Work Text:
You don't think you've ever seen the Hyunracha kitchen in such disarray.
Dirty bowls and pans surround the, as far as you can tell, empty sink. flour seems to cover every available flat surface you can see. An older Tiger JK song you've heard a million times before but could not for the life of you remember the time of plays in the background as the faint scent of something burning finally hits your nose. And amid the chaos, your boyfriend is standing in front of the counter with thin tight lips, puffed-up cheeks, flour in his hair, and chocolate on his face. The sleeves of his oversized grey hoodie are rolled up just past his elbows. His dark hair is messier than usual, a byproduct of him running his hands through his hair all day. You'd be surprised if he didn't get more than just flour stuck in his hair. And to top off his disheveled look, his lensless glasses are hanging off the bridge of his nose.
"Do your roommates know that you're in here unsupervised?" You ask slowly as you cautiously walk into the kitchen. You grab a surprisingly clean towel and run part of it under the faucet. You quietly chuckle to yourself as you confirm your suspicions of the sink itself being empty.
"Y/n?" Jisung's head snaps up and in your direction. Three lines form between his brow as he stares at you in confusion. "Why are you here early?"
You walk over to Jisung, stepping on a particularly sticky part of the floor, and gently grab his chin. "I'm not early. You told me to be here at 3 and it's almost 4. I thought I'd give you more time to get ready...Maybe I should have given you more time."
"Shit, it's that late already? I could've sworn..." Jisung's voice trails off as he looks around the kitchen. You take the opportunity to wipe a bit of chocolate off of his neck.
"You got the sudden urge to bake?" You tilt Jisung's head back towards you so you can get the spot just above his eyebrow. You're almost certain that if he did have actual glasses on, they would be dirtier than the windshield that just went through the mud.
"No, I was trying to finish your birthday cake before you got here. Shit," Jisung mutters under his breath. "Look at me, I didn't even wish you a happy birthday.
You giggle as you finish cleaning his face, tossing the rag on the counter and giving him your divided attention. "You already did when you called me at midnight."
"Yeah, but this is my first time seeing you in person. Stand still," Jisung quickly presses a kiss into your forehead.
In rapid succession, he's kissing you all over your face. You feel the faint touch of his lips on your cheeks, nose, and chin as he hurries over to the next spot, barely letting you process the sudden flurry of kisses. He finally connects his lips to yours, letting his lips linger longer than they had on any other part of your face before slowly pulling away. "There, one for every year you've graced the earth with your presence. Happy birthday, jagiya."
"Thank you, Hanji," You giggle. All of the heat in your body rushes to your face as you stare at your boyfriend and his large smile.
"I'm glad you came now and not at 3 because...well, let's just say there was a log trial and error. And disappointment."
"I'm sure you didn't do that bad," You reassure him, gesturing to the fully frosted cake on the counter.
It's not the prettiest cake you've seen. There's just as much frosting on the plate as there is on the cake. You can see some clumps of the cake trapped in the frosting, making it uneven. And even with the crudely drawn character that you can only assume is Han Quokka saying 'happy birthday, Y/n,' it's still the best cake you've ever had.
"The first one was literally soup when I pulled it out of the oven. And then I burned it when I stuck it back in to finish baking. The second one wouldn't even leave the pans without the help of a power saw. The fact that I managed to get icing on this one is a miracle."
"Again," You gently shake the plate to make sure the cake doesn't jiggle. "do your roommates know you were in here without supervision?"
"They'll live," Jisung swats your hand away and pulls the cake just out of your reach so you can't check it anymore.
"I don't think you will, though."
"They wouldn't make you a widow on your birthday,"
"After they see this mess? I think they'll black out. I can already hear all three of them right now. I fear this is what will reawaken the predebut beef between you and Hyunjin." You lean on the counter with a satisfied smirk, no longer caring about getting your clothes dirty.
Jisung's head tilts back slightly, his eyes widen a bit as he stares down at you. "And I'll handle him like I handled him back then,"
"I'm telling him you said that," You pull out your phone from your back pocket and pretend to search for Hyunjin's number.
"No, wait," He says quickly, putting both of his hands over your phone.
"Fine," You smile as you put your phone back. "C'mon, I'll help you clean up so we can head out."
"Before that," Jisung walks to the fridge, the only sounds are his feet becoming unstuck and restuck to the sticky floor.
He grabs something next to the fridge and walks back to you. He pulls the cake back in between the two of you and opens his hand to reveal a few candles and a lighter. He carefully places the candles, paying extra attention to not impale his drawing or any of the letters. After he places the last candle, he timidly pushes the cake a little closer to you.
"Cake before dinner?" You ask, tilting your head like a confused puppy.
"Rules like that were made up by people who hate fun." He whines, swinging his arms back and forth. You fail to conceal a laugh as you gesture for him to go ahead and light the candles.
Jisung quickly lights the candles and pulls out his phone. Before you can even question why, he starts singing a slightly off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" with his phone trained on you. You can't help but laugh at how bad he sounds and if you didn't know any better, you'd think that was his real voice. The phone follows you as you lean down and close your eyes before you make your birthday wish. Although, there isn't anything you can immediately think of to wish for. You quickly wish for more little moments like this and blow out your candles. Jisung cheers before grabbing some plates, forks, and a knife. He hands you the knife and holds out one of the plates, waiting for you to either take it or place a piece of cake on it.
"You know," You start softly as you take the plate from him and place a piece of the cake on it. "in some cultures the birthday person gives the first slice to the person they love the most."
Jisung cautiously takes the place back from you and stares at it for a moment. He looks back at you and cocks his head to the side. "Under different circumstances, I would be crying right now. But something tells me you want me to taste this first because you don't trust my skills in the kitchen."
"I would trust your skills in the kitchen if I didn't witness you burn water multiple times." You laugh but you're being 100% serious. The amount of times he's forgotten to put water in his mac and cheese before cooking it in the microwave is alarming. Jumping immediately to baking on his own is a bit terrifying.
"I didn't burn it, it reduced to steam because I got distracted by your beauty," He winks without missing a beat. You can feel the heat rushing to your face again. "But it's your birthday and if you want to sacrifice me, who am I to argue."
You wince as Jisung scoops a large amount of the cake with his fork. You waver between telling him to maybe not taste that much of the cake and having some confidence in him. He picks up the fork and stares at it for a second before shoving it in his mouth. You bite your lower lip as you watch him chew...and then stop chewing. His expression goes blank and then immediately turns into a frown.
"Mont eaf dat," He sets down the plate and looks around the kitchen frantically. "Oh, mah gof,"
He rushes over to the trash can by the sink. He spits out the piece of cake and moves over to the sink. You watch as he shoves his mouth under the faucet and turns it on. He's there for nearly a minute, washing his mouth out and spitting it back into the sink.
"I'm so serious, don't eat that." He sighs as she turns the faucet off and dries his face with the bottom of his shirt.
"I think you're being a bit dramatic--" You pick up his discarded fork and scoop a small bit of the cake to taste for yourself. Jisung quickly takes the fork out of your hand and tosses it in the sink.
"I shit you not, I mixed up the sugar and the salt. And there was a lot of sugar." He throws his head back and lets out a deep sigh. "Oh my god, I need water."
"You mixed up the salt and the sugar in the cake?" You laugh because the whole situation itself is silly and would happen to Jisung.
"And the frosting. Blame Hyunjin for trying to make our kitchen like a Pinterest board. You can't just take the labels off of everything and put them next to each other."
You do a quick scan of the kitchen again, looking at the aftermath of the Great Jisung Baking Show. "The kitchen did look nice."
"I'm sorry," Jisung rests his forehead on your shoulder in defeat. "I just wanted to make you a cake for your birthday but I fucked it up."
"It's okay. The sentiment is still there. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better." He replies softly, almost whispering.
"No, I'm being serious." You lift his head and cup his cheeks. You press his cheeks together, making his lip form into a fish face, before kissing his forehead. "How about we clean this all up before one of the boys comes home and has an aneurysm, order in, and bake another one together."
"And by 'bake another one together' you mean that I stand as far away from you as possible as you bake and I only wash the dishes?" He mumbles, his face still in your hands.
The corners of your mouth lift to your eyes, forming a large smile. You press another kiss into his forehead and release his face from your grip. "Whoever said you belong in baboracha is absolutely incorrect."
"What racha?"
"Nothing," You sing song as you collect some more dishes from the counter and bring them to the sink.