THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

44

||ETHAN||

While Kenny has a rare day off work, Carla and I have to fill in. We're a couple of workers short, so we volunteered to take up the front and me as a waiter. It has been a hot minute since I've taken a step back from the kitchen and it does seem to be quite the breather to be out once in a while. "I honestly like being behind the cash register, I get to take a break from smelling like cooking," Carla heaved a breath as she leaned over the counter. I let out a chuckle as I passed by her with a plate of vegetables. Serving it over to the customer with a smile, I turned myself to the used tables and cleaned up the area for other attendants to set themselves.  The business was going smoothly. Right after, the door opens with a surprise walking in. The bell above at the corner chimes and incomes Kyomi. Her eyes roam around the interior before meeting my returning gaze. "Hi, Ethan!" She grins.

"Hey Kyomi," I grin as we both walk up to each other.

"So this is where you work. It's so cute," she adores, continuing to observe her surroundings.

"Yep, sadly, the timing isn't the best because I'm a waiter for today," I frowned, my foot tapping on the floor from inconvenient frustration.

She giggles, "aww, it's fine. At least I get to see you again."

Nodding, I let her make way to Carla who was watching our exchange. Kyomi takes her time to read our menu before pondering her choices. She seems indecisive and turns to me with a look for help, "say, do you have any suggestions?" She asks.

Blinking, I stand beside her and skim through our list of options, "you try this one. It's Eggs Benedict with soft cheese. The bacon is soft yet brittle when you bite into it," I explained to her in detail. She takes into consideration of my recommendation and orders it. Carla takes in the request and writes it down on a piece of paper. With that, Kyomi thanks me with delight as she finds herself on the table I just finished clearing. As I give a longing look at her, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Facing, Carla appears to be curious and asked, "who's she?"

"Oh... um, a friend," I respond.

Carla repeats that unusual habit as she pays her attention from Kyomi to me in an alternate pattern, almost as if observing and analyzing. "Ok then," she concluded and tapped her fingers on the surface in front of her.

-

As her dish came out, I went to pick it up and give it to Kyomi. I waited beside to see her reaction as she picks up her fork to take the first bite. She chews it slowly, taking in its savory sensation like a critique before smiling, "it's good yeah, but I'm sure you can make it better," she says. Letting out a chuckle, I rub the back of my neck. Then, she takes out her phone from her purse and goes through her camera. There, she snags a decently shot picture of her food, proceeding afterward to Instagram to post it. Recalling her large amount of followers, I wanted to ask her about her popularity, "that reminds me, you're pretty famous now that I think about it," I say.

Her head perks up as she keeps her device aside, "oh," she giggles as if bashful, her fingers combing her bangs behind her ears, "yeah, I saw that you followed me."

"That's pretty cool!" My eyes glimmered with astonishment as I leaned my hands on the table.

"I'm sorry that I can't follow you back though..." she pouts.

Puzzled, I don't know why that was an issue for her that she needed to apologize. Not that I really care that she would follow me back, gaining numbers isn't something that appeals to me at all, but I was curious, "you don't need to feel bad, though, what do you mean by 'you can't follow me back'?"

She blinks and rests her back on the seat, "I would if I could, same goes to all of my other friends, but that's just not what my company allows me to use my platform for..."

"Huh?" I tilt my head.

"Truth is... I'm working in this Kpop industry as a newbie. Though I may also be planning on studying later on, I wanna pursue being an idol," she crosses her arms as she discusses her future decisions.

"An idol?"

She nods her head, "certain companies come with rules and regulations. One of mine being I can't follow any other account other than my company in any social medias," she looks rather disappointed about it. Listening to all that, my knowledge was pretty fathomable to some extent. We talked about how we had such an interest in Kpop when we were, which might explain why Kyomi had an idea for it. She too was the one who got me into it. "A-anyways, that's why," she says.

I smile at her and stood up, "welp, I hope you get to your goal. I'd like to see you one day all over the internet," I grinned.

Her eyes stare at me with flattery, morphing into a sweet expression, "thank you."

-

After she finished up, she came up to the counter to pay for her meal. Rummaging within her purse, she brings out her wallet and card. Whilst Carla was busy, Kyomi turns to me, "I really enjoyed being here."

"Yep, I'm glad you came," I agreed.

As Carla returns her card back to Kyomi, she waves goodbye to me before exiting. An idol? Interesting.