It was raining cats and dogs that evening but fortunately Solbin was home and so was Yulhee. Both girls were doing their activities in the different room; Solbin played with her phone in their shared room while Yulhee was cooking their dinner in the kitchen.

Tomorrow would be a great day for Yulhee. She would get her degree and as her best friend, Solbin wanted to make a surprise for her. She told her roommate that she would be super busy tomorrow so she could not attend the graduation ceremony at Yulhee's college. It was just an excuse of course so Solbin could prepare some surprises at their place.

After half an hour considering what she would do to surprise her roommate, Solbin hurriedly typed some notes on a planner in her phone.

2017/02/15

Today's Yulhee's graduation day!

You gotta prepare:

1. A bouquet of white roses

2. Cans of cola

3. Spicy fried chicken

4. Spicy rice cake

5. A cake

Solbin was pause for a while as she looked at the thing number five. A cake. Should I buy it or bake it by myself? She thought deeply. It would not be special if she bought it but she could not bake. She remembered that Yulhee baked her a blackforest cake and it was so tasty so now Solbin wanted to return it. She needed a help.

She could not ask a help from Yulhee because her roommate would ask her why she suddenly wanted to bake a cake and Solbin was a really bad liar so she was afraid that her surprise would be revealed right away when she answered it. She really needed a help from someone else.

Rrr... Rrr… Rrr…

The phone in her grip vibrated then Solbin quickly took a look at it. A whatsapp notification message from Mingyu, their neighbor.

Boy next door Gyu:

Solbin ah, let's hang out tomorrow! :)

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

I can't. Tomorrow's Yulhee's graduation day, don't you know it?

Boy next door Gyu:

Really? She doesn't tell me T.T

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

She may forget to tell you. She's quite busy lately for that

Boy next door Gyu:

So, we can't hang out? :(

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

Yeah, sorry. Let's do that some day!

I have to prepare something to surprise Yulhee tomorrow

Boy next door Gyu:

Need any help?

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

Kinda. Wanna help me? :)

Boy next door Gyu:

Sure! I'd be glad :)

What can I help you?

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

What can you do?

Boy next door Gyu:

Well, not trying to brag myself but I can do a lot of things ;)

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

Really??

Boy next door Gyu:

Yeah :)

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

If that so, can you help me baking a cake?

I really wanna bake a cake for her but I can't :'(

Boy next door Gyu:

You ask to the right guy!

Of course I can!!

I graduated from culinary major, do you forget it??

Solbin slapped her forehead lightly after she read the message. She did forget she had a friend who was a master of cooking and also bakinh and the said friend lived across their place. "How could you forget that, Sol?" She blamed to herself with a wide grin on her face then she quickly responded to Mingyu's message.

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

Cool!

Come to my place at seven tomorrow, will you? :)

Boy next door Gyu:

Seven at night?

Icy Ice Princess Solbin:

Seven in the morning… -_-"

I'm gonna give the cake to her at her collage :)

Boy next door Gyu:

You're really her best friend

Kinda envy her hehe

Ok, Let's meet at you place tomorrow! :)

Knock… Knock… Knock…

The door of their shared room creaked opened after the knocks and Yulhee's figure slowly appeared. "You're so into your phone today, you know that?" asked Yulhee as she leaned on the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh!" Solbin hurriedly lifted her face up from her phone and grinned at Yulhee. "Well, I have nothing to do today…"

"Well, you could have helped me cooking the dinner."

Solbin groaned at the mention of cooking. "You know me so well that I hate cooking, Yul," she whined with a pouty lips. "I can't even cook an instant ramyun."

Yulhee faked a disappointed sigh as she shook her head in pity. "You're lucky you live with me."

"I am!" the pouty lips were gone by the sudden wide smile on Solbin's face. "Have you finished cooking the dinner?"

Yulhee nooded. "Yeah. Let's have a dinner together!"

After putting her phone on the bedside table, Solbin walked out of their shared room with Yulhee led their way to the dinning room. Solbin awed at the food on the table. It was not an ordinary dinner. It might be the special one. There were chicken pasta with toasted bread, spicy fried octopus, kimchi stew, fruit and vegie salad, and orange juice for drinks.

"I hope you like what I've cooked," said Yulhee as she made Solbin sit on one of the chairs like a gentle(wo)man she was.

"Are you kidding me? Yul, this is the best dinner you've ever made!" exclaimed Solbin with sparkling eyes. She guessed the dinner had a relation to the graduation because Yulhee might not cook something special for nothing. "Can we eat them now?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Starving!"

Yulhee chuckled and then nodded, telling Solbin to start eating the dinner. She was happy when she heard a satisfied hum and compliment from Solbin. She was very happy the girl like the food she cook with all of her heart. "You should start to learn how to cook, Ahnsol," said Yulhee as she chewed the octopus in . "That's very important for you, for us, as girls. Girls have to be able to cook so we can make a healthy and tasty food for our families in the future."

"Oh, come on… we're still young, Yul! I still have a lot of time to do that," whined Solbin with full. "Besides, why should I have to be able to cook when I can find a man who can cook for me?"

"Oh, you have a man now?"

Solbin choked at the question then she took a glass of juice and drank it quickly. "What? No, that's not what I meant," she said. "What I wanted to say is I'm gonna date someone who can cook. Or maybe marry him so I won't be worry about my food in the future."

Yulhee laughed pretty loud at her roommate's idea. "Really? So, do you have someone in your mind that can suit that?"

Solbin shrugged her shoulders, having no idea. It seemed like she already forgot about the conversation between her and Mingyu earlier. Well, Solbin just considered him as the boy next door. They even barely knew each other.

"By the way, you really can't go to my graduation tomorrow?" Yulhee changed the subject. She looked at Solbin with hope in her eyes. She wished her roommate would changed her mind but then her shoulders sinked as Solbin shook her head in response.

"I think I've told you why, haven't I?"

Yulhee nodded as she sipped on the broth of kimchi stew slowly. She suddenly lost her appetite. "I thought you'd change your mind since… you know, tomorrow will be my special day."

Solbin swallowed the food in and looked at the blue side of Yulhee. She knew she had broke her roommate's heart but she could not think any other way to surprise her at the time. "I'm so sorry, Yul," Solbin took Yulhee's hand and then rubbed circle on it. "You know how fussy Sojung unnie is if I don't attend the meeting tomorrow."

"I know," Yulhee let out a heavy sigh. "I just want to spend my last day here with you…"

"Your what?" cut Solbin in a surprised tone. It was the first time she heard that. Did I miss something? She wondered.

"My last day here, in this city," replied Yulhee as she stirred up the kimchi stew in her bowl with her spoon. "My parents will be here tomorrow to pick me up to and attend my graduation. After that, we'll go to their house, my hometown. I want to have a little vacation-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Solbin frowned at Yulhee as she let go of her roommate's hand. "I thought we could celebrate your graduation here in our place."

"I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you," Yulhee showed her apologize look. "My parents miss me so bad and so do I."

There was a silence after that. Yulhee felt awkward because she thought Solbin was really mad at her but in fact her roommate was calculating how many times she had to bake a cake and then go to Yulhee's college after that. Could she make it?

"Ahnsol, I really am sorry…" said Yulhee in a very sad tone.

Solbin had a soft spot for Yulhee and she could not bear to see her sad so she forced a smile and nodded weakly. "It's okay. You deserve a vacation after all and there's nothing better than spending time with parents."

Yulhee smiled back at Solbin in gratitude. "You're really my best friend! Thank you."

***

On the next day, in the early morning, Yulhee prepared herself for her graduation and then packed her stuff. Her parents arrived at their place at six in the morning. After having a brief chat with Solbin, Yulhee and her parents got ready to her college. The graduation would be started at eight in the morning.

After she waved them goodbye, Solbin walked out of their place to Mingyu's. She needed to do her plan early and quickly so she would not waste any time.

"Hi!" Mingyu greeted Solbin with his toothy smile. It was a surprise to see the girl so early this morning. It was still a half past six, half an hour earlier than their plan. "Why do you come so early? And… am I supposed to go to your place?"

"We have to do the plan B," said Solbin. "We don't have time to waste. Come on!"

"Wait! I have to lock the door first," Mingyu stopped Solbin from dragging him out of his house. After he took a coat and locked the door, both of them walked side by side to somewhere only the girl knew. "Want to explain why you change your plan?"

Solbin then told everything to Mingyu during their way and when she finished, they had arrived in front of a grocery store. "So, we have to do everything quickly," she said as they entered the store.

"Do we have the plan B?" asked Mingyu. "I thought I didn't hear you mention it in our chat last night."

"I didn't and we don't," Solbin took a shopping basket then dragged Mingyu to the bakery stuff aisle. "Come on. Pick anything we needed to make a cake for my Yul."

"What cake will we make?"

"I don't know. I thought you've decided it."

Mingyu rolled his eyes. "Man, I don't even know what cake she likes."

Solbin was silent. "I don't know it either…" she murmured. She felt failed. "What should we do now?"

"We have to stay calm. We still have time though. When will the graduation over?"

"Midday."

"Great! Baking a cake doesn't need a lot of time. We can make it and you have to believe it!"

Solbin inhaled and exhaled slowly to make herself calm, just like what she told, then nodded steadily. "Okay." She felt more calm after that. "Okay."

Mingyu smiled at Solbin and he was about to caress her hair but he stopped himself for doing so. He could not do that even if he wanted to. They were not more than just neighbors and he let out a heavy sigh at the thought. "How about we bake a pie for her?" he suggested after quite some times.

"That sounds good," Solbin nodded. "What kind of pie?"

"I don't know. Chocolate pie? Apple pie? What flavor of pie does she like?"

Solbin shook her head. "I never asked," she sighed. "Oh! But she likes berries a lot."

"Okay. So, we'll make berries pie."

"Can you make it?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Thank you!" Solbin gave Mingyu a tight hug and how he wished the time would stop. "Now, let's go get the ingredients, shall we?" she said after pulling away from Mingyu.

Mingyu nodded with a wide smile on his face then both of them strolled the aisle side by side to look for the ingredients.

***

"You know, I feel bad to let you pay these all," Solbin said to Mingyu when they walked to her place with some plastic bags in their hands. They had finished shopping and Mingyu was the one who paid the things they bought. He insisted to even after Solbin said no. She eventually gave in though. "You shouldn't have paid these all," she repeated.

"Hey, I want to join you to make a surprise for Yulhee too."

"But you can use your ability in cooking, not your money."

"It isn't something I do often after all. You shouldn't feel bad."

Solbin sighed then nodded her head. "Okay. Thank you."

After they had arrived at Solbin's place, both of them went straight to the kitchen to do the cooking. They would not just bake a pie but also cook spicy fried chicken and rice cake. Fortunately, Mingyu knew how to cook them and Solbin was more than happy for that.

It was nine when they started cooking. Since Solbin did not know how to cook, she was just being an assistant for Mingyu. She did everything she was told. As she did that, she felt enjoy and she could figure out why Yulhee liked cooking a lot. It was fun.

"You have to teach me some recipes next time, Gyu," said Solbin as she rolled a dough for pie.

Mingyu chuckled. "Just call me whenever you need me!" he said as he making the filling for pie. Without Solbin knew it, the man ocassionally glanced at her to adore her cooking figure. She looked so breathtakingly pretty in apron and bun hair. There were some flour on her face too that she did not realize and it made her look so domestically cute in his eyes.

"Gyu, I've done this," Solbin said, snapping the man out of his thoughts.

"Okay. Now, put the dough in the baking pan."

"How?"

Mingyu did not answer but turned off the stove instead since the filling was done too. Then he walked to Solbin and taught her how to put the dough into the baking pan from behind her. "You have to press the dough softly to the pan like this," he said softly as he pressed his fingers on the dough.

Solbin followed suit but she could not really focus because of Mingyu's presence. It was a bit uncomfortable yet it was not bad. "Like this?" she asked as she showed the dough she did.

"Are you sure you've pressed it properly?" Mingyu chuckled at the result of Solbin handwork. Then he helped the girl pressing her fingers on the dough.

Solbin could feel her cheeks get heated with the sudden tiny physical contact. She did not know why but she liked how the way Mingyu's fingers pressed against hers. It was so gentle like he did that to a fragile porcelain.

"See? You can do it!" said Mingyu then he left her for the filling. "Want to fill the pie with berries sauce?"

Solbin nodded weakly then she did what she was told.

***

Finally, they had finished cooking at eleven then they started to get ready to attend Yulhee's graduation. Mingyu would drive them there and after everything was set, they were off to their destination. Fortunately, they came on time and not long after that, the graduation was over.

Yulhee was surprised to see Solbin among the people and she became more surprised when she realized that her roommate did not go there alone. "Mingyu!" she greeted the tall man with a smile.

"Congratulation, Yul!" said Mingyu as he gave a bouquet of white roses to Yulhee who accepted it happily.

"Thank you," beamed Yulhee then she sniffed at the roses. "How could you know that I love white roses?"

"It was Solbin who bought them before we arrived here," answered Mingyu with a wide grin.

Yulhee turned her face to the said female then she nudged Solbin's waist with her elbow. "You said you were going to attend a meeting with Sojung unnie."

"I just wanted to make a surprise for you," Solbin defended herself with a wide grin on her face. She was happy that her plan went well.

"Well, I think you did it. Thank you." Yulhee gave a tight hug to Solbin.

"Everything for my best friend," said Solbin in her arms. "Congratulation for your degree."

"Oh, you finally come, my dear!" the familiar voice made Solbin and Yulhee pull away from each other. Yulhee's parents then approached them.

"Yes, luckily," Solbin smiled at them. "Ah yeah, we got some things for you."

"We?" Yulhee frowned.

Solbin nodded. "Mingyu and I," she answered then she asked the man to give their surprises to Yulhee.

"These are all her idea. If you want to say thank you, say it to her," said Mingyu as he gave a large canvas bag that was filled by the food they made back then.

Yulhee's eyes widened as she accepted it. She opened it a bit and she was surprised to see the food in it. "You really don't have to do this," she said.

"It's not everytime I do that though," Solbin shrugged. "You have to eat the pie first. We specially made it for you."

"Thank you!" Yulhee said in teary eyes. She could not believe she would get that kind of surprise. "I'll eat them all."

Solbin and Mingyu laughed.

"Yul, let's go!" said Mr. Kim as he put a hand on Yulhee's shoulder, giving a sign that it was the time to say goodbye.

Yulhee nodded at her father then she looked at Solbin and Mingyu one by one. "I have to go now."

If she wanted to be selfish, Solbin would grab Yulhee's wrist and beg her not to go. But she knew it was childish and she had to understand how her roommate missed spending time with her parents in her hometown so all Solbin could do was nodding at Yulhee's words. "I wish you have a nice vacation," she forced a smile.

"I will," Yulhee smiled back at Solbin then she turned her face at Mingyu. "I know we barely know each other but I think I can trust you to take care of my Ahnsol when I'm not beside her."

"Yaahh... I'm not a kid anymore, Yul," whined Solbin and Mingyu chuckled at them.

"I know but you can barely cook for yourself, remember?"

"Don't worry about it, Yulhee yah," said Mingyu. "I'll make sure to cook for her everyday!"

Solbin glared at Mingyu who pretended not knowing it.

"Come on, Yul!" said Mrs. Kim, urging her daughter to leave with them.

"A moment!" said Yulhee to her mother then she looked at Mingyu again with a wide smile. She liked to see Solbin with the guy and she thought they matched each other. "Hey, Gyu."

"Hm?"

"Ahnsol likes a man who can cook." Yulhee winked at Mingyu and after that, she left them with her parents, chuckling in response to Solbin's groan because of her words. "Text me, guys!" she waved at them before getting on the car.

"I don't know she could be so annoying after what I've done to her today," Solbin said after they saw Yulhee go away with her parents.

"She was just joking around," Mingyu chuckled as they walked side by side to hia car, ready to go back home. "She's like a playful one."

"She is," Solbin nodded. "But she said the truth."

"About what?"

Solbin did not answer it directly. She suddenly felt regret to say that. Her cheeks slowly got reddened as she replied, "About... I like a man... who can cook." Without waiting for Mingyu's response, she hurriedly got on the car, leaving Mingyu in a confused state.

Mingyu needed three minutes to process what Solbin said and then he smiled widely as he got on the driver seat. "Does it mean you like me?" he asked Solbin.

Solbin rolled her eyes. "Are you the only one guy who can cook in this world?"

"No," Mingyu chuckled. "But I can be your ideal type, right?"

Solbin shrugged. "Maybe."

***