There are many things that Kim Joonmyun took pride in being adept at; singing, dancing and he thought himself to be an actor with potential, at least that is what his professor told him.  However, baking was never something he excelled in, much to his annoyance.  So, why exactly was he standing over a bowl full of cake batter and a tray of misshapen cupcakes?  He was on a mission and he was not going to stop until he had successfully made strawberry cupcakes, or he ran out of flour.  It seemed that he would get through flour before he was satisfied though.  And possibly destroy the kitchen.

In actuality he did not have to do this alone, a number of his friends would be ready and willing to help him, especially his closest Luhan.  For what these particular cupcakes were for however, he felt any use of outside help would diminish their value.  Moreover, he would rather have the world’s worst tasting cupcakes made by him than delicious cupcakes from someone else.  At least, that is what he was telling himself. 

When he went through another half dozen cupcakes, his temper finally started to surface.  Thrown the spatula down he groaned loudly, “This shouldn’t be this hard.”  He probably could have settled for the cupcakes from two tries ago, but he was determined to make these perfect though it might cost his sanity.  Before he could try again, his phone rang loudly.  Cursing softly under his breath his eyes darted around frantically for his phone.  Seeing it on the counter on the other side of the kitchen he grumbled under his breath and walked over, practically throwing the magazine over his phone across the room. 

Without looking at the caller, he answered with a tired, “Yes?”

The person on the other line laughed and he straightened up instantly, his eyes wide.  “Well, hello to you too Joonmyun.” 

“Kassidy! Hi um-”  He fumbled around trying to stack the magazines he has tossed away, back on the counter and coughed a little, “Hi.”  Ears turning pink as Kassidy laughed, he leaned against the counter and cleared his throat.  “What-what are you doing?” 

“Just got off the bus so, walking to your apartment.”  She answered so nonchalantly before he heard her mutter an apology, probably to someone she passed by.  He did not ask, Joonmyun was too concerned with the fact she was almost to his apartment and he was not anywhere near ready. 

“What?”  He squeaked before putting his phone between his shoulder and ear and rushed back over to the cake batter, stirring it sloppily.  “I thought you weren’t coming until five.”  Joonmyun looked down at his clothes and groaned he did not even look presentable. 

Once again, Kassidy laughed not believing how Joonmyun was acting, “You know its five minutes till five, right?” 

Joonmyun glanced at the clock and nearly kicked the cabinet under the sink.  “Oh right I’ve been,” he glanced over at the batter and sighed, “busy.”  There was no way that he was going to be able to clean everything up in time.  The walk to his apartment from the bus stop was only a few minutes and with a day like today he knew she would practically run. 

Her tone instantly turned angry, “You’ve been practicing too much haven’t you?  I’m going to kill your vocal coach he-”

“Kassidy it’s alright I was just cleaning that’s all.”  That was quite the excuse.  Joonmyun cleaned every once in a while but his apartment was never really that dirty, not to mention cleaning wasn’t his favorite thing so losing track of time while cleaning wasn’t exactly viable.

She did not sound convinced either, “Uh huh, I’m in the elevator right now I’ll be there in a minute so finish your cleaning.”  He could just see the smile on her face as she watched the numbers on the elevator go up.

Chuckling softly he responded as he walked towards his bathroom, “Okay, the door’s open, I’ll be in the bathroom.”  If he couldn’t clean up the kitchen, he would at least get the flour off his face.

“I didn’t need to know that dear.”

He smiled and nodded, forgetting for a second that she would not see him.  “Sure you did.”  With a quick goodbye, he pocketed his phone and tried to get the flour out of his jeans and shirt.  He didn’t have much success before Kassidy announced her arrival. 

“Um, baby,” He chuckled, embarrassed at her concerned tone, “why does it look like the kitchen had a fight with itself?”

Joonmyun sighed and with his t-shirt still covered in wet spots, he walked out of the bathroom, towards the kitchen.  She stood at the kitchen’s entrance a box of chicken in her hands, mouth open as she stared in disbelief at the scene before her.  Had Joonmyun not been so embarrassed, he would have found the moment cute.  However, he was embarrassed, thoroughly.  Clearing his throat, he shuffled forward until he was next to her.  Not meeting her eyes he mumbled with a pout, “I tried to make you cupcakes for our hundredth day but it didn’t work.”

To his surprise, Kassidy didn’t laugh.  She placed the box on one of the clean sections of the counter and turned to Joonmyun.  Gently she ran her fingers through his hair, removing bits of flour that he hadn’t noticed while he was rushing.  “Why didn’t you call me?  I would have loved to help you.” 

At her pout, he smiled and grabbed her hand that was still running through his hair, lacing his fingers with hers.  “It was supposed to be a surprise though.”

She laughed, her brown eyes meeting his, “So you don’t want to make cupcakes with your girlfriend?” 

Although her tone was, clearly joking, his mouth dropped in shock and he turned his head away letting out a soft sound of disbelief.  “She clearly doesn’t understand the concept of surprise.”  Joonmyun shook his head and turned back to Kassidy, who now at an eyebrow rose in mock disbelief

Clearing she stepped away and when Joonmyun started to step forward with a pout she wagged a finger at him, a soft smile on her lips.  Leisurely she walked over to where the aprons were hung and put one on, grabbing a spoon off the counter when she tied the back.  “Now then, Mr. Kim Joonmyun would you like to make,” She glanced over at the ingredients on the table and spotted the strawberries and artificial strawberry flavor box and her grin widened, “strawberry cupcakes with me?”

Joonmyun nodded his head towards the box of chicken on the counter, “What about that?”

Kassidy shrugged and held the other apron out shaking it a little, “It’s probably already cold, now, come on, I want to make cupcakes with the world’s best boyfriend.”  She changed to a flirty tone, giving him a sweet smile. 

Joonmyun rolled his eyes but smiled, “You’ve been spending too much time with Luhan.” Kassidy took that as an invitation to walk over and start to put the apron on him.

“No such thing Luhan hasn’t influenced me at all, despite what you think.” She patted his chest with a smile, “Now tie your apron, we’ve got cupcakes to make.”  Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked over to where the last of the ingredients were. 

To be honest, Kassidy wasn’t the best of bakers either, no matter how much Joonmyun complimented her.  But, her mother back in the states did own a bakery and her father was a chef so she knew her way around the kitchen quite a bit better than her boyfriend.  So when she saw the recipe and compared them to the number of ingredients she had to stifle her laughter. 

However, Joonmyun had not missed her giggling and pouted as he moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.  “Why are you laughing at me?”

She could not resist teasing him since, in her opinion; it was something she did not get to do often.  “It amazes me, there are so many things you’re good at but baking.”

Whining a little, he nuzzled her neck, pouting still, “Don’t tease me Kass.”

Wiggling a little in his grasp as his breath tickled her skin she spoke softly, “You forgot the eggs Joonmyunie.”

At first, he didn’t believe her; he distinctly remembered putting eggs in the batter.  “What?”  But, sure enough, as he looked over at the counter there were no eggs and all the shells from previous attempts were already in the trash.  Ears turning red he hid his face in her neck again, “Oh.”

Smiling, Kassidy turned towards him and gently cupped his cheek, “It’s the thought that counts, I love you for trying.”  He smiled softly, pleased, and she gave him a quick kiss.  “Now, you grab those eggs I’ll get started on a new batter, okay?”  After stealing another kiss, he nodded and let her go. 

As Joonmyun expected, Kassidy took over the kitchen as soon as the spoon was in her hands.  Usually Joonmyun did not mind, however, since the cupcakes were originally his idea he wanted to help.  Flinging a pinch of flour at her, he laughed as she cut her eyes towards him.  “Let me help.”  He gave her his best puppy dog eyes, knowing those usually worked on her. 

To his surprise, she stuck her tongue out at him and shook her head, “Clean up your mess then.” 

His disbelief shone on his face as he moved away from the counter he was leaning on and pointed an accusing finger at her, “Luhan has been influencing you!”  Again, she stuck her tongue out at him and went back to mixing the batter.  Grumbling, Joonmyun started to walk over to the sink, but once he was behind her, he smiled suddenly, wrapped one arm around her waist the other reaching out and he rested his hand on top of hers, stirring with her. 

She tried to wiggle out of his grasp but to no avail and did not resist him holding her hand, not wanting the batter to fly everywhere.  “What are you doing?”

Joonmyun smiled, pleased with his idea and kissed her cheek.  “Helping,” He stated it so simply she almost laughed.

“You’re so cheesy.”  She mumbled, a dark blush rising up her neck but she made no move to push him away though.  She would never admit it but it was times like this that she loved being with Joonmyun the most.  He was sweet, but moments like this didn’t get to happen often, mostly because of their busy schedules.  Kassidy and Joonmyun had learned to savor sweet moments like this.  So, even when she had to waddle over to the stove with the pan. 

As soon as the cupcakes were in the oven and the timer set, Joonmyun grinned and spoke softly, “And now,” before Kassidy could ask what he meant, he picked her up, laughing at her squeak of surprise. 

“Kim Joonmyun!”

“Kassidy Maeng!”

“Put me down!”  She squeaked, clinging to his neck. 

“Okay!”  He started to move his hands out from under her and she squealed, holding onto him tighter.  Laughing, he walked out of the kitchen, over to where the dining table was.  “Did you really think I would drop you?”

“I should bite you.”  She grumbled, holding onto his neck for a few seconds longer after he gentle placed her on blue pillow that she deemed hers a month ago.  Joonmyun just winked and walked back into the kitchen, appearing a few seconds later with the box of chicken and chopsticks for both of them. 

Shaking her head lightly, Kassidy laughed and scooted closer to the table.  “And now we eat, Joonmyun I swear, I could have walked you nut.”   

“True, but where’s the fun in that?”  He questioned as he placed the box on the table and handed Kassidy her chopsticks.  “Now eat your chicken, dessert will be done soon.”  He gave her a heart-stopping smile proud that despite the day had not gone as he planned; there was a smile on her face.

Laughing, Kassidy picked at the chicken and took a small piece, “Chicken and cupcakes, sounds like a perfect dinner.”

Joonmyun nodded; considering she was usually on a diet of ramen, he was all too happy to see her eating something else.  “We’ll get some honey butter bread later too.”

She looked up from the chicken, eyes wide.  “Really?”  Joonmyun wasn’t even able to finish confirming before Kassidy squealed in delight and tackled him with a hug.  He held her close, enjoying the way her black hair tickled his neck and how her excitement seemed to radiate off her.  “You are the best person ever!”  After a kiss to the cheek, she tried to sit up and let go but Joonmyun would have none of it.  “You’re not letting go of my today are you?”  She questioned teasingly. 

He shook his head and, with a bit of difficulty, managed to get both of them upright with her between his legs and his arms around her waist.  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’m never letting you go.”  Satisfied when she blushed and mumbled for him to shut up he grabbed his chopsticks and started to eat.  His surprise had not exactly worked out but he decided not to care, cupcakes made with Kassidy or for Kassidy, it didn’t matter, as long as he had her. 

Gently he brushed the flour that he had flicked at her away from her cheek, “I’ll clean the kitchen after we finish and then we’ll go out, okay?”

Kassidy seemed to contemplate something before nodding and glanced over at Joonmyun.  “Hm, I’ll help I have my apron on still, might as well.  But if you turn the water hose on me again sleep with one eye open.”          

Chuckling Joonmyun shook his head, though he expected an answer like that.  “But you can use it on me right?”

She nodded and replied in an obvious tone, “Exactly.”

“For that you can be the one to check the cupcakes.”

Kassidy grumbled, “Meanie.”  Nevertheless, she got up and walked towards the kitchen.  A few seconds later, she called out to Joonmyun, “These smell delicious!  They should make an air freshener with this smell!”  He laughed and took another piece of chicken.  “Seriously it’s the best smell you should make an air freshener like this!” 

“I’m an actor dear.”

She was silent for a few moments and then replied nonchalantly, “Details.”  

Laughing he called, “Hush, now get back in here and eat I know they aren’t done yet and you’re just sniffing everything.” 

Kassidy appeared a few seconds later with a pout, “How did you know?”  He just gave her a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look and held one arm out in invitation.  Rolling her eyes, she walked over and took her previous spot, eating once again. 

Yeah, as long as he had Kassidy and could have moments like this with her he was happy.  However, he would conquer those cupcakes someday.  He was too stubborn to give up that easily and Kassidy knew it.  But tonight she was happy and that was enough for him.