POV: Hae Na Ri
Add this meal to the lengthy list of my most uncomfortable meals. I wish I had been served in my room. But this isn't a hotel.
And I am definitely not a welcomed guest.
The tension and awkwardness makes it hard to swallow anything. Throughout the meal, Lee Sunwoo glares at me, Mrs. Kang throws me judgemental glances and Captain Kang avoids looking at me.
And the king, Ryu Hajoon, seems to be sulking.
I don't know what has turned his mood foul. He found fault with the arrangement of water glasses on table. Then the lights overhead were too bright. And he put aside soybean stew before he could even begin eating, criticising its appearance and smell in one long paragraph.
So Seafood Jeongol was brought out, placed in the center of the table with a stove underneath. There are marinated mushrooms, steamed rice, sashimi sliced thick and fresh with sauces and several other side dishes. Now I am quietly having seafood jeongol, its clear savory broth with prawn chunks, while resisting the urge to just gulp everything down and get away.
In this tense air, I can't eat anything.
What a spoiled brat Hajoon is. The rich and their tantrums. This is very reminiscent of my dinner with Park Gayoung at her mansion. She was my high school classmate whose mother found fault with everything their house help did and then proceeded to rant to me how the lower class is greedy and always making mistakes. Gayoung didn't tell her I am also that lower class.
Every now and then I steal glances at Captain Kang. This is a premium fan meeting, even if my idol isn't looking at me. That's the only thing that makes this meal somewhat bearable.
Hajoon notices my discomfort. "You aren't eating well."
Subconsciously, my body tenses up even more. People like him take out their frustration on people like me.
However, to my surprise and relief, his gaze visibly softens. "Feel at ease, we are all friendly people here. Even though these two look kind of scary. We often have dinner together." He gestures to the two people sitting across from me.
Hajoon is sitting at the head of the table, with Mrs. Kang and I on one side and Sunwoo and Captain Kang across from me. The open kitchen– now empty– is behind their back.
Those two people don't seem pleased by that remark.
Hajoon glances at Sunwoo. "Pllease pass Nari'sshi some Banchan."
Sunwoo picks up the plate and slams it noisily in front of me. So very friendly. As if she wanted to slam that on my face, "Here, have some potatoes!"
I also put on the friendliest smile I can. "Thank you, but I don't have Banchan. It often contains perilla leaves and I am allergic to that."
Mrs. Kang looks alarmed at that. "You should have told us earlier. We often use perilla leaves in many dishes."
Good thing they didn't say perilla leaves don't exist.
"Be careful with that in future," Hajoon says to her.
A frown turns down the corners of her mouth. "In future?" She repeats.
They stare at each other for some moments, as though having some telepathic conversation. It would not be surprising if they told me they have telepathic powers in this world.
I shouldn't be surprised by anything at all here now!
"You said you are from another world," Sunwoo says. "But you seemed to know a cafe worker today. The guards told me you had a conversation with her and she even gave you money."
I push around the mushroom in my soup with my spoon. "She is a doppleganger. She looks like my highschool friend Kim Jieun. She is a lawyer in my world and her firm is in that street. I only asked her for some money to use the internet cafe."
I turn to Hajoon. "Can you please return her that money on my behalf? I have no money of my own in this world."
An average person would feel embarrassed at this. But firstly, my situation is extraordinary. How's a person who just travelled across an entire universe supposed to possess money? And the cash here isn't the one we have in my world. The portraits and stamps on it are different.
Secondly, it's not like I never had to ask anyone for money. I have been poor for most of my life.
Hajoon doesn't let me feel embarrassed either. "That's not a problem," he says and then to Captain Kang, "Send someone over with that amount and clear it."
"Doppleganger now," Sunwoo doesn't let us change the topic. "You make the most ridiculous claims."
God knows how incredibly crazy I sound even to my own ears. "I know, but that's true. Captain Kang is also a doppleganger of a famous Kpop idol in my world."
I vaguely note Hajoon's hands pausing while picking a marinated mushroom. Vaguely, because I have become distracted by Captain Kang's beauty again. We did some remarkably silly things back then.
I can't help reminiscing
"One time tried to get a marriage certificate signed by him, but failed. His manager noticed and we were thrown out, Jieun and I and–" I hang my head. I could have become Mrs. Sayoo.
It was actually Jieun's idea but I tried to execute it first because I didn't want her to become Mrs. Sayoo.
"I guess His Majesty shouldn't be signing any documents by you then." Sunwoo remarks and I can't tell from her tone if she is joking or serious.
I laugh awkwardly. "Oh, why would I try to marry His Majesty?"
"Why wouldn't you? What's wrong with me?" Hajoon asks sharply, again dropping the marinated mushroom in his chopstick back in its bowl.
"Sorry?" Is he offended? By what?
"Your Majesty, have some vegetables…" Mrs. Kang's expressions are stern as she places a side dish in front of him. "You need to have more vegetables."
"I can take care of my vegetables, thank you very much."
I feel like it's a conversation in code words, though I can't be sure. Maybe Hajoon really does need to eat more vegetables. And everyone must be quite upset by his lack of consumption of vegetables that they all are glaring at him.
Though I can't tell how I fit in all this as I also receive some dark looks. It's not like I am the only one eating everyone's portion of vegetables here.
Tch tch tch, I cluck my tongue internally.
The rich and their weird habits. I can't bear to stand them, and the feelings are probably mutual.
Perhaps I should try the garden door again tonight. That must be the portal, the door, whatever it is supposed to be. Maybe it only opens at night. Or once in a fortnight. Or only on full moons or certain dates.
There must be a pattern, a reason, a cause. I just need to discover that and get back.