Sweeter than Cake [MxM] [English Version]

02 / Tiramisu

One of the things that makes Johnson High School famous in the city of xxx is its very elite canteen. In addition to having an area equivalent to four times a football field, the Johnson High School canteen is also filled with ten well-known food and beverage vendors who voluntarily invest in this school because they are confident in the financial capabilities of their students. Based on an internal school survey, ninety percent of students at Johnson High School can afford to buy food equivalent to a Michelin Star award restaurant every day.

The food and drinks sold in the Johnson High School canteen consist of various cultures, namely east, western to asian food. Eight out of ten vendors serve buffet-themed dishes to avoid wasting time waiting. One vendor provides special drinks for lovers of coffee, tea, chocolate and other drinks that cannot be provided from a vending machine. And one vendor the rest is a patisserie.

Compared to nine other vendors, the room of the patisserie looks very catchy because the place is deliberately designed aesthetically. Three long, ivory-colored marble tables are placed on three sides of the room mingling with a cooling display case specializing in cakes that change quality when the temperature isn't right. Two other tables are located in the center of the room diagonally and form an equal sign.

Each cake is beautifully arranged on each acrylic rung placed on the table. The colors emitted from the cake decorations are in harmony with the pastel colors seen from the wallpaper and decorations on each table. With the addition of dim and bright lights on each table and display case, this patisserie room is like an international cake exhibition.

"You bought it five times in the past week," I said as I saw Lynx's eyes fall on the tiny cup of tiramisu that was in the corner of the patisserie.

"Every day they make different details," Lynx replied without looking at me.

"Yeah still... not interested in buying anything else?" Instead of answering my question, Lynx waved his hand.

I sighed and left Lynx still standing in front of the tiramisu. When I was quite far from Lynx's position, I turned around and there my friend was busy typing with his cellphone. Indeed, from lunch to the trip to this place, it seems that Lynx has checked his cellphone more than ten times. When I asked, Lynx instead changed the subject as a sign that he wasn't going to talk about what he was doing with his cellphone. I didn't even ask him again because he seemed to be in a bad mood.

In this room there were only me and Lynx as visitors and three waitresses, each of whom brought a wooden tray and was ready to serve. With each cake costing the equivalent five times of my lunch, it wouldn't be surprising if the room was so quiet that no one would be bothered if I spent a long time picking out the cakes.

My eyes traced the beautiful cakes one by one. It's true that this patisserie sells different cake decorations every day so you will never get tired of looking at authentic art from various types of cakes, mousses, truffles, pralines and croissants. Even the garlic-topped sandwiches look appealing with a touch of a professional. At first I wanted to take Cheesecake as my dessert, but considering that Lynx always wanted to try my food, I decided on Red Velvet Cake which was next to it.

I turned to the waiter who was behind me and pointed at the cake I wanted. The waiter who had been quietly following me swiftly took the cake to put on a wooden tray. Since I had finished selecting the cake, I checked whether Lynx had finished using his cell phone or not. From a distance I saw Lynx pointing at some cakes and another waitress near Lynx moving the cakes onto a tray. Seeing Lynx who had finished dealing with his cellphone and finished choosing his cake, I went back to him.

"Put the payment together," Lynx said to the waitress who brought the cake of my choice. The waiter followed Lynx's orders by transferring the Red Velvet Cake to a tray containing three glasses of tiramisu that Lynx had chosen.

After completing the digital payment, Lynx and I walked out of the patisserie to the nearest sofa followed by the waitress who brought us trays. Lynx sat on the inside of the couch near the planter and I sat down next to him.

"Tomorrow I'll bring my tiramisu," I said casually as I watched the waiter lower one cake at a time onto the table.

For a few seconds later I could feel a gaze watching me silently from the right. With that attitude of Lynx, I knew that I had to give an explanation behind what I just said. "Since Thursday I've been looking for recipes on the internet and trying to make tiramisu. I tried because a Lynx never stopped buying it. Don't expect much, it's still far from what you're eating," I continued, returning Lynx's expressionless look.

"I'll buy from you when you're close to this. I can prepare the ingredients."

What Lynx said at a pace made me suspicious. I caught a pre-prepared plan from the speed of Lynx's pronunciation which sounded too fast to my ears.

"Hmm.. looks like you've been buying tiramisu continuously since last week to challenge me," I said with an accusing tone. "Okay, I accept...."

Before I could finish my sentence, Lynx put a spoonful of tiramisu into my open mouth. Geez.... this kid....

"You can ask Jonathan to prepare the ingredients for you. Starting from the tiramisu is quite easy, right?" Lynx said flatly as he pulled the empty spoon back from my mouth. Jonathan is the driver who picks up Lynx every day and also serves as a personal assistant.

"By the way... since when did you know I liked helping Mom make cakes? I don't think I ever told you," I said moments later after I was sure Lynx shouldn't know I like baking.

"Looks like your character is suitable for baking cakes," replied Lynx casually without caring for the other person to be annoyed by his nonsense.

"Your excuses are unacceptable. You met my mother when I wasn't around, didn't you? Or..."

I was interrupted again because Lynx was about to shove the spoon back into my mouth. Luckily I was able to dodge so that my teeth don't have to hurt when biting the stainless spoon like before.

"Hey hi hi, lovey-dovey couple since junior high school."

Suddenly the figure of a man with brown hair was kicked sitting across from my seat and Lynx while giving a greeting sentence that made my arm's hair stand on end.

"Stop saying weird things like that, Kai," I said, returning Kai's mischievous laugh with an annoyed look.

Kai is a genuine extrovert who often pops up in groups and loves to be the center of attention. Since middle school he's been trying hard to keep up with my conversations with Lynx at every opportunity because he wondered why Lynx was the only one who didn't respond to his presence.

"Wow! The famous Tiramisu. May I take one..."

While Kai was very excited with his sentence and expression, he trying to reach one of the tiramisu glasses in the middle of the table. Before Kai could reach what he wanted to take, Lynx first pulled my right hand which was still holding the knife so that the tip of the knife was exactly one cm in front of Kai's hand.

I was quite shocked by my right hand which was being gripped tightly by Lynx's left hand, especially after realizing that my hand seemed to be pointing a knife at Kai. But what surprised me even more was the Lynx's powerful force as it gripped my hand right now.

The stressful scene was witnessed by the three of us and several students who accidentally passed by: Lynx's sharp gaze at Kai, Kai's frightened face, Kai's hand which was almost hit by the knife I was holding.

"Oh my....okay.... I won't... will... take it.... Lynx... calm down..." said Kai pulling back his hand.

Lynx slowly loosened the hand that was gripping my wrist and he continued eating quietly as if nothing had happened. It seems that what needs to be calmed down is Kai himself and several students who accidentally passed by and saw what happened earlier. Kai and the students were still looking at Lynx with wide eyes and even Kai was sweating on his forehead.

"Your behavior is very impolite, Kai," I said trying to disenchant Kai who still looked so shocked. Kai swallowed his saliva and nodded slowly.

"It's okay, it's okay. We were just joking," Kai said trying to smile as he shooed a few people away beside us. "Wow... it's true, middle school and high school are very different. The canteen here is really spacious... hahaha... but why is it so hot? Maybe the air conditioner is off."

I just smiled amused seeing Kai who was acting. Maybe I also need a small talk like him to deal with the female students who are chasing Lynx. Yes, maybe.

"Are you taking basketball extracurriculars again?" I asked to take Kai's mind off the scene earlier.

"Yes! You should come too, Rui. Since middle school the basketball team has been after you. Why aren't you interested in joining?" Kai asked with a face that had returned to its cheerfulness.

Kai was looking at Lynx to check Lynx's respons after made him being shocked. And without me needing to confirm again by looking at Lynx's face Lynx certainly doesn't care about the conversation that is going on.

"Extracurricular is too time-consuming," I said as I continued to cut one slice of cake into small pieces.

When I'm done with the knife, I slide the pin containing the Red Velvet Cake towards Lynx and place the small fork with the handle pointing at it. With another small fork I started to eat a small piece of cake and without realizing it Kai was watching my movements all this time.

"What is it?" I asked after I finished swallowing the first piece of cake.

"Ah... I'm just curious... are you really not aware that you're being watched by other students?" Kai asked while pointing at the cake I had cut with his eyeballs.

Kai's eyeballs then went to Lynx who calmly took the cake I had cut and ate it. Then Kai looked at me again to get the answer to his question.

"Of course I know. Why?" I asked back which made Kai think hard because he was not satisfied with my answer.

"I mean... you guys really are like a couple. Everyone thinks you two are dating..."

"Wait..is that estimate from everyone or just in your mind?" I asked, cutting off Kai's words because I know that my interlocutor is very easy to add spice to every sentence he says.

"Yeah... that's just my mind. But many have been wondering what your relationship is like. I swear! They really are wondering," said Kai showing two fingers that form a V shape.

"Yes, they also have the right to think what they want," I said still in a calm intonation and didn't feel disturbed.

"And even the two of you are already famous in class two and three. The news this morning spread quickly, you know..." Kai said which made me associate this conversation with Manna, the girl who wanted to take Lynx to lunch but was rejected by me.

Even though I'm not bothered right now, my mind is starting to question itself. If many people misunderstand my relationship with Lynx, what are the possibilities that will harm us?

"What did you hear?" I asked after deciding to dig deeper information from a bearer and disseminator of information in front of me.

"Manna, the student council secretary, wanted to take Lynx to lunch. But Lynx's friend, Rui, stopped her. It seems that Lynx and Rui have a special relationship," Kai said with a serious expression and a lower volume than before. "That's how it is! Surprisingly the rumors have been heard from day one until now. Shouldn't you be careful?"

"What else do you hear from people?" I asked again then put another piece of cake into my mouth.

"Some of the students who are from Johnson Middle School like us may have gotten used to you. But there are some other students who seem to be provoking and digging up information from our junior high school friends. Like saying 'just look at them even taking bribes in the cafeteria', 'maybe they've done peeep and peep', 'people who follow Lynx are like servants who will do whatever they are told..'"

Kai's story was stopped for a moment because suddenly the sound of a spoon touching a glass was louder from beside me. I don't know if Lynx rang it on purpose or not, but I could see there was an unusual few seconds of pause before he ate his second glass of tiramisu. Kai, who didn't feel anything strange, continued his story while I was still watching Lynx so I didn't hear the next few sentences Kai said.

"...so... instead of you guys misunderstanding others, shouldn't each of you guys start dating girls?"

Kai made suggestion as he looked at my and Lynx's face one by one. Behind the pleasantries that were thrown by Kai, I could feel the concern that was quite sincere from his words and expressions this time.

Just as I opened my mouth to reply to Kai's words, Lynx suddenly stood up from his seat holding his cellphone and wallet in his right hand. "I'm going to class," Lynx said to me.

I also got up from my seat and took a step back to make room for Lynx to come out. "Thanks for the information, Kai," I said with a short smile, took my cellphone and wallet on the table, then left Kai and the rest of the cake uneaten.

As I walked over to the Lynx in front of me, I could see several pairs of eyes on us. Even in middle school we were used to being the center of attention like this and I know for sure they didn't dare mess around because Lynx was quite frightened by the other students. But from the first day of being a high school student, my intuition told me that something would be different this time.

It is true that what Kai said was not just a word that would disappear in a day or two. I had noticed that someone was watching my and Lynx's movements from the start. Several people had accidentally bumped their bodies into me while walking and some were blatantly looking at me with meaningful smiles from a distance. But I've never had a serious problem, so I just kept it all to myself without telling anyone including Lynx.

"Are your hands okay?" Lynx asked when I had lined up with him.

"Yeah... you don't seem to be in a good mood today," I said looking at Lynx's expressionless face, but I could tell he was upset.

"My father is back today." Lynx's answer was short but it sufficed to answer the question of why Lynx was in such a bad mood today. "Tell your mother I'll be staying the night."

[EXTRA]

"If it's not going to be spent, there's no need to point a knife like that," Kai said in an annoyed tone as he took the tiramisu glass which was still intact and then went to get a spoon. "Geez, this is the best tiramisu I've ever had!"