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Princess lay in bed, her eyes closed as she listened to Jungkook serenading her with Euphoria.  Her phone was next to her bed, and she’d been playing her favorite song on a loop all night long.  She couldn’t think of a better way to wake up on her birthday than with Jungkook’s angelic voice singing in her ear.  In a perfect world, she’d get to spend this special day with him.

She shrugged as she opened her eyes.  Oh, well, the world wasn’t perfect, but she could still enjoy Jungkook’s breathy voice in her ear as she got ready to celebrate birthday number twenty with her friends today.  This evening Hannah, Leslie, Jessa, and Arvie were all coming over to celebrate with her.

This morning she had a cooking class to look forward to.  Her friends had all pooled their money to pay for a professional class for her to attend as a birthday gift.  She pulled her favorite yellow dress out of her closet.  After she’d slipped into it, she observed her reflection in the mirror.  Her raven hair flowed halfway down her chest.  How should she wear it today?  She was going to be cooking, so she would want it out of the way.  She pulled the top half back into a ponytail on the crown of her head, allowing the bottom half of her hair to flow down her back.  She smiled at herself in the mirror.  Her dimples danced.  Her dark brown eyes twinkled with anticipation as she looked forward to the day’s festivities.  She added some red lipstick to her full lips to enhance her already beautiful face.  Then she turned to head out the door on her way to the cooking class.

She arrived at the building before anyone else.  It was still locked.  She kicked a pebble around as she waited patiently.  And then impatiently as her stomach growled.  They were supposed to be making breakfast today.  She sighed.  She was really hungry.  Suddenly a car pulled up.  The driver turned off the engine and stepped from the vehicle.  

As Princess looked up, all the air in her lungs seemed to evaporate.  She blinked.  A raven-haired darling with wide, midnight eyes climbed from the vehicle, his long legs clad in black pants that seemed to go on for miles.  His black shirt clung to his muscular shoulders and molded to his slender torso.  Who had dressed him?  His usual, flowing clothes were missing today.  The outline of his apparel left little to her imagination.  As she followed the line of his pant legs all the way to the ground, she noticed the black sandals gracing his feet, and she smiled.  It was him, all right.  

Her eyes traveled back to his face.  His raven hair was spilling over his forehead in the style ARMY called “coconut head.”  His beautiful, dark eyes collided with her own, and she was certain she’d never be able to draw another breath again.  What on earth was Jungkook doing at her cooking lesson?

She stood staring at him, unable to breathe, let alone talk.  Then he grinned at her, and she nearly fainted.  His cute, chubby, white teeth seemed to fill half his face with joy as his nose wrinkled and his eyes twinkled at her.

“Hello,” he greeted her as he stepped up next to her.  “Are you my pupil?”

What?!  Her friends had hired Jungkook to be her cooking class instructor today?  How was that possible?

She simply stared at him, and he continued grinning at her, strategically gathering all the oxygen for himself.  Dumbfounded, she nodded at him as he pulled a key from his pocket and walked over to unlock the building.  He opened the door and stood smiling at her as he continued to hold the door for her. 

“Ladies first,” he commanded as he bowed his head towards her in a way that further endeared him to her.

She stepped through the doorway ahead of him as he turned the lights on.  The kitchen lit up from within.  Her eyes grew wide as she took in the large, industrial kitchen and its massive work space.  Then she turned towards him, a question on her tongue.  “Wait.  I’m your only student today?”

He nodded at her.  “Yep.  This is a private lesson.”

Oh.  She liked the sound of that!  If she could manage to stay conscious for it!  She could hardly believe she was alone in a room with Jungkook!

He stepped forward.  “Hi again.  I’m Chung-guk.”

She absolutely adored the way he pronounced his own name.  She smiled at him, drew a breath – Hey, wait a minute!  Her lungs did still work! – and responded, “I’m Princess.”

“Yes, you certainly are,” he replied as his eyes smiled at her.

Her heart sighing, she asked him, “What are we making for breakfast?”

“Tosilog.  Fried eggs, tocino, garlic fried rice, and atchara.”

“That’s my favorite!”

“Is it?  I love pork belly.  I can’t wait to eat it!”  Just then Jungkook’s stomach growled.  They both looked in surprise at his torso before their eyes met, and they burst out laughing.

Suddenly at ease, Princess commented, “I’m glad I’m not the only starving one.”

“I can assure you, you are not.”

“Do you know what atchara is?”

“Pickled papaya.”

She smiled at him, impressed.

“Let’s get to work!”  Jungkook tossed her an apron before he pulled one over his own clothes.  Then he opened the refrigerator and pulled out the eggs, tocino, rice, and atchara.  He gestured towards a cabinet.  “Can you pull the bottle of oil out?”

She nodded and did his bidding.  They put everything on the counter, and Jungkook set a frying pan on the stove.  Princess eyed the ingredients on the counter.  

“You already made the rice?”

“Yes.  That’s jasmine rice that was cooked yesterday.  Can you tell me the first thing we need to do to make the sinangag?”

She responded happily, “First, let’s add the oil to the pan.  Then we’ll put in the crushed garlic and cook it slowly until it turns crisp and brown.”  Princess laughed.  She’d been making this dish for years.  Why on earth would her friends hire a cooking instructor to teach her something she already knew?

Jungkook looked up at her, his dark hair falling into his eyes.  He reached up and slid his fingers through it, drawing it back away from his forehead momentarily.  As soon as he released his bangs, they fell right back into his eyes again.  

Princess reached up. “Here.  Let me help you.”  

She carefully slid her fingers under the hair in the middle of his forehead and pushed it off to the side of his face.  It stayed put.  Then she repeated the action on the other side of his face.  There.  Now she could see most of his forehead.  And both of his beautiful eyes.  She stood staring up at him, feeling a little breathless again.

He smiled at her.  “Thank you.  You’re probably wondering why I’m here to teach you to cook a traditional Filipino breakfast, right?”

She nodded.

“Well, actually, I’m not.  You’re going to teach me how to make it.”

She lifted her dark eyebrows.  She was going to teach Jungkook to cook her favorite breakfast?  This would be fun!

“We need to crush the garlic.”

He reached out and grabbed some garlic cloves.  “Want to show me how?”

She proceeded to demonstrate.  Jungkook watched her studiously before repeating her actions and crushing his own garlic cloves.  

“Is this enough?” he asked once they had a small pile of crushed cloves.

She nodded.  “Let’s turn on the heat and toss the garlic in the oil.”  

As the garlic began to cook, she directed Jungkook to warm another pan to fry the tocino and eggs in.  He added a little oil before lowering the slices of pork belly into the pan to fry them.  By then, it was time to add the rice to the garlic oil, so Princess showed Jungkook how to fry the rice while the tocino cooked in its own pan.  A couple of minutes later, Princess sprinkled salt on the fried rice and had Jungkook mix it thoroughly before he sampled a bite to make sure he’d made it right.

His eyes lit up.  “Oooh.  It’s so good!  Want a bite?”  He scooped some up with a spoon and held it out to her.  She grinned at him before taking a bite.  She closed her eyes in bliss before realizing she couldn’t see Jungkook’s handsome face anymore.  Her eyes popped open.  

He was grinning at her.  “It’s good, isn’t it?”  

He shoveled a huge bite into his mouth before setting the spoon down and flipping the tocino over to brown the other side.  After he’d removed the fried tocino from its pan, Princess directed him to fry four eggs.

Finally, they assembled their breakfast on two plates.  Jungkook carried them to a table before pulling a chair out for her to sit in.  He didn’t say anything.  He just stood behind the chair, waiting patiently for her to seat herself.  

She did so as she murmured, “Thank you, Jungkook.”  

She was suddenly feeling sheepish again, but as she glanced up at him, she saw a slight blush staining his cheeks.  Was he embarrassed?  Or just self-conscious too?  She wasn’t sure, but his sweetness made her feel better instantly.  She bent to take a bite of her favorite meal.  She groaned with delight.  

“Jungkook, this is so good!  You can cook for me any time!” she grinned at him as she showered him with praise.  “But I don’t understand why I got the honor of teaching you how to cook a Filipino breakfast today.”

“Well, I’m here visiting with some friends, and I happened to hear it was your birthday.  Happy Birthday, Princess,” he inclined his head towards her as he wished her a good day.  “And I’ve wanted to learn how to cook a traditional Filipino meal for a while, so I thought this would be a fun way to celebrate your birthday with you.  The rumor is…I’m your bias.”  

The look in his eyes as he confidentially shared this tidbit with her was priceless.  He’d leaned over the table towards her before speaking this last phrase as though sharing a juicy secret with a beloved friend.  His face was only a few inches from her own.  She could feel herself blushing as her eyes locked on his whispering lips for a moment.  Then her eyes collided with his own.  His were crinkling at the edges as he smiled at her once more.

“You know what they say about rumors,” she murmured.

“What’s that?”

“They’re almost always true.”  She smiled into his eyes.  “I can’t think of any way I would rather spend my birthday, Jungkook, than with you.”  She glanced down at her meal before locking eyes with him again.  “And you are an amazing cook!”

“Well,” he responded, “I had an amazing teacher!”