Remember to vote and comment if you think Jimin is like really reallyyyyy hot, or if you think the Earth is round.

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Y/n

It was time for the first black jacket dinner service.

Seulgi, Jungkook, Chris, Jimin, and finally Y/n were there, ready for anything. At least, Y/n was. She had to perform better than she ever had for the next few services. Only four people stood between her and victory, and one of them she was probably in love with, so if nothing else, she hoped her and Jimin would be in the final three. She'd hate if they were the final two and she had to go up against him, though at the same time, they'd get the dorms all to themselves, and they turn the cameras off after a while...

Y/n, focus.

Y/n snapped into focus to see herself in the blue team's kitchen, wearing a black jacket. She had been in nicer attire earlier, during her "date" with Jimin. Ah, what a good time. She had eaten a great lunch with her man, got scolded by the camera crew for leaving without telling them, and returned to Hell's Kitchen for service. Couldn't get much better than that.

"This is the first black jacket dinner service," Gordon said. All five of them were lined up in the blue kitchen, paying attention to Gordon, who stood in front with the pencil tucked behind his ear again. "I have high expectations. You better complete service tonight. Why would you be here if you couldn't? Prove to me I made the right choices."

It hurt to not have Yuna by her side, but Y/n did her best to keep her chin up and remind herself she would see Yuna again during the finals. Y/n had to make it to finals. If she did, Yuna would be her first pick for her brigade. Or Seulgi, she supposed. Seulgi was too strong a chef to let go. Assuming Seulgi didn't end up being the one Y/n faced in the finale.

"Yes, chef," all the black jackets responded.

"Five of you and five core stations. Y/n, you handle hot apps. Chris, garnish. Seulgi, cold apps. Jimin, meat. Jungkook, fish. When the apps are done, I want Y/n and Seulgi to start desserts and help your team with entrees. Understood?"

"Yes, chef," all of them responded again.

"Good. Then get to your stations and get ready."

Gordon turned, and that started the first black jacket dinner service. Hell's Kitchen opened, and Y/n wiped down her station despite it being clean, trying to prepare herself for what was to come. She had to get them off to a good start with hot apps, otherwise it'd crash and burn from there.

About five minutes later, after guests were settled and drinks beginning to pour, Gordon had the first ticket. He came over and read it, and, of course, there were two risottos Y/n had to handle. Two weren't bad. She could handle it if she took a deep breath and focused.

Y/n did just that: sucked in a breath and got to work. She felt the steam from everything happening around her, the sweat dropping from her head, and the customers chatting. It was hard to hear them over her loud teammates and Gordon watching their every move, but she could hear all the commotion from the guests thanks to a packed dining room. She had never seen it so packed before.

But she couldn't focus on that. Risottos were calling her name, and she listened to them. She went through all the steps in her head and watched them cook. Seasoning came next. She cooked and cooked, tasted the rice until it was just right, and then called it out to her team, who heard her and walked with her to the pass.

Perfect risottos.

That was how it went for the rest of the appetizers. Y/n managed to get them out without a hitch, and Gordon praised her. Seulgi had made the classic mistake of over-dressing a salad, but other than that hiccup, they got through.

It was entrees that were an issue.

While Jungkook hopped on meat to help Jimin and Y/n went to start dessert prep, Chris sank the garnish station, and three servings of garnish that went up had to come back due to being mushy or bland. Jimin cooked every wellington perfectly, and Jungkook did good on fish aside from one undercooked salmon he fixed fast, but Chris had managed to sink them that night.

"I need two beef wellington and two salmon! How long?" Gordon shouted, and Y/n couldn't blame him for the raised tone, seeing as it was their second-to-last ticket that should have been served an hour ago.

"Five minutes, chef!" Jimin replied, glancing up from his station. "Chris, does five minutes work for you?"

"Yes, I'll be ready in five."

Y/n went over to the garnish to help out, and it was a mess to say the least. She stared and stared and didn't know where to start. There were pots and pans scattered around, and Y/n didn't know what ticket he was on by that point.

But it also didn't help that Jungkook ended up undercooking the salmon again.

Chris had finally gotten back on track and made perfect garnish when the salmon was undercooked. Gordon put the plate down in front of everyone and sighed. He kneeled and pressed his head against the side of the metal counter. The black jackets gathered around him, but by that point, it was too late.

"How in the hell do I get the best chefs, yet they still fuck up like this?" Gordon stood and rubbed his head. He pointed to Chris and Jungkook. "You and you... get out."

Well, shit. And then there were three.

"Y/n, on garnish. Seulgi, on fish."

Y/n did just that, hopping over on garnish and gulping to try and swallow her nerves. Her heart was jumping and skipping inside her, and the sweat increased by the second.

"I need another two minutes on my wellingtons! They're resting!" Jimin shouted over the chaos.

"Two minutes, heard. I'll be following you with garnish in two minutes and fifteen. That work?"

"That works!"

"Seulgi, you heard that?"

"Yes, chef," Seulgi replied, her head buried in a sea of salmon. Literally.

Two minutes and fifteen seconds later, they went to the pass and managed to get the round of entrees out, leaving one last round left. It was safe to say that went off without a hitch, too, thanks to the communication between the three remaining. Unsurprisingly, Jimin and Y/n had perfect communication and always had their times aligned.

"What a disaster tonight," Gordon said after the last entree left the kitchen. He turned to the final three and shook his head. "Do desserts, then go upstairs and choose two for elimination. I'm sure I've made it easy for you."

That he did.

After desserts, which didn't take long, they went to the dorm and sat around the couch. Y/n opted to sit next to Seulgi on the floor, and it was quiet in the small space between the five of them.

"Obviously Chris and Jungkook, right?" Seulgi said to break the silence. "Those were the two who got kicked out of the kitchen."

"I accept that," Chris said, hanging his head, "but you over-dressed salad, Seul. That's something to consider."

"It was one mistake. You sank us, and Jungkook screwed up twice. That's more than me."

"Yeah, I fucked up, Chris fucked up. Chris and I should go up. At this stage in the game, we shouldn't be arguing about this," Jungkook replied, and no one disagreed any further. Chris didn't say anything and resumed hanging his head until elimination time came. They needed to wait for all the guests to leave and for the tables to be moved, but when they were, the producers came to bring them down to the dining room that was as familiar as ever.

Gordon stood in the center, pencil still tucked behind his ear. He stared them down as the five of them lined up. She could imagine the dramatic music that would be added after-the-fact, and it was almost like the music was there in that moment.

"I'm shocked," Gordon said, his British accent somehow heavier than usual. "That was a disaster. You're lucky you all didn't get kicked out." Gordon paused, but only for a beat to click his tongue. "Jimin. Who is the first nominee and why?"

"Our first nominee is Chris, chef. We felt he sank the team on garnish tonight."

"That he did." Gordon shook his head. "Who is the second nominee and why?"

"Our second nominee is Jungkook, chef." Jimin added a beat of hesitation before saying the name, probably for dramatic purposes. "Seeing as he and Chris were the two kicked out, we felt it was fair. He messed up two fish tonight."

"I'm glad I made the decision easy." Sarcasm detected. "Chris, Jungkook, step forward."

Chris and Jungkook did as instructed, and Gordon waited, flicking his eyes between them before landing on Chris.

"Chris. Why should you stay in Hell's Kitchen?"

"I'm a fighter, chef. I know I can show you even more than I already have, and tonight was a mistake I won't let happen again."

As much as Y/n liked Chris, he gave the same answer every other Hell's Kitchen participant ever had. Not that it mattered; both Jungkook and Chris would be going home at some point in the near future. It was only a matter of time. That was a bit morbid, but also optimistic since it meant Y/n would win soon. She couldn't go home. She couldn't.

"Jungkook. Why should you stay in Hell's Kitchen?"

"I want to stay, chef. I'm a talented chef, and I can show you I'm your head chef if you give me the opportunity to. I can run the pass, I can stand out, and I'm great with customers." Well, that was true; Jungkook, for all his coldness, he was the best out of all of them with customers. "I can't go home yet, chef."

Gordon nodded but didn't say anything, instead just glancing between the two of them. "My decision is..."

Of course, he trailed off and didn't say anything. Both Jungkook and Chris were bouncing on their toes and gazing straight ahead at Gordon. It took a few seconds—longer than normal, even for Gordon—for Gordon to speak again.

"Jungkook."

Jungkook stiffened, his mouth hanging open, but after a beat, he swallowed and stepped closer to Gordon, who made eye contact with the tall man.

"Back in line."

Jungkook let out a sharp breath, thanked Gordon, and returned to the black jackets. That made four. Which meant that Chris...

"Chris, give me your jacket."

Chris dipped his head, slumping his shoulders, but he obeyed. He went over with a small stumble and removed his jacket, handing it off to Gordon.

Gordon shook his hand. "You have the talent and the passion. You had a bad night, but not a bad future. Don't quit."

"I won't, chef. Thank you for this opportunity."

Chris turned and waved to the others, and Y/n peeked and saw Jimin with tears in his eyes as he waved back.

"We'll miss you, Chris," Jimin said, and Chris grinned.

"I'll miss you guys, too, but don't worry. I get to see my family again. Keep fighting, alright?"

All of the black jackets agreed, and Chris departed. It was silent for way too long afterwards. Gordon tightened his grip on the jacket before finally clearing the air.

"You're all strong chefs. I need to see better performances from now on. Understood?"

"Yes, chef."

"Good. Now fuck off back to the dorms."

Y/n almost tripped if it weren't for Jimin's hand on her back. Somehow, she managed to make it back upstairs, and the dorm was silent as soon as they entered. Jimin locked the door and took off his jacket, revealing the sweaty white t-shirt underneath that hugged his chest and shoulders.

He came over and kissed the top of Y/n's head. "It's okay. We're still here."

"I know. I just... Chris..."

"Like Gordon said, he's got a future. Just like us if we keep fighting."

"Yeah, you're right," Y/n said, though she didn't meet his eyes.

Jimin tilted her chin up. "Don't worry. No matter what, we're Hell's Kitchen finalists. Final four. Take it easy, Y/n. You've earned it. I'll miss Chris too, but we have to focus on us."

That much was true. Chris was a light in the dorms and someone Y/n trusted. All of the finalists were trustworthy, so Y/n doubted she'd have a fun time at any of the eliminations. It didn't feel like winning or progress to watch them get picked off one by one, but that was the nature of competition, and she had signed up for it.

"I will," she said after a beat, managing a small smile. "Thank you."

Jimin squeezed her shoulder and walked off, likely to take a shower. Jungkook was outside smoking already, and Seulgi was drinking her second bottle of water (how she had drank an entire bottle during the short time Jimin and Y/n conversed was beyond Y/n) in the kitchen. Y/n decided it was time for her to take a shower, too, and she took off her jacket and prepared for the long next few days ahead. They'd have a handful more eliminations, and then that was it.

It was almost time for the final two.

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Remember to vote and comment if you think Jimin is really cool, or if you think winter is cold.