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“Where are we going, Beom Sook?” Ni Na asked a couple of days later.  After he had fully recovered from the fever and its ghastly effects.

He smiled down at his beloved.  “Keep your eyes closed.  It’s a secret.  To be revealed only at the right time.”

The corners of her own lips tipped upwards as she enjoyed his breath in her ear.  “All right,” she replied grudgingly.  But they both knew that the tone of her voice was simply teasing him.

His hand clung to hers and tugged her forward.  And he breathed a silent prayer of relief that Ni Na had never gotten sick.  Despite nursing a bunch of them back to health.  And getting precious little sleep in the process.

She was quite resilient. 

That was one thing that he had learned over the past month.

His heart had chosen to love an amazing woman.

“I wanted to do this when the cherry blossoms were falling to the ground,” he whispered as he led her outside.  “But I find that I am too impatient.”

It was still a little chilly out.  So he had ensured that she was wearing an extra robe.  So was he.  At his mother’s insistence.  She didn’t want him catching a chill.  Or another fever.

“Do what?” queried Ni Na.

“You’ll see,” he murmured.

As he continued to tug her along, she quizzed him.  “Why don’t you just wait another six weeks then?”

“I don’t want to,” he growled.

And she chuckled.  Whatever it was, the man was impatient.

Finally, they came to a halt under a cherry blossom tree.  It wasn’t sporting any beautiful blooms yet.  But it was the best he could do today.  And he wasn’t about to wait one more day.  Not even for cherry blossoms.

He gazed down at her then.  And something new was awakened in his gaze.  “Ni Na,” he breathed her name.  With a measure of awe that made her stomach spiral out of control.

And her eyes flutter open.

He reached up and laid his palm along her jawline.  Cupping her cheek gently with his right hand.  The pad of his thumb brushed tenderly across the soft skin of her cheek.  And Ni Na was lost in the beautiful sensations that he was unleashing along her nerves.

“I love you,” he whispered.  And his eyes caressed her lips.

Then he bent forward.  And his mouth joined that dance.  His lips softly embraced her own in a kiss far sweeter than any she had ever imagined. 

Her eyes closed again.  And she reveled in the sweet touch of his mouth against her own.  Beom Sook had been worth the wait.  Though, really, it had been quite short. 

He’d been worth the agony too.  Of believing that his heart had been inextricably linked with another.  Apparently, she’d been wrong about that.

His lips seemed to be communicating to her just how wrong she’d been.

She gave herself to that kiss.  Reaching up to twine her arms around his neck.  Her fingers finding the soft hairs at the nape of his neck.  And losing themselves in their silkiness.

His own arms snaked around her and drew her close to him.  Cradling her like she was some precious treasure.  For, indeed, she was.

After several blissful moments, he murmured against her lips, “I love you, Ni Na.”

Her lips curved into a smile as she replied, “I love you too, Beom Sook.”  Then her brow crumpled in confusion.  “You wanted to kiss me under the rain of cherry blossoms?”

“Hmm.  I did.  I wanted to do something else there too.”

“What?”

“But now I’m thinking I’ll just replace the proposal with the actual event.”

“What?”

He drew her close again and kissed her tenderly.  “Ni Na?  Will you marry me under the rain of the cherry blossoms?”

She gasped.  She drew back.  For he had murmured those words against her lips.

“You want me to marry you in six weeks?”

His lips twitched.  “Actually, I want you to marry me today.  But I’m assuming you and my mother will need a few weeks to prepare.”

“Indeed.  Maybe even eight.”

“Eight?” he whined.  “I’m supposed to do without you for eight weeks?”

She shook her head.  “You will never have to do without me, Beom Sook.  I teach next door to you.”

“I meant do without you in my bed.”

“Oh.”

And he was delighted to see that her cheeks were blooming again.

“Hmm.  I suppose I can wait eight more weeks,” he finally conceded as he watched that lovely color leaching into her forehead.

But then, he bent his head and claimed her luscious lips again.

There were some things that he couldn’t wait for anymore.

And Ni Na’s kisses were one of them.