Ch 5

Narrator

“So, these are your friends… What are their names again?” Jihyun asked as she munched on the doughnuts her boss requested her to buy. Chris had a sudden craving to eat the dessert, so she ran to the same café as yesterday to buy it. Not that she was complaining, she liked their sweets too.

“Oh, right!” he sat next to her after biting the custard-filled doughnut, putting it aside, and taking the picture from her hands. Instead of talking, Chris stared at her intently and Jihyun looks at him weirdly. She was not expecting him to look so, hyped up and act so strange. ”Weirdo,” she inwardly rolled her eyes at him and gestured for him to go on.

“This is Philip and Xiuming, these two are the same age as me and Luke. Then there’s Luke, you met him yesterday. He and I met them when we got into high school, during freshmen days,” The guys he pointed out were in between him as he had a hand over their shoulders. 

The male with a cute dimple on his right cheek was the guy on his left, Xiuming. He had fair skin and curly black hair with hooded and intense-looking eyes. Meanwhile, the other guy who looked the most modest out of them all was standing on his right, Philip. With tan porcelain skin, the male’s smile was sweet to look at.

“This is Hunter and Justine. They are a year younger than the four of us. We got close when they joined the basketball team, naturally, we bonded over sports. They are the troublemaker of the lot, but most of the time, we treat them like our little brothers,” 

He points to the two who are sitting on Luke’s side. Like the rest of them, these guys were tall and it made sense when he pointed out they played basketball. “Yeay me… I would be surrounded by freaking tall guys… or maybe it’d be just Chris…”

Hunter had the darkest skin tone compared to the others and was sitting by Luke’s right. His hair in the picture was in a man-bun and had his thumbs up, grinning like a child. Jihyun found him quite appealing, she had a knack for dark-skinned men, they were attractive in her books.

Justine was on Luke’s left and had wavy blonde hair. His face was quite boyish for a nineteen-year-old but nevertheless, Jihyun figured the boy/man was a heartbreaker. He was winking at the camera and looked just as playful as the rest. “Definitely a group picture of a bunch of teenagers…”

“Can you recognize them? I just want to make sure you do because I told them I told you about them,” she snorted and nodded. “You know I have a good memory, especially when it comes to recognizing faces. Have I ever let you down when you showed me the pictures of those investors or shareholders that I need to attend to or take care of?”

He laughed at her confidence, ”She’s right though,” he chuckled and had a brief thought. ”How could I forget…? She’s amazing like that,” 

“Then go ahead, tell me which friend is which…” he smirked when he notes how she looked like she could nail the names without fail.

“On your left is Xiuming, and your right is Philip. Then the one sitting in the middle front is Luke who is the groom. On his right is Hunter, and on his left is Justine. Am I wrong or am I wrong?” she points to every one of his friends without missing a beat, a smug look washing over her. 

Her expression made Chris chuckle; it wasn’t something he sees often. “Right, your memory is good. I’m sorry for doubting you then,” he patted her head like she's a good puppy and it made her scowl, rolling her eyes. She wasn’t hiding that and somehow it made Chris laugh a bit.

“Is there anything about them I have to know?” 

“Other than they are my most precious friends… no, nothing,” Jihyun nodded, feeling relieved but Chris’s sudden finger snap took her by surprise. “But oh! Just a little heads up! They are big flirts. All of them except Luke of course. If he is, then he’s dead by my hands before Aliaa’s dad could kill him,” 

Jihyun did not hold back her snort, that was not something surprising. She had known Chris for a while, and although he was not as flirty, there were times when she caught him being friendly to women. He wasn’t a womanizer in any way, but he can be a smooth talker if he wanted to be.

Not that she had any experience with his smooth talk, but she had seen him in action once or twice.

So, it didn’t surprise her if his friends are the same, “Isn’t it normal? I mean, look at your friends, they are good-looking, dashing even though this is a picture from your youth days. I am not surprised at all,” 

Her words gave him a pause, “Dashing? Wait… does that mean…” smirking, he took the photo out of her hands again, taking the woman by surprise. “It is normal, but it can’t just be my friends right… how about me? I’m in the picture too you know,” 

Teasing her, he leaned down his face to a level with hers, completely puzzling the woman. His minty scent filled Jihyun’s nose and her tummy did a flip at his sudden action. ”What is he doing? And what does he mean?”

“What are you talking about?” she pushed his face away, as her face began to blush as he was firm with the tease. Moving forward, Chris leaned in closer till their noses touched, and this time he held her small hands, just to see her reaction. 

Jihyun’s eyes were wide due to shock, her brain could not digest his actions and it was making it hard for her to talk. ”Cute… she’s just too cute,” Chris thought and couldn’t help but peck her nose. Her face, neck, and ears were red, like a tomato due to his sudden bold act.

Deciding it was enough teasing for the day, he lets her go and watched as Jihyun exhaled in relief. Her eyes did not meet his and he could not help but feel like he accomplished something.

“I didn’t bring a picture of my parents, so you’ll just meet them at the resort in Okinawa. I’m an only child and so is Aliaa,” 

“Ok, sure,” she replies shortly, still embarrassed by his actions. ”But why am I the one embarrassed? Shouldn’t he be the one to feel this way?”

When there was nothing but silence between them, he sighed. Munching on another doughnut, he tried to think of something to say to her. “Now that I think about it, I never really knew about your background. Are you an only child Jihyun?” he threaded, to break the silence he unknowingly created.

Jihyun did not expect that, slowly meeting his eyes, she blinks and pondered on it. “Right… he doesn’t know who my family is…” 

Thinking about it carefully, she tried to word her words and make it seem as if she was from a normal family. “I have 2 older sisters. I’m the youngest in my family. That’s pretty much it, I think. There’s not much to know about me,” Jihyun simply says and shrugged, taking another sugar-covered doughnut and eating it.

***

“Hey Chris, I’m curious. Why did you call off your wedding?” he looked at her like he didn’t expect her to ask that. Realizing it belatedly, Jihyun panickily tried to cover it up, "I-I... I didn't-" she couldn't say anything to save herself.

Jihyun didn’t know why she asks as she mentally slaps her face hundreds of times because of asking the stupid question, facing away from Chris after doing so. “He probably thinks I am an idiot for asking something like this… damn it Jihyun!”

As much as he didn’t see the question coming, he figured she would ask, only not this early. Pondering on what he could say, he sighed and settled on the truth, “It’s because she didn’t show up on our wedding day. And she told me she was in love with someone else an hour before the wedding started then left. She left and never looked back…” 

She needed to know, in case someone from his family decided to talk to her about it. He sighed and tried to get rid of the sour feeling of reminiscing about the past. “There is nothing wrong in telling her, at least she could prepare herself if someone wasn’t sensitive enough and asked her about it…”

“Oh... I’m sorry to hear that. I mean, she lost a good person,” Jihyun wasn’t eager to know, especially when she was angry at herself for asking something so sensitive. But to hear him elaborate on what happened in a short explanation, she pitied him and the woman.

“Good person?” he was confused and Jihyun smiled. “You’re a nice person Chris, although you can be cold and arrogant, you have a kind heart. I’ve worked for you long enough to know some parts of you,” 

Her eyes tore away from him to study the other pictures of his cousins and relatives. Chris felt his heart warm up at her words as if a hand was cuddling his cold heart. The two of them continued to discuss some things Jihyun should tell people who ask her about their relationship. Jihyun caught up and he was satisfied with her cooperation.

“Lunch?” she thought about his invitation and slowly nodded her head. “Ok, just give me a minute,” they left, and soon they left. “Where are we eating?” Jihyun asks as they enter Chris’s car.

“What do you want to eat?”

“I like pasta,”

“Pasta? Ok, I know a famous Italian restaurant,” They got to said restaurant and after placing their orders, the two were left alone. 

“You know we have to be in Japan tomorrow, right?” Chris asked her as the waiter left after serving their food. Jihyun got the classic fettuccine carbonara while he got a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce.

“I figured, just not confirmed,”

“I need to make sure the staffs are ready with the things I need them to prepare for the wedding. Plus, Aliaa with her wedding planners is going to be there too. Since your Japanese is a lot better than mine, it’d be great if we could go together… then again, since you’re my girlfriend, you have to come with me,” 

“Don’t worry, I know,” she smiled, not noticing there was a sauce stain on the corner of her lip. Chris didn’t think it through and leaned forward, making Jihyun freeze when his thumb brushed the spot.

“What?” she pulled back and did what he did, yet there was nothing. “There was a sauce stain, I was trying to help,” he shrugged and act nonchalantly. When he was sure she wasn’t looking at him anymore, he took a peek at her.

Jihyun was still blushing as she frowned at the pasta as if asking it with her eyes. ”She’s so adorable…” he thought fondly while enjoying his food.