i know i love you | hueningkaixreader

seventeen.

"So what are we making today?" asked Soobin once I was at the boys' dorm again a few days later.

"Hmm... How about macarons?"

Soobin's eyes widened at my suggestion. "Aren't macarons crazy hard to make?"

"Not if you're patient and careful." I pulled out my grandma's cookbook from my backpack. "Besides, we've got my grandma's magical recipe on our side."

Soobin and I carefully read through the elaborate steps in my grandma's recipe for vanilla macarons. While I whipped the egg whites, Soobin got started on the mascarpone.

"So..." he started as he measured the ingredients. "What have you been up to these days? Aside from baking?"

"Mostly just writing poems and songs," I replied. "I tried to start a new book, but my attention span is worse than a goldfish's."

"I felt that."

"How about you?"

"I've mostly been sleeping."

"Lucky."

"But it's so bad, because I feel guilty every time I wake up past 3 p.m. and while everyone else has done something productive, I'm just starting my day." Soobin sighed as he placed the measuring tools in the dishwasher. "I need to desperately fix my sleep schedule."

"You shouldn't feel guilty though," I said. "Sleep is good for the soul!"

"True."

The two of us found the most random things to talk about as we made the macarons. At one point, Soobin started telling me of the time he caught Kai sneaking out in the middle of the night.

"Why'd he do it?" I asked. Now this was a story I had to hear.

"He was craving ice cream, and there's a 24-hour store conveniently located a block away from our dorm," Soobin explained.

"Did you stop him?"

"Nah, I actually went with him."

"Of course you did!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..."

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After one and a half hours, Soobin and I had placed the last batch of macarons in the oven.

"And now we wait," I said.

"My least favorite part about baking," Soobin complained. "I wish we could expedite the actual baking part of this entire process."

"They say good things take time," I pointed out.

"True, true."

Just then, the other three boys entered the kitchen.

"Mmm," Yeonjun hummed. "Whatever you guys are making smells delicious!"

"We're making macarons," Soobin said. "Or at least, attempting to."

"I'm excited for that!" Beomgyu hollered. Yeonjun nodded in agreement.

"They'll be ready in less than twenty minutes," I reassured them. Yeonjun and Beomgyu excitedly made their way to the living room.

"Hey Y/N, can you keep an eye on the macarons? I'm just gonna use the bathroom," Soobin said, leaving Kai and me in the kitchen.

"Where'd you guys come from?" I asked Kai in an attempt to break the brief, but awkward, silence between us.

"The gym." Kai poured himself a glass of cold water. "I was surprised that Beomgyu was the one to suggest it."

"I heard that!" Beomgyu said from the living room.

"Yah! Focus on the game!" Yeonjun told him.

Kai shook his head at their exchange. "Always you two..."

My smile was quickly replaced by a frown at the realization that Taehyun had said the exact same thing when he first introduced me to Beomgyu and Yeonjun.

Kai must have noticed, because he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

I looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah... Just remembered I forgot to set a timer on my phone!"

"Y/N, look at me," Kai said sternly. "I know you better than you think. Besides, Soobin has a timer on his phone already."

I sighed. "Why do you know me so well?"

"Because I'm your friend. And I hate seeing you sad because it makes me sad too. And most of all, I care about you. A lot."

Those words warmed my heart. Kai usually wasn't one to get all emotional, but hearing him say that he cared about me brought a certain comfort I didn't know I was craving.

"I'm back!" Soobin called before I could say something back. "Are the macarons done?"

"You were gone for two minutes Soobin," Kai pointed out.

"Oh."

"According to your timer, they should be ready in just a little over ten minutes!" I showed Soobin his phone.

"Are you sure we shouldn't check on the macarons? I have a lot of past trauma from burning almost everything I bake." Soobin glanced over at the oven. "Do macarons even burn?"

"Maybe? This is only my second time making them, and the first time, everything went as planned."

"Soobin, take it easy! I'm sure Y/N knows what she's doing," Kai said. "Call me when they're done!" He joined Beomgyu and Yeonjun in the living room.

After ten more minutes, Soobin and I checked on the macaron shells. I took a toothpick and poked it in one of them. "They're perfect!"

We took out the trays and set them on the table. Soobin placed the mascarpone in a small piping bag and twisted a piping tip on it.

"I suggest you pipe like this." I showed Soobin my grandma's piping technique, which was to pipe dots instead of a continuous swirl.

Soobin followed as I prepared my own piping bag to help him out. After about ten minutes, we had finished assembling all the macarons.

"We really did that!" I said, patting Soobin on the back. "Guys! The macarons are ready!"

The three boys in the living room ran to the kitchen as soon as they heard me.

"They're so cute!" Yeonjun examined the macaron in his hand with a look of admiration in his eyes. "I'm not sure I want to eat it..."

"It is so good!" Kai said with his mouth half full. "How did you guys pull this off perfectly?" Beomgyu popped two macarons in his mouth and nodded in agreement.

"Just by following my grandma's recipe," I said. "And it definitely helped having Soobin with me."

"Looks like you don't have to become a stripper if you drop out of school when you can just run a bakery with Y/N instead!" Beomgyu exclaimed.

"Yah!" Soobin chased after him with a mitten in his hand.

The rest of us burst into laughter, watching as Soobin, who still had his apron on, continued to chase Beomgyu around the living room.