Sharing
"Hyah!"
I smeared the flour on the table across Jiyu's face until she was white as a ghost, then clutched my stomach and laughed out loud. Caked in flour like that, she looked exactly like a clown.
"Hana, you—!"
Refusing to lose, Jiyu dipped a finger in the flour and jabbed it toward me. I twisted out of the way on nimble feet, slipped behind her, and caught her hands before she could dust me any further, forcing them under the running water.
"Ack!"
Jiyu yelped that this wasn't fair, but she couldn't overpower me. We were still at it when the teacher walked in. One look at us and her face went stern.
"You do not play with food! Hana! Jiyu!"
"Okaaay~"
Back in our seats, we split into groups of three and got ready to make cookies. The teacher put up a presentation and walked us through every step in detail. The picture was absurdly sharp — well, it was a rich school. Wasn't a presentation supposed to be at least a little pixelated to count as normal?
Even from across the room it was crystal clear. Byeolbit Guild really was swimming in money.
"First, cream the butter!"
She demonstrated for everyone as she explained. I dropped the butter waiting in its tub into the mixing bowl and started working it with a spatula. Every ingredient was already laid out on the table — no idea when they'd set it all up. All we had to do was dump things in and make the cookies.
"Now add the sugar!"
The teacher lifted the container of sugar and began pouring it into the bowl.
"Don't mix it up with the salt!"
She said it carefully, as if she were worried we'd make some beginner's mistake. Smiling, I picked up the sugar and dumped it into the bowl of softened butter. I liked things sweet, so a little extra couldn't hurt, right? But Yumi, watching me pour, spoke up cautiously.
"Hana, isn't that way too much?"
"Nope, Yumi. You gotta use this much if you want a sweet cookie!"
Yumi added sugar too, though it looked like barely half of what I'd used. Cookies like that wouldn't be sweet at all. They'd taste awful...
Still, taste was personal, wasn't it? I kept at it, already picturing myself biting into a sweet, perfect cookie.
When the dough was finished just as the teacher had instructed, my eyes lit up and I smiled.
"Jiyu! Yumi! Look at this! Doesn't it look delicious?"
Jiyu studied my dough, then her own, and said,
"You can't really tell just from the dough...?"
Still just little kids, I supposed — no sense of flair at all. This was exactly the moment to throw out a nice little that looks amazing! I carried the bowl to the fridge so the dough could rest. Jiyu and Yumi parked theirs on either side of mine for good measure. Every table had its own fridge, so there was no chance of our dough getting mixed up with anyone else's.
Making cookies was ridiculously fun. And it wasn't only fun — once they were done, I'd get to taste them myself, which made it even better. Just thinking about sweet, delicious cookies had my mouth watering.
"Hana's cookies are gonna be crazy sweet! I saw how much sugar you dumped in. That was no joke."
"Yeah? I'm totally stealing one later."
Saying that right where I could hear them. The moment the cookies came out, I decided I'd eat them before Jiyu could get her hands on one.
We kept chatting, and before I knew it the teacher told us to take the dough out. I opened the cold fridge and pulled it free — it had puffed up a little. I set it on the cutting board and rolled it thin with the rolling pin.
"Huh?"
There was a real problem. The elephant-shaped cookies I'd promised Jiyu and Yumi earlier were impossible. The only cutters we had were circles, stars, and triangles. I sneaked a glance at the two of them, and they were already pressing cutters into their dough as if they'd completely forgotten the promise.
That put me at ease. I grabbed the round cutter and stamped it into the dough again and again. Round cookies were basically the law, weren't they? I broke the sheet apart like I was stamping seals.
"All right, did everyone get the shapes they wanted? I'll put them in the oven, so just wait nicely~"
She must have decided a hot oven was too dangerous for kids, because she loaded the dough in herself. I wasn't like the other kids — I could have managed it on my own... My lip jutted out in a pout, but I handed the dough over without a fuss anyway.
Once it was in the oven, a delicious smell soon began to drift out. I had no idea how the cookies would turn out, but at the very least they probably hadn't been a disaster.
"Hana, when they're done, give me one!"
Beside me, Jiyu kept threatening to eat my cookies. Fine. One was easy enough to spare. I was merciful, after all.
We were still bickering when the oven chimed that it was done.
The first oven dinged, and the others followed one after another. Our chance to meet delicious cookies!
The kids crowded close, watching the teacher pull out the trays. A golden, sweet smell seemed to reach all the way over to us.
She took the cookies out and started carrying them back to their owners. Mine were set on the table. I picked one up and brought it to my mouth.
Crunch!
The crisp cookie filled my mouth. I munched away, savoring every bite.
Not bad at all.
For a first try, it was a huge success.
"Hana's cookie!"
Jiyu snatched one of mine from beside me and popped it in. After a few chews she squirmed and said,
"It's way too sweet!"
Watching her, Yumi took one of my cookies too.
"Ah!"
She chewed a few times, then made a strange face.
"That's so you, though."
So me? What was that supposed to mean... A cookie this perfect didn't exist anywhere else in the world. This was a cookie only I got to eat.
"Maru!"
Maru had come to the school gate to pick me up. My eyes sparkled at the sight of the gleaming car. I wished I had one of my own like that.
I could have bought one with the money I had, but without a driver's license it was nothing but a picture on the wall. Swallowing the disappointment, I climbed into the passenger seat, swung my short legs, and left the driving to Maru.
Her driving had softened right up. There was no need to be scared out of my wits the way I'd been the first time I rode with her. People really did have to pile up experience before they got good at something.
"What did you do today, Hana?"
Curious about my classes, Maru asked as she drove — exactly like a parent dying to hear about school. Fair enough. It had been decades since she'd finished elementary school, so of course she'd wonder what went on in there.
"We made cookies!"
I giggled and fiddled with the little pouch of cookies in my pocket. I was planning to share them once we reached the research institute. They were far too good to keep all to myself.
"Oh yeah? That must've been fun~"
Hearing we'd had a cooking class, Maru looked amazed and kept asking more. We talked the whole way, and before long we were there. I hopped out and took off at a run. I was dying to feed people my cookies.
I rode the elevator up, and the office was still full of people working. Elementary school let out early, so it was only around three in the afternoon, nowhere near six — quitting time. I could hand out the cookies I'd made.
"These are the cookies Hana made?"
"They look delicious~"
Bora, Haru, and Maru each took one of my cookies and popped it into their mouths. Maybe it was because I was staring at them, silently demanding they eat fast and tell me what they thought...
Everyone who tried one made a strange face. Were they so good that words failed them?
Of course my cookies couldn't taste bad! I bounced around them in circles.
"Good, right? Good, right? Want another?"
I pulled more cookies from the pouch and held them out — here, here! They did seem to be gulping down an awful lot of water, but cookies were dry, crumbly things. Of course your throat would catch fire. I decided that was only to be expected.
Next time I made cookies, I'd share them with everyone again!