LADY Lee hugged her goodbye and she bowed to Mr. Lee while Sungmin stayed behind. Jans felt a little shy that they were staying behind at the hotel at the pretense that they would go to a musical bar later on for their first real date. The older couple seemed pleased that the two of them seemed to be getting along fine. Only Sungyin was looking at them knowingly. There was something about that boy that reminded him of the mix of the good and bad Sungmin.
Sungmin walked with her to the musical bar that they went to earlier. They sat on a corner table to make sure that not a lot of people can see or hear them. The jazz singer was singing an old love song and there weren't a lot of people there so she was just pretty much performing for her own pleasure. Her voice was smooth and her song pierced the nervous energy between the two of them.
“I guess this is like a blind date that we can't escape from.” she felt a little bit hurt that he used that metaphor in describing how it felt to be with her. She would've been crush had she not prepared herself to take underhanded insults. She would make the cute Sungmin come out. Even if it killed him to do that.
“I am a lot more fun than you think. This is just not the usual me.” she pointed at the dress and gestured with her finger to indicate that the bar was not her thing.
“Then what is your thing?” he asked.
“If you are not busy tomorrow morning, I can tell you what is my technology.” she meant her talent.
“Sure, I am on vacation, remember?” he smirked at her. There it is. I knew that sly hot smile was hiding there somewhere.
“Okay. I'll pick you up here so that we don't run into any fans of yours.” he looked a little uneasy when she mentioned fans. She remembered that there was a rumor that there was a renegade fan that the SuJu was protecting Sungmin from. He was a little bit too nice to them at times that he usually ends up getting touched, harassed or cornered by fans. She realized that his present attitude might be a result of how his friends and hyungs helped him learn how to appear more manly.
“Sure. It wouldn't be the first time a girl had to pick me up.” he flashed her his famous Beautiful Sungmin smile. Jans pinched his check without thinking twice. “Whatda-!” he caught her arm and blushed.
“Let go of my hand,” she demanded.
“Legoomahfeys.” he said. She was still pinching his check so he couldn't speak clearly.
Jans snorted then let go of his face. She laughed out loud and had to press on her stomach because it was hurting from the laughter she still had to suppress. Or was it the group of butterflies in her stomach that she was calming down? She wiped a tear that formed because of her mirthy laughter.
THIS time it wasn't a poke in the chest. Her sudden laugh was like a punch in the gut. What the hell is this woman, some kind of chi demon? He pressed his stomach and he felt nauseated for a second. But he didn't feel like vomiting really. Just really really really uneasy. Noone's laugh ever made him feel like what he was feeling now. Hungry, dizzy, and thirsty then fine again, in less than five seconds. He had to sit back and try to check if it would subside. The surprise that the sound gave him left an aftertaste that one has when he's finished a long set of dances and he's the first one to grab a bottle of ice-cold water. He gestured for the waiter to come over and ordered exactly that. He's not supposed to drink too many cold drinks but the moment called for it.
The waiter turned to the still giggling Jans. “And how about you ma'am?”
“Oolong tea, please. Less ice, please.” she managed to order between closing her mouth and snorting.
When the waiter left she calmed down and was just trying her best not to smile at him. Every unguarded smile was like an acupuncture needle being pressed into his body. He felt like she was getting under his skin and he didn't like it. He never felt bothered by any civilian as he and the other SuJu members called regular people. He dated people who could understand his work, but all of them found him too sweet or friendly. The others were even worse, they bored him. He tried to go after even more difficult prey but after they give in, he suddenly gets bored. He was beginning to think that his hyungs were rubbing off on him when it came to handling women.
Then my father had to throw this curveball at me. He didn't even want to dwell on the idea of her curves, which were elegantly wrapped and subdued by the dress. It was like it was being emphasized without making it obscene. If she was my girl, she wouldn't be allowed such short dresses. But he knew better, his mother chose that dress. It was something that was fashion-forward in Korea but not that common in this country. The stores were packing them for the many Korean pop culture fans and he heard they had forever 21 here as well. But he didn't like that dress on her because it bothered him how good she looked in it. He shifted the leg that he was crossing and tried to be more casual towards her.
“So, how exactly, do you plan to make me fall in love with you?” he had to ask. That wiped the smile off her face then something dark passed in her face and her eyes became sinister then shy again.
“You will just have to wait for tomorrow.” she managed to smile at him. But he was still worried about that sinister glint in her eyes.
This woman is more dangerous than I previously anticipated. On so many levels. He rubbed his tie and pretended that he was stroking it. The truth was, he was trying to calm his heart down. It was going to beat out of place. And he didn't like it one bit.
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