Chapter 103: Small Victories
The smell of garlic and sesame oil hit Jin before he even stepped into the kitchen.
He paused in the doorway, letting the warmth soak in, not just from the stove, but from the quiet buzz of voices and the soft clatter of cooking. Seul stood near the counter, her hair tied back, sleeves rolled to her elbows. A pot simmered gently on the burner in front of her, steam curling into the air like lazy smoke.
Jin leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Didn’t know you were on chef duty tonight."
Seul didn’t look back. "If I left it to Joon again, we’d all be eating protein bars and regret."
"Hey," Joon called from the other room. "I heard that."
"You were supposed to." She gave the soup a slow stir, then glanced over her shoulder at Jin. "Besides, it’s nothing fancy. Just something hot before we all pass out."
Jin nodded and stepped inside. The kitchen wasn’t large, but it was bright, clean, and smelled like a place people actually lived in. The rice cooker clicked in the corner, and plates were already stacked on the side, ready to be dished out.
Areum leaned against the far wall, her hair still damp from a quick shower, glass blade resting inside its sheath across her back. She perked up when she saw Jin enter, straightening quickly.
"Oh! Jin!" she said, a little too loud. "I meant to show you earlier, I’ve been working on splitting the blade."
He raised an eyebrow. "Splitting?"
"Yeah! Like, instead of keeping it solid all the time, I figured I could shatter it mid-air, you know?" She gestured with her hands, miming an explosion. "Then control the fragments like little projectiles before pulling them back together."