Hobi stared at Hannah in wonder. There was so much more to her than he had ever guessed. So much was hidden in that sweet heart of hers. Such deep thoughts. Such passion for life and truth and freedom. For beauty.
He was staring at her own beauty. The beauty that clothed in loveliness the person he could see unveiled before him: the long, chocolate locks of her head, her strikingly dark eyes, her pretty nose, her kissable, pink lips. Why did his mind always go there? He directed it back to the path of his former thoughts. But now he could also see magnified the beauty that was bubbling forth from within her like a never-ending fountain of life. He wanted to reach out and touch it.
Without realizing it, he was. Hannah watched, mesmerized, as Hobi’s hand slid through the air approaching her cheek. She went absolutely still. There was an odd look in his eyes. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it meant. But it was stealing her breath away, nonetheless. Then his fingertips brushed her cheek gently, sending an arsenal of fiery arrows exploding into her face and racing along her bloodstream to quicken her heart rate and warm her entire body.
Hobi couldn’t get enough of her. He’d been in love with this sweet girl for weeks. He just hadn’t known how to approach her. He was usually easygoing and steady, but something about her tied him into knots, and he had become self-conscious around her. But in this moment, she was finally overcoming that. He was conscious only of her, of her great, dark eyes and her pretty, pink lips. He broke their eye contact to focus on that kissable mouth. Should he dare?
The truth was that he had been dreaming of kissing her for weeks. It seemed the most natural thing to do right now. He knew in his heart that he surely loved her. He knew her deep down despite never speaking with her much before today. He’d shadowed her at school as much as possible, just wanting to be near her. He’d listened to countless conversations she’d had with friends at school. He’d seen how she treated them all. She was truly a kind person. He’d witnessed her friends waiting to get her alone, to share with her confidences they would trust to no one else. He’d seen the compassionate way she took care of other people.
One day a friend of hers had missed an entire week of college due to some strange illness. Hannah had left school as soon as class was out, stopping to pick up snacks and movies to cheer her sick friend. Hannah had set aside the entire remainder of that day to minister love to a cherished companion. She was faithfully one-of-a-kind, a precious spirit without price. And it was that loving heart that was drawing him into her orbit right now.
He drew ever nearer to that appealing mouth, his eyes firmly on her pleasing lips. What would they taste like? Sweet. Like Sprite, maybe! Then he grinned at his own silliness.
Hannah gasped when she saw him display all his beautiful, straight teeth before her, his lips framing them with a pink heart. She was inwardly sighing. They were standing so near to each other, both unmoving. She’d never been this close to any guy save her father and her brother. But this man was certainly not her appa nor was he her little brother. Though he could be her oppa. Oh, how she wanted him to be!
Hobi’s head lowered a bit. Then he paused, considering the consequences of crossing a line he could never again uncross. And then he broke past every barrier, thinking that the best response to her passionate speech of a few moments before was to demonstrate how much she had moved his heart. He drew nearer to her, his fingers still resting softly against her cheek. She was staring up at him in a fascinating kind of wonder. He closed the distance between them to seal her mouth with his own, the heart of his lips communicating his devotion to her.