Called Waste Material, I Still Cooked

Feiran was tasting soup for lies when his own company called him waste material. He had spent years writing sharp food reviews and studying the moment between waking and sleep, where his private research uncovered a method of power through forgetting. That trick kept him looking weak while making him dangerously precise. It also made every fake smile taste rotten. Then the people around him started using dinners, office meetings, and old promises as traps. The one man who keeps sitting across from him at meal after meal is the only person who makes Feiran doubt what his tongue tells him.