Chapter 12

Jessica's POV

We entered Yol Saek restaurant to find it packed with patrons tonight. The sound of laughter and clinking of chopsticks against bowls surrounded me.

Jae saw me and Yuri waiting patiently by the door and quickly came over to greet us. "Yuri, Jessica! Sorry about making you wait. As you can see, it's a full house tonight."

"Oppa, you don't have to be sorry for having such a successful business." Yuri told him. "Do you have a table for two?"

Hearing how Yuri asked for a table made my heart flutter. The reason why I insisted that she pay for this meal earlier was because I truly wanted to imagine our outing as a date. And it's only a date if the guy pays.

"I'm sorry, you can't get your usual table tonight. How about I set a table for you two near the fireplace?" Jae suggested. Although there won't be any candles, one giant fire is better than none.

As he was off to arrange our table for us, I turn to Yuri and asked her what we'll be having for supper tonight.

"It's a surprise. I hope you'll like it though." Holding onto my hand, she leads me through the tables to our seat.

"Oppa, don't mind us. You have so much work to do." Yuri told Jae.

She usually is considerate, but tonight was just too much for me. Seeing her 180 degree change when she was at the bookstore enraged me, and now the pitch of her tone was a bar, or two, higher.

"Thanks, Yuri ah. You're the best!" Yuri giggled like a school girl upon hearing his compliment.

Jae had already dashed off to serve some customers sitting by the window. His spot was quickly replaced by his mother. "My Yuri and her Jessica! Welcome back! It's so busy tonight, eh?"

Her Jessica. I couldn't help smiling when she said that. I'm starting to like this Ahjumma more and more. However, I can't say the same about her flirtatious son.

"Ahjumma, Ahjussi must be getting a workout in the back eh?" Yuri joked while pouring me a glass of tea.

"Good for him. You know, when I married him, he used to be slim and muscular like Jae. Now he's big like this." She opens her arms as wide as she can. "Big like a whale."

Wanting to join in on this conversation, I replied, "Whales have big hearts."

The two of them just stared at me, expressionless. Sigh, the Sica effect again. I'll just keep my mouth shut from now on, only opening it to eat. And to sing.

Yuri was about to explain my Sica effect but Ahjumma burst into hysterical laughters. "Aigoo, I like you." She placed her hands on my cheeks and moved them back and forth. "Ahjussi's big heart had better be filled with his love for me and not all that cholesterol."

I cracked up at her response to my whale comment. Normally, the awkward silences that I create will make me feel hurt afterwards. But hearing her comical remark made me feel comfortable and welcomed here at Yol Saek.

"Ahjumma, I like you too."

"Ahjumma, me too!" Yuri added. "Since you guys are so busy tonight, can I use your kitchen and cook Sica some dinner?"

"Are you sure you don't want Ahjumma to cook for you?" Yuri shook her head. "Alright then, be careful in the back, and Yul, tell Ahjussi that I'll bring him his drink after I've had mine." She looks at me and whispers as if she's sharing a secret with me. "He thinks he's the King around here ordering me about like a servant. Get me a glass of water, and what, a glass of water will suddenly appear?" She flips her hair back. "Tsch. Not when the queen is here. It's me before him."

"Oh, Sica here is like a princess at home too." Yuri, must you embarrass me like this.

I look down at the table to hide my burning face. Great, now everybody here will think I'm spoiled and inconsiderate. However, to my surprise, Ahjumma is squealing with delight as she grips my hand.

"Welcome to the Royal Family! You're so smart. All girls should be treated like princesses." I chuckle at the glare that she's giving to Yuri. "Well, I should get back to work now because although I'm a Queen, I could still get fired by the boss."

Ahjumma heads towards the counter to pour herself a drink and Yuri got up to prepare our dinner. I'm left alone at the table and my mind starts wandering off. This imaginary date of mine is turning out to be quite well. Not the most romantic date, but it's been fun so far.

I snap out of my thoughts as Jae sits in Yuri's chair. Looking around, I noticed that most of the customers have already left and the remaining were finishing up their meals.

"Sorry about not being able to properly serve you girls." Him too, he looks around the restaurant. "Where's Yuri? I haven't seen her all night."

"She's in the kitchen cooking."

I see him slowly getting up from his seat --presumably to go look for Yuri. I didn't want him to be alone with her so I tried to keep him here by asking him about the history of the restaurant's name.

"Well," he starts off. He sits back down and pours himself a glass of tea. "My dad only has two loves in his life: his love for cooking and his love for my mom."

"I could see that." Actually, I couldn't. He's always criticizing his wife. Guess they're one of those couples who show their affection by bickering.

"Before meeting my dad, my mom couldn't cook anything--" he leaned in and whispered, "--not even toast."

Oh my! She's worse than me. But I guess back then their toasters didn't work the same. Or maybe they didn't even have toasters. How dreadful that must have been for the the poor woman.

"So one day, their mutual friend invites my dad over to Momâ??s place to give her some pointers. According to the friend, the food tasted like rotten eggs. But when my dad took the first bite, he claims to have an explosion of flavors on his taste buds. The food was so good that he saw ten colors flashing before his eyes. Apparently, it's a chef thing and only happens when the food is exceptional."

So it was love at first sight and with love, everything tastes great --that's what they say in my books anyway. I'm listening intently now to this love story.

"So my parents started dating after a couple of more 'cooking lessons' and after the first date, my dad got his first kiss --that was when he experienced the 10 color fireworks again. My dad wanted people to experience this '10 color' feeling through his cooking, and that's how this place came to be called Yol Saek. The end"

Despite the inappropriate setting, I clapped my hands like a little girl after storytime.

"Oppa, what did you say to Sica to make her so happy? You should tell me so I could use it next time." Yuri joins us and places two plates of food on the table.

"Ah, it's the Yol Saek love story." He looks at Yuri's food and reaches for the fork. "This smells real good."

Before he's able to serve himself, Yuri yells out for him to stop. "Oppa, wait! I want Jessica to try it first. I hope you're not offended. I just don't want her opinion to be affected by your professional critique," she explains to him.

Jae smiles, covering up his shock and hurt feelings. "None taken. It's just that you always asked me for my opinion first, so I just assumed... Anyway, there's always next time. I gotta get back to work. Let me know if you need anything." He returns to the customers by the window and starts chatting with them.

Yuri sits down in the seat warmed by Jae. Looking at me with eager eyes, she pushes the plate of food closer to me. "Try it, Sica."

I look down at the heart shaped egg and wonder what's inside. Love? I silently laugh at my wishful thinking.

"You don't like it?" Yuri asked me with a worried look on her face.

"No. I mean yes. No, I meant..." To stop myself from digging a bigger grave, I took a big bite of the stuffed omelette dish. "Mmmmm, this is amazing!" I reassured her with my mouth full of food.

Everything that Yuri makes always tastes good. But what surprised me was that with every bite, an explosion of flavors would burst in my mouth. I closed my eyes and wait for the 10 colors to appear before my eyes. Nothing. I close them tighter until they hurt.

"Sica! Are you ok? Does it taste that bad? Are you in pain?" I hear Yuri's voice in the darkness that I created.

I open my eyes and there they were. Colorful specks were dancing around in front of my eyes before my vision adjusted to the light again.

"I'm fine. This tastes really good! Have some." I feed her a bit of my food with my fork.

"Mmmm, it tastes pretty good if I must say so myself." I see her reach for the glass of tea in front of her --the glass that Jae used.

"No!" I stop her. "Drink mine instead!" I shove my glass in front of her and snatch the other one out of her hand like as if it was poison.

"Hookay.... Why? What's wrong with that one?" She asked quizzically, bringing my glass to her small lips.

"Uhh... It's cold. You might get a stomachache after." I look at the steam rising from the hot glass of tea. Shit. I toss the water into the fireplace before she could see how hot it really is. Sizzling and the crackling of burning wood could be heard as the fire consumes it's nemesis from the beginning of time.

"Haha! Sica, what was that for?" Yuri asked with an amused smile.

"Nothing. Let's just eat."

As we were eating, Jae's mom joined us with a bottle of soju. The three of us girls drank bottle after bottle, talking about SNSD's new promotions to Yol Saek's new promotions.

My eyes started to droop after my fifth glass of soju. Yuri must have noticed when I leaned my head against the wall.

"Ahjumma, it's getting late and we still have to wake up early for tomorrow's show." Yuri came over to my side and lifted me up. "Thanks for letting me use your kitchen again tonight. How much do I owe you for this meal?"

"OWE ME? How am I supposed to charge you for a dish that isn't even on the menu, silly girl!" She downs another shot. "I should be paying you girls for drinking with me."

"Haha! Alright then, we should get going."

I'm still leaning on Yuri as we both head towards the door. Looking back, I scream "Goodnight Jae! Goodnight Jae's parents!"

"Goodnight YulSic!" his mom screams back just as loud. YulSic, I like the sound of that.

"Hehe, YulSic... Reminds me of this restaurant Yol Saek. YulSic, meet Yol Saek..." Jae's mom cintinued to slur. She puts on a balancing act as she walks towards me. "Did I tell you the Yol Saek love story? When I was --"

"Mom! You're drunk." Jae takes his mom into his arms and sits her down. Once seated, her head immediately hits the table and she starts snoring.

"Aish, this is really embarrassing. Yuri, thanks for coming by. See you soon?"

"Of course."

I'm about to scream blasphemous words at him but Yuri has already dragged me out of the door.

It wasn't a long walk back to the dorm so before I knew it, we were already at the door. Still in my dreams about this one-sided date, I wanted a kiss to end the night.

I stare at Yuri who's trying to unlock the door while struggling to support my weight at the same time. Unsure of how to go about this kiss, I just stared at her appetizing lips.

"Yuri ah..." I said trying to get her attention.

"Hmmm?" Her eyes were still fixated on the door. Is it that much more interesting than me?

A mix of rage and alcohol took over me as I looped my arms around her neck. Pulling her down towards me, I kiss her hard with my eyes closed. For the second time tonight, my eyes were blinded by ten colors. Right before I passed out in Yuri's arms.