With her patience wearing thin, Arang closed her eyes and exhaled. Her jaw was flexed as she tried to calm herself down. Taehyung had been at her house for far too long. It's only been a little under an hour but to Arang it felt like he had been there for eternity. Yeah she was exaggerating but if you spent an hour with someone like Kim Taehyung you'd probably say the same exact thing. She was persistent with trying to chase him out with screaming and shouting but it looked like she had a better chance talking to a freaking boulder!

She even resorted to using violence (nothing on the extreme side of course) but that didn't seem to faze him either. She would have called the police and told them that a burglar had broken into her house but if she did, there would definitely be a huge commotion. It wouldn't be good for her or her family. They'd be main topic of all those chatty gossipers who had nothing else to do but laze around and narrate the lives of those around them. Arang did not want that to happen.

Currently they were in the living room, conducting separate activities. Taehyung was lounging on the sofa, watching a bunch of prank videos; those Japanese folks really knew how to crack people up. Arang, on the other hand, was stationed at the kitchen table. She was too preoccupied with burning holes and shooting daggers at the back of the boy's head to do anything else. She didn't understand how one person could drive her up the wall like this. All he did so far was sit on his phone and laugh his ass off like a complete lunatic! He could have done that at a bus-stop while waiting for a bus that would take him to his own house!

Suddenly an unattractive gurgling sound echoed through the deserted apartment. Arang hadn't eaten lunch yet courtesy of a certain someone and her empty stomach was not helping Taehyung's case at the moment. Since it looked like he wasn't going to be leaving any time soon, she decided to fix herself up a quick meal. She scavenged through her cupboards and refrigerator which were all stocked. One would assume that the girl would whip herself up something scrumptious with so many ingredients at her disposal. However, Arang was never really skilled when it came to matters of the kitchen.

Mrs. So was the ultimate modern representation of a fifty's housewife. She stayed at home all day, cooking, cleaning and catering to the needs of her husband and children without anyone asking her to. People would probably think that she was tired of having to do the same things over and over again. They most likely pitied her as well and honestly Mrs. So wouldn't be afraid to tell those people to take their two cents and stick it somewhere else.

Everything she did was for her family and out of her own venture. Because seeing the people she loved and cherished happy filled her heart with joy. Being a mother to her was probably the most fulfilling job she could have ever wished for. She kept the house clean so that the chances of her children catching a cold would be slim. She cooked three overly satiating meals a day so that she was sure that their bullies were always content.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Arang here has very scarce and very limited knowledge of anything involving knives and a stove. She did, however, manage to learn the basics, like making plain ramen and eggs (fried, poached and scrambled) for example but that was pretty much it. Plus, it only happened because her mom wasn't home at the time and she was starving.

The water was streaming out of the faucet and Arang positioned the pot underneath. Once she had collected a sufficient amount, she turned the faucet off and placed the pot on the stove. Hearing the igniting of the fire, Taehyung immediately ceased what he was doing and looked around. When he caught sight of Arang and the shiny red package on the counter, he bolted over to her. Arang spun around and jumped back, surprised at his sudden appearance. "What do you want?" She sniggered.

"Are you making ramen?" His eyes were glossy as he licked his lips.

"Yeah so?" She replied, pushing by him.

"Since you're already making it, can't you make me some too?" Arang shot him an I-hope-you're-not-serious-or-you're-going-to-die look which he disregarded. Taehyung then took notice of how there weren't any other ingredients lying around. All he saw was the red packet of ramen and he crinkled his nose. "Aren't you going to add anything?"

"Why would I?" Arang didn't have the time to figure out what would harmonize well and what wouldn't.

"You're kidding, right?" Taehyung gaped. This was inhumane! Was this how she always ate ramen? Talk about being bland! "I can't believe this. You've been living in the dark for too long. Let me see if there's anything we can work with." Without permission, Taehyung invaded Arang's fridge and pantry. 

"Y-yah, what do you think you're doing?" She grabbed his arm but he shook her off and carried on with his search. "Kim Taehyung, I know you hear me. If you don't stop I'm going to call the cops on—" Arang was not able to finish her threat due to the fact that he had just shoved a carrot into her mouth. He leaned in and cocked his head to the side.

"You're not going to do that because if you really wanted to you would have done it a long time ago." Taehyung retracted and eyed her with his lips pursed out. "It's obvious that you don't have the slightest clue on how to live life properly so why don't you sit down and watch how the pros do it before I change my mind."

Hesitantly, she obeyed him. If he wanted to cook so badly she wasn't going to stop him. Hopefully he was going to serve them something edible but Arang didn't have high expectations. "Where's the cutting board?" She pointed to the sink and he found it tucked into the rack. "Knife?" She directed her finger toward the drawer on his left and inside he found what he needed.

On the counter the boy had pulled out another packet of ramen, eggs, kimchi, kimchi paste, red pepper paste, sesame oil, precooked pork belly, cheese, scallions and the carrot he had stuffed into Arang's mouth. He had taken his hoodie off since it was warm and started by washing his hands and pouring more water into the silver pot. He made sure to place the lid over to trap all of the heat in. Next he rinsed the scallions and carrot. As he began to slice the vegetables thinly, Arang couldn't help but observe him. Her interest had been aroused, that was certain.

The way he was wielding the knife rather precisely revealed to her that this was not the first time he was doing something like this. "The trick about making the perfect ramen is the chewiness of the noodles itself. That's the most important part. You don't want to put them in before the broth boils because it'll be sitting in there for too long. You want to wait until the soup is bubbling or else the noodles will be soggy and too soft to eat." He lectured. What was he? A part-time food show host?

Although Arang was mocking him in her head, she had to admit that Taehyung seemed to know what he was doing.

After he cut the kimchi and slab of pork belly. He wiped his hands on a paper-towel once he was done and checked the water. A cloud of steam flew out as soon as he had lifted the cover and he nodded in approval. "To assure that the broth is flavorful, I usually add the seasoning provided, sesame oil, some kimchi and red pepper paste, the chopped up kimchi, the pork belly and the sliced carrots. It usually depends on what's available though. So sometimes the ingredients can vary."

He was so concentrated and Arang couldn't help but think back to the day she had sat in on their practice. His expression now was similar to the one he wore back then. This side of him was kind of charming. He actually sounded pretty passionate as well (even though he was only cooking ramen). Could it be that he had a knack for cooking?

"Now that the broth is boiling, I'm going to put the noodles in and put the lid back on." The aroma from the soup crept into Arang's nose and she had to admit that it smelled tasty! She could sense the drool pooling in her mouth already. Taehyung looked at her and stifled a chuckle seeing her gulping, her eyes fixated on the silver pot.

He stepped in her way and quirked a brow. "Go get some chopsticks. You're about to try the best ramen in the world."

She sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. There was his ego again. "I'll be the judge of that," she muttered.

Quickly, Taehyung placed the boiling pot onto the table and took a seat, the girl sitting across from him, her heart palpitating in anticipation. He removed the lid and smiled. Not being able to wait any longer, Arang hoisted her chopsticks but before she could dig in, Taehyung hit her hand. "It's not done yet. Wait." He brought the eggs over along with the sliced scallions and cheese. "This is the fun part," he handed her an egg and kept one for himself. Arang frowned and watched as he cracked the egg open and allowed everything but the shell to fall into the pot. She copied him.

With his chopsticks, he mixed the egg in. The last two steps were adding the cheese slices and scallions on top. He did that and pushed the pot toward Arang. He wanted her to take the first bite? What if this was a trick? What if he poisoned it? Or put something disgusting in there when she wasn't paying attention. Oh who cares! She was hungry! If she died at least it wouldn't be on an empty-stomach! The ramen did look appetizing. So with one deep breath, she took her first bite. Slurping the noodles, her eyes rounded in amazement. Forget edible, Taehyung's ramen was delicious!

She chewed and looked up, locking eyes with the boy who was waiting for her review. She swallowed and cleared her throat. "It's not bad," she went in for another bite and heard him snicker. "What?" She asked, noodles hanging out of her mouth.

"Just admit it. I'm the whole package." He ran his fingers through his hair seductively as he sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth. "I'm good looking, smart and I can cook. Isn't that what every girl dreams of in a man?"

Arang placed her utensils down and swallowed. She then presented her rebuttal, holding up one finger. "First off, your looks are so-so." She added another digit, "Secondly, your intelligence is also very questionable and lastly," there were three fingers in total now. "I doubt a girl would want to eat ramen for the rest of her life unless she wants to have cholesterol problems."

"Yah, are you done?" Taehyung scoffed, losing all of the cool he had a minute ago.

She shook her head. "Nope, I forgot to add in the fact that you're hardly a man as well. Now I'm done."

"Aish, you're really—fine, don't eat! Just starve!" He tried to snatch the pot away from her, forgetting that it was still hot. When he remembered it had already been too late. He yelped and soothed the minor burns by placing his fingers on his earlobes.

"See, I told you your intelligence was questionable. Idiot." She sang happily as she continued devouring the ramen. "What are you doing? Aren't you going to eat?" Taehyung glared at Arang one last time before he delved into the heaven that was awaiting him.

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author's note

» welcome new readers! anywho, I know I said that the press would be in this chapter butttttt i changed my mind! hehehe, I gave Taehyung and Arang some more time alone instead! A hidden charm of Taehyung has been unveiled! I hope to hear from all of you! comments from the last chapter were pretty amusing! the frozen frames I picture here are: Taehyung watching as Arang tried his ramen, Arang staring at Taehyung cook and him grabbing his ears after touching the pot and Arang smirking at him!