Eunji was not anticipating another text from Namjoon, but she got one anyway. 

One week after their Hangang Park outing, he slid into her DMs again, this time with a request. Can you come over? Like right now?

Why?, she texted back.

His reply came instantaneously. I need your help.

Eunji left him on read. "Eomma?" she shouted.

"What?" her mother yelled back.

"I'm meeting up with my friends for a bit, I'll be home for dinner."

There was a pause, and then her mother replied, "All right."

Eunji took her mother's keys and drove to Namjoon's apartment. For some strange reason, she was excited to see Namjoon again.

"Thank goodness," said Namjoon. "I thought you wouldn't come."

The first thing she noticed was his outfit choice. Namjoon was wearing the same tank top he'd worn when he showed her the songs. As if noticing where her gaze had gone, he reached up to run his hands through his hair, making him look even more attractive than before. Her stomach did a flip as she took in the sight.

The second thing Eunji noticed was the burning smell coming from the kitchen. "Namjoon-ssi, something's burning!" She ripped her gaze from his biceps and pushed past him to the kitchen area, yanking the oven door open. Inside lay a baking sheet with blackened, lopsided lumps of...something. "Namjoon-ssi, what were you trying to make?"

He wrung his hands awkwardly. "Chocolate chip cookies."

"For fuck's sake, Namjoon, cookies aren't even that hard to make." Eunji sighed, putting on their oven mitts and removing the tray. "You baked them too long. Is this what you wanted help on?" He nodded, and she asked, "Why are you baking? And where's Hoseok and Yoongi-ssi?"

"They're out running errands. And I'm cooking for a company potluck. We're celebrating the debut of our new group, TXT."

"Oh," she said. "I've seen their promotional pictures on Twitter. Anyway, Namjoon-ssi, do you have any cooking skills whatsoever?"

"No," he whispered. Then, louder, "So can you make them for me?"

"Okay," said Eunji. "But you have to stay here and make conversation with me." He obliged, and she continued. "So tell me about your cooking mishaps."

Namjoon buried his face in his hands. "Well, there was this one time where I tried making fried rice and I ended up burning the pan. Seokjin-hyung got so mad because the pan was his."

"Namjoon-ssi!" said Eunji. "Why couldn't you ask Seokjin to cook for you?"

"He's at work. Everyone's busy, and I need help."

"Well, I have all the time in the world. Come over here and I'll teach you how to make cookies the right way." She rubbed her hands together. "First, we're dumping whatever that is. Meanwhile, could you take out the ingredients?" She cast a look at the oven, which still emanated a burning smell. "I trust that the oven is hot enough already, so we don't have to preheat it."

Eunji went to discard the burnt cookies, only to see that they were sticking to the parchment paper. She flipped one of them over, and the bottom was raw batter. She choked back a laugh. "Namjoon-ssi, did you, perhaps, broil the cookies?"

"What's the difference?" he asked, innocently.

"Well, when you bake, the heat comes from the bottom of the oven, which allows the entire cookie to be cooked. When you broil, the heat comes from the top of the oven."

"Oh," said Namjoon, embarrassed. "Well, I'm sorry for making you come here and bake my cookies."

"It's alright," said Eunji, and she meant it. "You can mix the wet ingredients, and I'll mix the dry ingredients. How did you do it the first time?"

"I used a recipe," he said. "It didn't go so well."

She took a deep breath. "Anyway, I'm just going to assume that Yoongi and Hoseok are the ones who cook meals."

"You assumed correct," said Namjoon. "Is this mixed enough?"

"Yeah." Eunji poured the wet ingredients and the chocolate chips and began to stir the mixture together, but stopped. "Do you have a hand mixer, by any chance?"

"A hand mixer?"

"Yeah. You press a button and it mixes the ingredients for you." Fully aware that she looked stupid, Eunji mimed stirring batter together.

"Oh! Yeah, we have that." Namjoon produced their hand mixer from a cabinet and began to mix the batter. Unfortunately, he had not held the bowl down, and the mixture began to splatter across the counter.

"Namjoon-ssi," said Eunji, cringing. "Hold it down and move the mixer in a circular motion." She put her hand on his and began to mix it for him, not realizing that their hands were touching until it was too late. He looked at her, wide-eyed. Eunji yanked her hand away. "I—"

There was an awkward pause, and then he said, "Anyway, how have you been?" Namjoon's tone was abnormally bright.

"Fine," she mumbled, mixing the dough herself. "And you?"

"I've been good, thanks."

"So...about this potluck. When is it?"

"Eight p.m. It's a company-only event."

"I wasn't asking if I could go. Put some parchment paper on the baking sheet. I'm going to teach you how to shape cookies."

"I tried to make them circular, but they ended up fusing into one big, burnt cookie," said Namjoon.

"You put them too close to each other, that's all. Now, come over here. How did you try to shape them?"

Namjoon took some batter from the bowl, the dough looking far too small in his large hands. He placed it onto the sheet and flattened it with his palm.

"You have to roll it into a ball first," said Eunji. She plucked the dough from his hand, accidentally brushing his fingers in the process. Cheeks flushed, she turned away. He was making her more and more flustered.

Once the cookies were properly shaped, Eunji put them into the oven, then sat on the counter, swinging her legs. "So how have you really been doing?"

"Well, nothing much. I've been working a lot, preparing for TXT's debut."

"Namjoon-ssi," she said. "Would you ever want to be an idol?"

He paused, thinking. "You asked this before, but no. I don't fancy singing and dancing on a stage. And who would I perform with?"

"You could be a soloist. But anyway, I was just curious. I'll check out their music."

They made conversation until the oven beeped. She took the tray out of the oven and inhaled.

"It definitely smells good," Namjoon remarked.

Eunji nodded, setting the tray on top of their stove. "Is this all you wanted me to do?"

"Yes. Thank you, I really appreciate it."

She opened her mouth to say you're welcome, but the door opened and Hoseok shouted, "Yah! Namjoon-ah, did you make the cookies? The potluck's in three hours. I'm going to whoop your—Oh, hello, Eunji-ssi." He put down the bags of groceries and smiled at her.

"Hi, Hoseok-ssi. I've heard all about that potluck you're having, and I baked the cookies for him."

"Ah, gamsahamnida," said Yoongi. "Namjoonie can't cook to save his life. Did you hear about the time when he tried to cut on onion but he was using the wrong side of the knife." He shook his head disapprovingly. "How many tries did it take for him to bake these?"

"He broiled the first batch, and then he called me over to do it for him."

"Okay," said Namjoon loudly, "I pressed the wrong button. It's not that big of a deal."

"It's not that hard," said Hoseok. "I gave you a very detailed recipe and you still managed to mess it up. I bet you would've burned down the apartment building had she not come to save you."

"Alright, that's enough," Namjoon said. "The cookies are done. Much thanks to Eunji-ssi. So can we all just shut up about it now?"

"Ah, Namjoon-ssi," she said, with a smile. "No, we can't."

a/n: txt debuted today (march 4). i love 'crown' and yeonjun is threatening to steal my heart :( please they're all so cute anyway i love how they don't have to go through a cringey fashion/hair phase unlike *cough* BTS *cough* also stream noir by sunmi

as always, if you liked this chapter then vote and comment !!