K.

VIII

"Where do you want to go?" Jesse asked K. They were walking side by side.

They've just been walking senseless up and down Manhattan for quite a few minutes now. He had never took a girl out, so he wouldn't have any idea at all where he would take her - except on his bed. He had been thinking about her for weeks now, imagining that she's with him, lying in bed and naked under the sheets.

"Surprise me," K turned her head to the side to look at Jesse. She snaked her arm around his back. "Where do you want to go?"

Jesse was pleasantly caught off-guard, with K holding him like that. He didn't know what to do, but it only felt natural to rest his arm around the back of her shoulders. Jesse took a sharp breath and let it out, allowing himself to act calm and chill around K.

He was feeling so warm - but not the kind of warmth he normally feels when he's turned on and sexually aroused. He felt comfortable, balanced, like he had found his equilibrium. It just felt strange, different, and so entirely... new.

"Let's just walk and see where our feet take us," Jesse suggested, looking at K's eyes.

"Spontaneous," she gushed, beaming at Jesse. "I love it." K fixed her gaze back on the street as they walked, her other hand reaching up to hold Jesse's as it hung awkwardly on her left shoulder.

They trailed down through 7th Avenue, then made a sharp turn on 43rd street. There were lots of pop-up and compact restaurants along that whole strip. He didn't want to take her anywhere too fancy and kitschy. Even if he wanted to take her to a nice place to dine, he was just wearing black denim jeans, Old Skool Vans sneakers, a black and white plaid hoodie with plain white shirt underneath. If there was something he learned from his dad, it was to dress for the occasion.

 Both him and K were dressed casual, just like any other New Yorker out on the street on a regular night. Not that they were on a date. They were merely just... hanging out.

Jesse looked to his right and saw this quaint little hipster ramen house that said 'No Wi-Fi' on the glass doors. The place looked veritable, though he doubted they served authentic Japanese noodle soup. Lots of phony hole-in-the-wall type of restaurants had popped up all over the city in the past decade. Jesse rarely went to these places. He had his own list of trusted diners, delis and cafés that he frequented, and this one right here was definitely not it.

But he figured, it'd be perfect - the place was not too formal yet not too tacky. It had its own charm when one's looking from the outside. In a way, it was just like K. He could just see her on the surface - beautiful, sexy, alluring and magnetic. Yet he knew that there was still so much to see underneath her skin, deep within her. It was all waiting to be discovered. He wanted to be the one to uncover her, to strip her bare.

"Let's go in here," Jesse bobbed his head to the direction of the ramen house's door entrance. He removed his arm from K's shoulders and went on to hold her hand instead, weaving his fingers to hers. 

He reached for the door handle and held it open for K, not letting go of her hand. 

It was really small inside, having just two long wooden table counters. The one was sprawled against the polished concrete wall, while the other double purposed as an L-shaped divider between the customer's dining area from the service station. The latter was where Jesse and K  sat. There weren't any private tables or booths. It was basically a communal dining space.

There were two middle-aged Japanese guys assembling orders in a very organized manner, it was quite fascinating to watch. 

Jesse was mistaken, they served the real thing. The place was really organic and cunning. He also loved that the tables had booth separators, like the ramen restaurant he tried out in Tokyo when he visited Japan just last year.