Hani, who has always had a high IQ, lacked EQ. Unable to read the room, she was just happy to have both of them in the same space as her. Sharing a meal with her best friend and her crush.
Emma, who obviously liked Hani, was trying her best to keep herself separate from Stella after seeing the way Hani reacted to her. She did not want Hani and Stella to be together at all, as long as Hani never confessed to Stella, Emma was fine.
The door opened once again, and four waiters carrying dishes brought them in and placed them on the table. Hani's mouth waters, an unstoppable force triggered by the exquisite smell of the food wafting through the lids. The lids were lifted. Her mouth was ajar. Hani has never experienced food freedom before. The mix of the exotic smells punches her in the nose as she takes a long, hard sniff.
I could get full just from the smell!
On the table lay a range of dishes: Xiao Long Bao (Steamed pork dumplings), Beijing Kaoya ( Pecking Duck), Mala Zu Ti (Spicy pork feet), Hao You Baoyu (Braised abalone), Zhu Chang (Pork intestines) and Black Rice. She brought her face close to each dish one by one and smelt it, wanting to cherish each dish even more by burning the memory of the scent in her mind.
Emma watched Hani smell each dish, embarrassed to keep watching her after the fourth. Her cheeks were a smidge of red. She clenched her fist, though she did not want to; it had to be done. She struck Hani's head, not too hard but enough to get her into her senses. "Stop it, Hani. Just eat."
"Owwww." She puffed her cheeks, but she followed Emma's orders as she started to fill her bowl with rice. "I was just enjoying the smell," she whined.
Stella, watching this scene unfold, can't seem to get a break today. She lets out a laugh, crying with joy. She has never met such a funny person as this one, who can keep making her laugh all the time.
"Eh? Stella? Are you ok?" Hani, who seems to always see Stella calm and composed, has recently been seeing her break character in front of her.
Stella is laughing? What is so funny? Is it me? What did I do to make her laugh? If I had known she looked this pretty when laughing, I would do it more often. So what did I do to make her laugh?...
Emma watches as Hani goes into one of her goofy, infatuated looks towards Stella. "Leave her be, she's gone crazy." Picking up a piece of the spicy pork feet, she hovered it in front of Hani's nose, stealing her attention from Stella, then placed it on top of her rice. "Eat before it goes cold."
Stella, who finally seems to have calmed down, watches as Hani eats. "Here, Hani," She takes a piece of the abalone and places it on her bowl. "This should taste better than that."
Seeing this angers Emma. What the hell is she trying to do... I can't even kick her out. This woman is annoying. Frowning at this, she picks up another piece of the pork feet and places it on Hani's bowl, and Stella follows along with a pure-hearted glance. Their little mind games seem to be unstoppable.
Still between them is the ever-so-slow Hani, who is trying to keep up with the amount of food they are placing on her bowl, reluctant to let even a single piece go to waste. Feeling stuffed and needing a little break, Hani picked up a piece of Pork intestine and placed it in Emma's bowl. The sudden gesture made her happy. But it was short-lived as Hani placed one on Stella's bowl too.
"You guys should eat too!" Hani said with an aloof smile on her face. Emma, regardless, was happy to receive the food from Hani as she picked out good, juicy bits for her. She turned around to offer more for Stella, but she was sitting there, not touching her food and looking at this foreign piece of meat.
"Um...are you not hungry, Stella?" Hani watches her. Stella, who had always lived a lavish lifestyle, had never come across such a type of food before. Filled with chewy fat and a squishy texture, food like pork intestines was not something Stella would normally eat. She would often be told to avoid food like this as they are considered dirty. Normally, even an asian decent high-class family like Emma's would not eat food like this.
Stella turns to watch Emma with a frown on her face. Unlike her, Emma, who was used to eating normal food, as she would sneak away from home to eat with her friends, was gobbling it all down.
Hani started to panic. Why is Stella frowning?? Does she not like it when people give her food? Did I offend her? Hani scrambled to attempt to fix this situation, "Sorry, Stella, I gave it to you without thinking. Let me get you a new bowl."
Hani reached out for Stella's bowl but was stopped by her as she grabbed her hand before she could take the bowl away. "No.. Hanii... It's fine. I can do this." Hani, who got confused by Stella's internal warfare with herself to eat this dish, was flustered. Feeling Stella's hand on hers, still gripping tightly, caused her to internally scream with happiness.
Her hands are so soft. Why is she holding them so tight? She is not letting go... Does she want to hold my hand? Should we lock fingers?
As usual, Hani was daydreaming in her own world, but yet again pulled back as Emma pulled her back, the sudden movement causing her hand to slip from Stella's.
"Stella, why are you not eating it?" Emma grinned, amused by the situation. "Hani picked out a nice fatty one just for you. If you don't want it, just give it to me."
Emma leans in with her chopsticks to pick up the piece, but Stella quickly grabs it and puts it in her mouth. This action shocked Hani and Emma as it was pretty out of character for Stella to act so abruptly like this.
Hani was very happy that Stella ate the food she gave her. While Stella, in reality, was fighting with the unpleasant texture in her mouth, she chewed on it, but it just felt worse as the fat burst in her mouth. So instead, she swallowed it down, followed by the whole cup of water. Emma watched her, dumbfounded.
"Oh, it's an interesting texture, Hani." A poker face to fool her, she tried to give a full smile, but was betrayed with a small layer of disgust.
Emma attempted to hold back her laughter, with small snickers, she pushed for more, "It seems like your princess loves the dish, Hani." Delighted to hear this, Hani grabs another piece and attempts to put it in Stella's bowl.
With a lightning-fast reaction speed, she hurled the bowl away as the piece of meat fell from the chopsticks. The meat that was destined for Stella's bowl now sits on the table, her bowl in her hand lifted away.
Eyes wide with shock, Hani stared at the meat on the table, slowly moving her eyes towards the bowl. There was a moment of silence, and Hani could hear her own heart beating faster and faster. Unable to hold it in any longer, breaking the silence, Emma laughed, in stitches, and she banged the table with her palm at this commotion.
"I am sorry, Hani, I have to go!" Her pink flushed face was hot to the touch, eyes watering on the brink, Stella made a run for it.
Emma had reached her limit, wheezing with barely any sound coming out of her open mouth, eyes clenched as she held her stomach. Hani, in contrast to her, was shellshocked, frozen in place, her hand still extended where the meat was dropped, looking in the direction where Stella had just run towards, the door still wide open.