off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ eighty seven

Fancy dates were always great; whether it was dinner at a restaurant, a day at an amusement park, a shopping date with no spending limit. But sometimes, staying home worked just as well. Jiyeon had invited Jiwoong over with the intention of going somewhere, but in the end, neither of them had been able to muster up the strength to go outside. They'd been on the couch of her living room for an hour, their legs intertwined, as Jiyeon read one of her recently bought novels, and Jiwoong looked through teaching material. No sound had been made for a while now, save for the few chirping birds outside the window. With how fast-paced life could be sometimes, a moment of respite such as this one felt like all of their issues were healed.

It seemed Jiyeon had relaxed a bit too much, because something had slipped her mind. Only when she read a scene of the two characters in her book baking a cake did a memory suddenly hit her, and she sat up in horror. Jiwoong jumped, dropping the stack of papers in his hands to his lap.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, a hand over her mouth. "I forgot I told my mom I would bake a cake for her book club!"

Jiwoong winced as he looked down at his watch. "Do you still have time?"

"Well, I have no choice!"

She jumped off the couch and threw her book on the coffee table, her entire body buzzing with a nervous energy. All that relaxing and lounging around had ended up stressing her out more in the end. As she fumbled around, Jiwoong stood up, and walked towards her. When his hands landed on her shoulders, warm and gentle, Jiyeon finally stood still.

"Hey, don't worry too much," he murmured, looking straight into her eyes. "I'll help you with it. It'll probably be faster that way."

"You'd do that?" He nodded. "Okay then, let's get started right now."

Their previous activities abandoned, the two shuffled their way to the kitchen. Of course, the place was rather unfamiliar for Jiwoong, so Jiyeon was the one to go through every utensil and bowl they would need for the recipe. Once she was done, she reached for her apron, and slipped it around her neck. Before she could reach her hands in her back to tie it, she felt the strings being pulled back.

"I'll tie it for you," Jiwoong said.

Jiyeon would have been thankful for it, if Jiwoong hadn’t just tugged on the strings of her apron to pull her closer. Once her back hit his chest, he leaned in, pressing a soft kiss on her cheek. Only then, did he deign to tie her apron, but Jiyeon waggled her finger in his face.

"Hey now!" she scolded. "No flirting. We have to be serious about this. We don't have time for kisses."

As she turned around, her apron finally tied, she found Jiwoong pouting. "Aww, really? No flirting?"

"Exactly. Now, let's get to work."

Even as Jiyeon gathered all the ingredients necessary for the recipe, she found it hard to ignore Jiwoong's gaze on her, as he waited for her instructions. It wasn't that she didn’t want to flirt, but she was already far too late on that cake. Once it would be finally done, then they would have all the time in the world to flirt and kiss. For now, Jiyeon was focused on the task at hand, unwilling to disappoint her mother. Not that she would be mad at her or anything, but she knew how much her mother and her book club friends liked her chocolate cake.

Too engrossed in her process, Jiyeon did not realize she was doing everything alone, as Jiwoong awkwardly followed her around, looking for something to do. Every time she set down a utensil, he would hurry to wash it, trying his hardest not to get in her way as she moved all around the kitchen. It took him a while to finally dare interrupt her crazed, silent baking.

"Um, is there anything I can do?"

She turned to him with a large bowl in her hands. "Just in time. I need a big, strong man to thoroughly mix the batter," she said with a chuckle, but Jiwoong puffed his chest out.