Chapter 11 Tae’s Guide to Dating
Tae’s Guide to Dating
Tae
Tae suggested Julia meet him at Seoul House, a tiny hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant in their neighborhood.
Julia had always been a picky eater, one who never liked eating her veggies. A vegetarian who didn’t like vegetables. Now,
that was a challenge. So the worst part of this first setup date was that the dude was taking her to a Korean barbecue restaurant.
At seven. In K-town. The guy was not winning any charm points in Tae’s mind.
But Tae promised to prepare Julia so that she would have a good time and maybe stop beating up on herself over failed dates.
A few practice dates that led to, potentially, a few successful dates might not be the cure for Julia’s insecurities, but
they could help ease her stress.
It had been a long week of phone calls with his dad’s insurance company. Issues with claims and refusal of payments left Tae
with bills, one, that he shouldn’t have to pay and, two, he didn’t have the money to. He had a couple paying gigs this week,
but he would need to get some more work on his plate sooner than later.
Luckily this place had great food . . . and it was cheap.
Tae heard the bell to the front door jingle, and with the sun at her back, Julia walked in looking like a movie star. She took her obviously expensive sunglasses off and tucked her long bangs behind her ear, a move Tae had come to realize was her tell. She was nervous.
Tae could actually hear his own heart pounding inside him. He took a quick drink of water, his mouth so freaking dry.
This was not a real date, he reminded himself. Don’t get it twisted. Julia had always little-brother-zoned Tae. And he made
it a general rule in life not to date anyone out of his league. He didn’t need those insecurities floating around in his head.
Maybe that was one of the reasons he was good at this, why women liked him. He only dated women he felt comfortable with,
which in turn, made them feel comfortable with him.
This mutual comfort was something he was going to help Julia get used to for her dates.
“Jules, over here.” Tae waved a hand till Julia noticed him. She smiled and walked over.
“You found it okay?”
“Yeah. I hadn’t realized the shabu shabu place went out of business. Is this place good?”
“It’s one of my favorite local spots.”
“Awesome, can’t wait to try it.” Julia pulled the napkin off the table and put it in her lap. She kept her head down, looking
at her hands. “So how do we do this?”
Tae smiled even though he knew Julia couldn’t see.
“Hi, I’m Tae.” He reached out a hand. Maybe it was a little cheesy, forcing her to start with an intro, pretending they didn’t
know each other. But Tae got the sense Julia took herself too seriously sometimes. Cheesy might be just the trick.
She lifted her head and looked at his outstretched hand. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Oh, the girl likes
a little role-playing. Well, okay, then.
“Hi, Tae. I’m Julia.” She shook his hand, and he held it for just a second longer than he needed to.
Tae wondered if Julia had ever engaged in some role-playing behind closed doors. He could imagine her dressed in her CEO best,
ordering the local handyman to strip down while she watched.
He quickly cleared his throat and readjusted himself in his chair.
“So what’s good here?” Julia looked away, picked up the menu and started to review. She crinkled her nose and frowned.
Time for Tae to take over. “Considering Michael Lee chose a barbecue restaurant, I looked online to see if their menu had
other things you could eat. Now, I recall you don’t particularly like vegetables in general, and unless things have changed,
you used to typically avoid spicy stuff. But I thought I’d pick some dishes for you to try here and see if it might be good?”
Julia nodded, but she looked unconvinced.
“Trust me?” Tae asked.
Julia looked up and him, lips puckered, eyes narrowed, taking the time to determine whether she did, in fact, trust Tae or
not when it came to food.
“Sure,” she said. “I’ll taste and see.”
Tae released a silent sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure how this would all go, but it seemed Julia was in for the ride. That
made all his plans a lot easier. He reached over and picked up the gift bag and put it on the table in front of Julia.
“What’s this?” she asked. She reached into the bag and pulled out a small notebook, examining the cover. Her smile spread
as she saw the title. “Tae’s Guide to Dating,” she read aloud.
“I figured you might want to take some notes during our practice sessions. I remember how meticulous you are about research
and being prepared.”
“This cover is amazing. How did you do this?” She ran her fingers over the cherry blossoms he’d carved in a thin piece of birch plywood. She looked up at him in awe. “I’ve never seen a notebook with a wooden cover.”
Julia’s reaction to the simple woodwork had him floating on cloud nine. “Yeah, just something I made.”
“It’s really gorgeous. You’re really talented. You were always making things and fixing things with your hands. I’m actually
surprised you didn’t end up being a carpenter or something like that by trade. No wonder you’ve been so helpful with everyone
with their home renovations. My facilities team also says you’ve been instrumental in getting our office-reno project off
the ground.”
Tae needed to change the topic before Julia noticed his blush. He cleared his throat to regain his composure.
“It’s nothing. I just answered some basic questions for them. Anyways, write down the things I order, and mark the ones you
like so you can remember the dishes.”
Julia nodded and opened up the notebook. She reached into her purse and pulled out two pens, a black one and a red one.
“Still taking notes with multicolored pens, I see.”
“It’s my method. It’s worked for me since high school, and I stick with the things that work.”
“You have always been the loyal type,” Tae said.
She smiled and lowered her eyes. “You’re the definition of the word,” she said. “Word on the street is you’re seeing someone
out in Chicago?” she asked casually.
How did she manage to keep turning the conversation back on him? He didn’t want to talk about himself. He didn’t want to be
examined only to have all his huge cracks exposed. “We broke up a few months ago when I decided to come back home.” Tae didn’t
think Kari would appreciate him talking about their relationship to someone else. So he left it at that instead of going into
how it wasn’t actually that serious in the first place.
Julia nodded slowly, taking in the new information she’d been given. “It has to have been tough putting your life in Chicago on hold and being out here for your family. It’s really amazing, the sacrifices you’ve made.”
And there was that blush again. “Thing is, it hasn’t really been that tough. I mean, my dad being sick sucked big-time. But
now that he’s on the mend, I just don’t feel the rush to get back to Chicago.”
Julia nodded again, letting the silence grow. Tae was curious what she was thinking but wasn’t sure he could handle any judgment
on his life at the moment.
“Well, as attractive as I personally find a girl with a notebook, make sure not to pull it out during the dates themselves.”
“As if,” she snorted. God, she was cute.
“One of the things we should practice today is paying attention to the person you’re with. It’s good for a man’s ego. And
don’t take this personally, but it’s definitely something you need to work on.”
“Really?” She opened her mouth to protest further, but Tae jumped in.
“Don’t get defensive. I’ve just noticed that your mind goes at a mile a minute, especially when you’re not one hundred percent
comfortable with whatever situation you’re in. You were this way when we were kids too. So you tend to be thinking ahead rather
than listening. You’re thinking on commenting on their clothes or their work or—”
“Did Rachel and Sonia rat me out? The bowling shirt was unfortunate, but he wasn’t broken by the comment.”
“Julia, relax. Look at me,” Tae said. Julia’s eyes focused in on Tae’s. The big, round, light brown eyes caught him off guard.
He hadn’t been prepared for their entire focus.
He cleared his throat. “Um, do you have any food allergies?”
“No. I tell people I’m allergic to tomatoes, but it’s a lie to not have to explain that I just don’t like them.”
“You’re a nut,” Tae said.
“In my experience, way too many people just can’t comprehend if someone doesn’t like tomatoes. It’s like I’ve committed a food crime.”
Tae had never even thought about it. You don’t like something, don’t eat it. “Okay, I’m gonna start picking out some dishes.
Write this down.”
Julia nodded and listened as Tae called over the server and ordered their meal.
“Can I ask you something?” A thought had been niggling in Tae’s brain the last couple days, and he might as well put it out
there.
“Sure, shoot,” Julia said.
“I’ve known you a long time. And you’re super cool. You’re nice and funny and generous and smart. I can’t wrap my head around
why your dates haven’t been more successful in the past. So I’m wondering . . .”
She raised her eyebrows, waiting. She didn’t seem mad. She just seemed curious at what his theory might be.
“Do you think you might subconsciously sabotage dates? What I’m asking is—well, maybe you don’t really want to be in a relationship
right now. What with everything going on with your career and success. And so maybe you don’t let your true self show when
meeting new people.”
Tae recalled Julia mentioning something like this that day on the playground when she’d had too much to drink. They’d never
spoken about that day, never discussed some of the things Julia had shared while tipsy. He was quite sure she didn’t even
remember opening up the way she had, especially since it was the first time they’d spoken in years. But Tae remembered. And
he was curious to know more, to dig deeper, to figure out the puzzle that was Julia Song.