“Good, you’re back. Get over here, Soojung ah. We have work to do.” Jessica called out from the kitchen as soon as she heard Krystal announcing that she was home.

Krystal blinked as she took off her shoes at the front door. Work? What work? Was her sister high? Jessica was possibly the most energy-conserving person she knew - she usually preferred to lounge around the living room, leaving most of the kitchen work to Taeyeon. At Krystal’s ponderous silence, Jessica stuck her head into the hall, looking her up and down. “Hurry up! And change out of your school clothes.” As Jessica pulled her head back into the kitchen, Krystal could swear she heard her mutter, “wouldn’t want them to get dirty.”

“Yah, Jung Sooyeon. Are you okay?” Ignoring Jessica’s commands, Krystal went up to her sister and felt her forehead for a possible fever. “Hmm… you feel fine.”

“I am fine.” Jessica huffed and swatted away Krystal’s hand like it was a pesky fly. “I’m preparing for tomorrow’s class and you are going to be my lovely assistant.”

“WHAT?!” Krystal almost squawked.

This is it, this is how I’m going to go. Death by food poisoning. Mom, dad, thank you. I’ve lived a good life.

“Whatever your inner monologue is, shut it. We’re not going to die.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “I’ve got Yoona’s recipe right here and the pages have been secured with bookmarks and paper clips. It’s foolproof,” she ended smugly.

“Yeah but it’s not Jessica-proofed.”

“YAH!” Jessica glared at her sister who dismissed it entirely with a raised brow. “Today was a disaster and I thought we could practice a little before tomorrow’s class.” She finished her sentence with the tiniest voice, her gaze fixed on the recipe book on the kitchen counter.

“But why does it have to be ‘we’?” Krystal sighed in defeat and took the recipe book from Jessica to study the instructions. “Are we having this for dinner? Does Taeyeon know you’re cooking?”

“If it turns out well, we can. And yes, Taengoo knows. She’s actually out buying the ingredients right now. She should be back soon.”

Krystal sighed again, it was going to be a while before they could eat and that was if everything were to go smoothly. Ah well, the recipe didn’t look very intimidating - how hard could tempura veggies be? As Seulgi or Amber would have said, “It’ll be fine.”

The Jungs’ eyes widened when they saw that Taeyeon had bought more than what was needed, and had sheepishly admitted that those were for standby in case their first try didn’t go as planned. Krystal helped her with the bags and bags of vegetables, as Jessica pursed her lips, hefting multiple boxes of dry ingredients. Needless to say, Taeyeon might be sleeping in the living room later that night for that comment.

Jessica told Taeyeon that she didn’t need any form of help, saying that she wanted to try to make the dish as independently as possible since there was no way Taeyeon could come and rescue her class every single time. Such sentiments brought tears to Taeyeon’s eyes and she dramatically wiped them away. “My little kitchen disaster is all grown up and teaching home ec.” She sniffled before continuing, “I’m so proud of you, Sica yah~!”

“Ew...” Krystal’s face scrunched up in disgust at her prospective sister-in-law’s antics. “I’m outta here.” She picked up her school bag and headed up to her room.

“Y-yah, Jung Soojung!”

“I’m going to shower and I’ll be right back. Calm down, please.” She smirked at how Jessica panicked a little when she walked away, knowing fully that Jessica couldn’t handle making an entire dish on her own. “You two can make out or whatever in the meantime.” She added offhandedly.

“As expected, BB Jung has good sense!”

Jessica face-palmed at her girlfriend’s reply.

“You’re welcome, Taeyeon.”

Krystal and Taeyeon had expected dinner to be slightly late that day. But they did not expect it to be that late.

Taeyeon grew impatient as she watched the two sisters work in the kitchen. They were a little too slow and she wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out. Some of the vegetables were getting a little overcooked since they weren’t cut in equal sizes and it looked like Jessica had accidentally let the oil get a little too hot before they dropped in their first pieces.

“Well, go back a page. I just want to check what temperature it’s supposed to be.”

“You don’t believe I put in the right amount?” Jessica asked indignantly.

“If you believe you did, then there’s no harm in checking, right?” Krystal reasoned.

Jessica was clutching the open book to her chest as she turned this way and that keeping it out of Krystal’s reach. “You should just listen to what your older sister says!”

“Listening to you is how we ended up in this situation in the first place!” Krystal yelled.

Jessica gasped dramatically, and Taeyeon had to resist face-palming at the exchange.

Surprisingly, Krystal actually managed to look quite chagrined and pouted at her sister. “I’m sorry.” She made to give Jessica a hug, which the older Jung was about to receive when Krystal added a, “But I really think it’s too hot,” and the argument started all over again.

Taeyeon glanced at the clock - it was almost 8pm and it seemed like they still had quite a ways to go. Should she say something to Jessica? Or perhaps just kept quiet until they were done cooking? Neither seemed like very good options. Either way, she had to try something.

“Uhm...do you need any help?” she cautiously asked.

“No. It’s alright, Taengoo. We’re almost done!”

“We are??” Krystal blurted out in surprise, glancing around at the mess of pots and pans.

“Yeah! It says so right here. All we have to do now is just remove from the heat and plate.”

“Oh…” Taeyeon sighed in relief. Perhaps dinner wasn’t going to be a disaster after all. The food did smell like what it was supposed to. The visual, on the other hand, could use some work but it was quite alright for a beginner cook. “Bless.”

But Taeyeon had spoken too soon.

Jessica made Krystal and Taeyeon sit at the dinner table, as if neither of them had been part of the process and she was surprising them with her culinary creation.

“Okay, who wants to try it first~?” she sang as she emerged from the kitchen with the first place.

Krystal and Taeyeon exchanged glances, and Taeyeon gathered her courage and spoke up. “Oh, me!” Krystal wiped away a small tear as she mused about the sacrifices of love.

And a sacrifice it was, if Taeyeon’s face was anything to go by as she took her first bite.

“How is it?” Jessica asked, though Taeyeon’s pallor was evidence enough that the dish was a failure. Jessica ran a hand through her hair in frustration, but before Krystal could suggest ordering a pizza, she found herself being dragged back into the kitchen.

“Again!”

***

Two more tries and one rescue from Taeyeon later, the sisters sat around the table, defeated, after a long evening of slaving over the stove. Taeyeon looked at them and gave Jessica a pat on the back before volunteering to do the dishes, seeing how her girlfriend was already at her limits. It was already 10:30pm and they had just finished their meal.

Krystal sluggishly hauled herself out of her seat to help clear the table while Jessica looked like a boneless heap resting in her seat.

“Taengoo...I’m so tired…” Jessica whined. “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“You’ll get it tomorrow. We believe in you.”

“We do??” Krystal turned to look at Taeyeon so fast she almost got whiplash.

“Yes, we do.” Taeyeon continued as she reached to grab some detergent and started doing the dishes. “Sometimes you just gotta believe in yourself even if you don’t, Sica yah.”

“Jessica, I think your food broke Taeyeon. What is she talking about?”

Jessica sat upright slowly and pondered about what Taeyeon just said. It sounded really weird but somehow it sort of made some sense. She eventually shrugged and whined at Taeyeon to carry her upstairs after she was done with the dishes.

“Whipped…” Krystal mumbled when Taeyeon agreed almost instantly. “I’m going up to rest. Thank you for dinner and for cleaning up, Taeyeon. G’night, guys.” She quickly grabbed her things and disappeared up the stairs.

Taeyeon finished cleaning up in record time and found her girlfriend dozing off exactly where she left her - at the dining table. She went up to her and gently gave Jessica a little shake. “Come on, Taengoo’s gonna take you upstairs.” She held out her arms.

“I’m alright, Taeyeon ah. Thank you.” She finally got up and stretched. “Let’s lock up and head upstairs.”

“Yes, dear.” She gave Jessica a quick kiss and they hauled their tired bodies up to the bedroom.

TBC

A/N: ayo!! long time no see haha we hope you guys enjoyed this intermission and we will be back to our regularly scheduled programme soon (hopefully a little more frequent than a monthly update lol)