Chapter 5.1: Interest and Taste

ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ: ᴅɪᴠɪɴᴇ

But it was just her delusion. It was ridiculous that she was hooked. He was simply saying something to comfort her.

“Thank you.”

She tried to calmly say as if nothing was wrong.

Fortunately, her voice didn’t tremble and came out normally.

“How old is Anna?”

“What?”

Anna was a little taken aback by Luciano’s question.

“Why? Was it an inappropriate question for a lady?”

Luciano winked and laughed. The playful wink was so cute that Anna burst into a big smile.

“Well, that’s not it, but isn’t it rude to ask for someone’s age? I think that’s a pretty personal question.”

She remembered hearing from somewhere that foreigners didn’t take well to be asked about their age. Anna, too, was reluctant to share details of her personal life.

“You can ask anything between friends, though you can also ask even if you’re not friends as long as it’s not out of the blue on the first meeting. I’d say that this isn’t our first meeting, is it?”

“Ah, I see. Then how old is Luciano?”

“How old do you think I am?”

“I don’t know.”

She couldn’t guess the age of foreigners no matter how much she looked at them.

“I’m 27.”

“Wow! Really?”

Anna burst out in surprise and her mouth fell wide open.

“Yes, why so surprised?”

“No, it’s just…”

She didn’t expect him to be younger than herself, thinking that he would be 30 at the least.

“Do I look that old?”

“No! Not at all.”

She only guessed that he was 30 because of his relaxed attitude, adult atmosphere, and manners. Because of his good looks, something trivial like age never came to mind and was difficult to estimate.

“So what about Anna?”

“How old do you think I am?”

“Oh, that’s foul. I can’t believe you copied me.”

He whined, shook his head and let out a smile.

“So what?”

Anna shrugged and laughed. Luciano measured Anna with a keen eye and tapped on his chin with his large, elongated finger, finally saying.

“Well, you look pretty young. 22 or 23?”

Anna gasped at the unexpected answer.

“I’m not that young.”

“How old are you then? I can’t guess the age of Asians.”

“Well, it’s a lot older than what you guessed…”

“A lot? How much? 40 or 50?”

Luciano joked and winked at Anna, who was hesitating to speak. Anna’s heart rattled as she saw his eye close and open. Did he know that her heart fluttered every time he did that?

Anna cleared her throat to make a natural-sounding voice.

“29.”

“What? Mamma mia!”

Luciano who spoke in English this whole time was so surprised he burst out in Italian.

“You don’t look like that at all. Are you really 29?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Anna nodded.

Luciano shook his head while muttering ‘mamma mia’.

“What does mamma mia mean? I know it’s a famous movie title, but I didn’t know it was Italian.”

Mamma Mia she had heard of a lot, but she’d always wondered what it meant.

“‘Mamma’ means mother and ‘Mia’ means me. If I had to explain it, it would mean ‘my mother’, but it’s an exclamation that can be used whenever you’re surprised, scared, or happy. For example, if the food is delicious, you can say ‘mamma mia!’, and if you’re surprised at Anna’s age, you can also say ‘mamma mia!’.

His voice that explained everything step by step was low and pleasant to hear. Anna nodded as she faced his blue eyes. To put it simply, it was like saying ‘my goodness’.

“I see.”

“You can also say ‘mamma mia!’ when you see a beautiful lady like Anna.”

Anna who was listening intently to the explanation paused. Luciano’s mouth that was smiling casually curled up. The sudden compliment heated her up.

Lost for a moment, Anna closed her half-open mouth a beat late.

“…But you didn’t say ‘mamma mia!’ when we first met?”

She churned her head to find something to say, refuting the smiling Luciano in a sober voice.

Unlike her calm expression, her heart was pounding. Even though she knew it was a joke, her heart bounced everywhere like popcorn whenever he called her pretty or beautiful.

“There are times where I’m so stunned that I can’t say anything.”

“Luciano is such a smooth talker.”

“In front of beauty, admiration comes naturally.”

“Stop playing around.”

“What do you mean? I’m serious.”

Anna’s mouth twitched and tilted up slightly. She raised her glass of lemon Fanta to cover up her face that revealed how much she liked it. The Fanta sparkled in her mouth.

She tried to treat Luciano calling her pretty as if they were just empty words that men say to all women, but she still couldn’t help feeling excited.

“That’s why you’re like a playboy.”

“Oh, you can’t treat people like they’re casanovas. I only see one person at a time. Of course, I didn’t know that you had such an image of men in your mind, but I’m not like that.”

He raised his eyebrows as if it was unfair.

“Because you say that so easily…”

“That’s strange.”

He tilted his head.

“Don’t you hear that often? I think it should be routine for you.”

“No.”

She would have made a fuss if it was some other man that said it, but she was embarrassed how pleased she felt when Luciano said so. It wasn’t a comparison or anything, simply because it wasn’t laden with hidden intentions.

“Mamma mia!”

“…Why?”

Anna blinked at Luciano’s exclamation and asked.

“Do Korean men not have eyes?”

Despite her embarrassment, Anna burst into laughter at Luciano’s words. Her pure eyes glistened with tears that couldn’t hide her joy.

“Then, can I take it that Anna isn’t seeing anyone at the moment?”

“How does not hearing that I’m pretty translate into not dating someone?”

“Because Anna’s lover wouldn’t be able to help whisper that into yours every day.”

It meant that she didn’t hear these words because she didn’t have a lover.

“Ah…”

She was speechless, as if someone had stuffed a ball of cotton into her mouth.

The fog that had obscured her view lifted at once.

Although dull, Anna wasn’t a fool.

It was only now that she realized the heat in Luciano’s gaze as he gazed at her.

As if he was looking at the most noble and beautiful jewels in the world. Thinking back, it seems that his blue eyes had never left her since their time together. Even when he was driving, he constantly glanced at her.

It wasn’t her illusion that his eyes sparkled. He was expressing interest in her from the beginning. His eyes that were like sapphires shone from his emotions.

Anna didn’t notice at first because this was the first time something like this happened to her, and she never thought someone as handsome as Luciano would take an interest in her. She dismissed it all as her own fantasies–the longing of a woman that wanted his attention.

Her lips opened by themselves as if it had a will of its own.

“What about Luciano?”

It wasn’t a question asked with deliberate thought, but it became important once spoken.

“If I had a lover, would I have come to Spain alone?”

Anna guessed that much, but she wanted to hear it from his mouth.

Her heart, which had been pounding, jumped hard, almost louder than the music in the store. The heart that had started to run since the moment she realized beat in her chest.

Since when?

When did he become interested in herself?

Ever since he asked to go clubbing together?

Or when they first met?

And why her?

She wanted to ask, but she was so nervous that she didn’t have the courage to. Maybe drinking tonight would give her it.

Regardless of whether it was a passing fling or rendezvous, Anna was delighted.

Of course, Luciano didn’t seem like the promiscuous type that was only seeking pleasure. Or maybe it didn’t matter if he was promiscuous. He was a charming and seductive man.

She wanted to have a good trip after cutting off her family with great difficulty. It was much more enjoyable to be in the company of Luciano. Even if this relationship ended after two weeks, Anna decided to live in the moment.

“Luciano calls me pretty, but I think it’s actually you who’s more beautiful.”

The expression of Luciano who had been smiling leisurely all this time changed. He looked surprised by her bold remark that didn’t hide her feelings. However, his eyes soon bent into a curve like he found it interesting. Luciano’s rich expressions were funny to watch.

“I prefer handsome over beautiful. Am I not handsome?”

“It’s rather similar?”

“Beautiful is different.”

“You’re not offended, are you?”

“Not at all.”

After Anna realized Luciano’s interest in her, invisible tension flowed between them. They joked around the whole lunch, but there was always slight tension.

The last thing Luciano ordered was espresso after dessert. Anna wanted to drink some coffee too. Both of them forgot to buy a cup since they were hurrying to leave Madrid this morning.

“I’d like an iced americano, please.”

“Iced americano? Is that ice and espresso or ice and americano?”

Anna felt a little embarrassed that the waiter didn’t understand her order right away.

“Is there no iced americano?”

“There is no such thing. Instead, I’ll bring you ice separately to your americano.”

“Yes, thank you.”

After the waiter left, Luciano was stunned.

“Iced americano?”

The end of his voice cracked from surprise. It was rather interesting since this was the first time he had this kind of reaction.

“Yes, why?”

“How can you drink americano with ice?”

“If you’re Korean, you’re iced americano. Even if the weather is freezing to death in the middle of winter, americano should be cold as ice.”

“You’re putting ice in already bland americano?”

He couldn’t understand at all.

“Yes. Sometimes I drink it hot, but most Koreans like iced americano.”

“Mamma mia!”

Luciano shook his head from side to side. In Italy, there wasn’t a culture of drinking americano cold, and it was a wonder to put ice in coffee. He was shocked by Korean coffee culture he had never heard of before.

A while later, the waiter brought Luciano an espresso and Anna a cup of warm coffee in a teacup and a glass full of ice.

When Anna poured her coffee into the glass of ice, Luciano couldn’t shut up. Iced Americano… It was something he had never imagined. He wasn’t trying to ignore Anna’s taste, just a bit surprised to witness this for the first time.

“It’s still delicious.”

The hot americano quickly grew cold from the ice. Anna murmured as she sipped on her coffee.

“Do Koreans really like it?”

He looked at Anna incredulously.

“Yes!”

“How could you drink like that? It’s fascinating.”

“Do you drink hot americano in the summer even when it’s hot? Is summer cool in Italy?”

Anna tilted her head and asked back while savoring her iced americano.

“I rarely drink americano. Italians like espresso. Well, if it’s cold coffee, there’s shakerato.”

“Shake-your-latte?”

Luciano’s pronunciation sounded like that to Anna.

“Caffè Shakerato. It’s made by shaking ice with espresso. We use words like ‘shake’ in English, but it’s caffè shakerato in Italian. Sugar and syrup is also added.”

“It sounds like an iced americano?”

“It’s not as bland. After shaking it several times, there’s a lot of foam on top.”

“I see. I want to try it.”

***

The chapter’s updated! Not too much in this split but no more wait after this! I’ll post Chapter 6 today as an apology (done by Athanasia).