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Chapter 1: The Scent of Attraction – October 23, 2021

“Seokie!  Are you riding with me and Yun?  Kookie is driving us and Tae.”

“No.  Go on ahead of me.  I have to finish this assignment and post it online before I head to the wedding.”

It was nice of their friends to invite him to their wedding, but he had so many senior projects to finish before the end of the semester.  He sighed as he worked at his computer.  He was going to be late.  He’d probably miss the wedding.  But maybe he could make it to the reception.

—

Hobi and Minsu had decided to marry at night in their garden.  Where she and Raven had first met.  Under moonbeams and starshine.  Only this time, in the cool autumn breeze.  Surrounded by their friends and family.

On a beautiful Saturday night in mid-October, Hobi dressed in a midnight tuxedo and donned his infamous, black mask.  Minsu wore an elegant, white ball gown.  And carried an intricate, snowy mask to match.  They met in the middle of a garden while their guests stood assembled to watch them as they spoke their vows to each other under a glorious, quarter moon.

The garden was replete with hanging lanterns so all assembled could see the beautiful bride and her dashing groom.  At one point, he addressed her as Moonbeam and she referred to him as Raven, making many an onlooker curious.  Only their closest friends knew the origin of these monikers.

But judging by the smiles that lit up both of their faces, they were wonderfully happy with each other.  Hobi had removed his mask before the ceremony began.  But many of the onlookers were still wearing theirs.  

Yura was grinning from ear to ear as she watched her friends finally committing their lives to each other.  A diehard romantic, she had always loved a good wedding.  And Minsu’s was a gloriously good wedding, for Minsu and her precious Hobi had found love and passion with each other.  

Yura was so glad her friend had finally found someone who made her blissfully happy and treated her like the queen she was.  It was clear from the light in Minsu’s eyes that Hobi was the one her heart both needed and craved.  Minsu was soft and sweet like a moonbeam.  Hobi was bright and lively like a ray of sunshine.  They complemented each other perfectly.  

—

Heejin couldn’t believe this.  Her appa was made of money.  But the car he’d bought her – the new car – had broken down along a very busy stretch of road.   And she couldn’t call anyone for help.  To her dismay, she’d discovered she’d left her phone at home.  

She sat along the side of the road waiting for a knight in shining armor to notice her.  Many cars had passed her at a high rate of speed, but none had stopped to assist her.  Honestly, she was terrified of getting out of her car.  This was a busy road, and she didn’t want to get hit by a fast-moving vehicle. 

So she sat frozen in her car.  Echoes surrounding her.  As she missed Hobi and Minsu’s wedding.  Heejin was so frustrated.  She had helped them find true love, and now she was missing the grand finale!  It was so unfair.  She hadn’t gotten the guy.  And she wasn’t even getting to witness the reward of her sacrifice.  She sighed.  There was absolutely nothing she could do about it. 

Between the traffic jam and the sudden death of her car, she’d been sitting here for nearly an hour.  First, she’d gotten stuck in a traffic jam after an accident had occurred on the road ahead of her.  She’d known she was going to be late to the wedding when the cars didn’t move for over a half hour.  Then a mile down the road, after traffic had started moving again at a snail’s pace, her car had started acting funny.  

She’d pulled over.  And her car had died.  A quick and ugly death.  She’d waited at least twenty minutes for her rescuer to come.  But he had not.

As she was debating what to do, she was suddenly startled by a loud rap on her passenger window.  Jumping a mile, she turned her head violently to the right, and her eyes contacted the extremely beautiful countenance of a young man.  A wide grin instantly broke out on his handsome face.  And he raised one hand to wave at her.  She rolled the window down a fraction.

“Hi.  Are you stalled?” he spoke through the crack.

She nodded.  As her eyes studied him, she realized he was wearing a very nice black suit.  

He grimaced.  “I’m late for a wedding.  Can I give you a ride somewhere?”

She furrowed her brow.  It couldn’t be.  

“Whose wedding?”

“Hobi and Minsu.”

“Jung?” she asked incredulously.

He nodded.  

“I’m late,” she glanced at her watch.  “Very late for the same wedding.”

He squinted at her.  “I don’t think I know you.  I’m Yunseok.  The twins are my sisters.”

She frowned at him.  “Twins?  I know Hobi.  And Namjoon, Eunji, and Jin.”

He grinned.  “Jin went on a date with one of my sisters once.  Yunyeong.  Yunseong is the other one.”  He shrugged.  “Anyway, I don’t know them well, but I think they felt sorry for me – didn’t want to leave me out of the loop.  So they invited me to their wedding.  But I had a paper to finish…”. He stopped talking.

She stared at him.

“Do you want a ride?  You can go with me if you like.  I can’t promise that I’ll get you to the wedding in time.  But we might make it to the reception if we leave right now.”

“What about my car?”

“We’ll call a tow truck.”

“I left my phone at home.”

He pulled his from his pocket.  “You can use mine.”  Then he shrugged again.  “Look, it’s up to you.  You can call the tow truck and wait for them, or you can call them and come with me.”

“I’m coming with you.”  She simply wanted to get out of this death trap.

Now she just had to figure out how to navigate the passenger seat in this dress.  She began to climb over it and then pushed the door open to join him along the right side of her car.  

“Let’s go.  I want to get away from all this traffic,” she murmured as she headed back to his vehicle.  

He had parked behind her.  

“Thank you,” she asserted as soon as she’d slid into his passenger seat.

“My pleasure,” he grinned.  “It’s not every day I get to help a damsel in distress.  Unless I’m doing something nice for my sisters.  But that’s not nearly as much fun as assisting a cute girl.”  

With those sweet words, he handed her his phone.  Feel free to call a tow truck.”

She noted the mile marker and located an automobile service station using his maps app.  A few minutes later, she’d arranged for the removal of her vehicle.  As she hung up the phone, he pulled into the parking lot next to the venue.  He jumped out of the car and crossed to open her door for her.  He glanced down at her as he offered her his hand.

“Shall we make a run for it?  Maybe we’ll be in time to see the kiss?”

She laughed up into his eyes as she grabbed his hand.  They took off running.  They arrived, winded, at the front of the garden.  Just in time for said kiss.

Heejin’s heart rose as she watch Hobi claim the lips of his new bride.  She would have felt sorry for herself momentarily.  Except that her eyes shifted to the extremely handsome guy who was still holding her hand.  Almost like she’d brought a date to Hobi’s wedding.

“Hey,” Yunseok turned towards her, “would you do me a favor?”  He winced.  Then he bent his head and whispered in her ear, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.  It’s a lot to ask, but…my sisters keep razzing me because I haven’t had a date since high school.  Would you…would you be my date tonight?”

He rushed to add, “No strings attached.  If you hate me, we can have a magnificent fight at the end of the evening, and then I’ll have an excuse to swear off girls until I graduate.”

––

His words were flowing over her, but so was his breath.  It was teasing her ear even as his words amused her mind.  And fascinated her heart.  This guy was completely gorgeous.  Why on earth would he need to beg a girl to be his date?  Was there even the slightest chance that he was attracted to her and actually wanted to date her?

Still acutely aware of the fingers embracing her own, she turned towards him and asked sotto voce, “But what will we tell them about how we met?”

“We’ll tell them the truth.  That I rescued you one day this week when your car broke down.  We just won’t tell them which day.”

Quite doubtful, she glanced at him.  “I think we’re bound to get ourselves into trouble, but I’m completely bored, and this idea contains the greatest potential for fun of anything I’ve heard in a long time.  Let’s do it!”

Surprised, he looked straight into her eyes.  “Really?  You’re willing to be my girlfriend?”

“For tonight anyway,” she murmured.  

But as her gaze slid over his face, she had to admit that he was extremely easy on the eyes.  She wondered if he would be as easy on her lips if he decided to kiss her.  She cleared her throat and dragged her eyes away from those beautiful lips.

He tugged on her hand and drew her back towards the building.  He led her around the corner until they were completely alone.

“Heejin, right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And I’m…”

“Yunseok,” she murmured as her eyes met his again.

“Very good.  I’m a senior in college.  Studying architecture.”

“Ahh.  I graduated two years ago.  I work with my appa.  He’s the CEO of Wang Textiles,” she informed him.

“Are you an executive?”

“Ha.  I wish.  No.  I’m a personal assistant.  All those years at university so that I can make coffee and type proposals.”  Her voice lilted on the last five words as though she were quoting someone sunnier than her.

Two little furrows developed between his shapely, dark eyebrows.  “Why is that?”

She shrugged.  “My appa doesn’t believe in showing favor.  I think that he actually threw a wrench in the works when I applied for a higher position.  I’m trying to break the glass ceiling.  I want his job someday.  But he seems to be putting the brakes on my advancement in the company.  I’ve been there for nearly a year now, but I’m still in the same lowly position I started out in.  Despite a lot of hard work and glowing reviews from all my superiors.”

Yunseok frowned at her.  “Have you ever applied anywhere else?” 

He had bent to whisper in her ear again.  This time as he faced her.  She suddenly got a whiff of his cologne and nearly fainted.  The man smelled amazing.  Something woodsy yet slightly spicy.  She wanted to brush her nose up against him and inhale again.  But she thought her “boyfriend” might take exception to such behavior on their first date.  So she just breathed in again as deeply as she could.  And reveled in his scent once more.

“I’m sorry.  What did you say?” she queried a moment later when she couldn’t remember his question.

“Have you applied somewhere else?  For a higher position?”

Her eyes widened in surprise.  “No.  I…I never thought of doing so.  I guess I just hoped my appa would eventually wake up to how smart I am.  Maybe change his mind and agree to train me to replace him when he’s ready to retire.  But he’s always thought I should get married and have babies.”

Yunseok gazed down at her.  She was a captivating woman.  An older woman.  His lips quirked as his eyes slid over her countenance.

She had great, dark eyes and long, kohl eyelashes.  They were framed above by delicately arching eyebrows.  Her straight, ebony locks fell to brush the middle of her back.  She sported a cute, button nose.  And full lips that, quite frankly, made him want to embrace them with his own.  

She had high cheekbones that lent her an aristocratic air.  But that demeanor was completely offset by her smile whenever it lit up her face.  Then, she exuded an air of friendliness that embraced him and invited him to sit down and chat with her.  He found her oddly intriguing.  

He bent again and whispered in her ear, “You don’t want to meet some nice man and have babies with him?”

Why did that innocent question seem almost seductive as it flowed on his warm breath to sail teasingly into her ear?  As though he were issuing an invitation to her to choose him for that exalted position.

At that moment in time, she was thinking she might enjoy making babies with this guy someday if he proved to be this nice all the time.  She was already quite attracted to him physically.   Her eyes slid from his face to his toes before returning to his eyes again.

He was tall.  Over six feet tall.  Possibly a couple of inches over six feet.  Which was great because she was tall for a girl.  The last time the doctor had measured her she’d topped out at five feet seven inches.  

But he wasn’t skinny.  Nope.  He obviously spent some time at the gym.  He was muscular and filled out his clothes quite nicely.  He gave off an impression of strength.  She wondered what it would feel like to have such strength wrapped around her.

He had wide, obsidian eyes that sparkled as he smiled down at her.  They were set under bold, raven eyebrows that were mostly hidden under his full shock of dark bangs.  His nose was a straight blade.  And quite noble.

A deep divot had been carved above his lips, which formed a very strong Cupid’s bow.  An extremely tempting bow.  The corners of his mouth quirked upward without him making any effort whatsoever.  Even when he wasn’t smiling.  He was quite simply adorable.

She gazed up at him.  Why did she keep having such trouble concentrating on his words?  He was going to think she was either a complete idiot or totally deaf if she kept going at this rate.  What had he asked her?

She was gazing up at him with a dazed look in her eyes.  The corners of his mouth twitched.  Had she taken exception to his question?  He’d just meant to tease her a little.

Babies.  

His question had been about babies.

“I want two.  But not for a while.  I do want to be an eomma.  Very much.  I just also want to excel in the business world.  I’m not sure I’m cut out to stay home while my husband goes to work.”

“So you’re hoping for a stay-at-home appa?”

“What?  No,” she furrowed her brow.  “I was hoping by the time I have children that I would make enough to hire a top-notch nanny.”

“Ahhh. That’s a pity.”

Confused, she frowned.  “Why?”

“I was hoping to work from home,” he murmured.

She glanced sharply at him.  Then, suddenly, her face split into a wide grin.  “Are you already considering marrying me and fathering my children?  What will your sisters say?”

“Are you kidding me?  They’d ask me when the wedding is and start knitting baby booties for their nieces.”

“Their nieces, hmm?  So you want girls?”

“I think girls would be absolutely adorable.  After all, my sisters are pretty cute.  But they’re the ones that would dote on nieces.  I would be perfectly happy with boys.  In my present circumstances, they would be such a rare treat for me.”

Her lips quirked.  “What?  No brother in the mix?”

He shook his head.  “After having triplets, my parents weren’t about to risk having quadruplets next.”

She laughed suddenly.  “Wait.  You’re a triplet?”

He nodded. 

“I thought you said your sisters were twins?”

“Well, technically, they are.  They’re identical twins.  But I was in the womb with them.  I just don’t look anything at all like either of them.”

“You’re a boy,” she pointed out the obvious.

“Well, that, for sure!  But I’m also quite Asian, and they look a tad bit…”  He frowned.  “Um, Norwegian, maybe?”

She guffawed.  Then slapped her hand over her mouth in dismay as several people turned towards the sound of her laughter.  The wedding party had exited the building a few moments before.  Now the lobby was filling up with people.

She bent close to him and hissed quietly, “Norwegian?”

He nodded definitively.  “They have dark blond hair and deep green eyes.”

“What?”

“Irish eyes, Eomma has always said.  From her Papa, as she called him.  But, truthfully, Eomma has them too.  Eyes as green as a crystal sea.  Like emeralds.  And honey hair.  She’s beautiful, my eomma.”

She smiled at the light that appeared in his eyes as he talked about his mother.

“She’s special to you, isn’t she?”

If it was possible, those adorable, uplifted corners of his mouth suddenly rose even higher.

“I love my eomma.  We’re very close,” he whispered into her ear.  

This time he had bent so close to her that her hair tickled his nose.  And he smelled some subtle fragrance on her skin.

“What is that scent?”

“Yardley’s Almond Oatmeal soap,” she murmured.  Without thinking about it.

––

Soap.  

That’s why it was such a subtle scent.  But it made him want to taste her skin.

“Sounds like breakfast,” he mumbled.

“Breakfast?” she asked, not following him at all.

“Eomma makes oatmeal for breakfast sometimes.”

“Ahhh.”

He was still twinkling down at her.  What was it about those deep, obsidian eyes that made him so attractive?  And those teasing lips that were always smiling even when they weren’t?

“Shall we head for the reception?” he murmured as he gazed into her eyes.

She found herself reluctant to leave.  Mostly because she’d have to release his hand.  And she was enjoying the strength of his fingers and the warmth of his skin.  

But before she could answer, a voice sounded suddenly behind him and distracted them both.

“Seokie!  Where have you been?!  You missed the entire wedding!”

Without turning around, while he maintained eye contact with Heejin, he answered the girl in a clear, strong voice, “Not true.  I got here in time for the kiss.”  

His eyes then slid over Heejin’s lips.  She blushed.  Why did it feel like he had just mentally kissed her?

Not releasing her, he turned towards the voice.

A different voice asked quietly, “Seokie, who is this?”

As his eyes slipped away from Heejin, she finally glanced towards the voices.  And did a double take.  Two beautiful girls, each with long, golden hair and bright green eyes, stood gaping at them.  She watched as their eyes simultaneously followed the line of their arms until they traced their interlocked hands.  Then those four eyes slid back up to their faces.  Mostly, Heejin thought, to her face.  They stared in shock at her.  With the exact same expression on their identical faces.

But, no, they weren’t the same face.  As Heejin studied them, she noticed subtle differences.  One appeared softer, quieter.  She was the one who had just spoken.  The other seemed a bit brighter, more open.  She had spoken first.

Yunseok first introduced the last one to speak.

“Heejin, these are my sisters.  To your right is Yunyeong – Yuni.  To your left, Yunseong – Yun.”

Heejin smiled brightly.  “Hello.”

“Yuni, Yun, this is my friend, Heejin.”

Yunseong’s eyes slid back down to their joined hands.  “Don’t you mean your girlfriend?”

“And what if I do?” he replied teasingly.

Heejin glanced up at his always-smiling face.  But then, quickly, she looked away.  She didn’t want to miss his sisters’ reaction.

They both looked at each other for a moment.  In pure shock.

“You have a girlfriend, and you kept her from us?” Yunyeong asked in astonishment.

“Well, Yuni,” he bent towards her as he whispered, “meeting you is a bit daunting, you know?”

But Heejin could tell he was just teasing the quiet girl.  At his response, a slight smile teased Yunyeong’s lips.  But her sister was quick to berate him.

“Seokie!  This is such bad form!  You have a girlfriend, and you didn’t tell us?!  Why not?!” she pouted.

He glanced sideways at Heejin for a moment.  “I’m not one to kiss and tell,” he murmured as he held her gaze.

She felt herself blushing.  Was he trying to flirt outrageously with her in front of his sisters?

Yunseok was delighted to notice a slight flush creeping across Heejin’s cheeks as he teased his sister.  Apparently, his words had teased his “girlfriend” too.  Was she now considering kissing him?  

Perhaps, they’d have to give it a try tonight.

Yunseong huffed.  “You’re impossible!”  Her eyes slid from one to the other.  “How long have you been dating?”

That’s when Yunseok, on a whim, decided to completely drown the truth in a lie.  He could not have explained why.  Except that Yunseong was always getting his goat, and he thought it was payback time.

“Two months.”  

He missed the astonished look on Heejin’s face, but Yunyeong didn’t.  She narrowed her eyes as she watched the girl holding her brother’s hand instantly recover.  Still, she hadn’t missed her reaction.  What was that about?

“Oh, Yunseok, you know we just met today.  Why are you teasing your sisters so?” the girl responded.

He glanced at her.  “Why don’t you want them to know that we’ve been secretly dating since August?” he murmured as he bent towards her.

His dark eyes seemed to be begging her.  

What was he up to?  Just teasing his sisters?  This was an elaborate prank.  But then she realized that he’d been outnumbered his entire life and had probably been the victim of more than one ruse on their part.  Especially since they were identical.  Having an older brother, she understood something about this, so she grinned at him.

“I thought you wanted to make them believe we just met?” she spoke in an aside that everyone could clearly hear.

“It would save us a lot of questions,” he murmured.  Again, in a voice that carried.

“Well, I have a question,” piped up a new voice.  

Heejin glanced up at the tall, dark, extremely dashing young man standing behind Yunseong now.  

“How did you two meet?”

Heejin then noticed the other tall, dark, handsome man standing next to him and directly behind Yunyeong.  His face somehow released an air of vulnerability.  He wasn’t looking at Heejin.  He seemed distracted by the girl standing in front of him.  He bent his head close to the top of hers and inhaled.  His eyes fluttered shut as he did so, and a tiny smile teased his lips, yet it seemed to light up his entire countenance.  Heejin instantly liked him.

“Car accident,” Yunseok murmured.

Heejin was immediately distracted from the sweet guy.  Her eyes flew to Yunseok’s face.  

He noted the look of panic on hers.  And wondered what that was all about.

––

“You guys were in a car accident together?” Yunseong exclaimed a moment later while Yunseok continued to try to pierce the pain he’d just seen flash across Heejin’s countenance.

“No,” he murmured as his eyes probed Heejin’s.  “A car accident slowed traffic to a crawl.  Heejin’s car gave up after sitting idling for so long.  She pulled over, and it died.”

She nodded suddenly.  “I was ignored by everyone for over twenty minutes.  And I’d forgotten my phone at home, so I couldn’t call for help.  I was debating what to do when suddenly this rap sounded on my passenger window.”  Her eyes left their faces to find his again.  “My knight in shining armor had finally appeared.  Yunseok let me use his phone to call a tow truck and gave me a lift.”

And that was where they parted abruptly from the truth.

“And I was so taken with her that I asked her out on the spot,” he murmured as he stared at her.  

Heejin’s eyes grew wide.  

Was it her imagination, or were his eyes caressing hers?

She felt her heart release a tiny flutter.  

Stop that, you traitorous organ!  He didn’t mean those words.  He’s just teasing his sisters.

Still, that heart fluttered on.

Because he lifted her hand and placed a tiny kiss on the back of it.  In full view of them all as the sweetest words poured from his lips.

“I’ve been a goner ever since.”

Heejin glanced at the crowd to see how they were receiving this stellar performance.  And to distract her own heart from his provoking words and action.

Yunyeong was eyeing her brother skeptically.  The boy behind her was reaching out to pull something invisible from her hair.  His eyes were trained on the top of her head.  The mouth of the guy behind her sister had fallen suddenly open.  As though in shock.  And Yunseong’s whole face instantly lit up.

“Does this mean I might actually get a niece one of these days?!”

“Probably,” Yunseok murmured, “when Yuni and Jungkook decide to have a baby.”  He glanced at them all.  “Heejin and I have already agreed we’re having boys.”

She was blushing again.  She was sure of it.  Four pairs of eyes – make that five; Yunseok was staring at her too now – had just traveled towards her.

“Oh, yeah,” she murmured casually with a little flourish of her hand.  “Yunseok’s been outnumbered long enough.”

The two boys glanced sharply at each other and suddenly both guffawed.  Yunseok stifled a shout of laughter too.  And the twins looked at each other. 

Heejin had had enough.  She tugged on Yunseok’s hand. 

“Seokie,” she suddenly addressed him petulantly as she took a page out of his sisters’ books, “can we go now?  I’m hungry, and I don’t want to miss the reception.”  She was now pouting up at him.

Why did that expression make him want to kiss her silly?  

He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from those pouting lips.

Then one of the guys cleared his throat.

Yunseok glanced over at him.  “Oh!  Tae, Jungkook, this is my girlfriend, Heejin.”  His eyes caressed hers again as he turned towards her.

Stop that, you infuriating boy!  You’re doing strange things to my heart while you tease your sisters!

Why was she so attracted to him?  She had never been this attracted to a guy before.  Not even Hobi.

“Heejin, this is Tae, Yun’s fiancé.”  He gestured first to the guy on the left, then to the sensitive one on the right.  “And Jungkook, Yuni’s husband.”

Heejin glanced from one to the other and smiled.  “Nice to meet you,” she bowed her head at them.  

They returned her respect.  “Nice to meet you too,” they both murmured simultaneously.

She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips.  “Did you two take lessons from the twins?” she asked a moment later.

Confused, they all glanced at each other.

“She’s referring to the fact that you spoke in unison,” Yunseok explained.

She glanced up at him in surprise.  He understood her!

His eyes met hers then, and she felt that same zing she’d been ignoring for fifteen minutes.  Every single time their eyes collided, she was pierced by this palpable tension.  She stared at him.

He addressed their audience.  “We’re gonna head to the reception now.  We’ll meet you all there.”

With a wave of her hand, she bid them farewell as Yunseok tugged her towards the exit.  He held her hand all the way to the car.  She felt oddly sad when he released it finally to open her car door for her.

“Milady,” he bowed over it.

She grinned up at him.  “Kind sir,” she inclined her head towards him.

A moment later, he dissolved into laughter as he slid into his seat and shut his door.  “You are a brilliant actress.  ‘Seokie, can we go now?’” he mimicked her, still snickering.

She grinned broadly at him.  “You’re having a good time, aren’t you?”

“The best!” he agreed.  “You don’t know my sisters.  When they were little, they were such pranksters!  They were always pulling the wool over my eyes!”  

Suddenly, he frowned.  “Yuni isn’t like that anymore.  Something changed her a while back.  Though, I’ve never been able to put my finger on it.”  

He furrowed his brow.  Clearly, he was disturbed by this change in his sensitive sister.  “I mean, she was always more thoughtful than Yun, but the light went out of her eyes.”  He glanced up at Heejin.  “Do you know what I mean?”

She nodded as twin valleys appeared between her own eyebrows.

He sighed and stared off into space.  “She seems better since she met Jungkook.  She’s more herself than she was for months.  And he clearly adores her.”  He glanced up at her again.  “Did you know that he built her a walled garden?”

“He what?” She asked in astonishment, sure she had misunderstood him. 

“Have you ever seen The Secret Garden?”

She nodded.  “And read the book.  I love it.”

“He built her a garden like that.  Oh, not as big.  But complete with the stone wall and rose bushes.”

She simply gaped at him.  “He built her a walled garden full of rose bushes?”

“And an apple tree.  There’s a hammock and a wrought-iron bench in it too now.”

She blinked.  “Wow.  No wonder I instantly liked him.”

His eyes slid over her face.  “And how did you instantly feel about me?” he murmured in a low tone that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

She slid a surreptitious gaze his way…and was instantly pierced by the expression in his dark eyes.

“Like you were my knight in shining armor, of course!” she answered lightly.

But something deep and dark shifted in his obsidian eyes, and she could feel his disappointment.  However, he said nothing.  He cleared his throat, buckled his seatbelt, and sat up straight as he grabbed the steering wheel. 

“Time to head to the reception,” he murmured as he began to back the car out.  

However, he was so distracted by her that he forgot to check his rearview mirror.  Suddenly, a car horn blared loudly behind them.  He slammed on his brakes, and Heejin’s heart flew into her throat.  She slapped her right hand on the dash in front of her as she was thrown forward while her left hand flew to cover her palpitating heart.

Yunseok glanced over at her.  “Sorry about that.”  Then he noticed her eyes were closed, and her nostrils were flared.  “Hey, are you okay?  What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” she assured him breathlessly.

But that haunted look continued to fill her gaze until he pulled into a parking space at the reception hall ten minutes later.

—

“Hey.”  His voice was as soft as his touch as his hand came down on hers after he turned his car off.   “What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath as her eyes met his.  “Too many echoes,” she murmured.

“Echoes?”  His brow furrowed as he gazed intently at her.

She nodded.

“What kind of echoes?”

“The soul-sucking kind.”  She glanced out his windshield.

But she was seeing a completely different windshield.  A shattered one.  She was seated in the same location.  Her best friend sitting in the driver’s seat.   There’d been so much blood…

Heejin cleared her throat.  “Are you ready to go inside?” she asked in a falsely cheerful voice.  

“No,” came his honest reply.

His hand was still covering hers.  He picked her hand up and set it down in his other hand.  Then he covered it again with his right hand.  His thumb began to stroke the top of her hand.

“Tell me about these echoes.”

She had never told anyone here.  Not even Hobi knew what she’d been through over a year ago.  Shortly before she’d met and fallen in love with him.  He and she had become fast friends in the last few weeks of that summer, those weeks that had remained before she returned to Busan.  Eventually, she’d flown back to Seoul to help Hobi pack up and move back to Busan too.  

Before she met him, she’d been finishing a summer course in Seoul.  She’d graduated from the university that June.  Then she’d convinced her appa to let her stay for the remainder of that summer in Seoul working toward her graduate degree.  Early that summer, she’d been spending all her free time with her best friend.  Knowing she would be leaving her soon.  

Minyeon had lived in Seoul.  It had been her hometown.  She’d gotten a job there too.  Straight out of college.  She was brilliant.  So much potential.  

Heejin had known that Minyeon was going to revolutionize the educational system.  She might be starting out as a simple speech therapist.  But she’d known her best friend would soon be in charge of the research grants and programs the university offered.  At least, she would have been…

“Heejin.”  His voice was just a breath.

She glanced up at Yunseok and blinked.  “What?”

“Do you want to go get a cup of coffee with me?”

Confused, she frowned.  “What?”

“I think you don’t want to be at this reception.  I think you need to talk to someone.  Can I be the someone you trust enough to tell what’s hurting you?”

His beautiful eyes captured hers.  But she stared, unseeing, into them.  She was caught in the past again.  In a cycle she couldn’t escape.

No one knew that sometimes in the middle of the night, she awoke in a cold sweat as she relived that nightmare again.  When would the memories fade?  When would the trauma dissipate?

“It doesn’t matter where I go, I can’t escape,” she whispered.  “I thought when I left Seoul, when I left her hometown behind, the echoes would cease.  I wouldn’t be reminded of her as I passed the Starbucks on the corner.  The one she always ordered a latte from.  But did you know we have Starbucks here too?  

“I thought I wouldn’t think of her if I wasn’t riding by her apartment building.  I wouldn’t hear her laugh if I wasn’t walking past our favorite barbecue place.  Right?”  Her eyes delved into his, and he gasped inwardly as he saw such intense pain in her gaze.

“What happened to her?” 

He whispered the words as his thumb stroked her hand.  She burst into tears.  He turned on his car, checked his rearview mirror, and backed out of his parking place before driving away.  The only place he knew to take her was his house.  His sisters were at the reception.  His parents were on a date.  He and Heejin would have his kitchen all to themselves.  

They rode in silence for the twenty-five minutes it took him to drive home.  She sat, still holding his hand, as she wept so quietly in his passenger seat that he almost couldn’t hear her.  He pulled up in front of his parents’ house and squeezed her hand before he released it.  He jumped out of the car and headed for her door.  He opened it and peeked his head in through its doorway.

“Please, Heejin, come into my house.  I’ll make you some tea, and if you want, you can talk.  And I’ll listen.”

She stumbled from his car.  Embarrassed.  Her nose was running.  He noticed.  For as soon as they entered his house, he snagged an entire box of Kleenex and handed it to her.  She let out a breathless laugh as she took it.  She grabbed a Kleenex and blew her nose as she followed him into the kitchen.

He pulled out a chair at the table for her.  She sat down.  And set the box of Kleenex on the top of it.  He crossed his kitchen.  And pulled out the tea kettle while he searched for a box of tea.  

“Do you like Lady Grey tea?”

She quirked her eyebrows.  “I’ve never had it.”

“It’s Eomma’s favorite.  I feel certain were she here, she would prescribe it.  I’ll make you a cup.”  

As he set the kettle on the stove to warm, he turned on the oven.  Then he rifled through the freezer looking for a package of ready-made hotteok he could reheat.  Had the twins demolished it?

No!  There was one left!  

He grabbed it and tore it open.  A few moments later, he had a baking sheet lined with hotteok ready to be popped into the oven.  Once it was preheated.

She glanced up at him as the tea kettle began to rattle, sounding like the ringing of a bell.

“I am so s-sorry, Yunseok.  You must be starving.  And now you won’t get to enjoy the fabulous meal they had planned.”

He shrugged.  “I don’t care one whit about that.  Really.  I’d much rather be here in my own kitchen with you.  I’m making us some of those sweet potato hotteok.  I love them!  I hope you do too.”

She nodded.  “I do.”  Though, she didn’t feel like eating now.

“Would you rather sit here in my kitchen or out in the living room?” he asked.

“Here is fine,” she responded quietly.

He stood steeping the tea.  Then he slid the pan of hotteok into the oven.  He carried two cups of tea to the table and sat down next to her, facing her across the edge of the round table.  He set her tea before her.

“I added a little honey.  It tastes best that way.”

She glanced up at him and smiled.  “Thank you.”  

She reached for the hot cup and took a sip.  Hints of citrus and the richness of black tea exploded on her tongue.  She smiled momentarily.  She met his gaze again.

“It reminds me of a tea my grandma used to make.”  She paused.  “I always liked it.  But when she died, I couldn’t remember what it was.  I feel like…you returned it to me.  Like you just gave me a taste of my grandmother.”  Her eyes filled with tears.  “Thank you.”

Then she blinked, and silent tears began to flow down her cheeks.  She hadn’t thought of her grandma for a while.  She missed her so much.  She had always been the one comforting presence in her life.

Yunseok watched her.  He was becoming discomfited by her distress.  Again, his hand reached out to rest on top of hers.

“You lost her?”

She nodded.  “So many years ago now.”

His heart bent at her pain.  He too was familiar with the loss of a loved one.  He sat silently watching her, his eyes tracing the lovely planes of her face.  He felt like he could spend an eternity just looking at her.  She completely captivated him.  Even more so now that her face was so vulnerable.  Wet with tears.  Those tracks glistening in the light shining down on them from the ceiling.  A tentative expression on her face.  Like she was debating whether or not to jump off a cliff into a pool of water.  Afraid to fall.  Fearful of being paralyzed.  Yet just as afraid of staying where she was.  Balanced on the edge of life.

Suddenly, her eyes glanced up to meet his, and she sat trapped in his gaze for several long moments.  Or maybe he was the one caught in hers.  For he couldn’t look away either.  Something she saw in his eyes lent her a sense of ease in his presence.  She suddenly exhaled a long breath as though she had been holding it in since meeting him earlier tonight.  Her secret tumbled from her lips in the next instant.  In that one long breath.

—

Meanwhile, Yunyeong and Yunseong were wildly searching the reception hall for their brother.  

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.  I checked the girls’ restroom for Heejin.  And Jungkook checked the guys’ for Seokie, but we didn’t find either of them.”

“Tae and I checked the hall and the hallways.  I don’t think they’re here.”

“Let’s check the parking lot.”

“Hey, girls, I’m sure they’re fine.  They’re probably still sitting in his car talking at the church,” Jungkook reasoned.

“Or they stopped somewhere on their way here.  There was a pretty field of wildflowers…”

Yunseong shook her head as she grinned.  She knew only too well that if Tae had been the one driving, they all would have stopped to look at that blossoming field too.  While he captured it on film.  Then Jungkook would have had to take some pictures too.  And they all would have missed dinner.

She and her sister linked arms and marched out to the parking lot.  Fully expecting to find their brother chatting with his girlfriend in his car.  But, though all four of them searched the entire lot over the next several minutes, their brother and Heejin were nowhere to be found.  His car was clearly not parked here.

“Maybe he got the address wrong?” Yunyeong proposed.

“I’m going to text him,” Yunseong asserted as she pulled out her phone.

“Come on.  You can text him once we’re seated at our table.  I’m starving.  I don’t want to miss the dinner,” Tae whined.

She glanced up.  “Oh, all right.”

Jungkook was only too glad to be moving towards the food too.

But once they were inside the building, they were swamped by friends.  Yunseong was temporarily distracted from her goal.

—

“My best friend died two summers ago.  And I was sitting right next to her.”

A tremor passed across her face.  Yunseok’s countenance mirrored her own a moment later.  The hand that was wrapped around her own suddenly lifted it to his mouth.  He bent his head, though his eyes never left hers, and his lips brushed across the smooth back of her hand.  He hadn’t even considered his action.  His heart simply wanted to comfort her in her distress.  He held her hand pressed gently against his soft lips.  The comforting touch of his mouth against her skin undid her.  She closed her eyes as another sob followed.

“I keep thinking that one of these days it will get better.  That it will stop hurting so much.  That seeing cars speed by me will cease to terrify me.  That someone slamming on their brakes will become once again just an everyday occurrence with no echoes attached to it.  But I can’t unhear the sound of the car crumpling.  I can’t unsee her blood all over me.  And, worst of all, I can’t hear her voice in my imagination anymore.”

She began to weep hard.  It seemed to him that she was struggling for air.  He released her hand and set it in his lap before scooting his chair closer to her.  Until it bumped hers.  He felt like he still wasn’t close enough, but the only other option was to climb into her lap.  Which action he figured was sure to startle her.  Not to mention squish her.  So he refrained.  

Instead, he reached out to touch her upper arm.  He rubbed his hand up and down it as though trying to soothe a tiny child.  With his free hand, he reached for a Kleenex and put it in the hand on his thigh.  A moment later, that hand carried it to her nose.  She blew her nose and wiped her face.

Then she met his eye.  “The car exploded all around us.  Somehow, I wasn’t hurt.  Nothing beyond the bruises from my seatbelt.  But Minyeon – she wasn’t that lucky.  She didn’t even go quickly.  Her head was turned my way.  Her eyes were open.  She whispered something to me, but I couldn’t understand it!”

She sobbed so hard on the last word that he could tell this fact still chafed at her soul.  She took a shaky breath and plodded on.  

“Then her eyes closed.  I never saw them again.  I reached out and held her hand until the paramedics arrived.  But she didn’t squeeze it.  It lay, lifeless, in my grasp.  But she was still breathing.  She breathed for another fifteen minutes.  But I couldn’t do anything to save her.  Neither could the paramedics.”  

Tears chased each other down her cheeks.  His hand wasn’t cutting it.  Rubbing her arm wasn’t enough.  He leaned forward to slip his arms around her shoulders.  He drew her close to him.  She fell forward, her forehead hitting his chest as she began to sob harder.

“Have you ever told anyone before?”

He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he just knew that she hadn’t.

“No,” she whispered.  “No one here knows about her or that she died.  They don’t even know that I was in an accident.  Not even Hobi.  I didn’t meet him until a month after the accident.”

His arms tightened slightly as he held her close to his heart.  “Thank you for trusting me enough to share your pain with me.”

After a few more moments, the oven timer dinged, and Yunseok reluctantly let go of her.  She sat up and reached for another Kleenex.  While she blew her nose, he removed the hotteok from the oven.  They were done.

He put them on two plates and headed back to the table.  He set a plate before her.

“Do you think you can eat?” he murmured softly.

She glanced at the plate.  Then her stomach rumbled.  The corners of her lips twitched.  

“I guess so.”  But she didn’t reach for it.  “I hope Hobi’s not upset that I’m missing the reception.”

Yunseok suddenly rolled his eyes.  “Oh, goodness!  I forgot to text my sisters.  I bet they’re going nuts now.”   He pulled his phone out of his pocket.  “Sure enough.  Yunseong has texted me five times.”  

He sent her a quick text.  “We’re fine.  Heejin wasn’t feeling good.  I took her home.”

“So, how soon will you be here?” she responded.

“I’m not coming back.  Have fun.”

“SEOKIE!”

He ignored her and pocketed his phone.  He turned his attention back to the girl sitting in front of him.  She had torn the corner off her hotteok.  She was twirling it around in her fingers as she stared blankly at it.

“It actually tastes better if you put it in your mouth,” he whispered as he leaned forward.

Her eyes got caught in his again.  “I know,” she responded in a very tiny voice.

“Do you want me to feed you?” he offered gently.

Surprised, she blinked.  “Umm.  Wouldn’t that be awkward?  I mean, we just met.”

“No.  We’ve been dating for two months, remember?”

He certainly felt like he’d known her that long.

—

She glanced up at him, and a mirthless laugh escaped her lips.

“That’s right.  I’d forgotten.”  She blinked.  “So…what will you tell your sisters?”

“About what?” he murmured as his eyes traced her features.

“About us?  About me?”

“Absolutely nothing.  It’s none of their business.  But…I would like to see you again.”

Startled, she looked up, her eyes flying to his face.  She swallowed.  “You would?”

“Of course.”  A sweet smile played about the corners of his mouth.  

Then he reached down and tore the corner off his hotteok.  He held it up to her mouth.  “Take a bite.  Please.  Otherwise, I’ll feel bad for taking you away from the reception.”

Her eyes flew wide.  “Oh, no!  Don’t!  You…you were just sensitive to what I really needed.  I feel better for having told you.”

“Come on,” he whispered as his eyes wooed her.

She found her mouth opening of its own volition.  His fingers brushed her lips as he popped the piece of hotteok into her mouth.  It flaked on her tongue, but she was oblivious to it, so sensitive to his touch was she.  That simple brush of his fingertips had sent a million crystalline shards of pleasure into her skin.  She chewed slowly as her eyes remained locked with his.  Then she swallowed.

He held up another bite.  “More?” he queried.

She smiled.  “What about you?  Aren’t you going to eat any?”

His lips twitched.  “Perhaps you could feed yours to me.”

He was flirting with her.  This sweet guy who had held her in his arms while she sobbed out her secret pain against his shoulder.  

“Perhaps I could,” she whispered as she received another bite from him.

As she chewed it, she held up the piece of hers she’d been waving around earlier.  She directed it toward his lips.  As his lips closed around it, they grazed her fingertips. And that same shocking sensation flowed through her again.  She’d never felt that with Hobi.  No matter how many times she’d kissed him.

Yunseok saw her eyes widen and knew she’d felt it too.  Inwardly, he smiled.  They always said love found you when you weren’t looking for it.  Of course, it was too early for this to be love.  But the tug of attraction was certainly there.  And he definitely hadn’t been looking for it.

—

Slowly, they finished feeding each other their hotteok.  Why did she feel so connected to him?  She would never have let any other guy hand feed her.  But what a sweet guy he had proven to be tonight.  Rescuing her from the freeway, taking her to the wedding, holding her hand, skipping the reception to listen to her cry as she shared her dark secret, making her tea and hotteok, holding her in his arms.

Frankly, she was melting on the inside.  She was also embarrassed, though, to have opened her heart to a perfect stranger.  Still, she couldn’t bring herself to look away from him.  He was just that beautiful.  Inside and out.  

Was he for real?  He seemed to be.  And she had adored his sisters.  Surely, they would have known if he wasn’t a good guy.

She smiled at him as they ate their hotteok and drank their tea.

“So…do you think you’ll apply at another company?” he asked her out of the blue as she sat finishing her delicious cup of tea.

She glanced up at him.  Her eyebrows flew sky high.  

“Hmm…that would be a test of my faith in myself, for sure.  I’m still living at home with my parents.  If I left my appa’s company, I would feel the need to move out.  I imagine it would get quite uncomfortable at home.”

“Hmm.  Quite possibly.  Yes.  Have you applied for any other jobs within your appa’s company?”

She frowned.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, have you thought of changing departments?  Maybe instead of moving up, you could move sideways.  Apply for as many positions as possible.  Anything you believe you’d be well-suited to do.  And if you’re not selected for any, then you could apply elsewhere.  If your appa questions you, just explain that you gave his company the opportunity to utilize your skills first.  But they passed you up.”

She sighed.  “Perhaps.”

She was depressed.  He could feel it.

“You don’t sleep well at night?”

She glanced up at him.  She nodded.  “I often don’t sleep well.  Too many memories come crashing in.”

“Perhaps you do need a complete change of scenery.  Maybe a job change would be good.  Do you feel challenged at your job?”

She shook her head.  “I can do it in my sleep.  It’s completely boring.  It doesn’t challenge me at all.”

“Sounds like you’re stuck.  Stuck in bad memories.  Stuck in a mediocre job.”

And stuck in her personal life.

Though Yunseok was too kind to say it.  Or he just didn’t realize it.

She nodded.

“But what do I do about it?”

He tilted his head and stared at her.  “Well, I think your starting place is obvious.”

“It is?”

He nodded.

“Forgive me, but I fail to see what it is.”

“Why, dating me, of course.”

She giggled.  His answer wasn’t what she’d expected.

“Is it so outlandish?”

Her lips twitched.  “It is rather.”

His face fell.  Wow, he had never been so dissed by a girl!  Not even by one of his sisters.

“Have you ever looked in a mirror, Yunseok?”

He just stared at her.

“You are absolutely gorgeous.  And you stopped tonight to save me when I was stranded.  You held my hand.  Coaxed my blackest secret from my lips.  Brought me home to make me hotteok and your eomma’s favorite tea.  Fed me that hotteok yourself.  And held me while I cried.  You do realize you’re the stuff of legends, right?  It’s absolutely absurd that you would pick me.”

Two deep valleys carved themselves between his eyebrows.  

“Have you ever looked in a mirror?” he retorted a moment later.

When she said nothing, he continued, “You are stunningly beautiful.  Even if you hadn’t been stranded on the side of the road, I would have noticed you had I passed you somewhere.  I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to ask you out, though.  Girls have never had much use for me.”

“That is not true!” she burst out.

When his eyebrows flew north, she enlightened him.  “Yunseok, you’re so gorgeous that you intimidate them.  It’s not that they’re not interested, I assure you.  You terrify them.  You terrify me,” she admitted in a tiny voice.

“What?  That’s absurd!  What do you think?  That I’m going to devour you?”

“Hmm.  Quite possibly.”

His eyes pierced hers.  “Where shall I begin then?” he murmured.

“What?”

“Devouring you.”

His eyes were caressing hers again.  And she was shaking in her boots.  What was he going to do?

Suddenly, his hand found hers and drew it to his lips.  Those lips began to leave a trail of heat along her skin.  His lips brushed the back of her hand several times.  She simply watched him.  Stunned.  

What on earth was he doing?

“I think,” he murmured against her skin, “that you should give us a chance.  Twelve dates.”

“Twelve?”

He nodded.  

“Why twelve?”

“I don’t know.  It just seems like enough time to make an accurate assessment of each other’s character.  And to discover if we’re actually comfortable with each other.”

“Hmm.  You don’t think I’m already comfortable with you?  I let you feed me.”

“True.  But you just said that I terrify you.  That I might devour you.  That doesn’t sound like comfort.”

“Mmm.”

“What do you say, Heejin?  Will you go out with me?”

She stared at him.  She was so tempted…

“Can I think about it?”

Deflated, he nodded.  

But he didn’t realize how long she’d take to make up her mind…