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” Eat it with wasabi and soy sauce”
Nari was sat on Geon-woo’s left while Woo-jin and Hyeon-ju sat opposite them and Mr Hwang at the head of the table. For lunch Mr Hwang had specially readied a platter of his best work, allowing them to taste and ponder his delicacy while Mr Kwan pouted in the kitchen, his passion for the art going unnoticed.ย
“You eat like this everyday?” Geon-woo muttered to Nari, his eyes sparkling in awe at the halibut Mr Hwang had served to them, Hyeon-ju humming in agreement. They were envious of her, this was amazing.
“You get sick of it” she whispered, leaning close to him to ensure her boss didn’t overhear, but Geon-woo simply looked at her in disbelief. He would never get sick of such deliciousness. But while Geon-woo and Hyeon-ju marvelled at the burst of exotic flavour that danced on their tongues, Nari remained impassive and disinterested, used to Mr Hwang’s specialities, Woo-jin was another story.
He eyed the halibut in his hand withs such scrutiny it may have burst into flames. He did not care for all the eyes that suddenly turned to him and he gently placed the fish onto his tongue, closing his eyes as he slowly locked his jaw and let the halibut do its work.
A satisfied sound left his lips and Nari had to visibly stop herself from smacking him as he turned to Mr Hwang with a chuffed smile. “Wild caught” he informed. ” You see, farmed halibut have a lot of fat in their fins that can be too heavy. But wild ones like this have all that fat evenly distributed ” he inhaled sharply and Nari slammed her head onto the table. ” It’s such a lean and exquisite flavour. I can still taste it” he said, waving his hand over his mouth before nodding in approval. ” It’s aged to perfection”
”I’m embarrassed for him” Nari muttered to Geon-woo who was enjoying the scene before him a little too much.
“It’s honestly impressive” Geon-woo whispered back as he eyed the two men.
“Does he look impressed?” Nari whispered knowingly as she pointed to Mr Hwang who blankly stared, unimpressed and slightly annoyed at the curly haired boy.
“Are you an expert?” Mr Hwang questioned, pulling their attention as his eyes shot daggers into Woo-jin’s unsuspecting demeanour.
Woo-jin chuckled flusteredly, almost humbly before replying. ” I was a restaurant YouTuber back in the day, but my channel didn’t get enough subscribers, so I quit”
Nari bit back a snort.
“This was my first time having it cut long. It wraps around your mouth like a whip. That’s the best halibut I’ve ever had sir” Woo-jin complimented as Geon-woo nodded along with every word like a puppy. She found it cute, but she coughed a low kiss ass under her breath that Hyeon-ju and Mr Hwang smirked at.
“We’ll definitely subscribe to your channel now Woo-jin” Nari remarked with a grin as he shot them a glower at their amused smiles.
“I told you it was over” he said pointedly but they merely laughed him off.
They simmered when Mr Hwang started talking again, Mr Kwan placing a platter of sushi onto the table, shooting Nari a wink before retreating back into the kitchen. What? He couldn’t help himself.
“You kids went through a lot that’s why I wanted to treat you” he told them, placing sushi onto Nari’s plate who grumbled slightly.
“So much for letting the adults handle things” Nari leaned over and teased lowly to Yang-jung so her friends didn’t hear. The older man merely shot her a snarky look in return. He did not like being wrong, especially when Nari always thrived off it.
“What do you plan to do now?” Hyeon-ju asked as Nari prompted her to eat her sushi.
“Well, kill the big guy. Then catch the one that looks like a wildcat. That one is Kim Myeong-gil’s clean-up crew. He’s the one they send around buying peoples silence and threatening their lives whenever it’s needed. We’ll fck him up and then he’s going to lead us to where the bodies are buried. Then well have Kim Myeong-gil” he said.
“Then Smile Capital is over” Hyeon-ju finalised and Nari feltย a familiar hope ignite in her chest. They could really do it this time, end them for good.
“But what do we do if we don’t find the bodies?” Hyeon-ju asked
“Well, we can find a murder weapon or maybe some security footage” Yang-jung said, placing yellowtail pieces into each of their plates.
“As for the yellowtail-” Woo-jin went to concur before a loud voice filled their ears. A familiar loud voice.
“Uncle Lee” Nari greeted as he apologised for his tardiness, his face lit up at the sight of her.
“Troublemaker. Good to see you kid” he said, grinning brightly. Du-yeong pulled up a seat next to his friend who grumbled an irritated ” You’re late”
” I’m offended you did not tell them of my arrival” Du-yeong said to his friend before glancing at the three friends. “Lee Du-yeong, nice to meet you” he introduced, holding his hands out for a fist bump while the three, not used to such informality hesitantly reciprocated.
“I went to the underpass that day. I went there as soon as your grandfather called me” he said glancing at Nari seeing her sceptical eyes. She had already gotten an earful from Yang-jung, she didn’t need another by him, and knowing he was more overprotective, she did not want to be sat for two hours listening to him rant about her life and how she had endangered it yadda yadda yadda. But to her utter surprise, Yang -jung had embodied the stern fatherly role while Du-yeong beamed rather proudly.
“I saw those goons lying on the ground and thought ‘these kids can really fight’. ” He told them, certainly impressed. Nari grinned, shooting a pointed look at Mr Hwang who glowered. He hated when they ganged up on him.
“You remember when you wanted to be a boxing champion back then” Du-yeong said and Nari found her eyebrows shoot to her skull. That, she did not know. Her smirk turned devilish and Yang-jung shot her an exasperated look knowing he would not be hearing the end of it as he turned to his friend.
“That was a long time ago” Yang- jung muttered before trying to get them back on track.
“We got a hit” he said and Du-yeong shot him a look that very much implied a not in front of the kidsย kind of side eye. “The sales director”
“Let’s talk in the back” Du-yeong sighed but Yang-jung merely shook his head.
“Why? They’re coming with us” Yang- jung informed and Du-yeong snapped his head towards his friend, his eyes darting to Nari as he leaned over.
“I thought we agreed she won’t be involved in this” Du-yeong said harshly.
“That was before they made it clear they were going to do this either way. You know how she is. She will do it without our permission at least this way, we can watch over her.” Yang-jung reasoned, seeing the apprehension in his companion’s face. He knew Du-yeong cared for her as if she were his child and Yang-jung felt the same but Nari was nothing if not stubborn and her stubbornness would eventually get her killed if she was not careful.
“I hope you are right ” Du-yeong muttered before they turned back to the four of them.
“Okay, so we strike tonight” Mr Hwang started and all ears and eyes trained on him.
“Once you take down the sales director, you’ll have to call me immediately. I’ll be at the hospital” he told Du-yeong who nodded. She had never seen them so scary business looking. She had to remember that this was their life, their job outside of the kind-hearted lovable figures in her life.
“The director will probably have goons protecting him and they’ll be onto us. That means thugs are at the hospital. Which is why we’re splitting teams. It’s risky but its how we’ll win” he said and Du-yeong shot him an encouraging thumbs up.
“Can either of you ride a motorcycle?” Yang-jung asked the two boys who shook their heads, Woo-jin leaning forward in slight fear. “They’re too fast ” he said, and Nari chuckled.
“Right then, the girls are with Du-yeong” Yang-jung decided as Nari grinned at said man who smiled as the two of them high fived.
“You can ride a motorcycle?” Geon-woo asked his eyes alighting in awe at the woman beside him. As if she could not get more perfect, she managed to do it again and again.
“Of course, he was the one to teach me. I’m quite a good driver too” she smirked, eyeing the man at her shoulder. “I’ll show you sometime” she mused, and he grinned at her wink.
“Well, I guess it’s settled then” Yang-jung said, eyeing Nari and Geon-woo sceptically before nodding at the food.
“Eat up, you have a long night ahead of you.”
They obliged merrily.ย
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