We arrived at another café. We sat down at a table, facing the cast of ‘Sugoi Sushi.’
‘Wow, they’re fat.”
That was my first impression of them. I have never seen anyone so fat before. They were huge. I thought something blew up inside their stomachs or something. They even had tattoos on their necks, but I hear they’re incredibly popular in Japan.
“Hello,” one of them said. There’s two of them and they were both pretty big, but it looks like one of them can speak Korean.
“Hello. Your Korean is very good,” I said with a smile. Hey, it’s the first meeting. You gotta be polite, and Hak-gyu better pray for his job.
“Yes. I speak a little bit. I visit Korea often. Next year, I will be working with a lot of Korean producers so I’m trying to practice a lot.”
“Oh~”
Wow, he’s really good. Just then, Hak-gyu leaned in to whisper to me.
“They come to Korea to have sex. They’re always going to parties and calling in Korean escorts. If you ask around, they’re apparently really popular at Gangnam clubs.”
“Oh~” I nodded. “Is that why I was needed to bodyguard?”
“Yeah. We only found out about these two after we had already signed the contract. We figured that since it was a cable show, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
“What are you two whispering about?” the pig asked. His name was Sakaraba. The one next to him was Kazeo.
“Oh, nothing,” Hak-gyu said with a smile.
Sakaraba then continued.
“The filming process won’t be that difficult. You just have to follow us and eat a lot of food and tell us what you think. Okay?”
This bastard was speaking to me, but he was looking right at my chest. He smiled. Then, Kazeo snickered and said something to Sakaraba in Japanese.
‘What are these two laughing about?’
It didn’t seem like a very nice conversation. So, I looked at Hak-gyu, and he looked quite pissed. He was staring at the two intently. The two finally noticed and looked back rather defiantly. The tension immediately became evident. All of a sudden, Sakaraba spoke up.
“Haha. This became awkward rather fast. Let’s finish our conversation here and we’ll see you again at 2.”
And with that, the two got up and left.
“Hak-gyu, what did those two say?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Hak-gyu said, though it was obvious that he was lying. And that only made me more curious.
“Either I hit the answer out of you or you just tell me yourself.”
“…..”
That made Hak-gyu hesitate. He knew more than anyone how strong I was. After all, he was my manager. I’m sure he knew enough not to get on my wrong side.
“Was it bad?” I asked. Sakaraba was definitely staring at my chest as he talked. I’m sure it was something disgusting.
“Huh? Well…” Hak-gyu gave a tiny nod, but still, he didn’t go into any details.
“So what was it?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because then you’ll try to beat them up,” Hak-gyu said rather sincerely. Then again, he’s familiar with my temper.
“I won’t.”
“Don’t lie. I’m not falling for that,” Hak-gyu said. I mean, he has good reason to not trust me. I’ve definitely lied about hitting people in the past. I’ve never hit Hak-gyu, but still. I’m sure he’s heard things.
“No, really. I promise, so tell me. I won’t be offended.”
“Hmmm…” I could tell my words were convincing him.
Finally, he spoke.
“Fine. I’ll tell you, but don’t go starting something with them, okay? Just look at them. If you get hurt, it’s my job on the line. We don’t even have a real bodyguard.”
“I said, okay, you…”
I almost cursed, but managed to hold back at the last second. I really needed to work on that. I am a girl group idol after all.
“So what they said was…”
Hainan and I leaned in.
“They talked about how big Sian’s chest was. And they talked about how much they…um…”
“They what?” I said.
Hak-gyu hesitated for a second before he finished.
“They wanted to see you naked.”
“Really?”
I’m going to cut them both. I really am. I bolted out of my seat.
“What are you going to cut…?”
Well, now how did Hak-gyu know?”
“Two balls…and whatever is dangling in between them.”
With that, I also walked out, with full intention of going off the deep end. But just then, Hak-gyu came after me and grabbed me by the arm.
“Sian, just let it go. Just this once…”
“And if I do?”
“Here…”
Hak-gyu held out some yen. I looked down at the pile of cash in his hand. What? Does he think I’m some kid that he can bribe with some candy or something? But before I knew it, my hand had grabbed the money.
“Just this once.”
I immediately began to count the cash.
“Hey, Hainan, let’s go eat pork cutlets.”
“But we’re going to eat later.”
“It’s fine. Oh no, wait, it won’t be fine for you.”
I mean, I can keep going in terms of eating, but Hainan can’t. So, what should we do then?
“How about sushi then?”
“Sushi?”
Yeah, that’s a good idea. Besides, Hainan is the star of the show here. We should do as she wants.
“What about you, Hak-gyu? You want to come too?”
“Nah. I’m good. I’ll be wandering around this area, so you guys go ahead. Oh, no wait. If I let you wander by yourselves, it’ll be…fine,” Hak-gyu said. He was clearly about to say something else, but then changed his mind once he saw the look on my face.
“Yep. Don’t worry. You just need to come if I call you from the police station.”
“….”
“We’ll see you later then.”
I waved to Hak-gyu before going off to find a sushi restaurant with Hainan.
***
“How about there?”
I pointed at a rather high-end looking sushi restaurant, but Hainan shook her head.
“Let’s not go there.”
“Why?”
“This place is really pro-Japanese. We saw it on the news, remember? They deliberately feed Koreans too much wasabi.”
“Oh.”
That’s right. We did see it on the news once, but then, I suddenly remembered that guy in Apgujeong. I made him choke on wasabi and we even got a heap of sushi for free. Of course, this didn’t come out on the news since I had taken care of him away from everyone else.
“Let’s go somewhere else, Sian.”
“Nah, let’s just go in. There’s no way they’ll try it again. They got a lot of heavy criticism, remember?”
It’s true. After the restaurant came out on the news, a lot of Japanese people criticized them online. If the owners had any common sense, there’s no way they’d try to get away with it again.
“You think? Okay, then let’s go.”
We grabbed each other’s hand and headed into the restaurant.
***
The restaurant was smaller on the inside than I thought it would be. Then again, this is pretty common in Japan – looks big on the outside, but small on the inside.
“It’s suffocating in here.”
I really hate small places. But anyways, Hainan and I got a table and sat across from each other. I looked around, but I didn’t see any other Korean people. On the news, it said that this place had been really popular with Koreans. I guess the wasabi incident really threw off a lot of people.
“Hello,” a good-looking Japanese employee said to us. His Korean had a bit of a strong accent, but otherwise, he sounded like he could speak the language just fine.
“Which ones would you recommend?”
At my question, the employee smiled and picked up the menu.
“This one, this one, and this one are very popular with Koreans.”
“Oh~ ”
Hmm…somehow, I heard that as ‘this one, this one, and this one has a lot of wasabi in it.’ So, I decided to pass all three.
“Then I’d like this one, this one, this one, and this one.”
“Okay. Then I’ll get you this one, this one, this one, and this one.”
With a bow, the employee went back to the kitchen.
“Sian, he looked nice, didn’t he?”
“Hmm.”
You can’t ever judge a book by its cover. Still, he didn’t seem like the type to put a ton of wasabi in someone’s sushi.
“Hey, Sian,” Hainan said, suddenly looking rather nervous.
“Yeah?”
“I’m worried.”
“Why?”
This girl is always worried about one thing or another.
“That you’re going to get into a fight…”
“You worried that I’m going to hit them?”
“No. I’m worried that you’ll get hit…”
“Wow.”
She’s still clueless, huh?
“Those guys looked scary. Did you see their tattoos?”
“Hey. I have a scar that…”
Oh wait, I’m a girl now. Ugh, darn. That was a badass looking scar too.
“Well anyways, don’t worry. I won’t get hurt, and I won’t fight. You’re the star of the show. I’m not going to do anything to ruin this for you.”
At least that’s what I said, but if those two try anything, then I’m making no promises.
“Pinky promise?”
Hainan stuck her pinky out and I held out mine. We pinky swore, stamped our thumbs, kissed our hands, and swiped our palms for the seal. Just as we finished, our sushi arrived.
“No wasabi, right?”
“There is,” the employee said with a smile.
“No, I mean, did you put a lot in?”
“Oh no, we didn’t. I guess you saw the news. After that came out, we are very careful about the amount of wasabi we put in. We thought we were putting the standard amount, but it seems like Koreans are rather weak with wasabi.”
He didn’t sound rather sorry to me just now.
“Oh, really?”
“Oh, and this one, this one, and this doesn’t have any wasabi in it.”
“Okay.”
“Well then, enjoy.”
With another bow, the employee left us.
“There’s a lot of Japanese people who can speak Korean.”
“I mean, it’s Tokyo.”
Since Tokyo is a popular tourist destination for Koreans, it made sense that the employees would speak some Korean. Just like how a lot of Koreans can speak Japanese in Myeongdong.
“Let’s eat.”
I picked up a piece of sushi. Upon closer inspection, I could see something red in the rice. What was it? Figuring it was seasoning, I thought nothing of it and put the whole thing into my mouth. Then, I chewed.
“!!!!”
***
Sputter sputter.
Hainan spat her sushi out first, followed quickly by me. And that’s when we saw it. Someone had loaded a bunch of chili sauce between the slices of fish. Are you serious? That’s the second time now!
“These people really don’t know when to quit, do they?”
I wiped my mouth off the sushi and gulped down some water. Then, I started to stretch out my neck and fingers. I thought Hainan would try to stop me, but she didn’t. She didn’t outright tell me to get revenge, but her face spoke loud and clear.
“Hainan, take some photos of the sushi.”
And with that, I got out of my seat, intent on looking for the employee. I thought that he might be in a corner somewhere, but I couldn’t see him. So, I tried the bathroom, and there he was. I immediately approached him.
“Hello.”
“Oh, yes. Do you need something?”
“Oh, the sushi was really spicy.”
“Oh, really? That’s weird. We didn’t put any wasabi in it.”
The employee tilted his head from side to side, pretending to be confused. But of course, I saw the smile on his face. I’ve never wanted to punch someone more. This is why you can’t judge a book by its cover.
“You put chili sauce in the sushi.”
“Oh yes, chili sauce. It’s delicious. It’s not that spicy.”
“Oh, really?”
An evil smile graced my face.