Jayjay'sPOV
"I'm so bored of these board games," Honey sighed, dramatically collapsing onto the floor.
"Do you have anything to eat in the kitchen?" I asked, turning to Keifer. He flashed me a teasing smile.
"Obviously. That's what a kitchen is for, Jayjay," he said smoothly.
The entire room burst into laughter at his dry humor.
"Hahaha, so funny," I said, rolling my eyes sarcastically, which made everyone quickly clear their throats and look away. "I mean, do you have anything that'll be easy and quick to make?"
Keifer nodded. I immediately grabbed Rakki's hand and dragged her off the couch to accompany me. By the time we actually reached the kitchen, I realized we had formed a literal human train. I was holding Rakki, Rakki was holding Ella, Ella was holding Freya, Freya was holding Grace, Grace was holding Honey, and Honey was holding Mica. We all paused, looked back at our locked hands, and burst out laughing at how ridiculous we looked.
Once we broke apart, we began raiding his massive kitchen. Tucked away in a cabinet, I found some instant noodles. There was only one slight problem—they were labeled Extra Spicy.
"Whatever, I can handle the heat, and my girls definitely can too," I muttered to myself.
I grabbed the packets and dumped the noodles into a large pot of water on the stove. While waiting for it to boil, I hopped onto the kitchen counter and started scrolling through my phone. A few minutes later, I remembered that I hadn't added the hot sauce and the seasoning packets yet. Still entirely glued to my phone screen, I walked over to the stove and blindly started tearing open packets and throwing them in.
I don't know why, but the pile of packets just didn't seem to be decreasing. I kept ripping and pouring without really paying attention. When I finally locked my phone and actually looked down into the pot, my jaw dropped. We had somehow made a mountain of noodles—enough to feed a small army.
"Umm... girls?" I called out weakly.
"Hmm?" they all answered in unison, turning around.
"Am I hallucinating, or is that a terrifying amount of noodles?" I asked, pointing a trembling finger at the stove.
They all crowded around the pot, their eyes widening.
"Shiiiii—" Ella cut herself off just before a curse word could escape her mouth.
"Oh no," Honey whispered in horror.
Rakki leaned her elbow on Freya's shoulder, a look of sudden realization on her face. "I know exactly what happened here."
"What?" Mica asked, totally confused.
"Umm, Freya, why don't you tell them?" Rakki smirked, gesturing toward the stovetop.
"What is it?!" Grace asked, completely losing her patience.
Freya sighed, crossing her arms. "How many packets of noodles did you guys actually put in here?"
"I put three," I admitted.
"I put three too," Mica chimed in. Then she scratched her head, looking guilty. "Wait... actually, I think I added another one later."
"I added one," Honey said.
"I threw in one," Ella whispered.
"Me too, just one," Grace added.
"And I put two," Freya concluded.
We all stood there in a stunned, silent circle as the math finally clicked in our heads. We had collectively dumped a whopping fourteen packets of extra-spicy noodles into a single pot.
"What the..." Honey muttered, staring at the fiery red noodles.
"Guys, I have a plan," Ella suddenly whispered, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
We all leaned in closely to hear her out. The second she finished explaining her brilliant cover-up, we all vigorously nodded in agreement. We quickly set to work, scooping the noodles into fourteen separate bowls and laying out fourteen pairs of chopsticks and spoons. To prepare for the absolute disaster we were about to cause, we also poured fourteen glasses of ice-cold milk and fourteen glasses of water.
Marching back into the living room, we forcefully pushed our men onto the sofas and chairs, clearing a wide space flat on the floor. Once the area was completely clear, we went back to the kitchen and carried everything out in a single, grand procession.
The boys' eyes went completely wide as they stared at the array of bowls filled to the brim with blood-red, steaming, dangerously spicy noodles.
"Okay, so we're officially doing a challenge," Rakki announced proudly.
The guys looked completely bewildered, instantly shouting over one another.
"Huh?!"
"What kind of challenge?"
"Since when do we do challenges?"
"Hey, I never agreed to this!"
"Why on earth are there so many noodles?"
"They literally look like pure blood, what is wrong with you guys?"
"What are you girls secretly planning?"
"First of all, listen!" I yelled over the noise. They all immediately shut up. I cleared my throat, putting on my best host voice. "We are doing a spicy noodle challenge. The rules are simple: you have to finish your entire bowl without drinking a single drop of water or milk. It's going to be boys versus girls."
A collective groan echoed through the living room.
"Are you guys playing or what?" Freya asked, her voice dropping into a low, threatening glare.
Terrified of her wrath, every single boy nodded his head frantically—except for Keifer, who just sat there with an amused smirk. I turned my head toward him and gave him my absolute best, wide-eyed, innocent puppy look.
Keifer stared at me for a split second before he immediately caved, nodding his head in surrender. I flashed him a triumphant smile and turned back to the group to finish explaining, though Honey beat me to it.
"The pairs will face off directly," Honey explained. "So it's Freya and David, Calix and Mica, Grace and Denzel, Yuri and Rakki, me and Percy, Ella and Aries, and finally, Jayjay and Keifer."
"Basically, girlfriend and boyfriend pairings," Mica summarized with a giggle.
Keifer leaned back, a proud glint in his dark eyes as he smoothly corrected her. "Actually, Jayjay and I are fiancés."
The entire squad burst out into loud chuckles and teasing oohs.
"Fine, fine, whatever!" the girls laughed, and in pure excitement, I loudly clapped my hands together. It was time for the war to begin.
First up was Grazel's turn—which is Grace and Denzel's official ship name, hehe.
As the challenge started and they both dug into their bowls, everything seemed completely normal at first. But by the fifth bite, Denzel's tough expression completely crumbled. Beads of sweat started pouring down his face, and he was repeatedly wiping his nose with a tissue, his eyes turning watery. Meanwhile, Grace was sitting right across from him, eating perfectly normally like it was just regular pasta.
After struggling through eight more agonizing bites, Denzel finally reached his absolute limit. He threw his chopsticks down, gave up, and aggressively grabbed his glass of milk, chugging it down to save his burning tongue.
The girls all erupted into wild cheers as Grace calmly finished her very last strand of noodles, with only three tiny drops of sweat visible on her forehead. She flashed us a victorious smile, and we cheered even louder while the boys collectively groaned at their first embarrassing defeat.
"Hahaha! Alright, so who's next?" Mica asked through her laughter, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Me and Freya!" David announced, confidently raising his hand.
We all nodded in agreement as the two of them sat down flat on the floor across from each other. Freya casually rolled her sleeves up with a determined look, while David just smirked, trying to look tough.
I leaned closer to Keifer, lowering my voice. "Freya has the absolute highest spice tolerance out of all of us, so I am 100% sure she's going to completely destroy him."
Keifer looked down at me, a knowing glint in his eyes. "From what I know about David, he'll try to act like the food isn't spicy at all, but his entire face will turn bright red."
I nodded, turning my attention back to the battlefield. The second the challenge started, David took just two bites before his entire face flushed a deep crimson. Honestly, if it were physically possible, I think actual smoke would have started billowing out of his ears. By the time he forced down his fifth bite, he completely snapped, slamming his chopsticks onto the floor.
"I CAN'T DO THIS!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, dramatically collapsing flat onto the floor.
The entire room erupted into roaring laughter at the state of him. Even Freya was giggling dynamically while effortlessly chewing her noodles. Calix quickly tried to hand David a glass of water, but David desperately bypassed it and grabbed the milk instead, chugging it like his life depended on it. While he was drowning his regrets in milk, Freya finished her entire bowl with just a light glint of sweat along her jawline. 2-0 for the girls!
"Me! Me! Choose me next, I can totally handle spice!" Percy bragged, stepping up to the plate.
Honey just looked at him and smirked.
"Don't start crying after the very first bite," I warned him mockingly.
Percy rolled his eyes dramatically. "Please, watch and learn."
They both sat down, but Honey started vacuuming her noodles before Percy could even properly grip his chopsticks. After eating just a tiny portion, Percy started coughing violently. He tried to push through it and took another bite, but the heat was too much—he instantly folded and reached for the milk. With his eyes completely full of unshed tears, he looked so ridiculous that we all doubled over laughing.
"Total crybaby," Honey teased, casually wiping her lips as she finished the last of her bowl.
Next up were Mica and Calix. Mica was sweating a bit, but she completely refused to back down and kept eating. Calix, on the other hand, took literally one single bite before throwing his hands up in absolute defeat.
Ella stared at him in disbelief. "Wait, that's it? You're already done?" Calix didn't even bother answering, too busy fanning his burning tongue.
Then came Ella and Aries. Ella ate peacefully, totally unfazed, while from the corner of my eye, I watched Aries's eyes turn as bright red as a ripe apple. After just a few more agonizing bites, Aries quit. However, Ella ended up drinking her milk before completely finishing her noodles too. Since neither of them cleared their bowl, it was officially a tie!
Finally, it was the main event: me versus Keifer.
I quickly pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail so it wouldn't get in my way while eating. Keifer smoothly rolled up his sleeves and locked eyes with me, giving me a silent 'good luck' look. I grinned, holding up double thumbs-up in response, which made him let out a soft chuckle.
We both dove in. I took my first big bite, but the spice didn't affect me at all. I kept eating at the exact same steady pace as him. We were perfectly matched—neither of us broke a single drop of sweat. His ears gradually turned a slight shade of red, and I could feel a sudden heat burning in my own cheeks, but neither of us stopped.
Between bites, we would take brief tactical pauses just to stop chewing and swallow. I was constantly swallowing my saliva to combat the fire, though I had no idea what secret strategy he was using. We took so many mini-breaks that the rest of the squad eventually lost interest and went back to sit on the couches, completely leaving the two of us alone in our own little world on the floor.
Suddenly, Keifer reached down and discreetly pushed a tiny cup of milk toward me. I locked eyes with him, confused. He gave me a subtle nod, encouraging me to take it.
I shook my head, silently refusing, but a soft, gentle smile spread across his face. I looked from him to the tiny cup, and then glanced over at the rest of the squad. Everyone was completely distracted by their own loud conversations. Plus, I knew Keifer wasn't a snitch.
Leaning forward to block the view, I took one quick, tiny sip of the milk to cool my throat, and then quickly slid the cup back to his side, signaling for him to drink too. Without wasting a single second, he smoothly took a sip himself.
We both immediately went right back to tackling our noodles. Honestly, that single tiny sip barely did anything to stop the intense spice, but a warmth blossomed in my chest anyway—because I knew he simply couldn't bear to sit there and watch me suffer.
With a final, synchronized lift of our chopsticks, we both finished our bowls at the exact same second.
"It's a tie!" I announced proudly, leaning back with a triumphant grin.
"Really?" Honey asked, raising an eyebrow at us skeptically.
"Yeah, yeah! Why on earth would I lie?" I asked defensively.
They all huddled around, peering suspiciously at us and then down at our empty bowls.
"Yeah, it's a total tie. Wait... it shouldn't be a tie?" Keifer asked smoothly, leaning back. Everyone simultaneously shook their heads in disagreement.
"Okay, up next are Yuri and Rakki!" Ella announced loudly.
The two of them stepped up to the cleared space, sat flat on the floor, and immediately dug into the fiery noodles. Honestly, staring at the bowls, the noodles looked exactly like Yuri's hair. I mean, they were literally the exact same shade of vibrant red. It was uncanny.
Rakki was aggressively vacuuming her noodles nonstop, while Yuri was taking his sweet time, chewing slowly to survive the heat. Finally, they both had only two bites left in their bowls, and they collectively chose to take a tactical break to breathe.
"You've completely got this, bro!" Calix cheered, pointing at Yuri. Yuri nodded weakly, sweat dripping down his neck.
"Are you seriously about to give up?" I called out to my bestie.
The second the words left my mouth, Rakki aggressively gripped her chopsticks. "Hell nah!" she declared. With pure determination, she shoveled the remaining noodles into her mouth and swallowed them instantly. Yuri didn't end up drinking any milk, but since she finished first, he still officially lost the round.
"Let's count the score: Grace won, Freya won, Honey won, Mica won, mine was tied, Jayjay tied, and now Rakki won! Hahahaha, you guys completely lost!" Ella shouted, laughing hysterically.
The girls all erupted into loud cheers and laughter. The boys just stood there in a miserable line, aggressively rolling their eyes at our massive victory. Keep rolling them, boys, I honestly hope your eyeballs fall straight out of your heads.
"Alright, enough celebrating. Now please do something about this violently burning tongue of mine!" Yuri whined, fanning his open mouth.
We all laughed at his misery. Keifer pushed himself up from the floor and headed toward the kitchen, grabbing my wrist and dragging me right along with him.
"Hey, why did you drag me along with you?" I asked the second we crossed the kitchen threshold.
"To stop my tongue from burning," he replied smoothly, walking over to the massive refrigerator. He opened it, looking around for something. "By the way, why didn't you just drink that whole cup of milk earlier? It was so small, you easily could have downed the entire thing in one single sip."
I crossed my arms, leaning against the counter. "You should be incredibly thankful that I even drank that little amount, Mr. London Champion."
Keifer turned around, a soft smirk on his face as he walked back over to me and handed me a pile of chocolate bars. "I am thankful. Now come on, let's go back out."
We turned and started walking back toward the living room. Along the way, Keifer leaned down and brought up my clumsiness from our past date, teasing me in a low voice. My face flushed, and out of pure reflex, I aggressively jabbed my elbow straight into his stomach to shut him up.
It was supposed to be a secret attack, but of course, the entire squad was looking right at us and saw the whole thing play out.
Before anyone could even open their mouths to start teasing or questioning us, I quickly stepped forward and started aggressively throwing the chocolate bars into their laps.
"Treat your burning tongues first!" I ordered loudly, my cheeks burning.
They all just looked at the chocolates, looked back at my red face, and shook their heads in pure amusement, knowing exactly what I was doing to distract them.
The End 🌸.