In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 134

Chapter 134: EXA Kitchen

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A new program, EXA Kitchen, began airing on commercial TV this fall. It was a 15-minute informational show, fully sponsored by EXA—a so-called “title sponsorship” program. Because of that, the commercials aired during the show also belonged to companies under Hexagon Holdings, the parent company of the EXA Group.

I was suddenly invited to guest-star in their Halloween special. The program aired four times a month, and I was scheduled to appear in two episodes during the second half of October. The first week covered cosplay goods and store-bought Halloween sweets. The second week featured simple baked treats using pumpkin and purple sweet potatoes.

I was set to appear in the third week, for a segment where we’d decorate cut-out cookies and transform them into Halloween-themed creations. The fourth week would be a location shoot where we handed out the finished cookies to children.

“I’m more of a specialist in eating sweets. I’ve never actually made them before.”

Can I really bake and decorate cookies?

“You’ll be fine! We picked designs that are super easy to do, and the point is that Yuusei-kun is giving it a try. It doesn’t need to look professional. You’ll have an assistant too.”

I guess it’ll be okay then..?

But I didn’t want to cause trouble for the crew, so I decided to practice at home with Yui’s help.

Since it was a short 15-minute show, most of the cooking process would be cut short in editing. To make up for that, they planned to upload the full recipe to the program’s website after each broadcast. I already had a copy of that recipe in hand.

The small piping cones made from cut parchment paper were filled with icing dyed using natural food coloring. Controlling how much icing came out was really tricky. At first, I accidentally squeezed out way too much and caused a disaster. It took a while to get the feel for the right amount of pressure.

“Yeah, yeah! You’re getting the hang of it, Onii-chan. It’s looking super cute. I think this’ll be totally fine to show on air!”

After all, decorating cookies was a one-shot job with no do-overs. If the icing splurged out, that cookie was ruined for good. I started off timidly, but as I practiced more, I got the hang of it. I finally got a passing grade from Yui-sensei.

“Good. They did say we could reshoot as many times as needed, but there’s gotta be a limit.”

Yui had baked a whole bunch of base cookies for me, but I still ended up with quite a few failures. I was really glad I didn’t go in cold.

“Alright, let’s turn the rejects into snacks for our tea break.”

They looked completely bizarre, but they were still sugar-coated cookies, so they had to taste good!

“Sounds good. Let’s take a break. Hey, Onii-chan. Are you sure I could give these finished ones to my classmates?”

“Of course! I only managed to do this thanks to you, Yui. When I got the recipe, they told me it was fine to give cookies to people I know to help promote the show. So please help me with that, Yui!”

“Alright! I’ll spread the word far and wide!”

And before I knew it, studio recording day had arrived.

“Today, we’re making ‘Halloween-themed icing cookies!’ And we’ve invited a special guest to help us. The super-popular ‘Sweets Prince’ everyone’s talking about—Yuusei Takeda-san!”

“I’m Yuusei Takeda. Thanks for having me.”

“Takeda-san is famously fond of pudding, but this time, you’ll be trying your hand at icing cookies, right?”

“Yes. I’ll do my best to make something that kids will enjoy.”

“Then let’s get started. Let’s cook!”

We moved over to the kitchen set. The ingredients had already been measured, so we started right away with cookie-making, following the recipe.

“Even the way you sift flour is charming. Isn’t it rare to see a young man like this in the kitchen? I’m sure this sight is a treat for our viewers!”

As soon as I started cooking, the assistant host began giving running commentary like a live sports broadcast.

“He’s tapping the egg on the counter! Looks like he cracked it perfectly. I wish I could be that eggshell, getting tapped like that! Now he’s whisking the egg with chopsticks—his grip is just so sexy!”

I think she’s trying to describe the steps, but… What’s sexy about this?

“Now he’s mixing softened, room-temperature butter before adding sugar and then the beaten eggs, bit by bit. He’s mixing it with such passion, the butter’s totally melting in his hands!”

It’s not melting! I mean, it’s supposed to get creamy, not melting!

“After adding flour, he gently folds it with a spatula, then brings the dough together by hand. The way it’s wrapped in those large hands—looks like the dough’s pretty happy too. Now we wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to cool down that flushed body.”

Huh…? 

It wasn’t just my imagination. The choice of words and her tone was definitely weird. Still, I couldn’t stop what I was doing. They cut ahead in time, and I swapped in a dough that had already been chilled.

“Now he rolls out the cooled dough to about 5mm thick with a rolling pin. The way he grips it with both arms reminds me of a kabedon! But this is a kitchen, so it’s more of a counter-don instead! With the camera set up right next to the counter and another one underneath, our camera crew is really on point today. And as for the cookie dough getting its first-ever ‘counter-don’—I bet it’s feeling nervous! Honestly, if I had the chance, I’d love to be pinned down like that too.”

Counter-don? That’s a first. And “pinned down”?!

Next, I cut out shapes from the dough and placed them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then into a preheated oven. Once again, we saved time by switching to already-baked cookies. Now it was time for icing—but the oddball commentary wasn’t done yet.

“Look at the intensity in his gaze as he stares down the cookie! I’m about to get knocked out!”

“So close! His face is so close! If you got approached like that by him, I’m sure any ghost cookie would ascend to the afterlife!”

“He’s really good at this. I was hoping for a mess-up so I could sneak one home, but unfortunately for me, it looks like that’s not going to happen.”

And at last—done. The cookies were colorfully decorated in Halloween shades like orange, purple, and green, with unique designs—ghosts, skulls, spiders, and cats. I really hoped the kids would like them.

“The finished cookies will be gifted to some very lucky little friends! I’m jealous! Be sure to catch us again next time!”

With that, the studio shoot wrapped up. After a lunch break, we would be heading out to our next location. Apparently, we’d be dressing up in costumes for Halloween.

I thought for sure I’d be wearing that mascot suit again, but they said it didn’t fit the Halloween vibe, so we wouldn’t use it this time. I heard we’d be doing full-on cosplay makeup. Full-on cosplay makeup sounded like something a professional would use. I couldn’t help wondering if we might scare the kids if the makeup was too good. I really wanted them to take the cookies, so I was a little worried about that part.

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