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Chapter 7: Wooed? – November 5, 2020

She had fallen into that bed at six thirty in the evening and didn’t emerge until five thirty the next morning.  It was the most blissful night’s sleep she’d ever had.  She lay in her new bed in the dark at five forty after she’d returned to lie down next to her still sleeping son.  She couldn’t see him yet.  There wasn’t enough light.  So she closed her eyes.

And she imagined Jin in that bed with her.  Had that been his objective when he’d bought her the biggest bed he could find?  Had he known that she too would remember the day they’d lain down next to each other on his parents’ bed?  He must have known she’d remember.  He’d bought her rainbows for her.

She closed her eyes, and it was as though he was there.  Lying on his side snuggled into her, his arm around her waist, his head pillowed on her chest, his leg thrown up over her legs.  She would have sworn she could hear his steady breathing.  And felt his hair tickling her face.  And heard his sweet voice as he woke slowly and drowsily murmured, “I love you, Yura,” before he brushed his lips across hers.

She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she could taste his kiss too.

That’s when she lost it.  Silent tears began to slip down her temples.  Because she had never awoken to Jin’s kiss.  

No, her memories were full of Seungbin.  All the nights she’d awoken to find their bed empty on his side.  In the beginning, she hadn’t known what to think.  Eventually, she’d discovered his girlfriends missed him at night.  But even before he’d begun cheating on her, Seungbin had never been one to snuggle.  He was all business, caring for his own needs and leaving her wanting.  She had been so naïve at the beginning of their relationship that she hadn’t known the difference.  But she did now.  Seungbin had been selfish in bed. 

However, in her heart of hearts she just knew Jin would never be an indifferent lover.  And she craved a man who would truly love her.  A man who would make time for her.  And take his time with her.  Who would care about her responses.  And want to delight her.  

She knew Jin would be that man.  

Why had she given him up?  For some hot kisses stolen under a staircase?  For the life of her, she could not understand her own heart.  Or the stupid things she’d been thinking during the last few months of her senior year in high school.  All she knew for certain was that she had paid a heavy price for all her mistakes.  For her betrayal of Jin.

The worst part, of course, was that she had lost him.  She had lost the dream she was having right now.  Of lying in bed with him.  Wrapped in his arms.  Savoring his kiss.

But as she lay in that too-big bed and wondered what on earth he’d been thinking when he’d bought her this bed, she knew.  She knew exactly what he was thinking.  That he wanted to occupy it with her.  He was filling her apartment with her dream of their future life together.  

What was left?  She wracked her brain, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember any other conversation.  She’d never looked at kitchen appliances with him.  Unless he was going to buy her a house, what more remained unfulfilled?

Although, at this point, she wouldn’t put it past him.  Was Jin looking at houses?  Maybe she should put a stop to this before he went into debt for her.

As she lay in bed dreaming of Jin, and fantasizing about his kiss, the sun began to creep into her room, and her son’s tiny form became illuminated.  Her heart bent towards him.  She moved across the bed and pulled him into her arms.  And in that moment, she fell in love with Jin all over again for giving her this moment right here.  Snuggling in bed with her little boy.  

—

She gave in.  She would, at least, face him this morning.  So she could thank him.  And tell him to stop.  Stop trying to woo her.  

Because it was working.

She sighed as she helped Minhyuk tie his shoelaces.  

“Eomma?  What’s wrong?”

She lifted her eyes to his sweet, little face.

“Nothing, sweetheart.”

“Eomma, I think Mr. Jin misses you.  Can we invite him to dinner tonight?”

Her heart suddenly sped up.  At just the suggestion of Jin entering her apartment again.  She suddenly remembered waking up in his arms.  She evaded her son’s question.

“What makes you think that he misses me?” she murmured.

“Because he’s always waiting for me at school.  And he looks sad every time he sees Minsu.  And he always asks me how you are.”

She grimaced.  And sighed again.  “Come on, let’s get you to class.”

The first thing out of his mouth when they entered his classroom was, “Mr. Jin, want to come to dinner tonight?”

Jin saw the blank look that suddenly lit up Yura’s face.  “How about I bring dinner over to your apartment tonight, so your eomma doesn’t have to cook?” Jin asked the little boy before his eyes slid towards Yura.

“My apartment?  Are you sure I’ll still be living in an apartment tonight?  You’re not going to buy us a house before I get off work?”

“Hmm.  I definitely could.  I’ve thought about it,” Jin brushed his chin with his fingers like he was stroking his imaginary goatie.

She giggled.  “You are ridiculous!”

“Hmm.  I’m still not half as ridiculous as you.  I’ve been showering you with gifts for a week, and this is the first I’ve seen of you.”

She had the grace to look ashamed.  She glanced down at her feet.  “I know.  I didn’t know what to do with your gifts.”  Disgruntled, she glanced up at him.  “I should make you take them all back, but then I’d have no bed, couch, table, or chairs.”

“You’re right.  You wouldn’t.  Not unless you went to sleep in the dumpster.”

“But the TV was definitely going too far.”

“The TV wasn’t for you.  It was for Minhyuk.  Consider it an early birthday present.”

“His birthday isn’t until March.”

Jin shrugged.  “Okay.  An early Christmas present.”

“If I tell you that you can bring dinner tonight, will you promise not to buy me any more gifts?”

Jin considered her for a moment as he continued to stroke his chin.  “I’ll promise not to buy you anything but dinner tonight.”

“Oh, I get it.  If I refuse to accept dinner, then you’ll buy me a house tonight.”

“Hmm.  Sounds about right.”

She sighed and shook her head.  In the meantime, Minhyuk popped up with, “Mr. Jin, can you bring pizza?!”

Jin grinned down at the little boy.  “Pizza it is!  I love pizza.  How about you?”

Minhyuk nodded and began to place his order.  Jin took mental notes.  And Yura watched the interaction between her son and the love of her life.  They made her smile.  

But then, she turned sadly away.  How was she going to escape from Jin?  How would she remain strong enough to resist his tender assault?  Especially when her son seemed to be in cahoots with him?

—

“Eomma, can we make dessert for Mr. Jin?”

She smiled down at her son.  “What did you have in mind?”

He scrunched up his cute, little face.  “Well…I would say chocolate moose because Mr. Jin said your chocolate moose was his favorite.  But I don’t think we have any moose in the fridge.”

“No, we don’t.  We’d have to make mousse.”

He squinted at her.  “Make moose?  How do you make a moose?  I thought we’d have to go out into a forest to find a moose.  But I’m still not sure how you make it chocolate.”

She gazed down at him and tried to hold back her laughter.  “Um, Minhyuk, what is a chocolate mousse?  Can you show me?”

He pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth before running into the other room.  He returned a moment later with his stuffed moose.  “It’s like this.  Only made of chocolate, I guess.”

This time she couldn’t hold back her chuckle.  “Actually, that’s not what Mr. Jin was talking about at all.  Would you like me to teach you how to make chocolate mousse tonight?  I think we have just enough time.”

He gazed up at her doubtfully.  “Okay, Eomma.  But I’m not really sure I want to eat a chocolate moose.  It sounds kinda weird.”

She laughed again.  “How about you make up your mind after we make it?  Okay?”

He nodded.  Then a huge grin suddenly blossomed in his face.  “Mr. Jin is going to be so happy, Eomma!”

—

Half an hour later, Yura and Minhyuk were placing their finished glasses full of mousse into the fridge.  Her little boy had changed his mind when she’d let him lick the bowl.

“Mmm.  This is good, Eomma!  No wonder Mr. Jin said he likes chocolate moose.”  Then he’d frowned.  “But I still don’t see what this has to do with moose.”

“It’s a French word.  M-o-u-s-s-e, not m-o-o-s-e.”

Minhyuk was staring at her in consternation when a knock sounded on their apartment door.  He jumped down from his chair.  

“I’ll get it!” he yelled and went racing for the door.

Yura closed the refrigerator door and cleared away all the evidence.  She wanted to surprise Jin.  Unless, of course, her son gave her away.

“Look, Eomma!  Mr. Jin brought two pizzas!  And a box of cookies!”

She shook her head.  “You just couldn’t resist dessert, could you?”  

“You know me.  Mr. Sweet Tooth.”

“We both know you don’t have a sweet tooth.  Every single tooth in your head is sweet!”  Then, as she smiled down at her son, she continued, “That makes two of you.”

“Two of us?” Jin called her out.  “Don’t you mean three of us?”

When she didn’t respond, he continued, “I seem to remember you having a mean sweet tooth, Yura.”  Then he glanced down at Minhyuk.  “Your eomma could eat more cookies than I could when we were fifteen.”

She blushed.  “That was once!  One time!  And I was starving!  I hadn’t eaten all day!” she justified herself.

Jin chuckled.  “Ah, yes.  Well, tonight you’ll be eating pizza first, so I doubt you’ll finish off the whole box of cookies.”

Her eyes met his as her mind traveled back in time to the day in question.

He’d come to her house to study.  It had been a Saturday.  She’d slept till noon.  She’d stayed up way too late the night before finishing a riveting book.  Jin had stepped into her house carrying a large box of chocolate sandwich cookies.  Instantly, her mouth had watered.  

“Can I have one?” she’d asked.  Then she’d proceeded to eat twenty. 

“One?  Did I mishear you?  Did you say, twenty-one?”

“What?” she’d asked defensively, her lips riddled with chocolate crumbs.  “I’m hungry.  I just crawled out of bed.”

Jin hadn’t been able to resist.  He’d leaned towards her and pulled her chair up alongside his.  

“Your lips look delicious,” he’d murmured.  

Right before he’d kissed her.  By the time he was done, there weren’t any crumbs on her lips anymore.

She blushed as she recalled that kiss.

Jin was eyeing her with interest.  “What, pray tell, are you thinking about?”

Her eyes collided with his.  “Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.”

“Really?  I was thinking about feeding you a cookie.  I seem to remember them tasting very sweet.  Clinging to your lips,” he murmured provocatively as his eyes caressed her lips.

She flushed to the roots of her hair.  Which drove Jin wild.  He wanted to slide his arms around her and draw her up against his length.   And then lower his head and devastate those lips.  Cookie crumbs or no cookie crumbs.

He called out to her son, “Minhyuk, you can pick out a piece of pizza and start eating it.”

Then, an intense look in his eye, he crossed the room towards her.  Like a leopard stalking its prey.  She backed up until she bumped into the counter.

“Jin…” she warned him.

“Come now.  Just one little kiss?”

Her heart had flown into her mouth a moment before.  Now it seemed to have fallen back into her chest to beat with a furious tempo.  

Jin kept coming until his toes hit hers.  Then he stopped.  He gazed down into her eyes.  He bent his head towards hers and rested his forehead against her temple.  She could feel his breath sweeping over her ear.  

“I miss eating cookies with you,” he whispered.  

She melted.  Those ridiculous words made her melt.  Or maybe it was his breath sliding over her skin that did it.

“Jin,” she whispered, begging him to stop.

Or to start.  Something she wasn’t sure how to stop.

Suddenly, her eyes fluttered shut.  Jin stared down at her.  As his arms surrounded her, and she finally surrendered, he bent to whisper in her ear once more.  

“Perhaps we should join Minhyuk.  Before he eats all the pizza.  I mean, if he’s anything like his eomma, the whole box could disappear.”

She giggled.  Then she nodded her head.  “He has been known to have a large appetite from time to time.”

But Jin didn’t release her. “I hope you know…I just adore your son.”

She smiled.

“Almost as much as I adore you.”

Then, before she could do anything about it, his kiss burned her lips.

—

Really, it was just a peck.  Nothing racy or daring.  Just a quick brush of his lips across hers.  So why was she so flustered?  

She hadn’t been able to think about anything else since Jin had kissed her in her kitchen.  Seungbin had never made her feel the way Jin had just made her feel.  She had completely melted from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.  Honestly, she was surprised that she’d made her way to the table.  

She hadn’t yet taken a bite of her pizza.  Jin had brushed his sweet lips across hers in a featherlight touch and then turned immediately to head for the dinner table.  By the time she joined them, he was already sinking his teeth into a slice of pizza while he laughed at something Minhyuk had just said.  

She just stared at Jin.  What was happening to her?  She couldn’t think straight.  All she desired in that moment was to be in his arms again.  She wanted to taste more of his kisses.  

She sighed.  If she were honest with herself, she’d have to admit that she desired so much more than that.  She wanted the whole fairy tale.  She longed for Jin to place his rings on her finger and join her in that ridiculously large bed that he’d bought for a single mother.  She wanted him to adopt her son and raise him as though he had always been his appa.  Perhaps that was what she desired most in all the world.  Even more than she wanted Jin for herself.

Although, as her eyes traced his lips, she wasn’t sure that last was the truth.  She longed for Jin.  She finally admitted it to herself.  She’d been longing for him for years.  Almost since the day Seungbin had slid that wedding band on her finger.  Certainly, since the day she’d learned his true character.  Most of all, she’d desired Jin during all those lonely months she’d lived alone with her son.  Just like now.

Except…not.  For Jin was here with her now.  Chasing her with goodness.  Pursuing her with kindness.  Wooing her with tenderness.  Towards both her and her son.  How on earth was any sensible woman supposed to resist that?  

And now, he had upped the ante.  He had kissed her.  Just an innocent brush of his lips against hers.  So why on earth had her entire body burst into flames at that slight touch?  And why couldn’t she get him out of her head now?

—

Jin glanced up at Yura, and he couldn’t hold back the satisfied smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.  She was staring at him with a dazed expression in her eyes.  Could it be – was it possible – that her heart was changing?  That she was moving closer to being ready to accept him?

He glanced down at her plate.  She hadn’t even taken a bite of her pizza.  He’d already devoured half a slice.  He could feel her gaze on his face still.  He looked at her.  

Her eyes were fixated on his mouth.  Were they really?  He decided to test his theory.  He licked his lips.  Very subtly.  Nothing provocative.  

But her eyes widened perceptibly as he did it.  Then he grinned suddenly.  He couldn’t help himself.  The woman wasn’t immune to him.  Not at all.  All this time, he’d been sweating bullets for nothing.  She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

—

Jin cleared his throat.  Her eyes focused on his gaze then.  He smiled at her and reached across the table to pick up her piece of pizza.  She watched as he took a bite of it.

“Hey!  Why are you eating my pizza?” 

He smiled lazily at her.  The man was so gorgeous.  She felt her heart accelerate as that smile grew.  Did he have any idea how beautiful he was?

“Oh?  Is this your piece of pizza?  It’s been sitting untouched on your plate for five whole minutes.  I didn’t think you were going to eat it.”  He turned it around and held it out towards her mouth.  Then he leaned towards her.  “Would you like a bite?” he whispered huskily.

And sent a million shivers down into her core.  His eyes were caressing her again.  Was the man flirting with her?

Suddenly, she remembered her son.  Sitting there watching them.  She glanced down at him.  He was happily chomping on his pizza.  Completely oblivious to the exchange going on between his teacher and his eomma.

Just then, Minhyuk turned towards Jin.  “We made you a surprise, Mr. Jin.”

Jin crooked an eyebrow at Yura as he responded to the little boy.  “Did you now?  That was very kind of you.”  His eyes still held hers.

“It was my idea.”  Minhyuk beamed up at him.  “To thank you for all your gifts.”

Jin smiled before his eyes left hers to gaze down at her son.  Her heart shifted violently in her chest as she watched the way he looked at Minhyuk.  He did adore her child.  It was written all over his face.  

She jumped up and ran to her bedroom.  And shut the door violently behind her.  She leaned up against it while her heart slammed against the wall of her chest.

No, no, no!  

This was the very thing she’d been terrified of!  Falling in love with Jin all over again.  Opening herself – and Minhyuk – up to pain and loss.  Again.

Her son had already lost one father.  But Seungbin had never looked at their baby the way Jin stared down at a little boy who shared no flesh or blood with him.  She suddenly burst into tears and slid down to the floor.  She sat there, shoulders convulsing for several minutes, as she sobbed out her grief over creating a child with a man who would never adore him.  And forsaking the man who would have.  Who, in fact, did adore him even though Minhyuk wasn’t his.  Still.  Jin delighted in her son.

—

She’d been gone for several minutes.  She’d suddenly catapulted from her chair and disappeared into her room.  Almost like she was about to be violently ill.  But then she’d slammed the door shut.  He’d heard her body thud against it a moment later.

That was the thing about cheap apartments.  Not only were the walls paper thin, so were the doors.  He kept glancing towards that door with concern.  What was going on in her heart and mind?

He waited five more minutes before he went after her.

“Minhyuk, I’ll be back in a little while.  Would you like to watch some cartoons while I go check on your eomma?”

The little boy beamed up at him.  “Yes, Mr. Jin!”

“Here.  Come sit in this seat and you’ll be able to see the TV.”  

He scooped Minhyuk up, tipping him upside down before he righted him and set him in the chair.  A bevy of giggles erupted from the tiny boy’s mouth.  Jin didn’t even resist the urge to kiss the little boy on his cheek.  Yura had chosen that precise moment to open her bedroom door.  So she didn’t miss the tenderness flowing from Jin’s eyes and across his countenance as he bent over her son.

She slipped back into her room as another wave of tears crashed over her.  She crossed her room to stare out the window.  She was in mid-sob a moment later when Jin walked through her doorway.  He didn’t say anything.  He simply strode across the small space until he’d pinned her in the corner.

“Yura,” his soft voice flowed over her.

She began to shake.  She was afraid of him.  No.  She was afraid of herself.  Of what she would do with him.  Of what she would do to him.  And of what he was already doing to her.

“Yura,” he whispered again when she failed to meet his eye.

He reached for her.  His hand came down on her shoulder.  “Why are you crying?”

She turned towards him then.  “It’s no use, Jin.  It’s too late.”

“No.  It isn’t,” he responded simply.

“How?  How can you still love me?” she whispered violently.  “How can you look at him with such tenderness in your eyes when he’s the product of my betrayal?”

Sadness swamped his gaze then.  “Yura.  That beautiful, little boy has nothing to do with your betrayal of me.  He’s a sweet, innocent kid who has only ever adored me.  He is not his father.  Neither are you.  Seungbin might have wanted to destroy me.  But you never did.  I know you loved me.  I know you love me still.”

His eyes were caressing her again.  Undoing her.

“How can you be so forgiving?”

“Because I love you.  I want you.  I need you, Yura.  I lost you once.  I am not losing you again.  We’ve been given a second chance, and this time, I will fight for you.  Until you give in.  Because this time, I know you love me.  I have…” his eyes traced her mouth, “…not one single doubt.”

And then, he did what he had neglected to do when they were eighteen.  He slipped his arm around her waist and dragged her roughly up against him before his lips descended to devastate hers.  

His lips were moving over hers in the most tender of kisses.  She clung to him as she kissed him back with all the passion in her fervent soul.  Jin was a blazing fire, and she was melting like wax under the heat of his ardor.  Such a horrible yearning was spiraling up out of her core.  She wanted him with every fiber of her being.  She didn’t want to wait one moment more.

But she was wiser now that she was older and more experienced.  She knew that sleeping with a man was no guarantee that his affections would never wander.  Such an act had brought her nothing but pain with Seungbin.  Total devastation.  Heartbreak.  An echoing heartache.  Now she was raising his son alone.

But Jin would never desert her.

Her heart whispered it.  No.  It breathed it.  Like a beat of that organ resounding throughout every cell of her body.  

Jin would never betray her.  She could trust his touch.  She could believe his words.  She could safely revel in his kiss.  

So she did.  For several long minutes as he deepened that kiss and drew her even closer to him.  She was pressed against the length of his body.  Her arms wound around his neck.  Her fingers tangled in his hair.  As his lips damaged her soul with their gentle onslaught.  He was battering the very last of her meager defenses.  Knocking down entire walls with those tender lips of his.  With his sweet hands on her back.  With that gentle fingertip that stroked her skin through the thin fabric of her shirt.

She was nothing but a puddle now.  Languid.  She’d completely lost her will to fight him.  She couldn’t have strung a coherent sentence together to fitly argue with him.  Not in this moment.

—

But, thankfully, Jin wasn’t Seungbin.  Jin was an honorable man.    

So, after several minutes of delighting in her mouth, whilst she still trembled in his arms, he lifted his head, smiled tenderly down at her, and whispered, “We should check on Minhyuk.”

She just stared up at him.  Making him want to ravish her mouth again.  Then she blinked.  And he realized that she couldn’t think straight.  He grinned.  He was definitely having an effect on her!

As she was on him.  The sooner he could marry this girl, the better.  

He kept his arm around her waist and drew her away from that inviting bed and towards the tiny child awaiting them in the living room.

—

A little while later, as they were cleaning off the table, she turned towards Jin.

“Jin,” she murmured, “you really must stop spending your money on me.” 

He said nothing.

“Please.”

“If you say you don’t deserve it, I will buy you a house.”  He reached for her and pulled her into his arms.

She laughed mirthlessly.  “Jin.”

“I mean it,” he growled.  “Every time you say that, I want to prove you wrong.”  His head dipped, and he nuzzled her neck.

Her heart picked up speed.  Pretty soon, it would sail into the next galaxy if he continued to breathe on her neck like that.

“Jin, what are you doing to me?  You make me crave you,” she muttered before she could think better of it.

“Good,” he breathed.  

Then his lips brushed hers in a kiss of such tenderness she felt her sanity slipping away.  She clung to him and surrendered her lips to his.

“Eommmma!  Is it time for Mr. Jin’s surprise?”

They both disengaged, and their heads turned to gaze down at the little boy kneeling on the couch as he stared up at them.

Yura’s cheeks caught on fire.  Jin grinned down at her.  She was completely adorable when she was blushing.

“Yes!” Yura exclaimed.  “Why don’t you get the one you made for Mr. Jin?”

He scrambled off the couch and ran for the kitchen.  Jin took full advantage of the moment to embrace her lips with his own again.  A moment later, she laughed against his mouth.  

“Enough, Jin!  At least wait until Minhyuk goes to bed!”

He shook his head.  “Are you kidding me?  It’s much safer to kiss you in front of him.  He keeps me honest.”

She smiled up at him.  “Are you afraid that I’m going to tempt you too far?”

His gaze grew serious.  “Always.”

The air between them exploded.  And her stomach flipped upside down to release a colony of butterflies to dance within the confines of her ribcage.

Thankfully, Minhyuk came running into the room again.  

“Here, Mr. Jin!  It’s a chocolate moose!”  He frowned as he gazed at it.  “At least, that’s what Eomma says.”  

Then he crooked that tiny finger at Jin, who squatted down next to him.  Minhyuk leaned towards his ear and whispered so loudly that Yura could hear him too, “Don’t tell Eomma, but I think she forgot the moose.  It tastes like chocolate.”

Jin grinned and reached out to slide his arm under the little boy.  He lifted him high and smiled down at him.  

“Nope.  It definitely looks like chocolate mousse.  What do you think, Minhyuk?  Do you like it?  Does your eomma make good chocolate mousse?”

The tiny child nodded.  Vociferously.  “It’s really good, Mr. Jin!  Taste it!”

“Not till you get some.  Where’s your glass?”

Minhyuk wiggled, so Jin released him to run for the kitchen.  Jin glanced up into her eyes.  He picked up the spoon in the dish and scooped out some mousse.

“Open up,” he murmured. 

She did, and he slid the spoon into her mouth.  Her eyes were dancing with his as the comfort of chocolate suddenly burst forth on her taste buds.  Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she savored it.  

“So good,” she murmured.

Suddenly, his lips were brushing her ear.  “I think I’m jealous of this chocolate mousse.”

Her eyes flew open.  He bent his head and kissed her again.  Releasing an ache in the pit of her stomach.  He’d slipped his arm around her waist and was drawing her near when Minhyuk came walking out carefully carrying two glasses.  His lips still on hers, Jin eyeballed the little boy.  Then he drew his mouth reluctantly away from hers.

Jin had waited five long years to kiss those luscious lips again.

“You’re a good boy, Minhyuk.  Is one of those for your eomma?”

His words of praise were like a cooling balm to her heart.  She suddenly recalled Seungbin’s words the first time he’d gazed down at their child.

“He doesn’t look much like me, does he?”  He’d eyed her with suspicion then.  “Did you mislead me, Yura?  Is this child Jin’s?”

The pain that had ripped through her core at his words had never left her.  He’d blown a hole through her heart that day that had never been repaired.

“You think I cheated on you with Jin?  And then lied to you so you would marry me?”  

She’d wanted to say, “Why on earth would I choose to marry you over Jin?”  

But that was exactly what she had done.  Foolish girl.

Jin was staring down at her.  Her eyes had suddenly filled with tears.  She wasn’t responding to Minhyuk, who was holding a glass of mousse up to her.

“Eommma!  Don’t you want your moose?” His petulant tone finally reached her ears.

“Oh!” Her face curved in a wide smile, but Jin noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes.  

What was she thinking about?  She had a horribly haunted look in her eyes now.

“Thank you, baby!” She reached down to accept the glass from her son.  

But he frowned at her.  Then he glanced at her plate.  “Eomma!  No dessert till you eat your pizza!”  Then he looked up at Jin.  “Right, Mr. Jin?”

His teeth suddenly flashed as he gazed down at the adorable, little boy.  “That’s right, Minhyuk.  Ordinarily, anyway.  But I think, just this once, it’s okay if your eomma eats her dessert first.”  His gaze captured hers.  “It’s time she got a taste of the sweet side of life.”  

She gripped the glass.  Hard.  She’d found the sweet side of life, all right.  It was hiding in Jin’s lips.  And in his eyes.