Chapter 21: Chapter 21

It is such a lovely scene.

Angel stands amazed by how good James is with the knife and how he knows his way in the kitchen.

It didn’t take a while, and James’ porridge is now ready to serve.

“Thank you for the food!”Angel said with glee, and then she happily dug in.

“Wow, this tastes nice!” Angel said after having a slurp. Showing her thumbs-up.

James smiles from ear to ear with satisfaction as if he just won a battle that saved his whole country as he watches how Angel enjoys the food he made.

“It is just porridge. You are overreacting,” Kyle’s irritated voice echoed in the background as he walked towards the counter and was waiting for his turn to be served.

“I thought you were not hungry,” Angel said playfully to Kyle and then looking back at James with a wink.

Her wink caught James of-guard, and even though he knew it was made as a joke- blood still rushed to his face as he tried to clear his throat and action that did not pass unnoticed to Kyle’s keen eyes, his eyes narrowed, but he did not say anything about it.

“Just eat, you pig,”

“Whatever.”

James watched this short exchange of the two with a hint of jealousy as evidence of how close they are to each other.

“You should eat as well, Angel said to James while shoving a spoonful of porridge in the latter’s mouth,”

James involuntary let the spoon into his mouth, but when he realized that it was Angel’s spoon that she was using to eat with her own lips, his eyes widened, and he felt as if he was boiling water left in the pot to over-boil.

Kyle shouted, “Are you crazy?!”

“What?” Angel did not even have the slightest hint about what she did and how flustered James was at the moment.

James chokes, not because of the food but because of the wild thoughts running in his mind- it is just a spoon, but that spoon she used to feed James is the same spoon that she is licking right now.

Kyle grabbed the spoon in Angel’s hands, threw it into the sink, and put a new one in her bowl.

“That is a waste of dishes. You should do the dishes then,”

“Yes! I will do those f*cking dishes!” Kyle said in an infuriated tone, half because of Angel’s actions, the other half is because she is so dense that she doesn’t know what is going on right now in front of her.

The meal ended peacefully, with occasional blunders here and there mostly coming from Angel.

All throughout, Kyle is observing James, trying to recall where he saw him before while on the other hand, James is also doing the same-he wants to know the essential role that this man in front of him is playing. It is crystal clear to James that Kyle feels something more than friendship towards Angel, and for some reason, though it cuts his heart to admit, he knows that Kyle also has a special place in Angel’s heart.

The rain almost stopped.

And though the night is still chilly, James and Kyle bid Angel goodbye.

But just minutes after the maiden closes the doors of her house, Kyle tapped James' shoulders in front of the latter’s car.

“Do you want to grab a drink,”

“Sure,”

They both know what this means.

The next scene is on a tiny yet quiet pub along the highway.

A bottle of soju and two small cups are on the table, but even before it is opened, Kyle put his best foot forward and asked James the question he has meant so much to ask a while back.

“Who are you?”

James grabbed the soju bottle, opened it, and poured each glasses. He was still taken aback even if he expected this question tonight when Kyle asked for a drink.

“One-shot,” James said.

They both drank.

“I am Angel’s editor. I think you already know that by now,” James answered Kyle’s question after drinking his cup.

“I know there is so much more than that,”

“What makes you think so,”

It is now Kyle’s turn to pour soju into the glasses. He raised his glass, and they both drank.

“You called her Gel,”

James thought Kyle did not notice his mistake, but he did.

“Did I?” James tries his best to play innocent.

Kyle smirked and poured another soju on his glass and said, “I know what I heard,”

James poured another soju on his glass, drank it, and said, “I will answer your question after you answered mine,”

Kyle's eyes narrowed, but he still nodded as a sign of affirmation. He thought, what harm would this stranger’s question give him- he barely knows me yet, and that is how, with that thought, he let his guard down.

“Are you sure?”

“Just say it,”

“Who are you with this morning?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you having a nice meal with an interesting lady,”

Kyle’s face turns red. He realizes he took the bait, and just like a person stuck in quicksand, he needs to think fast to save himself.

“I am just having a meal with a friend, nothing more,”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like it to anyone, I guess- It looks more like a blind date to me or maybe to anyone,” James just took another one-shot.

“And you know what bothers me a lot? It is the fact that Angel told me that you are barely a guy when I can clearly see you are,”

Kyle is falling deeper and deeper into the quicksand- he struggles to get out. But a fun fact with quicksands is the more you struggle to survive, the more it will suck you in.

James’ eyes narrowed as he unsympathetically observed how Kyle searched for words.

And just like a capable warrior, James is ready to stab his already bleeding opponent just to be sure that he will get the information he needs right now,

“Are you really gay?”

Kyle did not know what to say. He knows he needs to say something, and whatever he would utter will not be taken lightly. Kyle can clearly see that this opponent in front of him is willing to take another stab just to get what he wants.

It is clear that James is quick-witted and will not let go of Kyle quickly, especially now that he could build a trap and put Kyle inside a maze that he initially made, not for himself.

Kyle struggles for words, and James can clearly see it, and because of these reactions, James wants to be sure that he will not let go of Kyle without squeezing out the information he needs tonight.