Cookie Time

“Miyuki? What brings you here?” Jin’s older sister, Nao, was standing in the doorway with a puzzled look. “Don’t you normally come on Saturday?”

“Yes, but today’s special,” she said. “The results of the second round of the Idol Awards are announced tonight, and I wanted to view them with Jin. I asked him earlier if it was okay to come by.”

“I’ll go let him know,” Nao scurried down the hall and knocked on the door that must lead to Jin’s room. “Jin, Miyuki’s here.”

Miyuki heard a muffled voice respond, and a few seconds later the door swung open.

Jin poked his head out of his room and waved to Miyuki. “You can come in!”

She bowed and entered the building. In her hand was a burly plastic bag that was stretched to capacity with all sorts of baking ingredients.

“What’s that?” Jin asked as she heaved the heavy bag onto the edge of the granite counter in the kitchen.

“That’s what we’ll be doing until the announcement in a couple hours,” she grinned over her shoulder. “Baking cookies!”

“Ooh, that sounds like fun,” Nao commented. “As much as I would like to join, I wouldn’t want to interrupt you two. I’ll be in my room if you need me,” she slipped back into the hallway, leaving the two alone.

“Cookies, huh? I don’t have much experience here.”

“Not to worry,” she puffed out her chest with her fists on her hips. “Baker Miyuki will teach you how it’s done!”

Jin clapped his hands in front of him and bowed his head playfully. “Teach me your ways, master!”

Both of them dropped the act with a good laugh that lasted a good minute. “I didn’t expect you to respond like that,” Miyuki wiped a tear from her eye, finishing the last of her laughs.

“I thought I’d play along,” he replied. With a deep calming breath, he continued. “So what do we do first?”

“First, we start the oven,” she stretched over the counter to set the oven to the appropriate temperature and pushed the start button. “Could you get a few mixing bowls out for me?”

While Jin was busy looking for the large bowls, she reached into the bag she had brought and set each ingredient on the counter.

“Here’s the recipe,” her hand retreated from the bag holding a slip of paper from a notepad. Instructions were written on the page in blue ink. The last item in the bag was a plain white apron. She held the strings behind her back and tied them together, fastening the cloth over her clothes.

“Can you mix the dry ingredients together?” Miyuki asked, taking the smaller of the bowls Jin had set on the counter and placing it next to the collection of ingredients.

“I can do that,” he accepted the items from Miyuki and placed them on an empty portion of the counter to claim as his workspace. A second later he returned to Miyuki holding a plethora of measuring cups and spoons.

“Thank you,” she smiled and took the handful she was being offered. “It just occurred to me, you haven’t heard any of my songs other than Phoenix and Reflections, have you?”

“No, I haven’t,” he scooped some flour from the bag and dumped it into his bowl.

“Would you like to listen to some while we’re doing this?”

He paused for a moment. “Yeah, let’s hear them.”

Miyuki smiled and placed her phone on the edge of the counter. With a few touches of her finger, music started to play. For the next ten minutes, Miyuki helped Jin mix everything together. Just as they were mixing in the last of the chocolate chips, the oven beeped to tell them it was ready to be fed.

“Let’s test it real quick,” Miyuki pinched a small chunk off of the dough and popped it into her mouth. The sweet flavor brought a smile to her lips. “That’s good… Here, you try,” she pulled off another piece and offered it to him.

Jin stared at the small lump for a second before reaching out to accept the food offering.

“Good, isn’t it?” She asked, to which he nodded.

Once the cookies were in the oven, Miyuki peered at her phone to check the time. “Oh, the results are about to be announced!” She paused the music and searched online for the broadcast. Sure enough, the video was about to begin in less than five minutes. Miyuki placed the box of eggs on the edge of the table and leaned her phone against the cardboard.

On the screen was the background of a virtual stage behind a solid white countdown timer. An instrumental song played quietly from the video. She pulled out one of the wooden chairs and sat at the table, leaning forward in eagerness for the broadcast to start.

Jin took a seat beside her, resting his arms on the edge of the table. “Are you nervous?”

“A little bit,” Miyuki breathed. “This is the moment I learn if I continue to the final round.”

“I believe in you,” he smiled. “There’s no way you lose here.”

“I hope so,” she said. As the timer ticked closer to zero, the anxiety within her grew to the point she could hardly sit still.

Beep… beep… beep… The oven blared its siren, letting them know the cookies were ready.

“I’ll get that,” Jin made his way to the oven and moved the cookies to the stove. With the press of a button, he turned off the oven and then returned to his seat.

Five… four… three… two… one… zero… The timer faded away, and the virtual idol that served as the mascot of the Idol Awards jumped on screen. “Hey everyone!” The pink-haired star waved. “Welcome back to the Idol Awards! I’m so happy you all could join me for the end of the second round! Before we jump into the big revelation you’re all waiting for,” she stretched her arms out for emphasis, “let’s review the remaining idols, shall we?”

Miyuki watched as a collage of photos from the shoot took over the screen for each idol. When her photos were on screen, she flicked her eyes over to Jin to see his reaction.

He sat there, wearing an unreadable expression as he watched Miyuki’s slideshow.

“...And that is all the contestants! Pretty, aren’t they? I can’t decide who I like most!” The character squealed, then took a second to recollect herself. “It’s too bad we’ll only see five of them advance to the final stage. Let’s see who they are, shall we?”