Second Date
904 Words
The 5th day, which was the second date set up by the organizer, made me wake up in a hurry.
'I'm late.' I was alone in my room, the others seemed to have already left.
"You're up late." Suddenly, there was a voice greeting me from outside the room. It seemed like he didn't expect there were still occupants in this house.
"You haven't left for your date yet," Kang-Min asked again.
"Not yet," I replied briefly, half-running walking past him and towards the front door.
"Have a good time with your date," he shouted as I closed the front door of our house.
I entered one of the BBQ restaurants. I wasn't too late considering we were only having a short lunch date this time, maybe with an afternoon snack.
"Rael.." he called out, as I was still busy looking around.
"oh.." I waved my hand, walked over to him, and sat down across from him. "I'm quite relieved to see you"
"What do you mean?"
"Yesterday we had a chance to chat, so it doesn't seem like it will be too awkward"
"Do you mean, you can eat better today?" he replied, half remembering yesterday's conversation
"That's one of them..." Some food was served, pieces of meat, along with vegetables (lettuce), kimchi, and soybean paste were around the grill ready to be grilled.
"We should start eating," he continued, while taking out chopsticks, spoons, wiping them and giving them to me. He was indeed a man who was quite detailed in his eating habits, even when he was cooking yesterday. While eating, we continued our conversation.
"What do you do for a living?" I asked
"Hotel manager," he replied, putting some lettuce and meat into his mouth.
"But you're so good at cooking, I thought you owned a restaurant...
"I'm a culinary graduate, but in the end I chose to be a hotel manager... then, what about you?"
"You don't know because you weren't there on our night to tell us our jobs and ages"
"So you don't want to tell me?"
"No.." I replied, shaking my head, which might have seemed arrogant. He looked surprised to hear my answer "I'm a researcher"
"You look like your appearance... "
"Do you mean my appearance is too stiff?"
"Yes, one of them.."
"Thank you...
"I don't think it's unattractive, if you think I was mocking you just now...
"I understand, don't go on... Did you like your date yesterday?
"She's a beautiful and attractive woman, I was hesitant at first but our conversation went smoothly"
"Nice..." I replied briefly while putting a spoonful of rice into my mouth.
"You eat a lot," he continued
"Don't worry, I'm not a woman who will be bothered by such statements"
"I know that...
"Where are we going after this?" I asked after we managed to finish all our food.
"You'll find out..
"Are you keeping it a secret? Are you the one planning it?
"Neither... But let you see later...
After eating, we went to his parked car. We continued our conversation in his car.
"What kind of man do you like?
"Hmmm.. I don't seem to have any specific specifications for that, just someone who can talk coherently, is responsible, and catches my attention.. What about you?
"Beautiful, independent women..
"It's rare for men to say they're looking for independent women? Don't most men expect women to be dependent on them?
"Maybe I'm not one of those men...
"The reason?
"As a hotel manager, I often travel on business trips, I know I'm quite busy so I feel sorry if the woman isn't independent enough. I think the woman should have a good job, where she can enjoy her work without thinking too much about me...
"Will you be working in this job for a long time? Forever?
"I don't know, I'm just stating how I feel right now... Doesn't your job also demand that you spend a lot of time in the office?
"I guess so, but I still try to make time for the people I care about. Maybe work isn't number one for me"
"I hope I can be like that.. "
We arrived at a cafe with a classic 90's decor and ornaments.
We arrived at a café with classic decorations and ornaments like in the 90s.
"This place plays music from records," he explained.
"Oh yeah...
"They still display those records," he continued, pointing to a few records in front of him.
"I wonder how they maintain that player..." We sat at one of the tables near the large window on the top floor of the place... The waiter served two glasses of coffee that we had ordered earlier when we entered the building.
"How do you feel about attending this event?"
"I'm not used to living with a lot of people, I'm not used to being watched, especially after our first date, I think some people have already chosen their positions...
"What do you mean?
"I feel like some people have already started to like certain people and are trying to get close to the people they have a crush on and see if other people like the same person they do.
"That's normal for an event like this, isn't it?
"You're right... I just haven't thought about what if I'm friends and competing with the same person at the same time. I think that would be very difficult.
- Writer
