Luke couldn't take it anymore.
He needed his girlfriend to eat anything else ,at least get her some vegetables.So he stood up abruptly, his chair scraping loud against the floor.
"Excuse me!" he called out to the waitress. "Do you have any vegetable dishes? Like bok choy? Just steamed vegetables?"
The waitress walked over, her expression shifting to one of mild annoyance mixed with confusion. She wrote something in her notepad. "Yes, Bok choy. Steamed, Yes..."
"Thank you," Luke said, sitting back down.
Brian was staring at him. "Hey dude,you know that was kind of rude."
Luke said nothing.
He should have done this earlier. He should have ordered a whole table of vegetables for Yuki from the start. She was soft-spoken, gentle. Meeting his best friend and his girlfriend for the first time, she obviously didn't want to cause trouble or make things difficult.But that was on Luke. He should have protected her from this situation.
Suddenly, Yuki's breathing got louder.
Luke turned to look at her.
She was staring at the plate of pork in front of her, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Then, like she'd made some kind of decision, she picked up her chopsticks with shaking hands.
She grabbed a piece of meat,opened her mouth wide,and shoved it in.Her jaw moved in exaggerated chewing motions and the whole face tense with effort.
That was a little bit creepy.Actually it reminded him of that night they met each other.
...
Yuki's jaw kept moving, grinding the meat between her teeth. Her eyes were wide open, stretched almost unnaturally, like she was trying not to blink. Tears were forming at the corners, threatening to spill over.
She chewed and chewed, and chewed, and her throat working visibly as she tried to force it down.
....Finally, she swallowed.
Luke could see the lump move down her throat,which was kind of slow and painful.
Yuki turned to Mina with a bright smile, though her eyes were still wet. "It's delicious. Thank you for ordering these dishes. They're really good. I love it."
Luke felt something twist in his gut. This felt wrong. Like watching someone being bullied but not quite understanding how. The dynamics were off, the power balance was skewed, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was happening. His head felt heavy.
Mina continued talking, effortlessly filling the space with her stories. Her English was nearly perfect, barely a trace of a Korean accent. She mentioned traveling to Japan once, then turned her attention to Yuki.
"Where in Japan are you from originally?" Mina asked, her voice casual but her eyes sharp.
"Tokyo area," Yuki said softly.
"Oh, I love Tokyo! Best city ever! I spent two weeks there. Did you see the cherry blossoms at Ueno Park? And the Meiji Shrine?" Mina leaned forward with apparent interest. "What about Golden Week? Do your family celebrate it traditionally? I heard the trains get so crowded during that time. And the food! Did you grow up eating real Edo-style sushi? The kind where they age the fish?"
Yuki smiled, answering each question briefly, but Luke could tell she was distracted. That piece of pork had thrown her completely off balance. She wasn't her usual self.
Luke wanted to sweep all the meat dishes off the table and into the trash.
Suddenly Mina gasped. "Oh my god, this dish!" She pointed at the Mongolian beef. "It tastes exactly like something my mom makes back home. I miss her so much." Her expression softened with what looked like genuine nostalgia. "I haven't been back to Seoul in six months. Haven't seen my family."
She turned to Yuki, her voice gentle. "What about you? Where's your family now? How long has it been since you've been home?"
Yuki's smile faltered slightly. "My parents are still in Japan. It's been... a while. Maybe three years."
Mina's face fell into an expression of exaggerated sympathy. "Oh, you poor girl. You must miss them so much." She reached across the table and squeezed Yuki's hand,"You should take Luke to visit! Show him where you grew up."
Then she turned to Luke. "Have you been to Japan?"
"No." Luke said.
"Oh my god, you have to go!" Mina's enthusiasm seemed to ramp up. "Tokyo is literally the most interesting place in the entire world. You have to see it. And you have this adorable Japanese girlfriend right here. It's perfect! You should definitely plan a trip."
**
The dinner finally ended.
Back at the apartment, Yuki locked herself in the bathroom for two hours.
Luke could hear her throwing up. First came some violent and wrenching sounds,then silence and more vomiting.
He stood outside the door, his hand pressed against the wood. "Yuki? Baby, are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"I'm fine," came her weak voice from inside.
Luke ran to the medicine cabinet, searching frantically. He found a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and grabbed it, along with some Tums, anything that might help with nausea.
"Yuki, please let me in."
"Just... give me a minute."
Finally, the lock clicked. The door opened.
Yuki stepped out looking pale and shaky. Her eyes were red. She'd washed her face but Luke could still see the exhaustion etched into her features.
"It's not the meat," she said quickly, her voice hoarse. "Well, not just that. I haven't eaten meat in so long, I got nervous, but..." She stopped, her lip trembling. "I'm homesick. I was thinking about my parents. It's been so long since I've seen them."
Luke guided her to the couch, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. "You could visit them. We could go together."
Yuki shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "My father... he and I never got along. We had a difficult relationship." She took a shaky breath. "He died a month before Halloween. I didn't go back for the funeral. I didn't say goodbye."
Luke felt his chest tighten.
... "The white kimono I wore that night," Yuki continued, her voice breaking. "It was mourning clothes. In Japanese culture, white is the color of death. I was... I was wearing funeral attire."
Luke pulled her close. So she'd been in mourning when she pranked him. She'd been grieving, wearing funeral clothes, standing on the side of the road on Halloween night.
"I'm so sorry," Luke whispered. "I'm so sorry you went through that alone."
Yuki sobbed against his chest, her whole body shaking.
Luke didn't think about the implications. Didn't wonder why someone in mourning would pull such an elaborate prank or question the timeline or the story. The girl in his arms was crying too hard for him to think about anything else.