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Have some cookies. Yes, chocolate chip cookies in all its gloriously toothsome variations: milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate chunks, mini chocolate chips, chocolate on chocolate, and even some smattered with chocolate sprinkles and marshmallows. Some were crisp, some were chewy, some fudgy, and all so sinfully good.
There were cookies everywhere. Cookie dough firming up in tubs in the fridge. Cookies baking in the oven. Cookies cooling on racks on every flat surface in the kitchen and living room. Cookies stuffed in every jar in the house. Heck, the whole house smelled like them. Welcome to stress baking Khun Aguero Agnes style.
Bam has been away for five long days. The first two days passed like usual but Khun seems to have snapped on the third. On that day, Khun started baking. The team thought it was actually bearable despite Khun's nagging since they were offered trays of yummy chocolate chip cookies.
"Wow!" Wangnan gasped incredulously. "You're actually being... nice."
"I'm not," Khun retorted. "I just need to occupy my hands and then need to get rid of the evidence before we consume each other."
"Did you know Desserts is Stressed spelled backwards?" Shibisu quipped.
"I am not stressed," Khun denied. "Do you want them or not?"
Since that day, Khun made it his personal mission to make everyone starkly aware of the excruciating passing of time. The team felt like they were in one of those hellish reality shows where the head chef barked orders every other minute and kept them on their toes with chores and training till they collapsed on their beds in the evening. And since Khun hogged the kitchen, they couldn't cook anything else either. The sweets always made them feel too full that nobody even considered takeout. Endorsi swears her waist gained 2cm since Bam left. As he force fed them batch, after batch, after batch of the cookies relentlessly, even Rak felt like throwing the towel. Everyone was close to mutiny by day five so when Akraptor suggested a trip to the mall supermarket, everyone crammed into his car before Khun even finished giving him a shopping list. Well, almost everyone.
"Damn it, Wangnan! This is still swimming in oil! Wash it again!" an irritable young man with pale blue hair and blazing cobalt eyes threw the mixing bowl at a blond who caught it warily.
"Okay, okay," he dashed to the sink that was disappearing again under bowls, baking sheets and measuring cups.
"Khun," Shibisu tried to placate him, "Maybe you should..."
There was a loud ding.
"Should what?!" Blue eyes narrowed at him for a second before Khun went to the oven to take out the latest batch of cookies.
"Nevermind," Shibisu sighed as he tried to make himself scarce. The rest were lucky to have escaped with Akraptor to the mall...er, the supermarket.
"Bring me a bag of chocolate chips from the pantry and wipe those baking sheets dry," Khun ordered, not missing a beat.
"Got it," Shibisu ran to get the requested items before he got yelled at again.
"We're out of chocolate chips," Shibisu reported and Khun thought he sounded too happy about it.
"Hold on," Khun rummaged in one of the cabinets and came back with an extra large tub marked quinoa. He opened it and took out a full bag of chocolate chunks.
Wangnan and Shibisu furtively exchanged a horrified glance.
"I can't eat anymore," Rak grumbled from a stool at the kitchen counter as he hugged a half empty cookie jar. Crumbs littered his shirt and the immediate area around him. A few jars lay empty near his seat. "I think I have a tummy ache."
"Nobody told you to eat them all in one sitting, Crocodile!" Khun angrily pointed the mixing spoon at him.
"You should make banana muffins. Those are healthier and more yummy!" Rak countered.
"Well, I'm not making any so deal with it you overgrown reptile!"
They heard a car park in the garage.
"Is Akraptor back? Tell him to leave all the shopping beside the kitchen door," Khun instructed as he deposited a new bowl in the fridge. It was actually quite full so he had to rearrange some things.
"Maybe I should get another fridge," he mused. They already had the largest refrigerator available in the market. It had double doors and occupied a wide portion of the kitchen wall. Good thing the kitchen was larger than usual too.
As he straightened up, a pair of warm hands covered his eyes. Only one person would dare provoke him like that.
"Bam?" He shut the fridge, turned around and found himself crushed in an unyielding hug.
"Missed me?" Bam asked as he held him close and rested his chin on Khun's shoulder.
"But your flight isn't supposed to arrive till tomorrow afternoon! Is the convention over already?"
"The last day is just for socializing anyway so I excused myself. And somebody told me you were driving everyone crazy," Bam chuckled as he turned his face towards Khun and pinched his nose.
"I always drive everyone crazy," Khun smirked.
"Well, more than usual," Bam grinned.
"Wow, look who's here! You should both go out to celebrate his return," Shibisu pushed them both quickly towards the front door.
"Here take this," Wangnan shoved a picnic basket in their hands a moment before the door was closed in their faces.
"Don't come home 'till midnight, turtles!" Rak shouted from a window before that too was shut.
"Wha... Hey, my cookies are going to burn!"
"Got them," came a muffled reply.
"You little - !" He was about to kick the door in but was brought back down to earth by Bam's sunny laugh.
"I'm sorry. I guess they were at their limit," Bam gave him a pacifying smile. "Why don't we go for a drive? They even packed lunch."
Khun huffed and let out a long sigh.
"Fine."
"I'm driving," Bam jiggled his keys and pulled Khun towards his car.
Khun tossed his apron in the back and settled in the passenger seat. He was about to buckle up when Bam cupped his chin and raised his head.
"Don't I get a welcome home kiss?" the brunette pouted.
Khun grinned as he grabbed Bam's neck.
"Welcome home, Bam," Khun said as his lips brushed over the brunette's before claiming them in a long slow kiss.
"Mmm," Bam hummed. "I'm back."
"Where to?" Khun asked.
"Leave it to me. I know just the place to help you relax," Bam winked as he turned to focus on his driving.
The drive passed in companionable silence. A lilting melody played softly on the radio. Bam wasn't surprised when Khun nodded off and leaned on his shoulder. As they stopped at a traffic light, Bam kissed his hair gently and breathed in that familiar scent that always made his heart go a little faster. The brunette blushed as a honk warned him the light has turned green.
One of the things Bam liked about their current house was how relatively close it was to the beach. They were there in less than an hour.
Khun woke to a soft pressure on his lips and a warm hand on his cheek.
"We're here," Bam smiled.
Khun pretended to go back to sleep.
"Five more minutes," he mumbled as he hugged the brunette to his chest.
"Please? I need to stretch my legs," Bam coaxed.
"Okay," Khun said but remained immobile. Until he felt fingers ghosting over sensitive spots at his sides. "Hey, no tickling!" He puffed and stiffled a bubbling laugh.
"I'm awake! See? Awake!" He laughed as he caught Bam's hands.
"Good, now let's enjoy a little walk," Bam said pleased that he could elicit such a genuine laugh. He knew anyone else who tried would have been killed. And he smiled again knowing he was special.
It was a beautiful day for a trip to the beach. The heavens were the definition of sky blue and there were just enough clouds to keep the day from being too hot. A friendly breeze blew from the sea as waves rolled soothingly on fine sand. Crystal clear waters reflected the blue calmness from above.
It felt natural to find each other's hands as they walked barefoot on the sand. The water lapping at their toes was delightfully cool. Khun felt the tension flow from his shoulders with each step they took.
"To answer your question, I did miss you. Every freaking minute," Khun confessed.
"So did I," Bam hugged his side. "I thought the case you were handling was going well?"
"It was," Khun smirked. "But my father isn't letting things go easily as usual and now he's just being a royal dickhead. I made sure to sue him for maximum damages though, and he isn't seeing a penny from any of my companies."
"I'm sure you have everything under control," Bam gave him a peck. "Just try not to let him get to your head too much."
"Somehow it's easier when you're around," Khun sighed.
"I'll make sure to stick around then."
"You sure I won't drive you crazy?"
"You already do. Every single minute," Bam gave him a playful grin and somehow it looked dangerous in that innocent looking face. "For now how about some lunch?"
They went back to the car to get the picnic basket and found two jars of chocolate chip cookies and a still cool bottle of lemonade.
"Pfft," Bam tried really hard to stop from giggling. He heared every pained detail from Shibisu over the phone.
"Should have guessed," Khun almost seemed apologetic for once.
"Why don't we grab sandwiches at that shop then I'll try some of these for dessert?"
They found a shady spot under a few palm trees and Bam laid out a blanket as Khun took their purchases out of the bag. Once the sandwiches were unwrapped, flinty blue eyes scowled at soggy bread and wilted lettuce. The tomatoes looked like they've just been savagely murdered with a very blunt knife. A miniscule piece of meat passing as ham hid among the wreckage.
"Want to exchange?" Bam offered.
Khun then stared at Bam's greasy burger. A questionable yellowish curdled sauce oozed from its sides. The other patrons seemed to enjoy the lackluster food though.
"I think I'll just have some fruit." He smirked as he watched Bam take a tentative bite, chew, and fold the paper wrapper back over the offending sandwich.
"You're right. Good thing they have fruit."
Khun does have exacting standards when it came to food but even Bam thought these were just... disagreeable. The mango and watermelon slices however, were just right.
"You tweaked the recipe again didn't you?" Bam loved the cookies and he could swear he could taste rum in some that had raisins.
They talk like they haven't talked in a long while about trivial things, not so trivial stuff, and more matters of no real consequence. They laughed, joked, and sometimes just sat in lovely silence while hands affirmed the presence of other hands on the sand dusted blanket.
Time spent in good company passes like the flap of a seagull's wing. Soon the blues of the summer sky gave way to dazzling oranges and reds. Then, to the cool purples and indigos of twilight. They watched the sun dive into the sea until even its last rays were lapped by the waves.
"Shall we go?" Khun asked as he felt Bam shiver a little in the cooler breeze.
"But it's so comfy here," Bam said as he leaned more onto Khun's shoulder. Tendrils of his hair tickled Khun's cheek. He was a little reluctant too. It was rare for them to get time to themselves like this. So then they watched the stars for a little while before finding someplace along the way for a decent meal.
It was late when they opened the front door and the first thing they noticed was the white dust that fogged up the air. Then, the harried shouts coming from the kitchen.
"Is this... flour?" Khun frowned. "Bam, behind me!" He quickly pulled the other just as he threw up a blue shield to cover them both from the fireball that quickly spread through the combustible air. The fire alarm sounded shrilly as the sprinkler system kicked in.
"Is everyone alright?" Bam coughed as they congregated on the front lawn.
Everyone was accounted for. There were quite a few burns, and singed clothes and hair.
"Explain how you embeciles just torched my kitchen," growled Khun as flinty blue eyes looked down on four of the crew who knelt before him.
"It was Yeon/Wangnan/Shibisu/Prince's fault!" They shouted at once as they pointed at each other.
"We were trying to put together a surprise dinner for you but it took longer than we anticipated," Prince pleaded.
"Then the flour scattered... and the stove caught fire..."
"You three are on cleaning duty for a month! Patch yourselves up and start cleaning in the morning!!" Khun ordered.
"You're not going to heal us?" Wangnan asked hopefully.
"What am I, your personal medic?" Khun rolled his eyes dramatically. "You heal fast enough. Take it as part of your lesson."
Just then they heard a strangled wheeze followed by hurried thumping.
"Rak?" Bam asked. A jar of chocolate chip cookies lay spilled at his feet.
"He's choking!"
Akraptor tried to perform a Heimlich. "He's too tough! I can't squeeze him!!"
"Move!" Khun grabbed the gator quickly. Rak's eyes were bulging and his lips were turning purplish. After five back blows and the same number of abdominal thrusts, Rak was finally sputtering and swallowing mouthfuls of air.
"I almost died..." he croaked as he slumped on the ground.
"Serves you right."
"My arrogant prey just tried to kill me!"
"I just saved your life, ungrateful crocodile!"
"Your cookies are weapons!"
"Who snorts food like a vacuum cleaner?!"
"Looks like he's okay," smiled Bam.
"I'm turning in."
"Me too."
"I'm hungry."
"There's pizza on the coffee table."
"Yeah!"
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Bam yawned as he dragged a still arguing Khun back into the house.
Another day has gone in Team Bam's house.
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