“Tae, watch your mouth,” his mom said.
“I can’t believe everyone just heard me share all the details. Do the Schwartzes next door have their screen door open? Just wanna make sure they got the deets too. I mean, really, Tae, I know my mom’s phone. How loud does she have the volume set at?” Julia asked.
“Julia, stop yelling at Tae. Now, we need to think. What are we going to do? We can’t have you date someone who orders brown rice with Korean food. It’s not okay.”
You do not offend a traditional Korean woman with brown rice.
“Mother, I starved myself through an entire meal, and I didn’t even have an antacid with me. He didn’t listen to one thing that I had to say, and trust me, I said very little as it was. And he’s the kind of lawyer that runs small businesses into the ground. I just can’t see him again. I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” Mrs. Song said with a sigh. “I need to do better research before agreeing to the next man for you to date. Say, Julia, do you think, now that I know better, that I can have that date back and have three more chances?”
“Mother...”
“Okay, fine, no. But you’ll see, the next date will be better. The next man is going to be perfect. I know it,” Mrs. Song said.
“There is no such thing as perfect,” Grandma Song said out of the blue. All eyes turned to look at her. She was shoving the stuffed cabbage into large glass containers for storage. She leaned in, putting all her weight into it to get as much into the container as possible. It took an impressive amount of strength. Tae watched in fascination.
“Thank you, Halmoni. Finally, a voice of reason,” Julia said.
“Julia, the next date will be better. Don’t worry,” her grandmother said. Grandma Song looked up and locked eyes with Tae. Tae froze.
“Okay, Julia we have to go. We’re making kimchi,” her mom said, waving the phone away from her.
Tae took the phone off Speaker and pulled it up to his ear. “Hey, Julia, I’m sorry about that. I should have warned you the moment you started talking.” Tae felt the burden of guilt weigh on his shoulders. It was a shitty move on his part. He’d always been too chicken to ever question an elder. And, well, the Song women scared him a little.
“No, it’s fine. I was gonna call you next with the update anyways,” Julia said.
“It was that bad, huh? You doing okay?” Tae asked. He knew Julia would likely be beating herself up over the failed date.
“Yeah, it’s just...”
“Jules, you know it wasn’t your fault, right? The guy sounds like a real asshole. There’s nothing you could have or should have done differently. Except maybe make sure you have antacids on you next time,” Tae said.
“Thanks, Tae,” Julia said, her voice ten times lighter than it had been a moment earlier. That girl really needed to let herself off the hook, Tae thought. “You know what sucked most of all?”
“What?” Tae braced himself for what could be the worst part of the terrible date.
“I didn’t even get to order any of that yummy eggplant.”
She sounded miserable.
“I’ll take you back to Seoul House sometime soon for the eggplant we had. Will that make it better?” he asked.
“Deal,” she said.
Tae hung up the phone and turned, almost running straight into Grandma Song. She barely came up to his chest, but he had a feeling he’d be the one knocked to the ground in a collision with her. He looked down to see her staring back up at him.
“Taehyung-a, looks like we need to increase the efforts.” She was carrying one of the large glass jars filled with the seasoned cabbage. Tae grabbed it from her and set it on the counter. It was heavier than it looked. Damn, Grandma Song was strong. “I think you did a good job on your date with Julia. She had a good time. It didn’t go well with the lawyer, but at least she realizes it wasn’t her fault. This time when you date Julia, I want you to add a personal touch.”
“Uh... Halmoni. I’m not dating Julia. I’m coaching her. These are just practice runs to prepare her for her real dates.”
Halmoni waved her hand, dismissing his words. “Make her really excited about something, Tae. Julia needs to have some fun. You figure out what to do.”
That was a lot to digest. He’d have to think this over. Depending on who the next setup was with and what that guy’s plans were for the date, Tae would need to consider what he could do to personalize it for Julia. But one thing was for sure, Grandma Song was right: Julia needed to see dating as fun. “Nae,” he said, bowing, showing he understood her request. “I can do that.”
“Good, you have two more chances for Julia to fall in love. I’m counting on you, Taehyung. Julia’s happiness rests in your hands. Remember, I will make it worth your efforts.”
Great. Seems he needed to have the conversationagainwith Grandma Song about not wanting payment for helping Julia. If he didn’t clarify this with both Halmoni and Julia, this could get messy.
