RIVALRY [ heesun ]

twenty four.

Weekends passed by so quickly. I successfully followed my sched for that week. I learned piano lessons on Saturday the whole day. My pianist tutor arrived early in the morning so I prepared myself for the lesson since whenever he does that, the lesson is getting harder. Luckily, I learned River Flows into You so fast that my tutor spared me early. Usually my piano lessons takes about a day, I guess I'm a fast learner now?

The next day, I woke up early to go to the grocery store to buy ingredients for the cookies I'm planning to bake. I told my friends that I'll make bawi to them by cooking for them. So I thought maybe baking a dessert is a way to test my cooking skills.

Pinasobrahan ko na ang ingredients para if ever mag fail ay makakagawa pa ako ulit.

"4 eggs, 2 cups of flour, sugar.." I muttered as I read what was written in the recipe book I bought. Making sure that all the ingredients are ready.

Na-realize ko na matatagalan ako if magpapabalik-balik ako ng pagbabasa sa cooking book so I just searched a tutorial on YT to minimize the time.

I excitedly took pictures of the freshly backed cookies I got from the oven. Binaba ko ang phone at kumuha ng isa para tikman.

"Why the heck is it salty!?" Mukha naman silang okay when I got them out, how come they tastes like this?

"Oh.." I also noticed some parts of the cookies are burnt. Now I get it why Sim always say na hindi nila kinakaya ang luto ko.

It's because it tastes bad.

Turns out sumobra pala ang salt na nilagay ko. I thought it is sugar! Wala kasing label ang container. Mali rin ang pag set ko ng time. Imbes na thirty minutes ay forty minutes pala ang nalagay ko.

So stupid of me!

Buti na lang at may natira pang ingredients, sakto to make another batch. So I didn't waste time to make a delicious version of cookies.

"Wow! Now this is a cookie!" I happily exclaimed nang matikman ang second batch ng cookies na nagawa ko. They have the perfect balance of sweetness. Hindi nakakasuya.

I packed them nicely into a cute container and put them into the fridge to give some to Simone and Wayne.

"So.. how was it?"

We are here now in one of LEU's waiting room as the voting for the new SSC members occurs. They told us to wait here to avoid any issues or conflicts while the voting is on going. Thankfully, they allow Wayne to joined us. Tapos na rin naman siyang bumoto.

Nilabas ko ang cookies that I made yesterday and I asked them to give it a try. Now, I'm nervous to hear their response.

"Hmm.. it's good! I like it." Wayne said after munching the cookie. Kahit papaano ay nakahinga ako ng maluwag.

I turned to Simone to watch him took a bite. He enjoyed munching the dessert, even closing his eyes to process the flavor.

"Naniniwala na ako sa himala.." Simone said when he opened his eyes.

"Huh? Why?" I confusedly asked.

He ate the remaining cookie. I waited for him to finish dahil hindi siya magsasalita na may laman ang bibig.

"Ang sarap, Ary! How did you manage to bake these? I like how it is not too sweet." Kumuha pa siya ng isa at tumingin sa akin, asking for my permission if he could eat another piece. Masaya akong tumango.

"I don't know, I just followed the tutorial I searched on YouTube. And I also made some adjustments para pasok sa panlasa niyo."

"I'm actually surprised that I'm gonna say this but please make some more next time." Simone stated nang matapos kainin ang pang tatlong cookie.