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Nothing exposes a friend group’s collective mischief quite like a slice of cake making its way full circle.

One woman had baked a tres leches cake for a joint birthday celebration, excitedly cutting the first piece and handing it off, only to scold the recipient for trying to keep it instead of passing it along as instructed.

Once she corrected the behavior, the entire table quietly followed her rule, sending that same slice down the line from person to person without anyone saying a word.

What she didn’t catch on to was that her friends had silently agreed to keep the chain going all the way around the table, ending right back where it started, in her own hands.

Keep reading to find out what reddit thought of this wholesome story.

Maliciouscompliance involving Tres Leches cake

I’ve heard/read a lot of posts from this subreddit, and I wanted to share something that was petty, yet malicious in a group setting which everyone found hilarious.

They set the scene.

For context, our friend group was having a cookout, and it was a joint birthday for a few people, and we were all sitting around a large outdoor table (about 11 people).

Everything went great; food, drinks, more food.

But here’s where the drama comes in.

Then comes the tres leches. The cake gets cut, and the person that made it (let’s call them Friend) is excitedly trying to hand out a portion to everyone.

The first piece gets handed out.

There was suddenly a miscommunication.

However, the first recipient of cake didn’t understand the memo of cake etiquette.

They tried to keep the first slice and were scolded and told to pass it down by Friend, who made the cake.

The first slice was quietly passed down to the next person, then the next, then the next.

Everyone else just decided to along with it.

The slices of cake were being passed on quietly, and everyone just subconsciously complied to pass the cake down going clockwise.

Nobody said anything until the first slice made its way all the way around to Friend.

Now for the grand finale.

Then Friend realized what we all did, and called us all jerks.

We all laughed, acknowledged the malicious compliance, and had cake.

Good times.

This malicious compliance wasn’t so malicious after all.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter apparently does cake much differently.

This commenter suggests an alternate ending for the story.

Maybe another strategy would be better.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a sister who held up her end of a college savings bargain only to be ripped off by her scheming older sibling.

This user also didn’t get the memo on this supposed etiquette.

Ten people keeping a straight face through this entire cake relay is the real MVP move of this story.

Getting called names while everyone’s dying laughing is basically the best possible ending for a bit this good.

Some birthdays get presents. This one got a legendary group chat story forever.