~Chapter 16 – Sweets Royale (Stage 3/9 Candy)~

            Luhan was thankfully stationed in the middle of the competition hall for the third stage, the two prep days passed by without anymore encounters with the judge Hyo so far but now that Luhan was standing in the same room where the man will be showing up, it made his nerves run on edge. ‘I’ll avoid looking at the judges section on stage, maybe he won’t take notice of me and I can stop worrying over it,’ thought Luhan as he saw the Headmaster step on to the stage with the five judges following close behind.

            The Headmaster headed to the podium as usual “Hello students of SMACSE, I congratulate you all on being the ones to advance into the next stage. Now for the Sweets Royale stage three all participants are required to create a candy dessert based on the theme of brightness within the time limit of two hours. Once again your creation will be graded upon three categories of visual, taste, and theme. Now I am elated to finally announce that this begins the Sweets Royale stage three.”

            ‘Alright, focus only on making the candy and everything should be okay,’ Luhan began by taking out the sugar candy molds that were shaped in stars and one larger mold that was in the shape of the moon and then spraying them with non-stick cooking spray. Leaving that on the counter, he took out a saucepan and combined sugar corn syrup and water in it and brought it to a boil, constantly stirring it until all the sugar was dissolved. As it boiled, Luhan constantly checked the temperature with a candy thermometer until it reached the necessary temperature and once it began bubbling Luhan quickly removed it from the stove and waited a while for the sugar mixture to calm down. Taking out lemon flavored extract, Luhan added that to the sugar mixture while stirring it in, he also added bright yellow food coloring in order to have the candy a bright color.

            After mixing the sugar mixture completely, he poured it into each of the star molds. While saving just enough of the sugar mixture for the moon mold, Luhan added blue coloring to it in order to make a light greenish blue type color and poured it into the moon mold. Being extra careful, Luhan moved the molds to the quick chiller, so that the candy could solidify and become easy to pop out of the molds. As the candy chilled, Luhan prepared the plate he was going to serve the candy on and after the candy finished chilling, he popped them out carefully arranged the moon in the middle and the stars surrounding it, finishing the last one as the bell rang once more indicating that the third stage of the Sweets Royale has finished.

            “All participants stop and place everything down at once; you may now begin to place your dessert in the center of the counter of your kitchen station alongside your assigned number. Please wait to be dismissed and do not move from your station until told to do so by a staff member. You will be able to see your score on the screening board outside of the competition hall on the monitors around noon make sure to check if you will be advancing to the next round. All participants must now listen carefully, in the next stage all advancing participants are expected to cookies based on the theme of nature. That is all and we once again wish you the best in your endeavors,” as the headmaster finished his announcements the staff immediately came forth again and began ushering people out of the doors. Unfortunately the staff wasn’t fast enough when reaching Luhan as he took a wary glance towards the stage, making eye contact with none other than the judge Hyo, who grinned widely and his lips.

            Luhan froze at the sinister look that Hyo gave him ‘It seems like he was staring at me the entire time… That look seems almost predatory…’ Ripping his attention away from the stage Luhan forced his legs to move as one of the staff came to him outside. ‘What is his problem?!’

            “Luhan! How’d you do!?” grinned Chanyeol happily the moment he spotted his friend walking towards the group unaware of the inner turmoil Luhan was feeling at the moment.

            “Ah, I um did okay…” replied Luhan forcing a smile ‘It’s just that I seem to have attracted unwanted attention somehow…’ Sehun only looked at Luhan with another skeptical expression seeing the older acting strange once again.

            “Really!? If you’re worried don’t be! I know you did well!” exclaimed Chanyeol wide eyed at Luhan’s unenthusiastic answer.

            “Yeah, thanks Chanyeol, maybe it’s just my nerves,” said Luhan ‘I shouldn’t worry them…’

            Chanyeol nodded “No problem! You just looked really worried and I thought you weren’t able to finish or something.”

            “Oh,” replied Luhan as Kai cried out “I didn’t get to finish mine! Oh my gosh all I had to do was pop the center candy out of it’s mold but the stupid thing got stuck and I spent almost all of my time trying to get it out! Ugh it was ridiculous! This , I guess I won’t be moving on to the next round with you guys!”

            “What!? You had that problem too!?” asked Kris looking at Kai with surprise.

            “Kris too!? And you too, Lay!?” replied Kai with a shocked expression as Lay also raised a hand slowly saying “Me too…” and nodded.

            “Wait so the three of you weren’t able to finish!?” shouted out Baekhyun as the three responded with the shake of their heads indicating no.

            “Did you three remember to put in the non-stick spray?” deadpanned Suho.

            “………………………………………Non-stick spray?” asked the three in unison with confused expressions on their faces.

            Suho and Chanyeol face palmed themselves as they heard the response. “Yes, non-stick spray is used to ensure getting the candies out smoothly so it doesn’t stick to the molds,” replied Chanyeol seriously since after all candies were his best skill.

            “Oh…” replied the three.

            “Yeah, Oh…” repeated Suho with a sigh.

            “I guess there’s no celebrating for you guys tonight!” joked Tao with a playful grin.

            “Whatever, the scores hasn’t even been posted yet, we still got a chance,” replied Kai uncertainly.

            “All contestants who don’t finish their dessert will be automatically disqualified,” deadpanned Xiumin.

            “…..I’m over this!” replied Kai as he threw his arms up and began walking away.

            “Same here!” agreed Kris as he also began walking towards the dorm.

            “I guess there’s always next year,” said Lay optimistically.

            The others just sighed “Well then let’s head back too,” said Baekhyun.

            Luhan barely took a step forward with intentions to follow after the group when he felt a tug on his uniform sleeve; looking back he saw it was Sehun, with his usual blank expression, who was grabbing on to it. “We need to talk.”

            “About what?” asked Luhan although he already had a feeling about what it was going to be ‘I really hope it’s not about what happened two days ago.’

            Sehun didn’t answer as he dragged Luhan along by the sleeve through the hallways until they were in Luhan’s favorite kitchen classroom once again, the two taking a seat at the counter of the kitchen station. “Is there something happening that you’re not telling anyone?” asked Sehun seriously.

            “What? No, of course not,” answered Luhan as he looked away from Sehun’s piercing look ‘Don’t look like that, I don’t want to worry you or the others. I’ll handle this myself.’

            Sehun sighed hearing Luhan’s denial “Then what was with the strange behavior? You seem really jumpy lately…”

            “I’m not jumpy, you’re imagining things,” replied Luhan quickly still not looking at Sehun ‘Stop it, I can handle this… I hope…’

            “I know I’m not imagining things, I may be indifferent but I’m not oblivious,” replied Sehun.

            “There’s nothing,” hissed Luhan ‘Please stop thinking about this… You’re parents are enough problems for you.’

            Sehun continued asking, not believing Luhan’s answer “Is it your grandmother? Did something happen between you two?”

            “No! It’s not Granny,” Luhan shook his head ‘The problem would never be Granny although she may be a bit assertive on certain things… It’s that stupid creep.’

            “What’s not me?” asked Meili as she walked into the kitchen station towards the two boys.

            “Nothing!” replied Luhan smiling at his grandmother and getting up to give her a hug ‘I really hope she didn’t hear anything!’

            Sehun only gave Luhan a disapproving look which went unnoticed as Luhan kept avoiding his gaze as he also stood up from his seat. ‘This isn’t over Luhan, why are you hiding something?’

            “Oh I see so you’re just talking behind my back with Hunnie?” questioned Meili with a raised eyebrow, once she was released from Luhan’s hug.

            “Of course not!” exclaimed Luhan shaking his head back