BGM: Uhm Junghwa - Recipe

"B... B... But..."

Kyungsoo didn't give you the chance to finish what you wanted to say (again) because he suddenly grabbed your wrist, leading you towards the little kitchen inside the shop.

It was quite tiny, alright. There was a stove, a table, a refrigerator, and a sink. You don't know how everything fit into that tiny room, but they did. The other stuff, you assumed, was probably kept on those green-painted cupboards on the wall.

“The first thing I’m going to teach you is how to prepare the most important component of a bubble tea... the tapioca pearl!” Kyungsoo started, quite enthusiastically.

He took a big bronze pot and a plastic measuring cup from the cupboard. “Here, take this,” he said as he handed you the measuring cup. You took it from him and asked him what you’re supposed to measure first.

“We’ll start with water first, since you need it to boil before you put in the tapioca pearls,” he informed.

“Okay, what’s next?” you asked after filling up the cup with water.

He pointed at the bronze pot. “Just put it here,” he instructed and you did what he asked you to do. Since he asked you to put in seven cups of water, you had to repeat this step six more times because the measuring cup can only hold about a cup of water at a time.

“You have to wait for it to boil first before you add the tapioca pearls. Araso?”

He turned the stove on and the two of you stared at the big bronze pot while waiting for the water to boil.

You figured it might be awkward if you just stayed like that while waiting for the water to boil, so you decided to have a little chat with him just to break the ice. "So, uhm...," 

Kyungsoo turned to look at you and you took that as your cue to continue, "...well, I'm not complaining or anything, but... why did I get the job just like that? I mean, aren't you going to look at my application or something? I could be a criminal on the loose, for all you know..."

The boy beside you gave you a goofy grin that reminded you of Spongebob Squarepants. 

credit to choivelwi

his chin with his right thumb and right index finger, Kyungsoo contemplated on an answer to your question. "Uhm... how do I say this?" 

He then tilted his head and said, "I guess we're really desperate."

Desperate?!? "But why? I mean, no offense, but this place doesn't look like it's booming with customers anyway," you said honestly.

You were right, though. When you entered Happy Bubble a few minutes ago, the only customers in there were the two foreign-looking girls who were going crazy over SHINee's signatures.

"That's because the real customers only appear at night," Kyungsoo said with a mischievous smile on his face.

The real customers only appear at night?!? It sounded suspicious. But Kyungsoo, who probably noticed the worried expression on your face, cleared it up for you right away. 

"I meant idols. Our most valued customers are k-pop idols and because of their hectic schedules, they only get to visit the shop at night."

"Or maybe they just want to avoid their crazy fans," you added. 

Just then, you noticed that the water was starting to boil.

“Now for the pearls...,” Kyungsoo spoke up. “Well, we always use a 7:1 ratio of water to tapioca pearls and since you put in seven cups of water into the pot...”

You finished his sentence for him, “I only have to put in a cup of tapioca pearls, right?”

“Exactly! And besides, this is your first time to do this, so it’s not a good idea to waste too much tapioca pearls, don’t you think?”

You gave him a soft glare and he chuckled to assure you that he was only kidding.

“How can I do this properly when you’re already expecting me to screw up from the beginning?” you asked, pretending to be hurt.

He just laughed at you, so you decided to continue with the task at hand. You were collecting tapioca pearls in the cup when Kyungsoo spoke up again.

"Be careful with that. Uncooked tapioca gets crushed easily."

credit to nuts.com

You gave him a determined nod and continued with w