Gluten

Autumn had only started to creep in recently, but the apartment was boiling hot—as if the summer heat never left. The stench of freshly-baked goods permeated the entire unit, nauseating me in the process.

"Kanata?" I called out. "Kanata, what are you doing?"

I made my way into the kitchen and dining area, which had now been turned into a flour warzone and bread factory. Kanata was sprawled all over the floor and I began to worry if he had slipped and fell on his head.

"Kanata!"

I got down to check on him, but he immediately sat up and made me stumble back.

"Just kidding," he said as he stuck out his tongue. "Welcome home, my love."

"You know I hate it when you do things like that," I scolded him. "What are you even doing with all this bread? Surely, you don't plan on eating them all..."

"That would be ridiculous," he chuckled. "I don't plan on eating them all, but we will together."

"This is still a lot of bread for just two people," I pointed out. "Should I offer some to the neighbours?"

"That might be a good idea," he agreed. "Try them out! Let me know which ones you like so I can make more of them next time."

"I'm going to explode if I eat all of these," I said as I felt my stomach fold on itself while looking at all of the varieties. "Why did you have to make so many different ones? Why couldn't you just make one?"

"One bread with a bit of everything..." he pondered. "Interesting concept."

"That's not what I meant..."

"It's too late, my beloved ," he exclaimed, "I must get to work now!"

I let out an audible groan as I took a seat at the dining table covered in hot trays of steaming buns. The ones directly in front of me looked huge, but were as light as a feather when I picked one up. I bit into it, only for the whole thing to start cracking, revealing a completely hollow interior. I could hear Kanata's laugh from the kitchen area.

"That one's a new recipe," he stated. "I found this Korean cooking channel on Youtube and they had this recipe for a balloon bread, so I tried it out."

"It's really crunchy," I remarked. "Ah, the crumbs are getting everywhere."

"Is it any good?" he asked. "I didn't have the right ingredients for the filling, so I substituted a little..."

"I'm sure if you gave this to others, they might feel like they were deceived," I mentioned. "It's like you made a type of bread that encompasses all of the annoying parts of your personality."

"Are you calling me deceptive, my love?" he wept.

"I meant that your head was full of air, but that works too."

"Dost thou love me?" he proclaimed in a dramatic tone. "Forty thousand brothers could not make up my sum. If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully."

"Okay, calm down, Juliet or Hamlet," I interjected before he could continue. "I do love you, but you drive me crazy at times, Kanata."

"Isn't that what makes romance interesting?" he beamed. "You'll never be bored of me."

"Probably not, but I am going to be physically sick if we have to eat all this bread..."

"I suppose I did go a little overboard," he laughed. "We should give some to our neighbours once they cool down a bit more."

"I'll start packaging them up, then," I volunteered. "Ah, but let's keep the balloon bread."

"Why?"

"They actually taste really good," I answered. "Plus, I'd rather not upset the neighbours by tricking them—even if it's not really a trick."