Of course, he couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that. Besides, it was early evening yet. They had a few hours before they’d head to bed.
His eyes met hers again.
“Joonie.”
She whispered his name, and he felt a chill creep up his spine. Why did he think he wasn’t going to like what she said next? There was a note in her voice that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but he didn’t like it, nonetheless.
“I think I should leave.”
No! His heart rebelled against that statement.
“No!” His mouth echoed his sentiment.
She tilted her head and looked sternly at him. “I didn’t come here to divide your house. It is obviously distressing your family that I am here. I’m going to find a hotel to stay in tonight. If there’s none available, then I’ll head back to Seoul.”
Why were her words hurting his heart so badly?
“You will not.” His voice was laced with steel. “I will defend your honor against my family. Especially against my sister.” The last was spoken fiercely, under his breath.
She smiled sadly at him. “I know you will, and that’s the problem. You adore your sister, but you’re not acting like it right now. You are home for the first time in ages. You came home to celebrate your twenty-fifth birthday with them all. I am not going to ruin that for you. I do not want you fighting with them over me, a girl you just met a few hours ago. It’s absurd, Namjoon. THEY are your family.”
The way she said it, she was denying that she was also his family, so why did it feel like she was? Like she had been woven into the fabric of his family tree as undeniably as his sister had been?
“Please, Breeze, don’t leave.” She heard the supplication in his tone.
She sighed. She didn’t want to leave, but she also didn’t want to face his father again. Or his sister. His mother had been kindness itself to her, but even being around her was awkward due to the language barrier. Why had she thought this would be easy? It seemed so obvious now that it wouldn’t be. Of course, it wouldn’t be! She was an interloper. And a foreign one, at that! And an American. There were certain parts of the world where that word was anathema. She spoke English with only a rudimentary grasp of Korean. And now she was on their turf. They didn’t know her heart like Joonie did. They hadn’t read her words. Nor did she want them to. She didn’t know what to do.
“Come. Why don’t you and I invite my sister for a walk?”
Oh, joy. That sounded like fun. The interrogation could begin in earnest away from the mollifying influence of his parents. Breeze sighed again.
“All right, Joonie. If that’s what you want, we’ll do it.” But her heart wasn’t in it.
—
“Kyungmin?”
Namjoon stuck his head through the doorway to his sister’s bedroom. She was seated at her desk, studying something. Her long, dark hair was falling into a neat line just above the top of her pants. She looked up at him and smiled.
“Still upset with me, Namji?” She called him by the pet name she’d given him as a tiny child.
“No. Just…be nice to her, please. I really like her. And now she wants to head back to Seoul tonight.”
“Just because I questioned her?”
“Be honest. You were rougher on her than that…Minnie, I really like her. If you’d read her letters to me, you’d understand.”
“Her letters to you? What are you talking about?” She furrowed her brow at him.
“She’s spent the last four years writing me letters. She published an entire book of them and brought it with her. She gave it to me this morning.”
“Wait. What? How did she find you? Has she been stalking you? Did she follow you here from Seoul?”
“What? No! What nonsense! Minnie, if you’d read the letters, you wouldn’t think like that.”
“What’s in them?”
“Her most private thoughts. Her hopes, her dreams, her fears, her worries. Her bad days. Her good days. Her admiration for my music and her appreciation of my words. Well, some of them, at least.”
He gazed down at the ground as he thought of all he’d read so far. He was itching to read the rest. Part of him wanted everyone to seek their beds right now, so he could hole himself away alone and read all she’d poured out to him. His eyes met his sister’s.
“Would you take a walk with us? I’d like you to meet her again. This time for real.” His eyes brooked no argument; he expected her to come and to be nice.
She blew out a strong breath through pursed lips, then she responded, “Allllll riiiiiight, Namji. I’ll be nice.” But her dark eyes still held a question in them.
—
Breeze was waiting outside. She had no wish to run into Namjoon’s parents again. She walked around the courtyard of their house, kicking a tiny, gray pebble back and forth between her feet as thoughts assailed her mind.
Was she nuts? She had traveled across an ocean in an attempt to find Joonie. She had enrolled in the university in Seoul, knowing she would be a few miles from him most days. Of course, she’d hoped their paths would cross. But she’d never really believed they would. He was far too busy to find a lonely, college student. And Seoul was full of more than ten million people. What were the chances that she’d find one specific person in that crowd? Very slim, indeed. And yet, she had! Well, not in Seoul. But in Ilsan, the place of his childhood.
She had worked hard for years towards her ultimate goal of traveling to South Korea. The truth was that since she’d never really believed she’d meet Joonie, she’d come with a completely different goal in mind. She was going to be an English teacher; she was working towards permanently moving to South Korea to teach its children her native tongue. If she couldn’t have Joonie, at least she could share their common love of her language with the children of his country.
But now, she’d actually met him. And perhaps, even slid a little ways inside his heart. Boy, was it complicated!
The door opened and Namjoon’s sister stepped outside, her brother following closely on her heels. The older girl smiled faintly at Breeze, who echoed her response, though inside she was trembling. Namjoon walked right up to Breeze and took her hand in his own, to give her some of his strength.
“I’m going to introduce you two to each other again. Inside, introductions were so rushed. And Minnie was still recovering from the shock of meeting you for the first time.”
You mean, of you meeting me only this morning and then inviting me to live with you for the weekend!
“Minnie, this is my friend, Breeze. Breeze, this is my sister Kyungmin.”
Breeze inclined her head as she spoke softly, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Be honest! It wasn’t nice to meet me. I was extremely rude to you over the dinner table!”
Breeze looked up in surprise at the older girl. She was stunningly beautiful. Of course, what did she expect from Namjoon’s sister? Her hair was a dark waterfall that cascaded all the way down her back. She had full, red lips like her big brother. And wide, dark doe’s eyes. Perfectly manicured eyebrows. But her nose was different, narrower than his. She was simply lovely. Breeze looked behind her to see if there was a gaggle of boys chasing her. Surprisingly, no one was there.
“What are you looking at?”
“I was searching for the boys.”
“The boys?” Kyungmin lifted her eyebrows questioningly.
“All the guys that must chase you every day. You’re so pretty.”
Not immune to a compliment on her beauty, Kyungmin smiled. “Namji said you were nice. He was right.”
“Though you probably still think I’m a little insane.”
The lovely, young woman laughed. “Maybe just a little. But I must say, you’re quite pretty yourself. With all that golden hair, and your big, blue eyes. I envy you.”
Those cornflower blue eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re jealous of me? That’s about the silliest thing I’ve heard all day.”
“Why?”
“Well, just look at me,” Breeze’s gaze traveled her length, taking in her heavier frame with its softer curves before glancing at his sister’s slender, lithe figure. “You’re clearly a stunning beauty while I’m just, well, average. An average American.”
Kyungmin’s eyes collided with Namjoon’s as she squinted in concern for the younger girl. “I’m not sure what looking glass you’ve been using, Breeze, but you are quite pretty just as you are. Don’t compare yourself to us Korean girls. We’ll all be too busy wanting to pry those stunning, blue orbs from your face.”
“Ouch!” Breeze groaned as she stuck her tongue out.
“Sorry! I’m not the poet in the family. That’d be Namji here.” Kyungmin elbowed her brother in the side as she continued to lean over him while she talked to Breeze. “I’ve never had much of a way with words. But my brother, well, you’re familiar with his gifting, I think.”
“Indeed,” Breeze breathed as she glanced up at Namjoon’s face.
Kyungmin was privy to that private look, and she suddenly saw with blinding clarity what her brother had been speaking about. This young, American girl was clearly completely besotted with her older brother. Not that Minnie could blame her. He was the best. A total sweetheart. If he hadn’t been born her brother, she would have been madly in love with him too.
Namjoon considered his sister and his new friend. They were speaking in an odd combination of broken English and fractured Korean, yet they seemed to be understanding each other. The three of them continued to walk for over an hour, and this time, Namjoon reflected, his sister and his darling girl seemed to be getting along much better.