Chef's Ambition (Hirai Momo x Female Reader)

Chapter 5

Sunday Late Afternoon

Momo's POV

The rest of the week has mostly been uneventful. Since it seemed like the trial was successful, my group spent all of yesterday moving our things to Y/N's group's condo. Speaking of Y/N, the two of us have been still cuddling in our sleep. She hasn't had a nightmare since we started this routine, and I hope it stays that way.

The two of us have also been getting closer from the looks of it. I opened up some more about the struggles I faced at school, continuing from what I said on Monday. Y/N was surprisingly supportive of me and gave me very useful advice about dealing with haters and how to improve my culinary skills.

Jihyo told me on Wednesday, when Y/N went to school, that today is Y/N's birthday. I instantly started planning out how to celebrate her birthday in the best way possible. I took on the role of planning out the party and even took charge of baking a cake and cooking dinner.

"Momo-unnie," Jihyo called out to me as she walked into the kitchen where I was still baking Y/N's cake, "Where do you want to place the balloons?"

"Ummm... How about we put it in the corner between the two couches? Also can you let Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu know that we need to have the 'happy birthday' sign centered on the wall behind the couch closest to the wall?"

"Alright, anything else?" Jihyo asked.

"Ummm... Tell Nayeon and Jeongyeon to set the table, and tell Sana and Mina to decorate the rest of the living room and dining room," I replied before getting back to working on the cake, leaving Jihyo to manage everyone else.

Jihyo told me that Y/N's favourite cake is tiramisu. I'm not confident with my baking skills, but I will put in the effort if it can make Y/N even slightly happy. I just finished making the batter for the ladyfingers. The recipe for the cake I was following suggested just buying ladyfingers, but I was not going to cheap out on this cake for Y/N. It would have more meaning if I put my own effort into it.

I transferred the mixture into a pastry bag and piped it out onto the baking tray that I prepared. I placed it into the oven to bake and moved onto the next steps. I made the espresso dip that I will need for the ladyfingers and mascarpone cream to form the ladyfinger layers. I checked on the ladyfingers and then went out to check on everyone's progress.

Everything was prepared as I had directed. The dining table was set, the living room and dining room were decorated, the 'happy birthday' sign was where I had imagined it, and the balloons were in the corner. I smiled at the work that was completed but frowned when I saw what everyone else was doing.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon were sitting on one side the dining table; Jeongyeon was playing with Nayeon's hands as Nayeon stared lovingly at her. Jihyo and Tzuyu made a bench out of the seats of the other side of the dining table; Tzuyu was lying down on Jihyo's lap, facing upward, with her hands on her stomach and Jihyo stroking her head as they both had their eyes closed. The two potential couples were just flirting on the couches; the four of them should really just make their relationships official already as it is pretty obvious that they love each other.

"Seriously, this is what you all do when I turn my back for a couple of minutes?" I questioned.

Sana looked at me with an annoyed expression, "Sounds like someone is jealous."

"Agreed, someone is just jealous they can't do the same thing we are doing with the person they like," Mina commented.

I blushed at Mina's comment, "Bullseye!" Chaeyoung yelled.

"Momo-unnie likes Y/N!" Dahyun followed behind.

Nayeon started to fake cry, "They grow up so fast! I still remember when Momo was too busy with school to consider romance!"