scallions for breakfast

Though Jymaiyri was often one to get completely engrossed in her work, it was hard to stay focused when Yeonaixho stood across from her, making a complete fool of himself.

They stood on opposite ends of their kitchen island, amidst a sea of ingriedients ready to be turned into dumplings. Pale, winter-morning light streamed through their kitchen window and warmed the room through the glass of the windowpane, casting the entire room in a beautiful, dreamy haze. They'd been hard at work since before the sun had risen, preparing for the lunar new year festivities that night. Even though it was his fifth time celebrating the holidays with Jymaiyri and her family, Yeonaixho had, apparently, never gotten the memo on how to make a good dumpling.

"You're doing it all wrong." Jymaiyri sighed, abandoning her own preparation of the dumpling filling to help her husband with the dough. "It's like you're trying to make us pretzels. Are you trying to make pretzels?"

Yeonaixho lifted his flour-covered hands away from the dough. "You're the one who told me to make the dough! I'm just doing what you told me!"

"Yes, because I know you wouldn't want to touch the meat to make the filling!" Jymaiyri couldn't help but laugh. "And if I handled it all myself, you'd complain about not being involved."

"I think it's fine. We're going to have beautiful, un-pretzel-y dumplings, and your mother is going to say, 'Oh, wow, Yeonaixho! You helped with these? They're amazing!'"

"My mother would be impressed if you poured her a cup of tea." Jymaiyri pointed out. "She has incredibly low standards for men. Northern men especially. And she wants to get on your good side."

"Or maybe, I'm really that good at making dumplings and you're just a cynic." Yeonaixho smiled his characteristic dorky, charming smile. How could Jymaiyri not have fallen in love with him?

"At least let me show you how to make the wrappers." Jymaiyri countered, wiping her hands on her apron before putting one on Yeonaixho's hand.

"Like you have the past four years?" He countered.

"Well, maybe this time you'll learn." Jymaiyri positioend herself next to Yeonaixho, one hand on each of his, and helped him roll out the dough into a long circle.

"In my defense." Yeonaixho said as they worked, "This is a lot like how you make pretzels."

"Yes, but it's all in the technique." Jymaiyri stressed. "We will not be tying these into knots and boiling them into bread. That, above other things, would be a surefire way not to win my mother's approval."

"Maybe we can try my hypothesis some other time. I am about to unlock a completely new form of fusion cuisine in the form of pretzel-dumplings. It's going to be phenomenal. They're going to ask me to open a restaurant, and I'll say 'not unless my darling, beautiful wife is there to tell me how silly all my dishes are.'"

Jymaiyri couldn't help but laugh. "You'll have to put my name on the menus, as credit."

"Credit for what?" Yeonaixho counteted. "Inhibition of creativivity?"

"For teaching you how to roll out dough for dumpling wrappers," Jymaiyri took her hands away from Yeonaixho's as they finished rolling the dough into a large circle. "And taste-testing all of your more adventurous creations."

"… I suppose that's fair." Yeonaixho said after a moment of consideration. With his hands freed, he took a moment to tuck his long bangs behind his ears- and promptly got flour all over his face.

"Oh, stop that-" Jymaiyri playfully chided, reaching for a nearby towel to wipe the flour off of Yeonaixho's face. "You've got flour all over your face now!"

"What?" Yeonaixho said, putting his hand back to his cheek and getting even more flour on it.

"Stop!" Jymaiyri couldn't help it, and burst into giggles. She reached up to Yeonaixho with the towel, and began to clean the flour off. "Why do you have to be so impossibly tall?"

"That's not my fault!" Yeonaixho protested, but bent down so Jymaiyri could better reach his face either way. He closed his pale blue eyes, letting Jymaiyri pat them over with the damp towel. "That tickles."

"Does it?" Jymaiyri hummed. Silence fell between them for a moment, til Yeonaixho reached and traced Jymaiyri's chin with his still flour-covered hand. "Yeonai!"

"What? Am I not allowed to see the face of my beautiful wife?" Yeonaixho countered. "Are you going to deny this poor, blind man that one simple pleasure?"

"Maybe when your hands aren't covered in flour." Jymaiyri countered, and began blotting away the mess from her own face with the towel.

"Duly noted." Yeonaixho laughed, and navigated over to the sink to wash his hands. "Though, I will say that I was under the impression that getting messy was an inevitable part of cooking and, in fact, a marker of how devoted one is to their craft."

"Really?" Jymaiyri began separating the dough into small sections, to be rolled out and used as wrappers.

"Maybe. Or maybe you're just cute when you're too focused to tell you've made a mess."

"Yeonai…" She groaned, though it quickly turned into a laugh. "You can't even see me!"

"I can still tell." He smiled. "You have a pout in your voice when you're focused or fed up with me. And you pace, and you tell me how silly I am, and then you laugh."

Jymaiyri was caught off guard, flushed with joy and love. She fell silent for a moment, letting Yeonaixho's words wash over her. "You're ridiculous, Yeonai." She shook her head, and couldn't help but laugh, a smile blossoming over her face. She laughed.

"I told you! There it is!" Yeonaixho joined her- both in laughing, and at her side. He put his arms around her, and drew her into an embrace. "You always laugh. It's so cute."

"Stop it, Yeonai-" She couldn't stop laughing. She buried her face in his chest. "You're embarassing me. And we're making a mess. And we have to cook these dumplings for my mother."

Yeonaixho held her close, and rocked her from side to side. "There's no one around but us. Messes can be cleaned up. And we have the entire rest of the day to cook."

Jymaiyri finally stopped laughing, but her smile didn't leave her face. "I love you, Yeonai."

"I love you too." From the way his voice sounded, Jymaiyri could tell he was smiling, too.