Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

….

"Yah, Ga Eul-ah…" Woo Bin called, trying to catch Ga Eul's attention.

It was a little after lunch and three hours before the Cooking Contest. Ealier, he realized he needs to settle things now if he wants to have a decent activity later. If they're going to team up, it would be much better if he apologized to her for what happened between them. He admits it wasn't a reasonable plan, scaring Ga Eul away and telling Yi Jung his plan without even considering on what might Ga Eul feel about him after that but… well, if Yi Jung and Ga Eul would end up together, it would be worth it, right?

He slowly, walked over to her, feeling slightly nervous on what he would tell her. He wasn't quite sure on how he would explain himself and he wasn't really confident that Ga Eul would forgive him that easily but he needs to do that and be a man. He's known to be a cool dude after all.

Once he was right in front of her, however, Ga Eul put her hand in front of him to signal him to stop. She sighed heavily and put up a slight smile on her face.

"I know we're going to team up today. I know it's hard to get along considering a lot has happened the past few days but I would not be a killjoy to everyone and ruin the fun so please…" Ga Eul paused and bravely looked at him straight into his eyes. Her eyes were somewhat pleading but determined. "Let's just try and be friends for now."

Instead of immediately agreeing, he asked. "Ga Eul-ah, are you mad at me?"

Ga Eul expected his question. She smiled a bit before answering. "I wouldn't say I'm over what happened but I never got mad at you. I was just shocked and I don't know… I never really expected that to happen." She frowned and looked down at her feet.

"So that means we're still friends?" Woo Bin grinned and opened his arms which made Ga Eul chuckle.

"Of course we still are!" Ga Eul, too, opened her arms and hugged Woo Bin, happy that it's okay between them now.

After the quick hug, Woo Bin's face contorted into a frown. He turned serious but with a soft look on his face. "I'm sorry for doing that…" As he looked at her, he knew it was time to tell her the truth. "Ga Eul-ah, do you really know why I want to make things real?"

While reading his expression, Ga Eul became utterly confused. Now what's he talking about? She thought. Seeing her troubled state, Woo Bin sighed. Well, if you're talking to a naïve country bumpkin better spill some clues. He told himself. "Who would you go to if you're upset about something?" He asked quizzically.

Ga Eul thought hard. She knows she should outright tell that it's Jan Di but as she thought about things, she remembered the time when she was upset about getting a failing grade in Math, or the time her favorite pet fish died or the time her team lost a soccer game. All those times, she always had the urge to go to Yi Jung because deep inside, she knew it would be different with Jan Di. Though Jan Di was always there for her, Yi Jung's way of comforting was different. His presence was enough to make her happy and it almost seemed magical every time he would soothe her back and shush her if she cried.

After realizing the answer, Ga Eul turned to look at Woo Bin. "Yi Jung."

"Yes, and you were upset about what I did right?"

"Yes."

"So what do you think?"

"Huh?"

Woo Bin let out a smirk. He walked over behind Ga Eul while she contemplated on what he meant. He gently pushed her to the direction of the living room.

"I mean, what do you think about that shrimp? Shall we grill it or something?" Woo Bin asked, knowing for a fact that Ga Eul and Yi Jung would stop their stupidity… soon.

J J J J :P

"Gather around, guys." Ji Hoo called out to the couples. He signaled them to come over the middle of the field where the table of the judges is placed.

The couples stopped in front of him and waited for him to speak. He smiled and gestured at the large stopwatch machine in front of him. "This is the stopwatch machine. I told you guys earlier that we'll be having exactly two hours for the contest. You can manage your time on adjusting and cooking." Ji Hoo paused and turned to look at the direction of the house as everyone turned to see Butler Lee coming out of the door. He approached them with a straight face. "Okay now, here's Butler Lee to keep the time in check." Ji Hoo explained. He nodded once at Butler Lee at which he bowed and turned to settle on a seat in front of the stopwatch.

Each of the couples went to their assigned places; Jan Di and Ji Hoo to the upper left of the field, Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung to the upper right, Yi Jung and Eun Jae to the lower left and lastly, Ga Eul and Woo Bin to the lower right.

When all was settled, Butler Lee shouted, "Begin!" and immediately pressed the stopwatch.

Quickly, all the girls went to the large cooler to get the different kinds of shrimps they needed while the boys went to start the fire in the grill or on the wood. Jan Di and Eun Jae shelled the shrimps while Ga Eul and Jae Kyung sliced the spine.

At Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung's side, Jun Pyo was having trouble with starting the fire in the grill. He was getting irritated because he didn't know how to stop the fire from getting too big. He was about to shout at Jae Kyung to help him but she was way ahead of him. "Add some more charcoals, Jun!" Jun Pyo did as he was told and eventually got it right. After that, Jae Kyung shouted instructions to him and surprisingly, Jun Pyo did what she was telling him without any complaints.

Jan Di and Ji Hoo's team wasn't any different. The couple was always great in teamwork and they're doing well with their food. Unlike Jun Pyo, Ji Hoo only took ten minutes to start the fire both with the grill and the wood. After that, he helped Jan Di in slicing and tossing fruits in bowls.

"Yah, Ji Hoo-sunbae, what did you do last night with Eun Jae?" Jan Di asked Ji Hoo as she was slicing the last fruit they needed.

"Nothing much." Ji Hoo answered quietly.

Jan Di frowned. She didn't know what's up with Ji Hoo. Both of them haven't spent some alone time with each other until that morning but Ji Hoo was just interested in discussing about the Cooking Contest. She was feeling weird at how he was acting. It wasn't like him to ignore her like that. A lot of questions were bothering her and she wants to ask Ji Hoo but something always comes up until they won't even have a decent talk at all. It bothers her that Ji Hoo's suggestion with this stuck in a house thing wasn't going smoothly at all. Some of them weren't enjoying this, like her best friend, Ga Eul. She feels like everything was changing but she couldn't explain why. As Jan Di looked at Ji Hoo, she forced her thoughts away and concentrated on doing her task at hand.

Yi Jung and Eun Jae's team was like Ji Hoo and Jan Di's. As they prepared their food, Yi Jung casually talked about his night with Ga Eul

"We played 10 questions." Yi Jung started. "And then I found out a lot about Woo Bin and her."

"What about them?" Eun Jae asked while she grated some cheese.

"It's a long story but she told me they broke up." Yi Jung replied plainly.

Though Yi Jung answered her like it wasn't a big deal, she was shocked and dropped the cheese she was holding. "They what?"

"They broke up." Yi Jung said as he placed the last shrimp on the tray. He turned to Ga Eul and sighed. He suddenly remembered that Eun Jae doesn't know a thing about his discussion with Woo Bin a few days ago. He began telling her everything as he placed butter on each of the shrimps on the tray.

When he was finished with the story and the shrimp was now covered in butter, cheese and some chives, Eun Jae stared at her in disbelief. "You mean, Ga Eul agreed to that because of us?"

"Woo Bin says so… Now, I don't know what to do." Yi Jung frowned at her. He sighed then went to the grill. He placed the tray on it and covered it with aluminum foil. Before going back to the counter, he involuntarily glanced at Ga Eul on the other side of the field.

Fourty-five minutes has passed. Ga Eul and Woo Bin were still combining all the ingredients they need to stuff the large prawns. As Ga Eul mixed the stuffing and Woo Bin seasoned it with some salt and pepper, Woo Bin startled Ga Eul by asking her if she really loves Yi Jung.

Ga Eul only nodded while hiding the blush that was starting to form on her cheeks. Woo Bin chuckled as he took the stuffing from Ga Eul.

"Yah! Woo Bin-ah!" Ga Eul shouted as she too can't help but laugh with him.

"You know you're just cute Ga Eul-ah." Woo Bin winked at her while he took a quick glance at Yi Jung's direction. He caught sight of Yi Jung looking at them and smiled to himself. Perfect. Just what I need. Woo Bin thought.

Oblivious to the pair of eyes watching them, Ga Eul slapped Woo Bin's arm playfully before going back to opening a shrimp's spine. Woo Bin laughed again and carefully put the mixture in the shrimp's spine.

At the other side, Yi Jung placed some tomatoes in a bowl while cursing under his breath. Eun Jae noticed this but didn't need to ask what was wrong. She, too, watched the mini scene at GaBin's side of the field. She knows nothing was wrong with what they were doing but she also knows Yi Jung's jealousy wouldn't take that as nothing. She sighed and shook her head. Yi Jung needs to realize everything on his own. She thought.

After a few minutes, a scream distracted the others with their work. Jae Kyung was frantically jumping up and down while watching the pot of rice overflow with water.

"Yah! Monkey! What did you do?" Jun Pyo asked her as he stared horribly at the sight of the bubbling pot.

"How should I know? It was like that when I came to check it!" Jae Kyung shouted back at him as she tried to find mittens on the counter.

Jun Pyo was about to retort something back at her but Jan Di approached them and glared at Jun Pyo. "Yah! Don't shout at Jae Kyung like that! It's always like that when cooking rice, stupid. The water really overflows, you just have to take the lid off then put it back again." Jan Di yelled. Jun Pyo only stared at her as she went back to their side of the field. He was still staring at the place Jan Di was before as a sudden thought occurred to his mind. She's cute when she's mad.

Half an hour has passed. Ga Eul and Woo Bin were already plating their Stuffed Prawns in which they call, "Prawn heaven". They placed a scallop in the middle of the plate and then scattered the prawns around it. Ga Eul expertly poured some lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar mixture on top of it.

"All done!" Ga Eul said happily then paused and thought of something to add as a last touch.

"We need some parsley! Wait." Ga Eul quickly went over to the counter and pulled out some parsley. She got some knife and then noticed Yi Jung and Eun Jae laughing about something. She saw Yi Jung put some marinara sauce on Eun Jae's nose. She immediately looked down on what she was doing. Though as she minced some parsley, she can't help but look at their direction.

"Ouch!" She shrieked in pain and automatically looked at her bleeding finger. Woo Bin swiftly came to her side and Yi Jung automatically looked at them. When he saw Ga Eul almost in tears, he ran to them shouting, "Finish the plating design!" to Eun Jae.

"What's wrong Ga Eul-yang?" Yi Jung asked, a concerned look on her face.

"She cut her finger." Woo Bin answered for her. "Wait here. I'll get the first aid kit."

When Woo Bin was gone, Yi Jung held Ga Eul's hand and led her to the bucket of water at the side of the counter. He got some water from bucket and poured it carefully at Ga Eul's bleeding finger. Before pouring some more again, he blew it while taking quick glances at Ga Eul's face.

"Does it still hurt?" Yi Jung asked her when her finger stopped bleeding.

"Not like earlier." Ga Eul replied, looking at his eyes. "Thank you, sunbae."

Before Yi Jung could even take a step closer, Woo Bin arrived with the kit. Yi Jung silently shook his head, disappointment rushing over him. "I'll go now. We still need to finish things." Yi Jung told them as he turned to run to his side of the field.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. What else do we need to do?" Yi Jung asked when he came back.

"You really love her, don't you?" Eun Jae didn't answer his question. She looked into his eyes and she could only see the hidden pain he was feeling. They've known each other for years that she could read him like a book now. When Yi Jung nodded, she continued. "You know, we could convince grandfather to end our engagement after this stuck in a house thing."

J J J J :P

All the couples lined up in front of the judges. They waited nervously as each of their plates were tasted and judged. After their hard work on the food, all of them wanted to win the contest. Even Jun Pyo who was so sure of himself for the past years was anxious at the judges' decision

Finally, after finishing the last plate and commenting on it, the judges shared their papers. Another round of minutes, the judges sighed and faced them, smiling.

"We absolutely loved the taste of the Shrimp Paella and Mint Prawns." One of the judges said. Both Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung breathed a sigh of relief. Jae Kyung clapped once and jumped happily before hugging Jun Pyo.

"We won! We won!" Jae Kyung chanted as she hugged Jun Pyo tightly as a sign of happiness. Jun Pyo didn't even notice that he was hugging Jae Kyung back and he grinned proudly at everyone.

"Woah, Jun Pyo's not that bad after all." Yi Jung smirked as Woo Bin patted his back, both of them watching the scene before them.

"Yo my bro, congratulations." Woo Bin said with his ghetto accent.

Jae Kyung let go of Jun Pyo. She was congratulated and hugged by all of the girls while Jun Pyo was patted at the back by the boys.

That night, the gang happily ate their dinner with Jun Pyo and Jae Kyung's meal at the contest. Not one of them even had the slightest bit of irritation or the urge to stay away from each other. They ate as friends they will always be and excitedly waited for the next day.