Crumbling Bridges {YuJae} | complete

twenty-one

I try not to have favourites, but this chapter is up there :D enjoy lovelies <3

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"You should try one. Seriously. They're good." Jaehyun waves the paper bag in front of Yuta's face as they walk down the street, tempting his boyfriend with the aroma of the homemade pastries. Yuta gives him a dubious frown but takes one anyway. He widens his eyes in surprise when he takes a bite.

"I must be a natural at baking. Wow."

"You said you messed up cookies." Jaehyun says. He chases the joy in Yuta's eyes with his own amused smile. "How can you mess up cookies but get croissants right?"

"Like I said, I must be a natural. A baking genius, if you may." Yuta doesn't give Jaehyun time to argue because he passes the bag back and tells him to take another.

Yuta hadn't believed him at lunch when he said the croissants were amazing, but now the Japanese doesn't stop talking about how proud he is and about how he should go on MasterChef and kick all the other contestants' asses.

"Fine. I challenge you to baking a cake." Jaehyun says, a proud declaration, pressing the button at the crossing with extra vigour to mark his point. He turns to face Yuta, who brushes crumbs off his fingers on his jeans before pocketing his hands with a shrug.

"Okay. Game on."

"Wait... really?" Jaehyun fails to hide the shock that his boyfriend didn't try to worm his wait out of the hole he's dug himself into. "We should go shopping, then. I'm not sure how many ingredients I have at home."

"You bake?" They cross the road, the beeps fading into the background once they enter the closest supermarket. Yuta finds Jaehyun's left hand, squeezes it with a smile, intrigued for the answer.

"I've made my fair share of birthday cakes. I'm sure Johnny will tell you all about that time I made a chocolate checkerboard cake with macarons and white chocolate ganache on top."

"You made what now?" Yuta grabs a shopping basket and screws his face up.

Jaehyun leads the way to the baking aisle – a sign of his expertise – and places two bags of sugar in the basket, ignoring Yuta's complaint at the sudden weight that nearly dislocates his shoulder to reply instead.

"Baking was a coping mechanism. I went through a... phase, let's say." Jaehyun feels Yuta's gaze on him as he scans the shelves for the cheapest brand of flour.

"Wow. Okay. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to a bake-off. I'm gonna destroy your kitchen, babe. I'm sorry in advance."

When the younger adds the flour to the basket, the elder doesn't grumble this time, simply traipsing after him to look at the colourful array of sprinkles and icing. They each decide on a muffin recipe, select suitable toppings, and Jaehyun can only breathe through the relief when he beats Yuta to the checkout, scanning his card with a gush of victory to mask the bullets of guilt that try to knock him down. The sun shines high in the sky, so they agree to walk to Jaehyun's apartment instead of catching a bus. Despite being subjected to Taeil's orders all day, they both buzz with enough excitement to not pay any attention to their aching legs.

With each passing minute, the reality that Yuta is finally visiting the younger's apartment sinks in a little more. Jaehyun grips the keys in his pocket. It was a last-minute decision made between kisses in the staffroom, and now he does a mental scan of every corner of every room to reassure his worries that he hadn't tidied.

"Here we are." Jaehyun says when they're standing outside the front door, both breathless from the six flights of steps. "Welcome, I guess?"

Yuta follows Jaehyun in. The younger shuts the door, then beelines to the kitchen to dump the shopping bags on the counter and give himself some time to prepare to see his boyfriend's initial reaction. Turning back, tension leaves his shoulders at the sight of blooming fondness on Yuta's face.