We all stilled at the sound of the alarm announcing that the front door was open.
“Hello?” Enoch called out, and I could hear the amusement in his voice.
I dropped my head with a sigh. “He knows.”
We all decided to remain silent and positioned ourselves in front of the island. As soon as Enoch’s head was visible through the banister, we shouted, “Surprise!”
Enoch smiled widely, chuckling, his eyes staying on mine for a long moment before bouncing over to Jae and Rick.
“Wow, wow. This is totally a complete surprise! I hadnoidea you were here,” he said with heavy sarcasm.
He rushed up the rest of the stairs, coming towards us, hugging Rick, then Jae and then his arms were circling my waist and his lips quickly pressed against mine. He pulled back, turning his body slightly towards them while keeping his arms around me.
“It smells great,” Nox said with a dramatic sniff, “what’s on the menu?”
“Oh!” Jae bounced animatedly, spinning away from the island to reveal the food behind us. “Rick grilled us up some burgers, I cut up some vegetables, for, you know, health. And Emory made her killer salsa.”
“Killer? Is it that spicy?” Rick asked dubiously.
I shook my head, sending Jae a glare for him dramatics. “No. I don’t think it’stoospicy, but everyone has a different spice tolerance,” I explained. “I can cut it with some olive oil if it’s too spicy though.”
“I just meant it’sreallygood,” Jae gushed.
Enoch smiled down at me, “You actually made it?” he asked with awe.
I rolled my eyes, “Of course. You said you wanted to try it.”
Enoch pecked my lips again before is eyes trailed to the cake. He leaned over slightly to read the writing on the top and he smirked.
“I love it. Thank you, seriously.”
“We’re all proud of you, Nox,” Rick said warmly.
Enoch cleared his throat, stepping back from me. “Alright, well since it’s my party, I’ll start serving myself first. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead,” I ushered, rushing to grab a stack of plates from the cabinet. “Here.”
He smiled in thanks, and I searched his posture for signs that he was uncomfortable or displeased with the ‘party’ we’d planned, but he seemed relaxed and content. We all took a moment, filing through a line to serve ourselves.
Thankfully the side with the food wasn’t where the island seats were and we easily each took a chair, me between Jae and Enoch with Rick on Enoch’s left.
I found myself waiting and watching for Rick and Enoch’s reactions to the salsa, mostly Enoch’s though. I wanted him to like it. His eyes went wide and he chewed slowly, turning his face to look directly at me.
“You made this? Like for real?” he asked, once his mouth was empty.
I nodded, eyes bouncing between his as I waited for his verdict.
“It’s fucking bomb dot com, baby. Seriously. The best salsa I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Please, be for real right now,” I said with narrowed eyes. He was just being nice. There was no way it was that dramatically amazing.
He reached out, squeezing my thigh, “I’m serious. It’s literally the best salsa I’ve ever tasted. You’re going to regret having made this because now I’m going to request it weekly.”
He squeezed my thigh again and scooped more onto another tortilla chip before placing it into his mouth. He wagged his eyebrows. “So good.”
I rolled my eyes, smiling at the praise and resigned to accepting the fact that they did in fact like it.
“I was thinking…” I looked to Jae as I spoke and he paused midbite to glance at me from the corner of his eye. “That maybe it’s time we watched another K-drama.”
