It wasn’t hard for Chanyeol to convince Wendy to teach him how to bake – or cook, for that matter. They already were tasked to bake a bunch of rainbow cakes for the Cosmic Railway Cafe’s Pride Week celebration anyway.

For the first week, Wendy decided to just teach Chanyeol the basics: a white cake. Simple enough, she thought. But apparently, teaching a prince something from scratch was a challenge.

“Can we just not use cake mix or something—” Chanyeol pouted, his face clouded in flour. Wendy wanted to get mad at him. Chanyeol almost mixed up his salt and sugar (how he could do that, Wendy had no idea). But she couldn’t find herself annoyed – Chanyeol looked too funny, concentrated, eager to learn... but somehow failing.

“It doesn’t taste the same! I promise it will be worth the wait,” Wendy said as she stirred some milk into their batter. She poured the batter onto the baking pan, and Chanyeol opened the oven for her. They watched an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine to kill the time waiting for the cake to bake.

Once the cake got out of the oven (of course Chanyeol almost just grabbed the pan without the mitten), they let it cool for a bit and watched another episode of their new favorite show.

“I love Jake and Amy,” Wendy sighed as she sat on Chanyeol’s couch comfortably, tucking her legs to one side. “I wish I had that kind of relationship.” Chanyeol perked up from the side of the couch where he was seated, scooting over to Wendy.

“Why?”

“It’s just... I’m just a failure in that aspect. I have no friends aside from Seulgi. And you and Heechul. And Jongin – feels weird to call him Jongin and not Kai, but Jongin. I can’t get my together with relationships. That’s just Wendy Son for you. Apparently I was too kind and got boring. Then that affected me – became a bit more sure of myself – but next boyfriend told me I never had time for him. Basically I’ve already accepted it just won’t work out,” she shrugged.

“That’s not true,” Chanyeol said. “You’re not boring at all. You know so many things.”

“And I’m not good at any of them,” Wendy looked down. “But enough of that – let’s just taste the cake!” she stood up, suddenly chipper. Chanyeol couldn’t help but frown. He wanted Wendy to feel that she was important, she was special. She helped him out even if she didn’t have to. She was his first friend in LA, who actually had the guts to diss him the first time they met. Chanyeol was just frustrated – he wished Wendy could see the things he saw in her.

“Congratulations on your first cake,” Wendy said as she handed Chanyeol a slice of their cake. He got a fork and took a bite from the slice.

“, that’s good,” Chanyeol said. “I can’t believe I made that. Well. Somehow. Around 20% of that. That’s good enough for me.” Wendy laughed. Chanyeol just made her forget that her life was mostly ty. She might not have a Jake in her life right now, but at least she had some cake.

For the next three weeks, Chanyeol and Wendy continued to bake and cook stuff – Wendy even taught Chanyeol basic kimchi fried rice (and it was a success). She was almost at his house every other night, going straight from the cafe to work on their Pride Week decorations and to perfect the rainbow cake that they were going to sell. They still went out with Jongin and Seulgi during Friday nights – it was their new group thing.

Jongin found it a relief to finally admit the truth to Seulgi. He trusted her that she won’t tell anyone, and despite being a natural writer – a sharer of news – Seulgi kept shut. She loved Jongin too much to do that.

The weekend just before Pride week, Wendy and Chanyeol were on full-on crunch time mode. They prepared the layers of cakes (and yes, Chanyeol could do that now!), and made sure that the decorations for the cafe were ready. It was already 2AM – and they didn’t even notice it.

“, it’s 2AM. I have to go home!” Wendy panicked. Dark circles were forming under her eyes, strands of her hair trying to escape her bun... she didn’t even notice that her red bra strap was showing, and Chanyeol tried his best not to stare.

“It’s 2AM. You can’t go out at this hour,” Chanyeol reasoned out with her. “You know, you can just sleep on my bed. I’ll take the couch.”

“I can take an Uber – it’s not that late,” Wendy said. Chanyeol nodded, trying to hide his disappointment – he didn’t want Wendy going out at the wee hours of the morning. She would ride an Uber, but still. Wendy couldn’t help but escape a yawn – the lack of sleep was catching up with her.

“I’d call Seulgi or Jongin, but I’m sure they’re asleep, too,” Chanyeol sighed.

“God, I just wanna sleepssf—” Wendy murmured to herself and yawned again. “This is upfront, I can’t believe I’m asking this – but is it ok if I take the couch?”

“I already offered you my bed. It’s more comfortable. I’ll take the couch,” Chanyeol smiled.

“No, no—”

“Will you just shut up and take the bed?” Chanyeol rolled his eyes. Wendy looked like she was about to faint from exhaustion, and Chanyeol just wanted her to rest.

“O—okay,” Wendy said, finally agreeing. She almost stumbled when Chanyeol caught her in time, putting his hand by her waist. “I’m gonna faint on you, am I? Chanyeol, I’m sorry, I’m heavy—”

“You really aren’t,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he took her to the stairs slowly and just decided to carry her bridal style to his bed – she was already half-asleep.

As Chanyeol laid her down on the bed and put the blanket over her, Wendy kept on grumbling.

“What?” Chanyeol said, trying to contain his laugh. He had no idea what Wendy was mumbling.

“Chanyeol, I’m just –” Wendy tried to open her eyes but failed. “Just thanks. You know. For being a good friend.”

“I should be the one thanking you,” Chanyeol blushed, thankful that Wendy couldn’t see his expression right now.

“No... you’re really good to me,” Wendy smiled to herself, eyes still closed. “Can you please hug me?”

Chanyeol felt his heart beat faster – the is happening to me?! – but he couldn’t resist her. He sat on the bed – his bed – and slowly put his arms around Wendy’s shoulders, inhaling her scent in the process. Wendy sighed contentedly. Chanyeol tried to memorize this moment: what she smelled like (vanilla? Probably from her shampoo and baking too much cake), what time it was (2:18 A.M.), how soft her hair was, how perfect now was.

That was until Wendy snored loudly, and Chanyeol chuckled, letting Wendy get her rest.

Wendy woke up feeling content – she just had the best sleep she’s had in years. She ruffled through the blankets – when did she get such great blankets? She slowly opened her eyes and suddenly felt panic when she realized she wasn’t in her room. She racked through her brain on what happened the night before – they stayed up late making cakes and she somehow ended up on Chanyeol’s bed. On a prince’s bed (it was king sized, though, Wendy observed).

She rushed to the bathroom to take a look at herself in the mirror – her hair was a mess, and her breath stank. She wasn’t wearing any makeup – well, Chanyeol already saw her bare face weeks ago, so she didn’t really mind. Why was she taking so much time thinking about how Chanyeol saw her, anyway? She saw a bottle of mouthwash on the cupboard, took a gargle and spit out the mouthwash. She combed her hair with her fingers and shrugged when she decided she looked decent enough.

Wendy tried to take light steps – she wasn’t sure if Chanyeol was awake already – but she saw an empty couch. Maybe he went to sleep at Jongin’s? Wendy thought to herself. She reached the first floor and w