It was a cook-off and Himchan had no idea what he was going to make. He stared at the ingredients on the counter and wondered if he could just mince them and mix it all together. “I know what you’re thinking, Himchan, and the answer is no.”

            He looked at his partner and grimaced. “But how do we make anything good from this? This is literally kimchi, a hunk of marinated beef and some other things.”

            “We can work wonders if we put our minds to it,” she answered. “I thought you were the one who cooked in the dorms?” She arched her brow at him.

            Himchan stuttered a little. “Well, yes but that is only because the ingredients I want to use are available.”

            “We’ll make a really simple wrap.”

            “With what?”

            She held up a dark package. “Seaweed.”

            “Would it even hold?” Himchan took the seaweed and looked at the materials they had to work with. An idea came to his head and he grinned. “How about we make first class kimbap?”

            They shared a look and she nodded. “Alright. Do you want to start with the rice? This is going to be the best fast food they’ve ever had.”

            With a renewed vigor in their steps and a happier outlook on their prospects, Himchan went to get the rice cooker. He hummed happily and stole looks at the other teams who were chopping and mincing at top speed. His partner came his way with a frazzled look on her face.

            “I don’t know how to cut the kimchi small enough to make it fit.”

            He rolled up his sleeves. “You take care of the rice. I will get the kimchi.”

            He took out a package and then a large butcher knife and looked at the hunk of vegetable. The bulkiness of the cabbage made it difficult and so Himchan carefully separated the fatter parts from the thinner parts and started slicing it vertically. Soon he had a pile of decent enough strips of kimchi.

            She walked over, saw what he had done, and kissed him on the cheek. “You are a miracle worker.”

            He blushed furiously and to cover his embarrassment, looked at the rice she had brought. “Do we wait for that to cool a little?”

            “Yeah, can you cut the beef into thin strips too?”

            He twirled the knife. “Watch the son of a barbeque restaurant owner at work.” With expert skill cultivated from a young age, he sliced the meat readily until they were the perfect size to be rolled up into the kimbap.

            She cut the pickled radish and then they added vinegar to the rice and mixed. He watched her work and then set out the seaweed for her. She began to place everything neatly into the rolls and he helped roll it up and cut them into bite size pieces.

            Himchan held a sample to her lips and she ate it, savoring the flavor. “Yum! This is a good idea. The taste is perfect. We have a little bit of sweet and spicy in here.”

            Other teams were gathering like flies, milling around the two of them. Himchan stood protectively in front of his plate. “Ya! Go back to your steaming soups and rice dishes. This is for later.”

            When the food was being presented, Himchan stood in front of their dish and awaited judgment. The judges walked around, tasting the food, nodding and smacking their lips. They stopped at the kimbap and smiled.

            “This is quite unusual. Usually people would think of putting on their stoves and boiling water. Hmm, unusual ingredients. So this is a strong-flavored kimbap?”

            “We decided to make it a little stronger in flavor and because the ingredients are all gourmet, this is more high class.”

            Himchan watched as the judge brought the kimbap to his mouth and ate. There was a satisfied smile on his face and he wrote something down on his notepad.

            Himchan sidled up to his partner. “Do you think we just won?”

            She grinned and shrugged. “Who knows but I sure as heck don’t see him writing down anything else for other people.”

            And when they were presented with the ribbon, Himchan picked her up and twirled her around. When she finally caught her breath, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek. “We make a good team.”

meep sort of running dry on ideas right now so these stories are more generic @_@