She left him there with snail sludge on his face to go and check on her other guests.
Sonia’s mom was chatting with Julia’s. Her grandmother wastalking to the aunties all about how good the face mask felt, while poor Esther was trying to get Halmoni to settle down and let the mask actually set.
Sonia and Rachel were refilling their champagne glasses and talking, heads together, over by the refreshment table.
“What are you two whispering about?” Julia asked as she walked up to check on them.
“These new products are all so great,” Sonia said. “I peeled my mask off in one full piece, and Sunny, my attendant, said it’s a sign of good fortune.”
“Yeah, she lied. But I like that as a marketing angle,” Julia said.
“I’d say the day has been a success, yes? Other than your grandmother’s unfortunate little quickie nap earlier,” Rachel said, eyes dancing.
“Har har har. She scared the shit out of me. I thought it was a sign she was dying... like right here, right now. I cried,” Julia whined.
“Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry. That had to have been scary,” Sonia said. “But my God, can that woman burp like a sailor.”
The three of them nodded in agreement.
“By the way, I caught that long gaze you and Tae shared,” Rachel said.
“I mean, it was this close to being inappropriately long,” Sonia said, pinching her forefinger and thumb together.
“No, it was way past inappropriately long. It was like rip-my-clothes-off long,” Rachel added.
“I had just had a big scare, okay? I’m so thankful Tae was here. I needed a friend to settle me down,” Julia said, giving a side-eye guilt trip to each of her best friends.
“I’m just sayin’...” Rachel started.
“Nothing good comes from when you start a sentence withI’m just sayin’,” Julia interrupted.
Rachel shrugged. “It was kinda hot how he raced in here, checked on your halmoni first...”
Sonia sighed loudly, clasping her hands together at her chest.
“And then doing a very thorough once-over to make sure you were okay,” Rachel finished.
Julia had noticed how Tae checked on her grandmother right away. She was incredibly touched by that. He was such a good guy. A real family guy.
She looked over her shoulder to the makeup station where he was sitting. He was trying to peel off the mask, but instead of gently doing it in one large piece, he’d impatiently peeled off tiny flecks and strips. He was a mess.
Julia turned to go and help him.
“Get it, girl,” she heard Sonia say behind her.
Damn those snail face masks and long gazes.
15
What Do You Know About K-pop?
Tae
Julia’s first date hadn’t exactly gone according to plan. But from what she had told him about the disaster, that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the douchebag she was out with. If Tae ever ventured into Fullerton, he might just take a couple turns looking for Michael Obsessed-with-Wagyu Lee. What an ass.
Truthfully, there was a tiny part of Tae that was kinda glad it hadn’t gone that well. He wanted Julia to find love. He really wanted Julia to stop blaming herself for her bad dating history.
But he, personally, was having a blast spending time with her. And these practice dates gave him a built-in reason to do so. The more they hung out together, the worse the itch got to keep hanging out and wasn’t anywhere near being satisfied.
