Chapter 2

“So, where should we eat?” Sunny asked. Tiffany paused for a bit & said, with a sad smile, “How about Mr. Pizza since it is so close to the market & since it is my treat.” Sunny smiled at her friend & linked her arm with hers & said, “No, its not your time to treat.” She eyed Siwon & said, “He’s the guy here & its our first meeting so he should be the one to treat us.” Siwon coughed & his eyes bulged with bewilderment, “What? You just came up with that.” But with one look at Tiffany, he decided to give in. The girl looked as if she hadn’t had a good meal for days so he willingly accepted the offer, “I know of a place. Come with me.” He took them to his white BMW with his armful of groceries in his hands. Tiffany tried unsuccessfully to argue & take the grocery bags for him. She felt obligated to do so since she was after all the worker but Siwon would have none of it.

They eventually drove to a nice restaurant with valet parking & ushers outside. Tiffany gasped at its splendor. Sunny also gasped when they finally got out of the car. Siwon talked to one of the ushers who came up & bowed to him. He whispered into his ear to give him directions. The usher nodded his head in understanding, “Wait right here, girls. I need to go change out of this slimy shirt.” Siwon looked down at his shirt in disgusts while the two girls tried unsuccessfully to hide their giggles.

When Siwon came back, an outburst was waiting for him. Sunny had finally realized which restaurant they were at. Sunny exclaimed, “This is S&S restaurant! I have been trying to make a reservation here ever since I came back from France which has already been three months ago!” Siwon smiled & took Sunny’s hand & kissed its softness, “Well, you should thank me then.” Sunny blushed at his movement.

“How did you get in so quick without having to call first & make a reservation?” She looked at him, puzzled & awed. He pointed at the restaurant sign, “See that S up there? It stands for the name of this really good-looking & extremely intelligent man that has a charming charisma to match.” He smiled cockily & said, “& he just so happens to be standing in front of you two lovely ladies.” Sunny punched him in the chest due to her excitement & screamed in his ear, “Shut up!” Siwon stumbled, half-amused & half-shocked at Sunny’s way of showing emotion. He grimaced in pain & thought, that girl sure holds a powerful punch.

“You mean to say that this restaurant belongs to you?” Sunny asked, dark brown, almond-shaped eyes still wide with shock. Siwon rubbed his chest & replied, “Yeah, well, at least I own half of it. My sister, Sooyoung, which the other S stands for owns the other half.” Tiffany finally spoke then, “You mean the world class chef with five golden medals from various food competitions, the well-known Choi Sooyoung, is your sister?” Tiffany’s eyes too widened with shock, “Yeah, the one & only.” Siwon replied, “Okay, enough with those expressions, let’s go in. I don’t know about you but I’m really hungry.” The three of them walked inside the restaurant. Once she stepped into the foyer, Tiffany felt really out of place with her oversized fading shirt & well worn pants. She stopped in her tracks.

Sunny was already at the front counter when she noticed that Tiffany was missing. She turned around & saw Tiffany standing by the door. She looked as if she was trying to make a quick getaway. Sunny reached out & pulled Siwon’s black pima v-neck tee, stopping him from going any further. He then noticed that Tiffany hadn’t followed them in & rushed to keep up with Sunny’s hurried footsteps. He just couldn’t understand how girls could walk so fast in those heels.

“Hey girl, what’s wrong? Why are you still standing there by the door?” Sunny asked, grabbing onto Tiffany’s hand. Tiffany pulled away, “I’m way too underdressed. Look at these shabby clothes.” Sunny sighed, “That’s why you should wear more of the clothes that I have been giving you for your birthday & Christmas.” “But those are way too nice. I want to save those for really special occasions.” Sunny rolled her eyes, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to get her stubborn friend into the restaurant unless she did something. She put her forefinger to her wide, full brownish pink lips & thought hard & seriously. Then she smiled as a light went off in her head. She pulled Siwon over again. She had taken the sleeve of his shirt & ripped it halfway off.

Before she could get to the other sleeve, Siwon stopped her, “Hey, what do you think you are doing? This shirt cost eight hundred dollars.” Sunny just smiled & said, “Just play along with it. If you, the boss, comes in underdressed then it would be okay for Tiffany to come in, too.” Siwon glared at Sunny but before he could do anything about it, she had ripped off his other sleeve.

Siwon just stood there stiffly. He couldn’t believe that he was actually letting her get away with it but she did have a point. There was just something so innocent about Tiffany that he couldn’t help but help her & make her feel better. He also looked at the smiling girl who was tearing his second new shirt to shreds & couldn’t help smiling at her. There was just something special about her but he couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. He quickly shook that thought away, ‘Special?’ He thought, ‘More like someone needing some kind of special ed. This girl sure is weird & loud.’ He thought. Tiffany was giggling now at Sunny’s attempt & at Siwon’s ruined shirt which now looked even shabbier than hers.

They were finally ushered into the dining hall & seated at a table close to the kitchen. Normally, people would be offended but they weren’t, being as Siwon requested them to be at a table near the kitchen so that he could possibly catch a bit of his sister’s time. Much to Sunny & Tiffany’s disappointment, Sooyoung had just left to go meet with her boyfriend so another chef had taken her place. Sooyoung, however, didn’t leave before helping a bit with the meal.

Tiffany marveled at the beautiful interior. She looked down at the table & saw a small vase of pink roses sitting on the tabletop. She looked around the rest of the restaurant & saw that every table had a small vase of roses. Roses of every color were seen all around. She breathed in the aroma of the flowers & reached underneath the hem of her shirt for a small pink pouch tied to the loops of her jean. She untied the pink silk pouch & memories came rushing back to her. Tears threatened to fall as she remembered.

*Flashback*

“Come on, Jaejoong Oppa. You are so slow.” Miyoung giggled at his mock portrayal of a boy who was about to collapse from just running up a small hill. She ran back to grab his hand & together, they ran up the hill. Suddenly, they came to a halt in front of a flower shop. Displayed at the window were dozens & dozens of roses, roses of almost every beautiful color imaginable. Miyoung pressed her hands & face to the window, just staring at the roses in awe. Jaejoong stared at the little girl, wondering what was so fascinating to her. He averted his gaze to her direction & noticed the roses. He smiled & crept inside the shop. He came out a few seconds later with a small bouquet of pink roses.

Miyoung gasped & squealed delightedly. She quickly grabbed the bouquet & put it to her sharp, pointed nose to inhale its sweet fragrance. Then she flung herself at Jaejoong to give him a big hug. Jaejoong hugged her back & took out two silk pouches from his pants pocket. He then took the bouquet away from Miyoung & plucked two petals from each rose. Miyoung frowned at this confusing gesture but let him do what he did.

After he finished plucking what he needed, he then put one of each petal into each of the pouches. He gave the bouquet back to Miyoung & smiled as he tweaked her nose to take her out of her confused trance, “This pink & white pouch is for you while the black & blue one symbolizes me. The roses in this bouquet will one day dry up & these petals in the pouches are for you to remember this moment. Each petal will signify how much the world loves you & how many times I will think of you each day times three.” The little boy let out a quiet laugh & smiled as he saw that the emotional young girl had tears in her eyes again. She jumped into his arms again, & hugged him tightly, never wanting to let go of this sweet best friend, “They are the roses of yesterday. When I’m not with you, the smell from these rose petals will take my place & think of me as I will think of you everyday from this day forward.” Jaejoong continued, as he gave the girl a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you Oppa, you are the best. I will always carry this pouch by my side & I will try to take really good care of these roses.” She grinned happily & wiped away her tears. They released each other & Jaejoong bent down, “Here, let me give you a piggy back ride. It has been a while since I gave you one. Jump on.” Miyoung didn’t have to be asked twice before she climbed onto her friends back & off they went, talking happily along the way to their treehouse.

*End of Flashback*

Sunny was waving her hand in front of Tiffany’s face. Finally, she snapped her long fingers & Tiffany woke up from her memory. She quickly grabbed a napkin & wiped away the moisture in her eyes, “Hello in there. Earth to Tiffany. Were you daydreaming again?” Tiffany smiled guiltily. Sunny ‘Tsked tsked’, “Well, while you were in your dream cycle, me & eggman here took the privilege to order for you. You will be having the Octopus bibimbap, bulgogi, sauteed octopus with fried mandoo & togarashi spicy fries.” Sunny finished the recount of the order with a big smile on her face, “Oh, & for dessert, you will be having a big yummy strawberry-apple ice cream.” She looked at Siwon & pointed at him, “He said that that is one of the signature & original pieces of dessert for this restaurant so we have to try it & find out for ourselves.”

Sunny knew that Tiffany hadn’t eaten a good meal for about a week, “What? That’s too much. I can’t afford that & besides, how am I going to finish all of that? I’m not at all hungry.” The growling in her stomach betrayed her statement, “Don’t worry about how much you eat, I’m treating. Just don’t eat too much that you can’t save room for dessert.” Siwon winked at her, “Two against one girlfriend, so you might as well zip it. You can’t win.” Sunny said. Defeated, Tiffany just relaxed & waited for the food to start coming.