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He stared down at the girl of his dreams.  The girl who supported his dreams.  And he smiled until it reached his eyes.  “I should take you home.”

“I drove, remember?”

He nodded.  “It’s almost three-thirty now.”

“I don’t want to leave you, Yoongi.”

“We both need sleep,” he murmured.

“I know.”  

She was suddenly sagging on her feet.  She swayed towards him.  And pillowed her head against his chest.  She closed her eyes.  Her arms around him went a little slack a moment later.

“You’re falling asleep,” he smiled.

“Hmm.  Sounds wonderful,” she muttered.

He grinned and bent to pick her up in his arms.  He carried her into his bedroom.  Thankfully, he had a queen bed.  No tiny twin.  Although, such a bed held some intriguing possibilities.  They would have had to snuggle closely not to fall out of it were it twin-sized.

Yoongi set her down on the empty side of his bed.  Her eyes fluttered open.  “I should go home.”  

He shook his head.  “You should not drive.  Who do you need to text?”

“Hmm.  My maid.  Just tell her I’m staying the night at a friend’s house.”

“What’s her name?”

“Let me see my phone.”

“It’s in your pocket.  Do you want me to retrieve it?” he uttered with a grin splitting his face.

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him as she slid her hand into her pocket to withdraw her phone.  She opened it and then found her chat with her maid.  She clicked on it and handed the phone to him.  

“Here you go.”

He took it and texted the girl before setting the phone down on the nightstand near Nari.  She’d already closed her eyes.  He bent and kissed her on her forehead.

She smiled and murmured, “I love you, Yoongi.”

“I love you, Nari.  Sleep tight.” 

Then he simply stood there watching her sleep for several moments.  While his heart yearned for her company like this every night.  

—

She awoke to a bright sun around noon.  But the room was wrong.  She rolled over and the events of last night flooded her mind as her eyes observed a sleeping Yoongi next to her.  Her heart was overwhelmed by a tender emotion as her gaze slid over his precious face.  She wanted to kiss him awake. But she decided to let him sleep.  He was still deeply sleeping.

She rolled towards him.  She was so tempted to touch him.  To wrap herself around him and pillow her head on his chest.  Instead, she lay observing him while he slept.  

Sleep softened his face.  It made him look both younger and more mature.  She wondered what that countenance would look like in twenty years.  Much the same, she was betting.  Perhaps she’d have the opportunity to find out.

Suddenly, her love for him overwhelmed her heart.  It wasn’t a perhaps.  It was a certainty, wasn’t it?  

She was not about to let this sweet man get away.  Not any more than she was going to allow him to wallow in self-pity and regret.  She was going to encourage him to chase his dreams until he did.  And if they led him away from the corporate world, then so be it!  

The man had a rare gift.  He deserved the opportunity to share it with the world.  She was so happy that he had trusted her enough to share it with her.  She was still overwhelmed by the beauty of it.

She lay for a long time resisting the urge to slide her finger down his cheek.  Or his arm.  Or slide her own arm around his middle and kiss that cheek instead.  But then, she’d disturb him.  So she resisted temptation.  

But as she lay staring at him, all her longings increased.  She finally decided she’d better crawl from bed before she caved to her feelings and did something that woke him up.  However, as she began to turn away from him, those slender fingers reached out to capture her wrist again and tug her near him.  Her heart flew up into her mouth.  She hadn’t realized he was awake.  How long had he been aware of her?

As he pulled her into his embrace, his mouth found hers in a hot kiss that seared her.  She gave in to that kiss and allowed his mouth to roam over hers.  Even as her heart began to thunder.  Was Yoongi going to attempt to lead her down a path she wasn’t yet ready for?  

She chastised herself for staying so late last night and putting herself in this position.  If she’d left earlier, she could have still safely driven home.  And her presence in his bed wouldn’t be tempting him now to increase their level of intimacy.

“Where’d you go?” he suddenly mumbled against her mouth.

“What?” she whispered in a tiny voice.

She didn’t want to risk offending him by pulling away from him.  But she was truly nervous now.  She knew waking up in bed with a girl would test his limits.  

“You’ve pulled away from me.  Emotionally.  I can feel it.  Is it because we’re in bed together?  Am I making you nervous?”

Not meeting his eye, she nodded.  “I’m not ready to…”

Yoongi grinned.  “You’re so cute.  I wasn’t going to…” His voice trailed off.  “We just had our first kiss last night.  I’m not expecting you to…”

She met his eye then.  “You’re not?  But I’m in your bed.”

“Only because you were falling asleep on your feet last night.  I wasn’t about to let you drive home in that state.”

He bent his head and planted a peck on the tip of her nose.  “Are you hungry?” he asked against her cheek.

She nodded.

“I bought some bulgogi yesterday.  Let me make you brunch.”

She smiled.  “Sounds heavenly.”

“Can you stay?” he murmured while his eyes caressed hers.

She nodded.  “I don’t need to be home until dinner.  On Sundays, we usually eat together as a family.”

She sighed as she thought about seeing her brother.

“What was that sigh for?” 

Yoongi suddenly breathed against her cheek again.  Then his finger began to burn a path down her other cheek.  A blazing trail that had her shivering.

“I have to see my brother on Sunday evenings.  Most of the time, he’s gone at school.  But not on Sunday night.  He comes to dinner with the rest of us.  I don’t say much.  He and my appa monopolize the conversation.  I’m invisible when Naru is around.”

Yoongi frowned.  “Why?”

“My appa dotes on him.  He’s always been a mediocre student, but for some reason appa has attached all his dreams to his son,” she spoke bitterly.  She glanced up at him then.  “He’s only twelve minutes older than me, but he has always beat me at everything.  Even when I’m winning, I’m still losing.”

Yoongi furrowed his brow.  “What do you mean?”  

His eyes were sliding down the skin of her cheek.  He was contemplating brushing his lips against it again.  She was so soft.  But her words were what was arresting him right now.  So his gaze captured hers as she failed to finish her thought.  The spark of his eyes hitting hers loosened her tongue.

“I’ve worked hard all my life to be the top student.  But Appa has never even noticed.  I want to follow in his footsteps.  I would love to run his company when he retires.  But he’s always seen only Naru.  Appa doesn’t even care that my brother is lazy.  And has no head for business.  He wants him to run the company.  He’s been grooming him for it since he was young.”

“Does your brother even want it?”

She shrugged.  “I’m sure he wants the money attached to it.  He loves spending Appa’s money.  He’s always charming him out of it.  So he can waste it on his friends, girls, and partying.”

Yoongi stared at her.  “How can you two be so different?”

She sighed.  “I do not know, but we are night and day.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  When I graduated, I begged my parents to let me move out.  I just needed…some space.  I needed to get away from them all.  From constantly disappointing Appa.  From watching my brother continually screw up and get away with it.  Even from Eomma.  She’s not the same since Appa got rich.”

Yoongi could hear the disappointment in her voice.  He bent his head and nuzzled the side of her neck, his hot breath swamping her.  “I’m sorry, Nari,” he whispered against her skin.

She shivered again.  “Yoongi, you must stop that!  You’re making me crave you.”

“Good,” he murmured as he lifted his head to gaze down into her eyes.  “I’m glad to know that you’re not immune to me.”

As their eyes tangled, she whispered, “Not at all.”  Her stomach flipped upside down at the expression in his gorgeous, mahogany orbs.

He bent his head and kissed her tenderly for several moments.  Then he stretched and drew away from her.  Reluctantly.

“I would love to spend all day in this bed with you.  But you’re probably still hungry, eh?”

She nodded.  Then a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.  “Can I help you cook?”

He grinned, and those delightful gums appeared.  “You want to help me in the kitchen, huh?”

“I have always loved to cook.  My eomma and I used to spend hours in the kitchen together when I was little.”

“In that case, I’ll make you my sous chef,” he smiled.

—

They spent a delightful hour preparing their meal together.  Yoongi discovered Nari was more playful than he had anticipated.  And she was excellent at slicing vegetables.

“If the whole corporate thing doesn’t work out, you can become a chef,” he asserted at one point.

She grinned at him.  “You haven’t even tasted my food yet.”

“Maybe not.  But if it tastes half as good as it looks…” He eyed the julienned slices on the cutting board under her fingers.  “Seriously, Nari, those vegetables are gorgeous.  You sliced them perfectly.  The greatest chefs in Korea would be jealous of your knife skills.”

She picked up her knife and wielded it at him.  “Let that be a warning to you not to mess with me.”

“Unless I want to be diced or julienned?”

She grinned.  “Exactly!”

Yoongi chuckled as he threw his hands up in the air.  “Okay, okay.  I’ll table all my plans to ravish you then.”

She slid a surreptitious glance his way and disturbed him staring at her.  Then she burst out laughing.  He couldn’t resist; he reached out and pulled the knife from her fingers before setting it safely down on the counter.  Then, he drew her into his arms and brushed his lips across hers.

“I want this now,” he murmured against her mouth.

“What?  Brunch?”

“No.”  His eyes were intent on hers.  “You.  Here.  With me.  In my arms whenever I feel like it.  In my kitchen cooking with me.”  His voice became gruff, its rumble sliding along her auditory nerves.  “In my bed.  Delighting me.  And letting me delight you.”  

His eyes slid along her skin.  His fingers followed, sliding along her collarbone and sending a bevy of tingles to dart down into her core.  She shivered at that tantalizing brush.  She felt a promising electricity arcing between them.

“Me too,” she whispered breathlessly.  Was Yoongi hogging the oxygen again?

He sighed, dropping his head into the crook of her neck, his breath tickling her ear.  “But first, I’ve got to win your appa over.”

She grimaced.

“Hey, it’s going to be all right.”  He dropped a kiss on her neck.  Making her shiver.  Again.  “I will win him over.  Even if I have to work at his company forever.”

“Yoongi.”  There was a warning note in her voice.  “Don’t give up your dreams for me.  I would end up making you miserable.”

He smiled down at her.  “Nari,” his eyes caressed her face as they slid along its planes, “you could never make me miserable.  If nothing else, I’d have you to come home to every day.  And I could serenade you on my piano every night.”

Her face bloomed into a grin.  “That sounds absolutely heavenly.”  She lifted her face to his and brushed her lips across his mouth.  

He took advantage of the moment for a little while, but then, laughing, Nari shoved him away.  “You’re going to burn the meat!”

His eyes sliding along her lips, he murmured, “It’ll be worth it.  Why would I need food when I have you?”  A smile tugged at his lips, but his eyes were speaking things to her that made her blush.

Her cheeks burning, she turned back to her cutting board.  “Yoongi.  You are an outrageous flirt!  Who would have guessed!?”

He chuckled.  “I guess you just bring out the best in me.”

—

A while later, over brunch, he asked her a question.

“Nari, I’ve run into a problem at work.  But I don’t know what to do about it.”

Curious, she glanced up at him as she took a bite of her bulgogi.  “What is it?”

“I’m helping one of the junior execs with a proposal.  But it’s full of problems.  If he presents it, he’s going to look like an idiot.  But when I suggested a change, he about bit my head off.”

“Sounds like he deserves to look like an idiot.”

“Right?  The thing is I don’t want your appa’s chances to work with this company to be hurt because this guy isn’t doing his job properly.”

Her face brightened.  “Can I look at it?  Did you bring it home this weekend?”

He nodded.  “It’s in my briefcase.”  

He stood up and walked across the room.  A moment later, he returned with a folder.  He handed it to her.

Nari perused it while Yoongi ate.  She was so engrossed in it that she completely forgot her food.  

At one point she asked, “Can I mark on this?”

He nodded.  “I have two copies.” 

“Great.” 

He handed her a pen and away she went for over a half hour.  Jotting down notes.  A lot of notes.

He took a look at them and exclaimed, “Nari!  You are brilliant!  You should have this guy’s job.”

She snorted.  “My appa would never take me seriously.  I don’t even have a business degree yet.  Not even a single class at the university under my belt.”

Yoongi was reading all her ideas.  “But, Nari, this truly is brilliant.  This is exactly what the customer is looking for.  How did you know?”

She shrugged and took a bite of her food.

He stopped reading to gaze at her.  “I have an idea.”

She was finally tucking into her food.  “What?” she asked, not even looking at him.  She was using her chopsticks to fish some bulgogi out of a bowl.  Then she did glance at him.  “Are you going to eat those veggies on your plate?”

He shook his head.  Who could think of food at a time like this?

Apparently, Nari could.  She was stealing the mushrooms and onions off his plate.

“Nari.”

“Hmm?”

“You should write your own proposal and present it to your appa.”

She snorted.  “Yeah, so he can laugh me out of the room.”  

She chewed on her veggies before swallowing.  Then she sipped some water.

“Nari,” Yoongi insisted, his eyes wide, “I’m completely serious. This is exactly what your appa will be expecting.  Only, my guy won’t be delivering it.  You will.”

She lifted her eyes to his.  He was completely earnest.  Her heart bent.  

“You really believe in me that much?” she whispered.

He nodded.  “I do.  I absolutely do.”

She gazed down at the paper on the table.

“Just…keep it.  And think about it.  Okay?”

She glanced up at him.  “All right, Yoongi.  On one condition.”

He frowned.  “What’s that?”

“You come up with one step you can make towards making your dream come true.”

He just stared at her for a few moments, his eyes a blank.

But Nari wouldn’t be denied.

“Do we have a deal?” she persisted.

Reluctantly, Yoongi nodded his head.

“Good.”  She reached down and picked his hand up off the table.  So she could shake it.  “Nice going into business with you, piano man.”

Then she smiled, leaned towards him, and brushed her lips across his.  And Yoongi felt a beautiful future opening up before him even as his heart fluttered with apprehension.