There's two stories behind how I thought of this shot. First, I was watching the pilot of a Korean soap called, "Coffee Prince" with my siblings. Second, a few days ago my parents was talking about "balut" a Filipino delicacy, which they used to eat when they were small. So I combined that story with a scene from "Coffee Prince" into one random shot. Enjoy!
WARNING: Don't eat while reading this. If you're sensitive over anything that might sound gross, make sure you haven't ate or going to eat something while reading this. Dunno if it might destroy your appetite.
The afternoon sun hide behind large patches of fluffy white clouds while a breeze blew around a spiraling street in the sleepy town of Arendelle. A young teenage boy with snowy white hair and electrifying blue eyes, walked down the sidewalk while gulping the remaining water from his plastic bottle. He crushed the bottle with his bare hands and tossed it into the nearest recycling bin.
"That's the last time I've going to teach little kids," Jack said annoyingly. "Learning the basic forms isn't that hard. But teaching it. Oh man. Totally bull." He wiped off the sweat from his face.
Jack fixed the strap from his dufflebag; so it won't slip off his shoulders. He didn't mind wearing his karate uniform outside the dojo. The uniform made him felt empowered. But, it was a nice time to wear it on a hot afternoon, because of the light materials.
Down the street was a small humble local cafe. The place looked welcoming and friendly. Oaken was the owner's name who enjoyed servicing the public of his traditional Norwegian cuisine. Jack noticed the cafe was quiet inside and there was only two customers inside.
"Lazy hours for Oaken," Jack chuckled while looking through the large window of the cafe. He spotted Oaken leaning against a counter. But, Jack suddenly spotted his best friend getting annoyed by a crazy guy with bushy sideburns.
"I thought they broke up." Jack raised an eyebrow.
Inside, was two teenagers were arguing. Jack couldn't hear what they were saying, but, he understood the gestures and lip movement. The ginger haired boy grabbed the wrist of a blonde hair girl, tightly. The girl clenched her teeth and closed her eyes over the string of pain. Jack knocked at the window and the two spotted him.
"Hey, who's he?" The boy asked. The girl smiled and said nothing. They watched Jack run away from the window and heard the front door opening.
"Hi Oaken, how are ya?" Jack politely greeted Oaken who looked up from browsing through his phone. "Yoo hoo!" Oaken happily waved at him.
Jack chuckled while strolling through the cafe. He found his best friend sitting on a booth with her ex-boyfriend. "Jack! What are you doing here?" The blonde girl said happily.
"Sup Elsa, I'm just in the neighborhood," Jack playing it cool. He was going to sit by Elsa, but the boy with side burns quickly stood up and pushed Jack away. The boy sat by Elsa and let Jack sit on the other side of the booth.
"Jack? Is he your new boyfriend?" The boy crossed his arms across his chest. He tried to hide away his jealous face. Elsa simply smiled away where her cheeks was red. "I don't know what's going on, but, I don't like it." The boy added.
"Awh, Hans, are you jealous?" Elsa smirked.
"Is there something he has that I don't have?" Hans asked her.
"Yeah. Good looks," Jack slouched relaxingly on his seat, placing his hands behind his head. He had a big smile on his face. The two could see his pearly white teeth that matched his hair. Elsa saw Hans glaring at Jack.
"Yeah, you're definitely jealous," Elsa concluded. "No I'm not!" Hans protested. "C'mon admit it Hans." Elsa looked at him. Hans said nothing. "Look I know you still love me. But, I think we're not meant to be." She confessed.
Jack listened to the two argue while looking around the atmosphere of the place. He managed to make quick glances at Elsa. They both smiled at each other while meeting each others' eyes. Hans didn't like it.
"Aren't you taking a break from dating?" Hans asked Elsa.
"Aren't you suppose to fix yourself before getting into a relationship?" Elsa crossed her arms. "You promised me that you will improve yourself before continuing this relationship." Hans was speechless. "But, you lied," She added. "Please Hans, focus on yourself first, before others. You can't take care of anyone, if you can't take care of yourself." Elsa advised him.
"Does that even matter?" Hans looked longingly into Elsa's eyes. "Can't you see that my love for you is more important than anything else?"
Jack groaned annoyingly. He slouched lower onto his seat while drumming some beats on the table with his fingers.
"Please Elsa, you're my queen and I can be your king." Hans gently held Elsa's hands. Jack snorted a bit. He tried to hold his laughter inside. "Faith wants us to be together. We can't deny that." Hans continued on. Jack busted out laughing. Hans annoyingly pointed at Jack. "Do you want to live a life with him?"
Elsa looked at Jack who was still laughing inside. "What do you mean?" She asked Hans. "A fool who lives in poor conditions and goes through struggles everyday." Hans explained.
Jack stopped laughing and glared at Hans. "Are you calling me poor?"
Elsa bite her lips. Hans nodded his head. Jack made a comeback. "Whatever. At least I'm not a weak snotty rich-kid." Elsa felt embarrassed at Jack's comment. "That doesn't apply to you. You're something else. Something special," Jack said kindly to Elsa.
Oaken came by and placed a tray of cups that were filled with tea. The three are confused at the hospitality. "What's this for, Oaken?" Elsa kindly asked. "To keep you three quiet. Especially this one." Oaken pointed at Hans. "I can't hear my Korean soaps through my headphones." The three noticed two earbuds plugged into his ears while leaving them.
"This place is weird. The owner too." Hans looked behind him to make sure Oaken isn't nearby. Jack took one cup of tea. Elsa giggled when she saw Jack crossed his eyes, showing off a goofy face while cooling off his tea. Hans couldn't hold the anger inside anymore. He slammed his hand on the table.
"Jack I challenge you to a fight." Hans announced. Jack took a sip of his tea. "Hey Oaken, this is some good tea. What is it?" He asked while ignoring Hans.
"Hey did you hear me?" Hans shouted at Jack. Jack looked up while his lips kissing the edge of the tea cup, sipping more of the hot beverage. He removed the cup away from his lips. "Yeah I heard ya. But, I don't want to."
"Hans leave my friend alone." Elsa told him to calm down. "Friend? How long did you guys knew each other?" Hans asked her.
"Since we were eight." Elsa and Jack said it at the same time. They both chuckled. "You two has been friends for a decade?" Hans done the math.
Elsa and Jack nodded. Hans clenched his teeth. "C'mon I challenge you to fight." He announced again. Elsa sighed. "Hans leave him alone. Jack doesn't want to waste his time with you."
"Waste his time? Why does he have something important to do today?" Hans looked at her. "Hmm? Maybe. He might come over to my house today and hang out." Elsa said it like it was nothing strange to say in front of her ex.
"Your house? Hang out?" Hans got up from his seat and grabbed hold of Jack's uniform. "What are you doing with her?" He furiously asked Jack while pulling his clothing. "Tell me the truth. Are you two dating?"
"Let him go, Hans!" Elsa commanded him. "No! I'll never let go of you." Hans looked at Elsa, admirely. "You can at least let go of these corny romantic crap." Jack rolled his eyes.
"That's it! Let's fight." Hans shouted at Jack. Jack got up and quickly used both of his hands, one placed on Hans's wrist and the other on Hans's arm. He simply twisted Hans's arms, but, not to hard; which might break his arm.
Hans's yelped a little pain and backed off. "Stop crying, you big baby." Jack sat back down.
"Look I don't jump into fights like it's no big deal. I choose my fights wisely. I'm still waiting words from the doctor who performed a surgery on his guy I knocked out three weeks ago." Jack told Hans. He noticed Hans was massaging his arm. "I'm a nice guy, and nice guys let guys like you to walk away while they still had a chance." Jack smiled. "You don't want me to mess up your already ugly face, don't cha?"
Hans got up again and grabbed Jack's wrist. "You asshole."
Jack simply hooked his foot around Hans's ankle and made him trip, causing him to fall onto the floor. "Dude did you hear the words that came out of my mouth? I don't fight guys like you."
"Did Elsa mention that I'm a karate teacher?" Jack asked Hans. "So. I'm a fencing expert." Hans acknowledged. "Yeah an expert at losing in every match." Elsa rolled her eyes. Jack chuckled a bit. Hans clenched his teeth.
"Hey, I can't be in worthless fights. I have responsibilities to follow and do. I have to watch over a little sister and help out my mom. I don't want my family and friends to go visit a love one inside jail." Jack explained. Elsa admired Jack's sense of keeping up with his obligations.
"Man I'm starving," Jack said randomly.
Elsa thought of an idea. "Oh we can have an eating contest!" Jack smiled at her. Hans quirked an eyebrow. "You said you want to challenged Jack, right?" Elsa reminded Hans.
Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, whatever gets food inside my empty belly." He patted his belly. Elsa giggled. "Excuse me, Oaken can we order something?" Elsa asked him.
"What do you guys want me to cook up?" Oaken came over. "Oh no you don't have to cook us anything." Elsa had a mischievous smile on her face. Hans looked nervous. Jack looked confused.
"Then want do you guys want?" Oaken asked confusingly. "Can you serve these two, five full jars of lutefisk?" Elsa politely asked while holding her laughter inside.
Oaken laughed. "Okay, hold on a moment." Hans stared at Elsa. "Are you crazy? I can't eat that stuff." Elsa rolled her eyes. "A challenge is a challenge."
"She's right," said Jack. "You don't have a problem with this?" Hans asked him. Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I'll eat anything whenever I'm super hungry. Plus I used to eat a lot of it when I was small." He said it like it was not big deal. Hans swallowed his spit.
Oaken came back with a box of ten jars, filled with his homemade lutefisk. He divided the jars into fives for Hans and Jack. Elsa set the rules. "You two must finished the whole jar, which means drinking the juice too. Whoever bails, gives up, or throws up, losses. Anything else?"
"If I win, you promise to leave Elsa alone." Jack told Hans. "Now if I win, I can continue on begging for Elsa to come back with me as long as I want. And you stay away." Hans told Jack. "Deal." Jack accepted.
"Looser also pays the bill." Oaken added. "You two be the judges." Jack told Elsa and Oaken while opening his first jar. The stench that came out of the jars brought everyone to tears. "Ready?" Elsa asked the boys. Each of them had one jar open and a fork in their hand. The boys nodded. "Go!" Elsa shouted.
The boys quickly began eating the pickled fishes. Jack pushed his hand into the jar while the juices rised up to the edge of the glass, as they rain down to the table surface. He took out three and began ripping the meat off the bones. Jack was eating like a hungry barbarian while Hans was still trying to nimble a piece of his first fish. Jack was down to two fishes from his first jar.
"Hey Oaken, you have anything good with these?" Jack asked with his mouth full. Elsa covered her mouth to contain the laughter. She was very amused. Oaken came out of the kitchen and laid out a tray of thin slice of toasted bread. "Awesome!" Jack grabbed two slice of toast and made a sandwich with one of the pickled fishes.
Hans paused for moment to see Jack devouring a lutefisk sandwich. He only ate three fishes under ten minutes. While Jack finished his first jar around that time length. What's more surprising to Hans was how Jack chugged down the juice from his first jar. Jack pushed aside the empty jar and opened his next one. He repeated this strategy while eating the pickled delecity. Eat some without bread. Then eat the rest with some bread.
Jack dipped piece of toast into the jar to absorb some of the juices. Lastly, he chugged down the juice like it was some sweet immortal nectar.
"C'mon Hans, Jack is on his third one," Elsa mentioned. Hans scowled her. He quickly finished his first jar and started on his second one. "That's the spirit," Elsa said sarcastically. Hans let out an angry groan. He reached for a slice of toast and ate it along with some fish.
Across the table, Jack was halfway down his third jar. He paused for moment. Hans saw him not reaching for another fish. He swallowed his food before speaking, "Ha ready to give up?" A smirk was on his face.
Jack wasn't giving up, he pounded his chest with his fist. He opened his mouth wide and let out a monstrous burp. "Nope."
Elsa covered her nose. Hans wanted to cover his nose, but, his hand was stained with lutefisk juice. Hans's eyes was watering over the awful smell; he had to suffer over it. When Hans was starting his third jar, Oaken came over and offered Elsa small plate of his homemade chocolates. Elsa took a few and placed them on her small plate on the table. She took small bites. Her eyes widen over how delicious they were.
"Hm?" Elsa had a mischievous look on her face which made Hans felt uncomfortable. He saw her dropping some small piece of chocolate into his jar of lutefisk. "Try it! It might make it taste less fishy and more sweet," Elsa was smiling ear to ear.
"Eat up, loser." She said inside her head.
"I can't eat this!" Hans protested while looking at his chocolate mixed food. The chocolate was slowly dissolving inside the jar. "Rules are rules, eating everything inside the jar." Oaken reminded him.
"You gotta kidding me!" Hans squealed. " Are they trying to make me loose?" He thought inside. He saw Jack finishing his fourth jar and opening his last one. "No way I'm making him win."
Hans suddenly began to eat like a crazy barbarian. He quickly finished two more jars under thirty minutes. Even though, Hans thought it was good move, it wasn't good for his stomach. Elsa and Oaken saw the boy starting to turn green. Jack paused for a moment to check if his opponent was alright, "You good man?"
"Never better," Hans tried to hold in food. He covered his mouth so he won't throw up.
"If you say so," Jack wiggled his lutefisk at Hans face before eating it. The sight caused Hans to get up from his seat and run away from eating area. He was heading toward the nearest bathroom.
"Hey don't spill anything inside my restaurant!" Oaken demanded him.
Elsa saw Jack finishing his last jar. Jack drank the remaining juice. He wiped the juice with the back of hand and laid back on his seat. "Ahh, that was something," A satisfying smile was painted over his face. "Hey Oaken you won't by chance have a piece of mint?"
"Maybe you need a large tube of toothpaste and gallon of mouthwash," Oaken said jokingly. He began to clean up the mess the boys made.
"Here," Elsa handed her friend a stick of peppermint gum. Jack unwrapped the stick and toss it inside his mouth. Elsa was chewing on some too.
"So I won," Jack said while relaxing. "That jerk won't bother you anymore." He smiled at Elsa.
"There's more…" Elsa smirked. "More of what?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"This," Elsa got up from her seat and quickly leaned in closer to Jack's face. She pressed her lips against his, softly kissing him. Elsa pulled away. Jack slowly opened his eyes. "Nice…" A big grin was all over his face. Elsa giggled before planting another kiss on her hero's lips.
THANKS FOR READING! More shots in the future...