The pair were back on the road, seated comfortably on the plush backseat of their car. They headed back to Seoul, the nightlights coming alive as they sped up. The other half of the competition, the actual cooking battle, was up next.

"Please be back by 7:30PM at S Cooking Restaurant and be ready with all your ingredients. Late teams would not be given compensation for lost time," Dongwook read the test message from his phone. He glanced at the time, 6:18 pm. They still have time to make it back on time.

"You still remember our recipe, right?" Jihyo recalled. "Steam the crab first, prepare the sauce, ready the rice for porridge...."

"Yep, we got this!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm.

After sometime, they finally reached the highway. The city's busy nightsky came in to view eventually. Jihyo stretched her arms and legs in the backseat.

"Waaa, daebak," she said. "It feels like I went on a vacation back in my hometown with you."

"Mhm," Dongwook nodded. He glanced at Jihyo with his intense eyes. "Listen, Jihyo, when we go back to Seoul, will things still be this way?"

dropped in disbelief. Her chest beated profusely and her cheeks warmed not because of the car's heater. But it was all because of the words that her partner uttered out of the blue. And Jihyo felt like there were no appropriate words to describe her feelings. And that no words were needed for her to make a reply.

Her hand seeked out his own, sharing the warmth during this winter car ride back to the city. Back to their daily schedules. Back to their normal lives. Back to reality. Except that they were now going back hand in hand beside each other. And it was in this same position, hands entwined with each other, Jihyo's head on Dongwook's shoulder, that the two fell asleep before the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan would wake them up in their return.

END

Thank you for reading!