“Ngahhh, I’m so tired…”

Baekhyun groaned as he entered the KTaste cooking studio the following week, resting his head on a nearby table, mochi cheeks hanging gently. Having the broadcast as a side job meant more work, he spent his entire weekend with mongryong on his lap, as he edited his cooking videos and did research for the following week. He also had to submit a list of ingredients and equipment he needed for the upcoming broadcast. 

It was a lot of work.

“Baek, hang in there! I’m looking forward to the broadcast tonight.”

Baekhyun pouted, fridays are his long workdays, he’ll have to report to KTaste at 8am, and head to CY Entertainment at 6pm, with the livestream lasting for about two hours till 10pm. But everyday, as Baekhyun hugs Chef Do’s cookbook, he tells himself to stay strong so that he can meet his idol.

“Chanyeol, can you help me pour in some curry powder?”

They were back in the kitchen after another week, with another recipe.

“Okay.” Chanyeol grabs the bottle of curry powder and opens the lid, and dumps half a bottle of curry powder into the pot of stew. Chanyeol didn’t think much of it, but Baekhyun’s gasp was enough to tell him that he did something wrong.

“What the-are you insane? This is a couple tablespoons! We only needed a little!”

“What difference is it going to make? Isn’t curry powder like one of those instant seasoning packets?” Chanyeol fought back, adding a little bit more curry powder into the pot. Baekhyun quickly stops him, putting the curry powder far far away from Chanyeol’s reach.

Baekhyun stared at the amount of curry powder in the stew, the little chef was lost and utterly speechless. One tablespoon and a couple tablespoons made a huge difference. Baekhyun throws Chanyeol a puppy glare, which quickly prompts Chanyeol to stand there, fumbling with his fingers and slowly walking out from the camera lens to avoid getting his ear pulled again. 

Baekhyun drags the idol back into the livestream, very visibly pulling him by the ear.

“Hey, running away from your responsibilities again! Wait till I feed you this curry, it’ll give you diarrhea with how much curry powder you put in!”

The idol whines, and the cameraman quickly zooms in on the idol’s face, scrunched up in pain.

For Chef Do. For Chef Do. Baekhyun closes his eyes for a quick moment, it seems like the idol is really incapable of cooking.

-

“Psst, Baek, what surprise are you going to plan for this week’s broadcast?”

“What’s happening during this week’s broadcast?”

“What the hell Baek! It’s Chanyeol’s birthday!”

“Was I supposed to remember it, or do I have to give him a present or something? That will burn a hole in my wallet! That man only knows how to wear branded stuff.” 

“Baekhyun, here’s a tip: don’t say that during the livestream, Chanyeol’s fans will attack you so hard that you won’t even be able to find a job in the countryside. And the broadcast is going to be on the actual date of his birthday, it would be better to not embarrass yourself.” Junmyeon patted Baekhyun on the shoulder, while Baekhyun decided to continue feigning ignorance, but secretly, he was searching up every website he could on what Chanyeol would like. It was only five days away! 

“Please, Please, come on!”

Baekhyun groaned, skipping through an endless amount of Chanyeol’s interviews, hoping that one of the interviewers would eventually ask Chanyeol about his interests. Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he listened to Chanyeol say for the umpteenth time about his passion for music, the man’s got no other interests. 

“Recently I watched the movie Zootopia, I really really loved it…”

“Oh!”

Baekhyun pulled his chair closer to his laptop, adjusting his reading glasses on the tip of his nose.

“That main character, I think it’s Nick Wilde? He’s a very interesting character…”

Baekhyun smiled, he was a step closer to finding a meaningful present for the idol.

-

Baekhyun cracked a few eggs in a bowl and proceeded to pour in a cup of sugar, requesting for the cameraman to zoom in as he stirred the hot mixture.

“Okay everyone, this step requires a lot of care and attention. Chanyeol, come here and mix the custard.” Baekhyun passes the spatula to Chanyeol, who is doing his very best to mix the custard patiently, the yellowish liquid now becoming a nice and fluffy pale yellow.

Baekhyun used this distraction to quickly bring in the cake that the staff prepared for Chanyeol’s surprise, even lighting the candles quickly and discreetly.

“Hey Baekhyun, am I doing this right?”

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.”

Baekhyun lifted the cake up to a surprised Chanyeol, while the staff continued singing the birthday song and the fans rapidly commented and liked to congratulate the idol on his special day. Chanyeol grabs the cake from Baekhyun with a smile, blowing out the candles and not forgetting to make a wish before doing so.

“Annnd, here’s my present to you,” Baekhyun pulls out a medium sized box, terribly wrapped with a big bow on top of it as its saving grace. All the fans were trying to guess what Baekhyun got for Chanyeol.

@obsessedcy: omg, did Baekhyun give Chanyeol a rock? Kkk what the hell is that?

@pcyeol123: pls be a toy

@cycy839: Baekhyun is too sweet! Giving our Chanyeol the best birthday ever TT

@chanyeolslittleman: the chanbaek ship is sailing!!!

Baekhyun blushed as he read the comments, while some of them were really sweet, many of them were highly inappropriate as well which made him question his wrapping skills. How did his gift look like a...whip? Or a...big fat-what? Baekhyun squinted his eyes, and he instantly regretted it.

“Oh my god! It’s a Zootopia Puzzle Piece!”

Baekhyun was so distracted by the comments that he completely forgot that Chanyeol was ripping away the wrapping paper into shreds, to reveal the puzzle piece set he spent a lot of money on. 

“How did you know that I like Zootopia, Baek?” Chanyeol wondered, inspecting the box. It was a puzzle piece set of Nick Wilde, his favourite character too.

“I-I’m, I just know, okay?” Baekhyun stuttered, placing his hands on his hips. 

“Just admit that you like me, Byun. How else would you know that?” Chanyeol teased, but his retort was quickly shut down as Baekhyun scrunched up his nose to take a sniff of the air.

A burning smell.

Baekhyun’s eyes immediately zoomed in on the pan that Chanyeol left on the open fire. The spatula had been tossed to one side, Chanyeol didn’t even remember to turn off the heat.

“PARK! YOU BURNT THE GODDAMN CUSTARD!”

Everybody flinched, the little chef can be a little angry sometimes.

[Trending] Park Chanyeol’s burnt custard puffs, is this really a cooking broadcast?

Once the broadcast had ended, Chanyeol thanked all the staff again and looked back at the sulking chef, staring at the sad bowl of burnt custard. 

Ah, so cute. But Chanyeol also felt a little bad.

Chanyeol secretly sneaks up to the little chef and proceeds to untie his apron for him, but the little chef flinches, taken by surprise by the sudden movements from behind.

“W-What are you doing, you custard murderer!” Baekhyun scolds, but it falls on deaf ears, Chanyeol isn’t listening at all.

Chanyeol only reaches out a hand,

“Come, I’ll treat you to what you’ve been waiting for.”