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“It’s the same poor photoshop skills,” Jason conceded. He pretended to peer closely at the screen, taking the computer tablet from Mitchell and holding absurdly close to his face until the glass touched his nose. He squinted, adding, “Oh, yeah. That’s definitely been doctored by the same guy!”

Mitchell laughed as Jason gently placed the tablet back on the table.

Jason loved Mitchell like a brother, ever since they’d met during their first year at college, but his gullibility for the outlandishly absurd was astonishing to Jason’s rational mind.

Mitchell said, “Look at the facts: twenty years ago, a UFO crashes and a young girl survives. Today, you meet a roughly twenty year old woman from the same province. What are the odds that they are one and the same person?”

Jason thought about it for a second and said, “Zero. One’s fictitious, the other’s real. There’s no chance they’re one and the same person.”

“Come on,” Mitchell pleaded. “Think about it. All life on Earth follows circadian rhythms, with a day/night wake/rest cycle, but by your own admission little old Lily sat up all night. How do you explain that?”

“Two words,” Jason said, watching as Helena and Lily walked over to join them. “Jet lag.”

Lily smiled. She slid around into the booth and sat next to him. For someone who had dropped into his world barely a day ago, having her beside him felt both comforting and refreshing. Jason couldn’t express why, but it felt natural to be with her, as though they belonged together. He wasn’t one for the old cliché of love at first sight, but Lily was different from any other girl he’d ever met. She seemed almost disinterested in a physical relationship, and he found that strangely appealing. Perhaps it was the lack of expectation that disarmed him, the absence of any pressure was welcome. Rather than trying to make something happen between them, it felt like it had already happened years ago.

Was this déjà vu, he wondered? Jason wasn’t one to buy into superstitions. He preferred to think of the two of them as somehow complimentary at a hormonal level. Yes, he thought, compatible chemistry, that was a better explanation.

“Are you guys ready to order?” a waitress asked, standing there with her plastic stylus poised above a digital tablet ready to take their order.

“Blueberry pancakes,” Jason said.

“I’ll have the deluxe omelet,” Helena said.

“Trucker’s breakfast,” Mitchell said.

Lily looked overwhelmed by the choices on the menu. Each meal had a glossy, color image associated with it, and Jason could see her eyes darting around the menu without settling on anything.

“What do you normally have for breakfast in Korea?” he asked.

“Rice.”

“And lunch?” Mitchell asked.

“Rice.”

“And dinner?” Helena asked.

“Fish … With rice.”

“Whatever you do,” Helena said, addressing the waitress, “do not give this girl any rice.”

Lily laughed.

Helena turned to her, saying, “You can have anything on here you want.”

That didn’t help, Jason noted.

Finally, Lily said, “I’ll have what he’s having,” pointing at Jason.

The waitress wandered off.

Mitchell leaned across the table, addressing Lily as he said, “So, what do you remember from your childhood? Say, when you were about three or four?”

Jason kicked him beneath the table.

Lily looked confused.

“Don’t worry about him,” Helena said. “Mitch was born with his foot in his mouth. That’s what I love about him.”

Lily blushed, and Jason wondered what was running through her mind. Here she was, thousands of miles from home, in a strange culture, surrounded by three Americans she didn’t know, unable to find her father. The poor girl must have been terrified, but she kept a brave face.

“You are all very kind,” she said. “I am lucky to have found you.”

Helena spoke in a serious tone, saying, “You need to be careful, Lily. New York is a dangerous place for a girl on her own.”

“Yeah,” Mitchell added, kicking Jason’s feet. “You never know what weirdos you’ll meet.”

Jason smiled, shaking his head as Mitchell laughed.

Lily picked up on their banter and rested her hand on Jason’s knee, saying, “Jason is a gentleman. I feel safe with him.”

Jason turned his head slightly to one side and grinned at Mitchell. Mitch would know precisely the retort Jason wanted to utter to him at that point, something along the lines of, ‘Take that, Bitch!’ Mitchell smiled knowingly.

Lily pointed at the computer tablet lying on the table and asked, “What’s in the news?”

“The news?” Mitchell replied, sounding innocent. “Oh, funny you should ask.”

“Mitch, Honey,” Helena said, resting her hand on his forearm.

Jason jumped in with, “Mitch thinks New York is about to be invaded by aliens.”

“Really?” Lily asked, and Jason saw some of the naiveté he’d noted the night before. She seemed intelligent, but was easily led.

The waitress arrived carrying all four plates. She set them down and left.

“The odds are against it,” Jason said, pouring maple syrup over his pancakes. Lily copied him.