“You okay?” Tae asked. “Can I get you anything?”
Tae’s kind voice soothed her. “Keep talking. The sound of your voice makes me feel better,” she said without thinking.
“Well, fuck,” she thought she heard him say under his breath. She opened her eyes to find him rubbing the back of his neck, a small smile tugging at his lips. She responded with her own smile. His eyes went straight to her mouth, and she swallowed away her nerves.
Julia cleared her throat and looked away, breaking their connection.
“Oh my, this place is so cute. I love the decor.”
Julia froze. She knew that whiny, aegyo voice anywhere. Her back stayed ramrod straight as she turned her head a fraction to the right. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw it. Her worst nightmare. Here, in a random not-LA-vegan café in LA, while she was having a breakdown over a deep family crisis, walked in Jisoo Kang.
8
Kiss of Death
Tae
Tae noticed the change in Julia immediately. He followed her line of sight to the door and realized exactly what was going on. Jisoo Kang, of all people, had just walked into this tiny café in LA. What was she doing all the way up here? But the real question on Tae’s mind was whether Julia was going to be okay.
The three of them, along with Tae’s brother, had all grown up in church together. Julia and Jisoo were inseparable, like sisters really, and Tae their favorite target to boss around. He recalled watching them slowly drift apart as the comments and comparisons by their parents and other adults made it difficult on them. But they were actually so different. The only thing they shared was being the same age and attending the same church. But everyone at Zion Korean Church compared the two of them, celebrated when one did something amazing, complimented how pretty they both were, and ultimately, always, their parents would pull theJisoo did thisandJulia did thatcards.
Tae remained friendly with Jisoo. But his loyalty had always been to Julia. She was his neighbor. And for as long as they’d known each other, he’d felt a tie to her, a responsibility to look out for her, even though she was older.
And right now, he knew Julia was feeling fragile about her grandmother, the setups, the dating. It probably didn’t help that Jisoo was now engaged. Tae couldn’t imagine what a mind trip all of this was on Julia. But he was going to do what he could to make sure it didn’t get worse.
Jisoo oohed and aahed about the cute café to her group of friends, and as she scanned the interior, her eyes landed on Tae.
“Oh my, Taehyung-ssi. What are you doing here?” She clapped her hands enthusiastically and came right over to their table. When she turned to see who Tae was with, her expression immediately shifted to one of shock. Her eyebrows lifted. “Julia? Is that you? Oh my God, this is wild. I haven’t seen you in years!”
Tae stood up and wrapped an arm around Jisoo. “Hi, Jisoo. What brings you all the way up to LA?”
“I could ask you the same thing, but I guess you’re here to see Julia?” She looked between the two of them.
Julia definitely noticed the curious look on Jisoo’s face, and her spine quickly straightened as she plastered on a smile. “Tae is helping me with some work I’m having done on Starlight’s offices.”
“Oh, that’s good. Tae is great at that. He helped my parents renovate their kitchen.” Jisoo looked back at Tae. “Thanks for that, by the way. I seriously think those cabinet guys were planning to rip off my parents and screw them over. We really owe you.”
“Honestly, it was my pleasure. Not a problem at all.”
“Well, I have a problem with how little you let my parents pay you. You basically only charged them a fraction over supply costs. Tae, I still have the check for the rest of the work that we owe you.”
“Really, Jisoo, you guys don’t have to.”
“I’m not gonna argue with you here in public. But I will pay you what you deserve at the very minimum.” She had the kind but sternI’m a doctorlook on her face.
As if just realizing she had come with two other people, Jisoo quickly introduced her friends. Her bridesmaids.
“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing, but we’re on a reconnaissance mission of sorts. I heard there were some wedding dress boutiques in this area, and I wanted to check them out before my mom was going to shuffle me off to the ones in K-town. I have nothing against those stores. But I just want to make sure I’ve seen all my options, ya know? I know it’s silly...” She seemed genuinely embarrassed by this, which Tae wasn’t sure why she would need to be. But the downturned corners of her mouth also made her seem a little sad.
Tae looked over at Julia who sat still, looking down at her empty bowl and nodding politely.
“It’s not silly. Wedding-dress shopping should be fun for you. Enjoy it. Oh, and congratulations, by the way,” Julia said. “My parents told me about the engagement last weekend. I’ve been meaning to send you a message. That’s really exciting news.”
“Yeah, Jisoo, congrats. That’s really cool. My brother knows Eric from their engineering circles and says he’s a cool guy. I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks,” Jisoo said. “We didn’t date long, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he proposed. Sometimes these things just happen.” Tae found it odd that Jisoo seemed so matter-of-fact about it all. Was she not excited about the engagement?
“Julia, your company’s office is up here, right? You must come to this café a lot. I’ve heard good things. Anyways, I better get going. You two enjoy your date.” Jisoo smiled and turned to leave.
