Pursuit of the Whole

VII. Best Dad Ever

And in a few short weeks, they've been crowned the new kings.

Crowning them is overdramatic, but they are pretty popular. And similar to all popular kids, some hate them while others like them.

When Lucio finally notices Lana with Nolan, he slams the locker shut and walks away.

"Damn. I was hoping they would fight," Brian says.

The days pass by a bit too peacefully. There's this sensation in my stomach that I can't seem to shake off - this overly uncomfortable feeling.

After school, it was time for work. I'm a big girl.

"Dishes. Good!" Mr.Liu praises me. Mr.Liu is my boss.

"Raise?!"

"Julia! You joke!" He pats my back roughly and laughs loudly before he walks away.

I look at Xiao, the waitress who is on a break. She shakes her head, "Don't bother. He knows what you're saying, but he's going to pretend he doesn't know until the law tells him to give you a raise."

I turned off the water and wiped my hands before sitting down beside her. Mr.Jang, the chef, hands me a freshly made steak plate.

"Thank you," I said.

Mr.Jang smiled, but he didn't verbally respond. He never does. It's not like Mr.Jang wouldn't talk. He can't. His tongue got cut off by a werewolf when he was a hunter.

Now, he works as a cook in the back of a small Chinese restaurant.

"Xiao-" Mr.Liu calls for her.

She didn't respond.

"Xiao!" His voice escalates.

Xiao rolls her eyes, "Coming, baba!" She hands me her half-eaten plate before she walks out front. I could hear some bickering in Mandarin before Xiao returned to finish her meal.

"What did your dad say?"

"Same old thing. When are you going off to college? Why are you here?" She shakes her head, "Crazy old man."

"Your dad will understand one day."

"You're not very exposed to Asian culture, are you?"

"My best friend is Asian."

Xiao raises a brow.

"Her last name is Tran! She's Vietnamese!"

She raises her other brow.

"She has a twin brother. My group is like 50% Asian!"

She tilts her head.

"We also have a black person!" The more I defended myself, the worse I seemed to come off.

"Last name?"

"Holmes."

"Half?"

"Quarter."

"You should've just agreed with me."

"Yeah. I should've." I lower my head and eat a warm meal. After a few minutes, Mr.Jang washed his hand and went back for a smoke.

"Hey," I said. "About Mr.Jang. Did he quit being a hunter because he got his tongue cut off?"

"You would think that's the reason," Xiao responds. "But, Mr.Jang is alot stronger than that. He's no wussy."

"Then, why?"

"His son."

"He has a son?"

"Yeah. I think his son is in elementary school." Xiao's eyes went towards the back door before she leaned in closer. "Mr.Jang used to have a wife. Beautiful woman. Hunter too. A strong one at that."