Leaning over his counter he tries to take a peek at what his sister has done but before he can two small hands cover his eyes. "Adrian no peeking!" Maddy laughs playfully making him grin and grip her wrists pretending to wrestle her off.
"Well now I just have to see!" With years together Jia Hyson knows she was ticklish, so he lightly scrapes a nail against her wrist making her squeal and retreat with a pout.
"Mean!"
"Come on," Jia Hyson wheedles, enjoying the easy sibling interaction, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
"It's a bowl of soup." She deadpans.
Jia Hyson looks sad, "My daughter is so cruel," he earns a whack to the head.
"Who's your daughter?" She laughs again. They bicker lightly unaware of the smell of vinegar filling the room. Only when Morgan Durand cleared his throat pointedly did they separate and stand in front of their dishes.
As expected, despite the initial setback, Maddy gained a lot of praise for her strange savory green tea cake with a thick sauce that came from boiled down chicken feet giving it a meaty but light taste, and deep fried lotus root chips for texture. Not only was the idea truly original, the taste was good and the overall appearance was gorgeous as well. Even compared to Adrian's delicious but ultimately boring looking noodle soup and Drake's own lavishly beautiful but slightly bland vegetarian plate, it was a clear winning dish.
As Maddy excitedly walks off with the judges to one of the pantries to see her advantage, Jia Hyson sneaks a peek behind him to see Drake's reaction. This is meant to be the turning point of the story where Drake sees Maddy's limitless potential and grudgingly acknowledges her talents, feelings of respect sprouting from his heart which would blossom into something else. Of course it probably won't turn into love all things considering but the respect still needed to be cultivated.
However, to Jia Hyson's shock instead of the expression of pleasant surprise or reluctant acknowledgement or even just a blank mask hiding the turmoil of his emotions there was clearly a handsome face dark with resentment and jealousy.
He touches his nose anxiously. It couldn't be... Drake's really turned into a jealous cannonfodder character? Eh? What strange situation is this? While plot wise it would be interesting to read but Jia Hyson really wasn't willing to let that happen.
Jia Hyson sighs as he tries to think things true. The impression shouldn't be this bad and Drake's personality is stubborn but not to the point of blindness. He likes talented people if nothing else. If Jia Hyson talks up Maddy with him, Drake should be able to see past their first meeting and gain a better opinion of her.
Bebe: 'Host, maybe that not-'
"Drake," Jia Hyson turns to face him. Immediately Drake's face smooths our into a more neutral expression. "May I taste your dish?"
Drake breaks into a smile, "Of course," he agrees before looking a bit embarrassed, "it's not very flavorful, I underestimated the flavor of lotus root and cactus pears."
Already chewing on the food happily, Jia Hyson had to agree. The taste was indeed delightfully harmonious but faint, if it had been enhanced a little it definitely would be hard to determine the winner of the round. However it's current state was still lacking. "Maybe instead of grilling the cactus pears pickling might have been better?" He suggests.
"Mn, unfortunately I was worried about time," they both exchange a long-suffering look that was common among the contestants when complaining about the challenges.
"So," Jia Hyson adds casually, "What did you think of Maddy's dish?"
Drake's expression falls for a moment before he pulls himself quickly together, looking calm and unperturbed. Jia Hyson felt really worried now, was his pride hit that hard? He doesn't understand why this male lead was so sensitive suddenly.
Bebe: 'Maybe cause you bent him?'
Jia Hyson: 'One, people don't suddenly become more sensitive once they become gay or bisexual you ignorant overpriced slag system, and two, if anyone is bending over for anyone it will clearly be me okay?'
Bebe was furious at the name calling, 'You dare call me a slag? Have you looked in a mirror recently?'
Jia Hyson: 'Of course I have, I make sure to look three times a day to see how much more beautiful I get,' (。•̀ᴗ-)✧
Bebe: '..Roll!' So shameless!
"Madeline indeed showed creativity this round," Drake after a minute of hesitation offers up stiffly. "Children are very imaginative, it's good she still has that."
Jia Hyson blinks. Did... did he just say Maddy was childish?
Bebe: 'Inadvertently he also said you were childish too. After all Host is one of the most delusio- imaginative person Bebe has ever known.'
Jia Hyson wants a refund on his system.
"That's it?" He raises a disbelieving brow at Drake, "Even if you disagree you should still not be so blatant about it."
"Why not?" Jia Hyson suppresses his eye roll. At least his arrogance is still intact then.
"Well Maddy's a girl," he tries, "she's young and it's obvious she has potential, come on a savory green tea cake was genius! I mean, the sauce looks really great too, I thought it was caramel before I hope she'll let me have a taste after. She probably will, Maddy is very generous you know? She's very kind but no pushover, you know, a very loyal friend if you get to know her.."
Every reason Jia Hyson gives, Drake's face goes one shade darker. It's actually rather fascinating to watch. He wouldn't mind seeing that god-given face blacken into a devil. However it's very counterproductive to his goals. Quickly he changes his angle, "Don't you know how bad you'll look to the audience if people think your jealous of a little girl?"
Drake gives him a condescending 'I'm a king therefore I am the law' look, "I'll just get them to cut it out," he says like bribing drama hungry executives to take out a catfight was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Jia Hyson: 'This f*cking second gen rich boy...'
"Fine," Jia Hyson huffs, "Well I don't know why you're suddenly so close minded about her, but then again I guess I don't really know you do I?"
The reaction was just as he planned. Just prodding at the sore spot in their relationship is enough to get the young man to wince. "Adrian, I thought.."
"I'll be over it once you get over whatever resentment you have for Maddy," Jia Hyson interrupts ruthlessly. He didn't really want to use emotional blackmail on Drake but if the shoe fits, might as well wear it. He still wasn't sure if a male lead can fall into cannonfodder status but all the cannonfodder in this story had a very public social death that ruined their future in society. The best ending was actually Shirley who became a top-tier prostitute and eventually mistress number three to some rich man which lead to her death by the legal wife's hands. How was this the best ending? Well, out of all the cannonfodder endings she was the only one with an intact corpse.
Seriously, this is meant to be a heartwarming cooking story right? Face-slapping was alright but this sort of intensity belonged in revenge porn. Mentally he decides to see if he can lighten the sentences for a few of the more redeemable characters like Daniel Green who definitely didn't deserve being castrated and died because his injury got infected with maggots.
Yeah, that's right. Seriously. What the f*ck author. It's like you're not even trying to stick to your genre.
As his mind is filled with a thousand galloping mud horses for this shitty excuse of literature, the judges and a grinning Maddy made their way out of the pantry with a cloche in hand. Turning around to look at them he doesn't notice Drake's face turn exceedingly ugly.
With darkened eyes he stares resentfully at Madeline Fenwick, the beginnings of true hatred starting to stir in his chest. Was Adrian's relationship with that girl so good he could throw away their own for the sake of it? Was he worth less in his eyes than her? Unacceptable! Simply unacceptable!
Adrian is his!
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