By the late evening, final preparations were still being done for Zombie Walk. It didn't look like we'd get any sleep for it, which would make us extra giddy. It was a recipe for either disaster or spectacular. Hopefully I'd get a third wind, but for now there was something amazing going on in my kitchen.

In the corner of my eye as I fast filled a line of cupcakes with green goo, Gyeong-Wan was trying to assist Hanako's wife, Chidori, with decorating cookies. He held a piping bag full of red icing unsurely, carefully making dots on the ones she'd finished filling with white icing. The red droplets were meant to be blood, so we figured it was safe for an amateur to do. Someone who might not be good at drawing or painting. So far, it was a correct guess, and the way he was so gingerly making marks was making my heart collapse on itself. 

To my left, Nikki was making green twirls of frosting on top of my cupcakes and sticking a plastic zombie keepsake toy into each one. There were six different kinds of toy, so we thought it might encourage people to want to collect them all. We were working silently, and above us the radio was serenading us with Jeanne Moreau. They knew this kind of music helped me concentrate the best, so no one was attempting to pick up my phone and change it this time. They knew who the real master was, who was in charge. 

Behind us, Hanako bent down and grabbed another tray of cookies from one of my ovens. I heard the careful sounds of him placing them individually on a cooling rack. They'd have to be completely cooled before being iced, or the icing would melt into a useless clear glaze. 

"Um." 

I turned from my work, and everyone else did, too. Gyeong-Wan went pink in the cheeks at this, probably not expecting everyone to look at once. 

"Is it- um, is it strange that I want to squirt the icing in my mouth?" He asked, staring at the opening of the tube innocently.

My brain immediately went to things not so innocent, and I turned away quickly, probably the same color as the icing in the bag. "Um no, it's not strange. I do it sometimes, when the bag is almost used up. So I don't, um...waste it."

"Oh, good. So, I'm not the only one. Can I do that when the bag is almost finished?"

"Absolutely."

He made a pleased chuckle. 

"Your mouth is going to be all red," Hanako observed, going back to placing cookies by the noises he was making. "Maybe you shouldn't wash it off. You can wear it for Zombie Walk."

"Hm?" 

I turned around again, at their conversation. Gyeong-Wan was cutely staring inside the piping tip, exploring. He was grinning at it, obviously excited about eating it. "By the way," he continued, not looking away from it. "When's Zom-"

"Oh, honey, you're going to squirt that in your eye. Here. Put more dots on these. See?" Chidori interrupted him. She placed a newly filled cookie in front of him.

"Oh yeah, I heard you're clumsy, Gyeong-Wan. The last thing we need is for you to squirt that in your eye," Nikki said in a cautious voice. "Come on, we have to go quick. We need to get this done. Then, we can get some sleep and start another batch."

"Is anyone else hungry?" 

Everyone stopped what they were doing again. Hanako was staring at us with a quizzical expression. He tilted his head, holding a cookie in his cat shaped oven mitt, one of mine. 

I humored him. "Where would you want to-"

"Chirp's." 

Nikki was already taking his apron off before the whole word was out of Hanako's mouth. His hand grabbed my arm, wrenching me from my work. 

"Oh my god, Chirp's. I haven't had it in so long. Let's go," Chidori bounced up and down, taking off her apron, too. 

"But, aren't they closed?" Gyeong-Wan asked, not moving from his spot, poised to pipe more. So loyal. At this moment, I wished I had six of him. Not these disloyal workers who wanted to abandon products in construction for chicken.

"Not for us. Come on, let's go," Nikki said, pulling me out of the door. I grabbed onto my work table, but Hanako peeled my fingertips off it one by one while pushing me, and we went through the swinging door. 

In the end, they'd allowed me to return to wrap up all of the exposed product after I pleaded that they'd go stale while we were at Chirp's. With them safely in the refrigerator, I felt a lot better. Still, we'd be wasting valuable time. However... 

Gyeong-Wan was walking with me as we brought up with rear. He keep peering down at my hand and then at my face. I knew what he wanted, and I wanted it, too. However, would it be alright to do that in front of all of them? I was only doing it, because I liked it. However, they'd assume more. He and I were friends, and maybe sometimes friends held hands... Maybe. It made the hand that Gyeong-Wan couldn't see touch its fingers to the thumb in turn. A nervous habit. What did the hand holding really mean? And why did Gyeong-Wan do it with me? I was glad that the streetlights were spaced so far apart, or he might see how red and warm I was despite the freezing weather. 

He was wearing an extra long plaid scarf. Much too long. It made me want to grab the other end and wrap it around myself, too. Walk with him like this... I needed to shake my head and let out my emotions, most likely in the form of a squeaking. Too overwhelmed.

Then, I remembered he told me he's gay and the blushing went into hyperdrive. Why was I so convinced he was straight? Because he was too good looking, or too kind, too out of my league, so was it an excuse to not-

"HEY OLD MAN! KIM-SAN! WAKE UP!" 

I stopped walking and recognized where we were. In front of us, a red façade met our eyes with big yellow letters and a cute chubby yellow and red chicken on a sign. It was definitely meant to resemble McDonald's to make you want to eat there and to suggest that it was more of a fast food place. I could already smell it, the chicken frying and the heaps of french fries that he gave away by the bag full. It was ideal drunk food, except this time we weren't drunk. However, unlike McDonald's, Kim-san had a liquor license. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Kim-san! It's me, Hanako! I have Chidori! Don't you want to see us?!" Hanako called in what was very much a normal speaking voice. For him, it was yelling.

"HEY, KIM-SAN! YOU ASSHOLE! WAKE UP!" Chidori took over for him.

The lights of his apartment above his business didn't budge from darkness. Maybe it was a lost cause, and maybe it was better anyway since there was every indication that this would lead them to getting roaring drun-

To my right, the most wonderful sounds started up. My head turned slowly, my mouth parted slightly. 

The very lovely sounds of Korean were coming out of Gyeong-Wan's mouth. Kind tones, but loud, pointed toward the apartment above. He kept going, and everyone else was silent. He pounded his fists at his sides for a bit, thinking, then cupped them around his mouth again. This second part wasn't necessary.

The window snapped open. An old, balding, fat Korean man in a white tank top was hanging out of his window. "What the-" He began, staring down at us. 

Gyeong-Wan said the only Korean word I knew. "Annyeonghaseyo," he called up to him. He was so happy about it. It made me smile, too, despite my misgivings.

"Did you bring me a Korean?" Kim-san was thoroughly confused.

"He's a gift!" Nikki gestured to Gyeong-Wan with his arms outstretched, hands out, like he was a gift virgin to a king. "Now make us chicken, goddammit!" 

Gyeong-Wan smiled cutely and waved up to him, totally into it. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. Somehow, just him being here was making me feel better about it. I wanted to go in there with him, and whatever happened, I wanted it to.

Besides, the idea of Gyeong-Wan drunk was hilarious. If he was this clumsy sober...

"Okay, okay." Kim-san closed his window and disappeared from it, the light coming on in his apartment less than a minute later.

Everyone went up in a cheer, and I couldn't help but join in with Gyeong-Wan who looked the happiest of all.

"Gyeong-Wan's got magic chicken powers," Nikki was telling us, peeling his disposable chopsticks apart by holding them at the bottom and gently pulling like it was a wishbone, a true expert. "He got Kim-san to open up."

The gorgeous smell of chicken was already wafting toward us, as was the telltale swshhh of oil with an untold amount of fries in a fryer just beyond an open wall. We were about to have a feast. 

"What did you say to him?" Chidori asked, already helping herself to complimentary bansang that seemed to always be on the table when we arrived. However, this time we'd actually physically seen Kim-san put it there for us. Sometimes we had wondered if the bansang was always on the table and we'd really been enjoying it with every other customer that day. It was so delicious that we didn't care.

"That his place looks very nice and that I'm new in town and would very much like a taste of home, so would he please provide it for me?" Gyeong-Wan sticking a spicy cucumber into his mouth with chopsticks that were broken at the top.

"Genius," Nikki said, his chopsticks popping apart cleanly. He poked them into some kimchi immediately.

I saw Kim-san emerge from behind the half wall with a large platter of chicken. I bounced in my seat, pointing behind Nikki and Hanako's heads. They whipped them around in near unison, way too excited just like the rest of us. We started pounding the table with our fists, practically tradition, chanting his title. Kim-san the chicken man. Gyeong-Wan joined in, and I burst into embarrassing high pitched giggles before I could say it more than three times. This made him laugh, too, staring at me, and I was a goner.

Kim-san generously placed the platter before us and we dove in before he could say a word.

"The fries are coming out," he announced. 

Nikki was the first to pop some chicken into his mouth, and as the rest of us followed, his notable freezing pause was matched by all of us. His eyes went wide, searching his mouth for the sudden volcano that had entered it. I spit my bite into my hand and placed it onto my plate, my tongue going out as I fanned it. 

Nikki's chicken piece clattered onto his plate. "Whoa, what spice level is this?! Milk! I need milk!"

"Hmph. Level eight. I thought you could take the spice since you have a Korean with you." Kim-san stood there with his hands on his hips like Superman. A fat Superman dressed in a now dirty white tank top and a low, black apron tied at his waist and workman's jeans. 

"Oh my god, Kim-san, we usually only get level three spicy at Coco Curry!" Nikki was coughing now, reaching for his water.

"Yash always comes in here and gets level ten."

"Well, Yash must not have a tongue!"

"Don't go to Coco Curry. Come to Chirp's. Then you can get an iron stomach like me. No spice will ever beat you again." Kim-san patted his rather impressive belly. 

I noticed movement in the corner of my eye. My head slowly turned, not fully comprehending what I was seeing. Like a vision, Gyeong-Wan had a half eaten piece of chicken in his hand, and he was happily eating it like it was nothing, adorably watching the fight. Three chicken bones were already on his plate. What in the world...

"Did you already eat three of them?" I gasped, gaping at his plate.

He nodded vigorously, not pausing from his eating. "It's very good."

"Oh my god, what," Chidori gasped, staring, too. 

"He's Korean like me. He's like my son now," Kim-san said proudly. "Would you like some more? What would you like on your fries?" He asked him uncharacteristically politely.

"Hmm." Gyeong-Wan spoke to him in Korean, and Kim-san looked enormously pleased. He turned to go, still so happy looking.

As we watched, Gyeong-Wan took a fifth piece, looking for all the world like a happy little boy on Christmas morning.

We'd received another platter of more mild chicken and we'd dove into this. The fries were an interesting mix of herbs and spices. It must have been what Gyeong-Wan had ordered, and they were absolutely delicious. In parting, Kim-san informed us that the first platter had been revenge for making him get up, but it had worked out in the end since Gyeong-Wan liked them. He now was very loyal to him, because Gyeong-Wan could take the spice. 

I wanted to come back there with him immediately. What else would he show me? The fries had been so good. I wanted to watch him eat terribly spicy chicken like he was some kind of super hero. What would the kisses be like-

I almost exploded in my blushing on our walk home. Gyeong-Wan was carrying his leftover chicken and fries in one arm and in his other hand was my hand as we took up the rear again. Our friends were much too drunk to be paying attention, having drank way too much good soju. However, I was looking forward to staying behind at French Cup with Gyeong-Wan to finish the rest of the Zombie Walk treats. I knew he had to leave at a certain hour like Cinderella, but these last couple of hours would be the sweetest. 

I squeezed his hand as we walked, and he answered back with his own squeezes. It made my lips go into my mouth, my eyes cast to the ground in my heart squeezing terribly at it.