Desert Thief

                                    

                                          
Taemin walked up to your apartment, taking slow deliberate steps, as if he was trying to put off getting there. He wasn't sure how to break you the knews, hell he was scared about how you would react, but he had to tell you.
                          
He stood outside your door, contemplating whether it was a good idea to even tell you. First of all it was about eight in the morning on a Saturday, the one day you took off, and secondly, it wasn't easy news to take in.
                          
You deserved to know.
                          
So he finally knocked, taking a step back and waiting for you to arrive at the door, give him your signature glare, and let him in for coffee. 
                          
And so you did, the door opened, and you appeared, half asleep, gesturing him in, "What's up? Why are you here so early?"
                          
You didn't know.
                          
Taemin hated being the bearer of bad news, so he procrastinated, shrugging and asking how you were and how work had been the previous day. You filled him in, about the way Mark almost fell on his face, Xiaojun's constant banter of gossip and the food critic.
                          
That was a bitter turn of events, but the perfect way to bring up what he had come for in the first place.
                          
"Y/n", he started slowly, as if you were a child he needed to persuade to stop crying, "Have you seen the news?"
                          
You blinked at him in bewilderment, shaking your head, "No, why?"
                          
"Where's your laptop?", he asked, looking around before spotting it, opening the device and putting in the password (which he knew, he knew almost everything about you) and opening a tab, "I have something to show you."
                          
You walked over to him, leaning over his shoulder, squinting at the bright light of the screen. You had woken up just a few minutes prior to Taemin's arrival, and was still getting out of your morning funk.
                          
"Here", he whispered, moving away so you could read. The title of the article itself made you confused, it made no sense, it wasn't true at all.
                          
WEISHEN CELEBRITY CHEF STEALS?
                          
Buckle up folks, this one is a doozy! If you thought the food industry had no scandals, think again! Our prime example is the Lovely Y/n L/n , who seems to have been caught out for stealing recipes and claiming them as her own.
                          
The young chef, who had stayed out of any trouble or news, has quickly become infamous with something extremely unlikely- a tart!
                          
Famous food critic Tahmina-
                          
You staggered back from the laptop blinking in confusion and horror at what you just read. You? Stealing? No, that was impossible, that never happened, this was all a lie, it jumped so many hoops. You looked at Taemin with a dazed expression, he returned you one with sympathy, "Read the rest", he said, intertwining your fingers and pulling you back to the laptop, holding your hand for support.
                          
You took a deep breath and continued.
                          
Famous food critic Tahmina Aamani had visited Weishen just a few days back, to do her job and critique the food, maybe evaluate it, the usual stuff. "The first two courses were amazing", she said, "but when the desert came around was when it all went wrong."
                          
Tahmina proceeds to explain that she was given a tart, plated beautifully that raised her hopes for the dish. When she took the first bite was when she realized something was wrong. "It tasted so familiar, like I had eaten the same thing before."
                          
Upon meeting L/n, the chef informed Tahmina that the desert had not been added to the menu yet, and that it was an original one. That didn't sit right with the critic, who's instincts told her that there was something fishy going on.
                          
The article seemed adamant on painting you as the bad guy, exaggerating its words. You squeezed Taemin's hand, not being able to tear your eyes away from the words, the lies in front of you.
                          
"I remembered where I had eaten the same dish before", the critic said, "It was at Ncity, one of my favorite restaurants. I had been served the tart, which was a new addition to their menu, and it had been amazing. I even spoke to Lee Taeyong and he told me about the dish being something he had come up with out of the blue."
                          
The critic went on to talk about how she would've let it slide, but the fact L/n had said it was her dish was not acceptable, especially since it was someone else'. We over here at the Exo News wholeheartedly agree with this.
                          
On reaching the end of the paragraph, you didn't exactly know how you felt. Something was off, like a ticking that you couldn't quite catch. Something had set you of in the article but-
                          
Ncity.
                          
A startled cry left your lips as your hand almost crushed Taemin's. "Ncity", you muttered, "Ncity that's Taeyong's- why?", you asked no one in particular, "How could they have had my recipe?"
                          
You blinked rapidly, "No, it's mine, I didn't steal anything", you said, turning to your friend in earnest. "I didn't Taemin I did-"
                          
He looked sympathetically at you, "Baby, I know"
                          
You stuttered, words not making any sense anymore. It felt wrong, it was wrong. You had done nothing. And the mention of Ncity, it was disturbing. How the hell could they have your recipe?
                          
You had never been in a scandal before, you had never wanted to be in one. You knew of the celebrities who purposely took part in scandals for publicity, you just couldn't. You had stayed so far away from them, you had been so careful, but here you were, finding yourself in the midst of one. 
                          
"It-it makes no sense I-", you let go of Taemin's hand, walking to your living room, trembling ever so slightly, "I didn't steal I didnt", you insisted, repeating it over and over like a prayer. You supposed it was, a prayer to wake up from this nightmare, someone to tell you that this was an elaborate joke.
                          
You sat on your couch, head in hands as you rocked yourself. It was a big accusation, especially with how hard you've worked to get where you were, What if people started doubting your integrity as a whole? This would affect Weishen too, not just you.
                          
You looked up, eyes falling on your journal. You stretched out, picking it up and furiously flipping to the page where you wrote down the ingredients of the tart,  shoving it in Taemin's face, "See, it's mine, It's mine I didn't", you dropped the book, your lower lip trembling. Taemin pulled you into his embrace, hugging you, "Hey, it's okay", he hushed, "It'll be fine."
                          
It was as if you had expended all your energy trying to prove yourself to your friend, how the fuck would you prove you were innocent to the rest of the world?
                          
"Taeyong", you whispered, "Taemin you don't think...?"
                          
Taemin stayed silent, giving you the answer you needed, leaving you more distraught than before. You tried to ignore it, tried to justify it, but you couldn't. You let out a whimper, feeling utterly helpless, trembling in Taemin's embrace.
                          
Suddenly Tahmina's off behaviour made sense, she thought you were a liar and a thief.  
                          
You could feel the cameras on you, even in the solace of your home, it was like the whole world was suddenly watching you, waiting for you to do something, to mess up again.
                          
Because that's how the world worked.