42 Doesn't Taste the Same

After searching through the entire kitchen from the fridge to the cabinets, Jason awkwardly coughed. "Should we order take-out?"

Selina stared at the ingredients in front of her and crossed her arms; sinking deeply in thought.

"No need. You can sit aside to watch. I know what to make." Rolling up her sleeves, she started boiling water while she sliced up pieces of chicken thighs and breasts. At the same time, she cut up vegetables to smaller pieces. While staring at her from behind, Jason also folded up his sleeves and decided to help her.

Perhaps because it's been quite a while since she has held a knife, the way she held the knife could result in an injury. From behind, he wrapped his arms around her body and held her hands. After correcting her hand's posture, his deep voice echoed instructions to her ears.

"Don't cut it the way you did before. Put your fingers here and slice it up like this or else your finger could slip. See? Isn't it easier to do it like this?" He took his time demonstrating how ingredients should be cut.

Staring at the neat slices on the chopping board, she blinked several times at it and then leaned her head backwards for her eyes to meet his. The slicing process was paused as he looked down to see her silly smile.

"What is it?" He was trying very hard not to bend down to kiss her at the moment.

"Hehe, it doesn't matter how pretty these slices are cut. At the end, I'm chopping them to very tiny pieces with the vegetables and shiitake mushrooms together. Can you guess what I want to make?" She giggled childishly at him.

Seeing the all-purpose flour, wheat starch, powdered sugar and instant yeast on the kitchen counter with different seasonings on the side; he took an educated guess. "You want to make chicken bun?"

"Bingo! Since you got it right, you can knead the dough for me! Hehe~" She focused her attention back on the chopping board where she continued preparing the ingredients.

Letting out a soft chuckle close to her ears, he said, "You just don't want to deal with the dough kneading, huh?"

"No such thing! Mhm, you guessed the dish right yourself. That's your prize." She smiled while showing her teeth as she continued mincing ingredients together.

Soon, everything was ready for the final steps in making the buns. After the dough was ready, Jason sat as he watched her take decent amounts of dough and flattened it using a rolling pin. Taking a spoon, she scooped a fair amount of ingredients onto the center of the dough.

Today, he learned two new sides of her. One of them was her artistic side, which he had heard about but finally got to see how amazing she was. The other side is the current her who was working on wrapping chicken buns for their meal. Both sides have impressed him greatly.

After wrapping a few buns, she held them in her hands and showed him her progress. "Look! Look! Aren't they cute?!"

Staring at the final products in her hands, he smiled. "Mm. Very cute. Let me try doing one."

"Okay! Let me teach you how to fold it since it's the most difficult part out of everything." Step by step, she showed him how it is done while waiting for him to catch up. She wasn't afraid of pointing out his flaws, and he was actually trying to learn how to shape buns.

After a few attempts, he managed to somehow close the buns in his own way. Although it looked pretty different from the ones she has made, she looked very content and happy at it. Her smiles were contagious to him. As long as she was smiling, he would follow along for no reason.

Out of the two platters of chicken buns, she folded the majority of it. Finally, they could steam it. While waiting for their meal to finish, they went to sit in the living room.

Supporting his head using his elbow against the back of the couch, he asked, "Do you remember the steps on making chicken buns?"

She shook her head. "My hands moved on their own as if I knew what I was doing. So, I did whatever I thought was right."

"So, our dinner could end up a mess?" His head almost slipped from his palms.

"Uh huh, but I know you'll eat them all with me right? You can't waste food. Especially the first food that I made after moving in. Hehe." She pinched his cheeks lightly as she teasingly smiled.

"Pfft, if you're daring to eat it, then I am too." He hit his chest lightly with his fists. Seeing her smile carefreely felt extremely nice to him. For these years that he has lived alone, he had never experienced the joy of having another person at home. Once in a while, cooking is not such a bad thing.

Although he had lived alone, he didn't like eating restaurant foods too much. Therefore, when he had time to himself, he would try different recipes. As Selina turned to face the television, he noticed some flour stuck to her ears.

Chuckling lowlily, he leaned closer and reached for her ears. With his index finger settling at the back of her ears, his thumb wiped her ears gently. There were stubborn traces of flour stuck to a small section of her baby hair in the back as well.

"Don't move. You have some flour on your hair." He said as he leaned close enough for his nose to brush against her ears. Cold air ran through the back of her neck as he blew onto the section of her hair and brushed the flour away. As he continued blowing short breezes against her skin, she squinted her eyes closed.

Tingles ran down her body, sending goosebumps all over. Her cheeks started feeling warm, but it wasn't uncomfortable. For some reason, she seemed to enjoy it and want to lean close to him. Pressing her lips together, she moistened her lips with her saliva.

"Selina? Are you feeling alright?" He asked when he noticed her closed eyes and flushed cheeks. She forgot how close his face was and turned her head once she heard his voice calling out to her. Her eyes blinked several times at him as she realized how close their faces were!

"I..I'm fine! I'll go check on the chicken buns." She quickly moved backwards and rushed to the kitchen. It took him a few minutes to figure out what went wrong there.

'Our lips were so close to kissing!' He thought to himself.

Selina took a fork and poked into the buns to see if they were ready. While she checked on their dinner, her heart pounded nonstop. She rubbed her ears, trying to calm herself down. 'Ah!! What's wrong with me? He was only getting flour off my hair!'

When the chicken buns were ready, she carefully removed them and placed it on the dining table. Taking out different spices he had in his kitchen and other seasoning ingredients, she smiled at the delicious fragrance.

Out of all the perfect dainty looking buns she folded, she chose the one he folded as her first piece. As she dipped the bun in her own mixed sauce, she fanned her mouth from the hot temperature. On the other hand, he misinterpreted her action and thought that maybe it didn't taste good. He formed a cup shape using his palms and waited for her to spit it out.

After a minute later, she managed to swallow the bun. "Did you think I was spitting it out? Hmm? Do you not believe in my culinary skills?"

"Haha, of course not. I thought it might be too hot, so you needed to cool it down."

Staring at him with disbelief in her eyes, she ripped a piece of her bun using her chopsticks and blew on it. Dipping the piece into her sauce, she brought it to his lips; asking it for permission to let the bun through.

"Say ah. Try it. It should be warm now." He opened his mouth and devoured the savory flavor in his mouth. Looking down at the two platters of buns, he pointed to his mouth as he chewed.

"It tastes delicious!" He smiled cheerfully.

"Hmph, see what I told you. You worried for nothing." She placed a fresh chicken bun onto his plate and mixed the sauce for him.

"You might have learned how to make these before. Very tasty." He complimented.

"Hmm? But it's not the same taste as I wanted it to be. Weird, what is missing from this?" She muttered to herself with a confused expression on her face.

After dinner, they washed the dishes together before parting to their own rooms.