The moment Kim Taehyung strolled into the tent, Jungkook was smitten.

With his golden curls, confident poise, and twinkling eyes above doughy cheeks, Taehyung commanded attention in the most carefree, unassuming way. He had long, graceful fingers that waved to each baker, and his voice was low and smooth, warming Jungkook’s insides like cinnamon and bourbon.

Most of the other bakers were clad in practical garb, plain aprons and sturdy shoes with dark-colored shirts immune to chocolate stains. But on the very first day, Taehyung arrived looking like a living, breathing Picasso painting, his shirt sporting a kaleidoscope of colors and tucked into loose pants in a highly impractical shade of beige. He even had a beret jauntily tipped on his head, dark curls peeking around the edges.

Jungkook uselessly fumbled with a set of spatulas, his heart doing a tiny, shy little somersault as Taehyung approached.

It turned out that his workstation was directly across from Jungkook’s at the back of the tent. Taehyung took his place, setting ingredients on the counter as the camera crew signaled five minutes until shooting would begin.

Taehyung turned to Jungkook and unleashed the dizzying power of his smile, stepping across the aisle with an outstretched hand.

“Hello, I’m Taehyung!” he introduced himself.

Jungkook replied in a daze, managing to stutter out his name as Taehyung’s dazzling smile and caramel eyes turned him to mush. He briefly wondered if this was a form of sabotage; surely, it was far too early in the competition for Taehyung to be so competitive? To come up to Jungkook and unleash the devastating power of his toothy, square-edged smile without warning? Surely, he was breaking some unspoken rule about flustering the other contestants right before the first challenge.Taehyung’s palm was wonderfully soft. And that was when Jungkook realized he was still holding Taehyung’s hand, and Taehyung’s smile was growing impossibly wider, his apple cheeks turning into pale pink roses, and Jungkook simply couldn’t fathom how he was expected to focus on the competition when a literal angel would be occupying the station next to him.He awkwardly cleared his throat and withdrew his hand, hiding it behind his back as his ears burned a traitorous red. Taehyung’s eyes twinkled with renewed fervor.

“Two minutes!” the director called.

Good luck, Jungkook! I’ll be rooting for you,” Taehyung said with a wink. And with a graceful-fingered wave, he skipped back to his station, leaving Jungkook to melt into the floor like an under-whipped meringue.

The competition began with a relatively simple first round: shortcake.

Jungkook got to work, neatly organizing his ingredients and equipment on the counter and setting his detailed, pre-typed recipe next to his mixer. He was sticking with classic flavors he knew would be a hit, just strawberries and sponge and a vanilla whipped cream. A crowd pleaser. (And hopefully, a judge-pleaser).

Taehyung, on the other hand, surprised the judges when he announced his sponge would be lavender-flavored, with a lemon curd and rosemary whipped cream filling.

Previously

Taehyung, on the other hand, surprised the judges when he announced his sponge would be lavender-flavored, with a lemon curd and rosemary whipped cream filling.

continuation

The judges were skeptical, but Taehyung flashed them a winning smile, and Jungkook was impressed with his confidence; those flavors were a gutsy move, especially since Taehyung’s recipe consisted of a few haphazardly-scribbled lines of instructions on the back of a pastry bag. The blatant disorganization gave Jungkook a small heart palpitation, so he tried to keep his eyes on his own hands as he worked, avoiding the increasingly-cluttered happenings at Taehyung’s station.

Each contestant was assigned a camera person, tasked with following the contestants around and occasionally asking questions for tidbits they could include in post-production. Jungkook’s area remained fairly quiet; unless his camera man probed him with a question, Jungkook didn’t speak, instead focusing his energies on the task at hand, determined to created the most perfectly-balanced shortcake possible within the time frame.

Taehyung, on the other hand, chatted with his camera woman non-stop, laughing and joking in that deep, husky voice. Jungkook couldn’t stop his eyes from flicking over to his competitor every few minutes, even if the utter disarray on Taehyung’s benchtop made him internally scream. The glimpses of Taehyung’s focused pout and easy smile were worth it.

“Five minutes remaining!” one of the hosts shouted.

Jungkook was putting the finishing touches on his shortcake, piping whipped cream in perfectly even dollops, carving his final decorative strawberry into the shape of a flower. He finished with one minute to spare.

He stepped back with a satisfied sigh, wiping his hands on his apron. He glanced at Taehyung, then did a double take; his station was an absolute mess, as if a tornado had ravaged the area in an effort to get flour on every possible surface, leaving bowls and whisks and spoons haphazardly strewn about. Taehyung had somehow managed to get flour in his hair and a smear of lemon curd on his cheek. He was softly smiling as he arranged a decorative sprig of lavender atop his cake, which had whipped cream and curd fit to burst from the middle, his sponges dyed a light purple. It was chaotic…. But Jungkook kind of liked it.

The judges made their rounds, critiquing the contestants. When they arrived at Jungkook’s station, they complimented his neat piping skills and commended his balance of flavors. A job well done, Jungkook thought proudly.

Then, the judges moved to Taehyung. They eyed his cake warily, and after tasting, they gave mixed reviews; one judge loved the flavors, bright and floral and unique. The other wrinkled their nose at the rosemary whipped cream, claiming the lemon curd was too tart, the sponge too sweet.

The feedback didn’t seem to faze Taehyung in the slightest. Jungkook marveled; hearing even one criticism of his baking would make him want to shrivel up into a raisin. Still a competitive, highly determined raisin, but a raisin, nonetheless.

previously

The feedback didn’t seem to faze Taehyung in the slightest. Jungkook marveled; hearing even one criticism of his baking would make him want to shrivel up into a raisin. Still a competitive, highly determined raisin, but a raisin, nonetheless.

continuation

When the round finished and the cameras were being re-set for the next challenge, Taehyung bounced over to Jungkook’s station.

“Nice job!” he said genuinely. “Your cake is really pretty. I love strawberries.”

“Do you… want to try it?” Jungkook hesitantly offered.

Taehyung’s eyes lit up with delight, and before Jungkook could even reach for a fork, Taehyung ripped a chunk of cake away with his fingers and shoved it in his mouth.

“Mmm!” he exclaimed. He chewed happily, eyes fluttering shut. He licked a trace of whipped cream from his finger. Jungkook’s heart stuttered.

“Ooh, now try mine!” Taehyung insisted, dashing over to his bench and bringing back a slice of purple cake. Jungkook was still skeptical of the flavor pairings, but he would rather die than hurt this beautiful man’s feelings, so he took a large bite as Taehyung watching raptly. He chewed, rolling the flavors over his tongue, and… wow.

“This is amazing,” Jungkook said. Taehyung clapped his hands giddily as Jungkook deliberately went in for another bite.

“My flavors aren’t for everyone,” Taehyung shrugged, idly brushing at his cheek and further smearing the lemon curd. “But as long as I stay true to who I am and what I like, my bakes will never be a failure.”

Jungkook stared at him, heart squeezing in his chest, mouth full of lavender. “Yeah,” he breathed, a bit stunned at Taehyung’s casual approach to something that Jungkook took with such seriousness. “That’s… that’s a good way of looking at things.”

Taehyung eventually left to clean up his wreck of a station, Jungkook surreptitiously watching as he finished the last few mouthfuls of Taehyung’s cake slice. He winced when Taehyung dropped a spoonful of whipped cream on his pants, leaving a stain. Yet somehow, it only added to Taehyung’s charm.

Round two began, a blind technical challenge where every baker was given the same ingredients and the same vague recipe. They were instructed to make angel food cake, something Jungkook had made countless times.

But the oven in the tent was different from his oven at home, and when he pulled out his cake, his confidence deflated in a jarring whoosh

The cake’s edges were too brown. He had overbaked it.

“Dammit,” he muttered to himself. He put his head in his hands, chest constricting. It was fine, he told himself. Everything was fine. He had done well on the signature bake, and there was still one more challenge before the first elimination.

But Jungkook could feel himself getting upset. He was a perfectionist, and perfectionists didn’t serve over-baked cakes. He felt his dream of being the first Star Baker slip through his sugar-stained fingers.