“What? No work today?”
Ryo and Dee were at Jinggo and Joned’s house enjoying another great breakfast of omelette and toast. After that case on Stanley Blue and the shooting accident, Joned has fully recovered a week later and was allowed to go home. Somehow, Ryo and Dee had made this more of a habit to drop by at their house for some breakfast before they all head off to the NYPD. Ryo could’ve sworn that he had gained a little weight recently. Dee had to agree to that.
“Yeah, you’re gonna be free for the whole weekend,” Dee replied. “The inspector said it would be a sort of reward for you guys after being able to finally put that Stanley Blue scoundrel behind bars and all. So you’ll be excused for this whole weekend. Let us do the job.”
“Phew!” Joned wiped off an imaginary sweat off his forehead. “For a minute I thought we’re being fired or suspended or something.”
“Now that wouldn’t be a fair treatment for someone who had risked their lives to give us information about Stanley Blue’s next smuggling business now, would it?” Ryo said. He and Dee exchanged knowing glances. They were definitely onto something.
“It’s all in a day’s work,” Jinggo replied in his ever familiar cold way, but by then Ryo and Dee has already known what’s beneath that cold and unconcerned exterior of our tall, built recruit. As soon as they’ve finished breakfast, the duo was eager to get things done with.
“Let me help you with the dishes, Joned,” Ryo said as he and Joned carried the plates to the sink. Dee got that as a cue and called for Jinggo.
“Hey, Jinggo. I almost forgot that I’ve got a delivery for a friend of mine at the Dominion Restaurant, but Ryo and I have to rush off to the NYPD to report in. I have it in the car right now. Would you mind…?”
“Sure, no problem,” Jinggo replied nonchalantly as he followed Dee to his car. As soon as they were out of the house, Ryo put his plan into action.
“Hey, Joned. Remember that restaurant you said you would love to try out the exquisite food and all but couldn’t afford the reservation ticket?”
“Yes, of course! How could I forget that?” Joned replied, his eyes filled with eagerness. “That restaurant is so exquisite and famous that you have to buy reservation tickets in advance to be allowed in and man, they cost me a bunch. Why do you ask?”
“Well, since this weekend is your day off,” Ryo said as he dug his pocket to show him a flashy gold ticket. He waved it in front of his face with a grin and had expected to see Joned widened his eyes with amazement.
“The reservation ticket for Dominion Restaurant! For me?! How did you get it??” Joned exclaimed as he took the ticket and marveled it in awe.
“Dee and I have just had dinner last night there and we thought that it might be a good idea for you to have one. Well, unfortunately, there’s only one left, and if the person who ordered this lunch ticket hadn’t cancelled it, we wouldn’t have bought it at all. Oh, and their food might a slight bit pricey, so here, you can borrow my credit card.”
“This must cost a fortune. And you want me to sue your credit card? Really, I couldn’t…” Joned’s words were stopped short by Ryo’s hand on his shoulder.
“Come on. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. You’re not going to waste it out on gratitude now, are you? We bought it just for you. Go on. Try it. My salary is enough to cover it p, just as long as you don’t over-budget, that is.”
Joned hesitated for a while. Ryo could tell that he didn’t want to accept the ticket because it was only him going and not with Jinggo, but that has to go as part of the plan. Ryo put on a pleading face that kind of took into Joned’s heart. He smiled and nodded, pocketing the ticket. Ryo beamed.
“There. That wasn’t so bad, right? Hope you enjoy yourself,” Ryo said before leaving the kitchen and out of the house. Jinggo, who was just coming in, made way for him to leave before entering the house and closing the door.
“So did you give it to him?” Dee asked as he started the car and drove off.
“Yeah, I did. What about you?” Ryo asked.
Dee put out an OK sign. Ryo sniggered and kissed Dee’s cheek.
“This is definitely going to be so much fun.”
Jinggo has found his way to Dominion Restaurant where Dee said his so-called friend was going to meet him. Under his armpit was a package which Dee had told him to give once he has seen his ‘friend’. He showed his reservation ticket Dee gave him to the receptionist near the door and he was allowed in. another waiter came to his service and took a look at his ticket before leading him to his seat.
Dominion Restaurant truly lived up to its name. There were so many customers in the restaurant that if he hadn’t had a ticket, Jinggo didn’t think that he would be able to find a seat among these people. His seat was somewhere near the window and while he waited for the ‘friend’ to come, he ordered himself a cup of coffee. He shifted his gaze towards the window to try and enjoy the scenery and that’s where the shock came in.
Right opposite the restaurant, ready to cross the road, was Joned—his secret love—in his quite well-to-do clothes. Jinggo almost choked; what was Joned doing here?? He remembered Joned telling him that he was going to check out one of the greatest restaurant in New York and couldn’t come with him for the meeting with Dee’s ‘friend’ he was assigned to meet. But what in the world was he doing here? ‘Don’t tell me that he’s coming to this restaurant! He could never afford anything without him paying the debts! What the heck was he hanging around here?!
His eyes followed him towards the receptionist where he presented the flashy reservation ticket and being led by the waiter to his seat. He was even more taken aback when he saw that the waiter was leading Joned right to his seat. Was he the one—the ‘friend’—he was supposed to meet? It couldn’t be! If it was him, Dee could’ve just given him the package when they were having their breakfast this morning.
“Jinggo! What a pleasant surprise! Err…what are you doing here?” It was obvious that Joned had no idea Jinggo was going to come here.
“I, uh, I thought you were going to be eating at a famous restaurant,” Jinggo tried to regain composure as not to reveal his true feelings. To be honest, he was half-glad that he was here, or else he would’ve felt pretty much alone.
“I am!” Joned replied as he took a seat in front of him. “This is the restaurant I was talking about. Ryo got me this cool lunch ticket to come here and I rushed here as soon as possible. What are you doing here? I thought you’re gonna meet Dee’s friend to give him a package or something.”
“Well, I am,” Jinggo said as he showed his reservation ticket. “Dee said I was supposed to meet that guy here and gave me his reservation ticket, so here I am. Did you say Ryo got that ticket for you?”
“Yeah, that’s right…” Joned’s voice trailed off as he realized what was this all about. Both of them cursed silently at the person who gave them the tickets. So that’s why they were so generous!
“Well, since we’re already here and my John Doe isn’t going to come,” Jinggo let out a sigh, “we might as well order something to eat. I’m kinda starved. I suppose I’ll have to pay, just like always?”
“No,” Joned beamed as he took out Ryo’s credit card. “This time it’s on me.”
“You never had a credit card,” Jinggo looked at Joned with a leveled trace of surprise.
“It’s a long story, really,” Joned replied. “Just order whatever you like. It’s on me, really.”
So the couples-to-be ordered a set lunch each, and when the set lunch came, it was quite a hefty meal. Joned’s mouth practically watered at the sight of the food. Jinggo raised his higher eyebrow with interest. As they ate their lunch, Joned chattered on about his journey to come to this restaurant, from meeting the queerest people on the way to the taxi stand to his frustration about unable to get a taxi to the doofus driver who can’t seem to find his way to this restaurant because he was a foreigner himself and was quite new to the road. Jinggo listened with much revered interest and also made a slight conversation about his journey to this restaurant.
Their conversation was pretty great so far that they didn’t notice that Ryo and Dee were sitting somewhere a few tables away from theirs, watching their every move. It was quite a laid-back day at the NYPD this morning and once the lunch break came, Ryo and Dee were only too eager to get out of there to see how Joned and Jinggo were going on. They moved at quite a speed and had to find suitable shortcuts so that they can dodge the traffic (luckily they didn’t run into any red lights or any traffic cops or they would be a disgrace to the NYPD) and got there just in time to see Jinggo and Joned sitting together looking surprised at each other.
“We are so going to start eating instant noodles for the next month. Those tickets cost almost half of my salary, not to mention the gift inside that package,” Dee complained as he kept a close eye on the recruits.
“Hey, don’t complain. It’s going to cost me a sum too, what with Joned using my credit card,” Ryo replied, chuckling bitterly, imagining the kitchen filled with instant cup noodles and instant noodle packs. “But look on the bright side; we’ll get to eat a decent breakfast every morning at their house.”
“For that, I am definitely going to ask a second and third helping for this!” Dee said, clenching his fist in determination.
“Look, Dee. Jinggo’s facial expression is showing a slight change! Something must be going on!” Ryo hissed excitedly as he pointed secretly at them.
Ryo was right; there was something happening between Joned and Jinggo’s conversation. They have stopped talking about their stuff for a moment there when Joned suddenly asked, “Err…Jinggo, how long have I been with you?”
“For about 3 ½ years,” Jinggo replied briefly. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’ve been wondering…” Joned hesitated before asking, “Is there anything about me that you like?”
Jinggo almost dropped his spoon. What was he trying to say? Has he found out about his feelings towards him? Has he seen through his cold exterior who he really was? Has he…? Jinggo kept a leveled face before replying, “Well, you do have the potential to succeed in whatever you do, that I can see, and you have a strong spirit and a determined mind. You’re jolly and enthusiastic and all. Quite the opposite of me, but I don’t find that disturbing at all.”
“Is there anything that you…don’t like about me?”
“Not that I can think of, except that you panic easily and that you’re too emotional, but I’m used to it.”
“Well, I…” Joned raised his voice a little but was afraid that the customers present would look at him, so he lowered his voice again and said, “I have something to tell for quite a long time now.”
Jinggo looked at him half-curiously and half-anxiously. What was he going to say? Is he going to say what he had hoped he would say for his whole life? Has his wait being paid off? He had to get ready for this! Adjusting his slightly excited face back to the cool mode, he said, “Then fire away. I haven’t got all day.”
“What I want to say is that…well, I have…Actually I…”
“RYO! DEE! What a pleasant surprise!!!”
Joned and Jinggo together with the other customers present in the restaurant turned abruptly towards the loud booming voice of a man who was standing beside Ryo and Dee’s table, beaming from head to toe. He looked pretty plump but tall, like a big fat giant, and he had a long beard and long hair, like he had never shaved or cut for a very, very long time. It was lucky that he did keep them clean though, judging by the richly-dressed attire he had on him. Ryo and Dee, on the other hand, were trying to hide more from Jinggo and Joned than from him.
“Bless my lucky stars! It’s you guys!” the man said as he clapped their backs hard.
“Hello, Mr. Denver,” Ryo greeted sheepishly, praying hard that Jinggo and Joned hadn’t seen them.
“So glad to be seeing you guys again—hold your horses, will ya?” the man whose name was Mr. Denver waved away the waiter who was trying to lead him to his seat. “I could’ve sworn I saw you two when I passed you by. If it weren’t for you, that awful terrorist would’ve taken away all my secret plans and the whole world would be catastrophic!”
“Yes, yes, well, it’s part of our job,” Dee laughed nervously as his eyes shifted towards the Asian duo who were looking at them with accusing eyes. Both of them had their reasons to be angry with them, that’s needless to say. Joned paid for the meal and stood up abruptly, leaving the table with a grudging look on his face. Jinggo left too, looking just the same, although it wasn’t anger but a much colder face than usual.
“Err…excuse us, Mr. Denver,” Dee said hurriedly after paying for his and Ryo’s tea and cheese cake. “We got a case to run.”
“OK, boys. See you soon! I got an open house tomorrow night to celebrate my daughter’s birthday,” Mr. Denver said as the Dynamic Duo got ready to leave. “Hope you guys can come!”
“We’ll keep in touch!” Ryo replied as he and Dee tried to catch up with the leaving Jinggo and Joned.
Jinggo and Joned, on the other hand, would not want to acknowledge the Dynamic Duo’s calls. They practically ignored their frantic explanation and were bent on getting as far away as possible. They were pretty annoyed at them actually spying on them and ruining their perfect moment, especially Joned who was almost going to confess his feelings towards Jinggo.
That was when they saw the cat.
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