There was a subsonic rumbling that was felt, but not really noticed. Every time the door to the kitchen opened to let a server in or out, there was something left in the air. There was a psychic as well as a sonic fingerprint left in the air. There was more to the sound than the normal restaurant sounds of crashing pans, cnking ptes, and jangling of silver wear.

  There was also extra sound, in the form of a song, unduting through the doorway. You could tell this was a normal thing as the sound inside the dining room would crest and fall with the opening of that kitchen door.

  As the girls would pay more and more attention to what everyone else had already discovered, they heard:

  A little closer under a small umbrel

  Even if my shoulder gets wet, I’m fine

  I guess I love you, I’m in love

  I hope this pleasant feeling never changes

  I guess I love you, I keep missing you

  I want to have my morning coffee with you every day

  Someone who’ll always come to me when I’m weary

  Someone who understands me without much words needed

  Even if I get angry and sulky sometimes

  Hug me gently like an old friend

  No one was immune from these lyrics from this song, "Je T'aime". Everyone from 8 to 80 years old sighed in happy wistfulness. No one knew who was being sung about, but everyone wanted it to be themselves.

  One by one, Seulgi and crew noticed that cat-who-got-the-cream smirk that JooHyun was sporting. In the same order that she was noticed, she was equally gred at. JooHyun’s giggles were inevitable. When they came, they were made known to everyone. Once again, she got loud. Very loud. Disturbing the other guest loud. Would normally get the manager called on you loud. Cops or mental hospitals would not be an unusual idea either.

  But, when people saw who was ughing, the anger on their faces melted. This is the power of beauty the other three thought. Seulgi, Wendy, and Katie were all phenomenal beauties by themselves, but JooHyun was world-css. They could probably get away with any little practical joke, like murder, with just a smile.

  Some people started joining in the ughter without quite knowing why, but no one really cared. Eventually, everyone was ughing with her and were unwittingly joining in ughing at the dumbfounded trio. A few knew but didn’t care. They ughed anyway.

  JooHyun was ughing so hard that she broke down into incoherent sobs. Which, in turn, made everyone break down and ugh harder. Again. It seemed like a theme to the girls that whenever JooHyun cracked up, everyone would follow. Even the subject of said ughter could not help but join in.

  At this time, a golden honey voice pealed out with ughter of its own. Like a cxon, it was heard all through the restaurant. Anyone who heard it – which was everyone – paused to enjoy the sensation. Even JooHyun paused mid-mirth to listen to this new person. Even unseen, this voice alone had a presence. It would be very easily believed that three thousand years ago, she would have been mistaken for a siren. If Odysseus had her with him, there would not have even been any competition. If it had been a thousand years ago, it would not have been inconceivable that wars would have been fought to have her sing in the ruler’s courts.

  It was intrinsically known that the owner of this voice was going to be warm, friendly, and welcomed wherever she went. There was a smile in this voice that was as warm as it was going to be beautiful. Even without seeing her, you could tell that when this person smiled, she would smile with her whole body, not just a mechanical, near rictus movement of facial muscles. She would be the definition of the difference between a real and professional smile. She would be real and hearts would melt every time she did.

  The truly amusing thing was that she knew the effect that she had on people with her own smile, and she, herself, was not immune to her own charms.

  People would catch her looking at herself in a mirror and wrongly think that she was narcissistic. While not entirely wrong, she was usually giving herself a boost. Even goddesses have bad days.

  JooHyun managed to stop ughing at this point, but her smile managed to get even brighter. She knew what was coming and was anticipating the reaction of her new friends. To their consternation, JooHyun brought out three napkins and pced them in front of them. Then she smiled that beautiful yet mischievous smile.

  “You’ll understand in a moment,” was all she would say.

  JooHyun pointed to the rest of the restaurant and the others looked around. There was an anticipation brewing of the arrival of the owner of that voice. There were people surreptitiously readying cameras. There were a few covert microphones as well. That’s when JooHyun pointed at a sign that said ‘No recording of staff.’ The sign had the universal symbols of a bck camera and a microphone both with a red circle and line through it.

  The girls thought that they took this very seriously as there was a police officer sitting under the sign, however, that’s when they noticed that the cop had a menu as well.

  And one very brazen person with the microphone out in the open. The manager swooped in, grabbed the recording device and put it on the counter next to the register, and told him that he could have it back when he was finished with his dinner. Another round of ughter made its rounds around the restaurant. There was more than a little sympathetic schadenfreude in this ughter. After all, this happens at least once a week. Frequently from the same person or persons. It’s not that they don’t learn, but as the saying goes: Hope springs eternal.

  From the kitchen, they heard a strong male voice exasperatedly yell “ORDER UP!” and a very feminine reply with a “Yeeeees!” The cook knew what was about to happen as well. More than once, he had to be called from his work to chase off amorous suitors who were so enamored that they forgot what “No” meant.

  Everyone readied themselves for the appearance of this person.