Julia slowly brought her gaze back to the table. Both friends sat, elbows down, faces cradled in hands, smiling, staring.
“What?” Julia asked.
“You saw Tae Kim,” they said in unison.
“Yeah, why?”
“Be-still-my-heart Tae Kim?” Sonia said.
“Body-made-by-the-gods Tae Kim?” Rachel chimed in.
“Voice-to-make-my-panties-melt Tae Kim?”
“You-can-see-everything-in-those-jeans Tae Kim?”
“Jesus, you two are frightening. Throw some cold water on your faces and don’t come back to this conversation with smut on the brain,” Julia said. “Wait, how do you guys even know him?”
“We met him at Starlight’s launch party four years ago,” Rachel said. “I still think of him in that—”
“Gray suit.” Sonia’s voice joined in with Rachel’s.
Julia didn’t remember Tae being at her launch party. Though, that was a really overwhelming night with so many people there to wish her well. But she’d seen the all-grown Tae Kim with her own eyes. She could understand the appeal.
“And your neighbor is most definitelynota kid,” Rachel said.
“Everyone in Orange County knows about Tae Kim,” Sonia went on. “The very hot guy with the heart of gold. The one who came home to take care of his sick dad. The one who offers to do anything and everything for those who need it.”
“The one who Sonia caught with his shirt off while he was fixing her parents’ plumbing. Remember her telling us about ev-er-y ripple in that man’s abs? She sent us that picture she snuck of him in his jeans.”
“And his voice,” Sonia added wistfully. “I immediately told James I was adding Tae to my hall pass list.”
It sounded vaguely familiar. But she didn’t realize Sonia was talking about the same gangly young boy Julia had known growing up.
“He’s the talk of the town, Julia. Orange County urban legend is that anyone that’s ever dated Tae has then gone on to getmarried to their next boyfriend. He treats women so right that they leave knowing what they want and deserve in a husband and attract exactly that.”
“Okay, but if he’s so good, why isn’t he the one that the girl ends up with, huh?” Rachel asked.
“Sadly, he doesn’t have a job and lives in his parents’ basement,” Sonia said.
“Well, I live in LA, not Orange County. And I’ve been busy building a company. I haven’t had time with the hometown gossip. But Tae does have a job, you said so yourself. He helpseveryone. That’s pretty admirable, if you ask me. And this is southern California. It’s not a basement—it’s a split level. I used to hang out there when we were kids. It’s huge... bigger than most apartments in LA. He’s a catch.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re interested,” Rachel said.
“No. Absolutely not. I used to babysit him. I fed him, cleaned him, told him to stop picking his nose,” Julia said.
“That’s basically what marriage is,” Sonia countered.
Julia couldn’t hold back the laugh. She shook her head. “Anyways, we took my grandma to the herbalist the other day. And when Halmoni mentioned how I was being set up by my family—much to my mortification—I joked about how I needed a dating coach. And he offered. To help. And before you keep going down the wrong path with this one, he’s way too young. I don’t date younger guys.”
“He is nowhere neartoo young,” Rachel said, taking a sip of her mimosa. “So what kind of coaching are we talking about?” A knowing smirk danced around her lips.
“We didn’t discuss details. He’ll probably just help me practice for my setups,” Julia explained.
“What do you meanpractice?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know. I guess we go on a test run before the real thing. Work through the kinks, practice the situational conversations...”
“Sounds romantic.” Rachel rolled her eyes.
