Zaejin the Troll & Perik the Room Monster: Part Two (rough draft)

“Shit,” you grumbled under your breath. “I think I fucked it up again.” Under the cover of an old dish towel was a bowl, filled with an unimpressive and somewhat liquidy lump. You tossed the towel aside and dumped the lump onto the floured countertop where it spread out rather than maintaining a doughy shape like it was supposed to.

“I thought I knew how to do this,” you grunted.

The days were becoming cooler, and the idea of baking bread didn’t seem so unappealing as it did during the overly hot summer. The cold was also causing Zaejin to sleep in, which you thought would give you time to surprise him with that promised loaf. Instead, your baking skills seemed to be imagined.

You cleaned up the mess, tossing away the failed loaf and going back to the cookbook. “What the hell am I doing wrong?” You grumbled as you pored over the recipe again.

“What seems to be the problem?” Perik poked his head out from behind the door. “I thought I would be smelling bread baking by now.”

You pouted. “Not so lucky. Apparently, I greatly exaggerated my baking prowess.” You slammed the old cookbook shut and leaned back in your chair. “I keep messing up.”

“Awe, now, don’t be so hard on yourself.” Perik turned the book around to look at it. “Perhaps you could try another recipe. There could be an issue with the one you’re trying.”

“Maybe I could go into town and buy a loaf somewhere and make Zaejin think I made it. He’s been sleeping so much, he’d never know,” you murmured mostly to yourself.

Perik was flipping through the pages of the book, murmuring to himself. “That would be cheating. And Zaejin would know, trust me.”

Glancing out the window of the kitchen door you could see Zaejin’s bridge. You’d spent time cleaning it up, getting rid of debris and overgrowth to make it look nice for Zaejin. But still, he had kept harping on that bread you promised ages ago.

“Ah-ha! Here we are. A nice simple recipe.” Perik pushed the book in front of you.

“Are you sure that’s even bread?” You asked, taking the book. “It’s mainly water and flour.”

“That can be said about a lot of bread related items,” Perik replied.

Looking over the page, the bread did seem extremely simple compared to the other you were trying before. “I’ll have to go into town. I don’t know if I have enough flour.”

Perik got a look and he shifted slightly. “How many attempts have you made since you last got groceries?”

The look you gave him in return was hopefully enough to tell him you didn’t want to talk about it, at all.

Perik sighed. “I’m not much of a baker myself, but I can try and help you out with this.” He raised his hands up and all the silver bangles and trinkets on him jangled loudly. “Keyword is try.”

“Well,” you smiled at him. “I suppose two tries can make a right.”

Perik lowered his arms and tilted his head to the side. “Is that a saying?”

“No. But for the intent of this project, we’ll pretend it is.” You snapped a photo of the recipe. “Ugh that drive into town is so long. Do you mind cleaning up the kitchen for me?”

“I suppose,” Perik sighed dramatically.

You gave Perik a soft kiss, lingering for a moment as you really didn’t want to have to go into town. “I’ll bring you back a treat. Promise!” You changed into a non-floured top and gathered your purse.

Leaving the house, you saw Zaejin climbing out beside the bridge. You hesitated, thinking about leaving, but then Zaejin stood and stretched.

“What’re you doing out here?” He asked with a sleepy grumble.

You approached him and gave him a shrug. “I was going to go into town. What’re you doing?”

Zaejin gave you a look and you glanced away briefly. “I’m just waking up.” He scratched his chin. “Was hoping to have my usual cup of coffee with you. But if you’re leaving-”

“No, no, I can wait on this.” You motioned to the house. “Let's go have coffee.” Walking back into the house startled Perik who was just cleaning off the flour covered counter.

“That’s not a treat,” he scoffed. “That’s just Zaejin.”

“I resent that remark.” Zaejin eyes the counter then Perik. “What’s going on here?” he grumbled.

“Failed experiment,” you sighed as you got the coffee pot ready.

“What sort of experiment?” Zaejin walked further into the kitchen. His eyes had a sharpness to them as he looked around, seeming to piece things together like some television detective.

Once the coffee was going, you turned. “A surprise for you.”

Zaejin clutched his chest in a dramatic fashion. “A surprise? For little ole’ me. How kind of you.” he chuckled, growing a large smirk on his face. “Wouldn’t happen to finally be what you promised me so long ago?”

“Not so long ago,” you pursed your lips and glanced away. “But maybe it is.”

Zaejin’s chuckle grew deeper.  “I thought you said you could bake.”

“I said possibly. Maybe. I am trying!” You scoffed in frustration. You really didn’t want to be caught like this.

“What’s the hold up then?” Zaejin’s smirk grew. “I know you have warm hands that are perfect for…kneading.”

Narrowing your eyes upon him you stuck out your tongue. “I can read books all day about it, but execution is much harder.”

“To be fair, I think building a guillotine would be easier for her than executing bread at this point,” Perik snickered teasingly.

“Nonsense,” Zaejin scoffed. “Give her credit. Having a guillotine around would be too much of a distraction.”

You frowned at both of them, crossing your arms against your chest. “You two done? I’d like to see you try and do this. Maybe then you’ll appreciate my efforts.” You whipped around to the coffee pot, watching the brew pour into the glass.

“Who said I didn’t, love?” Zaejin came up behind you, putting his arms around you and bracing his hands against the counter. “Don’t let a simple thing like a loaf of bread get to you.”

You pouted, keeping your eyes down on the kitchen counter. “It’s gotten to a point I understand some warlords. You know?”

Zaejin chuckled and bent over to kiss the back of your neck. “Don’t let it carry you too far away. Don’t want you seeing war on gluten or anything.”

That kiss on your neck made you shiver slightly, and there was a bristle that trailed down your arms. “Not quite yet.” You turned to face Zaejin and he plucked you up and sat you down upon the counter.

“Practice makes perfect, as they say,” Zaejin murmured to you.

“I’m running low on supplies, and supplies aren’t exactly cheap,” you scoffed.

Zaejin smirked. “One more round then. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll know you weren’t born to be a baker.”

You smirked. “Why can’t I just throw in the towel now?”

“Because I know you, and I won’t let you.” Zaejin leaned in for a kiss. You touched his face, sighing softly as the coffee maker chimed that it was ready.

Your lips parted and you looked into his dark eyes. “Okay. I’ll buy one more round of supplies.”

“I have a feeling you’ll do just fine. But if not.” Zaejin leaned in again, pressing you to the cabinets. “Then maybe we can make another bet.”

“Can I get in on this?” Perik perked up.

You pushed against Zaejin’s barreled chest. “The bet is that I’ll make bread or not. You don’t need to be getting your mind in the gutter about it.”

“No,” he chuckled. “Not that far in the gutter mind you. I was going to say, we get a bigger bed for the bedroom. Maybe I won’t have to sleep so much this winter if I have a warmer bed.”

You furrowed your brow. “We can do that regardless. You don’t have to make a bet on it,” you laughed.

“I’ll make a bet on it” Perik scoffed.

Zaejin smirked, giving you another kiss. “Bread or bed.”

You laugh. “I can start looking for beds.” You slipped off the counter and handed him his mug. “I know how to put furniture together. I can do that better than baking.”

Zejin held out his mug as you filled it with coffee. “Then, lets see, I suppose it depends on what happens first.”

You thought for the briefest of seconds. “If bread happens first we have bread. If we have a bed put together first, then we’ll take a nap. Easy!”

Zaejin chuckled. “Sure. Lets say that.”

“Why didn’t you bring up the bed thing before?” You asked. “I’ve been waiting for that conversation anyways.”

“I like my place. And you like your place,” Zaejin said simply. “I’ll sleep late no matter where I am sleeping. That is how my body works when the seasons change. But perhaps I’ll be more mindful if I am with you and Perik.”

You smiled. “Do you usually hibernate?”

“Not completely,” he murmured. “But I’ve been known to sleep for days at a time.”

You scoffed. “Man, I was born the wrong species.” Both Perik and Zaejin chuckled at your retort. “Well, after this coffee I suppose I should head into town. If you want you can start looking at beds online.” You motioned towards the library where your laptop was sitting.

Zaejin grimmaced. “I don’t like using that thing.”

Perik’s silver rang brightly as he turned around. “I do! I can navigate and you can just look.”

Zaejin’s grimace only deepened. “Can’t those things see us?”

“There’s a cover on the camera.” You blew on your coffee before taking a sip. “Let Perik handle it, you just look at the pretty pictures.”

“Who do you both think I am.”

You winked at him. “Not so fun when the teasing shoe is on the other foot is it?”

Zaejin rolled his eyes and took a great gulp of his coffee.

Perik turned back towards you, taking hold of your arm. “I expect a pretty big treat if I am going to have to use the computer with him.”

Perik and Zaejin had known each other a long time, so it was still so funny to see them react this way to one another. You were fairly new compared to their decades long friendship. “What? You aren’t up for a challenge? You know Zaejin better than I do.”

“That doesn’t help. It’s Zaejin,” Perik scoffed. He leaned in though and gave me a kiss, brushing my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear.

“You can stop now,” Zaejin grumbled over his coffee cup.

It was an easy moment to laugh at, it brought a big smile to your face. Of course Perik was teasing, that was his way, Zaejin’s as well. It was a warm, happy feeling for you, one you had been getting more and more as you lived in this place. As strange as they were, having Perik and Zaejin was all you’d ever wanted from when you were little. Teasing, laughter, some good inside jokes, it was wonderful, along with everything else that made them wonderful.

After finishing coffee, you went into town, if only to get it over with. Now, for shopping there were two options. One was an old, tiny general store where the prices were astronomical, but it was super close. The second was a bit further out, but the shopping center was bigger,cheaper, and had much better options. You decided, for the sake of brevity, to go to the old general store.

Like always, the place was quiet. What few people meandered around looked like ghosts of a former life, listlessly arguing about the size of cabbages or what made mangos ripe. You took a basket, not thinking you would need a buggy, and started going down aisles looking for what you needed.

“Why do they always have to put the dairy aisle at the very opposite end of the store? Makes it so much more frustrating,” you grumbled under your breath as you went looking for milk and butter. There weren’t very many options, but there were still several butters to choose from. As you were trying to figure out the price per ounce of each, you got a prickly feeling at the back of your neck. You stood up, using your periphery to look around. You didn’t see anyone looking at you, but you for sure felt eyes upon you.

“Psst.” The dairy case whispered loudly.

Looking at it, you saw a hand extended between cartons of buttermilk. The hand was long and dark, so you stayed put where you were.

“Psst. over here,” the voice called, sounding rather soothing despite the strangeness of the entire situation.

You grimaced, side stepping closer but keeping your distance. “Who are you?”

The hand stretched all the way out from the dairy case. “Catch!” They said and threw something towards you. You lurched and turned, barely managing to catch what they had thrown at you.

“Tell Perik that Vox said hello.” The arm disappeared back into the milkcase.

“Are you  like Perik?” You called out to them, but by that time, people had drifted into the aisle with you, and you knew not to rat out this Vox if he was there. You looked into our hand, seeing a silver cuff with vines carved into the sides. It had a small chain connecting the clasps which had a small leaf dangling from it.

“Thank you,” you murmured and quickly grabbed your butter.

Back at home, you could hear Perik and Zaejin fussing as you walked through the door. “I’m home!” You plopped down the heavy bag of flour headed towards the fridge with the cold items. You heard someone slam a fist down onto the table, possibly the wall.

“Hello?” You yelled.

There was silence and Zaejin came out into the kitchen, an even grumpier look than normal upon his face. “Do you need help.”

“No. I only got what I needed.” You were holding back the giant grin threatening to grow on your face. “Did you find anything you liked?”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

You turned around to continue hiding your shit eating grin. “You’ll have to show me in a bit.”

Perik came into the room. “He scruffed the screen.”

Zaejin looked immediately offended. “Don't tattle!”

“He thought you could just touch the screen and it’d be a button,” Perik scoffed. “I told him not too.”

“How bad is the scuff?” You closed the fridge then remembered there was something in your pocket.

“Not bad,” Zaejin argued before Perik could speak.

Perik rolled his head around. “It's noticeable.”

I pulled the bracelet from Vox out of my pocket. “Oh uh…Perik. Someone said Vox says hello.” You held out the bangle towards him.

Perik stilled, looking at the bracelet and taking it gingerly. “I haven’t heard that name in ages.” He motioned to his wardrobe at the end of the hallway. “Not since I lived in the general store.”

“You lived there?” You exclaimed, very surprised.

Perik nodded and added the bangle to the many on his arm. “For a short while. My wardrobe was for sale there. Vox lived in the general store, lived in the building it was built over actually.” He examined his new jewelry in the light. “We used to raid the lost and found together. He’s very nice.”

“He scared me at first. Coming out of the dairy case like he did.”

Perik chuckled. “Sounds like him.”

“I forgot your wardrobe was bought there,” Zaejin grumbled.

Perik was quiet, admiring the bangle.

“Well, I think I’ll try the bread one last time before I do anything about dinner.” You patted the top of the flour bag.

“What about the beds I picked you?” Zaejin asked, but then got a guilty look upon his face. “I mean, it doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t care about a scuff on the screen. You just have to be careful next time,” I fussed. “But sure, I’ll look at what you two found first.”

You didn’t get any bread made that day. You tried the next day, but found you messed up the water to yeast ratio. Each day you got a little closer to figuring it out. Each day Perik and Zaejin whispered over the laptop as they shopped online for some sort of bed. Project ‘Bed and Bread’ seemed to be going off fine.

Finally, the day came where you heard the delivery truck come barreling down the driveway. Just as it was parking, the oven’s timer went off. “Zaejin! Can you get that while I run outside?”

“Yeah!” He called out sleepily.

You slipped on a coat as you went outside. The cold chill had been growing stronger each day. The delivery truck unloaded your bed, setting the heavy box down while you signed for it.

“Need help getting it in?” the delivery driver asked.

“No, I've got it.” The look on his face was a strange one, but he let it go easily. As he drove off, Zaejin came outside and grabbed the box.

“Was it okay?” You asked in hurry.

“Yes, it’s fine. I put it on the stove.” Zaejin took the box in one arm. You rushed inside ahead of him, opening the French doors so he could get in easier. You then ran to the stove, looking at the pan sitting on top. You removed the lid and a little steam rushed out. But inside was a perfectly round loaf of bread.

You smiled to yourself, turning as Zaejin carted the box inside then set it down in the hallway. “Did it survive?”

“I think so. The outside looks nice.” You removed the bread from the pan and set it down on the counter top. “It should rest right?”

“It’s bread. What’s it need to rest for?” Zaejin asked.

“It smells heavenly in here.” Perik came out from the library and walked over towards you. “Well looky there.”

“The bed came in too,” you motioned to the box.

“I suppose we’ll have to put this together?” Zaejin grumbled.

You smiled. “In a minute. Let me grab a jar of jam from the pantry, and we can have a treat before we do any sort of work.”

“I love treats,” Perik giggled.

The bread cooled for a few minutes. Once you thought it was okay, you sliced into the bread, finding it was nice and fluffy inside. Zaejin had a slice with lots of butter and some jam. Perik had only jam. You had only butter, wanting to see how well you had done.

“Wonderful!” Perik sighed.

Zaejin patted your back. “See there? What’d I tell you. Practice made perfect.”

You nodded, pride swelling up in your chest. “It is good. I think I could do better.”

Zaejin grinned. “Can’t wait to see that.”