“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Wow,” Jia said, giving me a two thumbs up. 24-hour Jungle. It’s a tough show, but a lot of celebrities wanted to do it. A show that was incredibly famous and I…was casted.
“I knew it,” Yoo-jin said with a nod. Ever since the photoshoot incident, she became more sweet, but perhaps a lot more shameless than before. Then again, she just turned twenty years old. She still has a ways to go before she grows conscience.
“I mean, I’m not surprised either,” I said with a slightly sarcastic smile. I have a lot of shows knocking at my door…not that it’s unexpected. I’ve become a hot topic recently. Some people were even calling me an alien, not being able to believe all the stuff I’d been able to pull off. I mean, I couldn’t blame them, but an alien? Could it be any more stupid?
“But where are we going now?” Jia asked me.
“The famous Japanese sushi restaurant, Oishii.”
“Really?”
“Yay!”
Jia and Yoo-jin exclaimed and clapped excitedly. Oishii. It was a famous Japanese sushi restaurant in Agujeong. It’s run by a Japanese and known for its amazing sushi.
“Can we really go there?” Jia asked, her face looking concerned. With that, I took out the card. The unlimited card.
“Ta-da.”
“What’s this?”
“Jinwoo gave it to me. It’s unlimited,” I said, waving the card. Jia and Yoo-jin both began to do a happy dance.
“Oh, but I feel bad that it’s just us. It’ll be great if we could take the whole group,” Jia said, thinking of the other girls who couldn’t come. She really was an angel. The other members were sleeping. I told the girls to get ready to go out and eat, but they were so tired that they didn’t even listen to me. Pitiful. So, I woke up Jia and Yoo-jin as they were sleeping in the same room as me.
“We can just go out again tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“He told me I could use it as much as I wanted. No need to feel guilty.”
Did he really say the last part? I’m sure he did. Or not? Is it just me? Well, he did tell me to use it as much as I wanted, so that’s what I planned to do.
“Whoo!” Jia and Yoo-jin cheered, pumping their fists into the air.
“For dinner, how about a samgyeupsal party on the rooftop?”
“Can we get beef?” Yoo-jin asked.
“Let’s get it all!”
“Yay!”
We all began to happily dance. And then, I later found out that at the moment I said that, Jinwoo started to bleed out of his ears.
Anyways, we arrived at Oishii. It was still morning, so it was nearly empty.
We sat at a table near the window. A Japanese employee came over not long after.
“Hello.”
With his playboy like features, I immediately wanted to hit the guy. He had bleached platinum blonde hair and tattoos everywhere. Also, he walked with this swagger that I couldn’t comprehend. He didn’t really seem like an employee. Not only that, his Korean was weird as well. Did he even know the language?
“We’ll take the special Grande size sushi platter.”
“Ano…”
The employee began to speak. In Japanese. ‘Ano’ in Japanese was equivalent to the Korean ‘Um…’ If you were to ever go to Japan and fall into a situation where you’re confused, that’s the only word you need. Anyways, it seemed like the employee didn’t understandd what I said. So, I pointed to the picture on the menu.
“This.”
“Ah! Okay, okay.”
With a nod, the employee took the menu and swaggered away. Was he really an employee here? He didn’t really act like an employee of a high-end restaurant.
“I don’t think he’s an employee,” Jia said. No employee would act so casually. He’d be fired on the spot.
“Maybe it’s a family member of a relative. He probably just helps out in the mornings.”
That was the most plausible explanation.
“Hey Sian,” Jia suddenly said to me.
“Yeah?”
“Who else is going to be on 24-hour Jungle?”
“I don’t know yet. They won’t tell us.”
It’s true. There’s no word on who else was going to do the show, but the show did have their permanent cast members. They were Byung-hoon Lee and Junho Kim. They were veterans of the show, especially Byung-hoon. There was really nothing the guy couldn’t do. He’s kind of short, but he can hold his own wherever he goes. He’s known to be responsible and really popular.
On the other hand, Junho was tall and very muscular. He’s also very smart and has a lot of female fans. He’s Byung-hoon’s right hand man.
“Can you get me Junho’s autograph?” Jia asked.
“It hasn’t even been that long since you broke up with Minjae.”
I mean, they just broke up last night. Well…maybe it didn’t count since they hadn’t even really dated.
“Still. He’s so cool.”
‘This girl, really.’
Every time Jia mentions another guy, I just want to poke someone’s eye out. That’s how angry I get.
“Sian, can you get me Byung-hoon’s autograph?”
“Okay, I’ll get his. But not Junho’s.”
“Huh…why?” Jia began to whine.
I shook my head, making it clear that it was not going to happen. Not now. Not ever. And then, the guy with the swagger and the blonde hair and the tattoos, who was probably most definitely not an employee, came out with the platter. The Grande size sushi platter. It included every kind of sushi that they made at this restaurant. Flatfish, yellowtail, fatty tuna (this one was the best), and so on, and so forth. There were even some I have never seen before.
“This looks so good!” Jia said, looking at all the sushi. Yoo-jin wholeheartedly agreed with her.
Me, on the other hand…
“This looks kind of small. Let’s get ten more.”
“Okay!” Yoo-jin and Jia had no problem agreeing. And then, we began to dig in.
But all of a sudden.
“Ah!”
“Ew!”
Jia and Yoo-jin spat out their sushi. So did I.
“Fuck!”
A strong, spicy taste began to spread inside my mouth. We all looked into the sushi, and there was wasabi. Lots and lots of wasabi.
“What the hell?”
I stared at the employee. He was snickering as he stared at us. Not only that, he was filming us with his phone.
“Is he the one who did it?
I warily nibbled on another sushi. This one had a ton of wasabi in it as well. They all did. There was no doubt on who was the culprit. No doubt he was making fun of the Korean’s inability to handle wasabi like the Japanese could. Then again, who would have thought someone dared to do such a thing in Korea? I knew what I had to do. I’ll show him just how terrifying I could be.
***
I grabbed the platter and stood up. Jia and Yoo-jin stared at me.
“Sian, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to get a refund.”
“Okay,” Jia said wit ha reply.
I took the platter and headed over to the bastard employee.
“Hey, you.”
“Hai?”
No, no ‘hi’ as in hello. In this case, he was ‘hai’ as in ‘yes?’ I almost hit him before I realized that.
“Come on, baby,” I said, gesturing for him to follow me. I led him to a small spot where nobody would see us. He followed me with a snicker.
We arrived at the spot.
I held up the platter and asked him ‘Why? What are you doing?’ The guy kept saying ano…ano…ano…while laughing. So I took the wasabi and pushed it towards the guy into his own mouth. He tried to back away, but I brought him down. I took the wasabi-filled sushi and shoved it into his mouth…but then I was afraid he’d choke, so I sat him up properly. I then grabbed him by the hair and took a bowl full of wasabi before pouring it into his mouth. After stuffing his mouth to the brim with wasabi, I took some water and poured that in as well. Then I shut his mouth. He began to struggle as I took his phone to film him.
Click click click.
I then sent those photos to the friends he had been chatting with. Then for good measure, I had him feel some of my murderous rage. It was a satisfying ending.
***
I showed the Japanese owner the wasabi piled in our sushi. He apologized profusely and told us that the employee was his cousin and today was his first day. He apologized again and again. I said okay and when the owner asked what he could do to make up for it, I asked for another platter. With another apologize, he gave us five more. Then, he asked me what was wrong with his cousin and I told him he’d be back to normal in an hour or so. Also, I told the cousin to never mention my name. Otherwise, I’d really kill him.
Anyways, we cleaned off those five platters and went to eat pizza. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten so well in the morning. Not only that, in the evening, we had a barbecue party. But we do have a conscience so we only ordered pork. Also, Jinwoo came as well. He didn’t hold back either.
“How did you hear about this?”
“I got a text.”
“A text? What text?” I asked. I never sent him a text.
“When you use the card, I get a text.”
“Oh.”
So that’s what happened.
“But why are you ears bleeding…”
“I don’t know. It just happened.”
With that, Jinwoo began to stuff his mouth with pork.
“Hm, we might need more. I’ll go buy some.”
“!!!!!!”
***
A few days passed and soon, it was the day before I would start filming 24-hour Jungle. The filming location was a country called Hanili on the Southern tip of Africa. It was well known for its large population of alligators. Hmm, alligators sure sounds good. The Chinese have made the dish famous, plus it sounds really good. I want to try it.
“Looking at the cast list…it looks like Byung-hoon, Jungho, and UCIVA champion Sunghwan Lee. As well as top gay celebrity Ji-chun Hong…and the youngest member of Ladies’ Generation, Hye-jeong. Huh? Hye-jeong is going to be on the show?” Jia said, looking surprised.
“Hye-jeong? I thought she was holed up in her place?”
Ever since that day she cursed at our performance, she’s been pretty much under house arrest. Was her self-reflection period over? Oh, now that I think about it, isn’t she also under Han Enterainment? That’s the company where the fortune-telling Mr. Lee works. Ugh.
“I guess she’s done apologizing,” Jia said, looking miffed.
“Then I’ll just have to make her apologize again,” I said with a smirk.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.” I smirked.
“Hye-jeong Jung, the youngest member of the top girl group Ladies’ Generation, meets Sian Lee…sounds like fun,” Ji-hyun said, looking excited. Then again, she wasn’t the only one. Looking at the comments, a lot of people were excited for the show. Hye-jeong vs. me. It was exploding all over the internet.
“Sian, you have to win!” Jia said.
“I’m not going there to fight,” I pointed out. It’s true. It’s not a competition, but that looks like it’s about to change. If Hye-jeong is nice, I can be nice to her as well…but with her personality, I highly doubt that. Especially since I myself had no intention of becoming her friend. She’s pretty, but her personality is…eugh.
“Let’s pack.”
“Okay!”
The other members helped me pack again. Of course, this time, I didn’t put too much trust into their expertise. That’s the lesson I learned last time – that these girls don’t put too much thought when they pack…
