T W E N T Y – T H R E E

Word of the Day – “Entrée”

Miyoung tried her best to focus on walking, but the sensation of Kyungsoo’s fingers wrapped around hers burned in her palms. Her heartbeat was so out of control she was surprised she hadn’t passed out yet.

It was official, they were official.

And it felt like a dream.

“I’d like to hold your hand longer but … we’re here.” Kyungsoo’s gentle voice eased down the little panic she felt when he finally let go. They’d arrived back out of the woods and it was time to act like nothing beautiful just happened in there. What was the plan now? She wanted to ask but she kept it to herself, she didn’t want to seem pushy on the first few minutes of them being officially a couple.

Actually, the word couple hadn’t even been said—she was just assuming because, duh, it was pretty clear anyway. Making it verbally official was essentially just for formality. Besides, they’ve said I love you to each other, enough said.

Kyungsoo squeezed her arm in an affectionate way before motioning her to go back to the tent. “I’ll go get the burner; you go back and wait for me, okay?” The smile that he gave her melted away all the growing anxiety inside of her.  She barely felt move for an okay as she nodded and it made the man chuckle. He tipped his head off to one side and folded his arms. “Are you going to be shy from now on?” He teased.

On that end, Miyoung scrunched her upper lip for a sneer and threw him a threatening look. “Yup, spoke too soon.” Kyungsoo laughed in defeat before turning around to walk in the opposite direction.

Miyoung’s expression quickly softened as she watched him leave. He was hers. She was his. This was all real and everything was bound to change from now on, hopefully only in good ways. She headed back to the tent and was immediately regarded by Jun. The man hovered his tallness over her and led her to sit on a chair. He was way too enthusiastic for someone she’d only met about an hour ago. What was his deal?

“Thank you.” She replied in a monotone voice before sitting.

She looked around the crowded tent, everyone was pretty busy preparing everything. Some staff had basically served as the cook-off competitors’ assistants. Although she had no interest in cooking or food in general … she wanted to watch Kyungsoo, especially now. She was going to enjoy this. The thought of him moving like a pro, within the given time limit, blazed her chest with excitement.

He’d look even more charismatic, more handsome, more … alluring. Before her thoughts became dirtier, she put a hard stop on it and relocated her attention to the people around her. She looked over to the far end of the tent where the old man Seongguk and her father chatted. Since when did he get so close with this guy anyway? She knew his father’s closest friends and she was positive that this man was a newer one.

Several minutes later, Kyungsoo finally returned. Their eyes immediately met and Miyoung felt the goosebumps scattering her skin when he subtly smiled at her. He started setting up the additional burner at the very end of the table and he continued to throw her quick looks that made her blush. Silent but deadly—Doh Kyungsoo.

It was a relief that they were being subtle. She just wasn’t ready to be caught on something that had barely started.

A big part of her wanted to keep this a secret for the meantime and Kyungsoo seemed to act like he felt the same. Otherwise, the man could have openly told everyone about it … or told her father, at least, knowing his personality.

All the people around them only thought of their relationship as a pure brother-sister bond and Miyoung dreaded the possible reactions if they ever found out. She didn’t want to deal with that just yet.

She just wanted to enjoy this for herself … being his woman.

Her attention shifted back to Kyungsoo when he gathered everyone around the table. “So, Sungjin, Minho and I—oh wait, also, Mr. Hwang here will be competing for the best brunch. This is going to be for fun only so no hard feelings if I obviously win.” Kyungsoo announced in a monotone voice which made everyone laugh, well, the other competitors except Jun laughed.

“Don’t be so sure, chef.” Jun suddenly claimed with confidence. “As long as Miyoung loves my brunch, I think I win, chef.”

Ew, what the ? Miyoung didn’t like how this guy had been saying weird just to sound romantic. He obviously kept trying to make a move on her and she didn’t like how obvious he was and she was usually pretty oblivious when guys hit on her.

She preferred subtle attacks … and that was how Doh Kyungsoo got her, head over heels.

Meanwhile, this dude was just a plain desperate K-drama main lead wannabee. He wouldn’t even fit a second lead, in her opinion.

Everyone cheered because of the sudden tension growing in the tent as Kyungsoo lost his playful smirk when he looked over at the man on the other end of the long table, eyes twitching in bemusement. Miyoung pursed her lips to suppress a smile from coming out when she observed the man looking even more competitive now.

“Ooh, I love a good triangle!” Baekhyun suddenly beamed which made everyone stop and look at him in confusion. “I me—I mean rectangle, the table is a rectangle. Y’all don’t even see that? Geez.” He quickly clarified while flashing a goofy smirk.

Eventually, the cook-off officially started and the tent was filled with swift actions, knives and metals clanking and the delicious aroma steaming out of each competitors’ pots and pans. Miyoung had tried everything to be fair and examined all competitors but her gaze would always hold at Kyungsoo’s direction. The way he moved, the way he handled every ingredient with care and the way he consistently gave her quick but breathtaking glimpses were enough reasons for her to be a little bit biased. Or a lotta biased.

“Dear.” Her father crept from behind and called her attention. “What do you think of Jun? Isn't he such a kind gentleman? He’s very intelligent and looks he also cooks well.”

Miyoung briefly glanced at him before whipping her gaze back to the long table, her eyes strictly finding their way back to Kyungsoo. “Hm, intelligent, sure. But I mean, obviously, compared to the other three, he’s a bit—” She just shrugged when she failed to find the right word to describe the man.

“Yeah, of course, I know that. I just mean … you know, what do you think of him, as a man?” Her father chuckled.

Kyungsoo began grating some type of cheese on top of the omelet he was making and Miyoung couldn’t help but stare at his arms; muscles contracting, veins protruding. His head was lowered and his gaze was on a fixed focus as he tapped the block of cheese against the grater before setting it aside. “Wha—what did you say, Dad?” She blankly asked, her eyes still glued down at Kyungsoo who was now carrying the cast iron skillet towards the grill.

“Oh? He’s putting the omelet on the grill?” One employee beamed in surprise.

Kyungsoo briefly looked at the employee and smirked. “I’m making a simple Frittata.” He corrected. “I would normally put this in the oven but I have to make use of what we have here and adjust it a little bit.”

A mix of ooh’s and aah’s echoed across the tent as all their eyes focused on Kyungsoo who strategically placed the pan beneath a pile of foils that he laid on the grill plate before closing the lid. He then scurried back to the table and started preparing a whole cut of beef filet. Minho looked up with an amused face. “What the—he has a second dish? Chef, wait, slow down for us. How are you—chef, you’re too fast!” He shirked at Kyungsoo making everyone laugh.

“I’m just making steak sandwiches.” Kyungsoo casually said before setting the beef on the hot pan, creating that weirdly satisfying sizzling sound. Then, he grabbed a whole thing of garlic and cut it horizontally in half before placing it flat on the pan beside the steak. “Wow, that looks good.” Miyoung unknowingly muttered under her breath and she could already feel -watering from the sight of the meat. Kyungsoo then took out a freshly tied bunch of herbs from a bag and threw it in the pan as well.

Once again, sous chef Minho reacted in an exaggeratedly funny way. “How does he have all these? We were literally given ten minutes to grocery shop!” The man freaked out in panic.