Page 35 of The Comeback
“Why does anyone like anyone? Pheromones. Good hair. How their mouth tilts when they smile.” Like his does, but I steadfastly avoid looking at him.
“You believe in love at first sight?”
I laugh. “Hana wasn’t in love with that guy. If she were, she would have stayed and made the best of it.”
“I believe in it.” Jihoon sounds intense.
I brush off a red thread stuck to my shirt. “Then I hope you find them.” I keep my voice light, but I’m uncomfortable with theconversation. Jihoon’s a good person. I want him to be happy, but the thought of him falling in love with someone makes me unjustifiably upset. It’s like we’ve built a strange little world, the two of us. I’ve even started coming home earlier from work to see him, and every time I open the door and he’s there, my heart gives a happy hop that’s not in the slightest diminished by knowing he’s only here for a limited time. In fact, that might make this easier. It’s like our summer fling. I’m Sandy and he’s Danny. Sort of. I could never pull off those skintight satin pants.
Soon we arrive at Uni-Land, a hole-in-the-wall store in a quiet side street.
I lean over the front seat. “Gregor? You in?”
He stares out the windshield. “Ms. Hui, you shouldn’t tempt me while I’m working.”
“You know it’s Ari, because Ms. Hui is my mother. You love ice cream. Green tea or birthday cake?”
He laughs and bows to the inevitable. “Birthday cake. Extra sprinkles.”
“Be right back.”
Jihoon follows me out, eyebrows lowered as he considers the narrow street. “We eat here?” I understand his concern because it’s not the most prepossessing of vistas.
“There.” To the left is a small, curtained door and behind that, fantasy. We walk into a gumball of an ice cream store, swirls of pink and mint green punctuated with dark blue unicorn heads displayed on the walls. I found this taiyaki place on a city stroll and had been instantly enchanted. I hope Jihoon likes it.
He does, and I smile as he sleepwalks toward the display of cones, which are filled pastries shaped like fish instead of the usual regular or waffle. “You go first,” he says, eyes flickering from one option to the next.
I order for Gregor and get a custard-filled green tea ice cream formyself. Jihoon ponders before ordering the unicorn special, a multicolored extravaganza complete with little pastel-pink mochi ears and a golden horn.
Once we get our orders, I point my chin to the far wall, where two women pose with pursed lips and thrust-back hips to take shots of their ice cream. “Photo wall,” I say. “Want to take one for your social media?”
“No.” The brisk response is so unlike the usual calm Jihoon that it takes me aback. Noting my reaction, he looks at me from under the lowered brim of his hat. “I’m taking a break because of my aunt.”
“Of course.” Hana would kill me if I let her mom find out Jihoon’s here. At least one of us remembered.
Back in the car, he pulls off his mask. All three of us eat in bliss and then try to mop up the stickiness with napkins that shred on contact. Gregor starts the car, muttering under his breath when his palms stick to the steering wheel.
I give up and run my hands down my pants, leaving paper fluff along my thighs. “Did you have fun today?”
“You must be excellent at your job,” he says seriously. “You know how to pleasure me.”
I know that English is his fourth language—he mentioned he also speaks Japanese and Mandarin—but his phrasing makes the blood rush to my face. “Some lucky guesses.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “You took a conversation we had and matched it with your knowledge of the city to make something perfect. You pay attention to details.”
“I feel bad for not spending more time with you,” I admit. Take that, Hana. I can be a good host.
He smiles. “Thank you for a beautiful day. I could forget my worries.”
I look at him curiously. “Did it help you, though?”
Jihoon turns to me, and I lose my breath when he looks into myeyes. “It did. It was inspiring.” Then he looks out the window, leaving me to concentrate on his jawline, which, no joke, is casting a shadow. I want to run my hand along it.
Oh no. No. It’s been a long time, but I know this feeling. It’s a crush. I have a crush on Jihoon.
Damn.
Eleven
