A/N: Just a heads up, Marinette's uncle is depicted in the show as having a broken accent when not speaking in Chinese. I felt really weird trying to write his dialogue and not coming off stereotypical or demeaning (especially since English was my mom's second language as well so I know how annoying the trope is), so most of Chef Cheng's dialogue was taken straight from the show and I did my best to be respectful when adding in any of his dialogue.

The Saturday after the concert you and Adrien were hanging out in his room. You were lounging on the couch in one of Adrien's hoodies since you had gotten cold and didn't want to go back to your room. You had your feet out along the length of the couch with a book in your hand while  Adrien played video games. 

Adrien had just finished a level he had been working on for half an hour when his phone began buzzing on the coffee table. He set his controller down and reached out to grab it. You set your book down and watched him as he answered it. 

"Hey, Alya," he said happily. There was some chatter on the other end of the phone before Adrien spoke again. "Sure, I can do that... No problem, I'll be over there soon... Bye." He hung up the phone and set it back down on the table before picking up his controller and continuing his game. "Can you do me a favor?" he asked.

You set your book down next to his phone. "Sure, what's up?"

"That was Alya," he began without taking his eyes off the game. "She called to ask if I could go help Marinette today with her uncle- he doesn't speak French, so she needs me to help translate in Chinese. There's this cooking competition at La Grande Paris, so we're going over there, too."

You tilted your head and furrowed your eyebrows. "What's the favor?"

He paused his game and set the controller back down to look at you. "Well... I really don't want to be alone with Marinette. She makes me nervous."

"Nervous how?" you asked. "Like, romantically?"

Adrien shook his head, "no, she's just really intense. A little creepy, but please don't tell her I said that. She's still really nice." 

"Yeah, of course, Adrien." You threw the blanket off your body and stood up from the couch. You stretched your arms over your head, and Adrien's eyes scanned over your body as you did so. "I'll go get ready," you said as you dropped your hands down to your side. "I'll bring you the hoodie afterwards."

"Keep it," he said blissfully. "It looks good on you." He gave you a sweet smile. 

You blushed and turned your head away slightly. "Thanks. I think I'll wear it today."

~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~

After a short car ride to to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, you and Adrien made your way up to the door to Marinette's house. Adrien knocked and a couple seconds later the door opened to reveal Marinette. 

"Hey Marinette!" Adrien greeted gleefully, he gave her a cheerful wave and a smile. Behind her you could see a tall, heavyset Chinese man sitting on the pink couch in a chef's coat. 

Marinette's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up behind her bangs. "ADRIEN!? What in the—uh—what are you—" Her hands flew around 

"Alya called me. She said you needed someone who speaks Chinese?" Adrien said. "Well, here I am! Translator at your service." He gave her a goofy bow and you giggled. "Hope you don't mind, I brought (Y/N) along. She's excited about the cooking competition." You nodded in agreement.

"No! I mean, yes! Uh, where's Alya?" Just then, Marinette's phone dinged and she pulled it out of her back pocket. "It's from Alya," she stuttered. "She can't make it."

"No worries," Adrien said. "There isn't much room left in the car anyways."

~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~

The four of you got into the the car. You and Adrien sat next to each other with Marinette and her uncle across from you guys. 

Adrien began speaking with Chef Cheng in Chinese. You weren't sure what he was saying, but it sounded beautiful when they spoke to each other. "Is this the first time you've visited Paris?"

Chef Cheng responded, "No, I have been here 30 years ago. You can speak Chinese well."

Adrien grinned. "Thank you, Chef Cheng," he said, bowing to him.

"Oh, my French very bad," Chef Cheng said in French, and for the first time you understood him. "Not like your Chinese." He blushed a bit and looked down at his lap.

"I thought you couldn't speak French," you said, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, me too," Marinette chuckled awkwardly, brushing some hair out of her face.

Chef Cheng shook his head shyly. "Oh, no, not good. My French not good."

You scrunched up your nose happily. "My French isn't too good either. I'm still learning."

Chef Chen nodded kindly. "Yes, I could tell. Your accent not like the others. Where are you from?"

"I'm from (Home Country)," you replied. "I'm living here for a year."

"I thought so. You still have good vocabulary." 

You thanked him and continued chatting with him about how crazy France was and both of your home countries and how different they were. The two of you also talked about the foods and places you missed. 

~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~●♡●~

When you arrived to the hotel, the car pulled up to two rows of metal fences leading to the front doors. A man in a suit opened the door for you all and Chef Cheng was the first to step out, followed by you and Marinette, then Adrien. 

Many people started photographing Adrien, but he did his best to ignore it. There was a small crowd around the fences and a television crew in front of the doors, reporting on the competition.

The mayor came out and greeted Chef Cheng, taking both of his hands and saying, "Cheng Shifu," Mayor Bourgeois bowed respectfully. "I am delighted and honored to have you here on our final show, where you will have the chance to defeat all of the chefs who have competed thus far." Mayor Bourgeois turned and led the four of you into the hotel.

In the lobby the host of the show, Alec, came up to Adrien and Chef Cheng for an interview. "Tell us Cheng Shifu, what dish will you be honoring our panel with today?" Adrien turned to Chef Cheng and translated what Alec had just said. 

Chef Cheng leaned into the microphone "My dish is: Celestial soup." 

"Wow!" Alec cheered. He turned to face the camera. "We've heard so much about your legendary Celestial Soup, but today we'll actually get to taste it!"

The cameraman turned off the camera and gave a thumbs up. "That's good. We'll get more later."

"Would you like me to come with you, Cheng Shifu?" Adrien asked. 

Chef Cheng shook his head and held up a hand. "No, thank you Adrien. Cooking needs no words." He gave Adrien one last smile and walked off with Alec to the kitchens. 

"Thanks, Adrien," Marinette said as the two of you walked up to Adrien. "I'm totally sorry for bothering you for nothing. I really thought he couldn't speak French." She rubbed her elbow awkwardly and looked down at her feet.

"No problem Marinette. It was awesome to be able to practice my Chinese, especially with a Shifu. Besides, like I said, (Y/N) loves this stuff."

"Yeah! I love all the baking and cooking shows from back home." 

Marinette nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Well, I'm glad I didn't ruin your Saturday." She touched her hand to her face. "Anyways, what's a Shifu?" she asked. 

"That means 'Master' in Chinese. Your Mom's Uncle is a great master!" Adrien responded happily. 

Marinette giggled and put her hand on Adrien's arm. She went to say something else but was quickly cut off by Chloe walking into the lobby. "Well look who it is! My favorite person, Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she retorted. "I mean, seriously? Does your great-uncle really expect to win the contest with a SOUP!? It's not even a main dish! Please! Doesn't he know how to make sushi like everyone else?" She crossed her arms and smirked.

Your jaw dropped in stupor. Your eyebrows rose and your eyes widened. You had no idea what to say. There was no possible way Chloe had felt she could say that. "Do you have any idea how ignorant you just made yourself sound, Chloe?"

Adrien frowned, "Sushi is a part of Japanese culture, Chloé. Cheng Shifu is Chinese!" He balled up his fists and stood up straighter, looking down at her in disgust. 

"Besides, he's not like everyone else," Marinette shot back, pointing an accusatory finger at Chloe. "My Great Uncle is the best chef in the world. His soup is legendary!

"Well, I despise soup." Chloe put her hands on her hips and put all her weight onto one leg, pursing her lips out. 

"So what?" Marinette asked, rolling her eyes.

"Didn't you know? I'm on the jury." Chloe placed a hand on her chest and beamed. "Your uncle will not be getting my vote, for sure."

Marinette narrowed her eyes at Chloe and her nose crinkled slightly. She put her hands on her hips and leaned towards Chloe. "Oh yeah? Well, he doesn't need your vote to win! There are other judges with much better taste than yours."

You nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Chloe. The only reason you're on the panel in the first place is because of nepotism. No one actually values your opinion."

Chloe gasped in offense. "That's a pretty big word for you, (Y/N). Do you even know what 'nepotism' means?"

"I learned it just for you," you growled. 

"Ugh!" She stomped her foot and began walking towards the stairs. "You've made a big mistake!" she snapped without looking back.

You immediately turned to Marinette and apologized. "I hope I didn't ruin anything for your uncle."

Marinette shook her head. "No, you didn't. She would've been against him anyways, because of the soup and because of how much she hates me. My uncle would have appreciated you guys standing up for him like that." She sighed heavily and turned away, rubbing her elbow with her hand. "I think he really likes the two of you, I just don't think he likes me."

"Oh no, you're wrong," Adrien said, stepping forward. 

"No, I swear," Marinette murmured, turning back to face you. She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the ground. "He even ripped up the bouquet I gave him."

"Cheng Shifu isn't just a chef, Marinette -- he's an artist!" Adrien told her. He put a hand on her shoulder. "He told me he was gonna put flowers in his Celestial Soup. He said he improvises on faithful things that come his way. The flowers he mentioned must be the ones you gave him!"

Marinette perked up a bit. She gazed up at Adrien. "So... you think he actually likes me?"

"Totally! He's shown you great respect in his own special way." Marinette let out a heavy breath and leaned forward to give Adrien a hug. You weren't too bothered, but, had you known Adrien was your boyfriend it would have been a serious problem that a girl who had a crush on him was hugging him like that.

Anyhow, Adrien seemed a bit uncomfortable. He flinched and put his hands up as though scared to touch Marinette. He chuckled nervously and pulled her hands off of his waist and put them back down at her sides. 

"We should head upstairs," you said, trying to break the tension, "to watch the judging." 

Adrien nodded in agreement. He threw an arm over your shoulders and pulled you into him. You let him because you figured it was his way of discreetly telling Marinette to give him some space. 

A/N: Is there anything I can do to make the story more engaging and fun to read? Do you guys want to see pictures of outfits or locations? Just let me know, whatever I can do to make your reading experience better!