We arrived at our destination, the 30-year old pork cutlet restaurant called ‘King Cutlets.’ As the name suggests, the portions were huge. Each plate was almost the size of a whole pizza.
“I’ll cut the meat for you, Hainan,” Sakaraba said, taking a knife and cutting Hainan’s cutlets for her. He placed the plate in front of her.
Hainan’s face expertly lit up in a well-practiced show of excitement and took her fork. She speared a piece and brought it up to her tiny mouth, which she stretched open. She stuffed her mouth and began to chew.
“Mmmmm!”
Hainan continued to squeal at the taste and kept eating, her face furrowed in concentration.
“Hmm…the taste…how do I put this…the exterior is really crispy and the texture is really nice, but the meat is so tender! How is that possible?!”
She spoke with an air of awe and Hak-gyu readily translated for her.
“She’s pretty good.”
I took my own fork and prepared to eat. But just then, Sakaraba snatched my plate to cut up my meat for me.
He leaned in and whispered, “I’m sorry for not cutting your cutlets for you first. Hainan is the star, so I had no choice.”
“Just give it,” I said, snatching my plate back. Unfortunately, Sakaraba held onto it, insisting that he’d cut it. So, I took my fork and gave him a slight poke in the hand.
Jab.
Sakaraba snatched his hand with a yelp, looking at the mark on his hand.
“I’ll take care of my own food, thanks,” I said with a smile.
Sakarabas’s smile faded a notch.
“Oh right, well….haha! But isn’t it too much for you? Should I take some?”
‘Is he nuts?’ I asked myself
“No. Don’t touch my food,” I said with another smile. Though this one was slightly more murderous than the first one. Of course, he has no way of knowing, but I’m a serious man when it comes to my food.
Soon, it was my turn to eat and give my own commentary, and the producer looked extremely satisfied. My expressions were on par. But rather than commenting, I was better at showing how good it was.
“Can I have one more?” I asked.
Hak-gyu translated and the show producer immediately ordered me another one. There was actually a clause about this in the contract. That there would be unlimited food. Apparently, Jinwoo made sure it was included especially for me, but there was a catch that I had to finish everything within the time frame we were given. Right now, we had 40 minutes at this restaurant. So, I have to eat as much as I can within that time.
After a few minutes, another plate of king cutlets came out. I loaded it with sauce and stuffed my mouth. Unfortunately, Sakaraba started talking to me and I was this close to leaving my seat, but I stayed. I ended up eating one every five minutes, so within half an hour, I had eaten six plates.
“Whoa…”
Sakaraba stared at me in disbelief. The producer as well.
“It’s really good,” I said. I grabbed my glass of coke and chugged it down. The fizz did a good job of washing down the food, immediately resetting my stomach. I asked to order another plate, but the producer spoke up.
“Sian, you need to stop now,” Hak-gyu translated.
I looked at him, confused. Wasn’t the deal that the food would be unlimited during the given time? We still had five minutes left.
“We’re about to leave for our next location soon,” Hak-gyu added, mimicking the producer’s sad face. The same look came over mine as I nodded solemnly. It really was sad. This place was really good.
“Where are we going next?” I asked in anticipation. But wait, isn’t the show called ‘Sugoi Sushi?’ So…when were we going to eat sushi? Don’t tell me we’re not getting any. I’ll have to admit…that was my biggest concern at the moment.
“The next restaurant is a famous sushi restaurant! It’s a Michelin 4-star that’s been open for twenty years…but are you still hungry?” Sakaraba asked, his eyes wide.
“Very,” I said with a bright smile. I was so relieved that we were going to eat sushi. And excited as well! But all of a sudden, the guy was looking at my chest again.
“So that’s why your chest is so big. It’s because you eat a lot. Oh…sugoi.”
He continued to stare at my chest, and I began to flex my fingers. Just wait until I get my sushi…
After we finished at the pork cutlet restaurant, we were on our way to the sushi restaurant. It wasn’t far, so we walked.
“Sian, are you really not full?” Hainan asked, wrapping her arms around mine.
“Nope. I’m so hungry.”
“Wow, you’re amazing! Do you have a second person in your stomach?”
“Let’s hope there’s only one.”
Hainan giggled. But to be honest, I really was curious. Just what was in my stomach that I could eat so much and still be hungry? It’s like the food just melts away the instant it hits my stomach. Is my digestion that strong?
“Sian, did you enjoy it?” Sakaraba asked. This man just could not take his eyes off my chest. How annoying.
“Yes, I did. It was very good,” I said, somehow managing to keep the smile on my face. It wouldn’t be right for me to punch him at the moment. It could ruin Hainan’s big moment, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Also, these guys are really popular in Japan. One wrong move and it could backfire on the other group members too.
Anyways, Sakaraba kept talking.
“Trust me, the sushi will taste even better. I’m a regular there. I completely recommend it,” Sakaraba said, sounding rather proud of himself.
He also added, “It’s really expensive there too.”
“I can eat as much as I want, right?”
“Of course,” Sakaraba replied. The producer didn’t look too happy at that. But all of a sudden, he smiled. After all, I had eaten that much at the pork cutlet restaurant. Just how much more could I possibly eat?
We soon arrived at the sushi restaurant and ordered some sushi. And again, Sakaraba ended up in the seat next to me. Ugh, he was seriously getting on my nerves…but I reminded myself to be patient. The sushi came out quickly and after a quick introduction of the food, we began to eat. As soon as Hainan began to eat, everyone watched her. The producer and the staff all couldn’t take their eyes off of her. Honestly, neither could I. Hainan was just so beautiful. She kept tucking her hair behind her ear as she ate and there was something so angelic about the sight. How could anyone be that pretty while they ate? Sure enough, Sakaraba himself couldn’t stop looking at her and he even began to drool.
“Too bad she’s a minor,” he muttered under his breath.
‘You fucking bastard. You’ll pay for that later,’ I thought to myself.
During those next forty minutes, I stuffed myself again, this time with sushi. The plates kept stacking up and soon, I had over 20 plates stacked up.
“I’m still hungry,” I said before eating more. The higher the plates stacked up, the worse the producer’s face became. But he couldn’t stop me, because of the unlimited food clause. Thank you Jinwoo. I made a note to myself to express my sincere gratitude to him when I returned. Thanks to him, there really is nothing else I could want right now.
Anyways, I continued to eat until we had about five minutes left. I put down my chopsticks for a moment and Sakaraba took that moment to speak to me again.
“Sian, where does all that food go?”
“Wish I knew,” I said, picking up my chopsticks again.
“It must all go to your chest.”
“Ha,” I said. Not because I was amused by his comment, but because I could feel my patience slipping by the second.
“It feeds my strength.”
“Your strength?”
“Yeah, I’m really strong,” I said.
“Really?” Sakaraba said, sounding excited. “Then, let’s have an arm-wrestling match.”
He was clearly using that as an excuse to hold my hand.
“Okay,” I answered. Let’s end it here. Right now.
We immediately got ready for the match, clearing off the table of the food…
“Oh, could you please wrap up the leftover sushi for me?” I asked.
Hak-gyu translated and the employee immediately began to wrap up the food. Soon, the table was clean and Sakaraba and I were sitting on either side of the table.
“Sian…are you sure?” Hainan asked, looking worried. She clearly thought I was going to lose. To think, she still has so little faith in me. After everything I’ve showed her. Sad.
“Sian, will you be okay? Why did you do agree to this? You know he only did that so he could hold your hand!”
That was Hak-gyu. Even he can’t trust me…though he’s not the only one. The Japanese producer and staff members were also watching with an air of indifference, so sure that it would be over quickly.
“Just watch,” I said, putting my right arm on the table. Sakaraba put his arm on the table and we took each other’s hand. I could immediately feel Sakarba squeezing my hand.
“Your hands are pretty too.”
“Thanks.”
Just a little more patience, Sian. It’ll be over once the match starts.
“It’s so pretty, I don’t want to let go. After we finish, should we hold hands on our way to the bar?” Sakaraba asked with a lewd smile. The producer and staff laughed along with him.
“If you can,” I said. Sakaraba’s eyes widened excitedly. He must’ve been feeling really brave at that moment, because he continued.
“I have a feeling that this won’t just end with alcohol. Maybe I should look up some motel rooms in advance.”
Hak-gyu swelled up and shouted, “Just get it over with already!”
Kazeo stood at the head of the table and gave me a creepy smile himself. He said something in Japanese that I couldn’t understand, but it almost sounded like he was asking if he could come along. Judging by the way they were snickering, I was sure of it.
“Come on. Let’s go,” I said, still smiling. Sakaraba grinned back. And again, his eyes looked straight down at my chest. He seemed to be taking measurements by sight. He went on.
“Even the shape is beautiful.”
“Yup,” I answered.
Finally, Kazeo began to countdown.
“San! Ni! Ichi!”
As he counted, I gathered up my strength. I could see Sakaraba puffing up his own muscles as well.
Slam!
A fist crashed down onto the table and for a split second, everything was still. Then suddenly, the table underneath it began to crack and just like that, the fist went through the table, leaving a large crater on the surface.
Crack…crackle! Crackle! Crack…
And Sakaraba’s hand began to crack as well.
“Aaaah!”
Sakaraba’s pained scream rang throughout the quiet restaurant and soon, he passed out and fell to the floor.
Thud.
“Oh my.”
Did I go too strong? I didn’t think the table would give way so easily. Nor did I expect Sakaraba’s hand to break so easily, but it’s not my fault. He’s the one who wanted to have an arm wrestling match. All I did was give a slight push.
“Sakaraba-san!” the producer shouted. He and the staff immediately ran over to him.
Behind them, I gave a slight smile. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this satisfied.
