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Cale tiptoes as he slowly and carefully enters the kitchen.
'No one's here. Ron and Beacrox are training On and Hong, Raon is with his mother as well as Eruhaben-nim, Choi Han and Mary are with the wolves at the Forest of Darkness, Rosalyn is at the Magic Tower, and Hyung is at the castle.' Satisfied, Cale starts to walk properly and stretches his arms.
"What do I~ make~" Cale hums, taking out all the basic ingredients for baking.
One thing not many people knew about Cale- or, well, Kim Roksoo -is that he bakes. He likes baking, in fact. He remembers the surprise on his team's faces when he comes inside the workplace with homemade cookies and grins. When he bakes, Cale always hums or sings, always in a bright or cheery mood, so no one really thinks that he likes baking. It doesn't suit his image.
However, he does not wear a pink apron, thank you very much.
"What do we have here…" He opens the fridge, and looks at the content. Mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries for the fruits. Chocolates, too, Cale notes. He grins, Perfect. He takes the mangoes and chocolates only and sets them on the counter.
He takes the flour, eggs, milk, sugar, oil, mango juice, and some. He pours the right amount into a strainer, sifts, puts them into a mixing bowl, and carefully mixes. While stirring, he starts to sing.
"You're alone, you're on your own
So what, have you gone blind?
Have you forgotten what you have
and what is yours?"
Cale starts to whip the egg whites, and after, he added the previous mixture to the whipped egg whites. He sighs contentedly. He missed baking. He was, however, too focused to notice Raon entering and pulling out both a recording and communication device.
"Glass half-empty, glass half-full
Well, either way, you won't be going thirsty
Count your blessings, not your flaws."
After mixing, he pours the batter into a baking pan. He repeated the process and places the two mixtures in the oven. While it's being baked, he starts to create the chocolate bread. Once the mixture is finished, he whips two pieces of egg whites again and mixes them into the chocolate. After that, he places it on a baking pan and puts it in the oven.
"You've got it all
You lost your mind in the sounds
There's so much more
You can reclaim your crown."
While it was being baked, he starts to chop two pieces of mangoes. After that, he makes the mango filling, as well as the chocolate ganache.
"You're in control,
Rid of the monsters inside your head
Put all your faults to bed
You can be king again."
He takes out the three baked cake bread from the oven and sets them on the counter. He places the first mango bread on a flat tray and covers the top with the mango filling. Afterward, he puts the chocolate bread on top and also covers it with the chocolate ganache. He spreads a layer of the mango filling above the chocolate one and places the last mango bread above.
"You don't get what all this is about
You're too wrapped up in your self-doubt
You've got that young blood, set it free."
Cale takes the cream and starts to make the topping, the frosting. After, he picks up the spatula and spreads it above the bread and on the sides of the now-cake.
"You've got it all
You lost your mind in the sounds
There's so much more
You can reclaim your crown
You're in control
Rid of the monsters inside your head
Put all your faults to bed
You can be king"
Taking the piping bag, Cale pours the remaining mixture for the frosting inside the plastic. Then, he leans over, applying the frosting on the sides of the cake vertically.
"There's method in my madness
There's no logic in your sadness
You don't gain a single thing from misery
Take it from me"
After covering the side of the cake, he adds some frosting on top of it. He chops some mangoes into squares again, and places them on top of the cake, inside the circle frosting.
"You've got it all
You lost your mind in the sounds
There's so much more
You can reclaim your crown
You're in control
Rid of the monsters inside your head
Put all your faults to bed
You can be king"
Cale turns and gets the chocolate bars. He melts them on a pan, and after melting the chocolate, he drizzles it on the cake - on top of it and on the sides. None of the chocolate touches the mangoes.
"You've got it all
You lost your mind in the sounds
There's so much more
You can reclaim your crown
You're in control
Rid of the monsters inside your head
Put all your faults to bed
You can be king again."
Just after Cale finished the song, he stands up properly, hands on his hips as his chest puffs up in pride. Well, he is proud of the cake. He decides to place it on the refrigerator first, and while waiting, he reads a new novel gifted to him.
Just before he flips the first page, however, he feels … wrong. Something will happen.
Cale shivers.
Cale has a skip on his steps as he places the cool cake on the table. He missed eating his own baking. He takes a cake knife and cuts a portion of the cake. He places it on his plate, holding his fork in anticipation.
When he opens his mouth to take a bite, his eyes widen when he feels a presence - several presences - behind him. Freezing, he turns around, only to see everyone behind him.
Nope.
Cale quickly turns back around and bites a piece of his slice, trying to ignore the people behind him.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
The redhead was freaking out. Why were they here? All of them? The Molans, the cats, Raon, Choi Han, Rosalyn, Eruhaben, Alberu and Mary are all here when they're supposed to be doing something-
Someone clears their throat.
Ah, damn it.
Cale turns around, schooling his expression into something calm-looking. He smiles, wide and fake. "What are you all doing here?"
Someone snickers. Cale doesn't know and doesn't want to know who did it.
Everyone looks like they want to say something, but in the end, Alberu speaks first. "Dongsaeng, Raon-nim contacted us and showed us you baking. And singing."
Cale is horrified. "When did Raon-?" He cuts himself off, internally groaning. Goddamn it.
"Where and when did you learn how to bake?" Beacrox eyes the cake on the table, mildly impressed yet at the same time annoyed. Someone used his kitchen. Young Master Cale did something like baking when he was here. Young Master Cale knows how to bake, and can do it quite impressively, too.
The redhead doesn't really know how to answer it. Haha, I learned how to bake in my past life! He doesn't say that. Instead, he says, "...During my travels. Somewhere. Just because."
"..." Very suspicious.
Suddenly, a black blob rushes towards Cale's abdomen, "Humaaaaaaaan!!! Let me have a bite!!" As a chorus, the two cats paws at him, "Me too nya!"
Cale chuckles, gaze softening (just like how the rest softens at his chuckle too) as he looks at the children, "Alright, alright. Now, sit."
The redhead hums as he gives small bites to the children, smiling pleasantly. It was only until he felt a piercing stare that he stops and turns for the third time.
"Dongsaeng, are you not going to let us eat too?"
"..." Cale is speechless. He looks at the cake, realizes it's a little bigger than he expected, and nods reluctantly. "Fine, you can eat."
Everyone smiles at him. Creepy.
Once everyone takes a bite, they all bite back a moan (except for the children) at the delicious taste.
"This… is really good."
"As expected of Cale-nim."
"You know how to bake this good and yet you eat cookies from my office?"
"You unlucky bastard, what did you do to make something this good?"
"This is surprisingly delicious, Young Master."
Cale flushes at the comments about his baking. Stop it, don't compliment me or my cake! Nevermind, compliment my cake all you want. "It's not a big deal… anyone who can bake can do this…" At least, they should be able to. Right?
Everyone stares at him incredulously. Alberu sighs, “Nope. I refuse to deal with his nonexistent self-appreciation. Someone else do it.”
Rosalyn grins, “Well, Young Master Cale, aside from you, no one has ever thought of combining mangoes and chocolates to make one cake. Most cakes are single-layered, too, so your cake is incredibly unique.”
Cale looks at her weirdly. Huh, back in Korea, or on Earth, a lot of people create combinations more unique than this one. Does this mean this world doesn’t have creative bakers or something? He sends Choi Han a look, who merely chuckles and looks away.
“By the way, Young Master Cale, what were you singing?” Mary asks in her usual monotone voice, but her eyes are filled with curiosity.
“Hmm?” Cale hums, “The title is King. It was written because the composer knew someone who always complains about everything, despite her life looking good on the outside. The composer wanted to make it so that the song will be written as a letter to the person she knew, but it ended up becoming a letter to themself.” He answers.
“And the composer is…?”
Cale hesitates. “It’s… someone from the world the Sealed God brought me to. Her name’s Lauren Aquilina.” Yes, that seemed like an acceptable answer. It wasn’t untrue.
“Oh.” They all chorus, nodding, before going back to their food.
....What's with their reaction? Cale thinks, scrutinizing them. When he doesn't notice anything else, he shrugs and goes back to eating.
This is the worst, Cale looks down glumly. How and why did this happen?
He was called to his father's office, and Cale decided to comply immediately. However, the moment he asked his father and stepmother the reason they called for him, two boxes full of envelopes were given to him.
"Read it," His father, Deruth, said. "It would be great if you accepted at least one of them." His stepmother, Violan, nodded.
Speechless, Cale had gone back to his own room and opens the first box labeled 'B'.
"Humaaan! What are those boxes for?"
"Yeah, what's happening, nya?"
Cale looks at the three children helplessly, "I don't know either." The box was filled to the brim with envelopes, and Cale is scared to find out the content of them. Hesitantly, he takes a beige-colored envelope, getting the letter inserted.
To Young Master Cale,
Good day, Young Master! We are the Roan Baking Institute, and we invite you to one of our classes. We have seen the cake you have baked, and we are extremely surprised. We hope you can find a time to teach our students to bake something, and may you be inspired to create something even better.
We await your response.
Sincerely,
Sara Elreed
Headmaster of Roan Baking Institute
Cale drops the letter in shock. "What the hell- how did they know I bake?!"
Raon lowered his head, "It was because of me! I accidentally connected the recording device to the plaza's screen, so everything you did was seen by everyone!"
"Hell no." Cale closes the box, placing a mark on the lid that says 'MUST BURN'. He takes the other box with the 'S' label with disgust, "And this?"
Young Master Cale,
Good day, young master! We from the Golden Academy would like to invite you to join our singing lessons. You, young master, have an incredibly nice voice, and it looks like you have the talent of a composer too! Thus, we are very excited at the possibility of your talent being enhanced.
We hope to see you soon!
Sincerely,
Golden Academy.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT." Cale closes the box, placing another 'MUST BURN' mark on the lid.
"Ron." Once the butler appears, he promptly hands the two boxes to the older, "Burn them. Do not leave anything."
Amused, Ron bowed, "Of course, young master." Once the door shuts, Cale looked absolutely dead and sinks down the floor.
"Ah, goddamnit."