The sound of knife chopping against the wood resonated through the kitchen since 8 in the morning. Hours had passed and it was already the 7^th try of the same dish for the day at 12 noon and Yura had been inside the kitchen. The never-ending failure didn't break her spirit for creating a full meal table. She had thought that cooking was as easy as looking at the recipe and your dish could be perfecto! But it proved to be difficult for such an unskilled woman of her age who was really stupid in cooking and couldn't differentiate between sugar and salt.

On her first try, she decided to cook the menu of her choice simultaneously but everything turned out to be a mess. Her fried food was burnt, her soup overflowed from the pot, her rice turned into a porridge; and at this point, she who had wanted to come up with something perfect, couldn't just settle on the first try. She had to throw everything and start anew but there was always something that went wrong and only until the 7^th try did she decide to cook the dish one by one. She didn't even have to worry about the ingredients as she had plenty in store. Knowing herself would fail for several -or in this case, many- times, she had thoroughly prepared the night before and bought a large amount of ingredients shocking the other buyers from the supermarket.

She admitted that she wasn't as skilled in cooking like her boyfriend, Do Kyungsoo. She was good in everything but cooking wasn't really her thing. It proved to be legit when she screamed in pain as she cut her finger. It was the second injury she had had for the day after burning her arm from the contact of her skin with the hot boiling pot. She could give a hand of applause to herself for the lack of clumsiness in the kitchen despite not being a perfect cook.

*****

Yura had decided to call it a quit as the clock indicated 8 o'clock. She decided not to taste her final dish as she knew she might throw it away if it didn't suit to her liking and she had ran out of time. The meal she had prepared was beyond perfection from the way it looked but the taste remained a secret.

She had just finished preparing the table when her phone rang and she smiled looking at the caller ID. Kyungsoo was the type of guy who never remembers his birthday and ever since the start of their relationship, she was the one who reminded him of it. But this year, she decided to make a difference and wanted to surprise him instead. “Kyungsoo!” She greeted happily as she answered the phone.

“I forgot that today's my birthday!” He exclaimed as he chuckled and Yura's face fell. Someone had ruined her plan. Kyungsoo wasn't supposed to know about his birthday until she invited him to come over. “You forgot that it was my birthday too, didn't you?” Kyungsoo asked and she could hear a hint of joke in his tone. How could she ever forget when she was the one who always reminded him of it? “Anyway... I'm sorry. I know I should spend my birthday with you but mom and dad made a surprise for me and our cousin from Jeju came as well.”

“Your cousin from Jeju?” Yura repeated for a full information.

“You've met her before last winter. Jung Soojung. Do you remember?” Okay, now he's telling me that he's spending his birthday with another girl? Is this some kind of a joke? She thought to herself as she frowned in displease. “Come and we can celebrate together!” He invited.

“Kyungsoo, I'm really sorry but I have something to do; my work is weighing me down but I promise we'll spend tomorrow together, okay? Have fun!” Despite her rushing adrenaline, she tried to sound super enthusiastic for him. Showing him that she was okay thus she lied. It was his birthday after all and she didn't wish to make him feel bad. “And Kyungsoo, sorry I forgot but Happy Birthday.” Kyungsoo smiled widely from the other line though he knew she couldn't see him. Even though it was the first time she had ever forgot, it didn't matter to him. She had always remember anyway.

“Thank You, take care okay? I love you. I'll see you tomorrow!” He said as he ended the call and Yura plopped on the dining chair as she stared at the lavish meal she had prepared just for him. The meal that she had spent making for more than 10 tries had gone to waste. This was even more sad than having Kyungsoo forgetting her birthday. What was a birthday celebration without the one who was supposed to be celebrated? But she didn't have the heart to tell him. His parents were making time to celebrate his birthday and she couldn't just steal him from the show; and to leave the meal she had prepared with effort... she didn't have the heart to do that as well.

The fatigue that she didn't feel at all before, suddenly rushed into her and she finally realized how tired she was from all those preparation that she even forgot to have her lunch and it was already time for dinner. Her stomach churned loudly and she could have just dig in and fill her stomach but her appetite was gone. She only felt like she should cry at that moment.

“I spent more than 10 hours preparing, it's my boyfriend's birthday, my boyfriend isn't here and he is spending his birthday with another girl. How cool.” She talked to herself and sighed in pain, finf]ding it hard to throw away the fact that he was with another girl despite being with his parents. She didn't want to showcase her effort to Kyungsoo but at least she wanted to be acknowledged by him. She wanted to hear that she had done well; she wanted to see his smile from her surprise but she didn't get neither. “I deserve to cry didn't I? After all of this effort, I deserve to at least cry because everything went wrong.” She muttered as her lower lip trembled and she had finally lost it. She cried her heart out in sadness, in need and as a token of what she deserved from her hard work. She cried for a good 30 minutes, 60- she lost track of time and bawled but apart from Kyungsoo's failed surprise, she pity herself the most that got nothing in return.

*****

It was half past eleven and Yura was still sitting at the dining table staring at her untouched foods. She didn't know how long she cried and when she stopped nor she had an idea what time it was. Her eyes felt heavy but she thought that her heart was heavier. Yura was extremely disappointed that her surprise had failed. She should have reminded him since earlier and it wouldn't turn out that way. She rubbed her face a few times and stood up. There was no point dwelling over things that she couldn't change.

She would've started to clean the table but the sound of codes being punched in from her main door put her to an abrupt halt. Her eyes widened towards the door. If it wasn't a thief, it was definitely Kyungsoo. She didn't like either options.

“Oh, you're awake.” Kyungsoo said when he came into view and she almost dropped the dish she was holding. The least person she wanted to see was her own boyfriend. She didn't want him to know about the surprise and everything else. “What's this? Did you have a party just now? With whom?” He asked referring to the variety of food on the dining table.

“Umm... it's... I was about to eat them.” She managed to say and wished that Kyungsoo would give in to her lie.

“Was about to? Did you not eat them then?” His brows furrowed in confusion and Yura could only looked away from his questioning gaze. “Did someone came over just now?” He asked impatiently but Yura remained mum.

Yura smiled lightly when she saw his worried expression. “No, I was alone. Now help me clean the table will you.” She said in order to escape from his questioning.

“Okay.” Kyungsoo started picking the dish one by one and examined it carefully as he walked towards the kitchen. No one seemed to have touched this. Even the chopsticks and spoons were clean as new. He thought. “WHOA. What the hell is happening to your kitchen??” He exclaimed in horrid as he eyed the mess. Vegetable leaves were scattered everywhere, there was a trace of flour as well and the wall was smudged with black as if showing that something burnt earlier before. Other than that, the kitchen was unexplainable as it was a mess beyond your imagination.

Yura heard him all over from the living room, and face-palmed. She totally forgot about the kitchen fiasco and it was definitely a wrong choice to had asked him in helping her up. He appeared once again with the plates of food still in his hands and a frown plastered on his face. She knew she had to stop lying as he put the food down with an extra force. “Come with me.” He said as he dragged her towards the kitchen. “Care to explain?” He narrowed his eyes and jabbed his thumb towards the kitchen and entered before started examining the mess his girl had created. But what appalled him the most was the amount of food that was thrown inside the bin. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. It wasn't enough that she had made the place dirty and she even wasted a large amount of food.

He then walked over to the fridge to check on her food supply but softened when he saw the one and only thing that was inside. He couldn't even scold her for using everything from her fridge to create a meal for a day. “You actually remembered?” He asked as he eyed the birthday cake inside the fridge and Yura bit her lip and nodded.

“How can I not?” She finally find the courage to speak. If there was anything that could make him angry, it was about cleanliness so it was best to speak after he had calm down.

“And you didn't tell me?”

“You said you were spending your time with your family and I just couldn't bring myself to tell you... I was about to call you but you called me first.” Kyungsoo walked over to her as his face immediately lit up. “Does that mean those foods were actually for me?” She nodded and he landed a peck on her cheek. “Thank You! I'll eat it well.” He said as he dashed towards the dining table.

“But Kyungsoo! It's cold!” She followed him only to find her boy sitting and already digging onto the food she had made since 3 hours before. “But still edible.” He answered short and flashed his grin. Her wish was granted. He was there, he was smiling, he was happy; so why wasn't she? Because it wasn't supposed to go this way. It was a surprise but he had found it out and even if she wanted to, it could no longer be a surprise. She sighed and took a seat beside him. Watching him eat so deliciously brought back her appetite.

She took a bite of the cold seaweed soup before spitting it out almost immediately. “Just what IS THIS?? It's salty!” She fumed at her own cooking. After those many tries, even the last product was still as bad as the first one. Nothing had improved at all.

“Why are you getting angry? You're the one who cooked this.” He answered with his hands naturally going for the seaweed soup taking another bite as if it wasn't salty at all. His expression didn't change and he ate like he had starved the whole day. Yura felt mixed of emotions inside of her. She was annoyed that her cooking didn't turn out to be well, she was happy that her boyfriend was willing to eat them but again, she was annoyed as well that Kyungsoo was eating her food without any complaints. He was eating bad food so why didn't he complaint?

“Why do you keep eating??” She yelled and with all those frustration built up inside her, she broke into tears, the second for that night. Yura buried her face in her arms as she cried. She was being extra sensitive, yes, but nothing had gone the way she had wanted and it upset her. Kyungsoo shook his head and smiled. She must be really upset.

“Sorry for not choosing to spend my time with you.” He said softly and rubbed her arms.

“I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself, I messed up everything.” She answered without looking up and Kyungsoo chuckled in response. “Don't laugh.” Yura looked up and glared at him.

“You get hurt a lot didn't you?” He said as he examined her bandaged arms and fingers. He took her hand and softly grazed his fingers over the bandage. “You should be more careful.” He said with a hint of worry in his tone and wiped her tears.

“Sorry for the ruined celebration.” She mumbled and shifted her gaze to her hands.

“Hey, look at me.” Kyungsoo cupped her face and smiled. “If there's anyone who should apologize, it's me. If I knew you had cooked, I'll run here as soon as possible.” Yura chuckled lightly at his cheesy lines and he smiled along, glad that he could make her felt slightly better. She leaned over and give him a tender hug. What did she do to deserve a guy like him? A guy who would always love her despite her imperfections.

“You should stop eating now. I know you've eat a lot and now you have to eat a bad food.” She said letting go of him but before she could start cleaning the table, Kyungsoo was fast to stop her.

“No, I still want to finish my food.” He said stubbornly and Yura frowned at his words. “Don't you remember? This is the first time you're cooking for me.” She softened as it finally hit her. After those many tries, it seemed surreal to think that it was the first time she had cooked for him. She face-palmed, obviously not getting comforted by the fact of the first-time-cooking thing. She didn't just ruined her surprise for him, but Kyungsoo would always remember her ruined first cooking too. And to say that it was meant for him...

She watched Kyungsoo ate his food and sighed to herself in despair. “And I don't even prepare you any other presents.” Yura whined.

“You do.” He said as he pointed to his lips and she looked at him puzzled. “Being clueless are you?” He raised his brows and in a swift motioned leaned and landed a chaste kiss on her lips.

“Just so you know, I'm content with just a kiss as a present.” He continued as he leaned for a proper kiss, claiming it as his birthday present.