Page 30 of Mother Parker
As before, he scooped some colorful tiny marbles into another cup, and I had a taste. Each one tasted different. The red was strawberry, yellow was mango, green was apple, and white was…I had no idea what it was, but it tasted nice.
“I can see it in your eyes. You prefer the popping pearls. All the bubble tea virgins are the same,” he said, and again, something stirred in me, the way he kept calling me a virgin.
The huff took a permanent seat at the top of my throat, and my nostrils flared. But there was also something else. Something I couldn’t quite define. A tickle around my fingertips and the pit of my stomach. Something that made me want to prove him wrong.
“It’s okay,” I told him, only to shut him up.
He giggled as if I’d said something funny and turned to the little refrigerated unit with the pearls in their individual containers.
“Now, the pearls are more commonly known as boba. So bubble tea, pearl tea, boba tea, boba, milk tea, boba milk tea are all the same.”
“Boba. Got it,” I said with a grimace. How many times could someone say boba? Or tea, for that matter.
“Now, moving on. There are two different types of bubble tea. One is milky tea where the base is milk powder and black tea and the fruity tea that has a green tea base…”
He went on showing me the menu, walking me through the differences, although I was already lost. What the hell was Assam tea, and what on earth was taro?
My head was hurting, and it wasn’t just from the overload of information thrown my way.
I seemed to be having a physical reaction to the man. I didn’t know if it was his voice, his tiny physique, or his constant smile that looked more like a smirk.
Something made me want to…to shut him up or something. Like, put my hand over his mouth and make him stop talking, stop smiling, stop…making me feel this way.
But even I knew that wasn’t sociable or appropriate, let alone sane, so I was doing none of those things. Especially not until I could figure out why he made me feel that way.
Was it how effeminate he was?
I didn’t think it was. My brother was much like Hwan, and he didn’t bother me.
Was it that he was obviously wearing lipstick?
Why would that annoy or upset me?
Was it his pink hair?
No, that was…cute, was the best way I could describe it. But I didn’t know why. It just seemed to…suit him, I guessed.
“So, what do you think? Are you ready to make your first bubble tea?” he asked, and I shook off whatever mess was going on in my head and groaned a yes. “Why don’t you pick the flavor. You can have it when it’s done.”
I looked at the powder-pink menu and felt a headache claw at my eyes.
“Um…erm…I don’t…err…I don’t know. Strawberry tea?” I said.
Hwan put his hand over mine and lowered the menu, staring into my eyes with a bright smile.
“It can be overwhelming. I get it. Don’t worry. I’m here to help you through it all.” He turned the menu to the other side, and there were a dozen pictures of drinks with a short description and a number. “Maybe a visual aid will make the decision easier.”
I looked back at him and tried to thank him or to say something—anything—but nothing came out. My throat was so dry, and my body was so hot it felt that anything I did would result in me melting right before this tiny stranger.
I glanced down at the drinks and managed to swallow and point at the orange one. Hwan approved with…surprise, surprise, a huge smile.
“Mango Funfair is the perfect drink for the bubble tea virgin. And it’s super easy to make. So you’ll need mango syrup, corn syrup, and green tea to start,” he said.
He walked to the sidebar where there were three urns labeled with whichever tea was inside and picked up a blue shaker.
“If you have a look here.” He lifted the shaker, and I could see markings for the dosages. “I’ve already marked how much you need of everything. My friend sometimes keeps an eye on the shop, so I had to make it easy for him to remember. Plus Elliot—he’s my part-timer—is still new to this whole customer service thing so this helps him, especially when it gets busier than normal.”
I took the shaker from him and looked at the first ingredient. Green tea.
