[The Next Day: Baekhyun’s House]

I carefully walked up to Baekhyun’s porch. There wasn’t any reason for being so cautious, but I found that I was always just a bit more careful in places I didn’t visit often.

“Rinnie!” Baekhyun exclaimed as he opened the door.

“Hey Bacon! Do you have everything we need to start baking?” I questioned. He nodded excitedly. I smiled softly finding it cute that he was excited over baking a cake for his mom.

“I got everything and more! D.O told me he’d come and help too!” He explained as he walked me in to his kitchen. I got jitters at the thought of Kyungsoo actually baking with us. Like I said, Kyungsoo was the one that did all the cooking. I was the one that would eat.

This is going to be an interesting experience. I thought as I put my backpack on one of the chairs. Luckily, Kyungsoo wasn’t there so Baekhyun and I got a head start on the baking.

The experience was different than it normally was with Kyungsoo.  Normally, with Kyungsoo, he would go on gloating about how his skills were the best and how he was going to prove to me he was the best cook I ever knew. I never actually participated in cooking with Kyungsoo. He always insisted on doing everything himself.

With Baekhyun it was a giant collaboration. I would whip the eggs while he would sift the flour. Then he would ask me if the batter needed more vanilla or more sugar. It was different, but very nice.

“Hey Baekhyun, I just let myself in.” Kyungsoo called from the front door. My heart started racing as soon as I heard him. The good thing was we were done with the cooking half of it all. The bad part was, next came the critique part, the part where Kyungsoo would always get mad at me.

I hope this goes well…

When the cake was baked Baekhyun insisted on icing the cake.

“Watch the master at work!” He exclaimed. I giggled at his false pride. It was clear to me he was just messing around, but Kyungsoo didn’t seem too pleased.

“The master? You can barely make ramen…” Kyungsoo muttered. I elbowed him.

“Psh… Bacon is the master. He did a pretty good job making the batter,” I defended. Kyungsoo wore a face of shock. Still I could tell Baekhyun was trying his hardest, I wasn’t going to let him squish all of his confidence.

“Aww Rinnie I knew I could count on you to cheer me on!” Baekhyun commented as he placed a large glob of icing on the cake. I watched him intently as he smeared the cream evenly throughout the cake. I was almost hypnotized by the way he swirled the icing. Slowly, the block of sweet bread turned in to a cake.

“Good job Baekhyun, the cake looks yummy already!” I complimented eyeing the newly frosted cake.

“Slow down Chaerin, you still have to taste the cake.” Kyungsoo commented. I rolled my eyes and watched Baekhyun pull out some fruits.

“He’s right but you’re going to be honest and tell me how it tastes right?” he questioned and we walked back towards us. I nodded and smiled softly at him.

“Of course, I promise! I think it’s really sweet that you want to bake your mom a cake.” I told him admiring his cake once again. Then I turned to Kyungsoo, his expression was odd. I could tell he was either angry or irritated, but he insisted on helping with the decorating anyways. Despite his attitude the cake was decorated gorgeously. Slowly, the fruit created a beautiful design, with Kyungsoo taking the lead.

Once we were done decorating Baekhyun carefully cut me a slice of cake and waited for me to taste it. I looked over at Kyungsoo. He didn’t look too happy that Baekhyun cut the cake specifically for my tasting but that is what he invited me over for.

I took a fork and bit the bread carefully. I savored it. The taste was perfectly sweet. The bread was spongy and almost air like. The icing blended so well with the cake, I almost didn’t notice it. The fruit was fresh and definitely not overbearing. Everything melded together in harmony. You could taste the care Baekhyun put in to the cake.

“That is wonderful!” I exclaimed as I went in for another bite.

“Are you serious!” Kyungsoo and Baekhyun both asked, however the tones of both of their voices were different. Baekhyun was more shocked. Kyungsoo was more displeased. They both turned and eyed each other curiously, but just shook it off as they awaited my confirmation.

“Yeah, I’m serious. Your mom is going to love this.” I assured Baekhyun. Baekhyun jumped out of his seat and pummeled me in a hug.

“I knew choosing you guys to help me was a good choice! Thanks Chaein, Kyungsoo.” He thanked us. I smiled but Kyungsoo quickly bolted towards the door. “What’s with him?” Baekhyun asked with an expression as confused as mine.

“Not sure, I’ll go find out.” I told him getting up out of my seat and heading in the same direction as Kyungsoo.

I caught up quickly considering I took off in a sprint.

“Yah Kyungsoo!” I yelled, hoping that he would stop. However, I had to run in front of him to make him stop. “Kyungsoo… w-what’s w-wrong?” I gasped catching my breath. He glared at me and looked towards a different direction.

“What do you care?” He questioned, obviously irritated. I examined him curiously.

“Why shouldn’t I? My friend walks out of my other friend’s house for no apparent reason. I mean Baekhyun even thanked you. So seriously Kyungsoo what’s your deal?” I asked, getting a bit irritated. His eyes finally landed on me and I recognized the expression he was wearing. He was hurt. 

“You complimented his cake.” He stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah, because it was good. What did you want me to say? It tastes horrible Baekhyun, but cut me another slice! I was being honest.” I shot at him still not quite understanding what it was that irritated him so much.

“So you’ve never liked my cooking? Not even once?” He asked, his expression softened slightly allowing me to see his disappointment.

“W-what? I-I never said that? Is that what this is about? Your cooking?” I questioned, curiously.

“It’s just… the moment you taste anything I make you find what’s wrong with it, but with Baekhyun you fell in love with it the first bite.” He explained. I eyed him curiously still trying to put the pieces together.

“Kyungsoo… I don’t hate your cooking. Plus what does it matter what I think?” I asked. Kyungsoo shook his head dramatically and looked away in frustration.

“I freaking love you Chaerin that’s why! I wanted you to love what I cooked so I could finally confess to you! I worked so hard and you always found something wrong with it. I just wanted you to compliment one dish once, so I could turn around and compliment…,” Kyungsoo stopped looking up at the sky and turned to look at me. “you.” He finished.

All I could do was stare at him and wonder if I dreamed everything. Was my rage so bad that I was hallucinating?

“You were supposed to be all ‘wow this is amazing!’ and then I would turn around and tell you how amazing I thought you were. It never happened though.” He complained. I gazed at him softly and giggled.

“You idiot… I criticized your cooking just so you wouldn’t find out how much I actually liked you. I can’t believe…” I stopped mid sentence because as I let it sink in, I couldn’t believe how much trouble we caused.

“So… you liked me all along?” He questioned, coming nearer and bending down slightly to face me eye to eye. All I could do was nod while I tried to control my rapid heartbeat. Then he pulled me in to a hug and squeezed me tight.

“I always loved your cooking just like I always loved you.” I confessed burying my face in his chest to hide the blush on my face.  He chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“You know how much stress you caused me… seriously the kimchi spaghetti was taking it too far.” He teased. Soon enough we were back to normal only now our feelings were mutual.

[With Baekhyun]

Baekhyun stared at his watch and wondered why it was taking so long for his friends to return. Then he turned to eye the cake.

“Did the cake scare them away?” He wondered, examining the cake closely while contemplating if he should give it a try. He shook his head in disagreement. “It’s too risky… I should call Chanyeol to taste it!” 

So yes... i finished it. I don't know how i feel about the ending, but I'm sure you all will let me know how good or bad it is. ^^; I waited for D.O's birthday to post it since it happened to be so close. Hope you all enjoyed it!