Let's Not Fall In Love

Chapter 1

Soft, almost hypnotic, piano music filled the room. The lights were dim and the flickering candles lent added warmth and romance to the atmosphere. The lovely lady smiled shyly at the sight of her hand conjoined with that of the attractive man sitting in front of her. His warm hand gently held hers the moment she brought them to the table. 

He was speaking to her but her head was lost in the clouds. She was already naming their first three children and their two pet dogs when a crash at the end of the hallway startled her from her dreamscape.

Her eyes widened in fright when from the direction of the noise a human shape with inhuman features was awkwardly shuffling towards them. An eerie light was illuminating its horrid, puke green face. Its head was bent low and it was muttering something incoherently.

The lady screamed, startling the monstrous creature into emitting a bloodcurdling shriek of its own. The lady frantically grabbed her handbag and ran out the front door without even saying goodbye to the future father of her children.

The man could be seen banging his head on the table. His shoulders shaking in laughter. A moment later, he was throwing his head back and was gasping for breath. He was slapping his hand on the table top in time with his guffaws.

"That was epic. If she wasn't starting to bore me to tears I would be tearing you into shreds for ruining my date. But her eyes were starting to crossover when you came in looking like an ogre." He was laughing once again.

She looked at him in disbelief. "You didn't look bored to me. You were holding her hand when I came in."

"No, I wasn't. We just happened to reach for the bread at the same time when you came in and scared the living daylights out of her."

"For the record, her screaming freaking scared me, too. Crap! Now I have to watch the scene all over again." The monster, named Dara, sat on the seat that the lovely lady vacated. She was fumbling with her smartphone. She took her headphones off and checked out the food spread on the table.

"Hmm. You pulled out the big guns on this one didn't you? The setting's well-placed." She picked up a piece of bread and slathered it with the creamy looking thing beside it. She took a bite but immediately spat the disgusting thing out of her mouth. "Yuck. Disgusting. "

The guy smiled at her. "Your mask is starting to fall off." 

"Oh. Wait. I'll wash this off." She went to the sink in the adjoining kitchen space and ran water all over her face. She grabbed a couple of paper towels and wiped her face dry.

"I thought you're on duty tonight. If I had known you'd be home I wouldn't have brought my date here."

She started transferring rice onto her plate and cut a big piece of chicken breast for herself. She took a mouthful and swallowed before answering him. "I thought so, too, but Jane asked me to swap schedules with her so I'll be on duty whole day tomorrow instead of today."

"Why aren't you eating?" She asked while she cut off the drumsticks and placed them on his plate. "People are starving. It's a crime to put these food to waste."

"You just spat out a perfectly good piece of bread awhile ago." He raised an eyebrow at her but started to eat his chicken as well.

"That was an exception. What was in that thing? It tastes like nothing I've ever tried before. Gross."

"My date said it is really good for you. Helps clean up your stomach or something."

"Yuck." She grimaced at the memory of its taste.

She kicked him under the table. "Hey! GD! Jiyong Kwon aren't you forgetting something? Shouldn't you be calling your date to check if she's okay or something. She was screaming when she left."

He smiled sheepishly and dialled the girl's number. 

"You're exactly the reason why I've sworn off men in my life. Tsktsk." She muttered. 

"I heard that."

"I know." 

"Hello, Gina. Are you okay? I'm really sorry about what happened..." The Monster Dara tuned his conversation out and concentrated on devouring the tasty chicken on her plate.