother squinting against the glare of the white. The red-head’s feet no longer burned, and she looked into him deeply. She stood on her toes now, receding into him like climbing ivy, her small arms tightly wrapping around him. Cold tears dampened his gray t-shirt.

 “I’ve known that I’ve wanted to see you again, but I had no idea how to,” Scully whispered in a forceful hush into his shirt, white clouds dissolving from her cherry colored mouth. A teardrop fell from Mulder and plopped in the center of Scully’s scalp. He was performing an autopsy on her now, stabbing at her brain with a teary scalpel. Her head pulled away from his shirt, and she gently pet his forearm, up and down. His dark beard and disheveled longer hair glimmered in the brisk air like star dust. She laid the back of her right hand against it. Scratchy beard.

 “I’m sorry I couldn’t shield you from the darkness.” Mulder stifled a sniffle, and looked into the sea of orange that gracefully flowed down her tiny porcelain frame. “I know you hate that. I brought it back. We left the bureau, we were on the run. I was the darkness, Scully. I’m so sorry. And-and I made you give up our son.”

 Her head whipped up at him further than he thought was possible. “No you didn’t! It was what we had to do. This guilt you feel, it’s uncalled for. Unreasonable. I’m sorry that you feel it. I feel it sometimes, too. You think I don’t think about him sometimes? Well you’re bat-crap-crazy,” Scully said, letting a tinge of humor ease the thick tension. “I think we both think about him a lot. But he’s still out there. You know it, I know it. Mulder, listen to me. We both feel guilty, it’s normal. But we shouldn’t dwell on that too long. It’s not healthy.”

 Mulder swallowed past knives. She stroked his cheek again, a few beard whiskers fell out.

 “I’ve been taking my medication like you insisted.”

 “Good.”

 “But I still made you walk away from me. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. I felt lost. I had my work taken away from me, I was...abduc…” His frosted lips wouldn’t form the word.

 “It’s okay. I felt lost too. I buried myself in hospital work, I...that wasn’t the healthiest thing to do, either. I see that now. I just tend to work excessively instead of being emotional with you, I often found that hard. I still do.”

 “Why?”

 “That’s how you learn to act in a boy’s club. I grew up around a number of men, more than women. I worked in a place where women were few and far between. You can’t let weakness show. That means any tears. It’s a toxic notion that I have internalized, yes, but…I’m learning to be better. To break away from that ideology. I’m glad you are, too.”

 She relinquished her left hand’s grip on his upper arm, and rested it on his heart. A surge of warmth vibrated between them like the notes off a record player. Mulder cupped her cheeks, and squeezed them together, giving her red fish lips. A grin began to glow beneath strips of chestnut beard. She stroked his face, more whiskers falling off at the contact of her flesh.

 “I’m here,” Mulder whispered.

 “So am I,” Scully breathed back, a blue fire blazing in her eyes.

 Finally, they pulled apart, and accepted the overbearing white around them. Wind angrily whipped, batting chestnut and coppery strands every which way. Twigs snapped and branches shattered. She squinted up at him while spitting hair out of her mouth, the light bouncing off his bare face in the most attractive way. His hair was not long and messy. Her hair was short again. Just as it should be.

 Finally, the fruity scent crept back into frame. The ivy, oak, and willow withered away, retreating into old, unremarkable floorboard. A warm sunset filtered in between them through a window.

 Without saying anything, they had said everything.

[lindafrancois]

Everything You Want Know About PCOS And Hair Fall

A healthy woman without any clinical condition will have 80,000 to 120,000 terminal hairs on their scalp. But what if the woman has PCOS? Today we will brief on the PCOS hair loss and certain home remedies that can help you reduce hair fall.

Before we jump onto the causes of hair fall due to PCOS, what is PCOS exactly? PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a hormonal disorder that is common among women of reproductive age. They generally have infrequent periods or prolonged menstrual cycles.

When a woman contains PCOS, there are a lot of health issues that occur in her; one such being hair fall. Although hair fall is not as severe as other symptoms of PCOS, hair is a most important aspect in a woman’s life, hence it is necessary to protect them.[1]

PCOS And Hair Fall

Hormonal imbalance is one of the common symptoms in a woman with PCOS. This results in a decline of metabolic rate that affects the health and physical appearance in a woman.

Among the many, hair fall is a major one. Usually hair fall can be due to:

 1. Following an unhealthy lifestyle: Unhealthy lifestyle such as partying frequently overnight, regular drinking of alcohol or sugary beverages, consumption of junk foods, sleeplessness can affect your health and in turn affects and harms your hair growth.

2. Unhealthy food habits: Consuming food made of unhealthy oils and sauces; fried foods; foods rich in bad fat etc can result in hair fall.

3. Environmental pollution: One of the major reasons, pollution, causes hair fall and also regulates hair growth sometimes. Not just pollution, exposing your hair to the harsh sunlight can also damage your hair.

4. Stress: Stress is common among adults today and causes many health issues. Hair fall is also one of the results of stress in you. Stress and anxiety have a far greater effect on your body than anything.

5. Deficiency of essential nutrients: It is important to consume or add healthy and nutrient dense foods in your diet. All of these essential nutrients serve each of the issues that occur in your body. Deficiency of essential nutrients can result in hair fall as well.

6. Usage of chemicals in the hair: Coloring or bleaching of hair can cause severe problems such as thinning of hair, breakage, dandruff, frizzy hair and also hair fall. Usage of curling or straightening iron can also result in hair fall.

7. Side effects of medications: Most medicines come with side effects and one such side effect is hair fall. Before you take up any medications or supplements be knowledgeable about its side effects and consult a doc.

8. Maintaining poor hair hygiene: Hair hygiene is commonly neglected by all. Irregular hair wash and hair brushing; rarely oiling of hair can result in severe damage to hair with hair loss, hair breakage and dandruff.

During PCOS, the body produces too many androgens resulting in a condition called hyperandrogenism. With this condition, the woman is likely to develop body and facial hair growth and also experiences less hair growth on the scalp.

Hair Cycle

Usually, healthy hair growth occurs at a rate of 0.35 mm/day, that is approximately 0.5 in a month or 6 inch in a year.  A new hair should start to grow soon after the old one has fallen out. At any given time, 85% of our hair is in a growth phase whilst 15% is in the resting phase 

The problem with PCOS hair loss is that the hair follicle enters the resting phase but does not re-enter a growth phase, leading to hair thinning and baldness.

Reasons For Why PCOS Causes Hair Fall

1. High Testosterone Levels

During PCOS, cysts in the ovaries produce too many androgens (known as hyperandrogenism), which is responsible for blocking the hair follicles thus causing Androgenic alopecia or AGA.

This results in hair thinning and also becomes shorter in length. Sometimes it can lead to lighter color of hair and finally stops producing.

Testosterone hormones split into many Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) are present in the oil glands of the hair follicle. These DHT circles the receptor sites in the hair follicle resulting in shrinkage and finally killing the follicles.

Some women have more sensitive receptors or are more efficient in producing DHT and hence they are more susceptible to hair fall.

2. Stress

The “stress hormone” Cortisol hormone worsens hair loss. It can also increase your risks of more serious health complications like hypertension, increased weight, lowered bone density, weakened immune system and heart disease.

Stress also increases the risk of insulin resistance. So, some simple stress buster technique can relieve your stress temporarily.

3. Hormonal Imbalance And Hair Thinning

Thinning can often happen in the beginning stages of female and male pattern hair loss when sensitivity occurs to the normal androgen that circulates around hair follicles.

This sensitivity causes miniaturization and the change of diameter of the hair follicle. This type of hair loss is caused by the androgen DHT, or Dihydrotestosterone.

4. Lack Of Sleep

Sleep is controlled by two hormones; melatonin and serotonin. A lack of sleep will cause an imbalance in the levels of these two hormones. This will, in turn, imbalance other hormones, including insulin.

Regular eating will help in keeping your insulin levels normal and absorption of nutrients for healthy hair.

Truweight Superfoods To Be Added In Diet

Premium Foods – Tru Juice, Trugreen, Teatox-D, Trufiber-D

Drinks – Aloe vera drink, Hibiscus tea, Wow drink, Amla drink, Shake a day

Snacks – Flax seed ladoo, Seeds cocktail, Almond Coconut Bar

Breakfast – Quinoa Dal dosa mix, foxtail millet mix, Multigrain premix Atta

Soups – Moringa Soup, Tomato Moong Soup

Tips To Manage PCOS Hair Loss

1. Food:

Foods that are rich in protein such as whole legumes, egg whites, fishes, lean meats, mushrooms, avocado, sweet potatoes, nuts etc can help you reduce hair fall and instead promote hair growth. One of the best-known vitamins for hair growth is Vitamin B.

2. Sleep And Exercise:

Getting enough sleep is especially important. Depriving in sleep can cause stress and anxiety and in turn hair fall. A minimum of 7 to 8 hrs sleep is sufficient. Yoga or Meditation or Exercise in the early morning can keep you away from stress and also helps reduce PCOS hair loss.

2. Reduction in alcohol:

Consumption of alcohol dehydrates your body and hence affects your hair health. Body dehydration makes the hair follicles dry and brittle causing hair fall.

3. Regular Hair Wash:

Wash your hair regularly with mild shampoo. Due to environmental pollution, dust particles accumulate in your hair causing dandruff and other hair related problems.

4. Avoid Hair Color And Bleach:

Coloring or bleaching your hair can damage your hair follicles and thus causing hair loss. Avoid the application of bleaches and hair colors on your hair.

5. Oil Massage:

Regular scalp massage can open up the pores which helps better oil absorption. It can also help your hair recover from the damage caused by hair treatments. Oil massage promotes hair growth and strengthens roots.

6. Brush Your Hair Often:

Brush your hair at least twice a day and avoid brushing wet hair. Brushing wet hair causes dandruff and hair fall.

7. Exposure To Sun:

Do not expose your hair directly to the harsh sunlight. While going out cover your hair properly with a stole or scarf.

8. Supplements:

OCP / Metformin, Essential Oils like (Rosemary/ jojoba oil), Apple cider vinegar and supplements can help promote hair growth and recover the damaged hair.

12 Easy Home Remedies For Hair Fall Due To PCOS

Egg Mask: Separate the egg yolk from the egg whites and beat it. Apply this egg mask on to your scalp from the root till the tip of the hair, thoroughly. Wash after an hour with mild shampoo.

Licorice root: Licorice root opens pores and strengthens weakened hair follicles and hence prevents hair fall. To make a paste add a tablespoon of ground licorice root into a half cup milk. Apply this to your scalp and hair length and leave it on overnight.

Coconut Milk: The essential fats present in the coconut milk is believed to promote hair growth and also reduces hair loss. To make this hair mask, take a medium-sized coconut and grind or grate it.

Slightly simmer it in a pan for 5-10 minutes. Apply this coconut milk paste on your scalp and the entire hair. Leave it for  20 minutes and later rinse with a mild shampoo.

Green Tea: Drink green tea at least 4 times a day. This relaxes your mind and keeps you away from stress and hence prevents hair loss.

Beetroot Juice: Regular applying of beetroot juice to the hair prevents hair loss. It helps to tighten the pores and reduces hair fall. Squeeze out the juice from the grated beetroot and apply on hair. After an hour or over, shampoo your hair.

Greek Yoghurt and Honey: Mix 3-4 tablespoon of Greek yoghurt with a spoon of honey and apply it on the hair. After 20-30 minutes, wash your hair with a mild shampoo.

Aloe Vera: Apply freshly removed aloe vera on to the hair. Leave it for an hour and wash with mild shampoo.

Fenugreek Seeds: Grind the fenugreek seeds and add a tablespoon of coconut oil. Apply it on the hair from scalp to tip and wash it after an hour with shampoo.

Onion Juice: Grind 1-2 onions and squeeze out the juice. Apply it on the hair and leave for an hour.

Amla and Lime: Mix amla and lime juice and mask it over the hair. Leave for an hour or overnight and wash.

Leaves of Chinese Hibiscus: Take around 3-4 Hibiscus leaves and one Hibiscus flower and grind them to make a smooth paste. Add a cup of low fat yogurt to this paste. Apply it on your hair and rinse it after an hour.

Curry Leaves: Take a hand full of curry leaves as much as your hair length needs and thoroughly blend it. Take one tablespoon of this paste and add it to a cup of yogurt; mix well. Massage this paste over your scalp and hair, and rinse it after an hour or so.

Conclusion

PCOS can be treated with the right and healthy lifestyle and so is hair fall. Living healthy leads many things into a better version. Stress being one of the most important aspects for PCOS hair loss, can be avoided only with your effort and has no home remedies for that. Hence always stay calm and positive.

Things like PCOS hair loss have to be understood well with respect to its cause and what can you do about it. To know and understand more about these, contact us!

The post Everything You Want Know About PCOS And Hair Fall appeared first on Truweight Blog.

Everything You Want Know About PCOS And Hair Fall published first on https://dietariouspage.tumblr.com/

[meddevi-blog]

Liquid Diet for Jaw Surgery

Jaw surgery is also called orthognathic surgery, which is performed for various purposes like adjusting the jaw structure growth, and for helping alleviate sleep apnea and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, that cannot be corrected without a surgery. A person having undergone a jaw surgery must know about the post-operative care to take. The first precaution is to follow a diet that will not put any additional pressure on the jaw, and will cause the least movement. The diet primarily includes soups and easy-to-chew foods. Eating according to such a plan helps reduce the pain, and aids quick recovery.

Liquid DietWhile it is always beneficial to follow a liquid diet, it is also very important to look for the daily nutritional benefits that the body should gain from it. The recipes chosen should be such that the body's nutritional requirements are met. Hence, it is important to select nutritious foods while selecting a meal plan. The diet must allow a person to have at least two quarts of liquids in a day.

First Week: The diet should include water, milk, buttermilk, fruit juices, bouillons or clear broths, and diluted soups in the first week. Avoid foods that contain MSG, especially present in Chinese food. Protein-rich soups, soft drinks (in moderate amounts), eggnogs, and milkshakes can be consumed. During the first week after surgery, it is also very important to wash the mouth with a soft toothbrush, after eating anything.

After the First Week: It is better to thicken the fluids in a gradual way, while also keeping the nutritional needs in mind. There are chances of weight loss, and it is very important for the body to get the required nutrients through a liquid diet. See to it that the body gets enough amounts of vitamin C and proteins. At this stage, use powdered milk, peanut butter, and bananas. Protein shakes and foods made using Brewer's yeast are also useful. One must always maintain a variety in the diet, and include pureed foods, stews, baby foods, hot cereals, yogurts, etc. Blended soup recipes can also be included.

After a few weeks, it is advisable to include soft solid foodstuffs like:

Meats, poultry, or fish: 2 - 3 servings per day are recommended (Serving size = 3 - 4 oz.)

Fruits and vegetables: 4 or more servings per day (Serving size = ½ cup)

Whole grains (bread/cereals): 4 servings per day (Serving size = ½ cup)

Dairy products: 2 or more servings per day (Serving size = 1 cup)

RecipesThere is no need to fret, as there are many recipes that you can try. They are healthy and tasty. Simple recipes like chicken broth, tomato soup, fruit juices, and smoothies are good choices for an amateur in cooking. Well, for addition, here are a few recipes meant for jaw surgery that one can include in one's daily diet.Fruit and Bran Milk

Ingredients

½ orange

½ apple

¼ cup plain yogurt

¼ cup bran flakes

2 tablespoons of wheat germs

Procedure

Take a blender, combine all ingredients into it.

Blend until you get a smooth mixture.

You can add the fruits of your own choice too.

This is an easy-to-make drink that makes a good breakfast recipe.

It provides 218 calories, 13.1g protein, 96.1g carbohydrates, and 3.4g fat.

Chicken Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup cooked broccoli

1 teaspoon flour

1 tablespoon of sour cream or fresh yogurt

Procedure

Take a saucepan and pour cream or yogurt into it.

Add flour to it, and stir the mixture until it gets a smooth texture.

Later, add cooked broccoli and chicken broth into it, and cook thoroughly.

The easy-to-make and tasty chicken broccoli soup is ready.

Season it with pepper and salt.

One can also try to make a creamy asparagus soup, which is also a great choice for a liquid diet. This chicken broccoli soup has 66.5 calories, 5.9g protein, 6.2g carbohydrates, and 2.2g fat.

Chicken Delight

Ingredients

½ chicken breast

½ cup chicken broth

1 medium potato

1 cup carrot cubes

Procedure

Cook potato and carrot (separately) until tender.

Cook the chicken breast until tender.

Take a blender and add cooked carrot, potato, and chicken breast to it.

Add the chicken broth into it and blend finely.

Add pepper and salt to taste, and serve this chicken delight.

This recipe contains 284.5 calories, 32.1g protein, 28g carbohydrates, and 4.7g fat.

Sweet pea puree, apple smoothie, peanut buttermilk, and cream of wheat are among the other delightful recipes that can be included in the diet plan.

[shelasavoy89-blog]

Specialist Charm Insurance coverage

Of course, all of us intend to appear our best anywhere our company go, whatever our team perform. That is organic for you to improve your charm by taking on various improvement procedures. Our firm operate coming from 3 custom warehouses where our company are able to source unique items coming from around the planet at the very best feasible costs. When you liked this article along with you would want to get details regarding mountains in wales to walk (visit the next site) kindly visit the webpage. While mainstream health and also elegance items will definitely consistently be the huge part of the marketplace, natural appeal care is readied to increase even better. If you desire to engaged in innovative systems, you could want to take into consideration charm treatments as this is among the most financially rewarding spots in the area from cosmetology. Qualified procedure cover is a type from professional repayment cover especially for appeal therapists. . Typically phrases that could be said that the craze from looking great as well as lovable is found even more therefore they fail to remember to take useful wellness beauty care pointers that may serve a whole lot to take some preventive measures for their personal. On top of that, there is actually no creature testing performed in the manufacturing from some 100% natural products. As an example, a person who wished to have a nice aromatic shower may lower the lights, put these little candlesticks around the room, and incorporate water sensations to their relaxation therapy. This has actually created shock among numerous; though you can easily feel confident that there is a wealth from effective options to man-made make-up as well as beautify items to aid deal with these growing concerns. The business is actually an incorporated internet marketing service in wellness as well as beauty field. Simply the physical body maintained on raw food items will definitely throw organic beauty, or should we say Rawsome beauty. Hence, the intimating elegance & wellness hinges on the palms of people for their selfish motives just to décor the body system together with utmost care of your wellness. Improvement to a better diet that includes a ton of fruit product as well as veggies, fish, slim meat, as well as entire grain items. Visually, it only does not smell excellent as well as not does anything to contribute to a positive beauty parlor adventure. Those folks who would like to possess a younger skin can easily acquire elegance gadgets to bring all the perks. Elegance can be a considerable amount of fun and also there are actually numerous means you could either surpass your appearance or transform your appeal totally. The label's magnificence listing was actually cared in the charm group significantly, each major groups strongly attached importance to this activity as well. The very same need to hold true with charm items to make sure that you could be as gorgeous outdoors as you are actually inside. Glassdoor possesses 58 Savers Health and wellness as well as Elegance examines sent anonymously by Savers Wellness as well as Elegance employees. You could receive a full site that possesses a primary product in addition to distinct items that center on health and wellness items. Eco products are actually bio degradable which implies, they combine along the surface area of the planet making that effortless for Mother Nature. In reality, anti-aging is a surfacing field in cosmetics as well as amongst the best beauty topics today. The producers of wellness and elegance items have actually observed the fast pace the field have actually removed and are quick to gain from this growing and also lucrative market. An experienced chiropractic specialist, I began examining Ayurveda in 1987 considering that I was seeking a method to widen and also deepen my knowledge of human health as well as my capacity in order to help people. Shahnaz Hussain is looked at to be the empress from the globe from natural Elegance Products. Today women is a lot more worry regarding her health and wellness and beauty At other stages of her lifestyle, she notes several modifications, learn more by exploring the given link. What separates Market Health partner network to others is their standard radar of phone, mail and email list purchases. Attires shield your clothing as well as those of your clients, and also handwear covers defend your hands, but guarding every person's health with an air cleaner certainly not only makes involving your salon a good time, yet secure for your customers at the same time. Check out the variety of nourishing skin washes online and get beautiful skin layer in only a couple of times! The wellness as well as elegance market simply got thus appealing, Market Health and wellness participated 1998. Natural wellness and also beauty skin layer treatment products include organic substances like mica, titanium zinc, dioxide, and also iron. The majority of skin layer cleansing items that get on the market today are in fact negative for your skin, as well as ought to consequently be stayed clear of. The majority of the items that have actually been actually created for this function just don't possess the components in all of them that you need to have. In 2006, the National Institute of Mental Health and also Age Issue conducted a research study which revealed that physical exercise was actually urled to lesser levels from stress and anxiety, stress and clinical depression; and also enhanced levels of intellectual functions, total health, greater self esteem and an extra energetic social life. Also, have additional caution in acquiring any kind of mineral appeal product by reviewing product tags to be particular on the elements of the thing you are actually acquiring. Thinking about from what you can possibly do concerning your growing old process and uncovering ways to keep and reform your health and wellness as well as elegance is entirely up to you. Incorporate eggs beauty skin layer care products to your anti - getting older strategy and also view the years diminish. Visit sharp to any sort of symptoms from sunlight harm on your skin-- they could be actually the early indications of a significant health condition. Vicki Joined Profiles in Oct 2015 after qualifying in her NVQ level 2 beauty treatment. Our team make sure our team administer anti-aging lotions, sunscreens to secure our skin off photo-aging, look after our hearts, and attempt our best to slim down as well as exercise, which's all good, yet preserving shared health and wellness is actually every bit as essential. Whether all natural natural treatments for sleep or even whether plant based elegance items for skin layer, there is a faithful market for each and even more. The fantastic thing about following health and elegance tips that includes dairy of magnesia is that it is not one thing short-term however can easily maintain your skin layer excellent and healthy and balanced up to quite an advanced age as well as neutralize several of the a lot more noticeable signs old skin. The Lanes Health and wellness and also Appeal use a regular monthly bulletin containing all the updates and gossip from the beauty salon, some fantastic provides as well as news of upcoming events as well as handles. The multitude of wellness benefits given naturally substitutes the hinderances from chemical items that are applied to change environmental problems. Yet the usage of the raw vegetation diet regimen as an adult are going to help make a distinction in the texture of skin layer as well as hair, the health and wellness of nails, weight and skin. Our experts must deal with our health daily, not simply when health condition happen. As you can easily see, our team are actually definitely called for to care for our families and ourselves, whatever products our experts are actually using, they might toxins. The experience as well as understanding you will certainly discover at Pure Health and wellness & Charm are actually one of the most trained in the field. Poisonous buildups in our physical bodies are in charge of taking our wellness and also good looks. Keep in mind, your skin is the largest body organ on your body system as well as is typically the 1st indication from your health and wellness and also stamina. Their trainees that have actually come to be professional mobile elegance therapist possess a splendid customer relation and they provide amazing companies as well. There are actually a variety of means to rate best health as well as elegance system industrying firm.