Mijoo and Daehyun are sitting opposite each other. 'Would you like to drink? We have coffee, tea and freshly cold pressed orange juice.' She offers him. Daehyun looks excited while picking the orange juice. 'But cold pressed?' He said waiting for an answer from Mijoo. 'We bought it with the reward money from the previous project, a lot here agreed to buy one to use it in the office instead of going out to buy fruit smoothies and drinks. You can also press fruit brought from home. Super handy and easy to use, right.'
Mijoo did not forget to take a peek at both Daehyun's hands. No ring. He did not have any accessories on him at all. She stood up leaving the room to get the drinks.
For the rest of the conversation, it was blank and boring. Mijoo was busy acting all awkward and distance like she did 14 years ago. In total they had like only 2 short conversations back then. Well, if you can call it a conversation. It was only one sentence she replied to him. Killing the conversation, no one can beat her. Nope.
'Should we go to your office? I bet you would like to see it.' She rose up on her feet, quickly walked to the door. 'Sure.' Replied Daehyun following her from behind. They set foot into his office.
Some time later in the office, voices began to rise high. Mijoo looked through the glass wall from behind her desk and saw that her colleagues are gathered all together at one desk, laughing and talking. Daehyun was behind the computer, probably showing them something funny. It's good to see her colleagues have a great time together, but she never was a part of it. Not because they hate her or the other way. Always putting a distance between everyone that is beyond her territory.
Just this one time, Mijoo wanted to be a part of it, walked out of the office, but then, the crowd returned to their desks. Daehyun stood up and returned the seat to its owner. Mijoo saw it and walked straight to the kitchen. It was more like running away. LORD!!! She almost made fun of herself.
*Brain 'Dayum, yo a hopeless bitch. You keep this up, imma resign faster than YOU can think.' 👺👺
Mijoo shrunk. Standing in front of the sink she let the cold water run because of her embarrassment. Letting out a long sign. Why is she so shy.
'It would get better when time passes.' She said in a low voice, only she could hear. Followed by. 'Yeah right.' It never did. Everyone including herself fooled her for so many years. Sure there is some progress. But it's limited. Missed so many changes, why, being shy is a torture. A curse.
It's time to go home. Mijoo went down the stairs to the parking lot, hopped in her car and drove off.
*Brain 'Would you believe me if I were to say that someone suspicious was looking from afar? Or would that be to cliché?'
3 peaceful days went by. The weekend has arrived. But who cares. It's not like Mijoo goes out to have fun. Just thinking about it makes her face turn red. The imagine, Mijoo in a flashy dress, high heels going off to a party or to the club. Never will that happen.
The only friend she has works like a maniac. Never stays at home, cooking here, cooking there. Going around the world. She is one of the best pastry chef. That's why Mijoo loves to bake as a hobby. Having a girlfriend that cooks and you'll be hooked.
To start off with. There are three types of meringue buttercream. The French, the Italian and the Swiss meringue buttercream. The difference between these three are the sweetness and how light the cream is. From fluffy to a sturdy texture.
Mijoo started off by making the Italian butter cream, cus she sucks at it. And this time she will succeed for sure. It took her like three tries to fail. This will be the fourth time.
Starting with 4 large eggs. Weighting them on the kitchen scale, she separated the yolks. Pour the egg white into the bowl of the kitchen mixer and start to beat it until it becomes white fluffy bubbles. A pinch of salt. Next one is to take out a deep pan, pour the white sugar and a little water in it. Warm it above the stove until it gets this soft texture. 170 C° and ready to pour it slowly in the mixer while beating the fluffy substance. This is were it goes wrong. But she succeeded this round. Than let the cream cool of without stopping the mixer. Once the cream is room temperature, add the butter and a few drops of vanilla extract. Mijoo wants to go with the color blue today. A few drops from the food coloring and voila. Just pop it in the fridge for a couple of minutes. The Italian blue meringue buttercream is ready for use.
After the cooled down cakes that were baked before, Mijoo began with the buttercream. Now it's time to pile them up using the Italian meringue buttercream. Once the cake is all dressed up. It's time to put the flowers on top of it with Mijoo's piping skills. One by one she gives life to the pretty blue flowers, finishes off with green leafs next to the flowers. That way, she can cover up the mistakes. The cake stays in the fridge until Monday. Because Monday is when Mijoo always brings self-made sweets to work.
Monday is also Mijoo's birthday. Just an average day. But this time it won't be as plain as always. Life is giving Mijoo a bag full of lemons. It's up to the leading female whether she makes good use of these yellow juicy lemons or let it rot....