one day after Jiyoon goes back home from her work at Kunian

“God, this weights a ton...” Jiyoon on her way home from Kunian. she is wakling with a giant box full of apples. “nnnngghhh...hey!” suddenly the box feels lighter. when she finally looks, there’s Taecyeon, holding the box effortlessly in his arms. “Taecyeon oppa...”

“you okay, chagi? no woman of mine is going to be carrying around heavy things like this.”

“umm, thanks...but, this really heavy, you sure you’re okay?”

“I can handle something like this. after all, my chagi’s problems are my problems, too.” Taecyeon winks, and they start back toward his apartment together. “more importantly, just why the hell do you have this many apples, anyway?”

“uncle Kuni gave them to me. he wants to put an apple pie on the menu at Kunian, so he told me to take these and practice.”

“what...? so that means... you’ve been carrying these all the way from Kunian?”

“yeah...” Jiyoon answers him with a smile, and he looks back at her with an exasperated expression and a sigh.

“geezz... to make my chagi carry something like this... both the manager and Kuni are really cruel.”

“oh well, uncle Kuni offered to help but I turned him down...”

“Jiyoon.” Taecyeon says her name a little sternly. but, when she looks up at him, he’s grinning kindly. “now, you know it’s better to call me at times like this, don’t you, chagi? what does a good girl say?”

“yes.” as Jiyoon answers, Taecyeon looks at all the apples in the box.

“my chagi’s apples pie... that’s something to look forward to.”

“I’ll practice hard to make sure it becomes the most popular item on the menu!”

“practice, huh... well, just make sure I’m your firs customer, chagi.”

“what?”

“I look forward to being your taste-tester.” as he says this, he hits the button for the elevator with the back of his hand still carrying the box.

the next day...

Jiyoon gets started right away on her apple pies, using one of the manager’s favorite recipes.

“now we need to bake the apples, until they color... so let’s just put those in the oven for a while. finally we add the sugar and ...”

the kitchen starts to fill with the sweet aroma of pie. in the heat, it feels like the entire kitchen is surrounded by sweets.

“meoww!!” Lilly appears at Jiyoon’s feet, perhaps summoned by the aroma.

“oh, Lilly. didn’t I tell you, you can’t be in here today? you could get hurt.”

“meow.” talking Lilly the cat in Jiyoon’s arms, Jiyoon leaves the kitchen.

after little while, the oven timer goes off.

“oh, it’s done. Lilly, don’t follow me, okay? I’ll only be a minute.”

“meowwww.” when Jiyoon puts Lilly down outside the kitchen, she makes her way toward the living room again.

“chagiya, I’m home! oh, it smells good in here!” just as the apple pie finishes baking, Taecyeon comes home. Jiyoon is already setting the table in anticipation of his tasting of her pie.

“...how is it?” Taecyeon sits at the table silently, a bite of pie still in his mouth. “...Taecyeon...?”

“hmmm...it might not be sweet enough for me.”

“what? really? I followed the manager’s recipe exactly...” Jiyoon tries a bite herself, and Taecyeon is right... it’s not sweet enough at all. “I’m sorry... I’ll get it right next ti—“ Jiyoon lowers her head, and suddenly Taecyeon takes her hand, an pulls her toward him quickly, and kisses her. Taecyeon’s lips draw back from herss, fixed in a little smirk.

“ther, that made up for it.”

“...” the sweetness of apple pie finally spreads through .

kissing her again lightly, Taecyeon laughs.

“but, you can’t go around doing that to all your customers, so... don’t forget to put the sugar in the traditional way next time, okay?”

“o-okay...” Jiyoon nods meekly, her cheeks still burning.

END~~~

that's it... see you later... XD