Memory Lost: A Look into the Future

Chapter 9 | Master Chef

"All that stuff was okay, but what I really need to know is how did we happen? My story sounds good and all, but I was always confident in my abilities. What I always was very strict about-"

"-was the perfect husband?" Kai finished my sentence.

Exactly.

so... How did I end up with him? That's what truly interested me.

"I gotta tell you the whole story. Don't be anxious to skip to the R-18 stuff." He winks at me and smirks.

I blush profusely. Damn, I didn't even know him that well, and I was already attracted to him. I was clearly going against my conscious to not follow my rules.

"Fine..." I let him continue, "but you have to tell me what I define as the 'perfect' guy?"

"The opposite of me. Someone with different ambitions. Basically a contract husband that would be there just to ward off your parents from asking about your sexual identity-" I hit him hard on the arm, "I'm low-key not joking. Anyway, the one thing I respected was the decision on whether to have children or not. I was okay with adopting, but since you wanted one child we didn't adopt after we had Jae Son."

Okay... so he does know me pretty well.

"So continue your story,"

"You mean our story?" He cocks his eyebrows.

"Yeah, whatever. I need to know everything."

Flashback

"Thanks for the meal, it was pretty good but the plating could have been nicer."

"Are you some sort of master chef participant?"

"Actually, I was when I was 7." He smirks and I have a look of disbelief on my face.

"Wow, I've never met someone who was a master chef. My skills can't even be compared to when you participated." His face is tinged with blush. "Thanks again for accompanying me."

I turn to leave with the plates that Kai washed.

He grabs my elbow, turning me around.

"I need to discuss something with you."

He looks at me seriously.

"Damn, you don't have to be that serious. I'm genuinely worried that my food wasn't even consumable now." I joke.

"Meet me at Jitters tomorrow so we can work on the project. What time are you good for?"

"I think it will take five or six hours to get the outline draft finished so I'm good for coming by at 6. Is that cool?"

"Yeah, see you there J."

The Next Day @ Jitters

"J!" I walk in and see Kai wave at me.

There are two cups of drinks at our table.

"Oooo, thanks for the order." I look and see that the order is my usual which tends to be oddly specific.

"I asked your brother about what you liked and he recommended the Zoom Latte with extra foam." He explains.

"Why do you have the same order?"

"Because, I order the same thing, just decaf."

"I see you trying to be healthy." Really, in class we had a session about how caffeine tends to act like dopamine in terms of stimulation or something...basically over time it acted like a drug.

We worked very intently.

After finishing the outline...

"I need to tell you something before you go," Kai urgently, but lightly, pulls at my arm.

"Jitters is closing, so want to talk on the bus ride back?" I was used to bussing by now.

I hadn't even thought about how he got here.

"It's going to take a while so can we talk at my house? I'll give you a ride?" His eyes look at me begging.

"Okay, but I feel like I owe you too much. Next time, let me order the drinks." He chuckles at my over-polite attitude. I was a broke student on a budget and he could sense my sincerity.

"Cool, now lets go."

After reaching his house...

"Now, what do you want to talk to me about?" I was concerned because he sounded serious.

"Are you interested in anyone?" He asks me curiously.

"Uh..."

"Other than Ignacia?" How did he know? He knew the secret even my brother didn't know.

Kai notices my distress, "It's pretty obvious,"

"You're very observant. But, I don't like him anymore." He seemed less like the candidate I was looking for, and that was the reason I initially liked him.

"That's good." Kai gives a small smile.

Why? More importantly, why did he care?

"I want to ask you out on a date," He shyly asks.

"What?! Me? Are you sure you don't want to ask one of my friends for you or something?" I mean I've never been someone people have taken interest in.

"Yes, you. I'll pick you up this Saturday. Our project will be finished by then." He had already made plans and it didn't seem like he was asking me-more like he was informing me.

"-uh...what should I wear?"

"Something semi-casual" What? Semi-formal was a thing but what was semi-casual?

"Actually, where are we going?" I asked keenly.

"Secret." He shushes me.

"As long as it isn't sketchy business, I'm sure it'll be fun. See you then."