Chapter 85 - I Made Your Favorite

Several minutes later, Katherine was no longer scared; instead, she was extremely and utterly worried about what was happening to Damien. She had tried asking him since they left the building, but he has not spoken to her even a single word — it was as if he had not even heard her. 

'Have I done something wrong? Was there something wrong with the food that I ordered?' She couldn't help but feel anxious, but she was just helpless at the moment.

The restaurant where Katherine ordered the beef noodle soup was located twenty minutes away. However, because of Damien's driving, they arrived in ten minutes – by going past the speed limit and ignoring the traffic lights. 

The car screeched into a full stop in front of the restaurant, and she finally released the breath that she held in. She watched as Damien got out of the car before she hurriedly followed him out and caught up to him. 

"Damien, wait… wait…" She grabbed hold of his hand, making him look down at her.

The look in his eyes when she met his stare sent arrows that pierced through her heart. Damien's expression was unreadable, but he definitely looked hurt. But why? It was the first time that she saw him like this.

"Can you please tell me what's wrong? You're scaring me," she told him in the softest voice as she possibly could while she held his hand with both of hers and squeezing it.

As if he had snapped out of his trance, he breathed out a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before he looked at Katherine and said, "I'm sorry, I scared you…"

"I'm okay… I'm just worried about you — very worried." 

Damien formed a miserable smile on his face, making it difficult for Katherine to appreciate how beautiful he was because his smile was painful to look at. 

"I… I just need to find out something. Can you wait for me outside?" his voice was wistful and low.

"Why don't I go inside with you?" she worried.

Shaking his head, he placed both of his hands on her shoulder and added, "I think I need to go there alone. I will tell you later… I just need you to wait for me. Will that be okay?"

The look on his face and the sound of his rueful voice made Katherine nod without saying anything. She was going to wait for him no matter how long it takes for him to find out whatever he needed to find out in that restaurant.

'Damn you for making my man sad — whatever it is that you did.' 

She walked back to the car and waited anxiously inside while she stared through the window and watched as Damien walked inside the restaurant and disappeared from her view.

…

Stepping inside the restaurant, the smell of delicious food invaded his nostrils. The first thing that caught Damien's eyes — rather, the first thing that his eyes were seeking was the chef from the glass window of the kitchen. The restaurant had an open-kitchen concept where the kitchen was very much visible to all the customers.

He walked towards the counter and asked in a gentle tone, "Excuse me, can I speak with the chef?" 

"May I know what it is about? Do you have any complaints about the food?" The old woman who was manning the counter asked.

"No… I just need to speak about… something personal." 

The old woman gave Damien a once-over before she went to call out the chef from the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, an old man walked out of the kitchen and went up to Damien.

He had a scrawny physique and looked like he was in his seventies.

"Good morning, I'm Chef Huang." The old man shook hands with Damien.

"Good morning, sir… I'm Damien Park. I… just wanted to ask you a few questions." He was almost hesitant to ask about what he wanted to know, but he was already there — he had to find out. The chef nodded and urged Damien to ask away. 

"How long have you been a chef here?"

A smile formed on the chef's wrinkly face. "Since I opened this restaurant."

Damien nodded and swallowed before he continued, "Ah… Have you… perhaps shared your recipe with someone else? Particularly your beef noodles."

The chef chuckled. "Of course not, young man. I use secret ingredients. If I shared my recipe, I would lose my business. Only I know the recipe by heart."

"Right… of course… It's just that, I have tasted the exact same taste from someone I know." Damien felt stupid, he already knew that. Of course, he was a businessman himself. But upon hearing his answer, he felt even more forlorn. 'Even the presentation looked exactly the same.'

"I see… perhaps your friend ordered from here and wanted you to taste it." A wide smile appeared on the old man's face, "We have a lot of customers who like my beef noodles and had been coming back for almost four decades now. I've seen a lot of people who came when they were still a child, and now they have their own families. It's a very nice feeling. And because of that, I have never changed the recipe."

Damien forced a smile and slightly bowed. "Thank you for answering my questions."

"Not a problem. Would you like to have a bowl?"

Not being able to say anything anymore, Damien could only nod.

Damien was ushered to an empty table, and within two minutes, a hot bowl of beef noodle soup was placed in front of him.

"Enjoy your food." The chef personally delivered it to him and left right after.

He stared at the very familiar bowl of soup. He looked at it as if he was looking through his memories — and even heard the voice of the woman whom he called 'mother.'

~ "Here son, I made this for you because you didn't eat earlier. Go on… help yourself. Make sure you finish all of it."– The voice in his head said.

"Mom, the beef noodles you made last time was really good. Can you make that again for me?"

~ "Of course. Go upstairs and wash up, I'll call you when it's ready."

~ "I made your favorite noodle soup again, would you like some?"– it was the last time that she gave him the bowl of soup before she left him that day and never came back.

Damien tried his best to finish the food, but no matter how much he forced himself, he only managed to eat almost half of it. 

It was just too painful. The lump on his throat only seemed to thicken.

He could no longer bear it; thus, he got up from his seat and walked up to the counter. "How much was the bowl?"

"It's okay, young man. Chef Huang said that it's on the house," the old woman replied.

Despite what she said, Damien took out his wallet and randomly pulled out several notes from it and placed it on the counter without even checking how much it was. "Thank you very much," he said before leaving the restaurant.

The old woman was greatly shocked that he left $1800. He hadn't even finished his bowl. He paid too much for a $10 noodle soup. She tried to run after him outside the restaurant, but she was too late. Damien and Katherine had already sped off.

…

Damien was quiet since he came out of the restaurant. 

Katherine patiently waited for him to say something, and her worry only seemed to increase. His driving was at a normal speed, but they were heading towards the countryside, and as much as she wanted to ask him, all she could do was extend her hand and place it over his.

The moment that he felt her touch, Damien stepped on the breaks and parked on the roadside. He got out of the car, walked towards the hood, and leaned on it, running his hands on his face as he suppressed the urge to scream.

Katherine immediately walked up to him and saw him stare at the ground, his jaw clenched, and his hands balled into fists. She reached out to touch him, but her hand froze mid-air when she noticed his shoulders shake… and a drop of tear fell from his eye.