Walks to Junkie’s kitchen.
Chop. Chop. Chop.
Hwayeon: notices and smiles. “I didn’t see you there, Author-nim!”
Author: sniffs. “That smells really good! What are you making?”
Hwayeon: chuckles. “Just a simple meal.”
Author: glances at the table full of food - there is cheesy garlic bread, salads, stew and a cheese cake with strawberry toppings. And in the oven, there is roast chicken. “Simple, you say?”
Hwayeon: looks around and chuckles sheepishly. “I may have overdone it?”
Author: smiles and shakes head. “Don’t worry about it. You have Taeseok, remember?”
Hwayeon: gasps. “That’s right! I forgot his portion! Can you give me a few minutes and we’ll talk later!”
He has his own portion?
Author: glances at camera. “You heard her folks, we’ll be back shortly! See ya!”
***
A few minutes later…
Hwayeon: gives tea to Author.
Author: “Thank you.” Gratefully accepts tea.
Hwayeon: “So, have you come for my POV this time?”
Author: pauses. “How did you know?”
Hwayeon: “Author-nim, you never show up unless it was for the POV interviews. I’m sure your friend was pushing you to do it after Yerin’s Complaint.”
Author: cries tears of joy. “Hwayeon-ah~ you understand my sorrows!”
Hwayeon: smiles at the camera and winks. “So, let’s get started, shall we?”
***
Honestly, I don’t have much to tell you about my POV since it’s pretty much the same as what you’ve learnt.
Author: “How about before the LAB?”
Hwayeon: “That’s a good idea.”
So before coming to the LAB, I was a tanned child growing up. I mean there’s nothing I can do about my skin so I did my best to seem… amicable as possible.
But apparently, potential adopters were hesitant to adopt me because they knew they were going to get questions of suspicion and they didn’t want that type of reputation.
As a result, I stayed in the orphanage until I was 12. By 12, I was deemed to have no potential to be adopted. I could accept that, I guess…
Then, there was that whole incident about being taken to the LAB. I turned 13 there and met Dr 5 who was Gen5’s supervisor.
Unlike the other scary-looking supervisors with masks, for the first meeting, Dr 5 removed his mask and made sure we were well taken care of.
Honestly, he may have been the closest adopted father I could have had. He didn’t view me as this freak due to my skin, and ever since, I stayed by his side and helped him.
When Dr 5 saw my eagerness to learn from him, he would pat my hair and it was the best compliment ever.
I tried my hardest to help him and ease his worries since I noticed in the earlier months that Dr 5 seemed frail. And when I asked him if I could practise smithy work to help him, he gave me a test and it was those ‘tiny needles’ mentioned early in the story.
I practised on the needles as much as possible. And to be honest, I actually had fun!
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
I believe I had failed 44 times until I could get it right by the 45th.
Well, after that, you can guess how the story goes. I awakened my fire powers but it wasn’t a subtle awakening as the flame started with my fingers but I panicked and shook my hand to diminish it. As a result, the flame covered and burnt my hands.
Author: “Hence, the ‘irregular burn marks’ mentioned by Seohwa?”
Hwayeon: nods.
Author: “Thank you for sharing your story, Hwayeon! Now this is a different type of interview, as some readers and my editor included, want to know some of the recipes you have made… so, Section 2 of this interview is really a cooking segment.”
Hwayeon: widens eyes. “Oh, but there is so much food I have made though? I can’t possibly choose just one.”
Author: “That is quite alright! Just choose one meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ll add your recipes down below.”
Hwayeon: “Well, if you say that…” ponders. “Then for breakfast, a simple egg fried rice, for lunch, vegetable stir-fry noodles and for dinner, chicken coconut curry.”
Author: smirks mischievously. “Why did you choose those three?”
Hwayeon: “Well, Taeseok likes to finish my fried rice. Then, I was worried about his health considering his snack eating habits so I made vegetable stir-fry noodles once and he seemed to like it. And the last dish is Taeseok’s favourite meal out of all that I have made for him. You see, he can’t handle spice so I added coconut cream to the curry.”
Author: smiles at the camera. “There you have it, folk! That’s the end of Hwayeon’s POV and her recipes are down below!”
***
Breakfast: Egg Fried Rice (3-4 servings / Taeseok serving)
Ingredients
- 3-4 Eggs
- 1-2 cups of rice (a day old, if not, a night old)
- 1 diced onion / onion powder
- 3-5 diced garlic cloves / garlic powder
- 2 cups of frozen corns and peas, diced carrots (you decide if you want more)
- 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
- Pinch of salt to taste
- Pinch of black pepper
- 2 tbsp oil
- Scallops (for garnish only for those who want it)
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce/ketchup (optional)
- Spam (optional)
Method
- In medium heat, prepare the pan/wok with oil for 5 minutes.
- Saute diced onion and diced garlic into the pan/wok until fragrant. Add frozen corn, peas and your diced carrots and mix for 3-5 minutes until cooked.
- Add rice and mix everything until perfectly balanced.
- Add your salt and black pepper, your soy sauce (Hwayeon adds tomato sauce/ketchup here). Then mix. (If no onions/garlic, use powders here as well)
- Place fried rice into a clean bowl.
- Fry eggs into the hot pan/wok that was used to make the fried rice. Once the egg whites are white, cover with a lid until the top is cooked or half-cooked (for those who like runny eggs). (Hwayeon cooks slices of spam before eggs)
- Place eggs on fried rice and add scallops for garnish (to those that want it).
Lunch: Vegetable Stir-fry Noodles (3-4 servings / Taeseok serving)
Ingredients
- 3x 400-500g Egg Noodles (Any asian noodles work, just follow instructions)
- Mixed Vegetables (carrots, capsicum, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
- 1 diced onion / onion powder
- 5 diced cloves garlic / garlic powder
- 3-4 tbsp oyster sauce
- Water
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1tbsp butter
- Pinch of black pepper
- Pinch of salt (If too plain)
Method
- Boil noodles according to packet instructions then drain to cool.
- In medium-high heat, prepare wok and add oil.
- Add onions, garlic, and mixed vegetables and saute with butter.
- Switch to low heat temporarily and add noodles.
- Add oyster sauce, black pepper and salt if the taste is too plain. Saute everything together in high heat.
Dinner: Chicken Coconut Curry With Rice (3-4 servings / Taeseok serving)
Ingredients
- 1kg of chicken (if whole, cut parts)
- 2 small cans of coconut cream
- 3 tbsp Curry powder
- 1 diced onions / onion powder
- 5 diced garlic cloves / garlic powder
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 2 Carrots (circular about 0.5cm thick)
- 2 Potatoes (cut into 8 pieces each potato)
- 2-3 tbsp soy sauce
- Oil
- 1-2 cups rice (cook in rice cooker)
Method
- Prepare the pot on medium heat and add oil.
- Massage by hand the onion, garlic, soy sauce, salt and black pepper to the chicken while you wait for the pot to heat up.
- Add the chicken mix into the pot once hot and cook it for 10-15 minutes while stirring.
- Add carrots and potatoes and mix.
- Add coconut cream into the pot and gently mix before covering with a lid. Wait until coconut cream is boiling.
- Add curry powder and mix until balanced before covering it with the lid and heat.