The ting of the oven indicates the completion of her latest experiment. As she whipped the tray out she allowed her senses to get infused in its floral scent. A wafting combination of braided bread filled with pistachio and injected with rosewater was set down to cool. 

The gleam in her eyes shows happiness in the success of her experiment before even indulging in the savory goodness that now rests atop the kitchen counter of her apartment. Down the hallway, frantic tap-taps of a thumb on a controller could be heard. "Gguk-ah," The woman in her mid-twenties calls out, "You might want to try this out."

In a matter of three seconds, said boy is by her side, video game playing on the TV screen now paused. "I knew you were baking something from all the delicious smells I've been sniffing in the past hour." Jeon Jeongguk, her cousin, says causing a smile to form on her face. She watches him with a giggle as she walks around the counter to analyze the dish from all sides, then proceeds to poke the top of the bread. "What have you made this time?" He asks his mouth watering with greed and hunger. 

"This is my latest experiment, The Pistachio-Rose Babka." Kim Soomin replies with pride lacing her voice. Baking skills were something Soomin was born with. As a part of the Kim family that has been running the Kim's Kreme bakehouse for the past 60 years, this trait is of no surprise. Her natural baking skills and her knack for sweet delicacies cause every single one of Soomin's experiments to become a grand success. Experiments that were taste-tested and approved by her family were then sold in their bakery where Soomin worked as a manager. 

Unable to control his hunger anymore with the flowery scent flooding his nose, Jeongguk grabs a knife and cuts through the bread immediately. He puts a considerable amount of bread in his mouth totally ignoring the way steam was rising from the bread. Soomin can only look at him in amusement when the cry bursts out. "A-ah Ah- Ah- too hot!" His mouth burned. Soomin topples over in laughter watching the poor boy in misery. "You should have waited until it cooled down fully, you idiot." Jeongguk pouts. 

After giving the dessert a few good minutes to fully cool down, Jeongguk cuts up a slice (properly this time) and takes a bite. He lets the bread dissolve in his mouth as a frown takes over his face. Soomin stood there unfazed knowing that when Jeongguk frowns while eating it's because he just had the most delicious thing on this planet. "WAHH," He exclaimed, his eyes watering due to its immense flavor, "Min-ie this is AMAZING! This should totally make it to our bakery. The people are going to love this." "That's exactly what I plan to do, Gguk. All I need is Grandma's approval." Jeongguk sighed in pleasure from the taste that lingers in his mouth and proceeded to go for another piece. 

"That's enough Jeon Jeongguk, I need the rest for grandma." He grunted with displeasure. "Anyway Min-ie, you should get this to our shop as soon as possible. With The Park's increase in sales recently we need to bring in more customers. I wonder what voodoo they do on the customers for them to keep going there when their pastries taste like shit." 

"Don't be mean, Gguk. You know they specialize in breads and not cakes." Soomin replied nonchalantly. Park's Hometown Bakeshop has been your bakery's biggest competitor ever since yours was established in Jipbap-Alley, 35 years ago. The Park's bakery had been the only bakery in Jipbap-Alley for over 80 years and they had a solid customer base due to it's traditional baking methods and delicious breads. But with the Kim family bakehouse's establishment, they saw competition, as customers wanted to try more modern dishes. Since then, there has been a spark of rivalry between both bakeries which resulted in both of them trying to bring out new delicacies to attract customers, constantly. The Park bakery's signature item had been breads but they started selling pastries when competition arose from your side. Your family also began to sell bread in order to keep all customers. And to this day the competition is real even after the bakeries had been passed down many generations. 

"I don't get why you back them up so much, Min-ie, even their breads taste bad. They should honestly close down and leave the business to us." Jeongguk said with an eye-roll. "It's pointless arguing about this, you know they've been at it for years. They've got lots more years to it than us." Whbakehousee house was passed on to Soomin and her brother, Kim Seokjin, she wanted to establish a friendly relationship with their neighboring bakery and even collaborate with them at some point. But this idea was immediately frowned upon by her family. The years of rivalry between their families had caused the very mention of each other's names to be followed by eye-rolls and grimaces. 

Park Jimin was the current owner of Park's Hometown Bakeshop. He was the same age as Soomin. They met for the first time when Jimin had been opening up their shop and Soomin was changing up the menu board outside. She had expected him to frown or sneer at her when they made eye contact but to her surprise, he had smiled. A smile that caused his lips to curve upwards and cheekbones bones to inflate. One that had his eyes disappear into two crescent moons. One that made Soomin's heart beat differently for the first time in her life. She responded in a similar manner unbothered by the rivalry that had set their families apart for years. What she didn't know that day was Jimin's heart had fluttered in a manner similar to hers.

Since then stolen glances and thoughts of admiration had been exchanged between the two of them secretly. Soomin admired the way Jimin didn't care about past rivalries just like her and smiled whenever he could. She even had one of her friends go to Park's Bakeshop to buy something so that she could finally try out their food. And unlike what Jeongguk spreads among everyone, their treats are definitely delicious. She's always wanted to have a word with Park Jimin but she couldn't because of her family. And she assumed Jimin wasn't approaching her due to the same. 

~~~

A few minutes later, Soomin pulls into the driveway of their family house excited to show her grandma, founder of Kim's Kreme, her new recipe. 

The Kim family home was a cozy suburban house just around the corner of their bakery. The family home was Soomin's grandmother's most prized possession after their bakery. This house was filled with Soomin's father's and his siblings' childhood and memories of the late Mr. Kim. Grandma Kim Yoo-jung now lived there alone with her maid after her children had moved out after their marriage. However, most of them lived nearby for easy back-and-forth travel from the bakery. 

One thing that made the Kim family house so cozy was the smell of cinnamons and pumpkins in the air. Grandma Yoo-jung loved fall and the smell of freshly baked goods which had her house smelling like it all year long. 

As Soomin entered she immediately went to the backyard where she knew she would find Grandma Yoo-jung, enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee. 

"Grandma!" Soomin called out. "Minny, my child," Yoo-jung responded with a slight smile tugging at her lips, "What brings you here, my dear?" 

Soomin nears her and sets the box in her hand on the table before Yoo-jung. She opens the box and slices a piece of bread, not saying a word, and hands it to her grandmother. Yoo-jung already knowing what her grandchild is up to takes a bite and closes her eyes right after.  After a few minutes of chewing and savoring, she opens her eyes again and gives her grandchild a look. A look that conveys everything. 

"You've impressed me again, my child. I knew you had it in you to take over our legacy." Soomin sparkles with pride. She had impressed her grandmother yet again. This meant they would have yet another dessert to add to their bakery. "Thank you, grandma." Soomin smiles widely. But what her grandma says next has her smile fading. 

"This is a great next step in our plan to put a stop to the Park's business, once and for all."

~~~*~~~

notes: 

this is just the beginning and an insight into Soomin's life but it gets better in the coming chapters. Although this story is supposed to focus more on the fluff part there will be eventual ups and downs. 

I'm not going to spoil much rn. I hope u enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing. (unedited)