His lips curving into a sweet smile, he followed Nani to the kitchen.
Holding her phone in her hand, she glanced up at him. “What should we make?”
“Well,” Jimin joked with a huge grin, “I’m thinking chocolate chicken.”
“I told you,” Nani exclaimed with a chuckle, “chocolate and chicken don’t go together!”
“I think I can prove you wrong,” Jimin murmured as he pulled up a recipe on his phone. “Look! Spicy Chocolate Chicken!” He held his phone up so she could see the picture that accompanied the recipe.
Nani stuck her tongue out. “That sounds disgusting!”
Jimin developed a thoughtful expression. “Really? I find it kind of intriguing.” He messed around with his phone for a few seconds. “Here. This one’s perfect. Chocolate Chicken Curry. That sounds like it should be right up your alley.”
“Oh? Because I’m Indian, you mean?”
Jimin nodded. “Well, I’m Korean, and I love Korean cuisine. So, you must love Indian food, right?”
“I do. Ordinarily. But I don’t think chocolate and curry go together.”
“Come on. Be adventurous. Let’s try it. If it’s no good, I’ll take you out for dinner.”
Nani stared doubtfully at the recipe.
“Do you have the ingredients?” he asked.
“Actually…I do,” she responded, surprised.
“Let’s try it!” Jimin’s smile was contagious.
Nani found herself grinning along with him. “All right,” she responded reluctantly. “But if it’s bad, you owe me dinner.”
“Yes, ma’am,” his lips quirked upward as his chocolate eyes pierced hers.
Her heart skipped a beat. She turned away from him to hide her nervousness. She walked towards her pantry to begin collecting ingredients. “Can you read the list of ingredients again, Jimin?”
“Cocoa powder, coconut milk, olive oil, cloves, green cardamom pods, salt, ginger, chili powder, sugar…chicken breasts, onion, garlic, and fresh cilantro.”
Nani began to collect ingredients from her pantry shelf. She handed Jimin the cocoa powder and a can of coconut milk.
He checked the label. “Thirteen and a half ounces light coconut milk. That’s right. The recipe says I’m to whisk it with a tablespoon of cocoa powder.”
“While you do that, I’m going to add two tablespoons of olive oil to a large pan. Then I mix in half a teaspoon of cloves and seven green cardamom pods, right?”
“Mm-hmm. This says the pods should be slightly crushed.”
“How long do I cook them for?”
“Over medium heat for only a couple minutes. You want the oil to get hot, then once we can smell the spices, we add half a teaspoon of salt and a small onion that we’ve chopped up.” He took a deep breath as he stopped whisking the chocolate coconut milk. “I’ll dice the onion. Can you crush three garlic cloves?”
She nodded. “I’ll do that while the spices cook.”
“We’re supposed to sauté the onion until it turns light brown. Keep stirring it. Maybe five minutes till it’s done cooking?”
She followed his instructions. Once the onion had browned, Jimin glanced into the pan and asserted, “Time to add the garlic. Mix it in and sauté it for a minute until it browns too.”
After a couple minutes, he added, “Now we need to add two teaspoons of ground ginger and a half teaspoon – or do you want to add a whole teaspoon? – of chili powder. Depends on how hot you want it.” He paused while she considered his question. “Now we just mix it all together over the heat for a few seconds.”
“Now what?” she asked as she stirred the spices and veggies together.
“Now we add two skinless, boneless chicken breasts that we’ve cut into bite-sized pieces.”
“Whoops,” Nani muttered. “We forgot to do that part first.” She turned off the heat and moved the pan to a cool burner before heading to her fridge.
Five minutes later, she was done cutting the chicken up. She glanced up at Jimin. “Can you heat the pan up again?”
Once it was hot, she added the chopped chicken to the pan.
Jimin continued reading the instructions to her. “Cook the chicken until it’s browned on all sides. Don’t forget to keep stirring it. It says we need to cook it for about five minutes.”
Once the chicken had been cooked on all sides, Jimin poured the chocolate coconut milk into the pan. “Now we’re supposed to add three to four teaspoons of sugar. How much do you want to put in?”
She grimaced. “Maybe just one tablespoon. I don’t want to make it too sweet.”
“But the cocoa powder would lend it some bitterness. Maybe we should put in four teaspoons.”
“Okay,” she shrugged. “Four it is.”
Jimin poured the sugar in while Nani stirred the contents of the saucepan. “We’re supposed to cook it for ten minutes.”
“Uncovered?”
“Yeah, you need to keep stirring it the whole time so the chicken doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.”
They took turns stirring the pot. And Nani marveled at how efficiently they worked together. Like a true team.
“I think it’s done,” she finally proclaimed.
“Now we need to take the chicken out and put it on a plate. We’re supposed to fish out all the cardamom pods and the cloves. Then we pour the sauce into a food processor and add some chopped coriander. Then we puree our sauce and pour it and the chicken back into the saucepan. Once it’s heated, we can eat it.”
Nani followed his final instructions. Then they both stood staring down at the pot of chocolate chicken curry. Together, they had created a masterpiece, and they were both pleasantly surprised with the end result.
“It looks really good,” she murmured.
Jimin had to agree. “It does.”
When the dish was finished cooking, Jimin speared a piece of the chicken with a fork and held it up to her mouth. “Here. You try it first.”
She eyed it suspiciously. “This little adventure was your idea. Don’t you think you should be the guinea pig?”
Jimin giggled. Then he shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself.”
But before he could pull the fork away from her lips, she changed her mind. It wasn’t every day that Jimin offered to feed her himself. She opened her mouth and gingerly sampled the chicken. Her eyes grew wide as they met his over the empty fork.
“Wow. You were right. Chocolate and chicken do go together! I am astonished! It’s really good.” Her eyes traveled to the hot pan of food. “Try some.”
Jimin plunged the fork back into the pot, spearing another piece of chicken before popping it into his own mouth. “That is good.” The fork descended again before ascending once more, then the chicken he’d grabbed met the same fate as its mates. Jimin stood chewing the curry as his eyes devoured her face.
Nani was so beautiful. Her dark eyes seemed to be calling to him. He swallowed his bite of food before setting the fork down. He reached out and slid his arm around her and drew her close to him. He smiled down at her.
“Thank you, Nani,” he whispered gruffly.
Bewildered, she gazed up at him. “For what?”
“For cooking with me. For trying something new and exciting. And unusual. See? It turned out wonderful. Kinda like us.”
Her deep brown eyes grew wider. She couldn’t look away from him. His gaze left her own to trace her mouth for a few seconds before his lips found hers again in a soft kiss that curled her toes. Jimin tasted like cocoa powder and curry. And chicken. An odd combination to be sure. But a delicious one.
He lingered there over her lips for a little while before reluctantly glancing down into the pot. “I suppose we should eat it while it’s hot,” he murmured, but he didn’t release her yet.
She leaned her head against his chest as she too stared down at the chocolate curry. “Mmm,” she agreed noncommittally.
She heard his chuckle through his chest. She smiled. She’d felt its vibration too. Suddenly, a wave of melancholy flooded her soul. She wound her arms around him and squeezed him tight.
“I’m going to miss you so much, Jimin,” she mourned.
“Not half as much as I’m going to miss you, Nani. That is…if I ever go home again.”
Her arms hugged him fiercely to her. “If you don’t, you can stay with me forever.”
“Forever?”
“Forever,” she muttered passionately.
A faint smile crowned his lips. “Thank you, Nani. Now. Open up. You need some more chocolate chicken.” He reached down and picked up the fork once more before shoveling another bite of the curried dish into her mouth.
She smiled at him as she chewed. He served them both some chicken and carried the dishes to the table. Then he pulled out her chair before bowing gallantly to her. “After you, milady,” he whispered.
She smiled faintly at him before taking the seat he was offering her. He sat down next to her. They ate in a companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Jimin kept looking out the window.
“What is it?” she finally asked him.
“I want to go outside. In the rain. I love the smell of the rain. Don’t you?”
Amazed, she glanced up at him. “Actually, I do. That’s why I opened my window this morning. So I could smell the rain.” She stood up and disappeared into the other room for a moment. When she returned, she handed him a pink umbrella. “Here. Now you won’t get wet.”
He grinned at her before accepting her gift. “Thanks,” he murmured. “You want to join me?”
She nodded. Together, they slipped outside under the cover of her pink umbrella. Jimin slid his arm around her and drew her into his side. They stood, huddled together, staring up at the storm clouds. Nani was conscious mostly of his arm around her waist. And of the heat emanating from his side.
But after a few moments, she closed her eyes and inhaled. And the comforting scent of the rain invaded her senses. She wasn’t sure if she had ever felt this comforted before. Wrapped safely in Jimin’s embrace, kept dry by the umbrella he was holding over their heads. Surrounded by the soothing presence of the gentle rain as it unleashed its fresh fragrance on the soft earth under their feet. Nani basked in the moment. While it lasted.
After several minutes, the storm became more violent. The wind began to blow fiercely, and Nani shivered. Jimin’s black hoodie was getting wet. The force of the sudden gale blew the rain sideways, and it flew under the umbrella to drench them both in raindrops.
They fled for the dry indoors. And the kitchen that needed cleaning now after all their heroic cooking efforts. Jimin gathered their dishes while Nani ran some dishwater. They worked together to wash and dry all the dishes after stowing the leftovers in the fridge.
Once the kitchen was clean, she proposed watching a movie. Jimin agreed. After they’d chosen one that they both were interested in, Jimin sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him.
“Come, Nani. Sit down next to me. Would you? Please?”
Like Jimin even needed to ask such an absurd question. Of course, she was going to sit next to him!
She plopped down beside him, and he reached out to throw his arm around her shoulders. Then he drew her into his side. She snuggled up against him, pillowing her head against his chest as she turned her eyes towards the television set. But her mind was fully occupied with the man seated next to her.
The steady flow of his breathing wooed her to sleep after a few minutes. She leaned into his chest and closed her eyes to relish the feel of his arm around her. And his breath teasing the hair at her temple. And his warm fingers tenderly stroking her arm. All of the beauties of his tender touch worked together to relax her to the point that she slipped off into slumber without even realizing that she was tired.
Jimin held her close and inhaled the refreshing fragrance flowing from her scalp. He pillowed his chin against the top of her head and enjoyed the movie while Nani slept. Eventually, the movie came to an end, and as he tried to shift her, she awoke. He smiled down at her.
“Nani, you should go to bed. Come on, I’ll help you head to your room.”
She panicked, “No! I don’t want to go to bed.” She lifted her head suddenly. “I know! Let’s go outside and look at the moon. I want to see it tonight. Okay? Jimin, will you go outside with me?”
“Of course,” he murmured. “Let’s go take a look at the moon you love so much.”
