39 Do You Like Sausage?

"This is a traditional Korean hangover soup, haejang-guk," the young woman said as she returned after a while with a little stone bowl of boiling liquid and placed it in front of Sam. In her other hand, she had a small metal bowl of rice. "You can eat it with rice. It is very nutritious for you."

Dr. Brown looked at Sam's meal and pouted his lips, "Why did you bring his meal first? Where's mine? Don't you always say that I'm your favorite doctor? I feel neglected today."

Sumi chuckled, "Be patient Dr. Brown. I got my most handsome waiter to fetch it for you."

Just as she said this, a tall, muscly young man with a cleanly shaven face and a man bun approached holding a bowl in one hand. He bent over with a charming smile and placed it in front of the doctor. "Katsudon for the doctor."

Dr. Brown laughed and looked down at his favorite Japanese-style pork cutlet with egg, onions, and rice. Sumi was always cheeky like that. Sure, he liked men, especially handsome ones, but this young waiter was much too young for him. He was, at most, just a bit of eye candy.

"What do you think?" Sumi asked after the young man walked away. "He's half Japanese, half Spanish, and he's a part-time personal trainer. You know what they say about Latin lovers..."

Sam glanced down at his meal awkwardly when he heard this. That was right! He had almost forgotten that Delilah said this man was gay. He quickly tried to keep himself out of the conversation.

Sumi gave Dr. Brown a little wink, but he simply cleared his throat and replied, "I'm after a serious relationship with someone a bit more mature." As he spoke, he subconsciously took a glance at Sam. Ever since earlier, this man had caught his attention.

Sumi followed his gaze and leaned over with interest. She had always gotten along well with Dr. Brown and they chatted almost every day, so whenever she saw him, it was like a little break for her. Now that she thought about it, he only ever ate with the other doctors or nurses, he had never brought an outsider to the cafeteria with him.

Was Sam...a love interest?

"Oh, come on, Dr. Brown. How long has it been since you've been with a man? Have you never thought about having some fun before you settle down?" she deliberately asked cheekily.

Dr. Brown blushed. "You know I'm not like that," he quickly defended himself.

Sumi laughed and turned to look at Sam who was busy stirring the soup and looking at the contents inside. He wasn't paying attention to their conversation at all. With a smile, she leaned over and explained, "I stewed that soup with ox bone. It contains napa cabbage, soybean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, and I also added some Korean blood sausage."

As her smile turned into a cheeky grin, Sumi quickly slipped in a question, "Do you like sausage?"

Without thinking too much into the question, Sam replied, "Yes, I love sausage!"

Dr. Brown was used to Sumi's cheekiness, so he immediately caught the underlying meaning in her question. But Sam had no idea.

So, when Dr. Brown heard Sam's response, he almost choked on his food.

Only after he saw the doctor's response, did Sam realize what he had said. He immediately waved his hands and tried to explain himself, but the young woman leaned over and giggled, "I'm just playing with you. Please don't be offended."

Sam looked into the woman's twinkling eyes as they curved like two crescent moons. The sound of her laughter was pleasant and they tickled his ears. Probably because she thought he was gay, she was leaning so far forward that he could see her cleavage. Underneath her chef's uniform, this woman had quite a good body.

Sam sighed and shook his head. [Why do women always think I'm gay?]

...

Over at the Grand Canyon, Maya and Lucas were just finishing their meal. Standing up to stretch her legs, Maya sighed with satisfaction. She never imagined that she would ever land in the Grand Canyon on a helicopter, let alone have a picnic there! Ever since she met Lucas, she had done a lot of unexpected things.

She knew, at that moment, that he was not going to do anything to her. He wouldn't have prepared so much, just to kill her in the end.

So, she walked over to the edge, closed her eyes, stretched her arms, and took in her surroundings. The air was fresh and the sun was warm on her skin even though it was winter. Having lived in the city for so many years, she had forgotten how amazing nature could be. She opened her eyes again and looked at the red rocks that lined the valley below. The canyon looked like it was formed by something otherworldly, but who knew it was actually carved by the running waters of the Colorado River.

"Next time, I'll take you hiking," a voice suddenly said behind her.

Maya turned around in surprise as Lucas' voice broke the silence. As it was so sudden, she did not take notice of her footing and accidentally stepped into a gap between some rocks. The unstable ground caused her to lose her balance and she began to panic.

Her heart immediately dropped.

The cliff was right behind her! If she didn't regain her balance, she could fall to her death!

Just as her face turned pale in fear, she tried her hardest to bend forward. At least, falling on her face would be better than dying. But, just as she did this, she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist. This arm was warm and strong, and it made her feel safe. Before she knew it, she tumbled forward, pushing the person that had tried to help her onto the ground and falling on top of him. As Lucas lay on the ground, he groaned in pain, "If you wanted to be on top, you should have just asked..."

Maya looked at the man in surprise and quickly asked, "Are you OK?"

She stood up, helped the man up as well, and scanned her eyes up and down his body. "Are you hurt?" she asked worriedly.

Lucas looked at the worried woman and chuckled. She looked so cute when she was worried. Turning around and pointing to his bum cheek, he replied cheekily, "My butt hurts. Can you massage it for me?"

Maya scoffed and punched the man in the arm. "Stop joking. Are you seriously OK?" she asked as she continued to look at his body.

As she scanned her eyes across his legs, the man suddenly hooked his hand on her chin, lifted her head, and looked seriously into her eyes. Maya held her breath as she stared at the man. "I'm OK," Lucas said with a slight smile. "Be careful next time."

Maya finally breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this response. But for some reason, her heart continued to beat faster...