A Basket of Sugar

Tart Strudels

"C'mon pleeeeease Channie?"

"Jeno, I've already tried the chocolate chip cookies!"

"But you haven't tried batch thirteen yet!"

"I'm sorry, batch 13?"

"Channie!"

"Okay, okay, fine, geez."

Haechan opened his mouth and Jeno carefully held the spoon up to his lips with his hand hovering under his chin so he could taste the batter. Haechan chewed on the batter carefully while Jeno looked up at him expectantly. Haechan swallowed the rest of the batter and Jeno's eyes widened in anticipation.

"Well?" He asked, bringing the spoon back down to his side.

"Hmm." Haechan took a moment to ponder over what he just ate. "I think.....it tastes exactly the same as your other twelve batches."

Jeno swatted Haechan's arm which made the latter laugh.

"Clearly chocolate chip cookies aren't my thing." Jeno said while readjusting the straps on his cream and bubblegum colored apron.

"Clearly." Haechan said. When he noticed Jeno struggling with tying the knot around his apron he stepped forward and reached around to Jeno's back to help him. Jeno's face was now inches from Haechan's chest making the boy blush.

"In fact, I think your specialty is pop tarts." Haechan said while continuing with the knot. Once he was done he gently put his hands on Jeno's shoulders and stepped back from him. "Wait, Pop Tart wouldn't be a horrible nickname for you."

Jeno raised his eyebrows at Haechan in surprise.

"I just.." Haechan hesitated so he could figure out how to word it. "You call me Channie, but I don't have anything to call you except Jeno. And since you're so good at baking pop tarts I thought Pop Tart would be a cute name for you."

Jeno's eyes widened to the size of pancakes. He looked away from Haechan to cover his embarrassment.

"Pop Tart it is." Haechan smirked.

"Well since you're clearly such a fan of my pop tarts then you obviously wouldn't mind trying my icings for me?" Jeno said as he directed Haechan over to the separate bowls of different pop tart icings he had prepared.

"Whatever you say Pop Tart." Haechan laughed when Jeno playfully swatted his arm.

Jeno delicately dipped the spoon into the first of many icings for Haechan to try. This one was Buttercream flavor.

Haechan finally licked the spoon clean of the last icing flavor that Jeno presented to him, which was Raspberry Icicle flavored. Haechan liked that one, but to him there was one clear winner.

"Hm." Haechan knew the clear winner, but he still wanted to tease Jeno a bit before he gave it over.

"You present a tight competition Pop Tart, but I think I have come up with a winner."

Haechan glanced at Jeno who was sitting at the edge of his figurative seat.

"Drum roll please."

Jeno shot him a confused and slightly annoyed look but he still snatched the spatula and wooden spoon near him to beat the table with.

"Alright, the winner was; Frosty Ice!"

No reaction from Jeno.

Haechan looked confused for a second before it dawned on him what Jeno wanted him to say. "Sorry, sorry, I pulled a Steve Harvey there for a minute. What I meant to say, was that the answer was; Rum N Peanut Butter!"

Jeno immediately began jumping up and down while squealing excitedly. "Channie, I was hoping you'd pick that one all along!" Jeno over exaggeratedly cheered and jumped up into Haechan's arms; wrapping his hands around the back of Haechan's neck so he sort of hung off him. Haechan chuckled and immediately hugged Jeno so he wouldn't fall. Haechan knew Jeno was kidding but he liked having him be so close to him.

Jeno giggled slightly after Haechan put him back down. "I was just kidding. Rum N Peanut Butter was my favorite but I'll trust your opinion too Channie. I've obviously got a lot of work ahead of me before I go to the competition."

Jeno started to return his attention to the icings again but he turned back to Haechan when he awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Um," Haechan looked at the ground. "Not to be too pushy or anything, but it's just.... I kind of came here to get some help finding what my scent is?"

"Oh my god! How could I have forgotten?" Jeno smacked his forehead and put his other hand on his hip. "Of course the competition can wait for a bit! I gotta pay you back for all the help you've given me first!"

Haechan nodded enthusiastically at Jeno, making his toasted graham cracker colored hair bounce up and down. Jeno giggled at how cute he looked.

"Here. Let me get a whiff of your scent before I start anything." Jeno walked forward and put both his hands on Haechan's left shoulder for balance. Then he stood on tippie toes to get his nose close to the spot on Haechan's neck where his scent glands sat. Jeno moved so that his nose was right above Haechan's skin. Haechan was glad Jeno couldn't see his face because right now he was a blushing mess.

Jeno took a few, drawn out sniffs of Haechan's scent so that he really could get a feel for the kinds of ingredients he might be working with. The scent was no doubt a sugary baked good. It likely didn't contain any chocolate and probably had no icing of any kind. It was a simple pastry, that was for sure.

Which was kind of ironic considering the chaotic and complex individual it belonged to.

Once Jeno was satisfied, he took a step back from Haechan and looked at him curiously while tapping the bottom of his chin with his pointer finger.

"I wonder..." Jeno trailed off before he turned away from Haechan. He went to open one of the cabinets off to the side of the room. He stuck his head inside and began rummaging around in the cabinet while Haechan leaned against the table behind him and watched with a content smile on his face.

Eventually Jeno came back over to Haechan. He had flour, sugar, eggs, and butter in his hands. Without warning, he pushed the bag of flour into Haechan's arms and went off to prepare the mixing machine. Once all the basic ingredients were added, Jeno went to add some peanut butter, ground up cocoa nibs, flax seed, and some blue agave nectar into the bowl. After a little bit of mixing, Jeno eventually stuck a clean spoon into the batter and walked back over to Haechan for him to try it. Haechan was beyond full from all the pop tart icings he just consumed and he was even starting to get a little queasy from all the sugar, but when Lee Jeno holds a spoon out for you to eat; you eat.

Haechan opened his mouth and Jeno put the spoon inside. He chewed on the batter for a few moments. It definitely wasn't his scent, it tasted too sweet and almost too light in a way. Haechan knew his scent belonged to a kind of pastry that had a bit of density to it.

But still there was something about this batter. Maybe it wasn't exactly Haechan's scent but there was still something to it that made Haechan think of his own scent. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about it felt right.

Haechan got so lost in thought that he didn't notice Jeno standing idly by waiting for him to respond. Luckily Haechan came back to the present at the sound of Jeno's sneakers shuffling around on the floor.

"Well Pop Tart, I think you're definitely on the right track. I've never tasted something so similar to my own scent before."

Jeno smiled at him and returned to hover over the mixing bowl and ponder over the ingredients while Haechan watched with a satisfied feeling in his gut.

a/n: that was literally one of the softest things I've ever written