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Lying flat on their backs on the platform in the backyard, both Yunho and Yeosang just stare up at the blue sky with clouds, enjoying the moment before they are going to make dinner. That is, Yunho, as the couple's chef de cuisine, will be making dinner, while Yeosang, the resident scientist, will be present as the moral support and the occasional help.
Yunho is still thinking about what he's going to make for dinner, when suddenly his face contorts and a blush colors his cheeks.
Yeosang has a 6th sense for something like that, because he turns his head: "Yunho? What's the matter?"
The chef reluctantly looks at his boyfriend: "Nothing. Well, not anything important. I just thought about a mistake I made while learning to be a chef during culinary training. It was ... embarrasing."
Yeosang now turns completely on his side, facing Yunho: "Embarrasing? How so?'
Yunho sighs and looks up to the sky again: "We had to make an omelette, and the teacher would taste it and grade us for it."
"Grading an omelette? Isn't that something ... basic?"
"Yup, but still, they maintained, that if you can't get the basics right, you wouldn't get very far."
Now Yeosang's eyes widen: "Wait, you want to tell me, that you somehow screwed up an omelette?"
"Well," the chef blushes, turning his face towards Yeosang, "normally I use a pepper and salt mix that I've made, with some herbs in it. So I made the omelette, got the shaker with the mix, and finally served my omelette to the teacher. Who took just one bite, stopped chewing, looked up and asked me whether I wanted to create a whole new line of omelettes? I was a bit confused, but he told me to taste me own creation."
Yeosang was now very curious: "So what went wrong? I mean, I guess something went wrong..."
"Yeah," the blushing boyfriend confesses, closing his eyes, "it turned out, I got the wrong shaker, not the one with the salt and pepper mix, but the one with the cinnamon and sugar mix ... That was soooo embarrasing for the number 1 of the class..."
A soft chuckle by his boyfriend, opens Yunho's eyes and with a wry smile, he too turns on his side, now facing Yeosang on the platform. "I know. It was embarrasing. And for a while I had the nickname of 'cinnamon chef' in class."
Yeosang reaches out with his hand and softly touches his boyfriends cheek.
"For me," the scientist smiles, "for me you're the best chef in the world."
A light blush colors Yeosang's face as he continues in a softer voice: "And the most beautiful one."
Yunho's smile widens and then he takes his boyfriends hand to softly press a kiss on it.
Reluctantly he lets go, so Yeosang can take his hand back.
"But have you" Yunho starts, "never made a mistake during work or shool, that was embarrassing?"
Suddenly Yeosang's whole face flushes: "I ... I have ..."
Yunho patiently waits for Yeosang to elaborate.
Then the scientist continues: "It was several years ago. I was going to present the results of my work at an international convention, to many physicists and astrophysicists from all over the world..."
"Wait," the chef interrupts, "an international convention? So you had to speak English?"
Yeosang nods.
The chef asks: "But wasn't your English pronunciation at that time a bit ... off?"
Yeosang nods again.
Now Yunho was the one who got curious: "So, what happened?"
Yeosang's blush intensifies: "You have to understand, those scientists were big names in their fields, and I, a young beginner, had the honor to present my results to them. But I noticed that quite a few of them had confused expressions on their faces. I wondered whether the results were so complex or earth shattering, that even experienced physicists had trouble to understand it."
"So," Yunho's curiosity intensified, "was it that earth shattering?"
"No," Yeosang explains, "it was my pronunciation ..."
Yunho waits.
Yeosang continues: "During a short break an assistant approached me. He said
'It isn't pronounced 'cows' but 'chaos'."
Silence.
Then a short barking laugh erupts from the chef, who quickly covers his mouth as he notices Yeosangs face, fiery red and pouting.
Yunho reaches out and pulls Yeosang closer until they are flush together, and he presses several kisses on his boyfriends cheeks before he nuzzles Yeosangs crown of soft hair.
"Sorry," Yunho starts, "it was just so... unexpected to hear that from the prettiest scientist ever."
Then in a slightly different tone the chef continues: "But your chaos cows gave me the right idea for dinner."
Yeosang pulls back a bit, to look at Yunho's face: "The right idea? Chaos cows?"
"Yes," the chef explains, "Chaos Cows. Chaotic cows. You know? Beef through the meat grinder. In other words, hamburgers."
Yeosangs expression changes. It's the one his boyfriend recognizes as his 'thinking face'.
Although the eyes are trained on Yunho's face, it's clear that the scientist sees something else entirely.
"You know," Yeosang starts, "during that covention one of the astrophysicists mentioned, that they were working on models to reconstruct the original face of the moon on the far side. That was completely reworked during the Late Heavy Bombardment, when many asteroids impacted the surface. They had tried and failed several times, because it was too chaotic. He said that reconstructing the surface, was like trying to reconstruct a cow from a truckload of hamburgers."
It's silent for a second, before Yeosang continues with a soft: "I wonder ..."
"OH NO!" Yunho exclaims, quickly rising from the platform, pulling his startled boyfriend with him. "I know you. You'll probably try to solve that puzzle, forget dinner, and have a sleepless night again. Nope. Not gonna happen."
Yeosang looks at Yunho's hand around his biceps.
Quickly the chef loosens his grip.
As the scientist looks up at his boyfriend, his eyes have a slightly naughty glint.
"We're going to have hamburgers for dinner?" Yeosang asks.
Yunho tilts his head, noting the naughtly glint, but still answers truthfully: "Yes. And they'll taste great."
Yeosang grins: "Are you going to use the cinnamon sugar mix again?"
He laughs and runs away.
Yunho utters just a "OH ... YOU!!!" before he chases after his boyfriend.