Dates, maybe
Same, but Different“I’m meeting the guys for dinner,” Soo tells me as we exit the class at 5PM sharp.
“Hmm.”
“Come along?” She asks a question she obviously knows the answer to.
“Can’t.” But it’s not an excuse. Soo sighs.
“Just because you can’t perform together anymore doesn’t mean you can’t stay friends, right?”
I stop mid-step. “You know Woong,” I say, getting frustrated. “He doesn’t understand why I’m doing this and he will never understand. I don’t like the pressure he puts on me to re-join the band.” Soo looks like she’s about to say something else but my phone rings, interrupting her.
“You’re done, right?” Rap Mon asks as soon as I answer the phone. “That small road from this morning, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I turn to Soo. “Maybe next time,” I tell her, turning in the opposite direction towards the side gate.
“Yah! Where are you going?” Soo shouts. I wave at her as I turn down the hallway.
The side road is empty when I reach. Looking around, I squint to find Rap Mon. A black car suddenly turns in and stops in front of me. The backdoor opens and Rap Mon steps out.
“What’s with the car?” I ask, eyeing the sleek black vehicle, a fresh look from their usual van.
“Less outstanding,” he says shrugging. Still holding the door open, he motions for me to go in. And so I do.
“Hello,” I greet the man in the driver’s seat – I recognise him as their manager. His expression tells me he’s not very happy at the idol but there’s also a look of defeat in his face. The manager greets me back. Taking the seat beside me, he pulls the door shut and the manager drives off.
“Where are we going?” I ask. I know I heard him say fried rice but… really?
“You’ll see!” He smiles at me suspiciously as he attempts to change the subject. “So how’s school?”
“Oh, just the same,” I answer. How much different can school get, right?
“You were really serious in your studies just now,” he mentions oddly.
“Don’t students always. What about that?”
Rap Mon shakes his head. “There was something different. Besides, it’s not exam period, isn’t it?” No doubts he’s a genius.
“I want to ace this,” I tell him matter-of-factly.
“I’m sure you will,” he says and I nod, not sure if we’re thinking about the same thing.
“So,” I bring our focus back to dinner. “Fried rice?”
“Uh-huh. You’ll love it! I found this really famous place online, and people are praising their food to no end.” Rap Mon smiles proudly and this actually sounds like a good idea until the car turns a corner and we see a dragon of people lining outside a restaurant.
“Don’t tell me that’s the one…” If there’s anything I absolutely hate in this world, it’s lining up.
“Heol.” Rap Mon stares at the queue in disbelief. “Let’s just go somewhere else.” His smile fades into dejection.
“It’s okay, oppa,” I try to comfort him despite internally squealing at his cute expression. Then, an idea strikes me. “Let’s go to this place instead!” Keying the address into the navigator, I tell the manager to bring us to this place instead. It’s not very far away, and we reach just under ten minutes later.
“Where is this place?” Rap Mon asks when we alight. The manager looks around sceptically. Rap Mon had told him to go off first but apparently, we needed chaperoning. Shrugging, I take them into the restaurant – a small and old but still my all-time favourite food paradise.
“Auntie!” I call as I pull open the slide door. Auntie pauses in the middle of wiping a table and waves at me.
“You should’ve called before coming,” she tells me, looking apologetic that my usual table is taken.
“It’s okay,” I assure her. “We’ll just take the table beside.” Leading the guys in, we sit at a table in the far corner.
“What’s good here?” The manager asks, looking around. “Menu…”
“There’s no menu here,” Auntie comes with glasses of water and tells him. Rap Mon raises his eyebrow at Auntie and then at me.
“Auntie, just give us three sets of whatever’s on today,” I order.
“What’s on today?” Rap Mon asks but Auntie turns away too quickly. He repeats the question but directs it at me instead. I shrug.
“It’s a different menu every day of the week,” I explain. “But I don’t usually come on Mondays so I don’t know what’s on too.” This is a lie. This place is practically my second home. How is it possible that I don’t know what’s on the menu daily?
“Oh…” Rap Mon’s seems slightly sceptical. “But you don’t think we can get dumplings too?”
His face is so cute I cannot resist. “Auntie!” I call, “Dumplings too!” She pokes her head out of the kitchen and gives me the thumbs up.
“So, you come here often?” Rap Mon asks, attempting to strike up a conversation while the manager busies himself on his phone. I nod in response to his question.
“Ever since I started chewing solid food,” I tell him, half-jokingly.
“With your… friends?”
“Friend,” I correct. “Only Soo’s been here.” I don’t know if I answered the question as he’d expected but he smiles.
“Knife noodles are here,” Auntie interrupts by carrying over a large tray with three big bowls balanced on it.
“Knife noodles?” Rap Mon’s eyes light up and I cheer internally. Smiling, I distribute the utensils.
“Thank you for the food,” I say before digging in. I watch as Rap Mon takes a sip of the soup.
“How is it?” Auntie asks when she returns with dumplings.
“It’s really good!” He praises and with a motherly smile, Auntie goes back to work.
“Auntie’s cooking skill is really no joke,” I say, slurping up noodles.
“We should come every Monday,” Rap Mon suggests, talking with his mouth full of food. I think about it and decide that it’s not a bad suggestion.
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