[To: Princess]

[From: Oh Sehun]

Hey. I'm going to be coming home a little later than usual. Chanyeol owes us bubble tea for losing a bet about his test results in history class. I'll be back before dinner though. See you then.

I stare at the text, lips quirking in amusement. By now, I was well-accustomed to the boys' habits of placing bets and dares on different things. 'I feel kinda sorry for Chanyeol...'

Shaking my head, I stride into the kitchen, rolling up my sleeves. Part of me was glad Sehun wasn't coming home early because it meant I had the house to myself. I'd been craving chocolate chip cookies for a while now and I hadn't baked anything in ages, so I decided to finally put this shiny new oven in the kitchen to use. Grabbing the flour, sugar and other ingredients I needed, I paused thoughtfully. Why just settle for cookies? Why not make something more? And so, with an excited grin, I grabbed my phone and wallet and ran to the nearest convenience store for the extra ingredients I needed. 

That is how I ended up placing not only cookies, but raspberry crumble pie into the oven, as well as blueberry cheesecake and caramel fudge in the fridge. I stood in the middle of the kitchen, hair slightly dishevelled and flour most likely smeared on my face. I placed my hands on my hips, a proud smile gracing my lips as the smell of baking goods aded the air. I scanned the cooking utensils piled in the sink and the flour and other things scattered on the countertop. Deciding cleaning could wait, I grabbed my favourite cookbook, a hand-written gift from our family's personal chef after several years of learning how to cook under his tuition. Flipping through the pages, I wondered what to make for dinner before a voice interrupted me.

"Woah, it looks like World War Patisser-three just exploded inside here."

***********************

After getting free bubble tea, courtesy of Chanyeol, Sehun and his friends decided to head to his shared apartment with Areum. It had been a while since all of them hung out together outside of school. 

Opening the door, the boys were immediately greeted with the deliciously sweet smell of something baking wafting through the air.

"Whatever that is, it smells ing good," Chanyeol mumbled, sniffing the air. Sehun was surprised. He had known that Areum was a fairly capable cook, but he didn't know that she baked as well. He followed the others towards the kitchen.

"Woah, it looks like World War Patisser-three just exploded inside here," Chanyeol exclaimed, only to slapped on the back of the head by Baekhyun for his terrible pun. (A/N - Yes, I did just make that pun and I do not regret it.)

Rolling his eyes at his friend's antics, Sehun looked at Areum, who was staring at them in surprise. She hadn't heard them coming in. "Oh, hey guys. I wasn't expecting you guys. I decided to do some baking."

He suppressed a smile at her messy hair and the flour smeared across her nose and forehead. He heard Kai mutter "Some." sarcastically under his breath, causing a grin to break through before pretending to look annoyed. 

"You don't expect me to clean all of this, do you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. She gave a guilty start and smiled at him sheepishly.

"What if I bribe you with cake?" She looked at him hopefully and he just sighed, rolling his eyes. He couldn't stop the small curve of his lips though. The oven began ringing. 

"Oh, cookies are done!" She exclaimed, grabbing the oven mitts. Glancing over to the boys who were just standing there and staring eagerly, she smiled. "Go sit down in the living room and pick a movie or something. I'll bring the cookies over once they're cooled enough."

"You're the best, Areum!" Baekhyun shouted before he and Chanyeol ran into the living room, eager to pick a movie. Kai just rolled his eyes and followed, not before sending Areum a grin which she returned. Jummyeon followed after Kyungsoo with a polite, "Thanks for doing this, Areum."

Now it was just Sehun and Areum alone in the kitchen. He watched curiously as she opened the oven. At once, the sweet smell of baking goods increased, filling the air. Sehun breathed in appreciatively as Areum carefully slid out a tray of perfectly baked, golden cookies and placed them onto a cooling rack. Removing the oven mitts and her tongue stuck out in concentration, she moved all the cookies around on the baking paper to make sure they didn't stick. Fanning them to make them cool faster, she noticed Sehun trying to sneak one. She slapped his hand away, giving him a disapproving look. 

"Wait for the others, you greedy pig," she admonished with a glare. He gave her a faint pout and her cheeks turned ever-so-slightly pink (although the girl told herself it was just from the heat of the oven). "Don't you dare use aegyo on me, Hunnie. It won't work on me."

Sehun glanced at her in surprise at her sudden nickname for him. She realised it too and became flustered. Wordlessly turning away from him in order to hide her embarrassment, she continued to watch the cookies. "They're too hot to be eaten now. Wait for a bit."

The blonde boy grinned at her flustered state before leaning on the kitchen counter. Areum glanced at him in surprise. "What are you still doing here? Aren't you going to wait in the living room where all your friends are?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. Mentally, he asked himself the same thing, yet his body stayed where it was. "I don't mind. I'll wait for you," was what he eventually settled with. She stared at him for a moment longer before shrugging. 

"Suit yourself. But I'm telling you, you don't get any of the cookies until the rest of the group gets some as well," She gave him a stern look and Sehun rolled his eyes and hid a grin at her serious glare.

'Is she really that worried that I'm going to steal cookies from her?'

Again, the timer on the oven started sounding, interrupting his thoughts.

"Pie is done," She grabbed the mitts again. This time, she slid out a golden looking crumble pie, the vibrant red raspberry appearing underneath. It smelt good. "Looks good!"

Areum was smiling so brightly and Sehun was staring at her in curiosity. He wondered how it was possible to look so happy over something so small. His gaze rested on the proud glint in her eyes, his own lips unconsciously curving as he gazed at her. For some reason, the sight was captivating. Her hair was messy and her cheeks were red from the heat of the oven. There was a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead from the stuffy kitchen and the flour was still smeared across her face, yet Sehun couldn't help thinking that she looked so undeniably...cute. Briefly, he wondered why his heart was beating ever-so-slightly faster than usual.

"Ah, Sehun, could you please move the cookies onto a large plate? I need the cooling rack." Areum's voice snapped him out of his daze. Automatically and unthinkingly, he grabbed a plate and the tray, his intent to slide the cookies onto the plate. Unfortunately, in his distracted state, he forgot the metal tray was still hot. 

"Ouch!" he hissed, retracting his hand out of reflex, accidentally dropping the plate onto the counter. He clutched his burnt hand, which was beginning to turn red.

"Sehun!" Areum exclaimed in worry, rushing over after dumping the pie on the stove. She grabbed his hand, inspecting it, concern on her face. "You idiot! I told you it was hot!"

"I forgot," he mumbled, wincing as his hand throbbed. He didn't want to mention he was distracted staring at her. She gave him a disapproving look before dragging him to sink where she made him hold his hand under cold water. 

"Run it under cold water for a while. I'll go fetch some bandages," She told him, worry still clear on her face. Sehun wondered why she was so concerned. It wasn't like his hand was going to fall off.

"It's fine. It's just a slight burn. Nothing major," he told her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "You don't need to be so worried, Princess." Immediately, the girl stepped back, cheeks reddening.

"W-who says I was worried?" she scoffed defensively. "Fine, I won't get the bandages. Happy?"

His lips quirked in amusement as she huffed indignantly, crossing her arms and ignoring him while she attended to the pie, occasionally shooting him looks and muttering under her breath.

Areum's mind was whirring. Why had she felt such a sudden spike of worry at the sight of Sehun injured? Such notion should have been absolutely ridiculous. If you'd asked her a month ago, she wouldn't have even flinched at the sight of Sehun hurt. In fact, she would have most likely laughed in glee. So what changed? Also, why did the pet name 'Princess' not seem to bother her as much anymore? 

"Everything alright? We heard a shout," Kai appeared at the entrance to the kitchen. He took in the sight of Sehun's amused and smug smirk and Areum, who looked flustered and slightly irritated. He noticed Sehun's hand under the tap. "What happened?"

"I was careless and accidentally touched the tray and burnt my hand," Sehun explained nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it."

Kai raised an eyebrow. He knew his friend was too attentive and smart to make such a simple mistake, so he wondered what had truly happened. He stared at the two in the kitchen for a moment longer before shrugging. 

"Whatever you say. Be careful next time, idiot," the tanned boy tossed over his shoulder as he walked back to the living room. Under his 'I-don't-give-a-' expression, Kai wondered what had happened prior to his arrival in the kitchen. 

***************************

Later, the group had decided to watch a movie while munching on the snacks that Areum made. Areum herself was still in the kitchen, making popcorn.

"So, which movie?" Baekhyun asked, scrolling through the large TV with the remote. "What genre? Action? Comedy? Romance?"

He gave a cheeky grin at the last option, clicking on one of the many movies listed on the screen. Immediately, he was hit with several pillows. 

"We are not watching the Titanic," Chanyeol scoffed, scrunching his nose i