Following up her baking failure from the previous year, Cheng Xiao was determined to make the perfect cake this year. Not just to prove to Xuan Yi and the rest of the lot that she could cook but also test her own resilience. So unlike last year’s disaster, which she believed happened due to insufficient time, the ambitious girl had already begun her practising a month before.

All thanks to her friend who had credible cooking skills and an incredible appetite, Yeoreum, none of the cakes that tasted just as great as the one months ago went to waste. Every Friday, Yeoreum would visit her older friend to feast on the freshly baked cake, each time only leaving a vague comment such as, ‘good, but too floury’ or ‘bad, but the strawberries are nice!’ Cheng Xiao couldn’t do much about that though, and she did find that she became increasingly more confident with the balance.

There was only a day left until it was Juyeon’s special day and Cheng Xiao realised she had some serious business to do before her final attempt. So after insistently inviting her hungry friend a little earlier than usual on their Friday, the two were stood around the kitchen table top once more.

Like normal, the older Chinese was about to start her cake mix, only this time to be interrupted by a suggestion of her guest. “You know- I don’t get why you have to bake a cake. I swear Juyeon prefers savoury foods anyways.”

Not stopping in her tracks, Cheng Xiao continued with pulling out the ingredients. “I don’t know why either…” Then an abrupt whine came from the same woman. “Ohh why didn’t you tell me earlier, I could have cooked her dinner instead of all this.” Cheng Xiao slumped her torso onto the tabletop, the eggs in her two hands cracking as they hit the surface.

Hearing another cry from the elder, Yeoreum simply patted the top of her head before carrying the rest of the ingredients onto the table. “Eh. There there, it's not like you can cook anyways!”

“Hey! You just haven't tasted my cooking yet, I'm a chef.” Acting offended, Cheng Xiao raised her head and narrowed her eyes at Yeoreum, who only smiled in response. Straightening her back, she then turned her attention to the matter at hand. Or more accurately; the eggs running down her hand. “I swear God hates me.”

Pointing to the sink, Yeoreum the proud Catholic only shook her head. “God doesn't hate anyone! He just completely skipped you when he was sprinkling everyone with cooking skills!” She took the chance to laugh when the elder ran her hands down the sink.

Cheng Xiao swang her leg back lightly, hoping to catch the girl behind, only to have her attack dodged. “Yeah! Well, God completely skipped you when he was sprinkling everyone else with…” there was a great pause, now that she thought about it, there wasn't much that the younger couldn't do. Unable to come up with a skill She lacked, Xiao flicked the water from her hands to Yeoreum’s face instead. “Never mind, he did remember the visuals.”

Purposely acting unfazed, the younger of the two only grinned with the response, “I know, don't be jealous.” Though, she didn't want to anger her friend too much; so pointed to the ingredients instead. “Anyways let's get this cake sorted out. Since you've come this far.”

It was true, Cheng Xiao only had a limited amount of time left and she should spend as much of it on the cake as possible. Dismissing their little bicker from earlier, Yeoreum properly watched over Cheng Xiao’s cooking this time, pointing out all the mistakes and such.

Hours later, the strawberry cream cake was finally complete, and the not-so-anticipated time to taste the cake had come. See, it was never the appearance that was the problem, the poor girl had already perfected all the skills it took to make the exterior of any cake beautiful- it was just that the cake itself always had something terribly wrong about it.

“Okay, but do we have to eat it- why don’t you just use this for tomorrow?”

The Chinese squinted her eyes at the younger, simply slicing a (rather large) slice of cake before sliding it to Yeoreum. “To prove to you, Xuan Yi and everyone else that I can cook.” Xiao then cleared , gesturing to the fork in her hand.

“Did you put poison in the mix when I wasn’t looking- why aren’t you testing it with me?” Yeoreum widened her eyes suspiciously albeit taking the fork and having a bite anyways, she deliberately put on multiple different expressions as she chewed in slow-motion, just to annoy the older.

In that time, Xiao had already cut her own piece out of impatience and tried a small bite. “Maybe I should just buy another cupcake.” The cake had a strange underlying flavour and although it wasn’t inedible, it was obvious that there was something wrong with it.

Feeling sorry for the older girl, Yeoreum quickly hugged the frowning older, this time she really had n’t forgotten anything and she had deemed it impossible for anything to go wrong. “B-but.” Yeoreum unwrapped her arms from Xiao’s frame, rushing to the fridge to look over the expiry dates of all the ingredients they used. A groan came from the young girl as her predictions were right, the milk had expired for a few days already. “Hey, don’t eat it…”

Cheng Xiao didn’t even bother lifting her head up and continued to eat into her slice of cake despite the warning. Shaking her head, Yeoreum came back to place the milk carton on the countertop, pointing to the expiry date. “I don’t know if you’re super hungry or what but…”

Finally paying attention to what she was being signalled to, Xiao blinked several times whilst raising her head, a hopeful voice peeping out, “so it wasn’t my fault this time?” It was clearly a rhetorical question as her arms were thrown around the younger girl already. “I knew it.”

With an awkward laugh and one or two pats on the back, Yeoreum did no more except hum and wore the most forced smile; the type one would put on when asked by a friend for an opinion on an outfit. “Yes of course! It was probably some small faulty like that all along…” clearing (along with the lies), Yeoreum continued in a much more pleasant tone, “on a different matter, my stomach's screaming for Jesus.”

Cheng Xiao stayed still for about half a minute, contemplating what to cook for her guest. If she was by herself, there was a big possibility she would have eaten the cake- she was a keen environmentalist in terms of food waste. “How about I treat you to some… Chinese?”

The younger of the two, now covering her abdomen replied in a worried manner, “as long as it’s not your cooking, please?” Two worried eyes beamed at Xiao, to which the latter rolled her eyes.

“I don't want fake Chinese food, let's just eat unhealthy crap!” After cheering a good few times, the apartment holder swung open the door to the freezer, revealing her stash of oven goodies. “All yours!”

-

By ten o'clock, Yeoreum and Cheng Xiao managed to finesse a pepperoni pizza as well as a Hawaiian pizza, most of which devoured by the former girl. Since Yeoreum had a free weekend, she agreed to help Cheng Xiao prepare the house with decorations and of course, the crucial cake for the main character, Son Juyeon. In return, Yeoreum claimed the living room as her own for the night.

The guest proved her importance as an alarm clock the next morning, though she had pilfered some of the food in the fridge prior to awakening Cheng Xiao. In fact, Yeoreum was close to stealing more snacks as the heavy sleeper refused to leave her bed. Eventually, the two were up and preparing for the day ahead.

Cheng Xiao picked up her phone after figuring that her girlfriend would have probably woken up already. The couple had barely communicated for the past days, since Juyeon wanted to focus fully on her finals, only allowing her birthday to be her downtime. Finding her girlfriend’s contact name, the Chinese girl quickly worked her fingers.

[09:27] Flower Xiaower: Gooood morning! You're getting old now… but it's okay I still love you ;)

Yeoreum spotted the smiling girl and shook her head before clearing . “God I feel like a third wheel and she isn't even here.” Embarrassed, Xiao looked up and slowly lowered her phone to the table. “Anyways, we best set out for some fresh ingredients; unless you want your girlfriend to throw up.” Yeoreum then cocked a smug brow, continuing. “I mean- she’ll probably still get sick but-”

The older girl silenced Yeoreum with a piercing stare, mouthing the words with a twisted grin, ‘do you want to die?’ The receiver could only return a painful smile before running away to collect some shopping bags.

Xiao managed to refrain from buying another backup cupcake, only just giving it up at the till. The two returned with new milk, butter and fruits but Yeoreum was also able to convince her fellow friend to buy her a whole bag of snacks.

By the time they reached home, Juyeon had finally replied to Cheng Xiao, in fact, it wasn't just one reply, it was a spam.

[10:16] Jujuyeon that beat: Whoops I overslept thank you baby ;)) who doesn't love me

[10:17] Jujuyeon that beat: Don’t call me old just because you're three-

[10:17] Jujuyeon run that beat: P.s I miss you

[10:17] Jujuyeon run that beat: P.p.s lol is this short for piss

[10:18] Jujuyeon run that beat: okay but I miss you where u at girl

[10:20] Jujuyeon that beat: I NEED YOU GIRL

Cheng Xiao was fast enough to intercept another message the birthday girl was typing.

[10:20] Xiaower Flower Power: wyd stOP

[10:20] Jujuyeon that beat: oh my god she's here quick hide

Hearing Yeoreum opening the third packet of biscuits, Cheng Xiao groaned before typing the last reply. If she didn't stop Yeoreum now, it’d be too late.

[10:21] Xiaower Flower Power: Why are you so weird. Anyways I'll see you soon, stupid. Don't miss me too much.

After successfully stopping Yeoreum from eating all the snacks within an hour, the two cracked down on the making of the final cake whilst singing along to whatever was playing on the radio. This time, Xiao remained calm throughout the whole process, not wanting to stress herself any further.

Soon, everything was ready for the birthday girl, the cake safe in the fridge and decorations all set. Cheng Xiao tried to keep Yeoreum longer to check her outfit and for emotional support if the cake didn't go to plan. Of course, however, the younger argued against the suggestion, refusing to be the third wheel, a role she took up too often for Xiao.

“Don't die! The only thing that should kill you is your cake-” Another supportive comment came from Yeoreum as she nimbly skipped outside the apartment. Before Xiao could shout at her for such supportive words, Yeoreum screamed once more, then slammed the door. “Joking! Good luck!”

Keeping herself calm, Xiao rolled her eyes before continuing with getting herself ready for the day. The clock struck half-past twelve by the time the Chinese girl picked out a simple tee matched with a coral, pleated skirt; the (unsurprisingly also pink) strawberry cake was all set and ready in the fridge.

Cheng Xiao took a last look around the living room as she walked towards her phone that was charging nearby the sofa. She didn't change too much of the room, knowing that Juyeon wasn’t too fond of extravagance and neither did she want to waste money or materials; the biggest difference what on the table was a (neatly arranged) bunch of presents of all different sizes and patterned packaging. These were presents given by the rest of Juyeon’s friends and extra mini ones from Cheng Xiao, they knew that the birthday girl was unlikely to leave her house again for the next two weeks due to the exam period. By the time she reached her phone, and read the message Juyeon sent to update on her new location, the doorbell already rung.

“Coming!” The Chinese cleared , gracefully gliding to the front door with a ridiculously big smile on her face; she was prepared to launch herself at the birthday girl. Not bothering to contain her elated behaviour, she flung the door open and quickly outspread her arms. Except, her expression turned embarrassed and hands slowly dropped to her side as the person behind the door was not Juyeon.

The stranger- a tall male with a demeanour that made him look a similar age as Xiao- was more confused than anything else. “Miss Cheng?” The man looked at his parcel to confirm the surname, his professionalism allowing him to dismiss the scene. “I have a delivery for you, could you please sign here?”

“Sure, why not!” Forcing a smile as she nodded too, grasping the offered pen before squiggling a rather rushed and ugly signature. Cheng Xiao, instead of handing the pen back, placed it on top of the parcel, gravity worked against it, making it slip off. Not knowing what to do, Cheng Xiao bent down and picked up the pen, handing it back properly.

The obviously amused man thanked her and wished her a good day. Honestly, Xiao couldn't be more delighted to see him leave. The scene was far too embarrassing to handle and she needed several moments to calm herself down. The way she felt this could be best done was knocking her head on the door frame.

“Are you alright there, Miss?” A familiar voice was nearing the Chinese and she didn't even bother turning around, she did, however, stop hitting her head. “A pretty girl like you…” Cheng Xiao felt a pair of warm hands snake around her waist and a chin atop of her shoulder blade. One hand moved to Xiao’s head to cover her eyes, the ‘stranger’ stole a kiss to her cheek too. “...With a pretty big forehead shouldn't hurt it like that. Poor forehead.” No doubt, it was Juyeon, anyone would recognise such special laughter even after just one encounter.