That Stupid List (A Seventeen Fanfic)

Chapter 37: At the Restaurant

Vernon came to the lobby about 20 minutes later. All evidence that showed he had been crying was gone. His face looked as fresh as ever, and Jin knew that he expected her to not bring it up again.

"Let's go," Vernon said, walking towards the parking lot.

Jin could not hide it when her stomach rumbled audibly when she stood up to walk. She was very hungry. She hadn't eaten all day, supposedly saving her stomach for the Arab restaurant she had been excited to go to. It had been many hours since she had last eaten, and her stomach made that very clear.

"How does Korean barbecue sound?" Vernon asked her indifferently, obviously still embarrassed about what had happened, "my treat."

Jin nodded in agreement. She really wanted to eat, and didn't matter what or with whom. Plus, she did have a few things to ask him, and so she prefered that she had the oppurtunity to talk to him more.

"I know I place a few minutes away from here," he announced, "so hopefully the ride there won't make you too dizzy."

Jin nodded. She didn't want to complain, even though she dreaded riding that thing again. She followed him to where he parked the motorcycle. They put on their helmets and Vernon climbed on first. He inched forward to make room for Jin, who gulped and took a deep breath before climbing behind him.

She put her arms around his upper body. It felt different this time from the last time. Last time, she did it because she was forced to and she hated him. Now, she wasn't forced to, and she didn't hate him. It was not so impersonal this time, not as uncomfortable. Somehow, seeing Vernon's vulnerable side made him so much more approachable, and made snaking her arms around his waist and resting her head against his shoulders so much more comfortable.

She closed her eyes as Vernon pressed the accelerator and they whizzed forward. Her eyes remained closed for a few minutes until they arrived. When they stopped, Jin opened her eyes and let him go immediately. She got off, a little less disoriented than the last time.

The restaurant was quite large, and the tables were inside little, open cubicles created by small walls. Each cubicle had own little lamp hanging from the ceiling. Those little lights were the main sources of light in the entire restaurant, making it quite dim.

It was almost romantic, Jin thought. The dim lighting, the privacy of each table, and even the seats were designed so that two people could sit together rather than sit across from one another. Jin looked around briefly into the little cubicles and saw that there were indeed plenty of couples. Some were holding hands, some were eating together, and some were sitting next to each other with heads on their partners' shoulder.

But there weren't only couples. There were some families, some friends, and other individuals eating alone. If there had been only couples, Jin would have felt majorly uncomfortable eating there with Vernon. She realized she was thinking too much about it; it was just a restaurant after all.

They sat down and Vernon ordered the regular barbecue-for-two combo. He then took out his phone and distracted himself on it for a while.

He was uncharacteristically quiet, probably ashamed of the fact he had exposed his vulnerable side to her.

"Where's the real Sofia?" Jin asked him curiously. There was a lot that Jin was curious about, actually.

He looked up from his phone and answered silently, "New York." Jin had hoped he would talk more about why she had to pretend to be Sofia, and why Sofia did not come to see her mother for years, but he didn't.

"What's wrong with your mom?" Jin pressed, asking more questions. There was something else apart from blindness that was plaguing her. Otherwise, she would not be in hospital, and she most certainly would not have been transferred to another one.