Bangchan
-it was supposed to be a cosy, fun activity for you both as you tried to make a chocolate cake from scratch, so you wondered to yourself why it ended up with you feeling like you were in military training or something
-you knew your boyfriend was very picky and perfectionist about everything, but you underestimated just how much of one he is. he followed the recipe exactly as it was written step by step and didn't dare miss a single point on that list of instructions
''babyy-'' you said as you drew out the last syllable, giggling as you watched him intricately scoop out little bits of flour back into the bag, ''nothing is going to happen if you put 202 grams instead of 200, nobody will even know!''
''I'll know!'' he whined, not pulling his eyes away from the measuring jug for even a split second as he measured out the water, sticking his tongue out ever so slightly from concentrating, which you honestly found adorable, ''I need to measure this properly''
"measuring is for squares not cakes, just eyeball it!"
''absolutely not!''
-you boosted yourself up to the side on the counter beside your boyfriend, watching him adoringly as he focused on making everything perfectly precise and smooth
''you're not so bad at this, you know'' you said, smiling
''of course I'm not bad!'' your boyfriend spoke up, shaking his head with a grin, ''I'm an all-rounder, remember?''
''of course you are'' you giggled, ruffling his hair
-once he had placed the dessert in the oven, and cleaned up all on his own despite agreeing to do it TOGETHER, he made his way over to you. whilst you were still sitting on the counter gushing over everything your boyfriend did and how he flexed his arms when wiping the counter, he came over and placed his hands on your waist, pulling himself closer to you as you wrapped your legs around him
''I want that'' you giggled, pointing to the bowl of the remaining batter with the spatula in it
-with one hand still on your waist, he reached over to grab the spatula and cleaned the bowl with it, lifting it up to your mouth only to completely miss and somehow end up getting it all over your cheek
-after staring at each other for a moment, slightly surprised, you both burst out into hysterical laughter as you held onto his shoulders for support, resting your forehead on his for a moment as you both cracked up at his accidental move
-you reached over for the spatula too, taking it and rubbing the batter over his cheek too, which resulted in both of you holding your stomachs from laughing even more, already feeling the stitches coming
''now we're even'' you giggled, wiping his cheek with his thumb as he lost himself in the gaze of your eyes, at least until a smoky, pungent smell started filling the kitchen
''hm? shit- the oven!''
Lee Know
"should I just cook for you today?" your boyfriend nervously chuckled, watching you carry a high stack of glassware and instantly taking it from you, to prevent you from smashing his favourite decorative plates ''I-don't trust you with my precious kitchen, babe''
''u-uh, don't think you can 'babe' my way out of the kitchen!'' you pouted, feeling dedicated to helping out, ''do you trust me?''
''....should I?''
''probably not, but there's no getting rid of me'' you giggled, already reaching over for the mixing bowl and knocking down a mug in the process, watching it as it shattered across the marble floor
-after taking a deep breath and emotionally preparing himself for this rollercoaster of a cooking adventure he was about to have with you, he gave you a nod to 'proceed' and watched you squeal in excitement. maybe he would have to sacrifice an arm and a leg for this meal to work out with a ball of energy following him around the kitchen, but it was worth it if it made you smile. if you're happy, he's happy
-you started chopping the vegetables, with a very...interesting cutting technique that made minho's heart skip a beat when he saw it, rushing over to you alarmingly
''don't do it so forcefully, you'll cut your finger off in a moment!'' he exclaimed, taking the knife from you and showing you how to do it properly, to which you responded with a whiny, elongated 'ohhhh'
-of course, your short attention span soon led you to give up on chopping the vegetables and instead, you made your way over to the boiling pot on the stove whilst minho's back was turned to you, attempting to lift the lid to see what was brewing inside
''don't touch that!'' he said panicked, his heart pounding once again as he reached to take the lid from you with the kitchen gloves you should've probably used, ''you didn't burn your hand, did you?''
-eventually, you managed to finish cooking and plating your meals without any injuries or damages in the kitchen, which minho was relieved about, although he was on edge the entire time having to constantly keep an eye on his girlfriend with the culinary abilities of a child
-you attempted to dig into the heavenly-looking cookout on your plate, only to have your hand slapped away by a glaring minho
''how could you slap my hand away after the blood sweat and tears I poured into these dishes-'' you gasped
''shhh'' he said, focused on angling his camera perfectly above the food, ''I need photos''
-after a quick photoshoot of his hard work, he watched you excitedly consume your long-awaited meal, bouncing up and down happily from how good it was, with a smile on his face
''what are you smiling at?'' you mumbled as you covered your mouth, which was filled with food
''nothing, I think this is the only meal you've succeeded in being part of making other than those instant noodles you live off''
''I know right?! I'll definitely be helping out more now!!''
''yeah, about that...''
Changbin
-was it really something the two of you were doing together or were you cooking and him eating?
-while you were stood up vigorously mixing the contents of the bowl, something your boyfriend's handy muscles could be doing, he comfortably sat on the kitchen island, cheerfully freestyling a rap about you and your cooking abilities
''[name], are you cookin' up a storm, piece of cake?'' he punned, referring to his own lyrics proudly
''I could be if I could get this bloody jar to open'' you retorted, groaning as you used all your strength to wrench the container open, which didn't seem to be working
''pass it here, I'll do it''
''no, I'm an independent woman I can do it myself!'' you cried, giving it your all to open the jar which wasn't working
-your boyfriend got up hurriedly and took the jar from behind you, your jaw dropping when you saw him effortlessly open it with one unchallenging twist, grinning at you afterwards
''don't look at me like that, muscle man.''
-you carried on filling the pastries you made with a delicious filling, which you saw changbin eyeing up from in the corner of your eye and he licked his lips, making you smirk as you knew you were going to torment about who gets to lick the spoon later
...
''I want to lick the spoon!'' he whined, reaching over to try and take it off you while you perfectly dodged his attempts at catching you
''no, I will! besides, the one who helped out in the kitchen gets to, and I don't recall you helping much'' you shrugged, waving the spoon in his face to annoy him
''I was literally making you a rap for motivation, and I opened a jar!?''
''not good enough!'' you giggled, enjoying the remaining goods left on the spoon and bowl whilst your boyfriend looked at you with big, saddened eyes
-it was amusing at first, but you couldn't resist your boyfriend when he looked at you with THOSE big eyes and that pout of his. with open arms, you gestured for him to come grab a spoon and lick the contents clean with you, something that was much more enjoyable with the person you loved the most beside you
''we should cook more often'' he said joyfully, doing a little dance as he enjoyed what was left in the bowl
''...we? who's we?! I did everything'' you remarked, nudging him with your elbow jokingly, ''next time, you're actually going to help me if you want permission to eat it afterwards''
''once again, I did help! I rapped, opened a jar AND I've also helped clean the bowl now''
Hyunjin
''a...recipe? instructions?? yeah no, I'll do it on my own and make them a million times better!!''
''hyunjin I don't think that's-'' you barely managed to add before you watched your boyfriend dump the bag of flour in the bowl without any measurements making little [name], who dreamt of opening a bakery when she was little, die a bit inside
-there was no saving of whatever was in the bowl, so you ended up going along with it and hoping it turned out somewhat edible
-you took a step back and let your rather excited boyfriend take the lead as he showed off his 'amazing cooking skills'
-his 'amazing cooking skills' led to him pouring the milk everywhere but in the bowl and dropping the bag of the remaining flour, which miraculously wasn't tipped into the bowl of random ingredients, to explode into the air and settle all over both of your guys' hair and clothes
-after a difficult, messy process of making the batter, you both took a moment to look at your creation which supposedly should be called 'batter' and question the hell it is that you made
''jinnie, I don't the batter is supposed to look like that...''
''let's just shove it in the oven and hope for the best'' he shrugged, pouring it into the cupcake moulds and forcing it into the oven, ''how long are we supposed to wait, by the way?''
...
''at least we made them...with love?'' he said as you both looked down at the black, burnt lumps of 'cupcakes', if they even deserve to be called that, placed on the counter in front of you
''oh yeah, rock-solid, burnt to a crisp, inedible muffins but sure, they're filled with love'' you giggled, smacking your hand over your forehead in defeat
''...what do you think of just ordering dessert instead?'' he asked with a sheepish smile, resting his hand on the back of his neck awkwardly as he awaited an answer
''couldn't agree with you more on that one''
Han
-honestly, half the ingredients were gone before you even started cooking because A CERTAIN SOMEONE kept selling a scoop or two every time he walked past them, especially the chocolate chips which there was literally only a handful left of by the time it was time to use them
''where are the rest of the chocolate chips?'' you asked, looking around for the extra bag you swore you placed down on the counter before you even began
''oh, I think we didn't buy enough [name], this was all that was in the packet I think'' jisung responded, lifting a pitiful 'bag' of the remaining chocolate chips, which you could probably count the number of just by looking inside
''you have chocolate on your cheek'' you pointed out, raising your eyebrow at him
''oh.''
''you have 5 minutes to get to and from the shop, you better hurry up'' you said as you placed your thumb on the corner of his lips to wipe off the remains of what was supposed to be in your cookies. you chuckled as you looked into his big innocent eyes and puffy cheeks as he pouted about being caught, you knew you couldn't possibly be mad at him for longer than a second, ''oh- and make sure you buy yourself extra so that you're not stealing the ones we ACTUALLY need again!''
''noted!'' you heard him yell as he hurriedly pulled his shoes and jacket on, bouncing up and down from what was a clear sugar rush ''I'll be back in exactly 5!''
...
''I'm baaack!'' your boyfriend squealed as he re-entered your apartment, kicking his shoes off carelessly and skipping into the kitchen with a handful of plastic bags in his hands
''I sent you for some chocolate chips, how on earth did you come back with one, two, three, four...'' with disbelief in what you were looking at, you counted the bags in front of you with your finger, ''five, six- six bags?!''
''I thought I'd buy enough chocolate chips to last us till next year and I also bought some ready-made cookie dough and some cookies in case these ones don't work out- since I'm not fully convinced about this-''
''are you questioning my baking abilities?!'' you scowled, lifting the whisk above your head and shaking it at jisung jokingly
''no, no, not at all! but don't you remember what happened last time?''
''oh don't you dare blame that on me, just because someone over here can only work one setting on the oven and blasted in on full heat when I asked for it to be put on medium doesn't make me the one at fault!''
''...oh yeah, oops!''
-eventually, you got to actually making the cookies with the ingredients you were previously lacking and you showed your boyfriend how to form the little dough balls, which surprisingly he succeeded in doing correctly first try, which left you questioning if he could possibly be slightly better than you at this baking thing
''see? we didn't do half bad'' he said proudly as you took the tray back out of the oven, the sugary, freshly-baked smell of warm vanilla blanketing over your apartment as you both oohed and aahed at the addictive smell
''I know I know!'' you squealed as you placed the tray down, both of you eagerly reaching for a cookie and biting into it immediately
''shit, hot!'' you and jisung cried in synchronisation after you shoved the scorching pastries in your mouths like starving children, not thinking about the consequences of your actions but ending up crying tears on the floor from your own guys' stupidity
Felix
-according to what you remember correctly, your boyfriend was a really good baker with a history of always making treats for everyone everywhere he went, whether it was brownies or cookies or other delicious desserts, everyone knew him for his creations. so how come when it came to making something with you, everything that could've possibly gone wrong went wrong?!
-the whole cookie-making process was adorable and so enjoyable, maybe that's why it all went wrong; you were distracted by each others' love and affection
-you played a calm, cute playlist in the background, but somehow it shuffled onto miroh and you both ended up jumping and getting down to the song, all energetic again
-you were having such a jam in the kitchen, adding ingredients as you twirled from cupboard to cupboard in perfect synchronisation with each other, his amazing dancing truly came out once again
-the cookie dough was formed and ready so you tried to scoop a little bit of it raw, the best part of making cookies, only for your boyfriend to take the spoon away from you
''hey! you promised we would wait until the cookies were ready so we could truly enjoy their taste for the first time properly'' he pouted and you knew very well you promised that, resulting in you guiltily lowering the spoon back down into the remaining contents of the bowl
-once the cookies were in the oven and it was time to clean up, of course, you both carried on messing about. you found some tiny meringues in the drawer and decided to play a game of who can aim into the others' mouth better from a distance. inevitably, you ended up choking on one when it was felix's turn and the boy ended up stressing about having to perform first aid on you, but it was bound to happen anyway and you recovered fast, carrying on with your silly little game despite literally just experiencing the consequences of it. before you knew it, the cookies were perfectly golden and ready to be eaten, the two of you licking your lips as you took the baking tray out and set it on the counter
...
''oh, my god...? oh- my god!'' your boyfriend repeated in disgust, running to the bin to spit out what was supposed to be a tasty and enjoyable cookie you both worked so hard on making. you tilted your head and looked at him in confusion and worry before the taste hit you too- after which you also ran to the sink beside him to spit it out too
''that is fucking disgusting!'' you cried, ''did you- you put salt instead of sugar, didn't you?! I knew I shouldn't have left you in charge of the sugar''
-a heated, irritated moment occurred between the two of you, both looking at each other in frustration as if finding the one to put the blame on, but it didn't last long. after a second or two of frowning at each other, you couldn't stop the huge grins from creeping up on your faces, a quiet snigger turning into the two of you cackling on the floor holding onto your stomachs
''I'm never backing with you again'' you chuckled, crawling on your knees over to him
''there might be some treats left in the cupboard from one of my non-failed baking sessions'' your boyfriend suggested, which upon hearing you nodded and both got up to run to the treat cupboard, in which you found half a jar of his cookies, some brownies and many more individually-wrapped treats
-you sat on the floor cross-legged, like little children who just snuck some sweets from the cupboard when their mom wasn't looking, enjoying the sweet treats together with everything spread out on the floor like a banquet
''I think I might be your unlucky charm when cooking'' you giggled, munching on the significantly better-tasting cookies
''you always say I'm your lucky charm whenever you're doing anything with me near, I guess opposites really do attract''
Seungmin
''you were the last person I expected to know how to cook'' you voiced, staring in slight shock at your boyfriend, who was swiftly moving around the kitchen and doing everything so naturally as if he's done it a hundred times before
''what makes you think that?'' he frowned, dropping his head and chuckling to himself
''well I mean I did see how miserably you and felix failed to make bungeoppang on live-'' you mentioned, remembering how much you teased him for it previously
''a-ah! let's not talk about that, not my greatest moment...'' he turned to face you, eyes following your every move as you wandered around the kitchen, observing the numerous tools scattered about
''don't- don't touch anything you might break''
''oh come on now, I'm not a child!'' you scoffed, raising your arms above your head and knocking something behind you, squeezing your eyes tightly shut as you heard the shattering right next to your feet
''what did I just say?! don't move you'll hurt yourself'' he rolled his eyes, making his way over to you by carefully stepping over the glass shards, lifting you by your waist and placing you on the counter, since you didn't have any slippers on, ''did it cut you anywhere?''
''no'' you mumbled, feeling every so slightly bad about doing exactly the opposite of what he asked you for ''sorry I smashed something''
''it's not like I wasn't expecting it'' he chuckled lightly as he ruffled your hair, in an attempt to clear the air for you
-you settled for just assisting him in there and then, passing him any seasoning or add-ons he needed, earning you the title of his 'messy assistant chef'
-you passed a tub of red chilli paste over to your boyfriend hurriedly, which to your dismay was not fully sealed and splashed over seungmin's shirt, hence the now shocked look on his face, mouth agape
''did you...just throw food at me?!'' he gasped dramatically, knowing damn well you didn't 'throw' anything since it was a mistake, ''oh, you're on''
-and that's how you ended up having a food fight as if either of you never matured past the mentality of a 7-year-old, with seungmin launching a bunch of scallions right at your face, making you squeal and retaliate by throwing an entire cabbage at him. of course, you forgot that this multi-talented boyfriend of yours is a baseball expert, so he effortlessly caught it and glared at you with the biggest grin you've ever seen on his face
''shit.''
...
-after far too much shrieking and laughing, you both came to a halt after realising there would be no scrubbing this kitchen clean ever if you carried on, so you both laid down your weapons and made peace
-cleaning the kitchen and the cooking of your meal aligned with each other perfectly; the moment you put the paper towels down and could see the reflection on the counter again, your food was ready to be served, both you and seungmin drooling over the smell that was now travelling through the air
''promise this isn't poisoned?'' you snickered, pretending to observe your food pickily with your chopsticks as if to check he hasn't ACTUALLY poisoned it
''can't make any promises, sorry'' he deadpanned, your priceless reaction making him burst into tears from laughter
''wait- HUH'' the smirk you previously had on your face vanished instantly, being replaced by a terrified face, unsure as to whether your boyfriend is joking or not''
''there's no way you'd actually think I'd do that'' he laughed, pretending to wipe his fake tears to tease you
''well, I don't know! it sounds like something you'd do!'' you whined, embarrassed at how gullible you ONCE AGAIN are with his seriousness, ''but the food is good, so it would be worth it if you did poison me''
''that's why they call me seungmin ramsay''
''yeah...sure''
I.N
-everything was going so smoothly and without any faults, it almost felt too good to bue true. turns out you weren't wrong about that
-at first, it was the most synergy and coordination you've ever worked in. one was chopping up the vegetables, the other stirring and adding ingredients. you stirred the pot of army stew, your absolute favourite, soon finding yourself zoning out into an admiring gaze as you watched your boyfriend on the other side of the kitchen. he cut the vegetables with such precision; his narrow eyes squinted for precision which left only his dark irises which held the universe in them visible, biting his bottom lip in great focus, leaving it ever so slightly red and swollen
-you let your mind wander as you rested your head on your hand, which was now propped up on the counter, lips curling upwards when your boyfriend looked at you with a warm, amiable smile. it was like an oasis of peace and admiration contrasting the events that were just about to happen
-when the oil popped on the pan and made the most horrific noise you've both heard all day, jeongin and you both dropped down to the floor alarmingly as if someone had just bombed your kitchen
-too focused on what the hell the previous noise was, neither of you noticed the tumbling down of the chopping board with all the vegetables, on which a bowl with all your other ingredients was placed, which jeongin must've launched in the air with his arm when getting down on the floor
''no no no, please say this isn't actually happening'' he cried out disheartened, burying his face in his hands and letting out a hopeless groan
''hey-hey- it's okay, we can just restart!'' you said, hoping it would cheer him up a bit since you knew how much he wanted to cook something nice for you, ''let's just-''
-you were interrupted by the sound of something boiling and a sizzling sound as water sputtered over the counters. you got up off the floor to see your stew completely overboiled and spilling out of the pot, which you picked up carefully and dropped in the sink, not knowing what else to do with it
-both you and jeongin stood up in the middle of your now-destroyed kitchen, a disoriented gaze shared between you two, unclear about what on earth just happened in the kitchen
''what...the fuck?'' you whispered, still trying to comprehend the mess that was made within 30 seconds as your exchanged looks with your boyfriend once again, who suddenly had a great idea to share
''...pizza?''
...
"we tried to cook a nice meal together but I'm really clumsy so I dropped everything on the ground so now we're eating pizza and watching movies together" he mumbled, reaching for another slice as he reminded himself of his failed attempt at cooking for his girlfriend which he's wanted to do for so long
''maybe we were destined to be couch potatoes watching movies today then, don't you think?'' you shrugged, shuffling closer to your boyfriend to reach the pizza better but also to cuddle him, mainly the first one though, ''we can cook another time, we have plenty of time together for that''
''so you're not mad you're favourite army stew didn't work out?''
''of course not, pizza is just as good, especially when I'm beside my boyfriend like this''