love, it's a special day
we should celebrate, and appreciate
that you, and me
found something pretty neat
~ Valentine by Kina Grannis ~
Epilogue One: One Month Later - Tofu
It's only been one month, but so far so good. Given all the times they'd fought as friends, Kuki was sure that they would have killed each other by now, but to her surprise, here they were, still boyfriend and girlfriend, casually enjoying lunch at an outdoor food court on a Saturday afternoon.
Hm… Boyfriend.
The word bounced around her head playfully. She still couldn't believe it. Wally is her boyfriend.
Her lips curled upwards as she picked up a piece of tofu from the bento box she ordered and popped it in her mouth. She was looking straight ahead, but she could feel him staring from beside her.
"What?" she snapped playfully at him.
On any other day, his eyes would have already darted away by the time she looked, followed by a hard-headed insistence that he hadn't been staring. But today, he stared back defiantly, his half-grouchy, half-vacant expression hinting a bit of mischief. "What are you what-ing me for?"
"You've been staring for the last two minutes."
"No I haven't."
"Yes you have."
"No I haven't."
"Yes you have."
"No I haven't."
"Yes you have."
He stared at her vacantly, then the corners of his lips curled against his passive expression.
"What else am I supposed to do?" he said as he fiddled with his tray, where a burger and fries had once been.
"It's not my fault you inhale your food in five seconds," she teased, then she popped another piece of tofu into her mouth. Wally's face scrunched up at the sight of it.
"How could you eat that stuff?"
"Eat what?"
"Tofu. There's like ten different restaurants around us, and you pick the one that serves tofu and vegetables. It's weird."
"I love tofu," she said musingly. "It can be crunchy, it can be soft, it can even be silky… It can absorb whatever flavor you cook it in… It's great."
He watched as she picked up another piece and ate it, frowning slightly as he watched her chew. "You look like you're eating little pieces of sponge."
"Have you even had tofu before?"
"No. Maybe. I don't know."
"You can't tell me that tofu is terrible when you've never even had it."
She waited for him to argue and stubbornly insist that he didn't need to try it to know what it tastes like, but to her surprise, he didn't. Apparently he was being nice today.
"Wanna try it?" she prodded lightly.
"You're kidding, right?"
"You might like it."
"I'm good, thanks."
"Alright, your loss then," she said dismissively, smiling to herself as she ate another piece.
She watched him from the corner of her eye as he studied the little cubes in her tray before turning away. A few seconds passed, then he turned back to look at her.
"Okay," he said. "I'll try it."
Kuki looked at him and blinked. "You're kidding, right?"
"No, I'm serious."
She gazed back hesitantly. "Are you sure?"
He shrugged. "Yeah."
She stared back, half of her wanting to laugh and the other half worrying. Then, she reached into her bento box with her chopsticks, picked up a piece of tofu, then held it up in front of him.
He frowned at it reluctantly before chomping it off.
Kuki watched anxiously as he chewed, searching his mysterious green eyes for any feedback. But instead, he sat there, chewing quietly, every now and then narrowing his eyes as if in deep concentration.
"What do you think?" she prodded.
"This is…"
He paused, and she waited.
"This is…"
He paused again, and she waited still.
"This is…"
Kuki leaned in out of anticipation, thinking she saw a flicker of pleasant surprise in his expression. "It's what…?"
"Gross. This is really gross."
Kuki blinked in bewilderment, then she burst out laughing.
"It's not funny. This is really gross," he said, frowning grumpily as she keeled over from laughter. "Why would you feed this to me?"
Kuki grabbed another piece of tofu and dangled it in front of his face. "You want another one?"
"NO!"
"Here, have another one!"
"Kuki, get that thing away from me!"
"Come ooooon!"
Her laughter rained as he scrambled away from her, leaning so far away that his upper body dangled over the edge of the outdoor table they were sitting in, and when he ran out of room to escape, he desperately snatched the tofu out of her hand and flung it across the food court. They both watched as it flew through the air then land pathetically in the middle of a nearby sidewalk. It bounced, then tumbled, then it was consequently run over by a passing crowd.
Kuki slapped her hands against her mouth and snorted as she struggled to contain her laughter. "That was a bit over-dramatic, wasn't it?"
"It was necessary if you ask me."
She broke into a fit of giggles, and it lasted for a few minutes until she noticed him staring at her again.
"What?" she snapped playfully.
Wally tried to give her his usual scowl, but it was defeated by a loving and playful smile that stubbornly pulled at the corners of his lips.
The air between them grew tender and sweet.
"Come here," he prompted gently, to which she readily complied and scooted closer to him.
Their lips met amidst her giggles, which faded gently within the kiss. She then wondered for a second if her lips tasted like the tofu that he so funnily detested. Then again, she thought, this was probably the closest he'll ever get to tasting tofu ever again.