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His heart bent in sadness as he considered her.  A young girl who had no idea how to receive love.  Such a creature should never have existed.  She’d been born for love.  Yet here she was.  Cringing away from his tender touch.

Until she wasn’t.

She took a step towards him.  And then another.   Finally, she reached out and slid her fingers along his.  She didn’t grab his hand.  She simply touched it.

He was the one who reached up to trap that hand between his own.  Then his eyes found hers again.  And spent a moment silently communicating his affection for her.  At last, he spoke.

“The first step is to receive my words.  So I shall pen you another poem.  But you may not criticize it until I am finished with it.  Agreed?”

She considered him silently for several long moments that seemed to stretch into an eternity. 

But he remained still.  This was like hunting.  One had to be very patient once his quarry was discovered hiding in the forest.  Then wait for just the right timing.  So as not to spook the animal and scare it away before it could be caught.  Only…

…Sook Myeong wasn’t an animal. 

Oh, she might believe herself to be one.  But he knew better.  She was just a lonely girl.  Whose soul had been damaged by the ruthlessness of those surrounding her.  She’d been trained to be heartless.  But…

…she wasn’t heartless.

He was well aware that a heart was beating in that precious chest.  And it seemed that he had moved it.  At least once.

So he kept his cinnamon eyes fixed to hers.  Finally, she spoke.  “Agreed.”

“Care to sit?” he asked as he lifted his hand off of hers and gestured towards the bench.

She nodded.  Though, truthfully, she was reluctant to remove her hand from his.  But she pulled away from him anyway and seated herself in her usual spot.

“Shall I kneel again?” he teased her cheerfully.

She snickered but cut the noise off abruptly by turning it into a cough.  Or so she tried.

But his eyes were twinkling.  He’d caught her, and they both knew it.

“I think that is no longer necessary.  Unless you’re about to ask for my hand in marriage,” she added after a moment.

“Hmm.  A bit premature, don’t you think?”

One elegant brow arched.  “Is it?  I seem to remember you threatening me with marriage the first time we spoke.”

“Mmm.  Yes, it’s possible.  I might have done that.  But I have reformed since then.”  He sat down next to her.  “Now…what shall I write my poem about?”

He considered her for a moment before turning his attention towards the sky.  “So much inspiration surrounds me.”

But then the lovely lotus floating in the stream near her foot caught his eye.  And he instantly saw the parallel.  So he decided to begin there.

He cleared his throat.

“A lovely lotus caught the stream,

And found herself living her dream,

To travel far and wide, it seems,

And bask in exquisite sunbeams.”

He grinned at her suddenly.  “How did I do this time?”

“It’s too short.”

He quirked a dark eyebrow at her.  “Really?  At least, it rhymed this time.”

“Mmm.” 

“You’re a hard nut to crack.  All right, I shall proceed…

“But far from home she met a storm.

The cranky wind did toss her far.

The lotus longed for home and warm.

Lifting her face to seek a star

“To steady her and lead her home.

To comfort her and calm her heart.

The lights extinguished in their dome

By angry clouds that would not part

“Refused to shed comforting light,

They gave in to a stormy night.

The lotus found she’d lost her hope.

She needed a rescuing rope.

“An hour passed without a sign.

She bowed her head; she was resigned.

She’d perish here in this river.

Without a friend, she did quiver.

“The rain it fell to pummel her,

Scarred her petals, muddied her bloom.

But then she heard a whisperer.

Perhaps she had not sealed her doom.

“She lifted her sad eyes to see,

The voice that beckoned through the wind.

A tiny fish peeped from the sea,

Coming to rescue, it beckoned,

“‘Can I give you a lift back home?’

The baby fish peeked through the foam.

‘You may now ride upon my back.

I am small, but strength I don’t lack.’

“Heaving a sigh of faint relief,

The lotus climbed with its green leaf,

Upon the back of that small fish,

Wondering if she’d got her wish.

“They rode the waves and rolled the tide,

Finding strong limbs under to hide.

They sped along that grand river,

Until that bloom found its quiver.

“She turned to thank her loyal friend.

‘It seems we have come to our end.

I can’t thank you enough, my dear,

For helping to conquer my fear.’”

Sook Myeong giggled and looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.  “What am I?  A tiny child in need of a lullaby?”

He measured her with a glance.  “I think you probably are.  Did you sleep much last night?”

She sobered instantly.  For her ruminations concerning this man had kept her awake.

When she remained silent, he ventured, “And I think you need the moral of the tale more than the lullaby.”

She furrowed her brow.  “What do you mean?”

“You were not meant to go it alone.  It is all right to trust someone.  At least, occasionally, anyway.  And if you can find a true friend, don’t let him go.”

She speared him with her gaze.  “Are you implying that you are such a friend?”

“I could be,” he muttered warmly, his cinnamon eyes buzzing.

She frowned.  “Why do you care?”

“Because…I…recognize another lonely heart when I see one,” he whispered under his breath.

She leaned towards him in an attempt to decipher his words.  “Are you implying that your heart is lonely?” she queried as her own heart shifted in her chest.  A little violently.

“I’m not implying it.  I’m stating it as a fact.  My heart has long been lonely.”

“Then why have you not married yet?  You are far past the eligible age.”

“I had yet to find a girl who was my match.”

She stared at him. 

He hadn’t said, “I have yet to find a girl who is my match.”  He’d spoken it in the past tense.

“Does that mean that you have now found your match?”

“I think,” he replied as his eyes caressed her face, “it is a distinct possibility.  But only if she agrees, of course.”

She shook her head.  “I do not understand you.  Are you looking for a prickly, frozen girl then?”

“Apparently, I am,” he murmured provocatively.

And she shivered at the look in those warm eyes.