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She was mortified.  She didn’t want him to know how attracted she was to him.  Especially since she was to be his first victim.  Er, pupil.

She sighed heavily as she headed back to her table.  Part of her couldn’t wait to be seated next to him.  She could happily gaze into those beautiful, jade eyes forever.  But the rest of her was just plain nervous now.  Which made it easy to ignore her hungry tummy.  For it was now turning somersaults.

Ae Ri chatted in her ear for the remaining time.  But even that incessant prattling couldn’t distract Ni Na from her consciousness of that gentleman’s presence on the other side of the classroom door.  Or from her eagerness to enjoy his company again. 

Jung Sook approached her a few minutes later.  “Ni Na, gather your belongings and come sit at that table in the corner.”  The teacher was indicating an isolated corner of the room at the front of the classroom. 

Ni Na felt her cheeks blooming.  She just knew that all eyes would be on her and the handsome man as they sat there.  At least, she could seat herself facing forward.  So she wouldn’t see their probing eyes.

As the teacher wandered away, Ae Ri arched one delicate eyebrow.  “Are you in trouble?”  Then she furrowed her elegant brow.  “But why?”

“I’m not in trouble.  The gentleman that visited our class this morning is here to give us private tutoring sessions.  I am his first pupil.”

Ae Ri’s face split into a wide grin.  “Lucky you!  Ooh!  I am so jealous now!”  She sighed deeply.  “Maybe he’ll fall madly in love with you and ask you to marry him,” she dreamed graciously for her best friend.

Ni Na shot her a startled glance.  “I doubt very much such a thing would ever happen, Ae Ri!  The man is probably already promised to a wealthy heiress.”

Ae Ri’s eyebrow bobbed up again.  “Like you, you mean?” she uttered dryly.

Ni Na cleared her throat.  “And she’s probably shockingly beautiful too,” she continued as though her friend hadn’t spoken.

“Also you,” Ae Ri commented sweetly.

Ni Na’s lips curved into a smile.  “That must be why you’re my best friend,” she murmured quietly.

“What?” the other girl queried as she crammed a bite of rice into her mouth.

“Because of the way in which you see me.”  Ni Na beamed at her.  “I do love you for it!”

“What are you talking about?  You are beautiful.  And Park Chan Woo agrees with me.”

Ni Na rolled her eyes as she gathered her belongings.  “You know that boy is a year younger than I.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that he’s a dream come true,” Ae Ri sighed.

Ni Na’s lips quivered in a silent laugh.  “I know you think so.  But I’m looking for someone…more mature,” she breathed as the outer door suddenly opened.

And someone more mature stepped back into the classroom.  Her eyes collided with his again.  And she felt…breathless…once more.

She stood up and headed for the far table.

“See you later,” her friend called from behind her.

But Ni Na didn’t look back.  Her eyes were trained on the table.  She could feel heat rising in her cheeks as she set her lunch bowl on the table.  She settled her bag of scrolls on the floor next to her chair.  But before she could pull that seat out, a masculine hand found its back and tugged it away from the table.

“Allow me,” spoke that soothing voice.

For just an instant, she closed her eyes and dreamt of a life in which she could awake to that lovely voice each day.  Then her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled up at him. 

“Thank you,” she breathed before setting her bottom firmly in the center of that seat. 

He sat down next to her.  And smiled at her.

But it was those glorious eyes that were drawing her in again.

“Do you have your mathematics scroll?” he queried quietly.

She nodded her head and bent to retrieve it.  As she did so, he noticed her lunch.  The lid had fallen halfway off, and he could see that her food was untouched. 

“Do you need a few more minutes to finish your lunch?” he asked. 

She glanced his way as she straightened and set her scroll on the table in front of her.  She shook her head.  Thankful that their backs formed a wall against prying eyes, she reached for the bowl and pushed it his way until it was in front of him. 

“It’s for you.  You may eat it while I work on my problems.”  She set her gaze firmly on her parchment.

Startled by her generosity, he gaped at her.  His eyebrows ascending to threaten the ceiling overhead.  “Did you skip lunch to give me yours?”

She did not respond.  As his eyes searched her face again, he found her already seemingly embroiled in solving a math problem.  He studied her for a couple of minutes.  And quirked a dark eyebrow in surprise as he watched her find the correct answer with both ease and precision.  She even carefully sketched out each proper step in finding the solution.

“Amazing work,” he muttered.

She glanced sharply up at him.  In surprise.

He grinned at her, and her heart tripped over itself again.  Flustered, she set her eyes firmly back on her parchment.  And tried hard to ignore him.  But she discovered that she could not concentrate on her problem now.  Those green eyes kept flashing at her from her mind’s eye.  After a few moments during which she simply stared down at the problem which she’d just written on her parchment, he offered her some assistance.

“This one’s quite a bit more difficult, isn’t it?”  He leaned towards her.

And any focus which she’d managed to grasp fled once more.  Her heart was racing along.  Threatening to burst from her chest to leap upon the gorgeous man seated next to her.  She drew a deep breath.  Then she ventured a glance his way.

“Aren’t you going to eat your lunch?”

His lips quirked up into a sweet grin.  “This is my lunch, is it?”

Just then, her stomach betrayed her.  Mortified, she opened her eyes wide before they flew from his to rivet themselves to her parchment.

“Did you skip eating your lunch just to give it to me?” he asked in sudden surprise.  He felt instantly and oddly moved.

What a sweet girl.

She had noticed that he had not brought a lunch.  So she had decided to give him hers.

His heart was truly touched.  He wasn’t used to people doing something kind for him.  Most people wanted whatever they could get from him.  Even his friends knew that he had limitless coffers.  So they tried to sponge off of him.  Asking him to buy the rounds of strong drink at the tavern or their plates of chicken and rice.

But this girl – who didn’t even know him – had sacrificed for him.  Given up her own lunch to feed him.  And endured a complaining stomach to do so.

He bent towards her and whispered, “It seems to me that perhaps you need it more than I.”  He pushed the bowl towards her.  “But it was most kind of you to think of me.”

She glanced up at him then as her face suddenly bloomed with brilliant color.  Her eyes collided with his, and that grumbling stomach of hers instantly flipped over.  She could now feel her pulse pounding in her ears.

His eyes caressed her crimson countenance as he felt some tenderness for her blooming in his heart.  She was clearly embarrassed. 

Embarrassed to be discovered blessing him?

He lifted the corners of his mouth in a darling smile. 

And she felt her consternation grow. 

How on earth was she supposed to concentrate in this man’s gentle presence?

She glanced down at her lunch.  “Please eat it,” she whispered.  “I know you must be hungry.  You’ve been here since late this morning, and you didn’t bring a lunch, nor did you leave the premises to find one.”

“But I know that you are also hungry,” he insisted quietly.  Thankful for the chatter of the other students.  Surely, no one was overhearing this conversation.

“Let’s share it then,” she offered boldly.  Somehow, she knew that he would not relent if she didn’t present him with a compromise.

He bobbed his head.  “All right.”

He reached out and removed the lid.  She had also set some chopsticks before him.  He picked them up and fished out a slice of carrot.  He held it up to her mouth.

Embarrassed again, she glanced sharply up at him as two roses bloomed in her cheeks once more.  He hoped to discomfit her all day long if he could be faced with such beauty.

“Come on,” he urged her.  “Take a bite.  I cannot eat one until you do, you know.”

That did it.  She received his tasty morsel.  Then watched as he shoveled a big bite of rice and veggies into his mouth.  She watched his eyes flutter shut in bliss.

“This tastes amazing!  Who is your cook?”

Her lips quirked.  “A woman who has been with me forever.”

“With you?” he queried, his glorious, jade eyes careening into her darker ones.

She had spoken those words as though she were alone in the world.

“Mmm.”  She bobbed her head, and he offered her another bite.

She took it, but his eyes still quizzed hers.

“Are you alone then?”

She glanced away.  And shrugged.  “I’m surrounded by an army of servants.”

He frowned.  Then surprise flowed over his features.  “Are you Lord Choi’s daughter?  The crown’s ambassador?”

Her eyes careened into his once more.  She lifted her chin slightly before dropping it again.  Then her gaze strayed towards his bowl.

The girl’s father was richer than the king.  Even richer than Lord Lee Beom Sook. 

How had he never realized that the man had a daughter?  Lord Choi had once been a good friend of his own father.  But Lee Beom Sook then realized that he’d been a little boy all those years ago.  This girl hadn’t yet existed.

“Your father used to be a friend of my appa.”  He spoke the words softly.

She glanced up in surprise at him.  “He did?”

He nodded.  “Many years ago.”  A smile teased his lips.  “Before you were born.”

“Ah.”  That would explain it.  Her father was seldom around these days.  “I can understand how they grew apart.  Appa is rarely in town.”

His brow crumpled.  “No, it wasn’t that.  My father died…a long time ago.”

She peered up at him sympathetically.  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. 

“It’s all right.  Like I said…it was a long time ago.  I’m used to it now.”

“How old were you?”

“Eleven.”

“Really?” she breathed.  In shock.

“What?”  He wrinkled his brow at the odd note in her voice.

“That’s how old I was when Eomma died.”  There was still sorrow in her tone.  Even after all this time.

“Now it’s my turn to be sorry.  That wasn’t so long ago for you.”

“Six years.” 

She glanced down at her parchment.  She picked up her quill pen and began to sketch a flower.  Five large, voluminous petals and several long stamens.

He watched as her fingers deftly constructed the pretty bloom.  “What’s that?”

“It should be brightly pink,” she whispered, “but I don’t have any paints here.”  Her voice once again sounded mournful.  “It’s an azalea.  They were my mother’s favorite flower.”

“They’re beautiful,” he murmured quietly.  “You’re really good at sketching them.”  His eyes studied her face as she continued to draw.  “Do you like to paint?”

She shrugged.  “I spend a lot of time alone.  I have to find some way to pass the time.  Appa has an extensive library.  So I read a lot.  But I also sketch and paint.”  She grinned suddenly.  “Actually, my favorite thing to do is to use my hands.  I love making pottery.”

“Pottery?” he exclaimed softly, quite surprised.

She bobbed her head as she glanced his way.  “I love the feel of the clay beneath my fingers.  And the finished project is always so…satisfying.”

“Do you have a pottery wheel?” he queried, suddenly quite interested in this intriguing young lady.  She was more than just a pretty face.

She nodded.  “Appa got me one.”

“Really?”

She chuckled.  “He has always indulged my whims.  Especially since Eomma died.” 

She began to sketch a tree.  With cherry blossoms on it.

“You’re really quite good,” he complimented her.

She looked up at him in surprise.  Then she smiled as a tiny puff of delighted air escaped her.  “And you are really quite kind.”

In that moment, she began to truly desire that he would take a liking to her.  She had few friends.  And none of them were men.  Beyond the servants at her home.

She admired her father and had a good relationship with him.  But she seldom saw him.  He traveled far and wide on diplomatic missions.  Sometimes, staying in other villages for several months at a time.  He was rarely home for long.

Lee Beom Sook stared into her face.  His eyes widened as hers captured them.  No one had ever spoken such sentiments to him.  He felt something warm bathe his heart like a wave of the ocean on a hot summer’s day.  He smiled at her.

“I love your sketches, but I’m a little concerned that we’re going to be reprimanded by your teacher for avoiding mathematics.”

She nodded and returned to her work.  But she felt oddly calmer in his presence now.  And she was able to concentrate once again. 

He watched her in amazement as she easily worked through the other problems. 

“I think, my dear, that you do not require a tutor at all.”

Startled, she lifted her eyes to meet his for a second before looking back down at her parchment.  Had he just called her “my dear”?

He continued speaking, “And I feel certain that your teacher knew this.  So why did she pair me with you?”

She smiled faintly and glanced his way again.  The warmth of his term of endearment still flooding her being with delight.  “Did she suggest that you work with me?”

“Uh.  No,” he cleared his throat.  “I chose you.”

Her eyes widened as shock cascaded through her.

He had chosen to work with her himself? 

“Why?”  The question escaped her lips before she could reclaim it.

“Because you were the only girl not staring at me,” he mumbled easily.

She smiled at him.  “I understand.”

“You do?”

She nodded.  “I hate being the center of attention myself.”  The corners of her lips flipped upwards into a sweet smile.  “I’m glad you could find some comfort in my presence.”

Their eyes locked for several seconds.  Then he glanced down at their lunch.  Still sitting on the table in front of him.  He picked up the chopsticks again and took a bite.

“In more ways than one,” he murmured as he enjoyed her delicious lunch.

And that beautiful warmth was shimmering through her being again. 

“Would you…would you care to join me for dinner sometime?  You could try my cook’s food when it’s actually hot,” she grinned.

He stared at her in astonishment.  Had she just invited him to her house?

“Uh…”

“I’m sorry.  Do you think me terribly forward?”  Her eyes fell to embrace the top of the table as heat once again scalded her cheeks.  “I’m just not usually this comfortable in the presence of others.  But I don’t feel that way with you.” 

She would have loved to pursue a friendship with him.  Though now that she’d spoken, she could see how it wasn’t quite appropriate.  She didn’t even have a proper chaperone living with her.  Just the servants.

“No,” he shook his head.  “You just surprised me.  I…I don’t spend much time with young ladies,” he answered truthfully.

“And I don’t spend any time with men.  I…I don’t have a chaperone, so I suppose that I shouldn’t have asked you.”

“Would you mind if I brought my mother with me?” he queried after an awkward moment.

“Your mother?”

He bobbed his head.  “Yes.  She lives with me.  And she could act as our chaperone.”

She smiled at him.  “I would love to meet your mother.  Especially if she’s anything like you.”

Again, that odd warmth cascaded through his being at her kind words.  “She is wonderful.  And I think that she would delight in you.”

Surprised, she stared at him while her face went blank.  “You do?  Why?”

“She has an appreciation for intelligent ladies,” he explained.

A pleased flush flooded her cheeks.  “You think I’m intelligent.”

“No,” he shook his head.

She furrowed her brow as she frowned up at him.

“I think you are brilliant.  I have seen few ladies with your grasp of mathematics.  And your gift for sketching.”  He paused for a moment as an enchanting smile lit up her face.  “Would tomorrow night work for dinner?”

She nodded her head.

“What time?”

“Seven o’clock?”

“Perfect.”

She proceeded to give him her address.  “I look forward to meeting your mother,” she remarked graciously.

“As I am sure she will delight in meeting you,” he murmured.

Then he wondered what on earth he had just done.  His mother was certain to think that he was serious about this girl if they were joining her at her home for dinner.  It was a good thing that his mother was calm and understanding.  And not at all manipulative.