| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“What’s going on here?” Kevin asked. “You knew Mandy before she moves in our building or something?”
“No,” Ray said quickly. “I don’t even know her last name.”
“That’s strange. I don’t know either. Charmaine just introduced us with first names.”
“What kind of people only tells you their first names?”
“People who don’t trust you.”
“How many people, sir?” The waiter at the door asked.
“Is Mr. Daniel Cho here yet?” Ray asked back.
“No, sir.”
“Table for 4, please,” Kevin said.
The waiter takes them to a table near the window. Kevin sits down on the seat next to the window while Ray sits on the other one, leaving the other side for Mr. Cho.
“Do you want anything to drink first?” The waiter asked.
“No,” Ray replied. “We’ll wait for Mr. Cho first.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be back later with the menus when Mr. Cho comes.”
Ray nods and the waiter leaves their table.
“Talking about trust, Mandy has an issue with trust big time,” Ray continued with their previous topic. “I hope you work in that area before you win her over.”
“Since you bring that up, would you stop telling everyone that I’m after her?” Kevin begged. “She’ll get scared.”
“She doesn’t seem scared to me.”
“Just don’t spread it around anymore.”
“But if I don’t spread it around, how the world is your aunt going to believe you’re with her? I meant you guys put up a pretty good show last night.”
“Then just tell that to my aunt. But when we’re around Charmaine and Mandy, don’t talk like that.”
“You’re starting to sound like some old lady giving me all the instructions.”
“I’m just being careful. You know how your mouth runs like crazy.” He stops for a second. “And you even told Wallace he looks like a murderer.”
“I didn’t say he looks like a murderer. I said people said so.”
“If you didn’t agree with them, you would socialize with him already, man.”
“Wallace doesn’t care.”
“How do you know?”
“He’s an honest guy.”
“He is. But don’t push your limits.”
“All right, all right. Stop lecturing me already.”
Kevin is about to open his mouth again but he sees Mr. Cho walking over to them.
Both Kevin and Ray stand up, waiting for Mr. Cho. They have a round of handshakes before sitting down again.
Ray lays out the tan folder that Jessica gave him earlier. “Mr. Cho, this is the plan that I told you about before. Jessica, our assistant, isn't here right now. She has a meeting right now with another client and will come here in half an hour. But I can explain the whole layout to you. Then Kevin will tell you the details about the architectural part of it.”
Mr. Cho smiles. “We can eat first before we discuss this.”
The waiter arrives at their table at that time. He went to get their menu when he saw Mr. Cho walked in. Kevin and Ray pick a simple dish to eat while Mr. Cho browses through it once before choosing several dishes. They don't want to order drinks, so the waiter comes back in several minutes with glasses of iced water for them.
When the waiter leaves, they talk again.
“Mr. Cho, I know your time is precious,” Ray began again. “How about we give you a brief overview before the food arrives?”
“It's okay, fellows,” Mr. Cho reassured them, smiling. “Today, I want to enjoy myself a little. You can slow down. Unless, you have other appointments, then I won't keep you long.”
“We don't have any meetings until 10,” Ray said.
Mr. Cho nods, looks out the window, and sighs.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Cho?”
“If you're not satisfied with our work, you can tell us,” Kevin continued. “We'll try our best to improve it.”
Mr. Cho looks back at them. “No. It's not you fellows. I just miss my children. It's my birthday today and I really want to share this moment with them.”
“Oh, really?” Ray asked excitedly. “It's my dad's birthday today. What a coincidence. He suddenly realizes it and stops smiling, his expression turning passive again. “But I'm not sure if he's alive. We lost contact with him awhile ago.”
“I'm sorry to bring it up then.”
“It's okay, Mr. Cho. I brought the subject up.” He looks sideways instead of directly at Mr. Cho. “I shouldn't have said all those things to you. We're supposed to be on business. But I don't know why I just want to say it out.” He turns his attention on Mr. Cho again. “I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't affect us working on your project.”
Mr. Cho chuckles. “How many times have I told you that you fellows don't have to be all formal with me? Relax, my boy. I'd been working with you two for too long now. We should treat one another more like friends than just a business relationship.”
Kevin, who’s observing Mr. Cho the whole time, still doesn't say anything.
“If you say so, I have a suggestion,” Ray said. He pauses a bit before continuing. “How about you come to our apartment tonight? We'll throw a little party for you.”
Kevin pokes Ray under the table.
“Ummmm....unless you're celebrating with your family tonight.”
Mr. Cho’s face lights up at that time. “Are you sure? Of course I'll be happy to come. I haven't been around such enthusiastic people for a long time.” His face saddens again.
“What about your children? I thought you want to spend your birthday with them. I know they might be busy with whatever, but they should spend your birthday with you.”
Kevin, seeing Mr. Cho's face expression changes into a lonesome expression, pokes Ray again – for him to stop.
“I don't know where they are now,” Mr. Cho confessed.
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Kevin jumped in before Ray runs off his smart-aleck mouth again. “I hope that you could find them again one day.”
“I don't know if they'll accept me as their father again.”
“You have to find them first and tell them to see how they react,” Ray said. “Maybe they're like me, always wanting to be reunited with their father.”
Mr. Cho softens his expression a bit, not as sad anymore. “Do you think so?”
“Yes.”
The waiter comes with their food right at that time. He arranges the dishes on the table and leaves them to enjoy their meal.
“Since you're inviting me to your apartment, let's share these foods here,” Mr. Cho said to them. “Since I can't eat it all.”
“Okay!” Ray said cheerfully, using his chopsticks to retrieve one of the food pieces on Mr. Cho's dishes. “I love this dish right here. If I didn't know better, I thought you're my dad.”
That last statement got him another poke from Kevin.
Ray elbows Kevin at that time, annoyed. “Stop poking me before I kill you!” He finishes chewing a piece of food before continuing. “Mr. Cho says it's okay to be informal. It's not like I'll call him ‘Dad’ and then steps in to steal his wealth.”
“Mr. Cho, I hope you don't mind my friend,” Kevin said, his expression mirroring his apologetic tone. “He's very straight-forward.”
“It's okay,” Mr. Cho said. “Let's eat. No more formalities, please.”
Ray smiles at Mr. Cho appreciatively.
They eat in silence for a while. Mr. Cho keeps putting more food into Ray's dish than eating it himself.
“Mr. Cho, you should eat too,” Ray said, noticing the mountain of food building on his plate. “I know I said I love that dish, but it's your birthday.” He uses his chopsticks to get some of the mushroom from one of the dishes and puts it onto Mr. Cho's plate.”
Kevin looks at the two of them, not really eating much. “They do look like father and son,” Kevin thought.
At that time, Jessica appears at their table. Ray and Mr. Cho are too busy with giving each other food that they are not aware of her presence.
“Jessica!” Kevin called out – a tad too loud. “How was the other meeting?”
Mr. Cho finally edges back to his side of the table, sliding his chair closer to the window. “Ms. Hsuan, please sit down. We're eating now.” He puts his chopsticks down and signals for the waiter. “Get me another plate and another pair of chopsticks for this young lady.”
Ray smiles at Jessica. “Hey! Sit down!” He turns to Mr. Cho again. “You can just call her Jessica. She's my girlfriend. So we're all one big happy family!”
Kevin pokes him again despite his threat from before.
Jessica blushes a little. “Ray! Not at work!” She turns to Mr. Cho. “I apologize for Ray's behavior, Mr. Cho.”
Mr. Cho chuckles. “Relax, my girl. We're just eating right now. Besides, it's my birthday, so you can loosen up and celebrate with me.”
“Really?” Jessica asked in a cheerful tone. “Happy birthday!”
Just then, the waiter comes back with a plate and a pair of chopsticks for Jessica. He also puts down another iced water glass for her.
“Is there anything else you need, Mr. Cho?” The waiter asked.
“No, thank you,” Mr. Cho said, grinning.
The waiter looks puzzled but he walks away after a couple seconds. Kevin notices that also. He makes a mental note to check something out later.
Jessica turns to Mr. Cho at that time. “Mr. Cho, did you know that today is Ray's father's birthday too?”
“You two are so alike,” Mr. Cho said. “Ray just told me.”
“In fact, I just invited Mr. Cho to my apartment tonight so we can throw a party for him,” Ray informed Jessica.
Jessica looks back at Ray while trying to scoop some of Ray's noodles onto her plate. “I'm sure he has other....”
“No, he wants to celebrate with us!” Ray jumped in, cutting Jessica off before she can remind Mr. Cho of his sad past. “Right, Mr. Cho?”
“Right,” Mr. Cho verified.
Jessica looks over to Kevin. “Are you okay over there?”
“Of course!” Kevin said, grinning. “I'm eating. I don't want to talk much.”
Ray glances at Kevin before directing his attention to Mr. Cho again. “Smartest guy here. Eats while we talk!”
Mr. Cho laughs. “I haven't had this much fun for a long time now.”
“You'll have more fun tonight. I'll tell my other neighbors to come and celebrate with you.”
“I don't want them to put such efforts just for my happiness.”
“No trouble. I'm just making an excuse to get everyone together. Two girls just moved in across from us yesterday. They're pretty nice, except for the younger one. But I don't think they mind at all. They like to socialize.”
“I'll be looking forward to meeting them if they're like you've described.”
“They are. Oh yeah, did I tell you about that Wallace dude who lives sorta of across from us? He's next to the girls.” He pauses to take a sip of his water. “We thought he's a psycho murderer, but he isn't. He's actually very nice. He dropped us – Kevin and I – off today because my car broke down.”
Mr. Cho gives him a recognition smile. “Sometimes what you hear and what you see are two different things.”
“You're so right, Mr. Cho.”
Kevin and Jessica eat in silence as Ray and Mr. Cho chat away excitingly. Once in awhile Jessica gives Kevin a friendly smile, not wanting him to be sad. She knows from Ray that Kevin's parents died when he was young so he lived with his aunt since. Even though Mr. Cho isn't Ray's father but they could pass as father and son. She just doesn’t want Kevin to feel left out in any way.
When they're finish eating, it's around 9 already. The waiter comes to clear their table, leaving only their drinks.
Kevin grabs the tan folder Ray had put aside before. “Mr. Cho, you should take a look at this right now and we'll make changes later.”
Mr. Cho looks at his watch. “I'll tell you what. How about we discuss this tonight? I want you all to go with me to my house.”
Jessica turns to look from Kevin to Ray.
“We already looked at your house last time,” Kevin answered on their behalf. “I don't think it's necessary this time. Uh, unless you changed your house plan from last time.”
“He changed it since yesterday?” Ray asked, breaking out in laughter. “Get real, Kevin!”
Mr. Cho holds back his own laughter. “It's informal.”
Jessica looks at the two guys again.
“Sure, why not?” Ray said before the other two could send each other signals.
“All right,” Kevin said, knowing that it’s too late to reject.
Jessica gets up and waits for Mr. Cho to get up. Mr. Cho leads them out. He stops to take care of the bill at the front desk. Kevin and Ray insist on paying for him since it's his birthday but he says he want to pay. Finally, Mr. Cho pays because Ray says that they'll throw him a party tonight to make up for it.
They exit the restaurant, following Mr. Cho to his car.
As Kevin follows the others out, he overhears a familiar voice saying, “I never see Mr. Cho this way before. You think he found his son? He never smiled before.” He steals a quick at the person who just said that. He realizes that it's the waiter that had been serving their table. Kevin becomes very suspicious, but doesn't want to hold everyone up so he makes a mental note to come back later.
When they arrive at Mr. Cho's car, they see the driver waiting for them. Kevin gets in the front with the driver – still deep in thoughts – while Ray and Jessica sit in the back with Mr. Cho. Ray's sitting in the middle so he gets all the chances to talk to Mr. Cho.
On the way to Mr. Cho's house, Ray and Mr. Cho continue to chat in excitement while Jessica listens, only talking when she needs to.
Kevin is staying quiet in front, still thinking and putting the pieces together. He realizes that he had missed a lot in the past and feels that he needs to go back and decipher the codes.
The journey to Mr. Cho's mansion takes about 15 minutes because of traffic and the distance.
© Sunday, April 8th, 2007
Re-posted: Friday, October 9th, 2009