Nine
My mind lost focus halfway of the meeting, thinking about the absurdity of what happened to Joong. It was almost impossible that the rich didn't have money at hand, but who am I to judge, as he didn't need to think or manage his spending. What dispute between them, that caused his father to be as mad as that? His father was definitely not the warmest person in town, but to left his blood cold liked this, must be an ultimatum of sort. I sighed, and shook my head to clear my worry; and focused back on the meeting till the end.
As I waited for everyone else to leave the meeting room, to clear everything up and locked the door, my colleague from HR department, called to have lunch together. I went back to my seat first to put the document inside the cabinet, but to my astonishment, Joong was leaning at the edge of the table.
"Yes, do you need anything, Mr. Archen?", I asked, using a formal salutation in front of others, which drew a smile on his lips. He must had thought that this was funny, as it was almost never, that I called him as such, before now. "Well, I need to visit one of our long time vendor's establishment at another part of the city and introduced myself, so I need you to come with me, as well. Not that familiar yet, with how the networkings worked. You had experience, handling vendors, while working for your father's business, right? Be at the lobby in 5 minutes, I'll drive". I nodded. Well, there goes my lunch. I called my friend, apologized and canceled our lunch meet.
The drive started off quiet. I looked outside of the window, while listening to the soft music jamming from the stereo. "We'll stop for lunch, first", he said out of the blue. I just answered with a little hmm. But, as soon as we were in front of the restaurant, I grabbed his hand and pulled him aside.
"Joong, you said you're short of money. This type of eatery, and the amount of bills that I'd given you, won't be enough for the two of us. Let's step out before we are seated, and just eat at a simple stall. Nobody cares anyway, and won't look your way, if that's what you're worried about, everyone will be rushing to eat, before the lunch time finished". Before Joong could answer, the front of house already came smiling and greeting Joong liked he was a regular, "Hello Mr. Archen, your table is ready, may I show you to your seat?".
I was about to refuse, when Joong stepped in, and followed the lady. My forehead was sweating bullets. Should we be prepared to wash the dishes after this?. No, I'd rather call my father to help us out, although it would be frowned upon. Since our financial was rather steep, we had ceased to use any credit cards and pay for every spending carefully. Though it was far from where we once were, but because my father had always instilled mindful spending on us, the change didn't feel liked a major burden, just a little hassle here and there.
The menu was, of course, without a stated price, people who didn't have much won't even dare to come in anyway; except this one; who looked too calm while I was feeling uneasy. I pursed my lips and flipped the menu without choosing anything. My stomach was grumbling, but at least it cost less for just a single person meal.
The waiter came to take our order; Joong put in his order and then looked at me, waiting for mine. I shook my head. "Why, you have not eaten as well? Aren't you hungry?". I said I was fine. Joong must had not believed my words, when my brows furrowed as my empty stomach started to feel a slight pain. He decided to order for the both of us, anyway, and then smiled to the waiter. "I ordered based on what I remember of your preference, before, and also, you shouldn't skip eating, since you get stomach pain, easily. We knew each other too well, for you to bluff on that, Nine".
"Really? Ah, maybe it is really just me who couldn't read you well. Most of my thought on you, end up in jumbles", I said truthfully, thinking of all the time that I had assumed things, and then felt more confused after.
