“Absolutely not”

“Come on! It’s just a cake baking competition! You bake amazing cakes! The prize also contains 2 tickets to your Jo In Sung’s new movie!” Baekhyun wiggles his eyebrows at Kyungsoo, hands still holding the latter’s in hope.

Kyungsoo hesitates at that. Jo In Sung’s new movie? Observing this, Baekhyun grins widely. “Don’t tell me you don’t want free tickets to your favorite actor’s brand-new movie! You know how hard it is to get hold of them.”

“Fine, just this once” Kyungsoo relents with a sigh, making Baekhyun jump in triumph. “But don’t make this a habit. I can’t believe you signed me up for the competition without my knowledge” Kyungsoo scolded Baekhyun with a frown.

“I just wanted you to showcase your amazing baking skills!” Baekhyun exclaims, eyes wide and innocent. Kyungsoo scoffs at that and then proceeds to hit the former on his head, eliciting a yelp from the other.

* * * * * * *

“Jongdae-ah! Why would you sign up for a baking competition? You burn water!” Minseok asked, face filled with surprise while looking at the sign-up sheet in his hand.

“Hyung! I don’t burn water!” Jongdae looks at Minseok, offended. A small pout makes its way onto his face as he frowns at the elder. Minseok gives him a deadpanned look, making Jongdae laugh in embarrassment. “That was one time! And I didn’t burn water, I burnt the pan I put water in. How was I supposed to know the water evaporates so quickly?”

“Why would you want to compete in baking a cake though?” Minseok questions, curiously.

“I just wanted to try my luck in baking!” Jongdae answered, his voice almost whining. At Minseok’s disbelieving look, he confesses his true intentions. “It’s free cake! Many free cakes! Why wouldn’t I go?”

Minseok shakes his head in resignation. “Just… don’t burn down the place” he pointed out, ignoring Jongdae’s offended whines.

Jongdae is really excited for the competition. He can’t wait to taste all those delicious cakes cooked by everyone else. Besides, he is only going as the helper for Yixing hyung. That information did not make Minseok hyung any happier though. Something about how Yixing cannot control him. Pfft! Like he needs any supervising! He is a full-grown adult, thank you very much!

Jongdae and Yixing arrive at the competition auditorium later than almost everyone else apparently. The only booth left is the last one to the left. All the booths are covered and separated so they cannot look at their neighbor’s work. They can only look at their neighbors if they step back from their booth. All the ingredients needed are placed on the table on each booth. Jongdae skipped to their booth, dragging Yixing with him.

“Hyung, look at all these delicious cake things! Yum!” Jongdae beams at the fruits, jellies and cream. Yixing chuckles at the younger’s obvious lust for the cake.
“All that is good, but I need you to pay attention to helping me out Jongdae” he points out as he takes note of all the ingredients available.
“Of course, hyung! I will be the best cake helper you can ever find! Leave it to me” Jongdae reassures him. Yixing smiles sweetly at the younger before going back to the ingredients.

* * * * * * *

“Byun Baekhyun! If you try to sneak the jellies into your mouth one more time, I swear I will make sure you don’t have a tongue to feel it” Kyungsoo warns without looking away from his cake. Baekhyun drops the jellies in his hand immediately and looks at Kyungsoo sheepishly.

Kyungsoo proceeds to work on his cake with little interruptions from Baekhyun after that. The little was stealing ingredients and eating them up instead of helping him.

“Dae! I need the apple for decorating! How could you eat it all?” a male voice sounded from his left booth. Kyungsoo scoffed in his head. Looks like this guy has a useless helper too.

A couple of seconds later, someone pokes him through the cloth separating the booths. “Psst, hello? Can I have an apple please?” someone whispers through the cloth. Kyungsoo, in his preoccupied mind, didn’t process the request. He turns to his left while leaning a little into the cloth. His face seems to have touched someone’s hands and before he can retract his head, the hands hold his face firmly, shocking Kyungsoo into a wordless panic.

* * * * * * *

Jongdae puts his hand out after asking for a spare apple. He was about to ask the person beside him again when something touches his hand. He immediately holds it tight and is surprised to find it soft and mushy. Confused, he continues to hold it and move his fingers around to figure out what it was. It didn’t seem like an apple. Suddenly, his fingers touched what felt like lips. Realization hits him and he immediately drops his hand. He was cradling someone’s face!

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize it was your face! I swear I’m not a ert!” he starts to apologize as he steps back to look at the poor neighbor he just assaulted. He abruptly stops talking when he sees the guy staring back at him in confusion and shock. Adorable. That was the first word that came into his mind when he saw his neighbor. He was around the same height as him and had narrow shoulders. He had huge round eyes which make him seem innocent and childlike. His skin is pale and his lips a slight shade of pink. Realizing that he’s staring, he starts apologizing again. The cute guy forgives him easily and even gives a half apple to him.
When he turns back to his booth, he finds Yixing looking at him with an eyebrow raised. “What just happened?”

“I think I just found the cutest guy I have ever seen, hyung” Jongdae responds in a daze while handing out the apple to him.

* * * * * * *

Baekhyun starts laughing as soon as the weird neighbor turns away, making Kyungsoo glare at him.

“This is gold! What a story to tell, Soo! Your face got fondled by a stranger! Bwahahaha!” Baekhyun clutches his tummy as he crouches down to laugh.

“Shhh! He might hear you! And shut up Baek. If you don’t get up and help me finish this, I’m gonna make sure you never laugh again” Kyungsoo threatens him as he gets back to his cake. Baekhyun immediately straightens up, though still chuckling.

“This is so nerve-wrecking! Why are we one of the last booths!? “Baekhyun whines as he watches the judges go from one booth to another. Kyungsoo remains silent as he observes Baekhyun shaking his hands and legs anxiously.

The judges finally reach their booth. Kyungsoo smiles at them as he offers them the cake. Baekhyun seems to be frozen in place as he observes the judges every movement. There were two of them. A man in his 50’s and a woman in her 40’s. They looked at the cake for a few seconds and then dug into it. Kyungsoo waited for their reactions in anticipation. After what seemed like hours, they finally smile and nod. Letting a breath of relief, Kyungsoo smiles back a little. He was happy that they seemed to enjoy it, though he may not win the competition.

Finally, they allow the participants to taste each other’s cakes before they announce the winners. Just as he were about to step out of his booth, the weird neighbor stands in front of him, beaming as he pulls his friend with him. Before Kyungsoo can say anything, the neighbors friend lets out a surprised gasp.

“Baekhyun? What are you doing here?” the dimpled guy says to his friend. Baekhyun first looks surprised and then grins.

“Yixing hyung, what are you doing here? I didn’t know you were our neighbor! I would have greeted you before” he says with a wink.

Kyungsoo knows that wink anywhere. Everything clicks in his mind. That dratted Byun tricked him into joining just so he could flirt with this guy! He should have known. Baekhyun isn’t the type to randomly join competitions. The poor dimple guy doesn’t seem to realize this however.

“Wait, you two know each other?” the weird cat smile guy asks looking at his friend. Kyungsoo should really remember their names.

“Yes, we met in pet clinic. He brought his dog there for vaccines” Yixing replies with a smile. “Oh, sorry, this is Jongdae. Jongdae, this is Baekhyun.”

“Kyungsoo, this is Yixing hyung. This is my roommate” Baekhyun introduces him.

“Not for long if you keep this up” Kyungsoo mumbles as he gives Baekhyun a pointed look conveying that he knows what he’s up to. Baekhyun laughs it off as he throws a hand over Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“Don’t mind him, he’s always grouchy” he comments before crying out, clutching his sides. “Soo! Don’t scare them away with your violent tendencies”

Kyungsoo glares at him making Yixing and Jongdae laugh. “Don’t worry, we have Minseok hyung who does that too. So, we’re used to it” Yixing says as he reaches for Kyungsoo’s cake.

“Wow, this cake tastes amazing!” Yixing exclaims as soon as he puts the cake in his mouth. Kyungsoo smiles and looks to Jongdae. The weird neighbor has been staring at him with a grin all the while. Frankly, it’s uncomfortable for Kyungsoo, no matter how cute he is.

“This is heaven!” Jongdae moans as he tastes the cake. Kyungsoo chuckles at his reaction. Before he could say thank you, Baekhyun interrupts him.

“Yixing hyung and I will go taste other cakes. See you guys later!” He then proceeds to drag Yixing away despite protests from both Kyungsoo and Jongdae, leaving the awkward strangers alone.

“Uh… You have soft cheeks” Jongdae blurts out suddenly making Kyungsoo’s eyes go wide.

“That’s not what I mean! I mean, your face… skin… that’s really soft. I didn’t mean anything else!” Jongdae cries as he realizes the insinuation.

“I swear I didn’t intend to touch you…not that you’re not touchable! You have a very touchable skin. Wait! I didn’t mean…. Dammit!” he curses in defeat as buries his face in his hands.

Kyungsoo blushes at that and whispers some small thanks. Jongdae lifts his head just in time to catch the pink hue on his pale cheeks. It was such an endearing sight.
“So, what should I do if I want to learn how to bake a cake this delicious?” Jongdae doesn’t know when he got his confidence back but he was glad.

Kyungsoo smiles at him. “I would hurry up and find a great teacher”

“And what would it take for you to be a teacher?” he asks Kyungsoo with a cheeky smile.

“What are you offering?”

“My number. And a date” Jongdae’s heart races despite his confident smile as he waits for the answer.

“As long as you don’t mistake me for an apple” Kyungsoo smirks at him.