“So, what will Yuna be making for you tonight?”

 Ryujin rolls her eyes at Yeji’s snickered question. She wishes she can roll her eyes further back into her head when she hears Jisu and Chaeryeong’s laughs follow. She wasn’t expecting her high school reunion to be like this: her three best friends teasing her girlfriend’s inability to properly cook.

“Look, just because Jisu can bake pies,” Ryujin starts, glancing towards Chaeryeong to see how she’ll react towards the statement shot towards her girlfriend (her expression turns sour for the slightest moment), “and you can make a simple variety of dishes, doesn’t mean you’re superior. Yuna is fine how she is, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Chaeryeong says, waving her hand in dismissal. “You remember that time during cooking class? Yuna was trying to impress Ryujin so bad, she asked the teacher to help her make the most complicated dish and still managed to burn it!” Ryujin wishes she could melt away upon hearing the cackles that rise from her friends. “It wasn’t that bad,” she says defensively. “Just a little…crispy.”

“Crispy, she says!” Jisu exclaims, holding her sides tightly. If Ryujin squints, she knows she’ll be able to see tears forming in Jisu’s eyes – because of laughter. “Okay, fine!” Ryujin says, crossing her arms. “Yuna can’t cook. There.”

“Oh, Ryujin, we all know that,” Yeji says in mock sympathy, reaching over to pat Ryujin’s shoulder. Ryujin shakes the other girl off, signaling to the waiter to give her another drink. It’s probably her fifth, and it hasn’t even been an hour since she got here at this stupid reunion. Ryujin chugs the contents of whatever’s in the glass the waiter gives her – it’s some sort of fancy beer, judging by the after taste – and slams the glass down. “If Yuna was here, would you be saying the same things?”

“Yuna knows she at cooking,” Chaeryeong says, raising an eyebrow. “She’s been saying that since that day she burned the stuff meant for you.” Ryujin cringes at the mention of that memory; she’s been trying to forget it. It only makes her feel bad for her girlfriend (though not nearly as bad as she felt in the moment).

“Even so,” Ryujin insists, starting to raise her hand so she can flag down another waiter. She scowls when Yeji lowers her hand, eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Ryujin, it hasn’t been an hour. You have to drive back home. Don’t get drunk.”

“I can hold my liquor,” Ryujin says half-heartedly, though she listens to Yeji. She doesn’t want to return home wasted and reeking of alcohol – that won’t look good to the neighbors and it’ll only worry Yuna. The other girl had decided not to attend the reunion because of “personal issues,” and Ryujin didn’t question her. Whatever it is, Ryujin figures it must be serious, and she doesn’t want to burden Yuna any further.

“That being said, I need to get going soon,” Yeji continues, smiling as Jisu and Chaeryeong start whining and leaning into her sides. Ryujin tilts her head. “Already?”

“Yeah, I have work tomorrow and if I don’t sleep early I won’t wake up.” Yeji rises from her chair, waving her phone. “I’ll call you later. We can have a better get-together than this – and with Yuna, okay?” She looks at Ryujin as she finishes speaking. Ryujin nods, though she’s not exactly sure what another get-together like this would look like. (Probably everyone teasing Yuna’s cooking. They all love each other, but never pass up an opportunity for relentless teasing.)

“I’ll leave too, then,” Ryujin adds, getting up as well. Chaeryeong shoots her a mock glare. “What? What are Jisu and I supposed to do then?”

“Listen, if I stay, you two will only get me drunk,” Ryujin says, scoffing when Jisu shrugs in agreement. “Yeji is the only one I trust. To an extent. And I’m hungry…and Yuna probably is, too. The food here is terrible.”

Yeji throws an arm around Ryujin’s shoulders. “Let’s go, honey,” she drawls, laughing when Ryujin shrugs her off for the second time that night. The two bid Jisu and Chaeryeong good night and leave the building, stopping as they approach Ryujin’s car. Ryujin knows Yeji lives just a few minutes away, yet she still opens the passenger door for the other girl. “Get in?”

“When I said honey, I thought you knew I was kidding,” Yeji says dryly. In a softer tone, she continues, shaking her head. “I’m good. I’ll take a cab if I think something’s wrong, I promise. Good night, Ryujin. Get home to Yuna.”

Right. Yuna. Ryujin already misses her girlfriend and desperately needs kisses, a big hug, and a bottle of wine. She whispers good night to Yeji and gets into her car, quickly shutting the door and pulling away. Yuna, Yuna, Yuna. What’s she doing now? Ryujin can’t stop the wide smile that starts forming on her face as she imagines her girlfriend, fumbling for the remote and stepping over their two cats, trying to decide what movie to watch tonight.

However, when she gets home, that smile disappears.

It’s replaced by a confused frown, caused by the sight of smoke filling the kitchen windows. A fire? But there aren’t any visible flames. Ryujin gets out of her car, mind full of bewilderment. Why is there so much smoke?

Yuna knows she at cooking. It’s like Chaeryeong is standing right next to Ryujin, whispering in her ear. Ryujin hopes to god this isn’t what she thinks it is and quickly runs towards the house, squeezing her eyes shut for a tiny moment and praying the situation is different than what she’s imagining. Her heart sinks when she reaches the kitchen.

There’s a sheepish smile on Yuna’s face. “Oh, Ryujin…I didn’t know you’d get home this early.”

Ryujin doesn’t want to process what’s in front of her, but she has to: smoke pluming from the oven, sprinklers overhead releasing obnoxious drops of water, smoke alarm beeping rapidly, and a soot covered Yuna standing there awkwardly, fidgeting. Ryujin stands still for a moment. Yuna, the perfect girlfriend, only hopeless at cooking.

“Okay,” Ryujin sighs, quickly bundling her hair into a messy bun atop her head and rolling her sleeves up. “Go get yourself cleaned up, I’ll take care of this.” She waits for Yuna to shuffle towards the bathroom and starts moving when she hears the bathroom door shut. There’s the matter of opening the windows so the smoke can be released, cleaning out whatever Yuna put in the oven – it looks like a pie, the one she was obsessing over just a few days ago and saying how she wanted to make it for Ryujin and now Ryujin feels like crying – turning the sprinklers off and wiping the kitchen down and before she knows it it’s been two hours. It’s probably too much to hope for a night in with wine; all Ryujin wants to do now is take a shower and sleep.

As she heads to the bathroom, she passes the bedroom and pauses when she sees Yuna sitting on the bed. The other girl looks miserable, and Ryujin never thought it was possible but her heart sinks a little more. If anything, it’s probably all the way down to her feet by now. Despite being filthy, she decides to take a little detour and knocks on the open bedroom door, giving Yuna a little smile when the other girl looks up. “Hey.”

“I hope you’re not planning on sitting next to me while you’re that dirty,” Yuna says, though her voice is humorous. There’s sadness laced underneath it, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Ryujin. She shakes her head, walking in and standing in front of Yuna. “I won’t. I just…” She takes another deep breath, taking Yuna’s hands in hers. “What was that? You haven’t attempted to cook in a while…what brought it on tonight?”

Yuna looks guilty, and it only increases the dread in Ryujin. “The girls and I met up the other day,” Yuna says. Of course. Ryujin wants to scream. “The girls” meaning Yeji, Chaeryeong, and Jisu. .

“And they didn’t make fun of me or anything,” Yuna hastily adds. She probably sees the murderous intent scrawled all over Ryujin’s face. Ryujin knows it’s obvious. “We were talking about Chaeryeong’s job, something about someone trying to cheat her out of her job. But…the conversation steered to cooking, and I felt so…off. They all can make things for the people they love, and here I am, ordering you take-out.” Yuna laughs, but there’s no humor in it. In fact, there’s no humor in her voice at all. It scares Ryujin.

“They helped me as much as they could,” Yuna continues, squeezing Ryujin’s hands. “Yeji called me every day and walked me through different recipes. Jisu and Chaeryeong texted me tips. They tease, but they don’t mean any of it. Yet I still…I’m still useless. Here you are, doing so much for me, and here I am. I can’t even make my girlfriend a decent meal.”

Ryujin’s heart is six feet under the ground. All this time, Yuna’s been struggling with insecurity related towards her cooking skills. It has bothered her, no matter how many times she’s joked about it. God, Ryujin wishes she picked up on this earlier. She kneels so she can properly look Yuna in the eyes, cupping the other girl’s face. “Hey. I don’t care if you can’t cook. I don’t care if we eat take-out every single day. None of that matters. What matters is that I’m with you, and you’re perfect just the way you are, I promise.”

Yuna gives her a small smile. “Even if the most I can make is burnt toast?”

“Even if the most you can make is burnt toast,” Ryujin says, smiling back. “I don’t care. I love you for who you are, not your cooking skills. And who says I don’t like eating take-out every day? At least I get mocha bread for dessert.”

“You’ll get fat if you eat too much,” Yuna giggles. Ryujin holds back a sigh of relief as she sees the tension in Yuna’s shoulders melt away – the other girl slouches and clearly relaxes, her posture not as stiff. Ryujin kisses her, slowly, sweetly, and pulls away. “Don’t think you’re not good enough. You’re already way out of my league.”

“Trust me, I’m already aware I’m good enough,” Yuna says, sniffing haughtily. She laughs, voice a musical melody, and gently pushes Ryujin. “Go take a shower. Then maybe we can watch this one movie I found…potentially with a side dish of mocha bread…”

“Perfect,” Ryujin says. She gives Yuna another kiss and heads towards the shower. Maybe it’s weird that she’s excited to spend the night watching a movie with her girlfriend – doing something so normal doesn’t warrant for excitement – but it’s Yuna she’s going to be with. Yuna, who’s more perfect to Ryujin than she’ll ever know.

end <3