A Hyoyeon Special


Ginger Goguma Cheesecake

Serves: 2

Total time: 4h 25min

•1 1/2 ounces sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1~ pieces
•2 tablespoons dried apricots, chopped
•1 3/4 gingersnap cookies
•1 1/3 tablespoons cereal
•3/4 teaspoon sun salted butter, melted
•1 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened
•1 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened
•2 tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt
•1/3 egg whites
•1 1/3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
•1/3 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
•1/3 teaspoons whole wheat flour
•1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
•1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
•1/4 teaspoons salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9" springform pan with cooking spray.

2. Combine the potatoes in a large saucepan over high heat with enough cold water to cover by 2". Bring to a boil; cook until the potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and mash; cool. Meanwhile, bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Remove from the heat, add the apricots and let stand for 10 minutes; drain.

3. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cookies and cereal; process until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl and add the butter; mix well. Firmly press the mixture into the bottom and 1" up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, place the mashed sweet potatoes, cream cheese, and Neufchatel cheese and beat on high speed until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the yogurt, egg whites, sugar, ginger, flour, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract, and salt and beat well. Sprinkle the apricots over the bottom of the prepared crust. Pour the potato mixture over the apricots. Bake until the cheesecake is almost set, about 42 to 45 minutes. Turn the oven off and let stand for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

~~~~~

The long-haired blonde held her breath as she removed the cheesecake from the oven. This was her eighth try, no… her tenth try? Or was it her twelfth try…? Well, whatever try it was, she was sure that she had never failed that many times at baking anything before. She wasn’t bad at baking although she wasn’t exceptionally good at it either. Then again, she didn’t exactly consider her previous tries absolute failures. They turned out fairly well but were nowhere near her exalted expectations. She had always been impressive with her goguma dishes and this cheesecake had to be better than, if not, as good as her previous dishes. It was make or break with this cheesecake. She was going to confess the truth with this cheesecake. And until she perfected the cheesecake, she wasn’t going to do anything else. No, she wasn’t.

~~~~~

Hyun was sad. There was no other word for it. He was just plain sad. He wore a constant pout and his downcast eyes told people around him that he was not his usual self. He wasn’t the only one who noticed that she had stopped coming to his office with gogumas, however. The other people working in his office noticed it too. Or rather, they missed it. They missed getting a whiff of that awesome fragrance that would grace their office moments before the appearance of the girl who brought them. They missed seeing the girl’s sunny smile and bright, cheeky eyes. They missed hearing her cute voice. They missed having little short chats with her as she made her way in and out of the office—she hardly ever failed to make them laugh with her unique and natural sense of humour. She was a bright spark, a positive body of energy that had the innate ability to lighten up the atmosphere wherever she went.

Did they have a quarrel? Did she find someone else to bring gogumas to? Did she get abducted and imprisoned by aliens? The people in the office had no idea why she stopped appearing but they didn’t exactly dare to ask Hyun when he walked around all day with a little black gloomy cloud hanging over his head.

It was just as well that they didn’t ask Hyun because he was none the wiser.

~~~~~

Hyoyeon was extremely quiet after they got off the stage at the Expo and before Hyun could even say anything to her, she had uttered an intelligible goodbye and disappeared. She stopped contacting him after the Goguma Expo outing which he considered to be a date but wasn’t sure if she thought the same. And now, he couldn’t for his dear life, figure out why she stopped coming to his office. There were no phone calls or messages from her either. Basically, it was as though none of it had ever happened.

Today would be the seventh day that Hyoyeon was missing from his life.

Seven whole days.

A whole week.

A quarter of a month.

Approximately 0.02% of a year.

Yes. Hyun had no problems coming up with more fanciful statistics related to the number of days that Hyoyeon had not contacted him for but he couldn’t come up with any reason to explain her absence.

Unless…

No…

No… it couldn’t be…

Could he have done something that made her hate him? Could he have made her angry by kissing her at the Goguma Expo? What if she hadn’t wanted to be kissed by him? But he could have sworn that her eyes were closed when he kissed her. Wasn’t that a sign of acceptance? Or enjoyment even?

He couldn’t figure it out at all. He didn’t like being clueless. Hyun the mathematical genius did not like being in the dark. He liked to know the answer so on the seventh day of being clueless… he decided to get his answer… somehow.

~~~~~

It’s twinkle, twinkle up in the sky… like O…S…CAR…

Hyoyeon couldn’t resist dancing to the tune before answering the call. She absolutely loved that song. She liked the song so much that she even called in several times to request that the song be played on air one night and much to her delight, the DJ had granted her request, opting to play OSCAR over Vitamin which was a request from another listener.

SOONKYU

The name of her best friend flashed on the screen but she was in no hurry to answer it until she had danced enough.

“Yeboseyo…”

“Hyoyeonie…”

Hyoyeon didn’t have to see her friend to know that she was in need of a friend for the tone of her voice was nowhere as chirpy as it usually was.

“What’s wrong, Sunny?”

Hyoyeon was sure that she heard Sunny sniffing on the other end.

“Sunny! What’s wrong?”

“I don’t feel like sleeping by myself tonight. Can I go over to your place and hang out with you?”

“Sunny… what kind of a question is that? Of course you can!”

“Okay, I’ll be over in a few. See you soon…”

Hyoyeon stared at her phone for a little while after the call ended. She was worried about Sunny but there was nothing she could do until Sunny arrived so she returned to the kitchen to continue her baking. She was quite certain that she would be able to perfect it after a couple more tries. The latest batch of cheesecake was getting close to her expectation and it made her even more determined to perfect it.

Just as she took the cheesecake out from the chiller to have a taste of it, the doorbell rang.

That’s odd. Was Sunny nearby when she called? She’s really quick to get here.

She set the cheesecake on the countertop and hurried to open the door.

“You are so fas—you’re not Sunny.”

“No, I’m not.”

“How did you know where I live?”

“I called up your dance school. One of your co-workers seemed quite happy to give me your address.”

“WHAT?”

“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?”

“Er… no… no you didn’t. I’m just shocked, that’s all. I didn’t expect to see you at my door.”

“Well, may I?” Hyun pointed into her apartment hesitantly.

“Oh… s-sure…” Hyoyeon stepped aside to let him in. She was about to shut the door when a sudden thought struck her. Oh no! He’s going to see the cheesecake!!!

“Hyun… why don’t we go somewhere else and have a coffee or something…?” Hyoyeon spun around and suggested quickly, attempting to stop Hyun from spotting the cheesecake that was on the countertop.

It was too late.

“I smell goguma!” Hyun exclaimed as he walked further into her apartment. “Are you making goguma?”

“No, no I’m not. I was eating it just now but it’s all gone now.”

“Oh…” Hyun pouted sadly and plonked himself on her couch.

Hyoyeon prayed fervently in her heart that he wouldn’t venture into the kitchen and discover the cheesecake. Please… don’t let him find out! It’s not good enough yet!!!

“Hyoyeon… can I ask you something?” Hyun asked a little reticently.

“Uh… sure… what is it about?” Hyoyeon couldn’t wait to get him out of her apartment but she held her tongue and forced herself to remain calm.

“Did I do anything wrong?”

“Huh? What? Where is this coming from?”

“It’s just that…”

“Yes…?”

“You haven’t been coming to visit me… and you haven’t been messaging me ever since you ran off from the Goguma Expo.”

The mere mention of the Expo brought a flood of memories rushing back to Hyoyeon. The feeling of Hyun’s lips on hers was as vivid as life itself and she couldn’t stop her cheeks from flushing pink.

“Well, that’s because I’ve been busy.”

“Busy? With?”

“Work.”

Hyun frowned. “You’re lying to me. Just tell me the truth… do you hate me for kissing you at the Expo?”

Hyoyeon’s jaw dropped. Huh? What? Why? Where did he get that idea from? And how did he know that I am lying?

“I-I’m not l-lying to you… I’m really b-busy…”

“You’re not busy with work. Your co-worker told me that you’ve been going home right after your classes.”

“Teaching at the dance school isn’t my only job and how did you know which dance school I’m working at? I don’t remember telling you about it.”

Hyun pointed at the duffel bag that had been thrown carelessly on the floor beside her couch. “You always carry that bag and it says ‘SM Dance Academy’ on it so I assumed that you work there.”

Hyoyeon felt like slapping her forehead for looking so stupid in front of Hyun but the thought of looking stupid in front of a genius wasn’t as bad as looking stupid in front of an idiot so she didn’t.

“But that’s not the point, what other jobs do you do?”

“I am a backup dancer for artistes and I’ve been busy preparing for a concert tour with one of my company’s groups,” Hyoyeon lied through her teeth. Sure, she was indeed a backup dancer for pop groups but the rehearsals were not as packed as she made them out to be.

“Oh…” Hyun looked a little happier at her explanation. “So… you don’t hate me then?”

“No!”

“And you are not angry with me for kissing you at the Expo?”

“No!”

“So do you like me?”

“No!”

“You don’t like me?” Hyun looked sad all over again.

Hyoyeon was on the verge of pulling her hair out for answering too quickly. “No, I didn’t mean that… I like you… I really do.”

“Do you like me… like me?”

Hyoyeon felt a lump forming in . Uh… is he asking me if I like him as a friend or… more?

“What do you mean, Hyun?”

Hyun’s eyes grew big and round as he tried to articulate the meaning of his question. “I meant… do you like me… you know… like me…”

Hyoyeon’s throat and lips went dry in that instant. OH MY GAWD! He’s forcing me to confess my feelings for him! I’m not ready for that yet! I’m not ready! HELP!!!

“Uh…” Hyoyeon stalled, trying to buy more time to think of an appropriate answer to avoid a direct confession.

“Well…?”

“Uh…” Hyoyeon gulped hard. She hoped she wasn’t sweating visibly because it felt as though sweat was rolling down her temples in torrents.

And just as she was about to hyperventilate, Hyun stood up suddenly.

“I am very sure that there is gogumas in this place.” He turned and saw the cheesecake sitting on the counter. “You lied to me. Why do you keep lying to me?”

Hyoyeon stood up, her lips nervously, at a complete loss for words.

“Is that ginger goguma cheesecake?” Hyun asked excitedly, forgetting all about the conversation that they were in the middle of at the sight of the mouth-watering ginger goguma cheesecake that was begging him to eat it.

Hyoyeon dashed to the cheesecake and tried to remove it from sight. “No! It’s not! It’s just a normal cheesecake!”

Hyun grabbed hold of the tray of cheesecake and tugged at it. “I’m sure it’s ginger goguma cheesecake! You’re a serial liar!”

“No it’s not!!!” Hyoyeon tugged as hard as she could.

“Yes it is!!!” Hyun tensed his muscles and tugged with all his might.

“NO!”

“YES!”

“NOOO!”

“YESSS!”

“NOOO!!!”

“YESSS!!!”

“Hyoyeonie?”

A cute voice that did not belong to either of them drifted into the kitchen suddenly and startled Hyoyeon who lost her grip on the tray just as Hyun tugged with all the strength he could muster. The entire tray of cheesecake ended up on his face and he stumbled backwards from the force of his own tug that unexpectedly found no resistance.

“OMO!!!” Hyoyeon shrieked in horror as her newest visitor rounded the corner just in time to see a man landing on his with a thunderous thud and cheesecake splattering all over his upper body.

~~~~~

Sunny couldn’t stop laughing.

Hyoyeon couldn’t stop apologizing.

Hyun couldn’t stop stuffing his face with the rest of the ginger goguma cheesecake that had miraculously clung onto the tray.

“Can someone please explain what in the world just happened?” Sunny shook with laughter as she watched Hyun gobble up the cheesecake while Hyoyeon fussed over him with a slew of napkins.

“Hyoyeon is a liar,” declared Hyun as he stuffed the last bit of cheesecake into his mouth and chewed rapidly.

“I know,” replied Sunny matter-of-factly. “Hyoyeon is known to lie quite often, whether be it for a prank or to cheat in a game. I’m used to it, but that doesn’t explain this.” Sunny circled her index finger around Hyun and the cheesecake.

“YA! Sunny! Whose side are you on!” Hyoyeon shouted grumpily as she continued to wipe the bits of cheesecake off Hyun’s hair, face, shoulders… chest… she froze, all of a sudden when she realized just how close she was to Hyun… and the amount of contact she had with him… and the area that she was touching… “Ya! Wipe yourself clean!” She stuffed the stack of napkins into his free hand and walked back to the kitchen, ignoring Sunny’s inquisitive look.

Sunny left Hyun by himself to clean up and entered the kitchen where Hyoyeon was now busying herself with cleaning up the mess on the floor.

“Don’t even think about lying to me. ‘Fess up now. Something is going on between you and Hyun.”

“I—” Hyoyeon was about to answer Sunny but she bit her tongue when Hyun entered the kitchen as well.

“The ginger goguma cheesecake is so good!” Hyun smacked his lips and gave Hyoyeon two thumbs up.

The blonde smiled shyly at the compliment, feeling elated because he liked the cheesecake she made and that was when Sunny leaned towards her and whispered. “I know you like him. Tell him tonight.”

“It was nice meeting you again, Hyun, I’ll be going now.” Sunny turned to leave.

“But you only just got here…”

“Aren’t you going to sleep over tonight?”

Hyun and Hyoyeon spoke at the same time which got them looking at each other shyly.

Sunny smiled and said, “I’m going to head somewhere else. Don’t worry about me. I’ll leave the two of you here to sort things out among yourselves. Hyun, I think Hyoyeon has something to say to you.”

Hyun blinked while Hyoyeon tried to suppress the urge to strangle Sunny there and then. She decided that she’d be better off without Sunny around to pressure her into confessing but she was still worried about her friend.

“Sunny, are you really alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry, I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.” Sunny winked at Hyoyeon and made her way out of the apartment before Hyoyeon could stop her, leaving behind a flustered Hyoyeon and clueless Hyun.

~~~~~

“You’d better change out of your clothes. They are way too dirty to be worn now. I’ll wash them for you,” said Hyoyeon, after a long awkward pause.

“I don’t have any clothes to change into.”

“I have some t-shirts that you can borrow. I’ll look for one now.” Hyoyeon scurried out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. She emerged from her room holding a large t-shirt, way too big to belong to a girl.

“Is that a men’s t-shirt?” Hyun asked curiously as she handed him the t-shirt.

“Yes. It should fit you well enough. You are about the same size as he is,” Hyoyeon mumbled.

He? Who is he? She has a ‘he’ in her life?

A slew of questions ravaged him mind and sank his heart.

Is that why she hasn’t contacted me for the past week? She has a boyfriend already?

The words were out of his mouth before he knew it. “I don’t want to wear your boyfriend’s t-shirt. Thank you but no thank you.”

Hyun stuffed the t-shirt into a rapidly blinking Hyoyeon’s hand and turned around to leave. There was an unpleasant sensation rising up fast and furiously in his chest and he needed to get out of Hyoyeon’s apartment to the safety of his own to figure out what it was.

“I’ll just get going now. I’m sorry to have caused you trouble.”

Hyun paused and turned to look at Hyoyeon whose eyes were big, round and confused.

“I’m really sorry. I hereby cancel your debt. You don’t owe me goguma treats anymore. Thank you for all the goguma treats that you’ve given me. I really love the gogumas you treated me to.”

Hyun then continued to walk briskly towards the door of Hyoyeon’s apartment only to freeze at her command.

“STOP! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT BOYFRIEND? WHAT DEBT?”

Hyoyeon appeared in front of Hyun’s eyes, panting slightly from the effort from dashing and yelling at the same time.

Hyun pointed at the t-shirt that Hyoyeon clutched in her hand. “That’s your boyfriend’s t-shirt, isn’t it? And your debt of the remaining eighty goguma treats is cancelled. Do you understand me now?”

Hyoyeon shook her head violently. “No, I don’t understand. This is not my boyfriend’s t-shirt. I don’t even have a boyfriend to begin with. And since when did I agree to be in debt? I’m not in debt. I’m giving you the goguma treats because I want to, not because I owe it to you. Do you really think that I’d care about giving you treats if I weren’t willing to?”

Hyun breathed slowly, trying to comprehend the messy jumble of words that spilled out of Hyoyeon’s mouth.

“You don’t have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

“But you have a men’s t-shirt in your room…”

“It belongs to my brother. He stays over sometimes.”

“Oh, I see…”

Hyun paused and breathed evenly.

“So you don’t have a boyfriend…”

Hyoyeon shook her head silently as Hyun began to smile a little. Then he suddenly remembered the question that he was asking her before all the hullabaloo began.

“So… do you like me?”

“W-Why are we back to this question?”

“You haven’t answered me.”

“Why don’t you tell me if you like me first?”

Hyun frowned. He didn’t understand why Hyoyeon was saying that. He thought that kissing her and holding her hand at the Expo would have made it clear that he had feelings for her. Why else would he do such things? He was not a player like his hyungs. He didn’t go around kissing random girls that he had no feelings for.

“Don’t you already know the answer to that?”

“How would I know? You’ve never told me.”

“But I kissed you at the Expo!”

“Yes I kn—WHAT? Wait… did you just confess… that you like me?” Hyoyeon smiled shyly.

“I—” Hyun was at a loss for words. He didn’t know what was going on anymore.

And what happened next confused him even more.

Hyoyeon stepped towards him and stood on her toes. Her soft hands rested on his shoulders, supporting her as she leaned close and planted her lips on his for the briefest of moments. Then she stepped back and kept her eyes on the floor.

Hyun’s hand lifted towards his lips and touched them lightly without thought. What had just happened? Did Hyoyeon just kiss him? Why?

And just as though she could read her thoughts, she said, “There, now we’re even and you have your answer too.”

~~~~~