“YouTube isn’t my only income stream.”
Jae started to cough again, which was weird as I hadn’t noticed him reach for more of the poppadoms. On the other hand, I’d polished one off while we’d been talking and moved on to a second.
“You should try the mango chutney. It’s terrific,” I suggested once Jae recovered. “So’s the onion chutney. Heck, it’s all great.”
Jae broke off a bit of poppadom and dipped it in the mango chutney. He popped it into his mouth, accidentally transferring a bit of the sticky yellow substance to the corner of his lips.
“It’s great.”
“You’ve—” I motioned to the corner of my mouth. Would it have been inappropriate to lean across the table to wipe the chutney away?
“I…? Oh!” Jae grabbed a red paper napkin and dabbed the chutney away. “How embarrassing.” He lowered his lashes.
“May I take your order?” our server asked.
I looked at Jae to indicate he should go first.
“Could I have a vegetable biryani, please?”
I felt bad as I ordered about three times as much food as Jae: tandoori chicken, pilau rice, and naan.
“You could have ordered more,” I said once we were alone again.
Jae shrugged. “I’m not that hungry.”
“If you’re worried about the money, don’t be. I’m paying, and this place isn’t exactly expensive.”
“I’m not. I like biryani. It’s like an all-in-one meal.”
I stared at him for a few seconds. “There’s a Korean restaurant I’ve been meaning to try. Maybe we could go together while you’re here? You could tell me if it’s any good or not.”
“By comparing it to Mum’s cooking?”
“Yes.”
“That sounds fun, but—”
“I’ll pay,” I added quickly.
Jae pressed his lips together. “Why?”
“What do you mean? You’re Dillon’s best friend. I’d shout him to a few meals out. Let me do the same for you.”
“But you’re already doing so much by letting me stay with you.”
“It’s no big deal.”
Jae fiddled with the napkin for a few seconds before smiling. “Trying a new restaurant together would be fun.”
“Dillon said you’ve got appointments with five modelling agencies?”
“Not appointments, exactly. They’ve all got open-call auditions for new talent.”
“Open call…is that where you just turn up?”
“Yes. On a set day, between set times. They’ll see as many prospective models as they can during that time and hopefully offer some of us contracts.”
I frowned. “What if there are too many people for them to see?”
