chasing girl wonder

du jour menu

A mix of R&B and soul sounds started playing in the small and cozy Kompakt Record Bar at the base of an apartment block in Apgujeong, Gangnam. The playlist kickstarted with Tevin Campbell's 'Gotta Get Yo' Groove On' with the DJ upping the volume as the clock struck ten. It was not a packed Thursday night as usual, but whenever Tiger JK and Lisa were on their fifth glass of whiskey—almost always at the exact time when the DJ started the show—they would stand against the wall, pause for a moment, and watch the whole bar come to life with the beat of sound underneath the dimmed lights. That, or they were also sort of detaching themselves to have a quieter, more private conversation away from everybody.

Tiger JK, pulling his lips into a huge grin that reached his ears, raised his glass toward Lisa, who clinked hers against it. "What else have you got for this Spill the Tea-rsday bonding apart from all the bad news that," he took a sip of his drink and Lisa did the same before continuing with his right index finger up, "you still haven't finalized the menu—"

"I'll finish it tomorrow," Lisa muttered, half-committal, sensing the edge in her defensive tone as it put a slight pressure on her because she made a childish deal with Jisoo that she would finalize the menu the next day, or else Jisoo would torment her for the rest of her life if she did not win that deal and had to kiss her ass. Literally. Brutal to her pride and ego. Her stupid mouth had nothing else better to do, no?

Tiger JK released a shallow breath slowly, adjusting his eyeglasses at the bridge. "Oh! Quite ambitious, but I'll be keen to hear what you'll be able to deliver in the next twenty-four hours!" He started swaying into the beat and then went on, "Have you done all the preparations for the food safety audit next week and scheduled a test run?"

"Moon and Jis were supposed to have ticked everything I asked them to prepare. I'll check with them tomorrow," Lisa replied, confident that her friends did as she asked, considering Winter was the reliable one when it came to policing around and reporting to her at the end of each day. It must be how swell Sorn felt—whenever Winter acted like her loyal brat.

The thought of Sorn dragged her thoughts to Jukdo, but before she could swerve to that topic, Tiger JK flooded her with more stuff—from making up her mind which type of farm-to-table restaurant they were aiming for—a community-supported agriculture model or be business partners with a local farmer who's built quite a reputation among famous fine dining restaurants in the city, or find one who had not been discovered yet like a secret ace—to the marketing strategy that was still catching flies, Tiger JK said, down to the kind of silverwares and table napkins they were going to use, emphasizing the importance of branding in that area, and sustainability that everyone was going for these days, or else they would be highly criticized even for those small things. And the trash bin?

She answered with a bit of defense and a bit of a scowl, and that was when she recognized the importance of preparing for Sunday. And, of course, getting agitated and pissed off while getting super anxious about it all. The left side of her head started to pound as the bass and percussions turned into the most garbled sound that hurt her ears, and she wanted to back out. But remembering how Roseanne was looking at her with so much confidence earlier—"I believe in The Cub as much as you do"—made her a little braver, somehow. Then the sound became musical to her ears once more.

Tiger JK continued, "And the signage?"

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Lisa pulled her phone from her pants pocket and checked the email from Jisoo. "On it. Hold your tongue," she raised the hand that was holding the glass and pointed her forefinger at Tiger JK, "I'll send back my approval in a jiff."

"Good, good," Tiger JK commented, bobbing into the mix while drinking in between. "Those things that you can do in ten seconds, do them."

"Done," Lisa said, putting her phone back in her back pocket. "Ugh, I thought this was supposed to be our bonding? Why are we talking about work too much?"