Martial Kim can’t remember when he had a proper meal.
Not that Keekee never gave him any food. More like, a growing young master could only survive so long on burgers to go, ready to make pancakes, hard crusted pizza pie, and microwavable dinners. The film assistant lived a busy life, barely any time to take up cooking lessons, let alone man a wok to make stir fried rice noodles and chicken on command. Not to mention, take out was getting more and more pricey – yikes.
Martial Kim never complained, not openly. Tonight however, he felt like he was repaid in full.
That was until he cut into his dinner
“Teacher. There is something wrong with this meat. It is raw!”
“...Kim. Please tell me, you know the true beauty of a medium rare steak...right?”
Martial Kim stared at the fabulous pan-fried meal in front of him. Even as he fumbled with a fork and knife – wishing he could use chopsticks again – he can’t help but stare at perfectly cooked steak with some polite disgust.
--- Impossible. Teacher is an intelligent and well cultured man. There is no way he would serve uncooked meat! Surely any master of the house would punish their servants in serving the guest raw meat!
Professor Stone on the other hand, tried not to face palm. His right hand DID have a steak knife after all and stabbing himself in the eye would make him look like a fool in front of his protege. Remembering about Martial Kim’s ‘condition’ he tried to be patient – but it was clear the veins in his foreheads were about to burst like an overworked dam.
“Kim. Relax. The beef we produce in this era is perfectly safe. A Grade.”
“You say that, Teacher, but cow meat is nothing like sashimi!”
“I get it. It’s gonna be an acquired taste. But trust me, this steak is perfect! See? Hmmmmnnn. So succulent and juicy. Nice and toasty on the outside, nice and warm on the inside, and so juiiiiicy. Why, if I cook it beyond well done – the meat will turn into chewing gum!”
“Teacher with all due respect, you could just cut the beef into paper like strips for a more balanced cooking! Stir-fry it along with some green beans, onions, a bit of ginger and—”
Keekee squeaked – because she was smack dab in the middle of the food wars. So she picked up her glass of wine to interrupt with a “CHEERS! T-TO BOTH OF YOUR GUYS!.....Ahahaha...ha...”
“...”
“...”
“...Teacher.”
“Okay Kim, look. Just, give it a try. I swear, you won’t blow your intestines out. Worse case scenario, I’ll just put it in the over and bake it until the inner pink is all a liver brown. Happy?”
--- As if I truly have a say in all this... Then again, I should not be disrespecting Teacher’s cooking. It is clear, there are even different cooking cultures in this world compared to mine...Still – raw cow meat!? It is still too absurd.
It took a bit to convince Martial Kim to honestly try the steak. The smell and sights were pleasant to the nose and eyes, but the young master could not shake off the feeling of pink meat rolling about in his mouth.
Chew once...chew twice...chew thrice...gulp...
“...Still feels raw.”
“Don’t hide that smug look. You know you like it! I see you cutting your second and third piece!” Prof. Stone laughed as he ate his steak. “If you can’t trust the food, at least put some faith in me – your instructor. Why would I mislead you! Now come on, pick up a glass and cheers with us! Keekee’s arm must be tired in raising her cup. Hahah! Joke joke! Cheers!”
“C-cheers.” Martial Kim fumbled between his dining utensils and his glass of wine, but he was able to manage with a bit of Keekee’s help.
After tapping their glasses together in a familiar celebration, the young master took his first step into the world of Western wine.
--- Oh my...such a strong fruity flavour. Nothing like the crisp touch of rice wine. Huh...Why, I can sense a series of herbs and berries mixed together. Interesting. It is not pure rice and sugar. And this colour, such a rich blood like hue. I wonder, how do the people here make it. The fermentation process, tastes different as well. Curious.
“Chateau Canevault, 1996,” Prof. Stone chirped as he cut a piece of steak for himself, relishing in the taste he made, “One of my favourite red wine brands. I usually save it for special occasions.”
“Like right now!” Keekee added in, trying to defuse any left over tension between mentor and pupil. “I mean. Not going to lie, th-this feels like a dream. Feels like only yesterday, Kim was taking out the police to protect me. Now we’re sitting here together just, having dinner like neighbours!”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Prof. Stone chuckled back, “They say fate can be a fickle mistress. You never know what strange plans she has up her sleeves. Don’t you agree?”
“Oh yeah! Like, everything was totally out of the blue. Oh, you should have been there when he showed up on set, Kim was like super cool. Flying all over and doing these sick flips and—”
A lovely conversation was formed at the table. Candid, relaxing, zero frustrations. A lot of back and forth, chit chat, daily life, what they saw in the news and on social media... Hold up.
It was only 30 minutes in, did the group realized – only Keekee and Prof. Stone were the ones chatting. Granted, their conversation was normal, but when you add Martial Kim not saying a word – it made the atmosphere rather awkward.
“Kim?” Keekee waved a hand over her friend’s face to snap him out of thinking, “You really can’t stand medium rare huh?”
“Is this all?” Martial Kim asked, his eyes focused on the table. When Keekee raised an eyebrow, the young master gestured at everyone’s plates. “Is this all we are having tonight?”
Prof. Stone just frowned, but tried to play it cool with a grin. So he pretty much had a shattered snarmile on his face. “What? You were expecting a five course meal? Perhaps a basket of bread with goose liver pate, or even soup for appetizers. Should I break out the candle lights for your lovebirds? Hmm?”
Martial Kim shook his head. “No. What I meant was: is this all we will be having for dinner tonight. The each of us?”
Nothing out of the blue really. They each had a plate of the basic starch, vegetable, and protein combination. No more, no less. The moment they would clear the plate, that was dinner. No seconds. At most dessert, but nothing extravagantly bloated.
--- Normally people where I come from would have at least three dishes and a bowl of herbal soup. Well portioned for individuals or a small family... But here, everyone eats one plate and call it a night... Then, what was the reason for such an absurdly large dinner among the victims? The amount of food they had could feed a small village...
Clues, clues, more clues. Yet not a single answer that made sense at this point. What was normal? What was abnormal? What would stand out? What would be ignored?
In the end, Martial Kim felt like he wasted a good celebration, just thinking on this puzzle that failed to provide a viable answer sheet. By the time he truly re-connected to reality dinner was well over – and he wanted to jump out of his seat in the couch!
“!!! M-Miss K—”
“Ssssh.” Prof. Stone shushed, sweeping up the empty plates and wine bottles from the dinner table. “You’re little tiger escape stunt worn her out. Let her sleep.”
“B-but! But!” Martial Kim panicked and with good reason.
Somehow, Keekee ended up laying her head across his shoulder on the living room couch with the young master. A simple after dinner chat with Prof. Stone before she drifted off from the hearty food, lovely wine, if not mental exhaustion from babysitting a full grown man out of time.
A sleeping kitten, that was the sound she was purring from her lips. All nice and snug against the young master’s shoulder. Martial Kim, the gentlemen, could not resist the temptation of brushing some loose hair from her wine-rose cheeks.
Even if Prof. Stone didn’t warn him – Martial Kim himself felt waking the film assistant like this was a sin of all sins.
“So, what’s on your mind, Kim?” Prof. Stone quietly shuffled over in house slippers and flopped down in his favourite chair. After getting all nice and cozy, he sipped at a glass of wine and smacked his lips to savour the taste. “No doubt, the case from this morning, huh?”
“...You knew from the beginning, I take it?”
“Well I hate to rub salt in your wounds, Kim, but you’re an open book. I suggest you learn how to put on a Poker Face.”
“..P...Poker Face?”
“I-I’ll teach you that philosophy, later.” One more sip and the forensic chemist placed his cup on the coffee table’s coaster. He smacked his lips, this time trying to come up with a good line, “I admire your enthusiasm, Kim. I truly do. However, you have to know when to draw the line between work – and pleasure.”
“...But Teacher. Clearly there are some suspicions regarding the death of the Single Mother and Son. We cannot just—”
“Think of it like this, Kim.” Prof. Stone swiped something from a desk and pulled at it. “Your mind is like this elastic band. You stretch it out the more you think, and think, and think, and think—"
SNAP!...The elastic band exploded and vanished into the air.
Prof. Stone sighed, “You get the point?”
Martial Kim nodded, shameful most shameful. “I do. And Forgive me for wasting—”
“In saying that, let me get my work tablet.”
“T-teacher! Wh-why counter me with such hypocrisy all of a sudden?”
“Oh come ooooon, Kim. Are you really the type of person who would could sleep soundly like Keekee when you don’t know the answer to a riddle?”
“...I really need to learn this Poker Face technique you mention.”
“Stay right there. I’ll be right back. Don’t wake her up.” Prof. Stone rolled his eyes and patted his disciple on the shoulder before shuffling to a room to pick up something.
But in the last minute, he poked his head out into the hallway to say, “Not gonna lie. I’ve been dying to hear what you’ve been thinking. Oh don’t give me that look – you were ready to turn my house inside out to find the answer. You’d think I wouldn’t notice!?”
After collecting the key pieces, what was the hidden truth hidden behind the locked door!?
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