Lisa
Jennie unleashes a well-rehearsed take on her job description until interrupted by the arrival of Chef Ken, as he introduces himself, asks us how we want our steak cooked. When his eyes fall to Jennie, he smiles.
"How pretty girl want chicken?"
Jennie is taken aback at being addressed so. "Umm...
"Rare? Okay!" He smiles widely, obviously pleased at his attempt of humour. Jennie flushes - she still appears nervous - and Chitthip and Marco smile and chuckle warmly at her reaction.
After a beat, Chef Ken goes on. "Pretty girl, where your other half? You too pretty to be alone..." He appears to just see me with exaggerated shock. "Oh! You other half huh! You need to keep firm hand on pretty girl before she gets away! Lots of people going to snatch pretty girl up!"
Other half? Jennie's face darkens, and I find myself equally uncomfortable. Marco and Chitthip are thoroughly enjoying his little show, however, and Rosé leans over and loudly whispers, "I think someone has a crush on Jennie!" She gestures to the chef as though the reference isn't obvious.
Chef Ken hears her. "Oh! I make valentine for my crush!" He whips up a heart shaped out of onions and sets it on fire, causing a heart-shaped flame to appear. "Onion better than chocolate!"
Jennie smiles and giggles despite her embarrassment. She meets my gaze. "You haven't gotten me a heart onion," she says pointedly.
Marco immediately speaks up. "Lisa!" he scolds. "You haven't gotten her a heart onion?"
Chitthip and Rosé are shocked. "What? No heart onion?"
Even the goddamn couple in the corner joins in. "Yeah, man, I got Angela a heart onion on our first date. What's up with that?"
Suddenly, seven pairs of eyes are on me waiting for my response. Jennie is grinning madly now.
"Ooh, no heart onion," says Chef Ken forlornly. "She going to leave you now. Find someone else with pantry full of onions."
This strikes a chord in me I never even knew was there. Taking Jennie's hand in mine, I kiss her knuckles and say, "Jennie, if it's onions you want, I'll buy the whole lot of them in Busan. No, in the entire Korea."
"Aww," Rosé coos. "See? Lisa is a romantic!"
"Will you shape them into hearts for me?" Jennie asks hopefully. When I nod she sweetly smiles and wraps her arm around my waist, squeezing it in between me and the chair, and scoots closer as if overcome by my romanticism. The close proximity of her body causes my pulse to quicken.
"See? Heart onion make eevverryything better," Chef Ken drawls as he cooks.
Jennie doesn't move away, remaining plastered to my side as Chef Ken completes our meals and shovels food onto our plates. An extra piece of onion remains, which he quickly adds to Jennie's plate, exclaiming, "More onions for pretty girl, hmm?" Our sushi is brought out shortly afterwards; Chef Ken gives an exaggerated bow after quickly scraping the grill and loading his cart. Before making his leave he points his spatula at me. "You give pretty girl onions and whatever else she wants, you hear? She deserves the best. Too pretty to let her get away." Jennie is flushing again, but manages to thank him with good grace.
Internally I'm rolling my eyes, thankful that he's gone and is no longer trying to woo my girl from across his onion-reeking grill.
I'm caught off guard by my own internal monologue. My girl? Where did that come from?
Jennie leans across me to reach the soy sauce and her breast rubs ever-so-casually against my arm. I'm reminded of our night on the couch, of our shirtless kissing and groping... the way her bare breasts felt so soft and smooth in my hands...
Fuck! Why couldn't she ask me to hand her the sauce? She nestles back into her seat, oblivious to my internal dilemma.
"Do you like a lot of wasabi in your soy sauce?" she asks.
"Um, not a whole lot, no." I discreetly shift to adjust my pants while she mixes up her concoction.
"They never put enough zucchini in their meals anymore," Rosé complains from across the table. "Oh, here honey. You can have mine." Chitthip likes zucchini - I've seen her eat it a dozen times - but she scoops it onto Rosé's plate anyway.
With a cleansing sigh I delve into my food, hoping it's pleasant enough to distract me from these wayward thoughts. Suddenly, a piece of sushi is hovering inches from my lips.
"Oh my God, Lisa. The spicy tuna is to die for. Try it!"
My thoughts return to that night... to the Tiramisu. God, kill me now. Not wanting to completely shun her offer, I open my mouth and allow her to pop it inside. I notice Rosé's eyes are glued on us, scrutinizing our every move. She has the decency to smile and look away when I catch her staring.
"Isn't it good?" Jennie asks me.
"Mmm. It's great," I agree.
"You did a good job picking it out." She winks at me, and I nearly come undone.
"So, Jennie, you said you're a copy editor?" Marco asks, and Jennie replies with a nod. "What exactly do you do? Is that the same as a book editor?"
Jennie shakes her head and gives him the run-down of her job, explaining that she corrects the grammatical errors and also edits the stories to fit the paper, including adding headers and footnotes.
"You must be pretty knowledgeable, then," Marco muses. "You're required to read everything in the newspaper."
Jennie shrugs. "A lot of the stuff is depressing. I'd rather not have to read it, to be honest. I hate reading about people being murdered and dying in fires... but of course that kind of stuff always makes the front page and requires the most attention."
"Have you thought about being a book editor instead? Then at least you could focus on something you like."
"To tell you the truth, I'd actually rather write." She looks embarrassed as she says this, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. It's interesting to learn a bit of information about her interests I never knew.
"Why don't you?"
"I've thought about it. It's actually pretty competitive - I'm not sure I've worked there long enough or done much to prove myself as an actual writer. Plus, I'd probably get stuck writing the obituaries or something for a while." She says the last part with a sour tone.
"Hey, we've all got to start somewhere," says Marco. "Just ask Lisa. She was working in the copier room when she was sixteen."
Jennie whips around to me, her face bright with interest. "Really? We have a young copy boy in our office - aww, just think! He's like a young little Lisa!" She's grinning widely, just revelling in my unease. I clear my throat.
"Thank you for that, Marco," I say sarcastically, keeping my attention on my food.
"There's no shame in working at the copier room, Lisa." Chitthip says. "Like he said, everyone has to start somewhere. And just look at you now!"
"I never said I was ashamed of being in that job," I point out.
"Oh no," pipes up Rosé, "she was so excited when she got the job. Trust me, Jennie. She got to wear her first tie and everything. She even had Chitthip iron it once."
Jesus Christ!
"Rosé!" I glower at her.
"What? It's true."
"Rosé, stop it. You're embarrassing Lisa in front of Jennie," Chitthip scolds.
Kill. Me. Now.
