#51
Fortunately, I was able to satisfy my curiosity about Russian-style cakes.
Word must have spread a lot because even though it was a weekday, there were quite a few customers. Still, perhaps because the space itself was large, there was room to film. We had also gotten permission that filming for promotional purposes would be fine.
So I went near the counter to choose a cake to eat with him…
“Whoa, that’s enough now.”
Jin Woohyeon grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me back.
“You’re going to end up inside the display case at this rate, hyung. It’s cold in there.”
I muttered while pressed against the glass wall.
“I want to try it… Just one bite…”
“No. It’s written on the sign over there. Allergy-inducing ingredients: peanuts, walnuts, almonds. Will something bad happen if hyung eats nuts or not?”
He was right. I couldn’t end today’s date in the emergency room. But.
“It looks like their signature menu.”
Why did that nut cake, which was supposedly one of their popular items, look so delicious? Maybe it was because I knew it was forbidden fruit that made it seem even more appealing. I looked at the cake with longing eyes, then carefully read the cake description written next to it.
On a pecan crust, they generously spread white chocolate custard cream, and filled the layers with finely crushed peanuts, almonds, and cashews. On top, they piled on thinly sliced milk chocolate, and the missing flavors seemed to be filled by the caramel sauce drizzled in a lattice pattern on top.
It looked delicious. Really delicious. With all those nuts in it, it must be incredibly nutty and savory. I, who can’t eat peanuts, walnuts, or almonds, only know half the meaning of that nuttiness others talk about. It couldn’t help but be a sad thing.
“Should I eat it for you? Does that seem a bit mean?”
Jin Woohyeon asked seriously.
“If I try it and describe what it tastes like, do you think you’d be less curious?”
“…Mm, no.”
“Why? Do you think I’d find it annoying? I wouldn’t mind even a hundred questions.”
“That’s not it, if I listen to your description, I feel like I’ll want to take some strange risk for no reason. That distance with a glass wall between me and that thing is just right.”
“Really? Hmm, then.”
Jin Woohyeon asked the staff.
“What cake tastes most similar to this? Something without nuts.”
The staff thought for a moment, then pointed to a cake placed a bit more to the right and in the upper section from the cake I was looking at.
“The one that uses similar cream is this. It’s a crepe cake with white chocolate custard cream and berry flavoring, with a soft and bright taste. The name is… let me see, Fluffy Cream Berry Cake.”
Jin Woohyeon burst into laughter when he heard the cake’s name.
“Should we order this? Even the name resembles hyung.”
“Where does Fluffy Cream Berry… Ah.”
Fluffy. It meant soft and cozy like cotton. I wasn’t particularly good at English, but I knew that word because I’d heard it often while cooking.
“Where does it resemble me?”
“It resembles you no matter how you look at it.”
“The appearance?”
“The appearance too.”
I’m not really someone with a fluffy, soft inner nature. Rather, I thought I was shabby and sticky because of those damn lingering feelings.
But Jin Woohyeon didn’t seem to agree much with my thoughts. No, he seemed to believe that my thoughts were wrong and his judgment was right. He looked at me with a triumphant gaze, then gestured to other cakes.
“Choose something else too. Even if there’s just one more mouth to eat, we should try various things when we have the chance. I eat well.”
It was welcome news to hear. Since this wasn’t a cafe I could visit often, I wanted to order as many varieties of those uniquely-shaped desserts as possible and taste at least one bite of each.
After much deliberation, I chose a cake made with cherry yogurt cream and honey cookie sheets, and a cake with fresh cream and hazelnut syrup sprinkled on chocolate sheets with various berries piled up like a mountain.
I glanced at him, wondering if three pieces for two people was too much, but Jin Woohyeon didn’t stop me – he went even further. He pointed to the large chocolate pies lined up in the bottom row of the display case.
“Those are called whoopie cookies. Should we buy one and share it?”
“Won’t it be too sweet?”
“So what? We can just order drinks that aren’t sweet.”
He smoothly ordered the cookie as well, then watched me choose a warm cappuccino and ordered a cold chamomile tea.
Sitting in front of the luxuriously-looking food, I felt somehow awkward and strange.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve come to a place like this for a date.’
Of course, all the dates I’d ever been on were with Lee Chan, and Lee Chan really hated this kind of thing. He found it annoying to wander around crowded places and boring to eat cake.
“It’s a first.”
Perhaps having similar thoughts, Jin Woohyeon handed me a fork and said.
“Dating while being this excited.”
“…”
“You had that ‘this is new’ look in your eyes.”
At first I thought it was a question, but listening again, it wasn’t. He wasn’t talking about my story but his own.
His words left a particularly welcome impression as they sank in. I’m not alone in this. Even if I act new or clumsy, it’s not unusual. It was strangely reassuring even though it was nothing special.
“What kind of dates did you have before I came in?”
“Random dates and designated dates.”
“All with people from the Alpha group?”
“It just happened that way?”
Come to think of it, that was true. I had been on dates with Choi Eungi and Bae Taeseong, and had dinner with Han Jiwon. I had opportunities to get to know all the new participants except Lee Chan. I was very lucky.
“You’re popular. Who was your first date with? Jiwon hyung?”
“No, Eungi hyung.”
I answered while gently scraping at my cake. Unlike its bright appearance and soft texture, the taste was quite heavy. It was sweet and had an interesting flavor, but since I couldn’t eat it carelessly, my movements naturally had to be slow.
Was I ruining the mood by eating so daintily? When I glanced at Jin Woohyeon, he wiped the corner of my mouth with a napkin and said.
“Eat comfortably. You can eat just one bite at a time, take your time, it doesn’t matter.”
“I was worried it might look like I have no appetite…”
I actually heard that kind of thing often.
‘Watching you makes me lose my appetite too.’
But Jin Woohyeon just tilted his head as if it didn’t matter at all.
“Not at all?”
Why was that nonchalant attitude so pleasing?
“Continue the story you were telling. What kind of date did you have with Eungi hyung?”
Jealousy? Curiosity? I didn’t know why he was asking, but he seemed genuinely curious. Since there was nothing I couldn’t tell him, I answered readily.
“We went to a national park. We took a walk, looked around a temple, and ate temple food.”
“Do you believe in Buddhism?”
“Not really, but I like temples. The atmosphere is peaceful, you know. The food was good too.”
“You looked at food there too. It’s fascinating how you have so much curiosity even though you don’t eat much. Are you curious about many things because of your job? Or did your job become that way because you’re curious about many things?”
“Maybe both.”
“So, how was it?”
While I talked about the temple food I ate that time, Jin Woohyeon listened quietly without interrupting. Then once in the middle, when my mouth felt thick and I pressed my lips together then released them, he switched his drink with mine.
“Rinse your mouth with this.”
I wondered why he wasn’t drinking his beverage – apparently he wasn’t drinking it because he planned to switch with me.
“Everything’s good but there were some reviews saying the cake was sweet. Hyung also has a small appetite, and you must have been curious, but it would be a waste if you couldn’t eat it because it was too sweet.”
“…”
“Don’t be too moved. This isn’t kindness, I’m hitting on you.”
“Do you usually tell people everything when you do that?”
“What? That I’m declaring I’ll do my best to seduce you from now on?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of it, and I’ve certainly never done it. But I don’t particularly want to keep it a secret.”
His calm voice continued.
“Confession is confirmation, not assassination. So I have to let you know in advance. That way I can get both an opportunity and an answer.”
I drank the chamomile tea he had switched for me. Thanks to the cold, refreshing drink that was dizzying, the thick aftertaste completely melted away.
“You’re…”
What would be good to say? I hesitated for a moment and smacked my lips, then glanced at Jin Woohyeon. He was casually drinking the cappuccino I had left.
Looking at those black pupils that wouldn’t leave me, I said as if blurting it out.
“Like a rabbit.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
