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The Way to a Girls Heart is through Plain Pasta and Kimbap
When Mira met Rumi for the first time, she had no idea what to say to her.
In fact, she lost her ability to speak completely.
She had met her gaze from across the restaurant bar she had been dragged to by her childhood friend, Zoey. Mira choked on her old fashioned and started hacking to get the alcohol out of her lungs. Mira felt a small firm hand hitting the middle of her back in an effort to help her breathe.
“Mir! Mir, breathe! Don’t die on me here, lovergirl!”
The damn nickname seemed to help her catch the sweet air her lungs needed. She let out a small final cough, her body regaining composure. Or at least she tried to, as she felt her soul leave her body as the girl she had been staring at had seen her embarrassment first hand. Mira placed her hands in her face and let out an audible groan. A small nudge from Zoey next to her made her groan again.
“Aww, what’s wrong Mira? Did your makeup run from choking on your drink too hard?”
The shorter half American girl raised an eyebrow when she saw that Mira shook her head slightly.
“No? Then what’s got you so flustered?”
Mira lowered her hands before looking over at the girl she was staring at earlier. Thankfully, it seemed she had moved on from Mira’s mortifying coughing fit and had gone back to enjoying the cocktail in front of her.
Zoey followed her gaze before her eyes widened and let out a small whistle of appreciation.
“Oh ho! I see! Saw a hot lady and your brain stopped working huh?” she stated mischievously, making Mira narrow her eyes in annoyance.
Zoey smiled brightly before taking Mira’s shoulders in her hands and shaking her emphatically, “Mira! You have to talk to her! Even my aromantic beta ass can see how hot you two would be together!”
The shaking rattled Mira’s brain enough to regain voice. She scoffed and pushed Zoey’s arms off before turning back to what was left of her drink.
“I don’t know Zo, she looks so pretty! I’m almost positive she would have a partner already. She’s been turning down everything that has been sent to her all night”.
The two girls watched as the bartender brought another drink over to the purple-haired woman who shook her head with a small smile, continuing to drink her 0% beer instead.
“Maybe she has food allergies.” Zoey remarked before shrugging her shoulders. “Hey, you won’t know until you try!”
Mira let out a sigh before grabbing the bar menu standing in the middle of their table.
'Okay, Mira, think. She’s denied all alcoholic beverages, so she must not like alcohol, or at least not from a stranger. She’s refused most of the menu at this point. What if Zoey’s right and she has a lot of food allergies? Okay, think. What is the least offensive and safest thing on this menu?'
She felt sweat start to form on her brow, causing her to ruffle her bangs away from her forehead.
Finally deciding on an item, she called over the server. “Excuse me, can I order this for the woman over there? Except can you …”
Mira tugged at her black choker and gulped slightly as she saw her order leave the kitchen and make its way to the woman at the bar. She had never been more nervous in her life, even compared to her first solo ballet performance at 16.
She takes another small sip of her drink, feeling Zoey’s gaze borrowing into the side of her head.
“I still can’t believe what you sent her. You are either the dumbest or craziest alpha I’ve ever known.” Zoey remarks as she perks up in excitement. “Oh oh! Her food is coming! Let’s see how she likes it!”
The two women, one amused and the other on the verge of breaking into a cold sweat; watched as the server walked over to the woman who raises her head to refuse, almost out of reflex; but stops herself at the last second. She gives the server a confused look.
The plate was placed in front of her revealing a dish of Miras’s affections - pasta.
A bowl of warm, plain, dry pasta.
No seasoning.
No sauce.
The woman stared at the plate in disbelief before looking over to meet Mira’s eyes.
Mira, her alpha instincts kicking in to save her, raised her glass in response and gave what she hoped was a suave grin to accompany the bizarre offering of food.
The purple-haired woman’s stunned look shifted, giving way to a stunning smile and a small laugh that she covered with her hand. Mira’s face gave a large grin in response before taking a pleasant sip of her old fashioned.
“Somehow, you managed to find the one omega in the world that is as crazy as you are! At least remember to invite me to the wedding.”
Mira did not dignify Zoey’s remark with a response, instead downing the rest of her drink and leaving her friend behind with a small wave.
As she started her walk towards the stunning woman with the long braided hair, all she could think was she’s never felt luckier than she did at that moment.
One year later…
Mira and Rumi were inseparable after their first meeting at the bar. Rumi would tell Mira (her face covered from blushing) and Zoey (who was dying of laughter) that she had to give Mira’s gift of pasta a chance because she had to figure out what the heck was wrong with this alpha!
They had gone on movie dates, shopping dates, dinner dates. Dates where they walked in the park, and dates where they would stay-in at Mira’s place with takeout and a Netflix. After a few months, Rumi moved into Mira’s apartment, her job as a movie producer was closer to Mira’s place than her old one. Rumi adopted Mira’s cat Derpy straight away, cuddling and spoiling the feline at every opportunity.
The months of bliss went by quickly, Rumi’s first heat in their newly shared apartment finally led them to having sex for the first time, though Rumi assured Mira that she was a gentlewoman throughout the process. They hadn’t done a full mate mark yet, too early in the relationship for both of them, but if they continued this way, it wouldn’t be too long down the line. So Rumi and Mira (affectionately called ‘Rumira’ by Zoey) grew deeper in love and affection everyday.
Cuddling up on their very comfy couch, Derpy purring in Rumi’s lap as they watched a silly romcom. Rumi seemed to be enjoying it, but Mira’s head was filled with brainstorming date ideas. The one year anniversary of their first meeting was fast approaching and Mira was completely blanking on how to make it special.
A small buzzing noise on the coffee table broke her train of thought as Rumi reached over to her phone and looked at the caller. “Oh, it’s Jinu! Mind if I take this Mira?”
Mira was a bit annoyed that Rumi’s gay childhood best friend was calling them this late at night, but with that face looking up at her, she could never say no. Mira gave her girlfriend a nod and a smile which was rewarded with a deep kiss; before she bounced away to the next room to answer the call, with Derpy following closely behind.
Mira went back to panicking about the upcoming anniversary, each idea getting crazier than the last; that is, until she realized she could overhear bits of Rumi’s conversation.
Mira’s ears perked up at the words “-better have a ton of kimbap, I swear!”
Was she talking about their anniversary? She knew Rumi LOVES kimbap, she’d seen firsthand how her girlfriend of two months deepthroated a whole roll like some kind of sexy python. The image still causes blood to rush to Mira’s cheeks (and other places).
Her ears caught another couple of words, “sexy surprise is a must!”
Mira’s face flushed in a deep red at the connotation. Did Rumi want a surprise in the bedroom? She knew that this was both their first sexual relationship, so she wasn’t opposed to it.
The sound of Rumi ending the call and walking back into the room broke her contemplation.
“Sorry jagi. Jinu wanted to chat about something important.”
‘Of course it’s important! It’s just our first anniversary as a couple!’ Mira screamed internally, while her body worked on instinct to bring her girlfriend back onto her lap. “It’s alright love, let’s continue the movie.”
Rumi gave her a peck on the lips before unpausing the video. Mira however was in full panic mode. How the heck was she supposed to have an amazing dinner of kimbap and a ‘sexy surprise’ in such short notice?
A buzzing in her pocket broke her spiral and made Mira check her phone. The background of Rumi and Mira taken candidly at the beach was blocked by a text notification from Zoey lamenting about how boring her shift at work was. Mira’s lips quirked into a smile at the ridiculous names her friend was calling her boss before a lightbulb went off in her head.
Mira quickly typed a response.
NapalmEra : hey Zo, mind if I bounce some ideas off of you?
TurtleAwesome : ofc! Duh! I’m yr bestie!
Mira quickly listed the requests she had overheard Rumi mention during her call, and how she was struggling to come up with ideas that will satisfy it.
TurtleAwesome: O.M.G! I have a totally awesome amazing idea that I always wanted to try! I’ll text you the deets! XP
Mira rolled her eyes before another buzz notified her to a link. She scrolled through the article for a few seconds before quickly closing the page.
NapalmEra: ZOEY! WTF!
TurtleAwesome: What? I’m down if ur down!
Mira blushed furiously before thinking hard about what Zoey was suggesting. It was a traditional Japanese thing with sushi, but it technically would meet both of Rumi’s requests…
After a few moments of thinking it over, Mira texted a reply before changing her mind.
NapalmEra: Okay, fine. Lets meet up tmrw to set it up
TurtleAwesome: U got it boss! ;P
Mira rolled her eyes before turning her phone off. She didn’t want any of this to distract her from movie night. Especially what Zoey suggested.
She really hoped Rumi would be okay with it.
“Okay, run this by me one more time?” Rumi asked, standing in front of Zoey’s apartment.
Mira’s face flushed before clearing her throat. They had both decided to wear the same outfits they had on when they first met - Mira in a dress shirt, pants and her lucky black choker; and Rumi with a purple strapless shirt and dress pants.
“I need you to wear this blindfold to enter Zoey’s place. We planned a surprise that I hope you’ll like.”
Rumi’s brows furrowed before nodding, “Okay Mir. I trust you. You two didn’t have to plan something!”
Mira gave her a smile and a peck on the lips, “Of course I did. Zoey volunteered since I needed some help.”
Mira cleared her throat again as Rumi prepared to put on the blindfold, the two locking eyes for a moment.
“Remember, if you feel uncomfortable or weirded out, we can stop, okay?”
Rumi gave her a confused smile before nodding, “Of course Mira, thank you.”
Rumi covered her eyes with the blindfold and held out a hand for Mira to guide into the apartment.
Mira walked them both into Zoey’s place, leading them through the hallway and into the kitchen. Mira took a deep breath before holding both of Rumi’s hands in front of her.
“Hey, you know I love you, right? If you have any doubts, please let me know okay?”
Rumi nods to her solemn statement with a small confused smile, “O..kay? Can I take the blindfold off now?”
Mira takes another steadying breath before reaching around to undo the blindfold.
Rumi opens her eyes to the sight of her surprise.
Rumi blinks once.
Twice.
Three times.
Mira shuffles back and forth for a moment before meekly asking, “ Ru? You okay?”
No sooner did the words leave her lips did Rumi burst out laughing.
Mira stood there confused as Rumi struggled to breathe through her laughter.
“Mira, what on earth made you think I wanted this for our one year anniversary?”
There, on the dining table, dressed in a turtle-themed bikini, covered in banana leaves and kimbap - a Korean version of nyotaimori or body sushi was Zoey. Munching on a full roll she tried to keep the quite large amount of rolls stable on her mostly naked body.
Mira, still reeling from the bout of laughter, blinked before stammering out, “but…you mentioned kimbap the other day, you love kimbap right? And …and you mentioned wanting a ‘sexy surprise’ so I thought - ”
“Wait! Hold up! Are you talking about my call with Jinu the other night?” Rumi interrupted before letting out a laugh again.
“Mira, I was offering Jinu dating advice for his boyfriend! Not about us!”
Mira blinked several times before groaning and placing her head in her hands. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry Rumi! We can just go…”
“No, let’s stay.” Rumi interrupted again, moving past Mira and looking down at the kimbap spread displayed on Zoey’s body.
“Oh my, quite a selection here! You shouldn’t have Mira!” She picks up one of the rolls before looking back at Mira with a devious smirk, “we shouldn’t waste such a delicious meal”, and proceeds to eat the roll in one bite, ending with a saucy lick of her lips. “Well, care to join me, lovergirl?”
Mira, stunned and blushing, saw Zoey meet her gaze and give her a double thumbs up, mouth full of kimbap, before taking a deep breath.
She smiles back at her girlfriend of one year, “Of course, love. It’s all for you after all.”
Rumi chuckles before taking another roll off Zoey, making sure to make an audible moan when she bit into it.
“Much better than plain pasta!”
God she loved this woman.