"Jesus I'm hungry."

Millie stared into her empty refrigerator.  A six pack of Lone Stars, a jar of Polish-style pickles, cheese sticks, and the leftovers of her beef and broccoli take out from the night before.  She groaned and then shut the door.  Nothing, as usual.  She scanned the various menus stuck to her fridge before sighing and flopping herself on the couch.  I am so tired of the same Chinese, Mexican, and Italian food.  She stopped and thought of going out for a burger, but decided against it.  Her stomach didn't need any more grease.  While she was face down in a pillow, she heard someone open the door to her apartment.

"Hey!  I got your newspaper.  Have you been here all day?"

Her neighbor, AJ, walked in with the paper in his hands.  He let out a hearty chuckle at the sight of Millie in her pajamas on the couch.  "You're not gonna be able to breathe like that, you know."  She turned her head to face AJ and stuck her tongue out at him.  He threw the newspaper at her.

"Hey!  Watch where you're throwing!"

"Not my fault you weren't prepared!  Why were you face-planted into the couch anyway?"

"I'm hungry!"  She whined.  "And I don't want take out!  I've been eating take out for the past two weeks!"  An idea popped into her head.  "AJ!"

"No."

"I didn't even ask you yet!"

"Because I know what you're going to ask me.  I'm not making you dinner."

"Why not?"

"I made you dinner last Sunday!  I didn't even have any leftovers for my lunch!"

"Oh come on AJ! Pleeeease?"

"No.  Why do you hate cooking so much anyway?"  Millie had just moved in to the apartment complex three weeks ago, so AJ had never seen any of her kitchen catastrophes, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"I can't cook!  Leave me alone, alright?"

"Fine."  He got up and walked to her fridge.  "Can I have one of these?"  He held up one of the Lone Stars.  

"Sure.  Get me one too, will ya?"  She started to take apart the newspaper AJ had given her in sections.  She got to the culinary arts section and started to water.  The pictures just looked so tasty...steak, tacos, and--"what's this?"

AJ had opened the beers and sat down.  "What's what?"  Millie turned the paper around and showed AJ what she had been looking at.  It was a bubbling pot full of cylindrical shaped things covered in a shiny red sauce.

"I don't know what this is, but I want it in my mouth."  

AJ laughed.  "Ddeokbokki."

"Bless you?"

"Stupid, it's Korean food!  It's spicy rice cakes, and sometimes there's fish cake in it too, it's really good, and pretty easy to make."

"You can make this stuff?!"  Millie almost yelled.

"Yeah, but--"

"Teach me!!"  She was sitting up on her knees at this point, the idea of new food had filled her with excitement.

"Why don't you just go there?"  He pointed at something next to the picture.  Millie looked at the paper closely and saw it was an address.  

"Central Market cooking school features Maangchi as a special guest.  Learn to make this simple, yet delicious Korean dish straight from the expert herself..."

"Problem solved."  AJ downed the rest of his beer.  "Now I need to get to my paperwork for tomorrow.  Tell me how it goes.  Don't burn down the kitchen!"  Millie swatted at AJ with the newspaper before he saw himself out.  

Looking down at the paper, she saw that the cooking class was tomorrow.  Well, better call and reserve a spot.  She called the number on the newspaper ad and luckily, secured the last open spot in the class.  She walked back over to her fridge and stuck the ddeokbokki picture over the take out menus.  Maybe I can take these menus off soon...

The next day after work, she drove over to Central Market and went up the stairs to the cooking class.  As she walked into the room, her nerves finally started to take over.  Maybe I shouldn't have signed up for this.  People are going to see me cooking.  Oh God what if I really do burn down the place?  She was so internally frazzled that it took her by surprise when an apron was in front of her face.  She looked up to see a short, round, smiling woman with pink, rosy cheeks.  

"Hello!  Thank you for coming!  We're going to make delicious ddeokbokki today!"  Maangchi was personally handing out aprons to the class.  She seemed to float from person to person, like a little fairy spreading sparkles and happiness wherever she went.  Millie let out a sigh and felt slightly better that Maangchi was teaching the class.

"Okay!  Let's start!  First, take your dried anchovies, and take off the heads!  If you leave them on, your broth will be bitter!"

Easy enough.  Millie followed Maangchi step by step in her instructions, and was actually starting to have fun!  

"Now mix together your hot pepper flakes, hot pepper paste, and sugar!"  Millie reached for the container of sugar but it was taken first by her tablemate.  She looked again and saw that another container had been set out.  How thoughtful!  She dumped the container into her chili mixture.  

At the end of the cooking process, Millie looked down at her pot.  The sauce was thick and glossy, the rice cakes soft and bouncy...she was so proud of herself!  She then looked around the room to check the other pots, and thankfully, they looked just like hers!  Maangchi was making the rounds and tasting everyone's ddeokbokki individually, and giving them comments.  When she got to Millie's pot, she looked up and smiled.  

"Looks delicious!"  Maangchi took a rice cake and popped it into --and winced.  Millie was taken aback.  It looked just like everyone else's!  She followed Maangchi's instructions by the letter.  What possibly could have gone wrong?  Maangchi stuck out a rice cake to Millie.  "Taste this."  Reluctantly, Millie ate the rice cake--and started coughing.  

"Salt!" Millie choked.

"Exactly!  Always make sure you took the right one, or else your ddeokbokki will be ruined!  You'll do better next time." She gave Millie a pat on the back and moved on to her tablemate.  

Millie was mortified.  An easy cooking class and she screwed up.  Her first instinct was to take her pot and dump everything in the garbage.  

"Mmm!  Delicious!  Let me try again!"  Millie looked up to see Maangchi chewing away happily at her tablemate's station.  She had been so concentrated on her own cooking that she didn't really notice the other person.  She switched her gaze from Maangchi to her tablemate and her jaw fell open.

A guy!?  And not just a normal guy, an attractive guy.  Very attractive.  He was about the same height as Millie, but had a wide, strong build.  His hair was styled into a brown coiffure, and he had a piercing on his left eyebrow.  

Millie wanted to disappear.  Her terrible cooking was just showcased in front of a really hot guy, who she totally could've impressed if everything had turned out well.  Luckily, the class was over.  Everyone gave Maangchi a round of applause and then started to gather up their things.  Millie's tablemate went to go talk to Maangchi, and as Millie went over to throw her ddeokbokki away, a thought popped into her head.  What if while he's over there, I taste some of his ddeokbokki?  She checked to make sure they were still talking, then grabbed a fork.  Quickly, she snagged a rice cake from his pot and shoved it in .  It's sweet!  And rich, and silky, oh God this is good.  A laugh took her out of her trance.  She turned around to see him right behind her, flashing a million-watt smile.

Her knees buckled.  

"Woah!  Careful.  You alright?"  Millie just nodded and put the fork down.  

"Is it good?"

"I'm so sorry.  I should've asked.  I just wanted to know what it should taste like."  She stuck her hands in her pockets and looked down.

"Try the fish cake."

"...What?"

He held out a fork with a fishcake on the end of it.  Cautiously, Milie took a bite.  Her eyes went wide and she covered .  

"That's awesome!"

He laughed again.  "You can take it with you if you want."

"Oh no, I couldn't, it's yours, you should take it--"

"Nah it's cool.  I was gonna make pasta tonight anyway."  He swiftly put the ddeokbokki in a container and handed it to her.

She smiled at him, with the faintest blush of pink in her cheeks.  "Thanks."

"No problem.  But could you do me a favor?"

"Oh!  Sure."

"Can I get your number?"

Millie stood frozen to her spot.  He wants my number!?  First he gives me food, now he wants to talk to me again!?  She smiled, perhaps a little too wide, and gave him her digits.  

"I'm Millie by the way."

"Millie?  Did you teleport from the 1920's?"

"Well what's your name if it's so great?

"Eli."

Damn.  She couldn't make fun of that.  So she spat out the first thing she could think of.

"Is that short for something?"

His smile faded, and he mumbled something she couldn't hear. 

"What?"

He cleared his throat and said it again, louder this time.  "Ellison."

Millie smirked.  "...With a name like Ellison, you're the one making fun of me?"

"That's why I said Eli first!  Besides, they're both pretty goofy sounding if you ask me."

"I guess you're right."  A slightly awkward silence followed, as neither of them knew what to say.  

"I'll text you later, Millie."

"I'm looking forward to it, Ellison."  

"Eli!"  He winked, and walked out the door.  

Still clutching her container of ddeokbokki, Millie walked out of the classroom and straight for the wine section to get a bottle of champagne.  She and AJ were gonna get plastered tonight.  

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As promised, here is the recipe for ddeokbokki, provided by Maangchi!

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/ddukbokkie

Yes!  Maangchi is a real person!  She's the cutest ever, and she makes video tutorials on Korean cooking on YouTube!  You should definitely check her out.  I've made many of her recipes and they always turn out super delicious!  

I hope you like the story so far, even though this chapter was a lot of exposition.  I already have a few ideas for the next chapter, so hang tight to see what Millie and Ellison do next! XD