Jae-Sun: A-Mei-Zing

Seo-Hyeon looked Jae in his eyes and spoke in Korean, "I think she's already had enough to eat. I didn't know you liked fat girls."

Jae's grin turned to a glare that startled Seo-Hyeon coming from a young man like him. He replied, also in Korean, "Don't you start. I like her. Be nice." Besides, Jae didn't even think Tabby was particularly fat. She couldn't have weighed more than 180 or 190-ish. Sure, that ass was fat, but when Jae talked about a fat ass, he meant it as a compliment!

Seo-Hyeon squinted. She was taken aback. And Tabitha was blissfully ignorant. She assumed they were making small talk about their families or something.

The older woman picked up a couple menus and beckoned them inside. "Come here, come here!"

Jae followed her. Tabitha looked around. The booths were separated by little wooden barriers, putting each one in a little cubicle. Dozens of conversations, many in Korean, reached her ears. Many of the tables were full, and over half seemed to contain Koreans. A few of the patrons looked up, and some pointed and whispered. However, it looked like they were pointing at Jae, not her. She didn't know what that was all about, but it was odd.

Most paid little attention. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what they thought of this white-bread-looking girl in their place. Even though there were plenty of white people in the restaurant. And Latinos, blacks, and others. Tabby still felt a bit awkward.

Her discomfiture was obvious to Jae. His hand settled on her hip as he walked her inside. Tabby relaxed.

Each table had a little grill built into the tabletop. Jae slid in across from her and smiled.

Tabby shook her head. The air was heavy with spices. Sizzling hissed from some of the other grills. She looked across the table at Jae. Oh my god. I'm really out on a date with him. This is happening. She swallowed and looked at the menu. A lot of the words looked like gibberish. There were pictures, but they didn't help much.

Jae tapped her menu. "If you want to try classic Korean barbecue, try some bulgogi or galbi. The first one has no bones, the second one does. Both are beef."

"Oh, okay. I'll try bulgogi. That makes it easy! Hah. All of this stuff is new to me!" She laughed.

Jae nodded. "Yeah, when people think of Korean barbecue, that's usually what they think of." He closed the menu. "I like the marinade they make here. It's not too sweet."

Tabby closed her own menu. "So you come here a lot?"

He shrugged. "Maybe every couple weeks." The waitress showed up, bowed, and took the order for bulgogi, a Pepsi, and a beer.

"You must like it." That's some thrilling small talk, Fisher, thought Tabby.

Jae nodded. "Yeah. I mean, my sister can cook pretty well, but I don't always want to go there."

"Why not? You don't get along with your sister?"

He shrugged. "It's ... long and complicated. You look fine, though. Mmh." He looked at her for a long moment, a sly little grin on his lips. While it was a sincere compliment, Jae's ulterior motive was to distract her from too many familial questions. "That dress. Damn, girl. I thought you looked good before." Jae wasn't making it up—Tabby's thick curves had caught his eye before he'd ever even said a word to her.

Jae made a growling noise that made her knees weak. Tabby gently bit her lip—barely noticeable. So she thought, anyway.

It took a moment for her brain to catch up with her mound. "W-wait ... oh, yeah. I've uh. I've had this lipstick. I thought it looked really nice, but I never wore it. It was on sale on this website, I was eyeing it. And this dress was around for a while. Just ... you know, thought I'd try something!" She giggled.

Jae liked the way her cheeks dimpled when she was giving that forced giggle. "Mmmh, well I'm glad you picked me to show it off to, girl."

The waitress showed up and started putting small dishes full of different vegetables and sides in front of them. Tabby furrowed her brow at the strange stuff. To Jae, it was the beginning of a decent dinner. Then the waitress poured them glasses of water before presenting Jae with his beer and Tabby with her Pepsi.

After the waitress left, Tabby was still staring in bewilderment at the little dishes. What do I do with these? Is this ... is this like sushi? Do I pick one and eat it? What—

Jae knew almost exactly what she was thinking. He chuckled and began pointing at the bowls. "That's kimchi. This is oi kimchi—kimchi made with cucumbers. This is radish kimchi. This is a pickled radish. That's myeolchi, Korean anchovies. You just take some and eat it with your rice."

Tabby nodded and then mimicked what Jae was doing, using her chopsticks to take some of the vegetables onto her plate.

While the flavors were spicy and new, Tabitha was enjoying the food. She even asked the waitress for another bowl of kimchi and thanked God that she hadn't inherited her mother's intolerance for spicy food. The woman thought black pepper was spicy.

Then came the plate of raw meat. The waitress lit the grill embedded in the table ... and left. Tabby squinted at her. "Uh...."

Jae laughed. "You cook it yourself." He started using his chopsticks to put pieces of meat on the grill. They hissed and began to steam.

Tabby looked at him. "I thought it was like ... you know, where they cook in front of you?"

"Nah. You do it yourself."

Tabby shook her head. "Wait, so what are you ... you pay them so you can cook for yourself?"

Jae shrugged. "Yeah? That's how we do it. You ever been to a place with a salad bar?"

"I guess that's fair." Tabby shook her head. "Oh ... wait ... was that racist? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult Korean culture, this is just weird to me."

Jae smiled at her and shrugged out of his vest, lying it on the seat next to his. "Everything is weird to someone." He ran his fingers through his long, luxurious hair.

Tabby nodded. That's also fair. She was finally starting to feel relaxed. Relaxed enough to ask the question she'd been thinking of. "Yeah. So uh ... do you mind me asking ... about.... I mean everyone's wondering. The scars?"

Jae chuckled. "What do they say?"

Tabby thought back to all the stories she'd overheard from her classmates about the brutal markings lashed across Jae's skin. "Car accident. Or you were in the Yakuza. Or in jail. One person said you were in an underground fighting ring. "

Jae could tell that his bulgogi was cooked to the rareness he liked. He began taking it onto his plate as he spoke. "Sort of? It's another long story. Been in a lotta fights. Training since I could walk. It was rough. You know, I was never in a gang, but ... I've had run-ins. Some of those people don't like my family. I'm good, but I'm not a fight-god."

Tabby felt a chill run through her. But it wasn't fear of Jae. It was a mixture of fear of Jae's enemies—and intrigue. She found herself wondering what it was like when he got into a fight. " 'Those people'? What people?" asked Tabby.

Jae looked her in the eye. "It's better the less you know." He gave no hint of jest.

Is he just making this up? Tabby shivered. It was all so romantic, so ... exciting. But was it real? Jae definitely had a lot of scars. Several were lashed across each arm, but it looked like the right had gotten the worst of it. One ran across his forearm and bicep, as if he'd tried to block some kind of blade with his arm folded. The flesh around his right eye was torn up. One ran horizontally across the left side of his neck. The worst was one that ran from forehead to chin where it looked like someone had tried to peel the left side of his face off. The story had to be real. Right? "Oh ... okay." Lame, maybe, but what could she say to this? Many thoughts ran through her mind but the dominant one was He's such a badass....

"What about you?" asked Jae. "We never talked much. I know you're kinda nerdy. That's pretty cool. I also know you like anime."

Tabby shrugged. I wish my story was that cool. "Oh! Well, my family is from Pennsylvania. My dad runs a farm there. My mom is a nurse. One brother is a Marine. Sister's a vet and works with the livestock on the farm."

"So your dad has a bunch of muscle cars in his farm?" asked Jae.

"Well, we have the room for them. As much as my mom wishes he'd sell a couple off. There's about eight of them." Tabby chuckled. "In different states of disrepair."

Jae chuckled. "What do you want to do, girl?"

Tabby paused for a long moment. She started to take the meat off the grill as she thought. "I really don't know yet. Teach, maybe? I mean, I have ... I have a dream, but ... I don't think it's realistic."

Jae smiled. "What is it?"

"Nah, it's ... silly. I mean, I don't know how I'd start."

"I wanna know."

Tabby sighed. Why not? She lowered her voice and said, "I want to be a voice actress for animation and games. Like Tara Strong."

"I don't know who that is but that's not stupid, though," said Jae. "Can you show me?"

"Thanks. My brother and sister seem to think it is." Tabby smiled. "Okay, I can do some impressions, I guess...." She paused. "Hello, children! I like the pokey-mans too. Vote for me. May the force be with you."

Jae didn't have to be told that that was— "Hillary Clinton? Hah! That's exactly how she sounds!"

Tabby grinned. "Okay, let's see. What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick."

"That joke was so bad," said Jae. He shook his head. "But you sound like her exactly!"

"Wait. So you don't know who Tara Strong is? She's been in like ... everything! Do you know ... uh ... X-Men?"

"Yeah."

"Magik?"

"No."

"Okay. Pepper Ann? Rugrats? Angry beavers?" She refrained from mentioning My Little Pony. "Ben 10? Gravity Falls?"

Jae shook his head.

"Where do you live?!" laughed Tabby.

Jae chuckled. "I just don't really watch many cartoons or ... much TV, to be honest."

"Okay. Do you know who Raven is? From Teen Titans?" asked Tabby.

"I know of her...," offered Jae.

"Okay!" She paused. "Wow. That's really exciting," said Tabby. Once again, her impression was spot-on. "Maybe you should watch some more cartoons. But not with me. I'm going to go read in the corner. Alone."

Jae laughed. "Yeah, I know that voice!"

"Finally! Okay.... How about this?" Tabby ran through about six more impressions. Jae didn't know all the voices, but he assumed they were pretty close, because the ones he did know were spot-on.

Jae thought of another question. "Can you sing?"

"A little. I'm learning," she said.

"You know, your vocal range is pretty crazy," said Jae. "You remind me of Rob Halford."

Tabby shook her head. "Who?"

"Rob Halford! A god of heavy metal!" Jae's eyes lit up.

Tabby smiled. " 'God of heavy metal?' "

He went on. "Singer of Judas Priest, second most influential heavy metal band in history. I would argue the most important, though. I mean Ozzy was the great forefather of metal, but— Okay, but Halford had a range of four octaves when he was in his prime. It's less now cause he's old but it's still crazy."

"Wow. I don't know if I'm that good," said Tabby. "But it's flattering to hear."

"Nah, I bet you'd be a great singer with coaching. I mean—" Jae paused. "Not to say you're no good now, but like, you know, you need to learn more even if you have natural talent." Shit, I hope that wasn't insulting!

"I understand." Tabby grinned. "Maybe you can play some in the car?"

***

A couple hours later, they walked out of the restaurant. Jae had gotten the check, and Tabby had found a new favorite food. Bulgogi was nothing like what she'd had before! Sweet, spicy, but not as messy as American barbecue. American barbecue was great, but different. Tabby had done more impressions, and Jae furthered her education on heavy metal.

She looked over at him as they walked toward his car. He had some red stuff on his vest. Tabby shook her head. "You look good in what you eat." She took a tissue from her purse and wiped the offending material off, then she straightened his vest.

Jae froze. He wasn't sure what she was doing. "Uh ... I could have gotten that?" But ... there was a strange feeling in his chest. Warmth. Whatever it was, it was ... good?

Tabby smiled and opened the car door herself before getting in. Jae chuckled and got in on his side. He looked down at his phone and started browsing songs before picking one.

A thundering drum solo startled Tabby. Jae started the car and began pulling out. "Okay, this is one of the most popular Priest songs. This is Painkiller." He turned down the music so he could hear her and drove out of the parking lot.

"This is heavy metal?" she asked, sounding bewildered. After all, it sounded nothing like the stuff her nephew called "heavy metal".

"Yeah, what did you think it was?" asked Jae. "Okay, hold on, he's going to come in now."

Rob Halford began singing as they made it onto the main road.

"I thought metal was like, Korn or Linkin Park," said Tabby. "I think he used to listen to Limp Bizkit?

"Limp—" Jae burst out laughing and slapped the steering wheel.

Tabby blinked. He kept whooping. She waited patiently for him to stop. Finally, Jae caught a breath and asked, "Who told you that?!"

"My nephew?"

"Ha. Haha. Oh wow. Heh." Jae inhaled. "I'm not saying they're necessarily bad. Some of these bands brand themselves as metal, and they take metal elements, but they're really not. You know. There's an influence, but it's not," explained Jae. "This is more classic metal. I can play you some different kinds. There's so many, though. Okay, here."

Rob Halford began screaming

Tabby narrowed her eyes. "Wow, yeah, I see what you mean."

"I'd say he's the best vocalist in heavy metal in my opinion. But Dio is a close second," said Jae. They pulled up to a stop light. "Oh, wait here." Jae went to his phone and queued "You've Got Another Thing Comin' ".

Tabby nodded and pointed at the head unit. "Oh! I know this! This song is old, it was in some car commercials."

Jae grinned. At the next light, he said, "Let's try some power metal."

Now the music was more operatic, with orchestral elements. A woman began singing.

"This is Nightwish," said Jae. "Well, before the singer got kicked out, anyway."

"She's pretty good. I didn't realize women sang heavy metal," said Tabby.

"Oh, sure! Women sing in every genre of music," he chuckled. "Let me play you something else...."

***

Tabby felt half-deaf by the time they reached campus—but oddly euphoric. As expected, there wasn't a spot nearby, so they had to park blocks away in a student garage.

They strolled along beneath the orange lamps. It was getting close to ten. People were out, but not many.

Usually, Tabby would feel exposed. Especially in this dress. With a purse. She'd feel like she had a target on her back. But with Jae ... she just felt safe. He towered over her, imposing and powerful. As her classmate had said, a golden Adonis.

They made their way to an alley behind the science buildings. Her shoes clacked against the pavement. She huddled close to Jae. She could feel his warmth. He put a reassuring arm around her.

She looked down at that arm. It looked like Freddy Krueger had been at it. "So do you still get into fights?"

Jae shrugged. "Yeah. It happens."

Tabby looked up at his face. The fact that he didn't want to talk about it only made the situation more curious. Sure, he was big, grizzled and menacing. And yeah, it was damn sexy. But she found herself wondering what had happened to him. He was a sweet guy that didn't deserve to be stabbed in the face. Tabby wanted to take him home and take care of him.

They reached the front door of her dorm after a few more minutes. Jae smiled.

"Do you want to come up?" asked Tabby. Then her brain caught up with her mouth and her jaw fell. She felt ice in her gut. "Uh ... not that you have to! I mean, but if you want—"

"Well someone has to make sure you get to your room safely." Jae rumbled.

Tabby grinned.

***

Tabitha's dorm room was hardly impressive. On the plus side, she had it to herself. On the downside, it was a tiny studio.

Of course, when she let Jae in, she was mortified at how messy it was. Even though she knew how messy it was. It's just that she'd forgotten how messy it was!

Jae looked at her. Tabby's eyes shone with ... fear? It wasn't the first time he'd gotten an invite to a girl's place that was in disarray. "Nice for a dorm," he mused. "I mean, hell, you got your own bathroom. Not bad at all."

Tabby relaxed slightly. But there was a bunch of cloth in various shades of blue piled on the bed, and the dining room table was covered in sewing supplies. And in the corner was—

Oh darn, I should have put it away!

"Is that your Halloween costume?" asked Jae.

It was hanging from a mannequin of duct tape. It was mainly blue and white with a fur trim. There were blue gloves, and big, chunky boots with more fur trim. On the table nearby was some kind of Nerf gun that looked like it had a bunch of other parts glued to it.

"Uh ... ah ... I should have cleaned up before I brought you up, sorry...." Tabby giggled nervously.

"Tabs, Tabs. Can I call you that, girl?" Jae put his hands on her shoulders.

Tabby nodded. He was so close. So big. So warm. She could smell him. Leather, smoke, spice from the Korean restaurant. He was so tall. And those weird, garnet-colored eyes.

They looked into her grey. "Calm down, I don't care about this. That's how a house looks when someone lives in it." He looked away, at the costume. "I just wanna hang out with you, okay?"

"You do?!" she half-yelped. She cleared her throat. Wow, that came out all surprised. "I mean. Uh. Just. I heard what you did to that sorority. Which one was it?"

"I've done a lot of sororities."

Tabby shook her head. "I'm just surprised you're ... here."

Jae nodded. "I like you, so I'm here to be with you. Tonight, I'm yours." He knew she was probably hoping the date would become something more. But Jae knew he wouldn't make a very good boyfriend.

Tabby was just happy to have him here, though. She didn't expect to take him as her own. It simply amazed her that he was choosing to spend his night here. Well ... he might spend the night? I hope? She smiled up at him. Her soft hand drifted over his chest. "Ah ... I'm happy you're here. Um ... so the costume." She chuckled and turned away. "It's uh ... a cosplay. It's Mei from Overwatch? Do you know that game?"

"I've heard the name before. I don't really play video games much."

What does he do all day? "Oh, it's a great game! It's sort of like ... uh...." How to explain this to a non-gamer? "It's like a game where you have teams of these interesting characters. It's set in the future. You have to fight each other and complete objectives and thwart each other. It's so great, and there's an international cast! Mei was a Chinese climatologist who was frozen after an accident in Antaractica stranded her and her team. So they went into cryostasis to wait for a rescue. There was also a Terminator-like war with the Omnics, who are robots, and after she came out and went back to helping Overwatch and ... this is probably over your head. Huh?"

Jae grinned. The way Tabby's face lit up when she was talking about the game was just so cute.

She turned to the table, opened her laptop, and went to Google Images to pull up a picture of Mei.

He leaned over her shoulder and looked at the character, then back at the costume. "That's ... wow, your costume's really good," said Jae. "That girl doesn't look Chinese, though."