Blog

Chapter 7: An Eomma’s Tender Touch – December 31, 2020

Jimin and Jumi picked Miss Choi up and headed for the party.  Her eyes widened in shock when they pulled up in front of the same mansion she’d visited earlier today.  And a thousand memories were rushing down the hallways of her mind.  Things she would rather leave behind.

“Jumi, is the party here?”

She nodded.  “Yes.”

“Did you realize this is where Jungju lives?”

“What?” Jumi turned to look at her.  “Jungju lives here?”  She glanced at Jimin.  

“That’s the name of Tae’s nephew.”

“Huh.  What a coincidence.”

Miss Choi had a sinking feeling that Uncle Naru was going to be here tonight.  Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be safe at home, under her covers.  With a good book.

Books gave her all the adventure she would ever need for the rest of her life.  She’d had enough real adventure to last ten lifetimes.  Adventure was painful.  Adventure had deep fangs and sharp claws that had ripped her heart right out of her chest.  She was done with adventure.

How could she get out of this party now?  Perhaps she’d just go inside for a few minutes.  Then she would wander down to the nearest bus stop and head for home.  She could always text Jumi after the fact.

—

Half an hour later, everyone was distracted by plates of food and countless discussions.  Miss Choi made her way to the front door.  She opened it a crack.

“Miss Choi?” came a tiny voice from the large staircase behind her.  

Recognizing that sweet, little voice, she spun around.  “Well, hello, Jungju, sweetheart.”  

She smiled at him.  He was clad in purple pajamas that had a laughing red heart on them.  The joyful heart had a body and was wearing blue and yellow pajamas himself.

“Hi!  Did you come to Auntie Eunji’s party?”

“Yes, I did.”

Suddenly, he frowned, and his little eyebrows descended like two thunderclouds to shadow the joy on his face.  “Are you leaving already?”

She nodded.

“But…why?”

She sighed.  “Parties just aren’t my thing, darling.”

Naru stood on the threshold of the front door, listening through the tiny crack Miss Choi had created a moment ago when she’d begun to open the door.

“Do you want to read me a bedtime story instead?” The tiny boy’s face flooded with expectant hope.

She smiled.

“Please.  Eomma always reads me a story.”  He frowned.  “But she’s not here right now.”  Then he pouted.  “I won’t see her until Tuesday.  And I miss her!” he suddenly wailed.

Miss Choi glanced towards the living room where most of the guests were assembled.  She suddenly closed the front door and softly approached the little boy.

“All right, Jungju.  But just one story.”

She crept up the stairs with him and followed him to his bedroom.  It was quite clear that he had already been tucked into bed.  But he had escaped to check out the party.  

She smiled.  She was well-versed in such tactics.  She turned towards him.  

“Jump in bed, Jungju.”

The little boy scrambled up into the bed and grinned widely as she tucked him in under the covers.  

“What book would you like me to read to you?”

“That one right there!” he pointed to the nightstand.  Then he pushed his lower lip out in the cutest fashion possible.  “I asked Auntie Eunji to read to me, but she said, ‘Not tonight.’  Then she left to go downstairs.”  He glanced up at her with tears in his eyes.

Her heart turned over in her chest.  She was not immune to this tactic.  Not ever, really.  Maybe because her own appa had always read her two bedtime stories.  Sometimes, three.

So she picked up the book and began to read.  She was unaware of the man standing in the hallway listening.  After a while, the little boy’s eyes began to grow weary, but when she stood up, he yanked himself awake.  

“Please, Miss Choi, don’t go!  I miss my eomma!  I miss my appa!” he began to cry.

“Shhh.”  She sat back down on the bed.  “It’s all right, Jungju.  They’ll be back before you know it.  And they would want you to get a good night’s sleep tonight.  How about I lay down next to you?  And I’ll stay until you fall asleep, okay?”

His eyes brightened.  “You promise?”

She was very familiar with this too, so she held up her little finger.  “Pinky promise.”  She hooked it around his and smiled at him.

This seemed to reassure him, and he relaxed as she lay down next to him.  She turned towards him and began to read the next section of the large book in her hands.  She read until her own eyes were growing heavy.  She’d had no idea she was so tired.  But when she forced her eyes open, the tiny boy was still looking at her with eagle eyes.  So she plodded on.  And was completely unaware when she slipped off into dreamland herself.

Naru watched from the doorway.  She was making his heart do strange things.  Her voice finally trailed off.  He waited a couple of minutes.  Then he approached the bed.  He glanced down at the sleeping woman and the slumbering boy.  A smile tugged at his lips as an odd desire completely engulfed him.

To have a family of his own.  Like this one.  A soft woman to come home to at night.  An intelligent one who would challenge him.  And not leave him bored.  Gentle arms to hold him.  A tender voice to surround him.  

No one had ever read him a bedtime story.  If she had, maybe he wouldn’t have treated girls like they were expendable.  He was suddenly quite sure that this one wasn’t.  He felt such a strange assortment of emotions flowing through him.  Watching her take time to love on his nephew, whom he adored, had done bizarre things to his heart.  And birthed new dreams there.  Things he had never considered before.  

No.  That wasn’t true.  He considered them every time he saw his sister and her husband together and loving on their little one.  But he’d always pushed those thoughts away.  Believing his sister was a rare find.  But today he’d met another woman who reminded him of Nari.  Of her mettle.  And her kindness.  And her feisty spirit.

He blinked at what he was considering.  He stood there gazing down at her for the longest time.  Then he went to find a blanket with which to cover her.  He returned a while later and settled it over the length of her, tucking it in around her shoulders.  He had to resist the impulse to kiss her cheek.  

How odd was that?

He didn’t resist the same impulse when it touched him concerning his nephew.  He sat down on the other edge of the twin bed and bent his head to brush his lips across Jungju’s cheek.  Miss Choi opened her eyes momentarily just as those tender lips brushed across the little boy’s face.  She smiled and closed her eyes.  But the image was imprinted upon her mind even as she slipped back down into the depths of dreamland once more.  

—

Jumi looked around.  “Jimin, do you know where Miss Choi went?”

He shook his head.  “I saw her head for the front door a while ago.”

Jumi sighed.  She had noticed from the very beginning that Miss Choi was uncomfortable here.  They had chatted for a few minutes about nothing much.  Then, when Jumi had headed to the kitchen to get some food, Miss Choi had disappeared.  Perhaps it had been too much to ask of Miss Choi to spend all night hanging out with a bunch of strangers.  She must have grabbed an Uber and headed home.  

Jumi glanced around.  She was now the uncomfortable one.  She got up and headed for the kitchen to drop her plate in a trash can.  The kitchen was deserted.  She could finally breathe.  She didn’t want to head back into the living room.  It was full of guys.  

Eunji was now the only other girl.  And Jumi felt intimidated by the elegant woman.  She was so much more experienced than Jumi.  Eunji came from money.  Clearly.  She was married.  She was comfortable in her own skin and around all those men.  She kept teasing them all.  Jumi had simply sat silent while they all bantered with each other.

There was a doorway on the opposite side of the kitchen.  She walked through it and entered a hallway that led to a beautiful library.  She stepped into the massive room and stared in wonder at the oak bookcases full of tomes.  They traveled from floor to ceiling and were brimful of beautiful books.  

Her eyes traversed the titles until she found one that stood out to her.  She reached up and pulled it from the shelf.  She found a comfy chair to sit in and curled up on its seat.  She pulled the blanket that had been folded over the top of it down across her lap.  Once she was comfortable, she began to read…until she fell asleep.

—

“Eunji?”

She glanced up at Jimin.  “Yes?”

“Have you seen Jumi?  Or Miss Choi, for that matter?”

She looked around as though she expected them to materialize in front of her.  “Not for a while, no.”

Jimin frowned.  It seemed to him that Jumi just kept disappearing.  Ever since the wedding last week.  She’d withdrawn from the group at the reception when she’d run outside.  He’d had to chase after her.  He still didn’t understand why she hadn’t just come to him and told him she didn’t feel well.

Over the past week, she’d returned home a little bit later each evening.  And she’d disappeared as soon as dinner was over each night.  Every time he’d gone to check on her, he’d found her asleep.  He’d barely seen her all week.  And now she had vanished again tonight!

He’d been looking forward to this party all week because he had believed he was actually – finally – going to get to see her.

He missed her.  A lot.  Didn’t she miss him?  

Jimin dug his elbow into Tae’s ribs.  

“Hey!  Have you seen Jumi?”

“Hmm…She wandered into the kitchen a while ago with her empty plate.”

Jimin pushed himself off the overstuffed couch.  He headed for the kitchen.  Was she just grazing?  Eunji had put out a ton of food tonight.  And he and Jumi hadn’t eaten before the party.  

But when he entered the kitchen, Namjoon was the only person he ran into.

He frowned.  “Have you seen Jumi?”

Namjoon nodded his head.  He grinned.  “She’s in my favorite room.”

Jimin squinted.  His favorite room?  

“The bathroom?”

Namjoon burst out laughing.  “Why on earth would you think the bathroom was my favorite room?”

Jimin shrugged.  “I don’t know.  You like long showers?”

Still chuckling, Namjoon enlightened him.  “She’s in the library.  Reading.”

Oh.

Jimin just stared at him.  Jumi did love to read.  He felt silly not guessing that the library would attract a quiet soul like Jumi.  

As he was about to step into the hallway, Namjoon’s quiet voice stilled him.

“You know that girl is crazy about you, right?”

Huh?  

Jimin turned to stare at him.  “What makes you think that?”

“Oh, come on, Jimin!  You’re the girl’s hero, for crying aloud!  You saved her from a horrible life.  You took her in and watched over her for the last year.  Longer than that!  Haven’t you ever seen the way she looks at you?”

Jimin just gaped at him.  “I…I thought she was in love with me last year.  But it’s been a long time since I thought so.  She… I…”

“Jimin.  The girl is head over heels for you.  And I think you’re in love with her too.  Aren’t you?”

Jimin nodded.

“Then…what are you waiting for?”

“A sign from her.  That she’s comfortable with the idea of dating me.  I mean, she’s living with me.  I don’t want her to feel like she’s under pressure to…you know.”

“Why don’t you just tell her you don’t expect her to sleep with you?” 

“Are you that honest with Eunji?”

“I am now.  That’s how I ended up marrying her.  Instead of her ending up with Tae.  Honesty.”

Jimin took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway.  He wasn’t sure he could be that honest with Jumi.  Wouldn’t it make things awkward between them?

A couple of moments later, he entered the library to find her curled up asleep in a chair.  A book lay open in her lap. Her head was leaning off to the side of the massive chair back.  She was snuggling under a blanket.  And Jimin felt an intense jealousy towards that blanket.  He wanted to be snuggled up with that girl.

His heart went out to her.  Why was she asleep already?  Was her job too hard?  

She was falling asleep before nine each night.  She hadn’t even made it until ten o’clock tonight.  So much for kissing her at midnight.  His heart sank as he realized that’s what he’d been hoping for tonight.  A New Year’s kiss that would truly herald the beginning of a new year for them.  A year in which they were officially a couple.

Disappointed, he turned towards the doorway.  He headed back to Tae and their friends.  He’d have to solace himself with his buddies tonight.  Most of them wouldn’t be getting a New Year’s kiss either.

—

Jumi still hadn’t reappeared by a quarter till midnight.  

“Eunji,” Namjoon pointed out suddenly, “I thought Naru said he was going to stop by tonight.”

She glanced at her husband.  “Yeah.  He was planning to come.”  She shrugged.  “He probably just found a wilder party to attend.  Such a shame.  I was hoping he and Jungju’s teacher would hit it off.”

“Miss Choi?” Jimin started laughing.  “I hardly think so!”

“What?  Why not Miss Choi?”

“She struck me as being extremely straight-laced!  I don’t think she’d bow down to the make-out king!”

Jimin was still laughing at Eunji’s fanciful imaginings a couple of minutes later as he walked back down to the library.  He crossed the room and stood gazing down at Jumi for several long moments.

Should he attempt to wake her before midnight?

He shrugged his shoulders.  He was going to have to wake her at some point.  Why not now?

He bent over and shook her gently awake. 

“Jumi,” he murmured.  

She didn’t seem to be rousing.  He knelt down next to the chair.  He leaned towards her head.  “Jumi,” his breath flowed over her face.

Her eyes opened drowsily, and she stared into his.  

“Jimin?”  She lifted her head and rubbed her neck as she looked around.  “Where am I?”

“In Namjoon’s library.”

“What time is it?”

“Five, four, three…”

The sound of his friends shouting the New Year’s countdown floated on the air to their waiting ears.

He glanced at her lips.  “Nearly midnight.”

“…one!  Happy New Year!”

“Jimin?”

“Hmm?” His eyes were still tracing those tempting lips.

“Is it okay for good friends to kiss on New Year’s?”

He gasped inwardly as her question pierced his consciousness.   His eyes met hers, and he felt a spark all the way to his toes.  

Jumi was barely awake.  Still half asleep, she was overcome by her own tender feelings for Jimin, and she allowed her fondest dream of today to leak out through her lips in the form of that question.

“I think it’s just fine, Jumi,” he whispered as he bent his head towards her.

A moment later, his lips brushed hers in a sweet, innocent kiss that struck fire along his nerves.  He had to restrain his impulse, for he wanted to bury himself in her mouth.  But instead, his let his lips rest just momentarily on her soft mouth.  Still, he reveled in that brief touch.

Jumi was drowning in the sweetness of that kiss.  No one had ever kissed her that tenderly.  She felt a tear slipping into her eye.  In the next instant, Jimin pulled away from her.  He smiled down at her.

“Ready to go home?”

Dumbly, she nodded at him.  Apparently, he’d been completely unaffected by that kiss.  How disappointing.

—

Miss Choi slept for more than two hours before awakening in the dark of Jungju’s room.  It was lit only by a faint light from the hallway.  At first, she was disoriented.  But then she made out the sleeping figure next to her.

“Ajin?” she whispered.

Naru was sitting on the floor next to the doorway.  He’d been here all night, watching over them.  Unwilling to leave the sweetness of her presence in his little nephew’s room.  Anticipating the fire that would surely leap from Miss Choi’s eyes when next she saw him.  He glanced up from his phone as he heard her soft voice speaking into the semidarkness.

Ajin?

She sat up a little.  As her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, she realized she was next to a little boy.  She sat up abruptly.  Then, the evening returned to her mind.

“Ah.  Jungju,” she breathed.  

There was a smile in her voice.  Naru heard it.  

She climbed slowly from the bed.  She didn’t wish to wake the little boy.  

“You fell asleep,” Naru whispered.

She spun around.  Her heart had leapt into her throat.  He was in the shadows.  

Echoes were clanging in her head now.

“Who are you?  Who’s there?”

He heard the fear in her voice.  She backed up until she fell to sit on the bed once more.

Her heart was clawing at her throat.  Trying to escape. 

“It’s me.  Just Naru,” he breathed the words like he was trying to calm a spooked horse.

“Naru?”

Her heart slowed down.  But only a little.  She swallowed.  She was too attracted to him by half.  She had to get out of this darkened room.

She stood up and strode for the doorway.  He rose from the floor to block the doorway before she could through leave it.

“You are infinitely lovely,” he murmured as his hand lifted to tuck an errant lock of her hair behind her ear.  “Do you know that?”

She steeled herself against the onslaught of tingles his touch had unleashed along her ear.  “Please let me pass.” 

“Stay,” he whispered.  And her heart started hammering in her chest again.

“What?”

“Stay with me for a moment.  It’s almost midnight.  I’d like…” His eyes, illuminated by the hallway light, shifted towards her lips.

“A New Year’s kiss,” she murmured.

He nodded.  And she remembered another midnight kiss in another mansion just like this one with another spoiled, rich boy.  Just like this one.

“I need to be going.”

“Please,” he whispered.

Why couldn’t she resist the appeal in that soft voice?  Maybe because the eyes staring at her now weren’t the same ones that had confronted her in her classroom earlier today.  These eyes had softened.  And they were sliding tenderly over her face.

The corners of his mouth lifted as he spoke softly.  “You read Jungju a story.  No one ever read me a story…”

She could hear the surprising longing in his voice.  

“You’re not his eomma.  Not even his aunt.  Why would you read him a story?  When you wanted to flee?  But you stayed.  For him.  I don’t understand.  Why?”

Her lips curved upward in a sweet smile that was fully illuminated by the light.  “He was missing his eomma.”

“Yes, he was.”  

Suddenly, Naru was missing his eomma too.  The one he’d never had.  The one who would have played with him as a child or taken him for a treat or read him a storybook.

“I think you’d make an amazing eomma,” he whispered.

An odd tremor crossed her face.  And a vulnerable light flooded her eyes.  “Excuse me,” she whispered desperately as she tried to move through him.

But he stayed there, blocking the doorway.

The countdown buzzed in their ears as the crowd assembled downstairs hollered, “Five…four…three…two…one!  Happy New Year!”

He reached out then and slid his arm around her waist.  He tugged her close to him.  And gazed down into her eyes for a moment before his head descended so that his lips could devour her own.  

Her stomach flipped upside down.  She was so attracted to him.  He was impossibly handsome.  And unbelievably impossible.  Why was she kissing such a jerk?  

Something about the intimacy of the moment.  His heart had connected with hers.  He thought she’d make an amazing eomma?  Such an odd thing for a playboy to say.  But at those tender words, she had wanted to burst into tears.  Until his lips had touched hers.  Then she burst into flames.

She found his mouth far too compelling to deny.  So she surrendered to his kiss for a few moments.  Finally, he drew back a little.  Before he could speak, she shoved him the rest of the way back.  Into the hallway.  She followed him.

“What was that?” she queried angrily.

“That, my dear, was a kiss,” he grinned wickedly at her. “I’m taking it you’ve never experienced such a wonder before?”

Not like that, she hadn’t.  She was still trying to catch her breath.

His eyes passed hungrily over her lips.  “Would you like another?” he asked a little breathlessly.

“I most certainly would not!” she declared hotly.

But not as hotly as she’d just kissed him.

His languid eyes slowly traveled across her face as he countered with, “I don’t believe you.”

She huffed and turned her back on him.  Actually, right now she was terrified.  Absolutely terrified at the feelings he’d just stirred up in her soul.  The man was a complete reprobate.  A walking mess.  She did not need to get caught up in that.  

But his kiss had been…invigorating.  Petrifying.  Electric.  

But not the only thing she should be concerned with.  A kiss was one part of a man.  This one had many others, and several she did not care for in the least.  She had to get away from him.  She turned back towards him.

His hand slid around the back of her waist and drew her close again.  His lips found hers…tenderly this time.  He tried to open her mouth with his tongue a moment later.  Just the barest of touches sliding along her bottom lip.  But then, he realized she was trembling.  

“Please,” she murmured against his lips, “stop.”

Instantly, he released her.  He’d learned his lesson with Minsu.  And there was something oddly compelling about this woman.  He had no desire to hurt her.  Or to use her.  He wanted her to come to him of her own volition.  But he was shocked to discover he wanted her to come to him very badly.

She was panting.  She backed up.  Her eyes went wide.  Then she turned and fled.  Down the stairs and out into the night of a new year.

She was shaking.  She’d had a boyfriend like him once.  And he had destroyed her heart.  She didn’t need to experience that ever again.  No matter how the world exploded around her when she kissed him.

—

He grinned to himself.  As it turned out, the cold Miss Choi was red hot.  He’d felt the heat of their first kiss.  No matter how she turned tail and ran, she couldn’t fool him.  She couldn’t hide from him either.  He knew where she lived.