[strawdaerrii]

“Where I Found the Taste of You”

masterlist

show: Tastefully Yours 당신의 맛

synopsis: collection of oneshots of the main cast of Tastefully Yours.

This fic will include my personal takes on events that occurred before and after the show including fics which occur in the present universe.

Chapters can be read in non-chronological order !!

Character info

These are the ages I set for the main cast. Some I have taken the actors ages into consideration as well as my own personal takes.

Han Beomwoo: 34

Mo Yeonju: 30

Jin Myungsook: 44

Shin Chunseung: 21

Han Sunwoo: 36

** “Gimbap” will also be featured in this fic.

Present-Tastefully Yours

How my heart bleeds,

Things between Beomwoo and Yeonju are awkward after they kissed.

Friday, I’m in love

Beomwoo and Yeonju listen to music together on the bus ride home.

Sugar on my tongue

(*smut) Beomwoo and Yeonju having sex for the first time after coming home from a date

Night in Sapporo

(*smut) beomwoo getting jealous over yeonju and her ex, and share their first night in sapporo together

Pre-Tastefully Yours

Out of mind

Beomwoo and Sunwoo’s childhood.

Warm meal

Yeonju cooking for visitors at the temple.

Isolation

Yeonju moving to Jeonju and given a hard time for being an outsider.

Lifelong

Myungsook’s first year working at the gukbap restaurant and taking care of little Chunseung.

Nuture

Beomwoo staying over at his grandma’s house for the summer.

Shadow

Beomwoos college life, and how he came to be.

Lonesome, Together (AU)

AU where Beomwoo and Yeonju go to college together

Post-Tastefully Yours

These next events happen approximately 5 years after the events of Tastefully Yours.

Promise

Beomwoo asking for Yeonjus hand in marriage to the head monk.

Conversation

Beomwoo and Sunwoo finally getting to know one another, and understanding each other.

Bump

Myungsook accidentally finding out about Yeonju’s pregnancy, and must keep it a secret.

Samchon

Sunwoo taking care of “Gimbap” for the day.

Favourites

Shenanigans with Myungsook, Chunseung and “Gimbap”.

Sweet

Beomwoo and Yeonju staying at the temple with “Gimbap” after they were born

Appearance

Gimbap appearance headcanons

Say dada

Gimbap being able to speak, but never called Beomwoo dad for some reason

♡

[strawdaerrii]

Night in Sapporo

- oneshot

 ˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀

han beomwoo x mo yeonju

word count: 2.4k

synopsis: beomwoo getting jealous over yeonju and her ex, and share their first night in sapporo together

warnings: MDNI, smut, porn with plot, fluff, drinking, kissing, making out, semi-public pda, body worship, p in v, riding, fingering, sub beomwoo, inspired by the sapporo arc, beomwoo being pathetic asf

- The couples first meeting in Sapporo matches their surroundings exactly. The weather is cold and dry, and the city is completely submerged under a blanket of snow. Everything seems to be buried. Yeonju’s feelings towards Beomwoo remain buried, and unresolved.

Their reunion did not go as Beomwoo expected. She did not pay him much mind, almost leaving him out there in the snow it almost seemed like she was preoccupied with another matter completely. Jeonmin was the last person he expected her to be with. It was odd that she would go to her ex-colleague for help, and not him.

Of course, it makes sense if it involved their shared history, but Beomwoo cannot help but feel uncomfortable about this. Unaware of why they broke up, it must have ended badly based on what he knows. This isn’t Jeonmin trying to patch up things with Yeonju, right? He feels especially desperate, the fact that he came all this way on a whim, and now feeling this way about the love of his life around her ex-lover made him feel extra pathetic. Now, Beomwoo is awkwardly tagging along behind them like a lost puppy. He has constantly found himself falling behind the pair, who were glued together chatting about their rookie days, needing to quickly catch up to them. Almost felt deliberate leaving him behind. Puffing, and catching up to them the subject on hand is where they were going to go eat. Yeonju seemed reluctant to Jeonmin’s suggestions, but she was also ignoring Beomwoo’s. Yeonju decided on an izakaya nearby. The longer the night went on, the more irritated Beomwoo became. They hit it off perfectly over shared drinks and skewers, and he was dead weight. It got so bad that Beomwoo had more drinks than originally anticipated to numb himself from the sight on his left side. So much, that he was no longer tuning into whatever college memory they were going on about. He could not register Yeonju repeating his name, until she shook his shoulder. He sat straight up. “Sorry, I was in a daze.” He clears his throat and noticing the pair have now left their seats. “Wait, are you leaving?” “Yeonju and I were about to go to another bar.” Jeonmin answers quickly for the chef. Beomwoo’s vision is blurry, but he instantly notices Jeonmin’s hand on Yeonju’s shoulder. She awkwardly inches forward so he takes it off. “Did you want to come too?” Yeonju asks Beomwoo directly. Beomwoo would have agreed but he did not want to spend another second around this punk, and he did not want Yeonju to be around him either. “Another drinking round? It is already late, should we not start heading back to the hotel?” Yeonju checks the time and apologetically looks at Jeonmin. “Oh, do you want me to call you a cab?” Jeonmin asks. “No, she has me.” Beomwoo snaps. The high tension suddenly becomes more apparent even Yeonju is surprised that he would say that outright. Yeonju slowly gives Jeonmin a nod and walks out the tavern and Beomwoo follows, not bothering to look back. Beomwoo quickly orders a taxi to take them back to Yeonju’s hotel, and he finds her standing further away near an entrance of the neighbouring storefront.

“Are you feeling, okay? We can get anything you need for your hangover while we are here.” Beomwoo asks, hurrying up behind her. She turns to face him. “What was that in there?” “What was what?” ”Don’t play dumb” “Well then, excuse me for looking out for you.” Beomwoo huffed and pursed his lips. Yeonju sighs and rolls her eyes, “That was completely unnecessary, you made things more awkward than needed.” ”Yeah, so you agree it was awkward.” “Having my ex-boyfriend and my…” Yeonju held her tongue before she continued that statement. “Huh? Your what?”

In the same moment, the cab arrives right in front of them. Yeonju, ignoring him, rushes to the opposite side of the car and takes her seat. Beomwoo sighs and takes the other side adjacent to her. He was quite hurt to know that she did not even have a classification for them. They are both aware of each other’s feelings, but they are still lacking an official title.

From this point he knows that her hesitance comes from whatever happened between her and Jeonmin and he hates that. It is astonishing that he is always in his way in more ways than he knows. He has been giving her all the space she needs, but trauma cannot be erased.

Beomwoo leans in closer and in a hushed voice: “I’m sorry that I embarrassed you.” “Don’t worry about it” Yeonju replies. He settles back in his seat, giving her a short glance to see if she has anything else to say. “I probably sound pathetic to you but seeing him act friendly with you frustrates me." Yeonju looks back at him and scoffs. “Is that what this is about?” Beomwoo looks at her stifling a laugh. “Well. Thats not…all.” “We’ll talk more at the hotel.” Beomwoo realises their river might be listening to all of this and remained silent for the rest of the ride. - After a gruelling amount of time, they finally reach the hotel. Beomwoo feels the alcohol he had earlier has spiked his impulsiveness. As Yeonju steps out the cab, he offers a hand, but he notices the moonlight’s reflection on her flushed face. Like a movie-star, her raven-coloured hair swayed from the gentle wind. She flashed a smile at the driver, thanking him and sending him on his way.

This awakened something in him. Yeonju watches the cab leave until she realises that Beomwoo still has not let go of her hand and has his other hand on top. She realises that he is in a daze, staring right at her. She clears her throat, trying to shake him off. “Is everything okay?” His hands are quite jittery. Bending his knees, he is now under her eye-level. “Beomwoo, you’re scaring me.” Yeonju mentally shrieks. He looks up at her. “Sorry…,” trying to collect himself. “Yeonju, this is going to sound sappy, but the thing is that I want to be someone to you. More than a coworker.” He leans forward and puts both his hands on her shoulders, taking a deep breath. “If you don’t feel the same, I want you to tell me outright.” He starts to tremble on his words. “You know how I feel but we’re yet to have an official title.” He gazes deeply with his sad eyes, “…Can we be official?”

Beomwoo’s head droops down on Yeonju’s chest. She notices him starting to get all breathy. It is true that they do act like a couple, but she does not know why she is so hesitant on taking the next step. Of course she likes him, but she cannot bring herself to express that. What it all comes down to is ruining their relationship. Mixing business with feelings makes it all more complicated. “What do you want to be, to me?”

Beomwoo’s head slowly rises again. His face is all flushed. “Please, let me be your boyfriend.” He babbles incoherently and melts into her. At the same time as smashing his lips into hers, their foreheads crash into one another hard. Yeonju adjusts quickly and cradles Beomwoo’s working jaw to keep balance. Yeonju is caught by surprise, pulls away after briefly kissing him back. Yeonju states for the record: “There isn’t anything more between Jeonmin and I.” Beomwoo frowns. “I saw how that punk was looking at you!” He stares into her eyes longingly. “I mean, I want to be the only one able to look at you like that.” - One thing led to another, and now Yeonju is straddling Beomwoo as he eats her face on a couch in the hotel lobby. Neither are particularly fond of PDA, but the small thrill of getting caught by someone this late is what got them both going. Beomwoo holds her hips down as she grinds against him for some friction but to no avail; as they still had the decency to keep their layers on. He quietly groans. Yeonju breaks the kiss for some air. Beomwoo staring at her, sitting on top of him speaks up hoarsely: “Do you want to go to your room?”

-

Yeonju, sprawled across the bed in nothing but her panties, watches Beomwoo desperately leaving kisses all over her body. He works up her body in an up-and-down motion travelling between her inner thighs, abdomen, chest, and face. And him, in his boxers and left to desperately rut against the bedcovers. Starting from her panty waistband, he plants kisses all over her stomach and focusing especially on her breasts and switching from the left to the right. He messily sucks on one boob while fondling the other, switching, and then switching back. Yeonju moans and subtly begins to buck her hips at his hovering abdomen all needy for contact down there. Beomwoo notices her movements and groans back and lowering his body atop while he marks her collarbone. She wraps her legs around his waist and rolls her hips against him. Beomwoo kisses all over her face until he moans loudly realising that Yeonju is moving against his boner concealed under his boxers. He latches onto her lips and moans in her mouth, babbling her name repeatedly.

Yeonju tightens her grip around his hip bones and takes this as her opportunity to flip him underneath her suddenly. He gasps, “Yeonju…,” quickly latching onto her waist staring up at her sitting right on top of his tent. From here, he can see all her hidden beauty marks peppered onto her body all in one frame. She truly was a work of art to him, and anyone with eyes. Beomwoo sits up and continues to hold her close. “Do you still want to do this?” Yeonju quickly nods in response and leaves kisses and some marks all over his neck. He flexes his forearms to reach the bedside for a condom; and holds it between his teeth. Beomwoo motions for her to shift so he could put it on. As he hastily slips off his boxers, Yeonju snatches the condom out of his teeth with her own and rips it open. Beomwoo chuffs. “You’re crazy.” She bobs her head down to carefully slip it on. She rises again to straddle him again, snaking her arms around his neck. Beomwoo, dips two fingers into his mouth and teases her clothed cunt before slipping her panties to the side. Yeonju lifts her hips while Beomwoo tells her to tell him if she feels any discomfort, due to him clearly being on the thicker side. He holds himself still as she lines herself up and inches her body down, and sighs in pleasure as she gets closer to his base. Beomwoo, groans silently, one arm around her waist and his free hand gripping onto the headboard. Yeonju begins to move her hips in circular motions with Beomwoo halfway inside. He makes no attempts to push her down and allows for her to move at her own pace. Hypnotised by her movements, he removes all grip to watch her use him to pleasure herself. “Oh Beomwoo, oh fuck.” “Feel good?” “I want to feel you more” Yeonju appears to not be able to lower herself any further without hurting herself. Beomwoo pulls them both down onto the bed and enters further himself slowly by grabbing her hips. Yeonju loudly gasps and digs her nails into his shoulders. Beomwoo groans louder and holds her down to contain himself. He consoles her to make sure she feels okay and makes any necessary adjustments. When she gives him the signal to let go, he unravels his arms and gazes at her sitting on top again and begin to ride him. Yeonju moves her hips in back and forth this time leaning back on his propped-up thighs. Beomwoo moans loudly and begins to buck his hips, hitting her g-spot as she rides, making her quicken her pace. He chants her name over and over like a prayer and Yeonju groans in response. They both moan loudly when his balls make contact with her clit.

Gradually, Yeonju reaches her climax and comes undone while he is still inside her. Beomwoo groans, slowly lifting her to see her pussy spasming all over his dick. He accompanies her by also entering a finger inside her, whispering “Oh, fuck,” watching how she responds. Yeonju’s body collapses onto his, he holds her close her head nestles in the crook of his neck. They breathe heavily in unison. Before Beomwoo thinks that it is over, Yeonju lifts her head again and quickly crawls backwards, so her face is now in between his thick thighs. “Yeonju, what are you doing?” As he is speaking hoarsely, she is now slipping the used condom off him and discards it to the side. Beomwoo throws his head back when she begins to jerk him off. She wastes no time to quicken her pace and watches her man in amusement shake all over from pleasure, begging her for release. He moans her name and arches his back before releasing in multiple spurts all over her hands and chest. Yeonju leaves him with a kiss on the tip and then slipping herself under his arm, closely watching a flustered Beomwoo with his hand still over his mouth and tear-pricked eyes. - After cleaning up, they lay close in bed in complete silence, basking in the passion they just shared. Until Yeonju breaks the silence: “I’m sorry that I’ve been closed off to you this whole time.” She turns her head to look at him on her left. Beomwoo shakes his head. “Don’t apologise, I know you had your own reasons. But I hope that now I can be someone that you can be dependant on to get you through all your troubles and grow together.” He turns his head to her. Yeonju smiles. “Same to you.” Beomwoo kisses her before saying goodnight.

[strawdaerrii]

Sugar on my tongue

-oneshot

 ˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀

han beomwoo x mo yeonju

word count: 1.7k

synopsis: beomwoo and yeonju coming home from a date and their first time having sex

warnings: MDNI, smut, not proofread i may come and fix it later, fingering, beomwoo eating out yeonju, making out, beomwoo calling yeonju ma’am/miss, SUBBB beomwoo, some fluff, can be read as a part 2 to How my heart Bleeds,

“Thank you for tonight, I had fun” Yeonju smiles, standing in Jungjae’s doorway keys in hand. 
Beomwoo, quite jumpy responds instantly, “No need to thank me”.

They were coming back from their first unofficial date which was spent at a rooftop theatre, sipping drinks, chatting and reminiscing about past loves. Neither one of them want to admit this, but they did not want the night to be over just yet. But one thing was for sure; those drinks spiked something in both their systems, a desire that must be fulfilled by none other than each other.

Beomwoo longingly stares at Yeonju unlocking the door, slightly fighting with the lock out of shakiness, she expected to have left by now but why is he still her? But then again another part of her did not want to say anything.

Yeonju stepped in the restaurant and Beomwoo follows, like out of habit, or instinct. He awkwardly stands there, shuffling his foot against the wooden floor back and forth.

“I just wanted to thank you for letting me take you out, and I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you up this late on a work night.” What he didn’t realise that while he was rambling incoherently, that Yeonju has already made her way to her bedroom.

Something in his body told him to rush after her for some reason, finding a closed door.

He takes a breath, covering his eyes with his hand and slowly cracking the door open.

“Are you in here, ma’am?” He calls out, eyes still covered.
Yeonju, sprawled on the bed shoots up at the sight of her coworker in her bedroom. “You’re still here?”

Beomwoo slowly uncovers his eyes to see the concerned chef standing in front of him.

She looks down at herself and realises that she is still wearing the coat Beomwoo gifted to her when she fell asleep during the film, assuming that he is just here for his coat back.

Beomwoo is looking beyond that, particularly the tiredness in her eyes and the tenseness of her body, and he is quick to sit her back down on the bed.

He kneels down in front of her.

“You were gonna fall asleep like this?” He whispers, slowly taking off her heels foot by foot, and placing the pair outside the room. He rises and removes the coat as well as her wooly scarf to set her neck free. At this point Yeonju has also stood up level with him. Beomwoo reaches to her hair and letting it free from her signature bun. He accidentally makes eye contact with her as her hair falls down, breath hitching.


What comes out as a “Well, I better get going,” suddenly turns into a kiss between them. Beomwoo kisses back, cupping both her cheeks and sitting her down on the bed again. Yeonju’s long eyelashes flutter over his cheeks in attempt to deepen the kiss. He sits beside her, stroking her cheek with his thumb gently as his jaw works against hers. With one hand, he holds her long hair back, just to catch a glimpse of her fully, up so close, where you could see every mole and freckle you would have never noticed from a normal distance. People are afraid of what they look like up close because of their imperfections, how is Yeonju more beautiful up close? Beomwoo is so dazed he breaks the kiss just to stare in awe. Yeonju swallows nervously.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have—

“Do you want to take this further?” Beomwoo breathes.

Yeonju responds by smashing her face into his, crawling over his body and straddling him. He groans into the kiss as she pulls him in deeper. Beomwoo grips her hips to keep himself grounded, moaning loudly.

What started as a short peck, turned into a steamy make out session.

He was completely at her mercy.

Beomwoo was so distracted by the kiss he didn’t realise that Yeonju’s hands have made their way down his shirt until she was close to reaching the final button shielding his decency.

“Yeonju…” he whines, waving his hand over his pants.

Before he could ramble incoherently saying that it’s too much for him, she kisses down his neck, making sure not to miss a spot. Kissing his bobbing Adam’s apple, “I haven’t even done anything yet”

She pauses for him to catch his breath. Beomwoo tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, “You’re even more beautiful up close…like this.”

Yeonju scoffs, looking to the side. “Are you serious?”

“It’s fact.”

“Doofus.”

He goes silent huffing through his nose but gazing into her eyes, searching for something. When she least expected it, he latches onto her lips again and flips her over under him. Beomwoo catches her by surprise, nonetheless she slips her arms around his neck, melting together.

He pulls away groaning, and begins leaving short pecks all over her face and whispering sweet nothings behind his path. He slowly kisses down her neck until he reaches her collar.

He looks for a sign of approval. “May I?” which he earns a small nod for.

“Tell me if you want me to stop.”

Beomwoo reaches his hand under her shirt and softly massages her boob between his fingers. Yeonju softly gasps. Beomwoo rests his head sideways on her abdomen, gazing longingly, Yeonju ruffling his perfect hair gently.

Beomwoo props himself up on his elbows to lift her sweater higher for his breath to hitch at the sight of black lace. Yeonju arches her back to give him room to undo her clasp, he clears his throat and does so. Her bra sits loosely on her chest. Beomwoo discards it to the side and begins to kiss in between Yeonju’s boobs.

“You’re gorgeous.” He says in between kisses.

Yeonju, getting more and more worked up as this goes on almost refuses to make direct eye contact right now, reaches to her left boob before a larger hand stops her. Beomwoo’s lips latch on, and Yeonju loudly moans as he begins groping her right boob in his other hand simultaneously. He cannot keep her eyes off her, captivated by her scent.

The more vocal Yeonju gets the harder Beomwoo sucks.

“Beomwoo…”

He groans in response, Yeonju finally opens her eyes to see her man rutting against the mattress desperately.

“Oh, fuck.”

She begins to tug at his hair but she doesn’t realise how rough she is being until she feels him sucking harder and whimpering much louder.

“Beomwoo! Oh shit…” she sighs.

After what almost feels like a blissful eternity, Beomwoo comes up for air. Tension is high as they stare at one another panting.

He crawls backwards until he is level with her ankles, softly sighing as he spreads her leg and lifts the hem of her maxi-skirt higher.

Beomwoo begins to kiss the inside of her ankles and works up higher, slowly. 
Yeonju spreads her legs wider to give him better access, her skirt bunching up to her thighs.

He softly groans and doesn’t waste a second, pulling her in by her thighs level to his mouth. He gives her covered pussy open mouthed kisses as well as long strokes with his tongue. Yeonju muffling her moans, watches him work against the barrier separating him from her core. He stops all of a sudden.

“Why did you stop?” Yeonju asks.

“Miss…I wanna hear you,” Beomwoo whines in between her legs. “Please…”

-

Yeonju’s bottom half is completely bare now. Legs spread widely apart, gripping the sheets under her as Beomwoo eats her out, his nose bumping her clit. He holds her still by her thighs and groans in her wetness.

“Fuck…Oh fuck, Beomwoo…” Yeonju moans, Beomwoo humming in response.

His pants are unzipped and he is frantically thrusting his length on the bed for friction.

Beomwoo leaves kisses along her inner-thighs for a breather and licking up her wetness.

“You got one more in you for me?” He whispers.

Yeonju, responds incoherently and pushes his head back down, his big nose bumping her clit again. She moans deeply.

This time, his fingers accompany his tongue. Beomwoo inserts two fingers inside her as he flicks her clit with his tongue. He moans against her.

“You taste so good” he huffs.

Beomwoo continues to lap at her wet pussy while his thick fingers hit her g-spot.

He lifts her legs so her lower back is not making contact with the deep mattress. 
He looks deeply into her eyes before tonguing her pussy manically non-stop. She moans loudly. 
“Oh shit…Beomwoo!”

‘Hmm..”

Yeonju can feel herself about to come for who knows the amount of times she has, she has lost count. Again, she roughly tugs on Beomwoo’s hair which causes him to suckle on her clit even harder.

“I’m close” she whines.

“Please come for me, Chef,”

All it took was a few seconds of passionate eye-contact for her to release, all over his face. He groans, lapping at her wetness cleaning her up.

Beomwoo crawls over her body again and kissing her deeply. Yeonju flips their positions again, so that she is sitting on top of his abdomen, continuing to make out with him and moaning against his mouth.

She eventually breaks away from the kiss sitting up, and heaving from intensity; her bare chest rising and falling.

Beomwoo, also heaving, staring at her sitting atop him.

She looks behind her to see the dark wet stain on Beomwoo’s boxers, she looks back at him and he shakes his head. He pulls her back close. “It’s fine”.

He gently kisses her cheek, cradling her close to his bare chest.

-

Things are now quiet as the lovers bask in each other’s love.

“Yeonju, thank you.” Beomwoo smiles.

“For what?” She responds.

“Just…thank you.”

It’s a bit of an uncomfortable silence now, but in a good way.

“Beomwoo?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

he had to register that he heard her correctly.

“You do?” He tries to look at her face but she successfully hides herself in the crook of his neck.

Beomwoo sighs and smiles to himself. “You know, I realised I wouldn’t mind staying with you like this for the rest of my life,”

Yeonju reveals herself again and scoffs. “I don’t know about that.”

Beomwoo, pouting “No but really, you’re just no fun.”

[strawdaerrii]

Friday, I’m in Love

-oneshot

 ˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀

han beomwoo x mo yeonju

word count: 1.6k

synopsis:  Beomwoo and Yeonju listening to music together on the bus ride home.

warnings: fluff, mild angst, based on ep 3, not my best work but hope you enjoy

Yeonju had closed the restaurant for the day to pay her meju vendor a visit to settle some business with him. What she did not expect other than the seller giving her free jang, was to have a straggler following her all the way in the mountains.

Beomwoo felt sour for impulsively messing with the gukbap boy in the name of Jungjae, when really it was for his own pride. He admits that he was wrong for doing that, he of all people should know that word spreads like fire especially in a small town like this; so, causing trouble for a competitor is not the best look. To compensate for the trouble, Beomwoo tails after Yeonju like a lost puppy.

Yeonju would have appreciated it if he had not complained and nagged half the time.

Nonetheless, it was mission success, so much that Yeonju scored extra ingredients, all was left was going home. Night has fallen at this point, so they take the last running bus for the day. It is a one-hour bus ride to Jeonju.

Upon entering, they notice the bus is quite packed, so they have no choice but to sit next to each other.

“Put this under your feet” Yeonju hands him the sack of meju as she takes her seat. Beomwoo swiftly slips it under his seat and sitting down next to her rubbing his legs from soreness.

“Ah, I’m never climbing another mountain again.” Beomwoo sulks. 

“No one told you to come along.” Yeonju retorts, recalling him complaining about going up and down the mountain. But then again, he was not made for the simpleton life like the rest of us, and not all of us were born with a silver spoon in our mouth. 

 

“You did this for the restaurant again? Or did you have something to prove?” Yeonju asks, her gaze wandering at the scenery they are passing by.

“No…It was just my apology to you” Beomwoo sighs. “It won’t happen again, Chef.”

“We both would have been better off if you stayed back, but then again you aren’t to be trusted alone.”

“What am I? A child?”

A smile creeps up on her face and Beomwoo gasps in offence.

“This is the thanks I get?!”

 

A passenger taps Beomwoo’s shoulder. “Sir, could you be quiet?”

Beomwoo slowly nods. “Right, sorry” He whispers.

 

He turns to Yeonju, “Hey, we should be quieter, a gentleman behind us…”

He then realised that she had put in her earphones to block the noise out.

He looks down to see that she is using a Walkman. He scoffs.

“Are the people in this village 30 years behind the times?”

Yeonju takes out an earphone. “Oh, did you say something?”

He signals to the device in her lap.

“Why are you using that? We have smartphones now, you know” he emphasises waving his phone in her face. Yeonju annoyed, pushes it back into his own. 

“What’s it to you?”

“I just do not understand why you must inconvenience yourself like this, carrying extra luggage.”

“Was this trip also an inconvenience to you?”

“Perhaps it was. We could have gotten a meju delivery from elsewhere.”

Yeonju did not not want to hear anything else, snatching the ingredients from under their feet and sitting elsewhere. Beomwoo huffs in response. But really, there was no need to come all this way. There are plenty of other vendors they could have contacted for their required supply. There cannot be anything special about this specific vendor that sets him apart from others. 

 

Was it worth an entire working day where they could have gotten something worthwhile out of it? And the Walkman, not only is it obsolete, but also impractical in this day and age. The idea of trading in an assortment of music and better quality for a single CD and lower quality is incomprehensible. No matter what it is, they just bump heads. Of course, people have separate ways of thinking, but this feels excessive. At least those same people are in harmony in some way. Him and Yeonju seem just to be at each other’s necks no matter what.

He was about to get some shut eye for the rest of the 40-minute trip they have left until he sees their ingredients slipping out of place and about to enter the bus isle. Instinctively, Beomwoo rushes to the goods worth his entire day, grabbing them by the tied ends with one hand, he sighs in relief.

He looks at her to see if she caught the fact that he saved them another trip up the mountains. Instead, Yeonju was staring out the window, appreciating the scenery with tunes in her ears. She did not even feel the sacks brush by her legs.

Beomwoo does not get worked up like this, except when he is with the chef.

Grinding his teeth, he takes the vacant seat next to her with the ingredients closely coddled to his chest. “Must I look out for you like this? I’m going to go crazy. I just saved us another trip here and you didn’t even notice.”

She turns her body to face him and gazes into his eyes deeply. Beomwoo’s breath hitches. 

“Thank you.”

“No big deal.” he sputters, looking up to avert her staring.

 

His tone changes fast, she thought. She clears her throat, pulling out her right earphone. “Do you listen to The Cure?” 

He turns back to her seeing that she is offering an ear. “I’m not familiar.”

Beomwoo carefully slips in the bud in his right ear. He leans closer to her face as the wire length conveniently does not give them much room to freely move around.

“I never expected this to be your taste.” Beomwoo coughs.

“It is just an old CD I have. And what did you expect me to listen to?” She hushes.

He looks at her from his side. “Well based on your personality I expected something loud and heavy…but this is nice.”

Yeonju sighs and quietly laughs to herself.

 

They silently sit through the next few tracks. There is no comfortable small talk being able to form given the uncomfortable distance from their faces. So close, Yeonju spotted multiple moles peppered on Beomwoo’s face that she had never noticed.

She speaks up. “What is your music taste like?”

“Classical. It is the only thing my mother allowed in the house. After all, it is the most refined genre.” Beomwoo yaps.

“The most unrefined person listening to the most refined genre, that makes sense.”

“You cannot go a second without insulting me, can’t you?”

 

Music is a window into someone’s true self. The pair are surprised about their tastes because they allowed personal bias to paint how they view one another, something ugly and insufferable. They have so much more to learn about one another. Beomwoo takes this as a stepping stone to understanding the Chef so she can really open up to him and vice versa.

Beomwoo’s taste is an example of familiarity and homey feeling, same as Yeonju with her ingredients, but in a light where it holds you down and unable to grow. He grew up in a big house that was fortunate, but suffocating. As a result, an empty shell spouting only what he knew and closed off to everything else. 

 

A particular song on the album comes on and all the memories attached flood in alongside. Yeonju breaks the silence again. “I used to listen to this song in college with a friend, like this.”

Beomwoo is half-surprised that the chef is opening up to him right now.
A friend?

“You have friends? I would not believe it till I saw it”

She sighs. “Had, he was the only one who took care of me, back then”

Had?

Now he is curious, he must know more.

“This is our stop.” She stands up, accidentally yanking the shared earbud out of Beomwoo’s ear, and rushes past him.

“Ow…” he sulks, and hurries after her with the ingredients.

As they get out of the bus, they realise it is about 11 o’clock right now.

 

Yeonju tries to grab one of the bags from him, but he insists he can carry both.

“Again, thank you for coming out all this way” She nods, as they head towards the restaurant.

“It was nothing” he says nonchalantly. “But I hope to be fairly compensated for my time.”
”You followed me out of choice.”

 

While they did start on the wrong foot, and still are, this trip gave them an opportunity to understand one another, even if not by much. It is not about the convenience like Beomwoo said, but rather the experience.

 Jungjae offers visitors an experience that incorporates fine dining and authentic flavour, making it stand out against others. Motto claimed to serve something that was unique, but the ugly truth is what tarnishes its image.

 

Beomwoo and Yeonju both have differing views to what is most familiar to them, but in a way that is also the same. Yeonju clings onto the past and the reason why she is closed off to Beomwoo. She is afraid of experiencing the same pain all over again. A lesson was learnt when she got taken advantage of, and she was not to let it happen again.

Of course, Beomwoo was raised to be entitled, because of who his family was. It gets to the point where that entitlement turns into expectations; and you get stuck. You feel like a caricature of how you are expected to act and being someone else deep down.

In truth, familiarity is a double-edged sword. It brings out the best flavours in your food, but it can also keep up the worst version of yourself. Perhaps, a life lesson is much more valuable than a working day that will come and go.

[strawdaerrii]

How my heart bleeds,

-oneshot

˚˖𓍢ִ໋❀

han beomwoo x mo yeonju

word count: 3.1k

synopsis: things are really awkward and uncertain between yeonju and beomwoo after their first kiss. beomwoo taking yeonju out on a date

warnings: fluff, inspired by the drama a little. basically ep. 5 but without the ex making an appearance.

It is the midnight after the food truck contest, and Yeon-ju sits idly by her bedside with her prized ddakji. She smiled. The atmosphere took her back to visiting carnival shows during the summer of her first year in culinary school in America. The awful tan-lines. The food trucks. The agony of waiting in line. She took it all in.

Despite her tiny victory against the neighbourhood kids, she basks in her team's disappointment when La Lecel left with the grand prize, guilt eating away at her. Myungsook and Chunseung were gutted. She looks outside her frosty window, hoping they were not beating themselves up over the loss.

I should have worked harder if I knew the stakes.

She, of all people know that you cannot ever expect the universe, unless tampered, to do your bidding. You are better off celebrating the smaller things that are just as significant. Being runner-up to a Michelin star restaurant is an accomplishment in itself. Jungjae raised enough money for its repairs, and we now know what we can do in the future to allow Jungjae to prosper. Chunseung even ran out of business cards to hand out, returning customers are to be expected. Beomwoo must be happy with that. Beomwoo.

The memories of a few hours ago flashed back in her mind. Taking his hand and fleeing the scene just like that. It felt as though they were flying. And then, all in one moment. His scent. His warmth. His touch. Yeonju slowly lifts her fingers to her lips, softly imitating the moment repeatedly and shutting her eyes. A sharp pain suddenly hits her, and she instantly clenches her head. God. That damn…

She was doing a good job forgetting all about it, but now its up and coming to bother her, for the rest of the night. The kiss would be the least of her problems if she had not been caught by her staff, head-butting Beomwoo and fleeing the scene without another word. All that and she has yet to apologise or give a reasonable explanation. She groaned. What a mess. She swore to herself she would have called in sick, but those fools were not to be trusted alone. She could be gone for one day, and the entire town is against them.

I must face it head-on and shut it down. There is nothing between us. It was all one mistake.

Yeonju tossed and turned through her frustration, but to no avail, she could not fall asleep. Damn you, Han Beom-woo. She grits.

The sun rises and Yeonju is sitting upright in bed. The dark eye-bags seeping into her skin. She tossed and turned the whole night right up to now. She has to make the commute to work in 3 hours. There is no way she can handle an entire workday in this condition, and this situation on top of that. She begged, begged, and begged. Please God, let me get some sleep.

At last, she went to sleep, at 5:53AM.

-

10:14AM.

Beomwoo was the only present staff accompanying the repairpersons. His muscles strained lifting the brand-new furniture pieces as if his body did not ache from the weekend-long festival. Lifting a tabletop with one of the men, his gaze hovered to the kitchen. He thought back to the conversation with his brother.

Would he be so petty to get back at me to burn down a restaurant in the countryside? It did not make any sense. As he pondered, he misstepped, causing his carry partner to stumble. “Ah, Hyung, be careful with that!” Chun-seung rushes in and save the table right before it drops on their feet. As Beomwoo comes back to earth, he realises that he almost caused an accident. He quickly fixes himself upright to continue carrying without hurting himself.

“Chun-seung, thank you.” Beomwoo and Chun-seung bring the table-top inside as the repairperson brushes himself off. Myungsook arrives right after.

“You know, he used to treat these tables he bought like his children. Look where that led him.” She snickers behind them. Sh thinks back to the hysterical laugh he let out after she dropped kimchi on the brand-new white marble, after he repeatedly said not to eat while on the job. She is surprised that the same man is now being so careless about this furniture he so deeply cared for. She earned a side-eye from the manager for that comment. After setting the table down, Chun-seung and Myungsook huddle together and start whispering about who knows what. Beomwoo is used to being singled out by now so he does not question it, but he can guess what it is about.

“Where’s Chef Mo?” He clears his throat. They both turned their attention to him. “Chef Mo? Shouldn’t you know of her whereabouts?” Myungsook responded, giggling and Chun-seung joining her and even making eyebrows in Beomwoo’s direction. “Yeah! Why, why would we know?” “You two are moving too fast, you two!” Beomwoo sighed, turning the opposite way and smiling. “Look, he’s blushing!” Chunseung points manically. “Well, I don’t know where she is, okay? I was the first to arrive here. Maybe, she’s still tired from last night…” Beomwoo trails. Chunseung lets out a chortle leading into a girly shriek. He earned a slap on his nape from Myungsook for that.

“We didn’t do anything; she went straight home.” Beomwoo shut him down, rubbing his nose. “Ah, does it look crooked to you? I don’t know how someone could be so cruel.” He sulks. It all happened so fast. He was so irritated with himself for feeling this way that he went in for the kill without thought, and that’s where it got him. He cops nothing but silence.

The door flies open as do their heads. Speak of the devil. “Chef Mo!” She hurries in, looking around at the repairs and quickly rushing to the kitchen. “Ah, the repairs are finished. Great, everything looks great now off to work everyone” Yeonju hurried, tying her apron up in her path, not looking at their faces.

Chunseung tuts, approaching her. “Tardiness is a bad habit, Yeonju.” He got another slap on the nape, but nothing from Yeonju.

Yeonju slides on her sun-visor and heads to the garden without a word, leaving everyone stunned.

“What was that?” Myungsook said. “Anyone else felt that cold draft?” She hugs herself while shivering. “Certainly not something you do seeing someone you shared a kiss with.” Chunseung nudges, looking at Beomwoo. Beomwoo feels just as frozen and confused. He doesn’t quite know what to do in this situation, he can’t exactly recall being rejected like this back in Seoul. What do I do?

He looks back at both of them, nodding slowly and catching up to Yeonju as his course of action. The pair rush to the window to eavesdrop. He finds her crouched down admiring her cabbages. He treads lightly, he knows how crazy she is about her garden. “Chef Mo?” He called out. “...Yeonju? Can we talk for a moment?” “Talk? There is nothing to be discussed.” She stands up and tries to push through him. “Now, get back to work.”

He grabs her arm, looking deeply into her eyes. “What did it mean to you? What do I mean to you?” Beomwoo says carefully. “Nothing! There is nothing to be discussed! There is nothing…between us.” Yeonju retorts, escaping his grip and running back inside. Beomwoo is left alone stunned. “Nothing? Nothing?!” He notices the abandoned cabbage nestling in a basket. He picks it up. Did I upset her? Why didn’t she pull away? Nothing…

“Everyone,” Yeonju announces. “This is the last time I will be saying this. What you all saw last night, it was a mistake.” The atmosphere goes cold, everyone turning to Beomwoo cradling the vegetable basket who just walked into the scene.

“Was it or was it not a mistake?” Yeonju questions. His mouth goes dry and his throat hoarse. “Yes, it was a mistake.” He looked at the unevenly harvested cabbage cradled in his arms. He can hear soft gasps coming from Myungsook and Chunseung’s direction. Yeonju sighs. “Exactly. Now, let’s get ready to open.” Myungsook and Chunseung awkwardly shuffle back to their stations, Beomwoo and Yeonju left staring at one another until Yeonju broke it off and turned her back for the kitchen.

-

The entire atmosphere for the entire day is uneasy. It is amazing how one little kiss can dictate the mood. The crew was quiet. You know it is bad when neither Chunseung nor Myungsook tried making light of the situation. The high tension for “nothing” is deeply ironic. Despite that, everyone kept busy with the pile-in customers from the festival.

It was for the best since no one was interacting with each other anyway. The day went by quickly which was needed at a time like this. Due to their hard-work in the morning without her and the festival, Yeonju allowed her staff to have an early home-time; and a mental break for herself. She noticed that Beomwoo was walking out with Chunseung and Myungsook who were being all friendly with him, it was all very one-sided. She peeked through a crack of the door; they seemed to be headed towards a bar.

Some time passes, and Yeonju is alone doing some extra clean-up. She thinks about her day, recalling a few customers referring to her as ‘Gimbap’s mom”. She scoffed. She really hopes she does not have to keep up that lie, but at least it earned them more exposure at the festival. Just as she is about to straighten up some chairs, she hears multiple thuds coming from the front door, and a muffled voice.

“Come back tomorrow, we’re closed,” She calls out. “Yeonjuuuu…” What?

The thuds gradually get louder. What is the meaning of this? She thinks.

Yeonju peeps out the window and to her surprise, it’s Beomwoo. She watches him repeatedly head-butting the door, again, and again. She quickly unlocks the door, he almost head-buts her and trembles forward.

“Beomwoo!” She pushes him back upright. She takes in his dishevelled appearance. And his scent. He reeks of alcohol! “Why did you not go home?”

He squints, leaning in closer to examine Yeonju’s face closely. “Hm.” She stepped backwards into the restaurant again. He was completely wasted. “Is this about earlier? I’m sorry but that is where I stand. Besides, I cannot start dating my coworker. That cannot happen.” She stammers.

Beomwoo walks around the restaurant slowly, stumbling. “You say that, but you haven’t even given me a chance…” He slurs. “I keep thinking about why you could possibly…call our shared moment, a mistake. It does not make sense.”

He starts walking towards her. “I was very popular in Seoul, you know. You don’t get a chance to share a moment like this…with someone as perfect as I am, Yeonju. And…for you to call that a mistake?” Yeonju scoffs at him, she cannot believe what she is hearing. “A kitchen is not a place where you date. And besides, this is nothing against you, but you are just not my type.”

Beomwoo lets out a loud laugh. “Impossible. Yeonju…that is just not possible.” He walks closer to her. “I’m handsome, I’m fit…” He stops for a moment to think of other qualities. “So that makes your argument completely invalid unless you are just scared.” “Is that what you think of yourself? What about your personality, Beomwoo? It is the worst of the worst.” “Yours is just as bad!” “Exactly! So, what good will come from two terrible personalities getting involved?!” She turns her attention back to her cleaning tasks. “I want to get madly involved with you!” Beomwoo yells out. Yeonju turns back to him. Beomwoo inches closer and takes both her hands into his.

“You cannot even face me right now, so why not give it a go so you can make up your mind?” Beomwoo smiles. “Let me take you out on a date, Yeonju.”

Yeonju sighs, making eye contact with him for the first time that whole day. “Okay, but please, go home right now. By the looks of it you drunk the entire village dry of its alcohol.” Beomwoo did not catch much of that other than the fact that he heard an ‘okay’. “Yes? You’ll go on a date with me?”

“Yes, but- “Yes!” He exclaimed, letting go of her hands and running out of the restaurant. “Same time tomorrow, don’t forget, okay?” He does not give her room to respond back as he runs out of the alleyway and somewhere in the distance; but she could still hear his cheers even from that distance. Yeonju sighs and smiles closely to herself.

-

It is closing time for Jungjae again, Yeonju makes sure to send Myungsook and Chunseung home first. Today was less awkward than yesterday, but Beomwoo maintained their distance to avoid making the chef uncomfortable.

He patiently waits for her outside, so she can lock the door, and they can get going to the date he planned for them. He paces back and forth. “Oh, why aren’t you going home?” Yeonju calls out, sticking her head outside.

He turns around. “Chef Mo, did you…forget?” She smiles. “Of course not.” She locks up shop. “Where are we going?”

Realising that she was pulling his leg, he chuckled lightly. “Okay…good. And it’s a surprise, just follow me.” He takes her hand in his and leads her to their date location. The date location is about a 10-minute walk away from Jungjae.

“Where even are we?” Yeonju huffs as they stand in front of a staircase connected to a house rooftop. “Our date spot is up here” Beomwoo replies.

“I’m already tired, I don’t want to climb a bunch of stairs.” Beomwoo sighs and shakes his head, allowing her to go first in front of him.

At the top, they are met with a rooftop theatre. “Ta-da!” Beomwoo beams. “What do you think? I’m quite the romantic, aren’t I?” Yeonju takes in the sight. She spots a couch draped in knitted covers and a throw-blanket; a coffee table with 2 drinks set; and a projector screen. The entire scene has fairy-lights hung around.

“How did you get all this set up?” Yeonju questions. “Hey, I’m Han Beomwoo. I have my ways” Beomwoo replies smugly. “Whatever that means, this is pretty modest coming from you.” She looks around. “Hey, hey…” He stands in front of her. “Can you not worry about money right now?” Beomwoo takes his seat and pats the spot next to him. Yeonju sits down, keeping a comfortable distance between them. Beomwoo flicks on the projector. He glances at Yeonju briefly to make sure she is comfortable, handing her a drink and taking a sip out of his own. Theres a brief silence between them for the first few minutes of the film. The film is an old French film Beomwoo enjoyed during his college days, it was the only thing he was familiar with at the video store. He forgot to check if that was fine with Yeonju.

“I know this film.” She speaks up. Beomwoo turns his head towards her. “You know French?” She nods. “You’re full of surprises, Chef! Where did you study?”

“I went to college in America, I took a French unit one semester, and we watched this film on our final day of class.”

“Seriously? I did not expect that from you, hey, that makes me realise that I know nothing about you.” Yeonju smiles to herself. “And you? How do you know French?”

“Hm, ‘cause you’re curious…I suppose I’ll tell you” He winks, Yeonju rolls her eyes at him. “I studied in Paris and lived there for a while; you could say that I’m fluent! Of course, being bilingual made me quite popular back in those days,” he laughs. Yeonju sighs and takes a sip of her drink. “Oh, I’m sure you were…” she mutters. “It’s true!”

For the rest of their time, the movie becomes a distant blare of noise in the background. Beomwoo goes on and on about his college days, and half the time it was spent bickering on whether or not certain things really did happen to him.

He was talking about this one time during his freshman year about this girl who fancied him but did nothing but leave mystery love notes in his path, though it was painfully obvious that they were from her. However, Yeonju had a hard time believing that a woman in her right mind would spend so much of her time chasing a doofus like him.

“…And this dragged on, and on until I was about to leave for Korea for the summer that year, she decided that would be the right time to reveal herself. But I already knew everything!” Beomwoo yapped, turning to Yeonju and realising that she has dozed off.

This realisation hits him at the same time her head hits his shoulder. He takes quick glances at her, inching his body carefully to reach the remote to turn the movie off, and allowing her to be comfortable nestled on his shoulder. Beomwoo then reaches for the blanket and drapes it over her.

He quietly chuckles to himself. “I must have talked your ears off, Ma’am. For that I apologise.” Beomwoo decides to remain stationary a while longer until she is rested enough so he can walk her back to Jungjae. It is a shame that their anticipated date must be cut short like this, but Yeonju’s wellbeing comes first before anything else.

They remain this way for a good 20 minutes, Beomwoo had to stop himself from dozing off with her multiple times. They might’ve slept up here all night, and he couldn’t risk either of them catching a cold. He gently shook her awake and they made their commute back to Jungjae. Yeonju was still half asleep so not much was said on the way home.

-

Beomwoo unlocks the door to Jungjae, but Yeonju misses her step and stumbles at the doorway, Beomwoo catching her arm just in time. He helps her to her room, removing her coat and shoes for her. She gazes down at him half-lidded.

“Thank you, for tonight.” She whispers. Beomwoo looks up and smiles; “I’ll take you somewhere nicer next time.” He stands up to leave until he feels a tug on his sleeve. “The truth is that the last time I dated was in college, and it didn’t end well. You were right. I am scared.” She admits.

Beomwoo thinks for a moment, biting his lip. He turns to her again. “I don’t want you to be scared and allow your past to keep you from living your life in the present.”

Yeonju gazes longingly into his eyes. Beomwoo clears his throat, rubbing his nose, hiding his flushed face. “I will wait for your answer,”

Before he can say anything else, Yeonju wraps her arms around his neck and softly kisses him and pulls back briefly.

Beomwoo stunned by her action, but a smile creeps up his face.

“Sleep well, Chef.”