IC Date September 1st, 2021 (Blue in English, Red in Korean)

Eun-ji smiled, it was a longing smile and for a moment she felt like she wanted to run away. Mostly from her own emotions. “Yeah, it’s always more fun when it’s done with family. Though I suppose cooking for them also gives me some sense of comfort…as in… if I cook for them, they will have to come and eat it? Does that make sense?” She asked, feeling a bit awkward. It felt like she revealed way too much already. Thankfully, Aaron gave her an opportunity to lighten up the mood almost immediately and the Ravenclaw took it. “Well, I don’t discriminate. I have nothing against sandwiches but I do actually plan to cook for myself occasionally next year since we can use the kitchen. If you are really interested, I could ask you to help sometime and we could have dinner together? Wish we could do so sooner but I guess some kids our age shouldn't really have access to the open fire.” She paused for a moment, considering how her invitation might have sounded to the boy. “I suppose you could bring some friends too if you wanted.” Eun-ji wasn’t really looking to meet new people now and she wasn't sure if she would be next year... that remained to be seen. She would also be perfectly fine if it was just the two of them but she wanted to give him a choice should that make him feel more comfortable…In any case, she was used to cooking for several people so she didn’t mind either way.

“Naengmyeon…hmm…I do have a recipe for that but I only ever tried making it once. It’s a good dish for summer for sure but I might not make a good one just yet. Perhaps I’ll practice some more, I do enjoy eating that one as well.” Her grandma showed her how to do it but it was also a dish that should be eaten as soon as possible so the noodles wouldn’t get soggy. In order to avoid that happening, her parents would actually have to show up on time…or at all really… so she never bothered to prepare that one herself. It would be a wasted effort. “My favourite food is japchae. Not really sure why…it just always was. That being said, I like Korean cuisine in general except for some sea food, intestines and Dakbal Korean Chicken Feet,” Eun-ji cringed just saying the name. “I mean…whoever thought that was a good idea?” The witch shook her head and closed the package with the shrimp flavoured crackers. She said SOME seafood... shrimp was good. For now though it seemed like her stomach was satisfied so she left the snacks on the table just in case Aaron wanted to take some more.

Card games? Eun-ji looked at her fellow passenger curiously. "I do?" She said, somewhat unsure. It occurred to her now that she hardly got to play games as she spent most of her childhood in hospitals, watching her parents work. Any free time she had would be spent attending ballet and art classes or taking care of Morgana. "I mostly played Godori Korean Go stop card game with my grandmother though. I think I played UNO once at school and I had fun but that was a long time ago. I might need to refresh my memory when it comes to rules." The witch said with a smile. She remembered it being quite simple game so she should be able to catch up quickly and it would be a good way to pass time. It will keep our minds occupied too...sounds like a good plan.

"It does make sense," Aaron assured her, nodding along to his words with a small smile. Her sentiment of cooking as a comfort because it brought her family to her made her seem like a caring sort of person. Like it was in her nature to take care of others, which was a nice thing to have. Aaron couldn't boast the same sort of personality - he loved his family and his friends, but he wasn't the sort to take care of them per se. He had been told he was pretty good at encouraging people - especially during his time as a Quidditch Co-Captain - and when he was studying with friends, but he wasn't exactly a nurturing person. At least, he didn't think so.

"Cooking sounds cool," Aaron said, grinning at the invitation. "It's a while away, but remind me next year and I'm definitely in." The part about bringing friends made him think that she wanted to make a party out of it, which he was perfectly fine with.

When she shared her favorite food was japchae, Aaron nodded. Japchae was good. "Guess that explains why it's one of the foods you brought," he said with a slight grin. He wrinkled his nose and made a face at the same time that Eun-ji brought up Dakbal. "It's an absolutely awful idea!" Aaron agreed, glad to know that she agreed on that much. His grandmother had tried to feed him and his siblings Dakbal during one of their trips to visit her in South Korea, but the shape of it was so off putting. How could you eat something shaped like feet? The fact that it actually is feet makes it worse. He shivered in disgust at the idea.

On the topic of games, Aaron got his luggage down and pulled out two packs of cards. One was a standard deck of playing cards, and the other was the deck of Uno cards he had mentioned. After putting his trunk back up above (easier this time than before), he returned to his spot across from Eun-ji. "Uno's super simple, or we could play other card games like War - I really like playing War - or Go Fish or something," he said, actually excited by the prospect. He liked being knowledgeable about something for once - he wasn't the best student at Hogwarts and since he no longer was part of Quidditch, he wasn't about to offer his expertise there either. But just being able to teach some card games was a nice feeling, especially with good company.

They spent the next couple hours playing card games. Aaron would explain the rules to any games she didn't know, and they switched up the game a couple times. It was actually a really fun time, and Aaron was laughing at times when he won at Eun-ji's expense, or throwing jokes around. The dreadful feeling after saying goodbye to his family and arguing with his father had disappeared.

Eventually lunchtime rolled around though, and Aaron wanted something more substantial than the snacks. It was time for an afternoon feast. It was around 1pm when they cleared away the cards and each brought out what they had for lunch, setting it all up on the table between them. "Kimchi jjigae, dakgangjeong, gimbap... oh! Mum made tteokbokki!" Aaron narrated as he set out the stuff his mum had cooked. He hadn't looked before this morning, so the tteokbokki was a pleasant surprise. "This all smells so good," he said, eyeing some of the dishes that the Ravenclaw girl had made, too.

@Eun-ji Lee Hunt

IC Date September 1st, 2021 (Blue in English, Red in Korean)

“Yeah…I’m guilty of learning my favourites first.” Eun-ji confirmed with a smile. She may have been quite mature for her age but she was still a kid. If she had to learn cooking, she had to learn the dishes she liked the most first. It didn’t mean she couldn’t cook anything else, she just had far less experience making them. It was nice to see Aaron being invested though. Her father usually couldn’t be bothered to help in the kitchen. He wasn’t lazy for sure but he’d rather do anything else but cook. “Perfect, should we survive this year I’ll keep that in mind. And perhaps I’ll know how to make naengmyeon by then.” She could try it. If Charles was coming over for summer again, Eun-ji could cook the dish without being worried it would be wasted. He seemed to enjoy her cooking.

Soon enough the snacks were pushed away in favour of playing card games. It was a fun way to spend time for sure. Aaron had to explain the rules to the witch but she was a fast learner and he was a great teacher. Still, having more experience in the area, he managed to outplay her most of the time. Thankfully, Eun-ji wasn’t a sore loser and was able to enjoy the process without winning every time. Mordred would occasionally jump in and try to snatch a card but it was mostly funny and he would always listen to her when she told him enough. Overall, it looked like both the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff got rid of some of the tension they boarded the train with. It allowed them to relax a bit and Eun-ji was truly grateful it was Aaron, who joined her compartment this time.

When it was time for lunch, both students searched through their baggage. The place was immediately filled with all kinds of delicious smells. Eun-ji already knew what was awaiting her but it seemed like Aaron wasn’t entirely sure. “Ooh…tteokbokki. I love those,” she commented with a smile. Honestly, anything with rice cakes was delicious to her but tteokbokki were the best for sure. Excited, the raven-haired girl set two dosirak lunch boxes with the promised dishes on the table and then pulled out some separate smaller plastic boxes with side dishes. There was kimchi of course, spicy cucumber salad, rolled egg with vegetable and some Korean pancakes with scallions. All in all, there was plenty food for both of them probably even if Aaron decided not to share. She could have left some of it at home for her parents but she had a feeling they wouldn’t discover it in time, which would be a waste. “Feel free to take anything you like. I wouldn’t be able to eat all of it myself anyway.” If the Hufflepuff did take anything, he would discover the dishes were truly well made. All of them were one of the first things she learned to cook and her grandma expected nothing but perfection. She wasn’t necessarily mean about it, she just wanted to make sure the family had the best food on the table after a day of hard work. Eun-ji would be disappointed at first when her food ended up in trash but eventually she understood and was all the more proud once the old woman finally placed her creation on the dining table. It was a day, she would remember forever.

"Me, too," Aaron said, agreeing that tteokbokki were delicious. "Especially since mum makes them spicy." Tteokbokki was one of his favorite rice cake based dishes, which is likely why his mother had made him some. Aaron's eyes traveled over the dishes that Eun-ji had brought out, lingering on the rolled egg which looked very appealing in that moment. At her invitation, Aaron nodded enthusiastically. "You, too! Help yourself to whatever!"

As they ate and chatted, Aaron complimented Eun-ji's cooking multiple times. Every time he tried a different dish that she had brought, it was awesome, and he was immensely happy to be eating some good food in good company. There's no way they could've eaten all of it - even Aaron's increased appetite lately was no match for it - but they came close!

"We'll probably end up snacking a bit before we reach Hogwarts anyway, maybe we'll finish it then," Aaron said as they set their leftovers aside. Then back to card games, and talking of looking forward to their new elective classes. It was a long train ride, but it seemed to fly by since they were having fun. It definitely wasn't as boring as he thought his train ride would be, considering so many people were already at Hogwarts from summer camp. Running into Eun-ji and sitting with her had been a stroke of good luck.

By the time they pulled into Hogsmeade Station, the two third years seemed to still be in good spirits. Aaron let Chae-rin out of her cage so she could fly over to the castle's owlery, then set his mind to getting off the scarlet steam engine. He and Eun-ji stuck together as they got off the train, and headed for the castle's carriages together as well. They would split up once they reached the Great Hall, separating to go to their respective house tables, but not before Aaron would express his thanks to her for a great time on the train.

@Eun-ji Lee Hunt

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