“Choi Soo Eun, why are you in such a hurry?” I stared at my best friend who was packing things into her bag hurriedly after our shift was over.

“What?” Soo Eun said after a while.

I raised an eyebrow. “Were you even listening to what I said?”

“Huh?” She muttered as she slung her bag over her shoulder and dragged me out of the locker room.

“Are you seeing someone?” I exclaimed, switching the conversation.

Soo Eun threw her head back and cackled.

“Goodness no!” She guffawed.

“What were you thinking!? I would never EVER leave Chanyeol for some other guy!” She added, with a slap on my arm.

“Ow it hurts!” I said, equally surprised as I rubbed my slightly red arm. “Then would you kindly answer my question?” I rolled my eyes at her.

“What was the question again?” Soo Eun said as she gulped down some water.

I slapped my forehead and did some breathing exercises. My best friend was driving me to my own grave. “Why do you look so busy today? You were checking your phone the whole time.”

“Do you even know what day it is today?” She left my question unanswered and tossed a question back to me.

“It’s Wednesday,” I said confidently.

“HOW CAN YOU EVEN FORGET THIS DAY!” Soo Eun exploded, causing a few onlookers to look at us.

“Quiet down will you!” I hushed my friend.

“Isn’t it Wednesday? Or did see the wrong date?” I asked, sounding sceptic.

She drew in a deep breath, eyes narrowed. “For someone who skipped the Masters’ programme, you’re actually quite slow.”

“Choi Soo Eun!”

“Are you kidding me?! How can you not remember what day it is today?” She sighed.

“It’s Wednesday!” I said, exasperated.

“8^th April, does that ring a bell to you Doctor Park?” She tried to drop hints.

“Err …” I thought for a moment. “No.”

Soo Eun sighed dramatically. “EXO’s anniversary, it’s today.”

I stared at her in silence for a minute.

“Oh. My. God. ”

“So have you decided what you’re going to do for JongIn?”

Colour drained from my face. My palms were sweaty and the adrenaline coursing through my system was shutting down my ability to think logically. I shook my head slowly.

“IamdoomedSooEunwhatamIgoing - ” I sputtered just as Soo Eun clamped her hand over my mouth.

There is something in the dark brown sweet I had always found beautiful. My best friend had slipped into my mouth my favourite chocolate. The way it glistened when it melted. The way it crumbled when it was hard. It was exotic; made from a far grown coco bean. In my mouth it turned to liquid and let me discover new pleasure. Once it was finished, all eaten, I felt my nerves calmed down a little.

“Just follow my lead,” Soo Eun grabbed my hand before grabbing my arm and dragged me over to the nearest supermarket.

…

Crimson and scarlet fruits decorated with little cream-coloured seeds beckon from the clear plastic bowl.

“Eunjung ah, I apologise for not playing with you today. I need to cook something special for dad since today is EXO anniversary…” I babbled on and on.

I pushed the bowl towards Eunjung who was sitting on her high chair. Her chubby fingers pulled out a single red berry. She placed it in and chewed, the sweetness enveloping her tongue. Grabbing another, she consumed them till the contents in the bowl were empty. 

I was in the kitchen, flour on my cheek and hair. I had the tabs wrapped right around my back and tied at the front where I could see the knot as I tied it. The vibrant hues were dusted with flour and smudged with cocoa, smeared with a little butter.

I hummed as I worked on making a pizza.

She sat in her high chair at the counter and giggled as I hummed. She was in such a chipper mood this evening.

“What do you want in your cake, Eunjung?” I asked her with a few bowls of topping in my hands.

She put her fist against her forehead and scrunched her nose upwards as she thought, “Mmm.”

I grinned at her face. How much more like JongIn could she look like?

“Tomatoes!” She finally decided with a pose, “Tomatoes!”

“Okay, okay. I heard you the first time.” I laughed in reply to her exuberance, “What do you think your daddy wants?”

“Kimchi!” she laughed aloud.

I had to pause what I was doing to just imagine the look on JongIn’s face if he bit into a kimchi pizza. It was almost tempting to do it for just that alone. But I resisted the urge; I could prank him another time.

“I don’t think your daddy will like a kimchi pancake. Though I would love to give him one.” I sighed softly as I spoke. Eunjung continued to grin at me; my words flying right over her little head.

“Tomatoes!” she chirped again.

“I got it.” I sing songed.

“Do you want to help me with the toppings?” I asked as I placed the different coloured bowls in front of Eunjung.

The toddler’s eyes lit up and she nodded her head enthusiastically. Before that, I spread tomato sauce on the dough. Then I showed Eunjung how to arrange the toppings on the pizza. The girl could almost taste it already covered in a tomato basil sauce and sprinkled with parmesan. It was hard to believe that all it was before was flour and eggs, kneaded and shaped. 

“I need to bake the cake. Are you okay doing this by yourself?”

She looked up at me and grinned. All of my worries were instantly washed away. I knew I could trust her.

After spending hours baking them they were ready. The soft smell of my sweet treats teased my nose. The scent lingering, inviting. Even the pizza was ready. The base was the perfect combination of light inside and crunchy on the bottom. The toppings were fresh and fragrant. The sauce had chunks of tomato and the topping were three cheeses.

“Where are you Eunjung?” I called out for her.

But instead of Eunjung’s playful voice responding to me, silence was all that filled the house. I was almost worried for a second but just as I pulled the main dish which was the cake out of the oven and on the stovetop I felt a pair of hands gripped my hips. The oven mittens I had been holding had dropped to the floor.

I squirmed in the unknown intruder’s grip. No matter how much I struggled and twisted, the person wasn’t letting go.

“Jagi?” I felt JongIn’s breath on my neck and heaved a sigh of relief.

I quickly turned around and faced my husband. “Why are you back so soon?” I whispered. I felt his arms wrapped around my waist and I was pressed against his chest. Thus, I had nowhere to escape.

“Why can’t I go home earlier?” He replied back. “What’s that smell?”

The faint saccharine scent of vanilla and strawberries wafted under my nose. “Surprise?”

“What is this for?” He asked.

“Well…” I spoke then paused.

“Well what?” He prodded.

I waited a moment before answering. “It’s EXO’s anniversary and I forgot about it. I-I really wanted to surprise you though. Eunjung helped with the pizza a-and the cake is still not ready. I’m sorry it’s just – “

The next thing I knew, he had slammed his lips to mine and nearly knocked all wind from my lungs. His lips were warm and tasted of mint; he had obviously been chewing gum earlier. His hands were wrapped around my waist and mine locked around his neck pulling him down slightly. When we broke apart for air, I rested my forehead against his and gathered some much needed oxygen. “You’re not angry?”

JongIn let a grin take over his face. “Why would I be?”

“Because I forgot the most important date of your life,” I looked down in disappointment.

He felt a soft smile stretch across his face. “Jagi, you are the best thing that happened to me. You are the best thing that is still happening to me and you are going to be the best thing to happen to me, ever. Thank you. If there was a number higher than zillion, bazillion or gazillion, I would thank you that many number of times for everything you have done for me. I love you.”

I felt my face heat up as I couldn’t bear to look at him in the eyes. “I … T-the cake, oppa!”

JongIn kissed me before I could finish stumbling over my words like a foreigner speaking a new language for the first time.

“A little less yelling and a bit more … fun… unless you’re yelling my name that is.”

He winked at me and I melted a little on the inside. JongIn moved his face down towards mine again and planted his lips firmly against mine. I felt a tingle shoot up my spine as he on my lower lip, begging for entrance into my mouth. His fingers pressed firmly against my back.

“Mommy!” A shout sliced through me.

I turned around and JongIn looked over his shoulder to find that Eunjung was standing there holding her one-eared pink rabbit. Eunjung saw that she had both of our attention and she ran over to her dad. He lifted her into his arms before pressing a kiss on her cheek.

Grabbing the mittens which I had dropped from the floor, I took out the cake from the oven. At last, the cake looked decent enough. It was a stunning ombré rosette cake with layers of red velvet sponge and then sprinkled with pink sugar dust. This was then succeeded by an absolutely dreamy and sophisticated coconut cake, iced with coconut frosting, generously covered with a handful or two of coconut shavings and finally bedecked with a champagne-coloured satin bow at the base. I grinned in satisfaction at the end product.

“Eunjung ah, do you want to have someone to play with?”

The girl blinked at him before nodding slowly.

“Then, you have to sleep early. You’ll be getting a baby brother or sister in no time!” My husband noticed my gawking and he grinned like a little kid in a candy shop. My cheeks were tinted pink as I understood what he was implying.

“That’s right. I’m not letting you sleep a wink tonight,” He giggled as if it was the funniest thing ever.

He simply smirked, wrapping one arm tightly around my waist when I tried to scurry away while in another arm he carried Eunjung.

JongIn grinned against my skin and trailed light kisses until he reached my ear. “Tonight.”

I nodded meekly, nibbling on my bottom lip as he swooped down to press a wet kiss at the base of my neck.

There really was no way to escape this time.

“Mommy, I’m hungry!”

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This is a special chapter since it's EXO's anniversary today XD

Oh, I reached 300 subscribers! Thank you so much guys for your love and support <3 I'll work harder to produce cute and funny chapters in the future~~

HAPPY 3rd ANNIVERSARY TO EXO :DDD