Babtol's
Tutoring an Idol
The driver dropped Taemin and Gianna off at the front of Babtol's. Sure, it was only 10:00, but it was real busy compared to Ki-baek. They both walked into the restaurant and sat by one of the side windows. He put his hood down, saying, "You know, you can take your hood and glasses off now."
Gianna shook her head. "Aren't there going to be crazy fans outside?"
"No, the owners forbid it." Gianna furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding what he was saying. Taemin chuckled. "Sorry... the parents of another K-pop star own this place, so they understand that we don't want them freaking out while we're trying to eat. Plus, not a lot of younger people come here, so it's safe to calm down and breathe for a few minutes."
"Well, I'm happy you brought me," she replied, putting her hood down and placing her glasses on the table, "but... I don't know what banchan is."
His eyes suddenly got big. "WHAT?!"
"Don't yell, jeez!"
He started whispering, "What?! How do you not know what banchan is?!"
"I've lived in North America all my life!"
"But... banchan?! How do you not know about banchan?!"
"I'm sorry!"
He chuckled, then went back to his normal tone. "I'm just messing with you." A waiter came over and Taemin gave him their order: two waters and an order of banchan. "Oh, and I'm paying."
"What're you talking about? I lost fair and square. I'll pay, dongsaeng!"
He looked at her, scrunching his lips together and making a pouty face. "But... you dont have any money!"
She looked in her pockets and found her wallet. When she opened it, she realized she only had American money, but no Korean money. She sighed. "Fine... but I'm paying next time!"
"If you have money by then!" Just then, the same waiter brought their glasses of water and said, "Your banchan is almost done, if you can wait a few minutes."
"That's fine," Taemin said, "Take your time."
"Thank you," Gianna added.
The waiter went back into the kitchen. Gianna looked outside the window and saw people walking by the restaurant, trying to peek in the windows to see who they knew. "So, who are these parents, anyway?"
He pointed to a picture of two older people and a young man together above her head. "See the guy in the middle?"
"What about him?"
"He's in a group called Super Junior. Have you heard of them?"
Gianna chuckled. "No, sorry. Are they big or something?"
Taemin scoffed. "Big? They're huge around here."
"There's a group more famous than yours?!"
"SHINee's only been a group for two years. Super Junior has been together for a little over six."
"So... they have a lot of fans, huh?"
"Let's just say that if you thought the swarm in front of the house was a lot, that's nothing for SJ. That's like a tea party for them!"
Holy crap...
"Wow, so there's a lot of K-pop groups, aren't there?"
"Yeah," he replied, "and you'll see them on Wednesday at the concert!"
She smiled. "Yeah, it sounds exciting! Am I supposed to wear anything fancy?"
"Not right now. We're going to have you sneak into the audience. That way you don't have to watch us in the back or cause rumors."
"Oh, it's because I'm a girl, huh?" she joked.
"Well... sort of. And because if the press sees us with someone they haven't heard about, they might say some mean things."
"I understand. I'm just happy you guys invited me."
Taemin smiled. He then turned and saw the waiter exit the kitchen with a tray in his hand. "OH, HEY! THE BANCHAN'S HERE!!"
The waiter came back and set plate after plate in the middle of the table. "Hope you enjoy your banchan!" he said as he walked away.
Gianna was shocked at all the food. "This is a banchan?"
"Yeah, what did you think it was?"
"It sounded like some good soup!"
She looked at the display of food and was just at awe of all the food there. Kimchi, bokkeum, and jorim sat on the table, ready to be eaten. "It looks so good," Gianna said, "I don't even want to touch it."
Taemin smiled and grabbed his chopsticks. "Suit yourself!" He went right into the bokkeum and stuffed a clump into his mouth. The juice from the pork and chili paste dripped from his mouth. Gianna tried telling him by pointing to her face, saying, "You have a little something on your face."
"What're you talking about?" he asked, throwing more bokkeum in his mouth.
HOW MUCH CAN HE EAT?! "Oh, you'll get it soon." She decided to try some jorim, suspicious of what it was made of. When she was done chewing, she said, "Thank you for buying this, Taemin! It's delicious!"
"Hey, anything for my new shopping buddy!"
They continued to eat until the banchan was almost gone. Gianna took the last bit of kimchi and ate it. "Hey, I was going to grab that!"
"Well, you missed out, dongsaeng!" she smiled.
Taemin decided he was still hungry after all that food, so he bought some vegetable bread for a snack. The waiter brought it back a few minutes later and placed it in front of Taemin. "Here," he said, grabbing one and handing it to Gianna, "Try it."
"Okay," she smirked. Gianna grabbed the bread from Taemin and put some in . As she was chewing, though, she saw a group of people walk into the restaurant, one looking familiar. She looked at him for a second, thinking about him. I think I know him. I mean, his hair's lighter... and actually done properly, but he's still skinny. Can you at least turn around so I can see your face? She turned back to Taemin, who asked, "What were you looking at?"
"Oh, I thought I saw something."
Taemin shrugged it off, thinking it was nothing, so he put another piece of vegetable bread in his mouth. Then she heard someone say "I gotta go back and get my wallet. I'll be right back." She turned her eyes to the person leaving, being the person she was looking at. As she looked at his face, she thought, Those cheeks. Wait... wait a minute! That's...!!!
She gasped, accidentally in the piece of vegetable bread she had in . Taemin looked at her and his eyes got wide. "Oh, jeez!" Gianna grabbed her napkin and coughed in it, bringing back up the piece of bread. "First you get your hair pulled by crazy Shawols, and now you choke on bread because you saw something?! You're having a pretty off day, aren't you Noona?"
She took a deep breath. "I guess so. Who was that guy anyway? The one that walked out."
He looked out the window and saw the person she was talking about. "Him? I don't remember his name right now, but he's a member of Super Junior-M. I think he's from Toronto in Canada... somewhere that begins with a 'W'...?"
"Willowdale?"
Taemin smiled. "Yeah, Willowdale! How did you know?"
She turned to the person outside and smiled, then turned back to Taemin. "Because I think that's my childhood best friend... Henry Lau."
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