Koon Chai Cafe

Chapter Ten - Bianca's Big Date Pt.2

Kopter

I was panicking, big time.

Bianca was standing in the entrance of my beloved Koon Chai Cafe, pondering the menu board. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a terror-stricken Park, paralysed with fear.

Bianca turned to face me, not having seen Park yet. "What would you recommend?" she inquired, glancing back at the menu board behind the counter. "What's a Kay-nom Look Chip?" she asked, squinting up at the small chalk letters.

"Khanom Luk Chup, they're like little fruits made from Mung Bean paste," I explained, glancing tentatively over at Park. His expression had not changed.

"Ooo, I'll have that then," she replied. I watched in horror and what felt like slow-motion as she extended a thin bejewelled finger and pressed the tiny silver bell on the counter for service. I spun around to look at Park, nervous sweat dripping down my spine. He sighed, rubbed his temple with his forefingers, and walked confidently over to the counter.

"What can I get you today?" Park asked in his most customer service-y voice.

No response.

Park was beginning to lose his cool, I could see his left arm twitching anxiously. Bianca was staring up at Park quizzically, not uttering a word.

"We'll have two Chai Lattes and a serving of Khanom Luk Chup, thanks." I quickly interjected, slamming the exact change onto the counter and grabbing Bianca's hand, leading her to an empty booth.

She continued to stare at Park, deep in thought.

I desperately searched my mind for a distracting topic. "So, what's Cecelia-"

"It is him!" She exclaimed, cutting me off mid-sentence and scaring the couple at the table beside us. "It's Park." She turned to me, a glint in her eyes. "You wouldn't know him, he's a scholarship student at our school, a total loser."

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. I desperately wanted to argue but I knew disputing the 'loser' accusation would out my friendship with Park and end up hurting him. "Well actually, he was my partner for the chemistry project. He seemed like a pretty decent guy." I tentatively replied, searching for any topic to change the conversation to, but she was too quick for me.

She twirled her hair menacingly. "Yeah, but that's because you weren't here when he arrived. You weren't here when it happened."

"When what happened?" I asked, genuinely intrigued. I hadn't even contemplated the possibility that Bianca took any interest in Park past his scholarship status. She played with a ring on her left hand.

"When he first joined Trinity Academy, he was super popular. Hard to believe, right? He told everyone his family owned this Korean mega-mart chain," she explained, "But I knew there was something fishy about him, so I had some of my people tail him."

She paused, as if contemplating how to explain her hunch. "I mean trust me, if there's a wealthy conglomerate heir in this city, I'm gonna be the first to know about it. But I'd never even heard of him or his company," Bianca added, nonchalantly.

"And I was right!" she slammed her palm triumphantly onto the table. "He was just some poor kid who got lucky with a scholarship. I mean he lives in Brooklyn, can you believe it!?"

A sense of dread built in my stomach. "Then what did you do?" I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know the answer.

She shrugged. "Well, I had to let people know what a fraud he was, I mean, he was just some scholarship kid from a broke family in Brooklyn who lied to and fooled everyone but me." She stated matter-of-factly. "The people deserved to know, I was really just doing them a service."