~Chapter 49 – Dessert Finale~

            Luhan took a tentative peek from behind the curtain that hid him and the rest of the contestants from view on the enormous stage. Looking out at the school's grand hall auditorium, he took in the sight of the SMACSE students coming in to take a seat; his eyes continued to scan across the audience as he spotted all the important and high end guests situated comfortably at the front seats.

            "What are you doing?" a sudden voice asked from behind Luhan, causing the poor boy to jump nearly three feet in the air out of surprise.

            Whirling around, he came face to face with Sehun, Luhan smiled tentatively as he let go of his grip on the curtain, "Just taking a look."

            "Why?" asked Sehun.

            "Just wanted to see how many people showed up," answered Luhan with a shrug "Oh and I was also looking for everyone too, I didn't see them in the audience."

            Sehun gave a hum, "They were probably late in getting up again or-"

            Suddenly Sehun was pushed forward as arms wrapped themselves around his middle from the back in a tight hug, stumbling Sehun crashed into Luhan who was reaching towards him in an attempt to help out his younger boyfriend from falling. Sehun and Luhan groaned as the two made contact with the floor.

            "Wow you lack some serious balance," said Baekhyun directly on top of Sehun and Luhan, arms still wrapped around the youngest.

            "Baekhyun why are you even- Never mind that, get off you're making me squish Luhan to the floor," said Sehun as Luhan tried to wiggle out from underneath him.

            "Please, you two are probably enjoying that position, you probably squish him to the bed every night," laughed Baekhyun with a suggestive wiggle to his eyebrows as he rolled off of Sehun and stood back up.

            Luhan and Sehun promptly got themselves back up, blushing deep shades of red while avoiding Baekhyun's amused gaze.

            But a deep voice yelling out "Baekhyun!" had all three of them turning their heads upwards before Chanyeol came bustling through the back door (Baekhyun most likely also entered through this same door) followed by the rest of the group. "There you are! You didn't have to run off without us, we wanted to see Sehun and Luhan too!"

            Baekhyun grinned sheepishly "Haha sorry I guess I was overly excited but at least I found them!"

            "What are you guys doing back here?" asked Luhan curiously "Wait, how did you guys get back here? The only way to get in is if you’re a contestant for the Dessert Finale."

            "We pulled some strings," answered Kai with a smirk.

            Sehun gave Kai a blank look before saying bluntly, "…You distracted the security with something stupid didn't you? And then as soon as the security left everyone sneaked into the door didn't they?" At hearing this everyone in the group avoided Sehun's gaze, opting to look at the apparently much more interesting wall. "That's what I thought."

            "Wow Sehun you're good," laughed Luhan.

            "Yeah a little too good," joked Tao as he swung his arms around Sehun and Luhan in an embrace "But that's our maknae."

            "Anyways, we came here to wish you guys good luck before the start of the competition," explained Suho as he smiled at the two.

            "Yeah, we thought since we weren't able to see you guys this morning we could tell you guys right before the Dessert Finale started," added Kris.

            "The competition starts in about thirty minutes so we'll make this quick for you guys," said Xiumin as he wrapped one arm around Sehun and the other around Luhan, with Tao still in between the two for a four way hug, "Do your absolute best out there, don't forget our tips that we gave you!"

            "Yeah, make sure that you really show them your best skills," said Tao as he and Xiumin released themselves from the embrace.

            But before Luhan or Sehun could respond, Kai and DO were the next to throw themselves at the pair, smiling widely Kai said "You won't lose, we made sure of it when we taught you our lessons now it's time to put it to good use."

            "You'll both be fine and emerge victorious in this so don't be nervous and go all out in this competition," said DO before he and Kai released their embrace on the two.

            This time Luhan and Sehun couldn’t even try to respond as Baekhyun and Chanyeol instantly tackled both Luhan and Sehun in a tight embrace the second they Kai and DO moved back, Chanyeol grinned widely at the two "We'll be cheering you both on as loud as we can or at the very least until someone threatens to kick us out."

            Suho gave Chanyeol a pointed look "If you do that all of us will get kicked out."

            Everyone laughed as Chanyeol pouted "Fine… But know that we'll be right in the audience watching over you two!"

            "Don't get nervous or worried or stressed out! You can do this! You will do this! You'll be one hundred percent fine! Everything will work out!" chanted Baekhyun as he tightened his hold on Luhan and Sehun once more before moving aside for Lay and Chen.

            "You both got this, there's no way you don’t so believe in yourself and your skills, trust that things will result in the best outcome," said Lay.

            "Keep your goal in mind and remember what you're fighting for, remember that you put all this on the line for the greater good," added Chen before the duo gave them one more smile and one more tight squeeze.

            Suho and Kris were next to approach and wrap their arms around them, "You have us with you all the way to the very end and back if you need us," said Suho caringly.

            "We got your backs all the way through just like how you would have ours so just give it your all and without a doubt you will come out victorious," added Kris with his usual smirk and a pat on both Sehun's and Luhan's back.

            When Kris and Suho pulled back to join the rest of the group, Luhan reached out and interlaced his fingers with Sehun's. The two of them smiled genuinely at their group of friends, no that's not quite the word to describe them, they weren't friends they were family because their bond was just that strong. Luhan's smile widened "You guys are the best, thank you for the lessons and for coming here just to tell us good luck despite all the possibly weird things you probably did to distract that security guard. We'll do everything we can in the Dessert Finale."

            Sehun gave a nod of agreement, a smile still gracing his lips, "No matter what happens, no matter what stands in our way, we'll be able to get where we need to be even if the top seems so far, we know you're here with us along the way. Thank you."

            Kris, Suho, Chen, Lay, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kai, DO, Tao, and Xiumin all grinned back.

            Suho was the first to respond "No problem! Now we need to get going so we can still grab good seats and you guys got to go prep too! Wish you all the best!" he then began ushering the others to the door albeit unwillingly as Sehun and Luhan waved at them as they departed.

            Once the group was out the door Luhan turned towards Sehun, "Let's go get our things-"

            "I see that your friends are quite the sweet ones," commented a voice that could belong to none other than Sehun's father Chunghee "But that won't get you two anywhere."

            Luhan and Sehun looked up to see Chunghee and Eunmi stand just across from them at the stage's back entrance door. Luhan gripped Sehun's hand tighter as Chunghee and Eunmi approached the two of them. 'I knew they were going to be here but I didn't expect to run into them so soon,' thought Luhan a bit bitterly as he watched on in wary.

            "Didn't expect to catch the two of you so soon. However you both should be cautious and avoid celebrating so soon. You know our deal. I'm sure you also know that we don't go back on our word son, no matter what your childish friends believe or think they can do, it won't make a difference unless you win the Dessert Finale," said Chunghee sternly.

            Sehun squeezed Luhan's hand as he narrowed his eyes at his father "I don't need your warning, I know what needs to be done. You may not like the idea of having trust in people and prefer to criticize the world for being below you while you put on an act for the public eye but that's not going to get you anywhere far either. You act as though you've already won the competition, when it hasn't even started yet. You can't tell what the outcome is for certain."

            "We are still your parents, you will not be talking back like that. If you know what needs to be done then you should have just quit in the beginning instead of dragging this out. Sehun, we are the country's top patissier, everything about this competition is already in our favor," said Eunmi.

            "Glare at us as you will it won't change anything in the end, blood is always thicker than water and we are related to you by blood," replied Chunghee as he began walking away with Eunmi.

            Sehun unnoticeably gripped Luhan's hand even tighter.

            "It's okay Sehun… It'll be fine… It'll be fine because we'll show them what it really means to have trust in not only each other but also in our friends who treat us more like family," comforted Luhan as he reached up and grabbed Sehun's chin in order to have the younger look at him, "It'll be fine."

            Leaning forward Luhan pressed his lips to Sehun's in hopes of erasing those last lines of frustration on Sehun's forehead. When Luhan pulled back, he heard Sehun whisper out a quiet "Okay," before beginning to pull Luhan to the far back of the stage where the stations were along with about nine other paired competitors who were all participating in the Dessert Finale. Quickly going to their assigned station, Luhan and Sehun both looked around the kitchen to make sure that there was nothing tampered with and they had their supplies completely stocked up.

            As soon as they finished checking their last item, one of the staff members came out towards the front where all the contestants could see her, "The Dessert Finale will commence quite shortly, please be sure that you are prepared to look presentable, as soon as the headmaster begins to introduce this competition the curtains will rise to reveal all of you. That is all, thank you for your cooperation."

            With that all said and done the staff member returned to the door that she had entered through and the headmaster's voice could be heard loud and clear on the speaker system. "Welcome all honored guests and SMACSE students, I am very elated for you to come here to witness the annual Dessert Finale. This year's will truly be a special one since we have allowed for the first time paired contestants and a chance for the winner of the Dessert Finale to go up against the top patissiers of the country Chunghee and Eunmi. Now let us all get started shall we?"

            The red curtain that hid the contestants from sight began pulling upwards to reveal the kitchen stations where all the contestants were standing. Sehun took note of how the judges' table, occupied by a total of five judges including his parents, was at the very front to the left of the stage, half facing the audience and half facing the contestants. The audience applauded as the head master began again, "These ten paired contestants will be creating the most amazing desserts unimaginable but only one pair can be called winners and earn the title of top patissiers of SMACSE. The first round will be the main elimination round, only two pairs will be allowed into the next stage to battle it off against each other for a chance to face off between two of the judges of their choice."

            The crowd applauded once more as a double sided timer began descending from the ceiling for all the contestants and the audience to see, the large screen in the far back of the stage lit up to display all the contestants names and station number. The headmaster smiled "In this first stage these ten pairs will be making an ice cream cake of their choice flavor for evaluation, there will only be two categories in this competition for which the desserts will be graded upon; appearance and taste. Only the top two paired students who score the highest will move on to the next round. The time limit is three hours which begins now!"

            There was a loud ring and the timer started to tick down, everyone was instantly grabbing the supplies that they needed and started immediately discussing their plans with their partners.

            "Sehun, let's make the cookies and peppermint ice cream cake that I made for you that one time in the kitchen classroom, it's only the ice cream cake recipe we both know how to make together. You make the cookies and cake layer and I'll work on the peppermint ice cream and peppermint candy, whoever finishes their tasks first can start on the frosting," directed Luhan as he piled his ingredients on his side of the counter.

            "Okay," agreed Sehun as he began his work on the chiffon cake batter first. He grabbed a large bowl and combined flour, baking powder, salt and sugar all the while remembering Suho's tip of keeping the measurements exact so that the cake wouldn't come out with any mistakes. Putting the bowl of dry ingredients on the side, Sehun grabbed another bowl to whisk together oil, milk, vanilla extract, and egg yolks once it was smooth, Sehun took the bowl and poured the contents into the dry ingredients, mixing the two together until the two mixtures were combined in to a denser liquid.

            Grabbing another bowl, Sehun placed in egg whites and began beating them until it became foamy before adding in cream of tartar and sugar, mixing all the ingredients together once again with an electric mixer until it was able to have stiff peaks forming. Sehun then began to add the egg white mixture to the cake batter by folding it into the batter carefully, placing the batter to the side for a moment, he took out a circular pan and lined it with wax paper before greasing it to ensure that the cake wouldn't stick to the pan before pouring the batter into it and then placing the entire thing in the oven to bake before getting started on the chocolate chip cookies recipe that he remembered from Xiumin's lesson.

            Meanwhile Luhan was busy with his task of creating the peppermint ice cream. He warmed up a mixture of milk, sugar and salt on the stovetop in a saucepan first before pouring it into a separate bowl to place on the side for a bit so that he could grab another bowl to begin mixing egg yolks together. After that mixture was complete, he began taking small teaspoons of the egg mixture and tempering it into the warm milk mixture as he kept in mind Tao's tip about this step. After tempering the mixture, Luhan poured the ice cream mixture back into the saucepan on the stove to thicken and as soon as it was deemed good enough Luhan removed it from the heat and poured it over a strainer into a bowl. Taking the peppermint extract, Luhan mixed it into the ice cream mixture quickly before placing the entire thing in the quick chiller to cool for a few moments before pouring the ice cream mixture into the ice cream machine before he got started on making the peppermint candy.

            By this time the chiffon cake had finished baking and Sehun placed it on the cooling rack so the cake would be easier to work with later. Finishing up with baking the cookies, Sehun had taken them out to let them cool for a bit before placing them back into the quick chiller to harden a bit more and make it easier to crumble the cookies for the cookie layer that will be between the cake and ice cream layer of the dessert. After the cookies were hardened enough Sehun placed them into a blender to create a cookie dust, taking a spoon Sehun began spreading the cookie crumble dust on top of the cake layer, pressing down to smooth out any bumps in the cookie layer and to make sure that the cookie layer would stay together and not fall apart Sehun placed the whole circular pan back into the quick chiller once again.

            Luhan, having just finished adding the red food coloring and peppermint flavor to the candy at just the right time as Chanyeol had advised, poured out the candy on to a candy mat and put on heat proof gloves. Once the candy was solid and malleable enough Luhan picked it up and rolled it into a ball before flattening it back out again and letting the candy harden on the mat. Once it was hard enough, Luhan took out wax paper to place atop the candy and using a rolling pin, Luhan began to break the peppermint candy into small pieces that would later be used to decorate the ice cream cake. Turning around towards Sehun, Luhan saw that Sehun was barely taking the cake and cookie layers out of the quick chiller and was getting ready to get the peppermint ice cream out of the machine to pile on top.

            "Sehun I'm done with my tasks, I'll make the frosting," said Luhan as he began making the buttercream frosting that Kris had showed the two during their lessons.

            Sehun told Luhan a quick "Got it," before taking the bowl of peppermint ice cream that he got out of the machine and smoothed it over the cookie and cake layer and then placing the entire cake back into the quick chiller once again to harden.

            As Luhan began making the frosting Sehun came over and helped him set up a piping bag to place half of the frosting into later so they could use to decorate the cake. After setting that up, Sehun went back to grab the cake out of the quick chiller and removed it from the circular pan, placing it on to a plate just in time as Luhan finished making the frosting and twisted the piping bag closed.

            Luhan handed the piping bag to Sehun before he began covering their ice cream cake in a layer of the white butter cream frosting, smoothing out any excess frosting that was poking out. When Luhan finished, Sehun took his turn to pipe a line of frosting across the top and bottom edge of the round cake and to finish it off completely Luhan took the crushed red peppermint candy that he had made and dusted it all over the top of the ice cream cake just as a buzzer went off to indicate that time was up.

            "Stop all work on your dessert, and place it on the designated area in front of your kitchen station's counter. Once placed, please step into the your own back room and wait for the judges' results," instructed the headmaster as the contestants did as they were told. The curtain began to drift back down covering the kitchen stations from the audience's view once again by the time Luhan and Sehun had made their way to their assigned back room.

            There was nothing said between them at first as the two simply sat on the sofa provided in their back room, Luhan however felt completely nervous and agitated and he had a really bad urge to just get up and start pacing around the room while thoughts of how they did versus how the other contestants did kept running through his mind. 'Did we do okay? Was everything fine with our dessert? Will the judges even like it? Can Sehun and I advance to the next round?'

            It wasn't until Sehun placed a hand on Luhan's leg did Luhan finally realize that he was getting completely lost in thought while his leg was constantly twitching and bumping into Sehun's leg.

            "Luhan," called Sehun softly, "Relax, it'll be okay."

            Although those words may not have been for certain something about the way Sehun said it with finality and confidence had Luhan believing him. The tension eventually left his body as he looked at Sehun's eyes and Luhan gave a small hum as he stood up for a second only to reseat himself in Sehun's lap, wrapping his arms around Sehun's neck to hold the younger close.

            "I believe you," replied Luhan as he felt Sehun wrap his long arms around his waist.

            Sehun rubbed circles on Luhan's back comfortingly as he kissed the older's fluffy hair "We'll make it through this round… After all, those lessons truly did come in handy for us and we received tips from the best of the best on campus…"

            Luhan have another hum of agreement as a small smile made it's way to his lips, "Yeah that's true, now is just the nerve wrecking part, waiting."

            "I know," replied Sehun still rubbing Luhan's back.

            "From the past Dessert Finales that I have seen, the judging usually takes about an hour but since we only have a total of ten contestants there could be a possibility that the judging will go by faster," added Luhan resting his head on Sehun's chest, comfortable with this position.

            Sehun gave a hum in response as the two sat there for a while with Sehun just rubbing circles on Luhan's back and Luhan playing with Sehun's fingers on his other hand.

            "If we were to make it to the second round, do you think we'll be positioned at first or second place?" asked Luhan after the long moment of silence.

            It was clear to Sehun that Luhan was still worrying over the outcome and truthfully Sehun was nervous about the results as well but he didn't want to show it to Lu