Julieta stared down at her empty plate.
Love?
This was the meal that love had created. The most amazing thing she’d ever tasted. She realized in that moment that it didn’t matter how uncertain the future was. The future had always been uncertain. Ever since Mamá and Papá had died, at least. So that was nothing new.
But this was new. This taste of being treasured. This savor of being cherished. The delicacy that was true love. She saw with blinding clarity all the astonishing tastes she had missed out on for the past ten years. She’d been hiding behind a veil of fear. She had felt safe there. But truthfully, it was a mirage. Fear was no protection against the thing feared. Rather, the dread seemed to pull the hated thing towards her even while it pushed away all the joy that life still held for her. The fear had been that she would be left alone. Unwittingly, she had created that exact scenario for herself by pushing away everyone who had ever cared for her. Even Tia.
She was tired of being afraid. She was ready to embrace love with a whole heart. Even in the midst of uncertainty.
“Jin, will you still like me if I lose my company? If I end up destitute out on the street? If I can’t find another job?”
Jin furrowed his brow. “Julieta, I might have met you through work, but your job has nothing to do with why I like you.” He shrugged. “If you lose everything, you’ll still have me. And I will take care of you. You won’t end up on the street.”
His sweet face was completely serious. He was staring intently at her. Stealing her breath again. She managed a tremulous smile. Then once again, a timer broke the silence.
Jin glanced across the room before leaving his chair to cross the kitchen and remove the dish of dulce de leche from the oven. He stirred it and then poured it into a cold pan in an ice bath to cool it faster. Julieta watched him efficiently working on making her a birthday surprise. She had a feeling he was making her favorite dessert too.
He set about dipping the chocolate cookies in milk before lining a rectangular pan with them. Now she was certain; he was making chocotorta. Then, once the dulce de leche was cooled, he blended the caramel with the cream cheese and began to layer cookies with caramel cream. After creating several layers, he stuck the pan in the freezer for an hour.
While his craveable creation cooled, he broke the chocolate bar into small pieces and heated the cream. Once it was near boiling, he mixed the chocolate in to create the final layer of the chocotorta. He would pour the chocolate sauce over the cake once it was cold.
Julieta licked her lips. She couldn’t wait to take a bite of that dessert.
“OK, Jin. I give in. We can celebrate my birthday if it means eating chocotorta.”
He smiled over at her. “You like it?”
“It’s my favorite! How did you manage to pick my favorite meal and my favorite dessert?”
“Well…I might have had a little help…”
She sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
“Remember how Tia and I were planning a birthday surprise for you?”
She nodded.
“One of the things I wanted to do was cook for you.”
“So I guess you got what you wanted after all,” she commented drily.
“No. You got what you wanted.”
Her eyes widened. How did Jin always manage to pin her so perfectly? It was like he could read her most intimate thoughts. Really! It was disconcerting. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “How did you know that?”
“Who doesn’t want to be taken care of? Especially on their most important day? Under all those layers of false guilt, you’re still human, Julieta. You still have the same needs for love and acceptance as the rest of us. You still need to be cherished and taken care of.”
She squinted at him suspiciously. “What else do you have planned?”
“What?” Jin tried, and failed, to look and sound innocent.
“You can’t fool me. You have something else up your sleeve, don’t you?”
He put on his best blank face, but his mask was slipping. He wasn’t as good at this as Tae was. So he finally shrugged and smiled as he offered, “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Tia grinned. “How about we play UNO while we wait for dessert?” She pulled out her BTS UNO card pack.
Jin groaned before laughing. “This is like an episode of Run BTS! Except the guys are missing.”
“Should we invite them over?” Julieta asked. She didn’t miss the panic that flew across Tia’s face. What was that about?
Jin didn’t notice the fear on her face, so he pulled out his phone and called Jungkook.
“Hey, Jungkook. Do you guys want to come hang out at Julieta’s with me? We’re gonna play UNO.”
He was silent for a moment as Jungkook responded. Then Jin laughed, “What if I promise to feed you? We’re going to enjoy Julieta’s birthday cake.”
Jin smirked after another moment, then he murmured, “See you soon. I’ll text you the address.”
He clicked his phone off before glancing at Julieta. “Jungkook is coming. He’s going to look for everyone else and see if they want to come along.”
Tia’s heart was thundering. She couldn’t even hear anything else after Jin said Jungkook was inviting everyone. That meant Tae was coming over. How would she face him? She was suddenly terrified. She’d seen him hugging her sister. And even though he didn’t have a chance with Julieta, that didn’t mean he was ready to see Tia yet. She knew she wasn’t ready to see him. She was still hurting from his obvious rejection of her. Not one word from him since that last day in Paris. She looked down at the ground. Her heart was still hurting so badly. And seeing him sitting on that bench with his arm around Julieta had ripped the scab off her heart wound. It was raw and ugly and exposed again. Seeing him today would be like rubbing salt into that wound. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t even breathe right now.
“Tia? Are you all right?” It was Julieta’s concerned voice.
Tia plastered a fake smile onto her face. She nodded. “Want to play a game while we wait for them?”
Julieta looked sharply at her. Something was definitely wrong. But what? She gazed curiously at her sister. Tia wasn’t giving anything away.
Julieta glanced at the freezer. Her mouth was watering. She was craving chocolate and caramel. She couldn’t wait for her dessert.
“Jin, I know it hasn’t cooled yet, but can I have just one little taste?” She held her forefinger and thumb a millimeter apart.
He couldn’t resist the appeal in her eyes. “How am I supposed to say, ‘no,’ to that beautiful face?”
She turned pink and jumped out of her chair. “You aren’t,” she whispered as she leaned towards him, giving him a quick peck on his lips.
Instantly, his arms encircled her. “But it’s going to cost you,” he whispered roughly.
Her head came up, her eyes widening in shock. “What?”
“A real kiss. Just one real kiss.” His eyes dropped to her lips. And her heart began to beat a little faster.
She turned even pinker. “Jin…” she murmured under her breath, her eyes sliding towards Tia.
But Tia just waved her hand in the air breezily. “It’s fine. You’re both standing up, and I am here. How much trouble can you possibly get into?” But the back of her mind was still worrying over Tae.
Jin grinned as he glanced into Julieta’s eyes. His lips twisted wryly as he murmured, “See? Even your guard dog approves…” When Julieta didn’t move, he finished, “Well?”
“Ok.” She stood perfectly still and closed her eyes.
“Nope. That’s not going to cut it.”
Startled, she opened her eyes. “What?”
“I want you to initiate it.”
Suddenly, Julieta could feel her entire face flushing. Why was she so embarrassed?
Jin saw her blush and took pity on her. He closed his eyes and tilted his head down towards her slightly. Then he just stood perfectly still, waiting for Julieta’s kiss.
She stared up at him. He was so handsome. And his face held a sweetness that she wanted to taste. She got up on her tiptoes and planted her lips softly against his own. He instantly responded by tightening his arms around her, but he let her control the kiss. She experimented with his lips for a moment before finally pulling away. He opened his eyes. She was still pink. So cute.
“Mmm. Yep, that’s the taste!” Jin responded, licking his lips.
“What? The taste of what?”
“The taste of true love.”
Her blush deepened. “Jin, you need to hold up your end of the bargain now.”
He laughed as he took her hand and led her towards the freezer. He pulled a spoon from a drawer and dipped it into the chocotorta pan. Then he held it up to her lips.
“Open up.”
Eagerly, she opened her mouth.
“Close your eyes.”
“What?” Her gaze flew to his.
“It’ll taste better,” he whispered. “All your senses will be keyed into your sense of taste.”
She closed her eyes and opened her mouth. The next instant her taste buds were dancing to the beat of dulce de leche and chocolate. She moaned. “Jin! That’s amazing! You were right.”
Puzzled, he asked, “About what?”
“The taste. That chocotorta is the taste of true love too.”
