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                Hyojung grinned when she saw the trophy inside her glass cabinet. The golden color that shone when sun directed its light to it made her feel so proud of herself. She treasured the trophy very much and she hoped she could make a whole collection of it. Determined much, she laughed silently.

                “Hey, you’ve been looking at it for 20 minutes. It’s not going to run away.” Hyemi scoffed. She grabbed the newspaper that she just got from the front door and read it. Her sister didn’t stop smiling since she was announced as the winner of Dessert Dash competition. She was happy for her but come on, her sister needed to stop staring the fake gold thingy.

                “You have no idea how much this means to me.” Hyojung looked at her sister and then back to the cabinet. It had been her dream to win such title and now she could make herself as one of the rivals among the housewives in the neighborhood (for next competition).

                “Breakfast is getting cold. Why don’t you go to your seat and have that stew now?” Hyemi said. Her eyes scanned the newspaper boringly since there was no interesting news to read.

                “I’ll just heat it up later. Let me admire this for a few more minutes.” Hyojung leaned closer to the glass and looked at the plate on the trophy.

                ‘Queen of Dessert Dash – Summer 2012’

                She felt like crying. She felt emotional. She felt like jumping around and hugged Hyemi because she was just too happy about it. After all these years of taking part and almost giving up, she finally won. Her passion for cooking was not as strong as her passion in the court, though. Being a lawyer was a whole different thing and it’s a thing she had to do – and she loved it. Cooking and baking were just a piece of her life but she could not explain the adrenaline rush she had when she was all excited about her hobbies.

                Hyemi rose from her seat and approached Hyojung. She stood beside her and observed the object behind the glass. “Have you told umma about it?”

                “No. I’ll give her a call tonight.” Hyojung smiled. Her mother must be proud of her oldest daughter because she just inherited the cooking talent from her.

                “It’s umma’s recipe after all.” The younger sister shrugged.

                “Hey, but I improvised it, okay?” Hyojung said.

                “Whatever.” Hyemi tugged on Hyojung’s arm and shook her. “Eat your breakfast, please.”

                Hyojung sighed. She actually planned to go for a jog this morning. The weather looked pretty nice and it had also been a long time since she had made herself run a mile every evening. No excuse of not being healthy even though she was quite busy with her life.

                “Truthfully, I want to do some jogging.” She nodded.

                Hyemi eyed her from head to toes. “In t-shirt and boxer?”

                “I’ll change to Adidas, Mimi.” The sister sighed. “I’m gonna have a few crackers and then run around for 20 minutes. After that, breakfast time for me.” Hyojung stated.

                “Whatever. Just make sure you don’t trip yourself and come home crying with wounds on your knee.” Hyemi waved her around and slowly walked to the couch and turn on the television.

                Hyojung rolled her eyes and rushed to her bedroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She put on her white Adidas set and was ready to breathe the fresh air of the neighborhood. She didn’t forget to bring her mp3 player together. Didn’t want to get bored while running. Yes, people would give up jogging because they had no music.

                “Oh, be careful!” Hyemi shouted as she saw Hyojung making her way out of the house. Hyojung just mumbled a yes and headed outside.

                The sun was already up and goodness it was so chilly even though the sun light was brightening the sky. She started off her jog. There were other people who were doing the same thing. They brought along their water bottle and they looked so energetic. Hyojung told herself not to stop halfway and she needed to be just as best as other people.

                Her legs felt jelly when she was 200 meters away from her house. Great, wasn’t it just nice to not warming up before doing any exercise activities? Hyojung panted like a kid who ran away from a wild dog. She used to complete 1 mile but what happened to her? Too much work at office, she guessed. Hmm, put all the blames on job, yeah.

                She began building her steps again when she suddenly felt an arm resting on her shoulder. Hyojung looked to her side and saw a smiling Kevin in his hoodie and track bottom.

                “You too, jogging?” She said. She was still panting and she knew her words were not audible enough for him to hear.

                “Yeah. Since everyone here is going for it too. It’s cool to see how this neighborhood functions.” Kevin patted Hyojung’s shoulder and pulled away from her. “Why do you look so tired, though? Your second round?”

                Hyojung smiled nervously. “It’s my 200 meters. The first round.”

                Kevin was kind of happy with his blind date. Seoyun was extremely nice and they had a lot of fun together. When it was time for them to go home, Kevin offered her a ride and she said it was fine, at first. But then Kevin insisted and the woman had to give up. They talked a lot on their way to her house and Kevin really adores her charismatic self. As Kevin stopped his car to drop her off, he debated with himself whether he wanted to meet her again or not. However, his train of thought died when Seoyun told him something he actually loved.

                “I had fun today. But I don’t think this blind date will make us closer than friends in the future. How about… we just stay friends?” Seoyung smiled.

                “That’s great. I’m not ready for some relationship. Friends are great.” Kevin nodded. He had to pray a lot to thank God that someone actually understood him.

                “Cool! You have my number, so just call me if you need a drinking buddy or anything else. I’d be looking forward to see you next time.”

                If only all people around him were just like Seoyun.

                Sunday morning and Kevin was excited about joining the jogging activity in the morning. He wanted to feel how it was like to run in a new neighborhood. Back at his mother’s house, Kevin always took 15 minutes of his morning after he woke up to freshen himself by taking a walk around the area of where he lived. He often did it because he knew he could get all the strength to keep up with day later on.

                Kevin plugged his earphone and put on some nice songs. Instrumentals were always his choice of songs to hear wherever he went. It calmed him his mind and put it somewhere else so he wouldn’t get too stressed out. He also sang too to get rid of heavy feeling in his chest after work. His friends always complained of how greedy Kevin was when they were at a karaoke room because Kevin would take ¾ of their time just to sing his favorite songs. And they only got to sing a little bit towards the end.

                It’s not his fault he loved to sing.

                The man started his run and whistled to the instrumentals he was listening to. It was to improve his lung capacity and it was good for health since one wouldn’t feel tired too soon if they practiced their breathing while running.

                It was his second round and Kevin saw Hyojung in her white Adidas squatting a little with her hands on her knees. Kevin slowed down a bit and reached for her. He casually put his arm around the slightly shorter woman. He didn’t know Hyojung loved this exercise too.

                “You too, jogging?” She said. Kevin laughed a bit and nodded.

                “Yeah. Since everyone here is going for it too. It’s cool to see how this neighborhood functions.”He patted the woman’s shoulder a bit. He noticed her face looked tired and she was currently out of breath. “Why do you look so tired, though? Your second round?”

                The woman in front of him flashed a nervous smile. “It’s my 200 meters. The first round.”

                Kevin chuckled and pulled her up to make her stand properly. It felt nice to have to talk to Hyojung the neighbor and not Hyojung the lawyer. He adored this kind of relationship and he wished he could be more comfortable with her. He did feel comfortable but he still thought it wasn’t enough.

                “I don’t understand the amount of sweats on your temple.” Kevin joked.

                “It’s been a long time since I make myself jog, jump, and run.” Hyojung laughed. She panted but she felt her breathing came back to normal.

                “I know that feeling. It’s hard.” Kevin nodded. “Want to run with me?” He offered. He would love to have someone talk to him while exercising.

                “It’s fine, Mr Woo. Just go ahead. I don’t think I can do this anymore.” Hyojung shook her head and smiled. She didn’t want to be the reason Kevin had to slow down and waited for her until she got the track.

                Kevin huffed. He didn’t want to do this alone for now he had Hyojung with him. Knowing she didn’t have any strength to do it, Kevin opted for other plan. “Let’s go for a walk. Come on, Miss Ahn.”

                The smile on her face widened. “Walking is nice.” She walked to him and nodded. “Let’s walk, then. Thanks for offering, Mr Woo.”

                “My pleasure.” Kevin smiled back. They began to walk and enjoy the scenery of their neighborhood. Both of them had put back their mp3 player into their pocket as they just wanted to have a leisure walk. Slow but healthy. Hyojung thought she should have the walk earlier. Jogging was not her stuff anymore.

                Kevin was reminded of Dessert Dash competition yesterday and how bad he felt for leaving the event. The cheesecake suddenly floating on his clouds of mind and he unconsciously his lips. Craving for cheesecake at that moment was not nice, Kevin mentally said to himself. Then, he remembered about Hyojung’s participation.

                “Hey, how’s the competition?” Kevin asked.

                Hyojung startled. The sudden question caused her to squeal a bit and Kevin almost jumped because he was shocked by her reaction. Hyojung clasped her hands together and grinned. “It was great, Mr Woo. I had fun.”

                “You should tell me more about it.” Kevin nudged her. The latter rubbed her arm while giggling.              

                “Tell you what? I have nothing more to say.” Hyojung exclaimed while stuffing herself with her own giggles. The scene of when she got the hold of the trophy caused to feel so overjoyed again and she’s afraid she might overreact if she told Kevin about it.

                “Why do you smile a lot? There must be something.” Kevin eyed her. The cheesecake was still floating and how great it would be to eat such delicious creamy treat in the morning to lighten up his taste buds (and his desire for it).

                Hyojung calmed herself down a bit. They slowed down a bit as they talked. Kevin waited for her answer patiently and kept looking to his side.

                “You said you love cheesecake, am I right?” Hyojung asked.

                “Yes, I do love cheesecake. Why?” Kevin tilted his head.

                “My cheesecake won the Dessert Dash and the judges said it was very tasty.” Hyojung stated calmly.

                Kevin widened his eyes. “Congratulations! Your cheesecake must be really yummy, then. Ah, do you know I’m craving for a slice of cold cheesecake now?” He placed his hand on his stomach and rubbed the place.

                Hyojung found it cute when Kevin said the word ‘yummy’. Never in her life a man about 30 saying ‘yummy’ so cute. And this is Kevin Woo, a lawyer who she just befriended with – and idolized, reaching his 30s and still sounded adorable when saying ‘yummy’.

                She chuckled. “Then, you should have stayed until the end. Everyone present had a taste and they gave good comments.”

                “That . When will I have the chance to taste your cheesecake, Miss Ahn? My tummy’s pining for it.” Kevin laughed. He didn’t mean for her to bake for him but he would be happy to taste her cheesecake. He knew it would taste the best when he saw her whipping the mixture in the bowl at the competition. He regretted for leaving the event. And this is all Kiseop’s fault.

                “I’ll bake one when I have the time. Then, I’ll send it to your house.” Hyojung nodded. Looking at Kevin who looked so excited about the cake she baked, she felt like giving him a taste of it.

                Kevin laughed nervously. “I was just joking. You don’t have to, really.” He wanted to say how much he wanted to thank her for wanting to bake for him but come on, it just felt not right.

                “Are you sure, Mr Woo? My cheesecake is different from others you have tasted before, you know.” Hyojung raised his eyebrows and chuckled. She knew he wanted it and she could judge it by the look in his eyes.

                “It’s really fine. I don’t want to add more troubles to you.” Kevin nodded.

                “This is my last offering, Mr Woo. You better admit it that you wanted to eat my cheesecake.” Hyojung rested his hands on her hips and made both of them stopped walking.

                Kevin sighed. It was not a disappointed sigh, but more to sigh of content. “You used your lawyer tone on me.” He giggled. “Fine, I admit it. I want to taste the cheesecake. But not the whole one. Just a slice.”

                Hyojung beamed. She was glad Kevin would eat her homemade cheesecake. She would go home after the walk to check the ingredients and then rush to store to buy things for the cake. Yes, she would do that later. Didn’t want someone pining too much for cheesecake when there was somebody who could fix that for him.

                “Just accept the whole cheesecake, Mr Woo. I’m honored to bake it for you.” She smiled.

                “Then I’m more than pleasured to eat the victorious cheesecake made by you.” Kevin laughed.

                “Thank you, Mr Woo.”

                “No. Thank you.” He nodded. He would be anticipating the dessert this evening and he knew he’d be in a state of bliss. Unless his friends suddenly decided to come over and ruined that blissful time of eating cheesecake alone. They were just unpredictable.

                “So, why did you leave?” Hyojung asked. She was somehow curious and she wanted to know why the man had to go somewhere when he was actually longing to stay for the competition.

                Kevin bit his lower lip. He didn’t know what kind of answer he should give her. Lie or truth?

                “I had something important to do yesterday. I couldn’t avoid it and… yeah. It’s sad to miss my first event in this place.” He said sadly. Well, that was lie and truth because he just could not not go to the blind date.

                “That’s fine. We still have more festivals in here. You should join if you’re interested.” Hyojung suggested.

                Kevin chuckled. “Sure. The community here is so active. I’m glad I’m living here now.”

                Hyojung looked at her phone and realized she needed to take her breakfast. Hyemi was going to blow up if she didn’t return home soon.

                “Um.. I think I have to go now.” She said.

                “Oh, do you want me to walk you home?” Kevin recommended. “Even in peaceful environment like this, it’s not good for girls to walk alone.” He said that and he really meant that. Bad people were everywhere and we didn’t even know when we’d be their victim.

                “Really?”

                “Yes, really.”

                Hyojung nodded happily and felt happy at the thoughtful Kevin beside her. The man hummed to some tune and she enjoyed the melody coming from his lips. It was very comforting. It sounded like lullaby. She smiled to herself.

                She made a mental note that she’s really going to bake a cake for Kevin and she hoped that she wouldn’t disappoint him. She’s going to buy more milk and cheese this afternoon.  Strawberries would be good too, as garnish.

                “Mr Woo, do you like strawberries?”

                “Strawberries are my heaven.”

                Then she’d buy strawberries. And put a lot of them on top of the cheesecake.