There's something wonderful about the smell of freshly baked bread that makes Tzuyu feel like everything is right with the world. She pulls a piping hot tray of milk bread from the oven and sets it aside to cool. The loaves are golden on the outside and springy to the touch, and the sheer perfection of this bake makes Tzuyu glow with satisfaction. It doesn't matter that this is the second batch of milk bread she's baked this morning and probably the ninetieth batch since her little bakery opened about two months ago. It doesn't matter that she's baked hundreds of perfect milk bread loaves in her life and will hopefully bake thousands by the end of it if she's lucky. A good bake is a good bake and that's more than enough to put a smile on Tzuyu's face.

It's only 5 am, but Tzuyu has been baking for the last 2 hours and there's still a ton of work to do before the bakery opens at 7. The croissants and cinnamon rolls are already finished and the muffins come next. Tzuyu already has a few trays of batter poured and she pops those into the empty oven. A batch of scones will follow. Donuts are on the agenda, too. And then the shop opens and Tzuyu will handle a small rush of morning customers before resuming her baking in the afternoon.

There will be cookies, there will be cakes. And if Tzuyu has time for it, she wants to whip up some strawberry tarts this afternoon, too. Her daily list of planned bakes seems endless sometimes, but Tzuyu loves it all. She's wanted to open this bakery since she was five years old. And now, twenty years later, Tzuyu is living her dream. She's surrounded by bread and baked goods from morning to night. What more could she ask for?

*mwah*

A gentle kiss lands itself onto Tzuyu's left cheek. It's like the universe is answering her rhetorical question and Tzuyu jumps at the unexpected touch of warmth. Her heart nearly leaps out of her chest when she turns and finds Nayeon's face just inches from her own, a bright and mischievous smile dancing on the older woman's lips. Tzuyu hadn't heard anyone come into the kitchen, distracted and daydreaming as she was, and the surprise is more than evident on Tzuyu's face.

"W-what are you doing here?" Tzuyu stutters, trying to still her racing heart as though such a feat was even possible around Im Nayeon.

The older woman simply laughs at the question, her twinkling eyes already prepared for merciless teasing. "Really, Tzuyu-ah? Is that how you greet your girlfriend? What ever happened to, 'Good morning Nayeon, you look beautiful today?'"

Girlfriend. Tzuyu blushes even harder under Nayeon's playful smile. She still can't get used to the word even though it's already been a month since they became girlfriends, a month since Nayeon became more than just her employee's roommate, a month since Nayeon ate her way through the entire menu at "Tzuyu's Bread" and finally asked Tzuyu out on a date.

"GoodmorningNayeonyoulookbeautifultoday," Tzuyu mumbles while blushing furiously. She looks away because she knows that Nayeon's brilliant smile has likely tripled in size at this point, looks away because Tzuyu knows that she will simply melt and become putty in Nayeon's hands if she looks up and catches the expression on Nayeon's face that makes Tzuyu feel like she is the single most important thing in Nayeon's life. But Tzuyu forgets that looking away in embarrassment is more of an attractor than a dete