"Harder, harder!" ordered Chanyeol. "I...I can't..." Kyungsoo panted with sweat dripping down his slender back. "Ugh, why did I have to lose my only pair of scissors?"

Kyungsoo was struggling to open his new bag of sugar. Chanyeol gave up watching feeble little Kyungsoo and eventually offered to help him. Effortlessly, Chanyeol split the packet open using only his fingertips, whereas Kyungsoo had the packet locked in a death grip with both hands. Chanyeol had laughed when he even tried biting it open.

"Show off," Kyungsoo said to his new pupil. 

Today was the first day of Chanyeol's "tenderness" training. Kyungsoo had lent him one of his old aprons, and he couldn't stop laughing at how massive the rugby player looked in his tiny white smock.

"I'd rather work ." said Chanyeol, feeling embarrassed in the small pinafore. Kyungsoo pictured him wearing nothing but the apron: his cute sticking out, those muscular arms exposed, and the hem of the apron brushing against his junk. 

Kyungsoo got too excited and fumbled with a cup of flour, causing it to spill all over the kitchen tiles. Monggu came running in and started sniffing the white substance. 

"MONGGU NO" Chanyeol bellowed. Shocked by his voice, Monggu skittered away and left behind a trail of powdery paw prints.

"Wow chef, what a great start." Chanyeol said. Kyungsoo dismissed his sarcasm and picked up the fallen cup. "We'll clean up later. Let's start!" 

Banana muffins seemed like a good idea. They were simple to make yet would require some effort from Chanyeol to control his strength. And also, Kyungsoo was convinced that this recipe was idiot-proof. 

"First, the dry ingredients." In a fine mesh strainer, Kyungsoo combined the flour, baking powder, and salt.

"Now sift it."

"Sift?" Chanyeol asked.

"Yes, into the bowl." 

Chanyeol stared at the sieve with horror. "How?" 

"Just, you know," Kyungsoo said, resisting the urge to claw the table. "Make the white stuff go through those holes." 

Chanyeol looked at it again and went "OHHHH." He then lifted his right arm, clenched his fist, and started punching the flour through the wire mesh.

Kyungsoo couldn't believe his eyes. "HEY WAIT," he interrupted, grabbing the older guy’s wrist. “Shake it, not smack it.” He wrapped Chanyeol’s fingers round the sieve’s handle and lightly shook it from side to side. “Gently, like this.” Chanyeol watched in awe as the mixture fell softly into the bowl like snow. Kyungsoo looked up and saw his child-like expression, wanting so badly to kiss him on the cheek for being so cute.

“Kyungsoo ah,”

“Hmm?”

“The flour has been sifted, you can let go now.”

Kyungsoo looked down and noticed the empty sieve. Even worse, he saw his babyish hand still gripped onto Chanyeol’s wrist. He quickly let go and apologised, hoping that the blush on his face wasn’t too obvious. 

"Right then! Onto the next step," said Kyungsoo, quickly trying to cover up what just happened. "Mashing the bananas, I'm sure that's no problem for you." 

Chanyeol clapped his hands excitedly as Kyungsoo presented him with a potato masher. He swung it around animatedly and almost bashed Kyungsoo's face in; if he was any taller he would've walked right into Chanyeol's weapon.

Kyungsoo peeled 3 bananas and put them in another bowl. Chanyeol diligently mashed them up while Kyungsoo went to melt some butter. 

"Okay, I've beaten up the bananas. Now what?" Chanyeol asked. 

"Just pour in three quaters of a cup of sugar and one egg," Kyungsoo replied. "I'll be done with this in a sec." 

Chanyeol grabbed the measuring cup and estimated the amount of sugar. He dumped that in with the bananas and proceeded to crack the egg. 

"Kyungsoo ah," 

"Hmm?"

"I broke the egg."

"Yes, that's the point."

"No I really broke it." 

Kyungsoo turned around and saw Chanyeol cradling the broken egg in his hand. The gooey substance had splashed all over his apron and his worried face caused Kyungsoo to burst out laughing.

"What?" 

"Nothing," said Kyungsoo, trying his best to stop giggling. The poor guy must have bashed the egg too hard against the table. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Kyungsoo removed the egg shells from Chanyeol's grasp and cleaned his sticky hands with a paper towel. 

"We'll try that again," Kyungsoo said, giving Chanyeol another egg. He grabbed it like a baseball and Kyungsoo had to pry his fingers open to ease his grip. "Relax, the egg won't run away." 

Chanyeol held the egg while Kyungsoo held his hand. "Slowly, tap tap." He tapped Chanyeol's hand on the table and the egg cracked. He gently pried it open and allowed its contents to drop into the bowl. "There, just like that!" Kyungsoo praised. "Now where did I put that wooden spoon..." While looking through his drawers, Monggu walked in again and started nudging Kyungsoo's arm with his head. Chanyeol spotted the poodle and said, "Bad dog, get out! It's dirty in here." He whined and sadly walked out, spinning around a few times before plopping down on the rug. 

"Found it!" Kyungsoo said. "And this time please," he warned, giving the mixing spoon to Chanyeol, "don't jerk around with it." 

Chanyeol obeyed him with a salute and began mixing the mashed bananas. Kyungsoo fetched the pot of melted butter from the stove and streamed it into the mixture. Chanyeol found so much joy in stirring that he'd overdo it at certain times, and Kyungsoo would have to remind him to slow down as it wasn't a race. Besides, it was starting to fly out of the bowl and onto the floor. 

"Time to fold in our dry ingredients!" said Kyungsoo, pouring in the sifted flour from before. He used a rubber spatula and showed Chanyeol how proper folding of the batter was done. Chanyeol scrutinised his every move and was confident of doing a good job. 

"Be careful," said Kyungsoo, handing the spatula over to Chanyeol. "We don't want to lose any air bubbles!" 

"Yes sir!" replied Chanyeol. He held the bowl with his left hand and stirred with the right. He remembered Kyungsoo's motions and copied them easily, scooping the batter from the bottom and folding it over the top. He repeated this until the entire mixture thickened, and Kyungsoo applauded him for not spilling anything over the sides. 

"Well done!" Kyungsoo said, causing Chanyeol to smile. They each grabbed an ice cream scoop and quickly filled up the muffin tray with the chunky batter. Kyungsoo then put it in the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes. 

"We did it!!!" Chanyeol howled.

"But now we have to clean up!!!" replied Kyungsoo, cheering sarcastically. 

"Yay!!!" 

"Yay!!!" 

"Aarf!" Monggu barked, cutting off their fake screams.

The two of them laughed and went back to work, cleaning the kitchen and making it spotless. Chanyeol started groaning after a while and questioned how Kyungsoo managed to do this alone everyday. 

"I'm used to it." the baker replied. 

After the utensils were washed, the oven dinged and Chanyeol leaped with joy. "Our muffins!"  

Kyungsoo put on his baby blue mittens and took the banana muffins out of the oven. He placed them on a cooling rack and Chanyeol hovered over it like an insistent fly. The smell attracted Monggu from the living room and Kyungsoo bent down to pick him up.

"Monggu ah, look at that!" Kyungsoo said, bouncing the small dog up and down in his arms. "Chanyeol went through all that trouble just for you." Monggu looked at his caretaker and Chanyeol did some aegyo for him. The puppy didn't react so Chanyeol tried petting his head.

Chomp.

Chanyeol's finger started bleeding. 

"MONGGU I TRUSTED YOU!" he screamed at the dog. Kyungsoo quickly put him down and fetched his first aid kit. "There there..." Kyungsoo hummed, bandaging the small cut on his index finger. Chanyeol laughed at the green plaster covered with little dinosaurs. "I'm a tough guy you know," he bragged. "There really wasn't a need for this." 

Kyungsoo pouted. "You were bleeding all over the cupcakes." 

Chanyeol's eyes widened. He turned back to look at them, but they were still fresh and blood-free. 

"Just kidding!" 

"Sheesh," said Chanyeol, sighing with relief. "I thought I had ruined all our hard work."

Kyungsoo grinned and pat Chanyeol's arm, letting his hand linger over the rugby player's biceps. "Go have a seat, I'll bring the muffins over." Chanyeol thanked him and walked into the living room. He hissed at Monggu and was still mad at him for biting his finger. 

Kyungsoo placed the muffins on a serving plate and poured 2 mugs of chocolate milk for both him and Chanyeol. He brought them into the living room and they quickly dug in. 

"Uwaah," Chanyeol moaned with his mouth full. "Rereeshehs!"

"Reh..what?" 

Chanyeol quickly chewed and swallowed. "Delicious!" 

Kyungsoo took a bite too and was pleasantly surprised; his muffins tasted extraordinary today. Maybe it was the fact that Chanyeol had a hand in this, and that Kyungsoo was totally biased towards whatever he did. 

"Oh by the way," said Chanyeol, "aren't you working today?" 

"Nah," said Kyungsoo. "Wouldn't hurt to stop business once in a while." He raised his mug towards Chanyeol and bowed his head. "It's for a good cause anyway."

"What, helping me?" Chanyeol said. "That's...really nice. Thank you." They clinked their mugs together and downed the rich milk.

Monggu had been sitting by Kyungsoo legs, silently begging for some muffin. Kyungsoo put the dog on his lap and fed him a small piece. The chocolate poodle wagged his tail and his lips, anticipating for more. 

"He may not like you, but he sure loves your cooking." Kyungsoo said.

Chanyeol sulked, clearly peeved at Monggu the little bastard. "What a shallow piece of sh-"

"SHH he can hear you." Kyungsoo said before Chanyeol could offend Monggu again. Chanyeol stuffed his mouth with food before he let himself curse again. 

"What about you? No school today?" Kyungsoo asked. 

"Holidays," Chanyeol replied. "School is out for a whole month!" 

"Speaking of school," Kyungsoo smirked. "Let me test you on what you've learnt today."

Chanyeol grinned, feeling absolutely confident of himself. "Bring it."

Kyungsoo his chin and thought hard for a question. After a minute, he cleared his throat and asked,

"How many idiots does it take to break an egg?" 

Chanyeol was reminded of his embarrassing incident and scowled.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"Aarf!" 

---

Banana muffin recipe :)