Chapter 8 Kiss of Death
Kiss of Death
Tae
Tae noticed the change in Julia immediately. He followed her line of sight to the door and realized exactly what was going
on. Jisoo Kang, of all people, had just walked into this tiny café in LA. What was she doing all the way up here? But the
real question on Tae’s mind was whether Julia was going to be okay.
The three of them, along with Tae’s brother, had all grown up in church together. Julia and Jisoo were inseparable, like sisters
really, and Tae their favorite target to boss around. He recalled watching them slowly drift apart as the comments and comparisons
by their parents and other adults made it difficult on them. But they were actually so different. The only thing they shared
was being the same age and attending the same church. But everyone at Zion Korean Church compared the two of them, celebrated
when one did something amazing, complimented how pretty they both were, and ultimately, always, their parents would pull the
Jisoo did this and Julia did that cards.
Tae remained friendly with Jisoo. But his loyalty had always been to Julia. She was his neighbor. And for as long as they’d
known each other, he’d felt a tie to her, a responsibility to look out for her, even though she was older.
And right now, he knew Julia was feeling fragile about her grandmother, the setups, the dating. It probably didn’t help that Jisoo was now engaged. Tae couldn’t imagine what a mind trip all of this was on Julia. But he was going to do what he could to make sure it didn’t get worse.
Jisoo oohed and aahed about the cute café to her group of friends, and as she scanned the interior, her eyes landed on Tae.
“Oh my, Taehyung-ssi. What are you doing here?” She clapped her hands enthusiastically and came right over to their table.
When she turned to see who Tae was with, her expression immediately shifted to one of shock. Her eyebrows lifted. “Julia?
Is that you? Oh my God, this is wild. I haven’t seen you in years!”
Tae stood up and wrapped an arm around Jisoo. “Hi, Jisoo. What brings you all the way up to LA?”
“I could ask you the same thing, but I guess you’re here to see Julia?” She looked between the two of them.
Julia definitely noticed the curious look on Jisoo’s face, and her spine quickly straightened as she plastered on a smile.
“Tae is helping me with some work I’m having done on Starlight’s offices.”
“Oh, that’s good. Tae is great at that. He helped my parents renovate their kitchen.” Jisoo looked back at Tae. “Thanks for
that, by the way. I seriously think those cabinet guys were planning to rip off my parents and screw them over. We really
owe you.”
“Honestly, it was my pleasure. Not a problem at all.”
“Well, I have a problem with how little you let my parents pay you. You basically only charged them a fraction over supply
costs. Tae, I still have the check for the rest of the work that we owe you.”
“Really, Jisoo, you guys don’t have to.”
“I’m not gonna argue with you here in public. But I will pay you what you deserve at the very minimum.” She had the kind but
stern I’m a doctor look on her face.
As if just realizing she had come with two other people, Jisoo quickly introduced her friends. Her bridesmaids.
“Well, it’s kind of embarrassing, but we’re on a reconnaissance mission of sorts. I heard there were some wedding dress boutiques
in this area, and I wanted to check them out before my mom was going to shuffle me off to the ones in K-town. I have nothing
against those stores. But I just want to make sure I’ve seen all my options, ya know? I know it’s silly . . .” She seemed
genuinely embarrassed by this, which Tae wasn’t sure why she would need to be. But the downturned corners of her mouth also
made her seem a little sad.
Tae looked over at Julia who sat still, looking down at her empty bowl and nodding politely.
“It’s not silly. Wedding-dress shopping should be fun for you. Enjoy it. Oh, and congratulations, by the way,” Julia said.
“My parents told me about the engagement last weekend. I’ve been meaning to send you a message. That’s really exciting news.”
“Yeah, Jisoo, congrats. That’s really cool. My brother knows Eric from their engineering circles and says he’s a cool guy.
I’m happy for you both.”
“Thanks,” Jisoo said. “We didn’t date long, so it came as a bit of a surprise when he proposed. Sometimes these things just
happen.” Tae found it odd that Jisoo seemed so matter-of-fact about it all. Was she not excited about the engagement?
“Julia, your company’s office is up here, right? You must come to this café a lot. I’ve heard good things. Anyways, I better
get going. You two enjoy your date.” Jisoo smiled and turned to leave.
“It’s just, um, a friendly coffee that, um, turned into a late lunch because my assistant forgot to remind me to eat during
lunchtime. Not that I need an assistant to do that. I just sometimes get lost in my work. And Tae was in the area to see about
a kimchi fridge and help with the remodel. It was just a coincidence that we ended up here at this small table for two with
food,” Julia said.
Tae knew Julia to be direct. And according to her, almost painfully so.
So what was with the rambling? Did running into Jisoo again bring up some painful feelings that made her lose her composure?
Or was it the thought of being caught out in public with Tae and having someone possibly misread the situation that was a fate worse than death?
Tae wanted to understand what was happening right now, but he was, frankly, a little hurt.
What was her issue?
“Oh, okay.” Jisoo gave an awkward smile, turned an apologetic eye to Tae, and waved as she went to sit with her friends.
“Was that necessary?” Tae asked, slightly annoyed.
Julia’s shoulders slumped, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “I have no idea what just happened there. For some reason I was
terrified Jisoo was gonna ask about my setups. And I just panicked. I suddenly felt like I was eighteen again, being told
that Jisoo won valedictorian and prom queen, and I was just sitting at home eating Oreos.”
“If I recall correctly, Jisoo was neither valedictorian nor prom queen,” Tae corrected her.
“I know. It just always felt like whatever she did was better than anything I did. And now . . . she’s shopping for wedding
gowns.”
“Well, I’m sorry she caught us together and got the wrong idea,” he said.
Julia’s eyes turned to Tae. “I’m so sorry. You know it’s not like that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m out of sorts,
I guess. It’s the whole turning-thirty thing, paired with the not-being-married thing, with the is-my-grandma-dying-or-not
thing. Punctuated by the why-is-it-anyone’s-business thing. It’s been . . . a lot.”
Tae took in all that was Julia Song in front of him.
Her long black hair and sideswept bangs.
Her small, yet expressive features surprisingly not overshadowed by her big, doelike eyes.
Her thin neck and usually perfect posture.
And her humongous, impressive brain. What made a woman like this so guilt-ridden by old, traditional ways of thinking?
Tae had his own issues about his perceived failures. He had dropped out of college to come help his dad with his landscaping
business after his first diagnosis and ended up in Chicago working at a middle-management job that bored him and didn’t let
him do the one thing he liked doing: working with his hands to fix things. All of this while everyone else around him flourished.
He was the dull knife in a drawer full of Ginsus.
But his mother had never given him shit about it. She just let him figure it out on his own, trusted him to make his own decisions
about what was best for him. He had yet to come through on that, though. All his decisions seemed to be the wrong ones. She
was as untraditional a Korean mom as it got when it came to raising Tae. Maybe Tae could use more pressure from his mom to
force him to make some better choices. But, looking at Julia now, he wasn’t sure he should be wishing for such a thing.
“Julia, don’t do this to yourself. You’re amazing. I respect the hell out of you, not only for what you’ve accomplished but
also for selflessly agreeing to these setups to make your grandmother happy. I just hope it doesn’t come at the cost of your
own happiness.”
Wise words. Tae wondered where he fit on this happiness spectrum.
Julia’s vulnerable eyes looked up at Tae. She was searching his: for what, he couldn’t tell. “Thank you,” she said. “I needed
that.”
Tae wanted to tell her he’d always be on her side. But he kept that to himself. He didn’t want her thinking he was interested
in any way other than a friend wanting to help. She was way out of his league, and he was not delusional.
“You’re sweet,” Julia said.
“Oh God. Sweet, the kiss of death,” Tae groaned.
“I thought nice was the kiss of death,” Julia said.
“It’s been dethroned by sweet.”
“Well, you’re cute too. Does that help?” Julia teased.
“No, cute is almost as awful. God, Julia, your compliments are the worst.”
Julia laughed. “Well, at least I didn’t comment on your clothes.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” he asked.
“Nothing . . . I’m just known for—”
“Making men cry. You told me.” He chuckled.
“I’m doomed, Tae. This will never work,” she said, dropping her head in her hands.
“Jules, listen. Like I said before, this doesn’t have to be miserable. We’ll have fun practicing just being social. And, well,
it’ll give us a chance to spend some time together. We have some catching up to do. It’s just three dates. Give it a chance
and see how it goes, okay?”
Tae truly hoped it would all be as easy as he was making it out to be. She didn’t look like the type of person that handled
failure well.
Julia nodded, looking more herself again. “Thanks again for letting me hire you as my dating coach.”
“Let’s be clear. I’m just here to hang out with you so you’ll be ready for your dates. And you will not be paying me. This