Looking at the selections of food at the cafeteria, he felt his stomach grumbles with hunger. His eyes were riveted at the huge pot of bubbling red Kimchi Stew. His mouth watered immediately. Oh, he knew of the consequences he would have if he consumes spicy food. But he just can’t help it. The taste of the hot stew was so good that he just had to have it again. To hell with discomfort.  He’d gladly go through it again. Having caught the ahjumma’s attention, he gestured to the stew, motioning one serving with his finger.

“Thank you.” He smiled his thanks to the ahjumma before carrying the precious stew with his tray of rice and side dishes back to where Mark and Jr. were waiting for him with their own foods.  Jackson sat down, poured water into two cups and pulled the box of napkins close to him. Looking up into the amused eyes of his friends, he warned them with mocked severity, “Don’t disturb me until I’ve done eating.”  Mark merely shook his head at the younger boy in response.

Jackson dug into his food with gusto, wincing immediately as the spicy soup went down his throat. Not even a couple of spoonful after, he was already wiping his face with the napkins. The only Korean at the table; Jr., grinned amusedly at the occupied Jackson. He felt proud that his new foreign friend has taken such a liking towards one of the traditional dishes of his country. Taking a pity on Jackson, he thoughtfully filled the empty cups with water and pushed them into Jackson’s waiting hand.

From the corner of his eyes, something caught his attention. Turning his head towards the entryway of the cafeteria, he saw two familiar figures walking in. A plan formed inside his mind. Oohh this would be fun indeed. He waited until the two girls had filled their trays before he called out to one of them, “Yerin-ah! Come sit with us!” he waved at them, motioning to his table in clear show of invitation. Obediently, the two girls walked over to where the boys were sitting. However the shorter of the two, stopped short when she finally saw whom she would be sharing the table with. She’s more than fine with Jr. She’s met Mark before this, finding the quiet American boy to be very pleasant. She couldn’t say the same about the other guy who’s busy stuffing his face though. Her cheeks colored red when she recalled the time when they first met. However, in place of the greasy and y guy she met the other day, she found instead a sweaty and flushed red Jackson.

“Annyeong, oppa!” Yerin greeted Jr. brightly, smiling politely towards Mark, not knowing him well enough to be over-the-top friendly. Mark returns the gesture and continued his eating in silence. He’s not fluent enough to converse in Korean, besides he could be as awkward as the next guy, around girls.

“Annyeong. Have a sit, girls.” Jr. invited – pulling a chair closest to him for Yerin, leaving Jimin no choice but to sit opposite Jackson, who’ve yet to surface for air. Everything ceases to exist when this guy puts up his mind on something.  Jimin knew that she had no choice but to sit there and pretend not to notice his presence.

“Jimin-ah, how’s the practice go-“ Jr.’s question was rudely interrupted when Jackson coughed violently, spraying bits and pieces of food as he did so. Needless to say, Jr. caught him by surprise when he mentioned Jimin’s name. Gulping down the water to soothe his burning throat, he glared at Jr., knowing very well that the boy did it on purpose to get his attention, but of course he didn’t take into account that Jackson would spray his half-chewed food in surprise. Jackson wiped his mouth clean with the napkin in hand, eyes flitting towards a very amused Jimin, whom was laughingly wiping the bits of food that got stuck on her shirt.

Eyes wide now, in horror at what he had done, he blubbered out an apology. “Oh my god, Jimin! I’m so sorry. ! Sorry I cursed!” he took a few napkins at tried to help but stopped doing so when Jimin was laughing openly now at his expense. His eyes followed the movements of Jimin’s hand that took the napkins out of his hands to wipe at the tears from the corner of her eyes. A few moments passed, then Jackson finally allowed himself to see humor in the situation and he too laughed, shaking his head at the incident. He pushed away the tray of his remaining food, having lost interest and appetite now.

“So it was you that we heard yesterday.” Yerin said in surprised after she heard the familiar sounds of Jackson’s laughter. At hearing the question from her friend, Jimin only laughed harder. After she has managed to calm herself down, she smiled ruefully towards Yerin. “Yes, the comparison to a hyena was astute, wasn’t it?”

“Hey now. I’ve been told that my laugh is charming.” Jackson defended himself;  his composure restored, and now he’s back to his greasy and y self. Turning to Yerin, he extended his hand and introduced himself. “My name is Wang Jackson. I’m a new trainee here. How do you do?” he asked politely.

Jimin scoffed at his show of politeness, miffed that she wasn’t shown the same treatment. Jackson’s eyes flew to Jimin, “Hey, I can be polite when I wanted to.”

“Meaning that I don’t deserve the same courtesy as Yerin does?” she snapped. Jimin turned her attention to her forgotten food that was getting cold now. She shoved down a couple of spoonful, not wanting to completely waste the food before getting up with her tray in hands, putting it on the food trolley and walked out of the cafeteria without waiting for Yerin.

“Now look at what you’ve done.” Mark finally spoke, feeling that the Jackson warrants some scolding. Jackson looked bewildered. “What did I do?” he asked, genuinely not realizing his mistake. He looked at Jr. who shrugged. “You implied that she didn’t deserve your politeness. Remember the first time you met her?” he explained.

“But I wasn’t rude to her. I behaved myself the other day. Couldn’t help it if she doesn’t like the way I laugh.” Jackson defended himself. Mark sighed. “Whatever it is though, you should go apologize to her.” His tone broke no argument.

Jackson grudgingly got up from his seat and ran after Jimin, hoping that she hasn’t gone far. A few minutes of searching, he saw Jimin entering a practice room. Following suite, he closed the door behind him quietly, leaning against the door of the narrow room that contains a keyboard, a chair and nothing else.

“That was twice you walked away from me.” He started.

Jimin wasn’t surprised that Jackson has come to look for her, knew that the other oppas must have put him up to it.

“What are you talking about, Jackson?” she asked, not looking up from the musical notes in her hands.

Jackson sighed impatiently, “When we met the other day, you walked out once. Then just now you did the same thing again. You have a habit of running away when you felt like it, don’t you?” he explained.

“I don’t have a habit of running away! The other day I was busy practicing, and well… today I just want to get back to practice.”

“All work and no play makes Jimin a very dull girl.” Jackson taunted. He saw her lips thinned in annoyance, knew that he should stop teasing her.

“You are such a-“

“Before you resort to insulting me with colorful names, I have a suggestion to make.” He cut in pleasantly, a sincere smile on his face now.

Jimin arched her brows in question. “What is it?”

“What do you say to us starting it over?” He shoved his hand towards her. “Annyeonghaseyo. My name is Jackson Wang. I’m from Hong Kong and I’m a new trainee here.”

Jimin stared at his hand, recognizing it as an olive branch. Oh, what the hell. She grasped his much bigger hand, “I’m Park Jimin. I’m a trainee here too.” She smiled tentatively up at him.

Reluctantly letting go of her soft and much smaller hand, he asked, “Do you know what’s my opinion of you, Park Jimin?”

Eyes wary, she waited for him to continue.

“You’re very much like a Kimchi stew. Hot and spicy. But heartwarming and comforting.” He finished, smirking playfully at her now. She was frowning at him, apparently confused at his words.

“I’m not sure I like being likened to a food, much less Kimchi stew. It feels like an insult.” She responded after a while.

“Oh, I assure you, that it was very much a compliment.” He opened the door of the practice room, and just as he was about to close it, he said over his shoulder, “For I really love Kimchi stew.”