Remy woke up happily, with a teddy bear that Git gave him last night. He cuddled it through the whole sleeping time. Honestly, Remy was never interested in this kind of item even when he was a little kid, but he couldn't stop holding the bear in his bed. He wanted to get back to sleep, but then the sunlight kept hitting him in the eyes. He covered his face with a pillow. Then he couldn't breathe so he lied down as he faced the other direction of the window. But the floor reflected the light and hit him in the eyes. Remy groaned and got out of bed. The sunlight won't give me another minute to sleep! Remy thought as he looked at the clock. It read 7:00. I just wanted to sleep an hour, no, thirty minutes more! He just wanted to cuddle the teddy bear a little bit longer. But he shouldn't be late to work, so he got up as if his bed was on fire and hurried to get ready to work.

Without eating breakfast, he went to the bistro. Remy made sure that the ingredients are fresh enough to serve. His stomach started to growl. I should've ate something before I came here. Remy thought as he regretted not eating breakfast. He usually don't feel much hunger as he is used to skipping meals, but he couldn't handle it today. He decided to endure the hunger until his lunch break. As he stirred the pots and the frying pans, and sniffed to check the smell, his stomach kept growling. Ohhhh, noooo. Remy thought as he held his stomach. Come on, Remy, one more hour and then it's lunch. He kept encouraging himself as he ignored his growling stomach and pain of hunger.

Sooner or later, the lunch break came. Ahhh, finally. Remy thought, ready to eat whatever he prepares for. Right when he was about to prepare something, Emile stepped in.

"Hey, little brother!" Emile called, "I need your help!"

"Sure, what is it?" Remy asked.

"I want you to bake some cake for me and my group of friends. One of my friends have birthday today so I thought it'd be nice for you to bake one for him."

Although Remy was too hungry to do more things for Emile, he didn't deny. Instead of eating his lunch, he started to bake fruitcake for the birthday rat. He mixed, whipped, and stacked. By the time he was finished making whipped cream and put the cake in the oven, the lunch break was already over. Remy groaned and started to accept orders for the lunch rush. He getting even more exhausted and cranky. But then he slapped himself in a face with both hands so that he can keep his focus. Why are people ordering so much stuff today? Remy thought as he read the orders so that he can prepare the dishes. His stomach kept growling as he chopped, stirred, grilled, and fried. Let's keep going, lunch will be over soon. Remy kept encouraging himself weakly. When the cake was done, Remy decorated the cake and prepared dishes for customers at the same time. He quickly ran to Emile with a plate of cake that he baked and gave it to him.

"Thanks!" Emile thanked excitedly as he took the cake from Remy. "Would you like to join us?"

"I'd like to," Remy said, admiring his own cake, "but I'm really busy."

"All right," Emile said a little disappointed but also understanding, "Good luck, then!"

Remy sighed as he went back into prepare more dishes to the customers. So many people were ordering a lot of roasted and fish item, which takes longer than majority of the menu offered in the bistro. The lunch rush did not seem to end, although it was a time when people don't usually come. It was almost 6 o'clock and there were no customers yet. Just one crumb of bread, Remy thought as he walked up to the bread, which was far away from him. But then he slipped and fell into the sink full of unwashed dishes. Remy felt nausea by the pile of dishes even though he had an empty stomach. He started to wash some of the small dishes so that he can get more plates to serve to the customer.

After cleaning and drying several dishes and pots, new orders came in, five at a same time. Remy was confused, so he looked at the clock. Dinner rush. He groaned as the clock read 6:30. By that time, he didn't feel energetic enough. He skipped both breakfast and lunch, and he had been working the whole day without taking a break. Now, he tried to not blame anyone although he was very cranky to the point that everything pissed him off. But he slapped his face with both hands as his brain automatically came up with angry fantasies, such as punching someone in the face or stealing someone else's food. Every time the stomach growled, it felt very painful. He wanted to eat something, even the one that he prepares for the customers, but he didn't want more trouble, especially after the time when he couldn't function very well due to the anxiety during that one time his dad figured out about his relationship. He gulped and continued to do everything that a chef must do in the kitchen, which also includes cleaning at some point.

He was ready to drop when got a the last four orders of the day. He winced in pain whenever his stomach growled. He continued to breathe heavily as he wiped the dishes, and decorated the food. But he stayed strong and let out him the last plate and lied down as he sighed. As soon as he lied down, he couldn't move; he had no energy to do so. Linguini came into compliment Remy and Colette for today's work.

"Nice work today, little chef," Linguini said as he looked at Remy, lying down. "Are... are you okay?"

Remy didn't want Linguini to ask further questions so he just let out a thumbs up in the air. He was too hungry to even put the thumbs up.

"Okay," Linguini said as he smiled warmly, "See you later, then."

"Thanks for today," Colette said as she walked out with Linguini.

Remy didn't feel like moving at all, though he was hungry and needed to eat something. Just in time, Git came in to pick him up, but he was startled as he witnessed Remy lying down, eyes closed, and no movements. Git ran to him and carried him.

"Remy!" Git asked, frightened, "what's going on?"

"Food..." Remy replied so weakly that Git couldn't hear him.

"What?" Git asked as he put his ear close to Remy.

"Food..." Remy replied softly but this time, Git could hear him.

"Were you starving the whole day?" Git asked. Remy didn't reply. Git grabbed some freshly cut bread and fruits and brought it to Remy. Remy started to dig in so fast the Git was amazed by his speed as his eyes opened wide. Remy ate so fast that he started to choke. Git quickly brought water and fed it to him and gently pound his back. As Remy swallowed his mouthful, he let out a deep sigh.

"I think I'm going to live now," Remy said as he still breathed heavily.

"Don't eat too quickly, you'll have indigestion," Git said concerningly. "Why would you starve the whole day?"

"I had too much work today that I didn't have time to eat, but I still love my job," Remy replied, "I mean, I admit that I was a little irritated at some point because I was too hungry to cook, but also at the same time, I felt happy that I was able to endure my pain for many people who were waiting for my works of art." Then there was a long silence. Then Remy suddenly said, "I really crave chocolate covered strawberries."

"You want me to get them for you?" Git asked.

"But we don't have chocolates here," Remy said, "there are just strawberries."

"Then I'll go out to find some chocolate, then I'll melt them somewhere and you can dip strawberries in there" GIt said, "I can get anything you want." Remy smiled as Git went out to find or steal some chocolates. Meanwhile, Remy got up grabbed some strawberries in the refrigerator. Although he was still hungry and there was some bread next to him, he decided to wait until Git came in with chocolates.

Remy sat around for awhile until Git walked in with a big bag of chocolates. He smiled as he handed the chocolates to Remy.

"Here you go," Git said. Then he noticed that the amount of bread was same before he left. "You should've ate something before I arrived. Who knew that I'd come early or not?" Remy shrugged. He put some chocolates in the bowl and microwaved the chocolate. As soon as it was done, before taking the bowl out, he dipped one strawberry in the chocolate and took a bite. Remy felt very happy after not eating for a whole day except for a piece of bread he ate earlier. Then he dipped another one and handed it to Git.

"Have one," Remy said.

"I'm fine," Git said.

"Just eat one," Remy said. "Consider it a reward for helping my hunger." Instead of taking it, Git opened his mouth. Remy snickered and fed it to him. Git took a bite and chewed it mellowly.

"Everything tastes better when you feed me," Git said. Without saying anything, Remy wrapped his arm around Git.

"Thank you," Remy said, "I was starving the whole day."

"You should eat something even though you love working," Git, said, "I support your dream but you should also take care of your health." Then Git held out his pinky and said, "Promise me to not starve again"

Remy smiled, crossed his pinky finger on Git's and said, "Promise."

A/N: It is good to work really hard, but make sure you eat so that you have enough energy to work, you really don't want to pass out by hunger! Stay healthy, and stay tuned for more chapters!