A Recipe for Love | P.jm

CH1 : Pistachios and Peppermints

The ting of the oven indicates the completion of her latest experiment. As she whipped the tray out she allowed her senses to get infused in its floral scent. A wafting combination of braided bread filled with pistachio and injected with rosewater was set down to cool. 

The gleam in her eyes shows happiness in the success of her experiment before even indulging in the savory goodness that now rests atop the kitchen counter of her apartment. Down the hallway, frantic tap-taps of a thumb on a controller could be heard. "Gguk-ah," The woman in her mid-twenties calls out, "You might want to try this out."

In a matter of three seconds, said boy is by her side, video game playing on the TV screen now paused. "I knew you were baking something from all the delicious smells I've been sniffing in the past hour." Jeon Jeongguk, her cousin, says causing a smile to form on her face. She watches him with a giggle as she walks around the counter to analyze the dish from all sides, then proceeds to poke the top of the bread. "What have you made this time?" He asks his mouth watering with greed and hunger. 

"This is my latest experiment, The Pistachio-Rose Babka." Kim Soomin replies with pride lacing her voice. Baking skills were something Soomin was born with. As a part of the Kim family that has been running the Kim's Kreme bakehouse for the past 60 years, this trait is of no surprise. Her natural baking skills and her knack for sweet delicacies cause every single one of Soomin's experiments to become a grand success. Experiments that were taste-tested and approved by her family were then sold in their bakery where Soomin worked as a manager. 

Unable to control his hunger anymore with the flowery scent flooding his nose, Jeongguk grabs a knife and cuts through the bread immediately. He puts a considerable amount of bread in his mouth totally ignoring the way steam was rising from the bread. Soomin can only look at him in amusement when the cry bursts out. "A-ah Ah- Ah- too hot!" His mouth burned. Soomin topples over in laughter watching the poor boy in misery. "You should have waited until it cooled down fully, you idiot." Jeongguk pouts. 

After giving the dessert a few good minutes to fully cool down, Jeongguk cuts up a slice (properly this time) and takes a bite. He lets the bread dissolve in his mouth as a frown takes over his face. Soomin stood there unfazed knowing that when Jeongguk frowns while eating it's because he just had the most delicious thing on this planet. "WAHH," He exclaimed, his eyes watering due to its immense flavor, "Min-ie this is AMAZING! This should totally make it to our bakery. The people are going to love this." "That's exactly what I plan to do, Gguk. All I need is Grandma's approval." Jeongguk sighed in pleasure from the taste that lingers in his mouth and proceeded to go for another piece. 

"That's enough Jeon Jeongguk, I need the rest for grandma." He grunted with displeasure. "Anyway Min-ie, you should get this to our shop as soon as possible. With The Park's increase in sales recently we need to bring in more customers. I wonder what voodoo they do on the customers for them to keep going there when their pastries taste like shit." 

"Don't be mean, Gguk. You know they specialize in breads and not cakes." Soomin replied nonchalantly. Park's Hometown Bakeshop has been your bakery's biggest competitor ever since yours was established in Jipbap-Alley, 35 years ago. The Park's bakery had been the only bakery in Jipbap-Alley for over 80 years and they had a solid customer base due to it's traditional baking methods and delicious breads. But with the Kim family bakehouse's establishment, they saw competition, as customers wanted to try more modern dishes. Since then, there has been a spark of rivalry between both bakeries which resulted in both of them trying to bring out new delicacies to attract customers, constantly. The Park bakery's signature item had been breads but they started selling pastries when competition arose from your side. Your family also began to sell bread in order to keep all customers. And to this day the competition is real even after the bakeries had been passed down many generations.