After leaving the quaint café, our bodies are heated up from drinking our respective drinks. The weather is somehow worse than it was when I arrived here. The clouds have greyed into a sad mood and the sun has sunken down to hide somewhere behind the landscape.
When he stops his car outside the building which I am going to assume is the soup kitchen judging by the queue of people outside, shawls of blankets over their shivering bodies. I cannot help but feel sympathetic for them. The gravel crunches under his tyres and then he pulls the handbrake up, the radio turning off immediately when the engine gets turned off.
"Welcome to my favourite soup kitchen," he announces which forces my gaze back onto him. "This is where I come to get my comfort food fix. Soup is such a great dish, especially with how shit the weather is in our country."
"It looks nice," I tell him, shifting my gaze back to stare at the warm and inviting building.
"Wanna go inside? It looks more welcoming on the inside."
I nod and tug on the door handle, to push the door open and step out into the cold. I make sure to zip my puffer jacket up to my chin to prevent the tremble that my body wants to go into and when I hear his door shutting, I glance over at him past the roof of his car.
His eyes are on the homeless people gathering outside the soup kitchen and I notice the same sympathetic look in his eyes for them. As if feeling my gaze on him, he flickers his gaze over at me and then he smiles at me warmly. With his head, he gestures for me to follow after him. Together, we walk over towards the building.
I cannot help but notice how at ease Kai seems. He greets everyone with familiarity and ease as though he knows them all personally. It's quite impressive to see how effortlessly he interacts with everyone around him.
I feel a bit out of place, to be honest, but he does not seem to notice my unease. He even goes out of his way to introduce me to everyone which I really appreciate. I try my best to be polite and respectful in my interactions, hoping to make a good impression. I do not want to do anything to embarrass him in front of his friends and acquaintances.
Then we enter the cosy building, and he was right. It is much more welcoming inside. It gives off an atmosphere of comfort and security and I can immediately deduce why.
"You volunteer here?" I muse curiously.
"Mm-hmm. I try to come here as much as possible. I can only make it when I have free time though," he says to me. "If it weren't for the fact that I had to juggling going to school and my job, I think I would spend a lot more time here."
I smile up at him.
So he is charitable as well unsurprisingly.
Kai seems to possess a genuinely kindhearted nature, which is undeniably admirable. However, given how exceptional he appears to be, one might wonder whether there are any aspects of his personality that are less-than-flattering. Is it possible that he may have hidden flaws or secrets that he keeps concealed from the public eye, or is his reputation as a paragon of virtue entirely justified and am I merely looking for an excuse?
"You should meet the owner, Joanne. She is the sweetest," he breaks me out of my train of thought, "and it just so happens that she makes the best soups in town."
As we stand in the bustling eating area, a plump woman catches my attention. Her hair is neatly tied in a hairnet and a few strands of hair escape, gently framing her round face. She approaches us with a friendly smile, and her eyes, a warm shade of brown, twinkle as she looks at Kai. Her gaze meets his and she seems genuinely interested in our presence.
"Well, if it isn't my favourite regular," she exclaims, her voice gravelly and she she opens her arms wide to embrace him.
Kai accepts her gesture and responds with, "You're just saying that," and because his face is buried in her bosom his voice is a bit muffled.
Then her eyes dart over to me and her smile widens. "And who is this handsome fella you've brought along with you?"
With a bit of a bashful chuckle, he says, "This is my friend, Seong Jin. Seong Jin, meet the infamous Joanne I was just telling you about. She is the owner of this place."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. Kai has been raving non-stop about your soup."
"Has he now?"
"Best soup in town were his exact words."
A big bellow of laughter leaves her lips and the sound is enough to light up the entire place. "Well, I am glad to finally meet one of his friends. This is the first time he has ever brought anyone here."
"That is not true, Joanne. I brought Richard that one time, remember?"
"That one? He had his nose stuck in that gadget he brought along with him," she says while wrinkling her nose in irritation and she shakes her head at the thought. "Have you had anything to eat by the way?"
We both shake our heads, Kai relaying to her that we all today was a cup of coffee.
"You should get something in your bellies. What can I get you two? Today's special is the creamy mushroom soup and, not to toot my own horn, but it is absolutely divine."
"That sounds delightful. I'll have a bowl of that please," I request with a smile on my face.
"And I'll stick to my usual—the chicken noodle soup."
Joanne shakes her head at him with a knowing look on her face. "You should cleanse your pallet with something else sometimes, Kai."
"But the chicken noodle soup is so good, Joanne. Nobody makes it like you do."
With a smile creeping onto her lips at his compliment, she slaps him with her dishcloth. "Oh, fine. You will get your chicken noodle soup, you bootlicker."
Amused by her bashfulness, he asks, "Do you need more hands in the kitchen?"
"No, no," she says adamantly, shaking her hands in refutation, "you two should sit down. We have enough staff today. There were more volunteers today because it's Valentine's Day."
Kai's eyebrows flick up in surprise. "I would have thought that most people would be busy today."
"Yes, well, most of us are lonely sods, unlike you."
"Joanne…" Kai blushes under both of our gazes and I almost burst out laughing at his expense.
"Ah, don't worry, dear. I am only teasing. Go and have a seat. I shall promptly return with both your orders, okay?"
When we both nod, she heads back to the kitchen with an air of grace, leaving us to settle into one of the unoccupied tables.
"So," I start which causes him to turn and focus his gaze on me, "this is your little hidden gem, huh? I can see why you keep it all to yourself."
"Yeah, well, I like to keep some things sacred, you know?" he says, leaning back into his chair. "But I'm glad I could share it with you."
I smile. "I feel honoured. This place has such a wonderful charm to it."
He nods, glancing around at the people. "That it does. And Joanne is the heart and soul of it all. She makes everyone who comes here feel like family."
"I can tell. I'm looking forward to tasting her infamous soup."
"You won't be disappointed. I'm telling you, best soup in town by far."
"With the way you're hyping this soup up, it better live up to it."
"Oh, it will," he says and it is hard not to believe him with the confidence in his tone.
"Good."
"You know, this place really inspired me to one day, preferably after I get my degree, open up a shelter for homeless children. The more I learn about the world, the more I realise there is so much inequality and unnecessary suffering. It just makes you both appreciate and hate how fortunate some of us are while most people don't get the privileges and opportunities we do."
"I had no idea you wanted to open a shelter."
"Yeah, I just want to provide some kids with a safe, nurturing environment—give them access to education, counselling, vocational training, anything to help get them on their feet and prepare them for the future, you know? These kids deserve so much better than the hand they have been dealt."
My eyes watch him, mesmerised.
As I whisper the words, "This world does not deserve you," I notice a sudden change in his demeanour.
His eyes widen a bit as he is caught off guard by my words and then a bright smile slowly spreads across his face. He looks at me with a deep intensity as if he has just realised something profound. It's almost as if my words have unlocked a secret part of him that he has been hiding away. His gaze is focused solely on me and I can sense something akin to a connection forming between us.
Joanne abruptly returns with our steaming bowls of soup, interrupting our eye contact.
"Alright boys, dig in. I hope you enjoy every spoonful."
"Thank you," we say in unison.
As I dip the spoon into the soup and bring it up to my mouth, I can't help but close my eyes and savour the moment. The creamy texture of the soup is so tantalising that it bursts with flavour in my mouth.
I hear Kai clear his throat and when I look up, I find him looking at me with a raised eyebrow, silently asking how the soup is. I quickly swallow the comestible in my mouth and give him a thumbs up, conveying that it's good. With a satisfied smile on his face, he picks up his spoon and digs into his own bowl of piping hot chicken noodle soup.