'A cooking challenge huh' I was wondering what Pd-nim had in store for us.

"Noona, how good are you at cooking?" I ask

"I've been told by Min Jung, that I'm pretty good" She replies confidently

"Min Jung?"

Nodding her head. she elaborates "Lee Min Jung. The actress, we are pretty much attached at the hip these days."

Thinking about an age old idiom, I can't help but comment, "Beautiful girls really do huddle together."

Irene is the same, even back at school I remember all her friends were blessed in the looks department.

Ye-jin smiles at my compliment before explaining, " I fell in love with Italian food when Min Jung and I went to Rome, for a holiday in December. I can quite honestly say I have never been so enchanted by another city in my life."

"So you like to travel?" I ask, as we head to the ingredient table sizing up what there is exactly

"It's certainly something I enjoy." She smiles as she makes her way over to me, and picks up a plump red tomato playing with it in between her hands ,

"Last summer for example, we went to Madrid, and one day I was just walking around and I got lost.

My cellphone was dead, I couldn't speak the language. I had no idea where the hotel was and I was worried."

"Okay" I say, not to interrupt her but just to show that I'm listening.

"Eventually I just wondered into this plaza and I sat by this fountain, and I just breathed"

She motions with her whole body telling the story visually, "And I realized that I had been so focused on where I was going and getting back"

She laughs more in self-satisfaction than anything else , " I hadn't even realized where I was" Her voice trailing off in the end, " I hadn't noticed anything, so I started to."

She takes a deep breath as her eyes sparkle, reminiscing about the time, I'm silent taking in every word, her voice like a lullaby makes me calm yet feel a sense of wonder. I picture the scene of her playing out in front of my eyes, "So I started to notice the ... personality" She says with a wide smile on her face, "Personality of the architecture, and the.."

She crinkles her nose cutely trying to think of how to word her experience, "the way people would just greet each other on the streets"

She chuckles slightly ," Even the sky looked uh-uh D-different over there" She looks me sincerely in the eyes " And it was as if I was letting go of something but also finally in the world" She pauses, not sure if it's for dramatic effect, or because of how deep that moment was for her.

"Eventually I found my way back but those few hours. Those were the best. That was the best part of my trip" While she speaks she's been inching closer and closer to me

"Hah" I reflexively exclaim after her long exposition

"What?" She tilts her head at my expression, "Wow, that was so stupid.. That was weird I get it" she says trying to backtrack. Her fl.u.s.tered expression is really cute

"No no no , that was not" I interrupt her mid panic "It wasn't stupid. I just.... I was just listening to you. Listening" I take a gulp,"and I want to go with you"

She bites her bottom lip, as I stare into her doe-like eyes she struggles to get a word out as she just says one word "okay"

Standing there facing each other we just look at each other as if time has stood still. The entire world disappearing from our sight.

Letting the moment almost get the best of me, I was nearly about to lean in and do something regretful. I catch myself in time and compose myself remembering that there is 19 camera's pointed at us right now

Breaking the tension, I throw out a suggestion, "How about we have a little compet.i.tion?"

Ye-jin zaps back into reality at my sudden suggestion and asks "A compet.i.tion?"

"Yeah, let's test who has the better cooking skills. We each make a dish that we are proud at and have that couple crew decide who wins. Winner gets a wish"

"Are you sure you want to take the risk?" Ye-jin teases, "What if I ask you to do something really embarra.s.sing?" Her eyes flutter in excitement

"Oh quite confident ain't you, noona. But unfortunately, I'm quite confident of my skillz too" I reply as I roll up sleeves and start preparing the ingredients for my dish.