Starving

Exhaustion was written plainly on his face.

"Was the meeting okay?"

He looked away.

"Let's not talk about it. I'm starving."

He held out his hand and I took it and followed him to the elevator. He was tense and barely said a word as we rode in his car.

So I wasn't really sure if he expected me to make conversation, and I was too emotionally drained to put up an effort.

When we stopped at a red light, he glanced over.

"You look great."

"Thanks."

He parked the car in a gated parking area where they stashed the cars on top of each other, then we headed down a street with small restaurants offering everything from Arab cuisine, over Edo to Sushi.

He stopped at a Korean restaurant and held the door open for me. Stunned I walked in into the crowded, narrow inside.

Small tables were set closely together and a bar at the front offered alcoholic beverages with labels I couldn't even read.

A waiter came up to us and upon spotting him, he led us toward the back of the restaurant and gave us the last available table.

The people at the table beside ours stared at Fu Shao with wide eyes, probably wondering how he'd fit. I took the seat on the bench running the entire length of the room and he folded himself into the chair across from me.

The man beside him shifted his chair to the side, so Fu Shao would have more room.

Did they know who he was or were they being polite?

"You look surprised," Fu Shao said after the waiter had taken our drink orders and left us with the menu.

"I didn't think you'd go for Korean food, considering everything."

That was all I could say in a crowded restaurant, but he knew I was talking about Korean side meals.

"This restaurant is the best Korean restaurant in town, and it doesn't belong to foreign chain."

I frowned.

Was it under the protection of the Fu?

"It's independent." "It's independent."

"There are independent restaurants in here?"

The couple at the table beside us gave me a strange look. For them our conversation was probably more than a little weird.

"A few, but we're in negotiations right now."

I snorted.

FU shao pointed at my menu.

"Do you need help?"

"Yes, I've never tried Korean."

"The marinated silk tofu and the bulgogi beef are delicious."

"You eat tofu?"

He shrugged.

"If it's prepared like this, then yes."

I shook my head. This was surreal.

"Just order what you think is best. I eat everything except for liver."

"I like women that eat more than salad."