Jesse was looking right at Tiffany, giving her a thumbs up. Those determined brown eyes were no joke, they meant business.

And Tiffany couldn’t hide the embarrassment on her cheeks as she sat in the audience with the rest of the adults.

“And Jesse, what are you going to do if you win?”

Reaching for the microphone, he confidently replied, “When I win, I’m going to give it to my babe. Tiffany, please watch me.”

There was now no point in opening her eyes, she could already tell everyone was laughing, smiling, patting Tiffany’s back to comfort the poor girl.

“He’s so cheesy, don’t you think so, Tiffany?”

The said girl turned her attention to halmoni with flushed cheeks. It wasn’t because he had called her out in front of everyone.

It was because he was competing against a bunch of 5-10 year olds. And he was serious about it. It looked like he was going to pummel every child here to win the prize for her.

“Look it’s starting.”

Her eyes automatically went to Jesse. Bad idea. She could feel herself slowly dying from embarrassment when he started in a sprint. Just for clarification, his sprinting was miles beyond the children’s running.

Jesse could practically smell the finish line. That was until something hit his back. He turned his head, feeling a tomato slide down his back. More random vegetables were being thrown at him, but Jesse persevered through.

“Isn’t that cheating?” Tiffany was scooting forward, watching with worry as Jesse almost stumbled over an apple.

Halmoni laughed, hugging the concerned fiancée. “We’re a competitive family. Rules don’t really exist around here. Your Jesse will be fine, he might get a little injured, but nothing too bad.”

Tiffany pouted at halmoni. Jesse wasn’t hers. Jesse could get hurt for all she cared; he deserved whatever was coming to him.

He hissed when a broccoli made contact with his head. He threw a glance behind and was surprised to see a small boy just a few feet away from him. The child was breathing hard, determined to win as well. Without even thinking, Jesse’s movement began to slow down, allowing the child to run past him.

 It was too late to catch up as the child made it to the finish line. But Jesse wasn’t sad about it. He admired the kid’s determination.

“Good job, kid.” Jesse ruffled the winner’s hair.

“Thanks, and sorry about the broccoli.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was a smart move, had me feeling dizzy for a bit.”

Once the winner was announced and the prize was given to the kid, Jesse sighed. How was he going to look at Tiffany after claiming he was going to win the Totoro for her?

Jesse was walking away from the rest, thinking no one would notice him, but Tiffany’s eyes followed, she couldn’t stop staring at his limp.

“He might need some medication on that leg.” Halmoni broke through Tiffany’s trance with a medical kit in her hand. “Why don’t you go help him?”

Dragging his sore body over to a bench, he planted himself gently on it. He lifted his leg and saw th