"Yureee, what are you doing?"

Yuri lifted up her head from the open cookbook to see Sunny standing at the door. The girl had a purple apron on and a little smudge on her cheek. "Reading. What's up?"

"I made roast."

"I think I'm skipping dinner." A few weeks into the competition, it was inevitable for all the contestants to get molded into one dysfunctional family. Yuri, however, chose to not participate in most of their activities. Not that she disliked them. She just didn't want to complicate stuff with making friends and got overly attached.

"Of course you are, but today is our turn to prepare one so you're kinda obligated to help a bit."

"Damn, Sunny. I'm sorry." Getting out of the bed, Yuri threw the book onto the mattress. She might be playing the part of a loner but skipping responsibility was never her style. "I totally forgot."

"Nah. She did it on purpose. I reminded her about the cooking rotation this morning and she ignored me." Jessica came out of the bathroom in a peach baby doll, carrying a fresh scent of lemon into the room. The girl had been getting good at teasing Yuri back.  Something Yuri had started to look forward to in every banter they had.

"I would never ignore you." Yuri playfully tugged at the towel wrapped around Jessica's hair. "All you said to me this morning was good luck."

"Which completely worked." Sunny smiled at the two. "I wish I was the one who came out with that mouth-watering brisket and kimchi burger. The judges were on your feet today."

"I guess we need to ask for Jessica's wish  of good luck every day now." Yuri pulled the towel free while walking for the door, laughing when Jessica yelped her protest. "What did you roast? Beef?"

"Nope. Chicken."

"Let's make roasted veggies for the side dish." Wrapping a hand around Sunny's shoulder, Yuri planned the dish in her head. This competition had brought back the long-lost cooking soul in her. Any mention of a dish or a look at one ingredient created spark fly in her mind. A talent she had learned to suppress a long time ago. "You haven't made one, have you? I know this killer recipe that involves honey, hazelnut, and goat cheese."

"I had baby corn roasted with the chicken." Sunny grinned as they walked out of the room. "We can throw them away as long as I get the chance to learn from the great Kwon Yul. The one who's yet to taste the sweet fire of elimination challenge."

"Yet being the operative word here." Yuri smiled. For someone who hadn't touched the kitchen years prior to the competition, Yuri was surprised by her own achievement too. She hadn't expected to find the competition both fun and challenging. She hadn't expected herself to be this good. "Reynold and Kamala never get into elimination challenge too. Let's call them and learn together."

"Count me in! Count me in!" Jessica excitedly followed behind while wrapping back her hair with the towel. "Show us how to made that spiced beetroot from last week's challenge, please."

"Beetroot? Did I hear someone say beetroot?" Wendy poked her head out of her room.

"Yuri is teaching us her secret recipe."

Yuri was about to say that the recipe can be found in one of the cookbooks they had in the small library under the stairways but Wendy already stormed out of her room and yelled out loud. "Hey, Key! Rohit! Yuri is hosting a masterclass in the kitchen."

Yuri laughed. As dysfunctional as it was, the Masterchef family was the closest she had ever been to having a real family.

It was a team challenge. Yuri was the captain of the blue team and had to lead four fellow contestants in creating one appetizer, one main, and one dessert for 50 guests. It was not an easy place to be. Not when she couldn't pry her eyes away from Jessica.

Jessica was on the red team. Her captain, Reynold, was directing the team well. Too well when it came to helping Jessica create the perfect Honey Semifreddo and Lemon crumb for their dessert. Their shoulders bumped too often. His hand went up to wipe the invisible stain from Jessica's cheek one time too many. The laughs they shared were too loud.

"Yuri!"

"Huh?" Yuri squeezed herself out of the jealous thought.

"Should change the protein into a much simpler one?" Kamala who was in charge of their main was standing in front of Yuri in a dirty apron and overly sweaty brows. "We only have one hour left. Should we do some seafood instead?"

"Aren't the porks already in the oven?" Yuri took a deep breath. As challenge after challenge went by, it was getting harder to have real fun in this competition.

"Yeah but I don't think the skin will be crisp enough."

"We still got time." Yuri pivoted her focus back on the dough she was kneading.

"Yellow team's got Sunny and they do pork too!" Kamala went high-pitched right in Yuri's left ear. "You know how good she is with meat. The girl is basically pork goddess!"

"Alright calm down." Yuri turned her body, resting both her wrists on Kamala's shoulders to avoid touching the stressed girl with her doughy hands. "You are being a total wreck right now. Breathe."

"But Sunny-"

"Breathe!"

Kamala in a great deal of air until her face turned blue.

"Exhale, please." Yuri laughed. "This team needs you to stay alive."

"Okay, I'm calm now." Kamala wiped her brows with the edge of her apron, smearing her forehead with blood. "I'm sorry I freaked out. I just don't want to get into the elimination round."

"You won't. Not in this challenge." Yuri walked to the oven and peeked at the pork belly on the silver trays. "Crank the heat up for the next twenty minutes. The skin should be crisp by then."

"But they still need to rest after, we won't have enough time."

"We'll serve them at the last minute. Prepare the garnish now so we don't rush our main. Once it's done, help Seulgi while keeping an eye on the pork, alright?"

Kamala nodded, dashing for the fridge.

"Seulgi, how's the prawn?" Yuri made a quick stop to check Seulgi's work. "Well done. I never saw someone deveined prawns as fast you. Key! Make sure your apple and fennel sauce is killing it! We need extra leverage against Sunny."

"Awww, Yuri. I'm flattered." Sunny yelled from her post across the red team. "You look hot commanding like that, by the way."

"Thank you, babe." Yuri blew an air kiss at Sunny while getting back to her dough, in time to caught Jessica touches Reynold's shoulder and gazes up into his eyes. Shaking her head, she decided to focus on winning this challenge first.

She could win Jessica later, couldn't she?

Their dorm was a humble three-story flat sitting far into the city. There was a small open space on the rooftop, where the contestants sometimes gathered to see a glimpse of the sea amongst taller buildings. When Jessica didn't come to bed even after eleven p.m that night. Yuri knew exactly where to find her.

"You did very well today." Closing the wooden panel door with a kick of her right foot, Yuri came to Jessica's side. With a knowing smile, she offered Jessica the bottle of beer in her right hand while drinking from the one in her left hand.

"Not well enough to safe my team from the elimination round." Jessica received the bottle but simply resting it on the ledge where she leaned on.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault."

"Shindong said the honey semifreddo was so out of balance. It WAS my fault."

"Oh, come on. It was a team challenge. Win or lose, everybody contributed." Yuri took another sip from her bottle.

"Easy for you to say, your team won because of your brilliant appetizer."

"My appetizer pulled through because of the teamwork. Your team did very well too yesterday. Don't be too hard on yourself."

"How did you do it, by the way?" Jessica finally brought the bottle to her lips. "How did you seem so calm and confident on every challenge?"

"I did not. I was a nervous wreck every time."

"Liar."

Yuri looked up at the sky. There was no star. The lights from other buildings were dim because it was almost midnight. She questioned a lot of stuff lately. Her motive in joining the competition. Her goal. If on the first days she doubted the attraction she felt toward Jessica. Today, after 13 weeks of spending most of her time beside the girl, Yuri knew she wants more than fun and game "I think it's because I'm ready to let go."

"Huh?"

"I know I need to win this competition." Yuri put her beer down and pulled herself up to sit on the ledge. While her gaze drifted to Jessica's face, her heart wondered how can a side profile be so simple yet so attractive. "But I'm not afraid of losing."

"Not afraid of losing? How? Don't you have something at stake?" Jessica chugged half of the liquid in the bottle down. "A pride that will be lost for good if you do not come out as a champion. A goal that can only be reached with the money prize. Someone to prove yourself to by bringing that trophy home."

" I guess I've already lost so much it's impossible to take more from me." Yuri once again looked up. The image of her father danced before her eye. "No pride. No real goal. And since my father is no more, no one I can call home to."

"It must have been hard for you. I'm so sorry." As if reading Yuri's mind, Jessica rested one hand on Yuri's thigh.

"It's not that bad. Being completely alone in this world has its perks too." Yuri smiled back, not actually feeling her words. "Who's waiting for your trophy at home?"

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