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As always, they were one in the kitchen.
They complimented each other almost in every way and place, but the kitchen was where their connection shone the most.
That’s why they always won the challenges of Masterchef. They never lost time trying to decide on something, their minds in sync since early on, since the chefs revealed the next challenge to overcome.
They moved around each other with ease and fluid movements, like a well practised choreography, never bumping, never clashing. When one needed something the other provided without even having to ask. When someone dropped something, there was always a hand there already waiting to catch it.
It was their bond doing most of the talking for them, no need for words when their connection was stronger and clearer at times where focus was all they needed.
So far, it had all been fine, up until someone on the production team saw their matching marks and had outed them to the world to see. They were surely expecting a peak in audience from the controversy that was to be soulmates but not actually mated to each other. The whole nation knew about their relationship status already, for they had both brought their significant others to taste their food for one of the challenges, as it had required to bring someone from the outside to taste everything and out of every plate, pick theirs.
They had won that one, too, as both their boyfriends knew their cooking by heart.
Being platonic soulmates had never been easy for them, to be honest. People always had buried their noses into their bond, questioning them, judging them. Asking their respective boyfriends how they felt about the fact that they would never be as much as they were to each other. Asking if they were jealous of their bond, if they hated the fact that Wooyoung and Seonghwa will always be more connected to each than they could ever be with them.
Luckily, San and Hongjoong never paid those half a mind, but being on national TV only made it worse.
They understood that they were by no means an usual occurrence in the great scheme of the universe, or destiny or whatever people liked to call it, but since when it was acceptable to be this nosy about something that didn’t concern anyone but them? Since when it was okay to ask all of that into their faces?
It was one thing to speculate in the privacy of their daily life, it was okay in Wooyoung’s books for them to create their own theories about them as long as they didn’t shove those into their noses, he had read some of those and he had loved every second… But another very, very different thing was forcing them to partake into their narratives and making them part of them against their will.
That was something the producers had been trying to do ever since the day they had outed them.
He knew he could do nothing to change how people perceived them but damn if it didn’t annoy Wooyoung to the point of gritting his teeth, one second away from barking at those people to mind their own fucking business. He was tired of feeling the stares whenever their soulmate marks were visible and they were not acting as lovey-dovey as people expected soulmates to act.
Wooyoung was big on public demonstrations of affection, he had always been, but now that everyone expected it of them, almost demanded it of them… He felt weird about letting himself be free to touch Seonghwa as he normally would. Because that was exactly what the producers wanted, and he wouldn't give in to be a puppet under their power.
They were now cooking some casserole, the challenge being that they had to cook something with the ingredients that they currently had at their own fridges back at home. They all were doing their best, just five more minutes until the ‘hands off’ would be called, loud and clear and, as per usual, he and Seonghwa were dancing around in perfect sync.
Wooyoung moved to his right and picked up the cooling casserole, dodging Seonghwa as he came back with the several plates for the judges, leaving them in a line for Wooyoung to serve their food. As he was doing that, Seonghwa had retrieved the sauce and the parsley for decoration. In less than those 5 minutes, they had all three plates ready to present.
The younger looked at the dishes and smiled, turning his head to the side just to find Seonghwa already looking at him, already beaming with a smile of his own. At that moment, even if his rational part told him to not do anything, he just needed to be close to him. He stepped closer and—maybe trying to conceal his public demonstration of affection—he linked their pinkies together. Just the pinkies.
At that moment, everything else disappeared. A warm sensation washed over him and calmness filled his whole being. He suddenly didn’t care anymore about the producers, Wooyoung would absolutely not deny neither himself nor Seonghwa from acting true to themselves. They could not let them have such control over them, no matter the money, no matter the pressure.
Wooyoung would not let them win.
So, with a swift movement and a look of determination, he stopped holding his pinkie in favour of intertwining all their fingers, palm to palm, tightening the hold around each other’s hands with conviction. They kept holding the other like that as they walked up in front of the chefs that were about to judge their casserole.
“This dish is terribly exquisite,” Gordon Ramsay mused, still chewing on his bite. “The sauce and the meat marry beautifully.” And, at this point, Wooyoung and Seonghwa knew for sure that they were about to win this challenge, too. “But, because of new information concerning the two of you that won’t be disclosed at the moment, you two must abandon this kitchen for the time being.”
What.
“What?” He couldn’t stop himself but ask, feeling the fear wash over him, the betrayal, the disappointment.
“Please, take them,” the chef said, looking at the crew behind the cameras. Suddenly four men approached them and took a strong hold on them, successfully separating them and dragging them away and out of the set.
Wooyoung was immediately thrown into a small room and one of the producers got inside with him, closing the door behind him and looking down at him with a smirk painting his thin, dried up lips.
“Well, I hope you find this place comfortable, you’ll be here for quite a while until we get the other set ready for you two.”
“Are you fucking mental? You can’t do this!”
“Sweetheart, it’s in your contract, there’s always a clause about a secret challenge and, seeing how both you are destroying the rest of the contestants… We needed something to stir the pot.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You two will compete against the other. Each of you will write on a paper what you think the other is going to bake and, if your connection is as strong as you two brag about constantly, then there must be no problem, you’ll pass onto the next challenge and as benefit, you won’t have to participate in the team shuffle one, where we would have separated you onto different teams. But of course, if you fail this one, you’re completely out.”
“That’s fucking bullshit!” He felt something heavy lodging into his throat as he processed everything the man had said. “This is not fair!”
“Oh, and your connection as soulmates is? There’s a reason why we don’t allow mated couples in Masterchef, young boy. You two cheated and now you must pay the price.”
“There was no rule about platonic soulmates! You never included that on your forsaken contract, I made sure of that!”
“Well, the rest of contestants feel like that, most of our audience feels like that. You’ll do as we say or your lives are ruined. We know neither of you can’t assume the debt of breaching your contracts.”
And with that and a disgusting smirk, he was gone, leaving him alone in that cold solitary room.
He paced around but nothing seemed to make time go by any faster. His anxiety was skyrocketing but, even dulled by the distance, Wooyoung knew it was not just his, for he recognised Seonghwa's like the back of his hand.
He was going to sue them.
They couldn't treat them like lesser beings just because the contract allowed them to have a secret challenge. He would make him regret ever trying their luck at bringing them down.
That was the new plan, get their fucking money by winning this damned circus and also sue them for toying with their rights: there were laws that protected soulmates, independently of their nature as mates or not.
It was his millionth turn around the place when a paper slid under the door, then followed by a big thick black marker.
Ah, he had to write what he thought Seonghwa would bake... There were so many options, so many entries under ‘Seonghwa favourites’ stored in his mind library in reference to his soulmate. The anxiety was numbing his brain, he could not think clearly and that was frustrating him for he suddenly could not pick what Seonghwa would likely make for this challenge.
Wooyoung was spiralling.
Ten minutes had passed and he still was not able to pick a single thing although he had managed to narrow down his options to three: Tarte Tatin, strawberry shortcake or strawberry roll cake.
A loud knock startled him and an even louder, more demanding voice ushered him to hand in the paper. Without looking and following his heart, trying to take a deep breath to clear up his mind, he just said fuck it and started to scribble down his choice. He slid both the folded paper and the marker back under the door and he waited.
The knot on his throat swelled but he could not afford to entertain his anxiety, he had to think about what to make himself and that, for some reason, was even harder.
After much thinking—there was not much more he could do in that cell-like room—he finally picked something. Something the older always loved when he made it. It was a strawberry shortcake, but make it chocolate. The sponge cake would have cocoa in it and instead of just plain whipped cream he would make a dark chocolate ganache, maybe truffle if they had any in the market. It was his all time go by, his wildcard to impress any party, it had never failed him so he was positive it wouldn't fail him now against the judges.
He trusted in Seonghwa to get it right.
Even more undetermined time later, his eyes had started to drop, he hadn't realised just how long he had been awake, busy running around and around all day. They had gotten up really early for the first challenge and tiredness was doing a number on him. It was all part of the producers' scheme. They were basically torturing them, setting them up for failure.
The list of aggravations for the lawsuit increased by the moment.
Finally someone came to retrieve him, made him go through hair, makeup and all that paraphernalia just to throw him onto another dark place. He could not see shit but something tugged at his guts to take some steps forward.
“Seonghwa?”
“Youngie!” The voice of his soulmate reached him immediately, and suddenly everything lit up.
It took him a while to get used to the brightness and once he was able to keep his eyes open without squinting, he took in the new set before him. Two parallel kitchens, settled in a semicircle and facing the other, stood before them.
The sight looked ominous.
Wooyoung found himself in front of one of the kitchens, the stove, sink, oven and everything else facing him. On the other side, there was Seonghwa, standing in front of his own kitchen, also waiting for instructions. Their eyes meet finally and relief instantly washed over him, feeling the same emotions coming through their bond from the older.
‘Do you know anything?’ Seonghwa mouthed at him.
“Contestants!” A voice called out for them, making the two of them straighten in place as they listened closely. “You’ll have 10 minutes to bake a dessert. We have your predictions well guarded, you’ll proceed once the horn is blown. Understood?”
“Yes, chef!” They still had to follow protocol, even if they despised to do so at the moment, given the circumstances that surrounded this secret shooting.
“The markets will open for 15 minutes total. You know how this goes, once its closed it will be impossible for you to get any ingredient extra. You’ll have 5 hours to get things done. Good luck!”
Fucking bastards, them and their fucking falseness.
They shared one last look before the loud sound of a horn told them that they were allowed to leave their stations. Both of them had their own market each to their left side so when they ran to get their needed ingredients, they had to separate once again.
He hated it, everything was planned to draw parallels, everything was calculated to make them move like reflections in a mirror, making them aesthetically pleasing to the eye of the viewers.
Wooyoung flew to pick up everything he needed for his cake, knowing that he needed every second of those 5 hours to make everything perfect. Once he had managed to pick everything up, he returned just to see that Seonghwa had already started to mix his solids. That also meant that his recipe had less ingredients than Wooyoung’s. He smiled.
Ignoring the euphoric feeling already invading his whole being, he got to work, too.
The younger started moving immediately, for he knew the recipe by heart and muscular memory. He tried to do his best to be less chaotic without Seonghwa behind him, cooking without his other half to push him into the right direction.
He was about to mix his solids to when he fucked up, royally.
Moving fast and picking things from all over the counter, Wooyoung miscalculated one of the distances to the ingredients and knocked off the bowl containing the yeast. He stared at it, the powder spread on the floor and unable to process just right away what he had done.
Wooyoung realised slowly with sheer panic how he would not be able to fulfil his planned dessert because, without the yeast, there was no rising of the sponge cake, and without sponge cake there was no base for the chocolate strawberry cake he had had in mind for this challenge.
Shit.
They would fail and they would get eliminated and it would be his fucking fault, his and only his. Anxiety started pooling in the pit of his stomach for the umpteenth time that day but Seonghwa’s calmness seeped through their bond and managed to ground him a bit. Wooyoung looked up just to find Seonghwa already staring at him with an encouraging smile painting his lips.
‘Keep going,’ he told him in silence. At first Wooyoung was not understanding a thing because whatever Seonghwa had put in his paper it would not be what Wooyoung would end up making, for he had to change his idea completely… but he knew that he had to trust Seonghwa, and if he told him to keep going, going he would keep.
That meant that he had to proceed with his dessert without the yeast… What the hell would he make with the ingredients that he had already picked from the market, having in mind the chocolate cake? He really just had one single option to manage something: his trusty chocolate brownies. He still could make those with what he had at the moment. With a last look and a reassuring nod from Seonghwa, Wooyoung proceeded to make the brownies.
He was plating them, decorating each portion with the ganache as his heart raced inside his ribcage, not being able to shake off the feeling of having fucked up when a voice remembered them that there was just one more minute left. Breathing deeply, Wooyoung gave his plates the last touch with powdered sugar and cleaned up the sides with a paper towel.
The buzz made his heart stop beating for the split of a second and, as a knee-jerk reaction, he straightened behind his plates, his hands linked behind his back. The judges entered, having an envelope each except for Gordon Ramsay, who just sported his domineering aura around.
“In each of these envelopes are your predictions,” Gordon started, clapping his hands before him. “Contestant Park, announce out loud what have you baked.”
“Strawberry roll cake with white chocolate ganache,” Seonghwa said, his voice loud and clear.
Gordon Ramsay picked one of the envelopes and started his speech towards the camera. “This envelope contains contestant Jung’s predictions, will it be Strawberry roll cake with white chocolate ganache?”
Wooyoung knew he could not show any emotions, for the sake of the programme, but he couldn’t help it but smile as an euphoric feeling washed over him, pride and love for his soulmate taking over at least for a fleeting moment, Gordon Ramsay’s last words made him recoil in place, all positive feelings leaving him at once.
“Of course it is! Now, contestant Jung announce out loud what you have baked.”
Wooyoung swallowed, knowing that he had fucked up as a bead of sweat ran from his temple to his jaw. He inhaled through his nose and let the air out through his mouth, closing his eyes momentarily to try and regain his composure.
“Double chocolate fudge ganache brownies,” he finally said, convinced that it definitely was not what Seonghwa had written down.
“This envelope contains contestant Jung’s predictions, will it be double chocolate fudge ganache brownies?”
He knew he had started to tremble, but he could not really do anything about it as he watched how Gordon Ramsay picked the remaining envelope and peeked inside with an unreadable look across his face. Slowly, he took out the little paper inside and carefully read its contents. He looked at him, and then at Seonghwa with a raised eyebrow, questioning, putting it back in and closing it.
“Contestant Jung, come here please, I’d like for you to announce the prediction instead.”
Seonghwa, from his kitchen, looked at him the moment Wooyoung turned his head to steal an encouraging glance. He smiled and Wooyoung felt the worst of his anxiety go away, for through their bond he felt how Seonghwa was absolutely smug and content.
Wooyoung started to walk towards the judges and picked the envelope but was told not to open it yet.
“Contestant, Jung… Before the yeast catastrophe happened, what had been your plan? What had been your picked dessert?” Gordon Ramsay asked, calm but with a piercing gaze that made him shiver in place.
“Uhm… Chocolate strawberry cake with chocolate truffle ganache,” he swallowed again when he noticed that the chef hand not once blinked since he handed him the envelope.
“That sounds quite lovely, son. Now please, read the card.”
He looked down at the rectangular piece of paper he had in his hands, preparing himself to finally make his mistake public.
“Chocolate strawberry cake with chocolate truffle ganache but Wooyoung is goin-” he paused for a moment, reading the rest without voicing it out. he raised his head from the paper and found Seonghwa’s gaze. His soulmate was beaming.
“Contestant Jung, please, proceed.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling how the urge to cry was gnawing at him. “Chocolate strawberry cake with chocolate truffle ganache but Wooyoung is going to drop the yeast and end up making double chocolate fudge ganache brownies.”
Finally, a smile of his own took over his features.
“That’s quite a precise prediction, innit? Confess, did you have this all planned?” Gordon asked, breaking his bubble momentarily.
“Absolutely not, Chef! Seonghwa just knows me that well.”
“Well, so by the rules of this never seen on TV challenge, you have won, boys. Congratulations!”
Wooyoung did not wait to be told that he was allowed to move, his legs made his decision for him as he practically ran towards Seonghwa, who just met him in the middle. Their bodies collided quite forcefully but none of them cared. They wrapped their arms around the other so tight, as if they feared to be separated against their will once again, but gladly it did not happen.
Seonghwa’s warmth was everywhere and his heart felt full. Deepening his nose on the crook of the older’s neck, Wooyoung finally took a breath in that, for the first time since they got separated, didn’t feel forced and heavy.
“It’s okay, Wooyoung. We did it.”
“You’re fucking incredible, Hwa,” he whispered back, closing his eyes and tightening his arms around his soulmate.
“Well, not the first time this has happened. You tend to get fidgety under pressure,” and his laugh ran through his own body, feeling the distinct shakiness of it and tickling him, making him laugh, too.
“I love you,” Wooyoung muttered, placing a kiss to Seonghwa’s cheek.
“I love you too,” he answered as he separated slightly, connecting their foreheads together until finally they were told to cut that short.
The two of them went back to their positions and waited for everything to be done already. Gordon announced for the cameras what would happen next. The moment the director yelled cut, Chef Ramsay came straight for them.
“I just want you two to know that I had nothing to do with any of this. I’m actually pissed I had to stay extra today, but I’m glad you boys did not let the producers win this one.” He had placed his hands one each against Wooyoung and Seonghwa’s cheeks. It felt warm and his eyes looked sincere up close. “Do not let those bloody fuckers succeed at bringing you down, you got talent for food, it’d be a shame if you bent under their yoke. Don’t loose your spark, sons.”
And as soon as he appeared, he was gone.
Seonghwa and Wooyoung exited the set hand in hand, and that night they slept in the same room, needing the extra closeness to cuddle and wash away all the negative feelings and worries and the traumatic experience out of each other’s system.
They face-timed their boyfriends, telling them everything that had happened and the four of them decided to start plotting just how they would proceed with the lawsuit for loss and damage. In the meanwhile, as San and Hongjoong built a plan from the outside, Wooyoung and Seonghwa kept winning the challenges, now with even more determination.
Needless to say, they won the whole damn thing, bagging all the prize money and making the producers grit their teeth in anger and frustration. Not long after the programme finished airing completely, they announced their lawsuit that, of course, they also won.
With all that, they gathered enough money to finally fulfil their long sought dream: they finally opened a restaurant on their own.
They got really busy, everyone coming and leaving with smiles on their faces, surely drawn in by their curiosity about the platonic soulmates that had won against the world when everyone else only wanted to bring them down. At least now people seemed to have calmed down when it came to their bond and the invasion of their privacy, that alone already made Wooyoung really happy.
He could have not asked for a better outcome from that nightmare that the producers made out of their Masterchef experience. He had the restaurant he had always dreamt about, friends and family that cheered him on in every step of the way. He had an amazing boyfriend that always supported him with everything he set his mind on, loving him unconditionally and making him the luckiest person in the world just by being able to share his life with him and, above all, he had Seonghwa, who no doubt would always be there for him in the same way he would be there for the older.
Wooyoung could never ask for anything else, he would never do that for he finally got everything he needed.