~Chapter 9 – Stupid Fruit Tart Project~

            Today was the day that the fruit tart project was finally due; the students that have already arrived in the classroom began setting up their stations in preparation for their evaluation. Well, most of the students were setting up while some were arguing and freaking out over not having prepared anything since they procrastinated for the entire two weeks that they were supposed to be working on the project.

            “Oh my gosh, what are we going to do!?” freaked Chanyeol as he practically ransacked the station in attempt to find some inspiration for their project.

            “I don’t know! Ugh why did we have to play that video game!? Oh my gosh what should we do now!?” cried Baekhyun as he searched through the fridge for anything that may come in handy.

            “You can always cry or wail, take your pick,” answered Chen sarcastically as he observed the mess Chanyeol and Baekhyun were making from his own station next to theirs.

            “Shut it Chen! I already did that earlier this morning!” squealed Chanyeol in a panic as he began just throwing ingredients onto the counter.

            “…..Are you serious?” asked Chen with a dumbfounded expression.

            “Yes, he did. And I even witnessed it, though I wouldn’t call it wailing it was more like an explosive tantrum,” answered Kai from his station directly across from Chen’s.

            “When was this and why did I miss it!?” asked Chen.

            “You were still at the dorm when we were heading towards the classroom,” answered Kai.

            “Oh, that explains it,” nodded Chen.

            “WHO CARES ABOUT THAT! WHERE’S THE FREAKING FLOUR IN THIS FREAKING STATION!? WE FREAKING NEED IT,” exclaimed an exasperated Baekhyun.

            Sehun and Luhan were simply observing their friends freak out and cause the usual chaos in the classroom from their corner station since they already had their preparations finished. “You’d think they would learn from their procrastination after three years here at SMACSE,” sighed Luhan sitting on the counter beside Sehun who was leaning on it while using his arms as support.

            “You’d think they’d at least make an effort to use inside voices while in a classroom,” replied Sehun.

            “Ha, it wouldn’t be Chanyeol and Baekhyun without all the noise pollution,” grinned Luhan “It’s what makes them so lively.”

            Sehun only hummed in response, taking notice of how Baekhyun just got a crown of white powder all over his hair after accidentally bumping into Chanyeol who was carrying the flour which started another squabble between the couple, “You’re right, after three weeks of being here, I’d be worried if they were quiet for more than a few moments.”

            Luhan only giggled in response “Glad you warmed up to everyone so well.”

            Sehun replied with a small smirk to Luhan’s comment, a sign that he agreed with the older.

            After getting to know the other eleven boys a bit better, Sehun did warm up to them despite still being somewhat reserved, he laughed along with them and added in his own commentary here and there where ever he felt like and got along with all of them fairly well. His relationship with Luhan though was a bit strained at first after telling the older of what his parents had planned for him especially when the latter talked a little less than normal and had a sulky mood for the first couple of days but things soon smoothed out during the two weeks that the two worked together on the project.

            After the initial shock of the incident Luhan obviously had conflicted feelings about Sehun, on one side he had truly wished for Sehun to be able to succeed but on the other side that would mean that his dream also takes a plunge. Luhan, having seen Sehun in action for the past few weeks, believed that Sehun had all the necessary skills that could easily bring him to the very top of the patissier world, the only problem being that was also where Luhan wanted to be as well. But after spending so much time with the younger lately Luhan couldn’t help his soft nature and decided in the end to just do his best, Sehun may have skills on his side but Luhan had experience which could theoretically even out the playing field between the two.

            “I think Chanyeol’s gonna explode any minute,” muttered Sehun noticing how Chanyeol was becoming even more overwhelmed with the situation.

            Luhan looked over at Chanyeol too but didn’t see anything different except for the usual panicked look that was there the entire time they were in the classroom, “How are you so sure of tha-”

            “YOU KNOW WHAT THIS STUPID FRUIT TART PROJECT IS JUST STUPID!” shrieked a frustrated Chanyeol.

            “Nevermind,” muttered Luhan a bit startled at Chanyeol’s out burst like many of their other classmates.

            Just then the classroom door opened up “What was that about this project, Chanyeol Park?” questioned Ms.Jae as she raised an eyebrow.

            “Ummmm, I’m totally prepared for this project! It’s really an amazing project that I can’t wait to start! Yeah!” Chanyeol answered with as much fake enthusiasm as possible while Baekhyun simply face palmed himself and shook his head at his boyfriend.

            “That’s good to hear then you won’t mind going first for evaluation since you’ve had two whole weeks to prepare this fruit tart, will you?”

            “WHA- I mean… of course not…” replied Chanyeol as he sobbed internally about opening his mouth when he shouldn’t have.

            Baekhyun glared at Chanyeol, hissing “We better make the best candied fruit tart ever or you’re sleeping in the living room again.”

            Chanyeol made a loud whining noise but reluctantly nodded at Baekhyun knowing that he was being a hundred percent serious, he loved the boy more than his own life but sometimes Baekhyun could be a little scary to Chanyeol.

            “Alright class is everyone ready to go for your fruit tart project?” asked Ms.Jae as she stood at the front of the stations beside the timer set up on the wall, looking around the classroom for nods and seeing everyone ready she said “Good, then please begin you will have one hour.”

            Everyone in the class was moving in an instant rushing to complete their fruit tart. Luhan and Sehun having been practicing for two weeks for this moment quickly began their assigned jobs. Luhan started off with making the base crust first by getting a mixing bowl and placing the necessary amount of flour and brown sugar into it, mixing it thoroughly before getting the butter and cutting it in to pieces. Luhan added in the butter pieces one by one in the flour and brown sugar mixture as he continued to hand mix it until the mixture became coarse and crumbly like he needed it. He then took a cup of water and began to slowly add it to the forming dough in order to moisten it as he kept kneading the mixture, once that was done he got out the medium sized circular pan and placed his ball of dough into it, pressing it down evenly, spreading the dough across the pan to create the base of the tart and then placing it into