you're the sunlight, keeps my heart going

Surprise Valentine's Dinner

Mina woke up past 3 in the afternoon and was left alone at their apartment today. She finished her office tasks earlier than usual and doesn't know what to do anymore, since Chaeyoung is not home yet and she cannot play any games without her. She then just decided to scroll through her phone and saw lots of couple photos in her timeline. It's not that she's disgusted or irritated (cue the sarcasm) with their friends' faces all over her feed (mostly Nayeon and Jeongyeon), it's just that it made her realize something special on that very day.

It's Valentine's Day.

She panicked a little bit because she was so busy with her work that she does not think of anything, even just ordering a bouquet of roses, to give to her girlfriend on this special day. She was about to freak out and curse herself when Chaeyoung's voice suddenly surrounded her mind, saying that it's okay if you don't give me gifts on special occasions, or literally whenever you like, having you is beyond okay for me and that made her smile right away.

However, she thinks that she needs to make it up with her because she has been busy in the past few weeks and she does not bond with her in that span of time. She deeply thinks of any ways on how to surprise her before she come back home tonight. She continued browsing on her phone and stumbled upon some random cooking videos that gave her an idea of what to do for the day.

She stood up, went to their kitchen, and check if they have enough ingredients for a simple dinner, she decided she will give to the girl as a gift for today's occasion. Since they lack some flour and chocolate, she dressed up and went to the market quick and also bought some flowers before proceeding with her agenda.

She wore her apron and prepared all the things she needs for cooking and baking. She then took a deep breath and decided to start.

"Let's do it for Chaeyoung!"

Honestly, it is Mina's first time to cook in her whole life. Well, technically not, but the first time she tried doing it, she burned the hotdogs for her supposed to be 14th birthday party and ever since then, her Mom never allowed her to cook again even if she insisted on wanting to learn.

Even though she is nervous as hell because she wants to make a good impression to her girlfriend, she just decided to think positively, hoping that she will not burn anything, as in, literally everything around her, or else Chaeyoung will definitely get mad at her.

Mina then started following all the basic steps that can be seen in her phone and she thinks she is doing quite good looking at her development. She tried baking some cookies first because she wants that to serve as their dessert for tonight.

She followed all the steps written in the article like preheating the oven, melting the butter, stir the chocolate, mixing the sugar and eggs, stirring the flour, and blend all of it. Seeing the things she has done in her first hour in the kitchen, there are already many ingredients on the floor and just reminded herself to clean up after she cook everything. She spread it evenly into the prepared pan right after and wait for it to bake.

While waiting for the usual 30 minutes time baking the cookies, she proceeded to cook their main dish of the night and that is rice and noodles. She right away laughed at herself for having that idea because she literally cannot cook anything decent yet, but already formed a back-up plan if ever none of it will work it: ordering some takeout.

She rinse the rice first, add some water, before fully putting it into the stove and wait for it to cook. She thinks it's easy considering that she always watch her mother does that every night right after she get home from work, but she guesses it's not that easy as she thinks because she doesn't know to measure the water and when to turn off the stove. Nevertheless, she just followed all the steps on the internet and hoping for a good outcome.

Right after she cooked the rice and cookies was finally baked, she proceeded on cooking the noodles. She brings the water to a boil, stir in the soup base, allow the broth to cook, add and cook the noodles, add some flavors and seasonings and some boiled eggs to complete the meal.

Fifteen minutes before Chaeyoung's usual arrival time, Mina decided to start cleaning up since she thought she already finished all of the cooking for the day and thinks she did a great job even though she does not know if all of it is edible. She was about to put all the trash in one place when she heard something exploded and smelled something burning in the kitchen so she immediately went there and saw Chaeyoung standing there already, turning off the stove and plugging out the oven.

"What is the one thing I told you not to do?"

"Burn the house down"

"And what did you do?"

"Made you dinner"

There's exactly 15 second silence before Mina finally admitted defeat that made Chaeyoung chuckle at her girlfriend.

"And almost burnt the house down"

Chaeyoung signalled the girl to move closer to her and immediately gave her a warm, comforting hug that Mina surely misses for the past few weeks and with that, all her worries and stress was suddenly gone.

"Gosh, why do I love you so much, Myoui Mina?"

They finished cleaning up the kitchen and just like Mina had planned as their back-up, they just ordered some takeout to eat for dinner since the food she cooked and the cookies she baked was not for their taste, but Chaeyoung is beyond grateful for all of her girlfriend's efforts even though she really doesn't need to.

"I just want you to have a great Valentine's day though, and besides, it's a Friday, so I want your week to end something special and stress-free"

"I told you so many times that having you by my side is already more than enough for me, Minari"

Mina looks at Chaeyoung and gently cups her face to examine it. Chaeyoung is a little confused and asks what Mina is doing.

"Hold on, there's something on your face"

Mina responds and then kisses Chaeyoung.

"It was me."

Chaeyoung becomes red and flustered and asked what that random kiss is for.

"I'm just really sorry that I don't know how to cook for you. But I do hope that you enjoyed today, including the flowers"

"You really do not have to. I sure enjoy every moment with you and I'm certain about that. Wait, I have something for you."

Chaeyoung got something from her office bag and showed Mina the necklace she bought for the girl for the occasion tonight.

"Put it for me?"

The girl then helped her put the necklace into her neck and it just looks so beautiful in her.

"Happy Valentine's day, Mina"

Mina may failed cooking for her girlfriend, but she sure is still winning in life because the fact that Son Chaeyoung became hers is already a victory. That night on Valentine's day, they promised to learn cooking together so they do not need to bother ordering some takeouts during special occasions. It is still a day well spent with each other, with or without any celebrations.