Fucking big brothers. Tae stood to get another beer in the kitchen.
“You’ll never believe what Mom said to me today,” Min shouted from the living room.
“Oh God, do I wanna even know?”
“She wants to set me up on a date with Julia Song.” Tae slammed the fridge door harder than he’d planned, heat risingup his spine at the reminder. “She totally wants to disregard that I’m in love with Andrea and we’re gettingmarried.She thinks Julia, the Korean princess, is a better option. Don’t get me wrong. Julia is gorgeous and successful. But she’s so awkward. And honestly, if she was so great, why is she still single at her age?”
“She’s only thirty. That’s nothing.” Tae turned a dining chair around and straddled it facing the TV. “And she’s not awkward. She’s been busy building a successful business. It’s asinine that people want to blame a woman for being single when she’s successful. Maybe the dudes she dated were douchebags.”
“I don’t know, word on the street with the guys I know is that she is brutal. She makes men cry, she’s so honest and scary. She’s hot, but not worth putting up with.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Tae had to restrain himself from standing up, ready to fight his asshole brother if he needed to. “Sounds like your friends are a bunch of wimps if they can’t handle some honesty from a woman.”
Min chuckled, shaking his head. “I see you still have a crush on our neighbor. Why aren’t you the one Mom’s trying to set up with Julia? Oh yeah, because you’re cute but unemployed.”
“Fuck you.”
The words were the truth. He’d said them to himself before. But hearing someone else say it out loud stung a bit more. He knew he had no chance with Julia. Plus, with Tae having his own baggage of caring for his family, marriage was the last thing he wanted or needed right now.
All that said, it hurt a man’s ego to not even be in consideration. Like he needed any more reminders that he hadn’t made anything of his life.
“Just do me a favor and help me get this stupid idea out of Mom’s head? She only listens to you. It’s never gonna happen. But if Andrea gets wind of Mom even suggesting it, it’ll hurt her.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll talk to Mom... again. Hey, do you know if that Korean restaurant on Jamboree is still open, the one with the kick-ass banchan?”
“Seoul House? Yeah, I just went there last week.”
Tae picked up his phone and sent Julia a quick message with the name of the restaurant for their practice date. Julia immediately wrote back with a thumbs-up. Tae smiled down at the message.
“Do I even want to know what that smile is about?” Min asked.
“Nothing,” Tae said, pocketing his phone. “I’m just helping Julia out with something.”
“And why am I not surprised? Whatever it is, it was probably your suggestion too. I’d be careful following around the Ice Princess, if I was you. Nothing good can come out of you spending time with her. She’s in a league you have no business playing in.”
Min had no idea what he was talking about. Tae had no intention of getting hurt. He only wanted to help a friend and have a little fun in the process.
Plus, he’d promised both Julia and her halmoni. Tae was a man of his word and always completed the job.
11
Tae’s Guide to Dating
Tae
Tae suggested Julia meet him at Seoul House, a tiny hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant in their neighborhood.
Julia had always been a picky eater, one who never liked eating her veggies. A vegetarian who didn’t like vegetables. Now, that was a challenge. So the worst part of this first setup date was that the dude was taking her to a Korean barbecue restaurant. At seven. In K-town. The guy was not winning any charm points in Tae’s mind.
But Tae promised to prepare Julia so that she would have a good time and maybe stop beating up on herself over failed dates. A few practice dates that led to, potentially, a few successful dates might not be the cure for Julia’s insecurities, but they could help ease her stress.
It had been a long week of phone calls with his dad’s insurance company. Issues with claims and refusal of payments left Tae with bills, one, that he shouldn’t have to pay and, two, he didn’t have the money to. He had a couple paying gigs this week, but he would need to get some more work on his plate sooner than later.
Luckily this place had great food... and it was cheap.
Tae heard the bell to the front door jingle, and with the sun at her back, Julia walked in looking like a movie star. She took her obviously expensive sunglasses off and tucked her long bangs behind her ear, a move Tae had come to realize was her tell. She was nervous.
Tae could actually hear his own heart pounding inside him. He took a quick drink of water, his mouth so freaking dry.
