"I need to talk to both of you," Gio announced as soon as she got to the restaurant, half an hour before opening. Nany was already there, turning on the grill and rolling up the sleeves of her uniform, and Cami was setting the tables. When Gio walked in making such a bold statement, they both knew there was tea to be spilled.
"First off, what the hell, where did you go on Thursday, Cami?" Gio asked. Nany watched closely: she had missed out on an entire episode of her friends' drama.
Cami rolled her eyes, and then said "I was tired. Namjoon broke a shot glass and I took that as my sign to go home, so I walked back alone."
"You- what? That's like a three mile walk! You're insane!" Gio said, surprised.
"Yeah, and I didn't return any of your texts and calls because inspiration hit. I wrote a solid chapter for my novel," Cami confessed. Her friends congratulated her, and said they were proud of her, but she still couldn't help but feel inferior: they were both college students getting actual degrees on fields where they would certainly find work. On the other hand, she was just a lazy drop-out who could, at best, write mildly entertaining stories. In five years, they would be working actual jobs or in graduate school, whereas she would still be working at the same restaurant, if she got lucky, and perhaps inheriting her grandparent's farm. Cami did not feel sorry for herself, quite the contrary: she hated herself for not being as smart as her friends.
"Well, I have a story," Gio said. Nany's interest was piqued and Cami, naturally as a writer, was eager to hear more. Gio hurried to tell the short version of the story with Taehyung, in case any customers came in early for breakfast.
"You kissed him just like that? A stranger?" Nany asked, shocked.
"Not just a stranger!" Gio defended herself, "he was nice and good looking, plus we're really compatible."
"Ok, Cinderella," Cami muttered, and thankfully Gio didn't get to hear.
"Don't you think you're taking things a little too fast?" Nany asked, concerned as any good older cousin would. She knew well that Gio had never been in a relationship so she had no experience with how those sorts of things worked, what she did like and what she did not. Nany feared that the foreign boy was just playing with her cousin's feelings.
"He's only here for a month, I have to hurry up and make a move already!"
"Exactly," Nany replied, "he's only here for a month. Do you know what his intentions are?"
"Sorry mom, but no," Gio said, now slightly annoyed. She had wanted to let her friends in on the good news but it seemed like all they wanted was to weigh down on her happiness. Maybe they were just jealous- Nany had not talked to any boys in a long time, and Cami always scared them away, neither of them could have what Gio had with Taehyung.
"Listen, I just care for you and I don't want some boy to break your heart," Nany told her.
"Well, he's not just some boy!"
"Wow, this conversation sounds like it's straight out of a bad fanfic," Cami commented, more focused on the realm of her books and stories than on the present events.
"I'm happy for you if you're happy," Nany said ignoring Cami's commentary.
"Thanks, I guess," Gio said, disheartened, "anyways, what did you do with your weekend? Cami already spilled."
Nany tried to recall, "I guess I stayed at home with Kitty- she's much better now at least. Noly got a new dog, he's cute but mom and dad were not happy about it. Then, err, on Friday I had dance practice and on Sunday I went to church with my parents and Noly. Nothing unusual."
Just as they were about to return to work, Nany remembered something she had been meaning to tell her friends, "Oh! By the way, there was a new guy at my church. I think maybe one of those foreign guys you told me about, Gio, Taehyung's friends!"
"Really? Oh, which one?" Gio asked eagerly. Over the weekend, she had the chance to hear all about his friends and their personalities, and they were all truly characters. Not even a writer like Cami, Gio thought, could come up with such vibrant, complex personas.
"Ho-ho-ho-something like that, "Nany gave up on trying to pronounce the rest of the guy's name.
"Hoseok?" Gio asked. He had been at the restaurant on Thursday, too, and Taehyung had mentioned that he was deeply religious.
"I guess. He was very nice, but a little weird too," Nany added, "when my family went over to introduce themselves, he was really bothered by Noly's shirt."
Gio thought about the church Nany's family frequented, and how it was all modern and much unlike the Catholic Mass she and her mom attended on special occasions like Easter and New Year's Eve. They had a female pastor who had a pixie haircut and sometimes wore ripped jeans when preaching, and worship time was basically a Hillsong concert, with all the colored lights and extremely loud music. The congregation was similarly liberal and made up of mainly younger people, and Gio could not help but wonder what anime shirt Noly had been wearing that day.
"What did he say?" Cami asked for both Gio and herself.
"She was wearing my purple snake shirt from our trip to Aruba, and he said something like "I hate snakeu-" I don't know, it was a really strange interaction."
"He's cute, right?" Gio said, wiggling her eyebrow and disregarding Nany's previous words.
"Oh my, it's just that I've never seen a man so handsome. Gio, and he's religious too," Nany replied. Cami felt like an outsider- was she the only one that was entirely unphased by the beauty of the foreigners? They did have great skin and some of them- except Namjoon- dressed pretty well, but they were not swoon-worthy to her. She only reserved such feelings of love and admiration for her grandmother and her bed.
"I know, right?" Gio said, thinking of her own initial reaction when she met Taehyung. She was glad someone could relate, unlike a certain other nameless scrooge, and she even thought about the possibility of going on a double date again: her and Taehyung, and Nany and Hoseok. Nany was bound to be a better wing woman than Cami, who had zero interest in meeting the boys. Maybe Cami wasn't meant to be with Namjoon, she could try setting her up with any of Taehyung's other friends.
"By the way, Nany, I told my mom I'm staying at your house tomorrow but I'm actually going on a date with Taehyung. Is that okay?"
Nany was not too keen on the idea, but Gio had already gotten excited about it and told her mom, so she knew any effort to resist would be futile. She only hoped that this Taehyung guy had good intentions and that he would not try to take advantage of her cousin. Something, however, just a little something, seemed off to Nany but she did not want to tell Gio...
