A warm, addicting meal

The next morning, Ai woke up much earlier than usual. She quickly got ready and left for the supermarket to buy some ingredients for making today's breakfast.

Yes, she decided to cook today's morning meal as a way to properly thank Jun for helping her out last night.

A gentle smile curled her lips upwards. It wasn't only because he helped her, but his parting words left a deep impact on her.

'As long as I am there, you won't fall. You just won't fall.'

To him, they might be just a few consoling words to soothe her fear. But to Ai, those words meant everything. Someone who saw the love of her life watching her fall into the dark abyss of death when she desperately wanted to cling to his warmth and support - the assurance that somebody would be there this time to hold on to her meant the world to her.

The sincerity and the resolution in his unyielding voice shook her. His earnest and determined pupils made her feel safe and protected.

Ai wanted to thank him from the bottom of her heart. This was also a good chance to thank him for saving her during the event, whether it was bringing the little boy to confess or catching her from falling off the stairs.

She made a quick round to the supermarket and returned with two bags in her hand. In the kitchen she put the pan on the burner and took out the ingredients one by one.

Jun, who was doing some light exercises in his room, felt an aroma fill in the air a while later.

Huh?

When he quickly went out, he saw Ai was putting the plates on the table and serving breakfast. He stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You made breakfast today?"

Ai joyfully replied. "Yes. This is for helping me out last night and during the event- *cough cough!*"

"Event? Which event?" Jun was confused.

Ai wiped her forehead.

It slipped out of my tongue…

"...event. Christmas event. Yes for taking me in during Christmas when I was homeless."

Jun raised his brow. "You didn't have to do that."

"This is the least I can do."

The breakfast had good portions of pork buns, dumplings and some wheat curry noodles. The dishes let out a soothing aroma that would make anybody's stomach grumble in hunger.

Jun popped a dumpling into his mouth and slowly widened his eyes. "These are good."

Her ears perked up with the praise, and she felt satisfied. She woke up really early so that she could slowly and meticulously follow the recipe to make the perfect breakfast.

As he tasted the pork buns and wheat noodles, he slowly nodded his head in deep thought. Being the son of a mother who was an awesome chef herself, Jun was extremely strict when it came to food tasting. Not just him but his siblings too. It was a colossal task for anybody to earn praise from them.

"Reduce the pork filling by one-third next time. The dough won't loosen that way. The wheat noodles are slightly overcooked. Keep the timing in check."

He thought Ai would look dispirited by his comments. Instead, she was carefully writing down the notes. She nodded and closed her notebook.

"Thank you. I will make it right next time," she sincerely replied.

Jun kept his gaze on her for a moment and then went back to eating his breakfast.

It's not perfect, but it's still good, Jun silently thought.

With Nana being the chef herself, Jun had never eaten anything less than a perfect feast all the time. But somehow he felt it was refreshing to have not-so-perfect food.

Jun, who always yearned for perfection strangely found this warm meal addicting.

"For someone who blew up her house, this is quite a decent meal," Jun commented.

Ai pursed her lips. "I realized baking is different from cooking."

Jun wondered how Nian's reaction would be if he had seen the ruined cake. Nian was a professional pâtissier and had opened his own branch of Natsukashi Bakery.

Natsukashi was a family restaurant where Nana was the owner but right now, it was jointly handled by Jian and his younger sister Nuo, who were professional chefs just like her. Nian had always liked sweets since childhood, so he went ahead and completed his training to become a pâtissier from Paris.

Jun's lips unconsciously curled up.

Ai blinked. "Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing. I just thought it would be amusing to see my elder brother's reaction if he ever learned of your failed baking cake attempt."

She tilted her head. "You have an elder brother?"

Jun sneered. "Unfortunately, yes. I have two older brothers. They are twins. One younger sister and…a younger brother," his voice got a little grim thinking about Jin.

Ai looked at him with envy. "It's so nice. I don't have any siblings. Growing up all alone was difficult. Sometimes, I wished I had a sibling too."

Jun made a face. "You are better off alone than having nosy siblings like mine."

"You shouldn't say that. Only someone who doesn't have any siblings can understand their value. You should feel lucky."

Jun paused.

I did feel lucky all this time…until my own brother brought a crack in my relationship.

He felt stifling in his chest thinking about Jin and Shui.

"Why did you say it would be amusing to see your brother's reaction?"

Jun discarded the negative thoughts about Jin and replied. "Because he is obsessed with cakes and sweets. If he had seen the mess, he would have grilled you like crazy until you shed tears of blood. Heh. So many girls have tried to win his heart by making cakes for him. Tch. They were all left with bleeding hearts. Either you make it perfectly, or don't try at all! Is what he says," he scoffed. "If you did a half-assed attempt, then be ready to die in shame. He is a sweets maniac."

"..."

It was hard to imagine a person liking sweets so much to speak so harshly.

Jun's question brought her out of her thoughts.

"I heard you talking yesterday to someone," Jun narrowed his eyes. "Are you planning to join Sky?"