Defeated by Mala Tang
I stared at the mala tang set before me, a numbing-hot stew whose broth looked fiery before it had even touched my tongue. As if the bowl meant to steal my gaze, I studied it slowly, and saliva pooled in my mouth of its own accord. Reflex or not, it was tempting me. I had never met a rascal brazen enough to seduce me like this.
"This place really does have the best mala tang!"
"Me too, me too!"
Jiyu and Yumi already had their chopsticks in hand and were eating. They'd had it plenty of times, and the two of them were all but inhaling the mala tang without the slightest trouble. I picked up my own chopsticks and put one of the greens from the bowl into my mouth.
"Ooh!"
It suited my taste far better than I'd expected. But maybe because I'd ordered the heat high, the spice was climbing. I lifted a hand and started fanning myself as if I were sweating. Manly pride had made me pick spice level two, and now I was wondering if that had been a mistake—Jiyu and Yumi were eating as if it were delicious, and I couldn't do the same.
"Cola! Somebody give me cola!"
"Cola's self-serve!"
Yumi said it while pointing somewhere with her hand.
I wanted to scold the version of myself who had chosen level two only moments ago. But picking this mala tang had been my decision, so the fault was mine. I hunted desperately for cola, rushed to the drink fridge, and managed to pull out a single can. The moment I cracked it open—pssht—the carbonation surged up, and I drank in a hurry. The cool fizz seemed to take the edge off the heat. Watching me, Jiyu and Yumi burst out laughing.
"See? We told you level two was spicy! Level one is just right!"
Yumi had been the one who'd tried hardest to stop me when I picked level two, so I had nothing to say. I should have listened to her. There was never any harm in heeding the veterans. I would have to eat this mala tang while repenting a beginner's blunder.
"Hana, can I try a bite and see how spicy it is?"
Jiyu said it with her eyes glued covetously to my bowl. I nodded. The more people there were to share the suffering, the better—that was simply how the world worked. She soon scooped up some of my mala tang with a spoon and set it aside on a plate. She didn't take much, and a brief flicker of disappointment crossed my eyes.
She'd taken only about a single chopstickful. It didn't look like enough for her to really feel the heat. Jiyu promptly popped the meat she'd stolen from my bowl into her mouth, mumbled on it a few times, and then bolted for the fridge packed with drinks. She didn't seem any better at handling spice than I was.
"Spicy, spicy!"
Jiyu scrambled for cola too. Two cans now sat forlornly on the table, and Yumi watched her with an awkward little laugh. I still had the rest of my mala tang to get through, so I picked up my chopsticks again. Failing to finish it over heat like this would trample a man's pride. At the very least, I had to eat everything in the bowl.
The broth, honestly, I had already surrendered. Being told to finish that too would have been torture. That deep orange soup threatened me by sight alone—a color that promised to shred my tongue without mercy if I so much as sipped it.
"Hana, you can leave some! We can just come back next time!"
Yumi said it as if she were worried about me. She probably thought I couldn't eat the mala tang because it was too spicy.
But that was a foolish thought. This mala tang went all the way to level four, and I had chosen two. There was no reason to retreat. Level four and I would have fled on the spot, but level-two heat proudly claimed to be a spice I could endure and still finish.
"I'm fine! Spice like this, I can handle!"
I made the bold promise to Jiyu and Yumi and kept eating. Maybe the cola was to blame, but I had the illusion that the heat had dulled. It was only an illusion. The spice came crashing over me, and I had no choice but to cry.
"Waaah!"
In the end I left without finishing the mala tang. It was my defeat. Jiyu and Yumi comforted me, saying I could eat it next time, but none of it reached me. What tormented me was the simple fact that I had lost.
"We're going out today, so let's get you looking pretty!"
Maru picked out my clothes herself. I told her I'd just wear whatever, but she knew full well that my fashion sense bordered on despair. It looked perfectly fine to me. Other people, apparently, did not agree.
Is a checkered shirt and jeans really that hard to look at? Back when I was in engineering school, dressing like that was the unwritten law. The other students wore the same thing.
Dressed in Maru's coordination, I met my own sulky face in the mirror. Skirts had grown familiar by now. No—they hadn't. The breeze poured in from underneath, and the awkwardness came rushing back. A skirt was a profoundly inconvenient piece of clothing.
Sit in a chair and there was far too much to manage. Crossing my legs was forbidden, but so was spreading them too wide, because my underwear would show. I was beginning to understand why women wore shorts beneath their skirts. Let your guard down for even a moment and your underwear was simply on display. Anyone who wore something this inconvenient seemed remarkable. I would have just worn pants.
"Pass!"
Maru bestowed a passing grade on my outfit with a satisfied smile, and I sighed in relief on the inside. At least I wouldn't have to keep changing. Once Maru truly latched onto something, I had spent a full hour swapping clothes. I wasn't walking a runway, and cycling through that many outfits left me feeling as if I were losing my mind.
"Uweeeh..."
Drained of energy, I dove into Maru's arms, and she gathered me in warmly. Bora and Haru were standing beside us too. It felt like ages since the three of them had been together like this.
"Where are we going today?"
Maru asked her senior. I had no idea where we were headed either, dressed up like this.
"Chairman Kim Sehee said she'd treat us to a meal."
"So that's why everyone in the office has been grinning..."
Maru realized at last why the office had been so lively since morning. By the schedule they were supposed to leave at six, but with a company dinner waiting, it was an early dismissal at four in the afternoon.
A company dinner after clocking out was one thing. A company dinner during work hours was a thrill. Eating while you were still getting paid—that kind of precious experience didn't come easily. Only a chosen handful of companies could manage it.
"Come on, let's go! We're going to be the last ones out!"
Maybe all the outfit changes had delayed us. We got in the car and soon stepped into an upscale restaurant. The whole place might as well have been booked out; it was noisy with office staff. Not only people from our office, but employees of Starlight Food seemed to be there as well.
I headed for a reasonably empty table, but Maru caught me.
"Hana, we have to go into a private room."
"Huh?"
"The chairman said to come in."
Maru ushered me inside. I stepped in feeling thoroughly out of place, and once she had delivered me she went back out. She'd probably take that empty table I'd spotted earlier and eat with Haru and Bora.
"Hana, come on in~"
The chairman was sitting alone. Side dishes and meat were already laid out on the table, and I sat down nicely across from her.
"What kind of meat is this?"
I'd been glancing all around, and I pointed at the beautifully colored meat as I asked. The marbling was nothing ordinary. This had to be expensive.
"This is beef~ It came from a ranch connected to our company. Very expensive, very delicious beef, okay?"
"Whoa!"
I couldn't help a cry of wonder. Delicious beef! My mouth was watering already. I licked my lips and locked my eyes on the meat she was grilling. She handled every last thing herself, so all I had to do was hold my chopsticks and eat. The moment I so much as shifted to do something, she fussed that she would take care of it, which left me with nothing to do at all.
"It's all cooked. Hana, you can eat now~"
At her words my chopsticks flashed into motion. I lifted the beef and dipped it in sesame oil and salt.
"Wow! It's so good!"
I couldn't hold back my awe at beef of an entirely different caliber. I had no idea what the cow could have been raised on to taste like this. It was close to the meat from that barbecue before.
"Good, isn't it? Watching my Hana eat so happily makes me happy too!"
I devoted myself to the meat she kept grilling. Truly, delicious beef was the best.