FIRST KISS - G.NA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5tGdyTUZc

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As the weather grew colder, the demand for warm noodle soup was in higher demand. On this particular Saturday, Kyoto’s Noodle bar was jam packed with customers waiting to be served. The store had only opened half an hour ago, and yet there was already a line up of anticipating customers. Once you clocked in, you started working immediately.

“Hari, take this to table number 11,” said one of the chefs as he pressed his palm against the bell, indicating that the order will soon arrive to its hungry owner. “Enjoy your meal, let me know if there is anything else you need okay?” You bowed to the customers politely, and was going to go grab your apron from the back when another tray of noodles appeared in front of your face. Rijin gave you an apologetic look as she struggled to hold onto her other tray of food, “Sorry girl, can you give this to table 5? I’ve got my hands way too full right now.”

You nodded with a smile, assuring to Rijin that it was no problem. If she needed your help, you were willing to go to end of the world to help Rijin out. You took the tray, and served the customers there. From here and there, you flew all around the restaurant, gliding across slippery floors and carrying bowls and plates that stacked all the way to the top. You had been so caught up in the busy buzz that you practically threw yourself into your work and lost track of time, from serving the customers to helping the chefs out in the kitchen, to cleaning the tables and helping out in dishwashing at the back. Once you were in work mode, you forgot to look at the time and focused only on the restaurant. All of your co workers could see how devoted you were to Kyoto’s Noodle Bar, especially Rijin.

Around noon, Rijin stopped you. “Hey lady, you forget that you get a lunch. Go get something to eat, now!”

You shook your head, grabbing the new tray of bowls that appeared. “I finish at 3 anyways, I’ll eat lunch after.” You took a step but Rijin took the tray away from you. She shook her head, and patted your to the backroom. She gave you a stern look, the way a mom would to her daughter if she wasn’t behaving, “Even for 15 minutes, Hari. Get your 15 at least.”

When Rijin had that serious look in her eyes, you knew she meant what she said. This is why you adored Rijin so much. Although you two were a few years apart, she treated you like you were her family. It was weird to say it, but to you, Rijin was your mother figure. She was the first female to display any sort of affection and care towards you, and having that sort of love made her special to you. Whenever Rijin told you to do something, you listened. Sometimes you would joke and call her Mom, and she would let you. Unlike the guys who struggled to talk comfortably about parents with you, Rijin was honoured to see that you see her as someone like that.

“Okay, fine, since you asked me to, I will.” You frowned.

Rijin grinned happily and pinched your cheeks. “Make sure you eat, okay, Hari?”

*Why does everyone do that to me?* You sighed and went to the backroom. There was some celery in the fridge so you decided to snack on those while you scrolled through your phone. In the midst of going down your Instagram, there was a call coming from Kai. Your heart was suddenly filled with joy and you accepted the call right away.

“Hey loser,” you smiled, taking slow bites out of your celery as you waited to hear his voice.

But he didn’t say anything back. You stopped chewing and blinked in surprise. It wasn’t like him to just call and not say anything, unless…. You started to laugh, “If you were planning to prank call me, you failed already Kai. You forgot to turn off your I.D.”

When he didn’t reply, you pulled your phone away to make sure that he didn’t hang up already. *Hmm, maybe he called me.* You put the phone closer to your ear and that was when you heard everything. The voices sounded far away, but not far enough that you weren’t able to hear what was being said.

“Hayoung, if you really love me then just come to me. Don’t let Youngjae stop you,” said Kai, sounding like he was trying really hard to break the two apart.

There was silence for awhile, until a sigh broke it. “I don’t know, Kai. I love him, but I love you, too.”

“Well you can’t go bounce between us two, you have to choose one… Hayoung, you know how much I love you. What does Youngjae even do for you anyways? Nothing. He doesn’t even visit you when you are this sick. But I do, I check up on you every day. Can’t you see? I want us to be more than friends.” Kai pleaded.

You put the phone down momentarily, and wanted so badly to hang up on Kai, but at the same time you were so curious to hear the whole conversation. On the inside, you could feel a sharp pain hit you in the chest as if you had been shot by an invisible arrow. It didn’t hurt enough to make you cry, but it did hurt a lot to see how hard Kai was trying to make things work with him and Hayoung.

You swallowed hard, putting the phone back to your ear.

“Just give me some time, Kai. I’ll give you an answer when I am ready,” promised Hayoung.

*No this .* You ended the call. You did not want to hear what he was going to say. You did not want to know what he was going to do next. All you wanted was to pretend that you didn’t hear anything. *Great, this had to happen on my break. . If I hadn’t t