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“Of course.” I truly was. “I was just curious.”
After a few moments of silence, she replied, “My grandmother. I spent a lot of time with her when I was younger, and she taught me to cook. Neither my dad nor mom are much for cooking, so I really wanted to learn and she taught me.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you—we,” I amended when she glared at me, “making?”
“Don’t worry, there will be vegan recipes for you. I follow this awesome vegan Korean chef, and I’ll make sure you can eat plenty.”
A warmth swelled in my chest. I hadn’t even thought about that. It meant a lot to me that Samantha had considered my diet without me having to mention it. “Thanks.”
She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
It might seem like nothing to her, but it was to me. Clearing my throat, I asked, “So food?”
“Right. Songpyeon, of course.”
A Chuseok staple. Made sense.
“Bulgogi, beef and tofu, japchae, pickled radish, gimbap, different types of jeon, namul, and kimchi. Oh, and rice, obviously. I wanted to make a stew, but I didn’t think with us eating outside that would be feasible.” She glanced at me. “Was there anything in particular you wanted?”
“No, whatever you want is good.”
“Okay, then.”
I trailed unseeing behind Sam as she shopped. I wanted to do everything that I could to make this the best Chuseok possible. I knew from my research that Koreans honored their ancestors during this holiday by going to clean their graves and offering food to them at the gravesite and at home. We couldn’t go to any of our relatives' graves, obviously, but maybe we could make a table for them.
“What do you think about having a table for our ancestors?” I asked randomly.
Sam turned and went down a different aisle. “You want ritual food for the ancestors?”
“Uh, yes.”
“We can do that. We should get some more pears and apples. Maybe a couple persimmons. There’s a certain layout for where you put the food. I can’t remember it off the top of my head, but I can call my grandma. She’ll know.”
“That would be awesome.”
“Not a problem,” she said.
I paused, catching her eye. “I really appreciate it.”
Meeting my gaze, Sam’s expression hardened. “Just don’t hurt Chris, okay?”
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
As we stood in the checkout line, I asked, “Where are we going to cook all this?” I really should’ve thought of that before I embarked on this shopping venture. My eyes flicked to the register, and I winced. Very expensive shopping venture.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Uh, that was easier said than done. I was very worried about it.
Some of that must have bled through to my expression because she said, “I’m friends with a local.”
That didn’t surprise me. It seemed that the Kim siblings were friends with everyone.
