HARLEY

I could smell the flowers as we walked over to the host stand, the fragrance a nice addition to the start of our date. It hadn’t been that long since we started dating, and I had no idea what the protocol was when it came to stuff like this. Did guys give flowers on the first date, or the third? Was it normal for them to wait until you were officially together to get you any kind of gifts? I’d never tell Jae, but I spent about an hour Googling that exact question, and scrolling through several threads on Reddit. After hearing answers from ‘if he doesn’t get them by the third date, he’s trash’ to ‘guys like flowers, too, so why don’t you get him some,’ I decided to just let it be.

Flowers weren’t something I needed, or even expected, but the thought popped into my head when I was buying groceries the week before and passed the bouquets. They’d just be nice, I figured.

And now, I had some.

“Harley! Annyeong! Orenmanida (hello, long time no see)!” The woman at the host stand exclaimed as soon as she saw me.

I grinned from ear to ear as I rushed over to greet her, “Mrs. Kim! Annyeonghaseyo! Jal jinae (hello, how are you)?”

Usually when I saw her, I was with my whole family. After looking for a new restaurant to mix things up several years back, my mom suggested we try Seoul House. From the first time we came in, we were hooked. A year or so later, my mom told the owner, Mrs. Kim, that I was trying to practice my Korean. Of course, I stumbled and made a ton of mistakes, but she made a point to speak to me in Korean whenever we went in. The habit stuck, and I had her to thank for my conversational level of proficiency.

“Eung, jal jinae (yes, I’m doing well).” The older woman came around to give me a quick hug, “You look so pretty! Your skin is glowing.”

“Thank you!”

For the first time since we walked in, she seemed to notice Jae. Mrs. Kim raised her eyebrows at me, then at him, “Jae-Min? You and Harley know each other?”

My brows scrunched up in my confusion, and I looked between the two of them. Wait, Jae knew Mrs. Kim, and she knew Jae. I laughed, “I didn’t know the two of you knew each other.”

Jae smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, um, I came here with my family like once a month growing up. We still have dinners here sometimes, but I also come by with friends.”

The similarities between our stories were a little eerie, and I wondered how we hadn’t ever managed to run into each other in all these years.

“Ah, daebak (amazing)! Small word, eh?” She went around to her tablet at the host stand, “Table for two, or are you waiting for more people?”

“No,” Jae said, “just the two of us.”

Before she even said anything, I knew exactly what was coming. As soon as I graduated from university, Mrs. Kim would ask when I planned on getting married. My parents were all for her encouragement, and I rolled my eyes before telling them each time that I was focusing on my career. Now that I’d come to her restaurant with Jae, the guy she’d apparently witnessed growing up, there was no way I was avoiding this conversation in the future.

Maybe this would get her to let up? At least for a while, before she decided we should get married. I tried to soothe myself with the idea that this might actually be a good thing, and not a case of me failing to think through my restaurant choice.

Mrs. Kim smirked, “A date? How nice. Those are beautiful flowers, like Harley.”

Shivers ran up my spine when Jae touched my back, and my cheeks heated up. He shook his head, then smiled down at me, “No, Harley is much more beautiful. No contest.”

We gazed at each other for a long moment, and my heart pounded in my ears before I looked away. A small, “Thank you,” was all I could manage right then. God, I felt so embarrassed, yet incredibly flattered and like I wanted to kiss him all at once.

Mrs. Kim directed a mischievous smile at me before she asked, “A booth, yes? I know Harley hates to sit anywhere else.”

“Well, booths are the best,” I defended myself. “If you have any, that would be great.”

“Follow me,” Mrs. Kim said. As she grabbed a couple of menus for us, I felt relieved at the thought that she might’ve been done. Just a few comments about us being on a date? Perfect, light, casual.

‘Thank you, Mrs. Kim,’ I thought while we followed her to a secluded booth towards the back of the restaurant.

My stomach practically called my name as we walked past several tables with steaming hot food that made my mouth water. The sizzling sounds of bulgogi and hot soup filled my ears, and I started to think about what I wanted to get for dinner.

“Here you go,” Mrs. Kim stood by our booth, and waited for Jae and I to slide in before she put our menus down in front of us. “I’ll get you your drinks. Nestea for Jae, and lemon water with no ice for Harley?”

The two of us exchanged a look, then replied to Mrs. Kim in tandem, “Yeah.”

She nodded, seeming pleased with herself. “I already knew, but you’re customers so I had to ask. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Once she was out of earshot, Jae and I started laughing as we opened our menus. Even though I had it in mind to pick something I’d ordered many times before, the fact that she knew my drink order made me want to at least try to consider something different. I’d become too predictable.

I felt Jae’s leg touch mine under the table before he asked, “What are the odds of us having one of the same favourite restaurants? That’s kinda crazy. Especially since you took me to a different Korean place last time.”

“Well,” I teased, “I had to make sure the vibes were real before I took you to my main place.”

Jae raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth turned up, “Oh, really?”

“But, I dunno,” I shrugged, “kinda seems like you’re stalking me.”

The shocked sound he made had me laughing so hard, I noticed some people at other tables looking at us. Jae grinned as he closed the curtain, giving us some much needed privacy, “I just couldn’t believe you’d even suggest that I was the one stalking you. Maybe you’ve been obsessed with me for months and were working up the courage to say hey.”

I shook my head, the toothy grin still on my face as my laughter faded, “Uh uh-.”

“And then, one day, you see me and make it seem like I’ve bumped into you. When, in fact, you set the whole thing up so we could finally have our meet-cute.” He wiggled his brows as I glared at him, then started laughing while I took a sip of my water.

It took me a moment to fully process everything he had just said. When I did, I gave him a skeptical look, “I’m surprised you know what a meet-cute is.”

Jae shrugged, “I can’t be into romance, too?”

“Of course you can. But, I mean, I had no idea.”

Part of me felt bad for assuming he wouldn’t, but we hadn’t really talked about books. So far, our main mutual interests were movies, some anime, a few shows, and our love of the city. I still had a lot to learn about Jae, which all at once excited and kind of scared me. Like, how much time would it take to feel like I really knew him? At this point, he was more than a stranger, but not by that much.

What I did know was that I liked to spend time with him.

Before I could go on and ask him about his favourite kind of meet-cutes, Jae sighed, “Okay, I actually didn’t know what meet-cutes were until like two or so weeks ago. After you told me about your writing, I looked into the different terms.”

My heart fluttered, and it suddenly felt much warmer in our private booth. He looked into something that I’m interested in? Damn.

That was attractive.

Mrs. Kim came back with our drinks, then took our orders quickly. Neither Jae nor I had actually spent much time looking at the menu, but we didn’t need to and it showed. He ordered the tempura for the table, and I ordered the vegetable dumplings for the table. Even though I thought of venturing out, I got the seafood Jajangmyeon as always. Jae’s usual was the bbq galbi, and I stored that info away for future use.

“So, when were you gonna tell me you speak Korean?” Jae asked, his arms seeming closer to mine on the table than they were earlier.

I bit my lip, “Well, it never came up so, I don’t know. Also, I’m only, like, conversational. I still have so much to learn.”

The brown in his eyes seemed to sparkle in the warm light around us, and I found it very difficult to look away. Even as someone who wasn’t the biggest fan of eye contact. Jae hummed, “You’re just downplaying yourself. Most people aren’t conversational in any languages outside of the ones they’ve spoken all their lives.”

“Well-.”

“Don’t try to invalidate the compliment. You’re impressive. Okay?”

We looked at each other in silence for a moment while I fought the urge to insist that other people could probably do better. Eventually, I nodded, and Jae seemed satisfied. He reached across the table to hold my hands, his fingers touching my skin mindlessly in a way that felt intimate and exciting.

His eyes searched mine, “You look so beautiful, by the way. Did I say that already?”

This time I had to look away, just for a little bit. Jae’s expression felt so intense, I just needed a moment. When I met his eyes again, they were still focused on me.

“You did,” I let him know, “but it’s nice to hear. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And, I can’t let us move on without telling you how handsome you are. I...” For a moment, I wondered if I should say more. There were times when we were together that I found myself getting distracted by his dimples, or the way he licked his lips before he spoke sometimes. God, this man was an absolute sight.

He tipped his head to the side, “Yeah?”

I thought I might actually melt, but I decided to just say it anyway. One of the things I needed to get better at was telling people the good things I thought of them. “I find myself getting lost in how nice your smile is, or that sparkle in your eyes.”

For a moment, he was completely quiet, and his smile even faltered a bit. That might’ve been too much, and I wondered if this was a sign that I should just keep to my old ways of leaving a lot of my thoughts in my head. But, then he squeezed my hands, and I watched as Jae’s face turned completely red.

“Ah, damn...” He muttered before hiding his face in his shoulder. “That just made my month, Harley. Shit, I definitely look like a tomato right now...”

Jae lifted his head just enough to make eye contact with me, and I felt like my anxiety had just popped like a balloon. I laughed while he continued to get even redder, and he was definitely the cutest tomato I’d ever laid eyes on.

*********

A/N

I'm sorry, but I don't speak Korean so I apologize if it sounded robotic (for those that do). I've taken classes and can read Hangul, but I needed a website that teaches Korean, Reddit, and Google Translate T-T. I did my best though.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I just love this couple so much. As always, be sure to vote and comment. Seriously, I love reading your thoughts.

See you next Wednesday!

-Ruth.