CONTRACT POSITION

{11} PAST THE THRESHOLD

Once she was okay and sprayed antibacterial spray on everything,  classes resumed as normal for the next few weeks, but one thing was different. Chan and Teresa now had a habit of texting every day, throughout the day.

Whenever one thought of the other, or they saw something funny or sad, they'd share it.
Class went famously, but now they always lingered a little bit talking about "that one meme" or "that show".

One class, they were talking about procedural language, so Teresa had Chan choose a recipe to follow and he would follow the instructions and make it. To be fair, she had one in Korean as well, so they'd see who followed the recipe better.

As they cooked together, they talked and cracked jokes. Then Chan began messing with her, hiding an ingredient from her, swapping another... she was getting annoyed.

"Christopher Bang Chan, we're in class! Behave." As she was saying this, he was in the process of grabbing her pepper, but she went and grabbed his seasoning mix.

"Two can play this game! Come and get it!" He went after her, trying to get the seasoning, while at the same time she was trying to grab the pepper. She hid it behind her back, and he, being a bit taller, above his head. They went back and forth until at some point, Teresa had nowhere to go. She was pinned against the kitchen counter.

She sighed. "I give up." She put her hands up in defeat. He grabbed the seasoning from her hands, and placed both seasonings on the counter behind her. He looked at her, putting both hands on the counter, on each side of her. "Teresa, I'm sorry, but I really want to kiss you right now! Can I please?"

She felt his body weight shift forward. She was speechless. Her threshold was crumbling. It had now been more than one month since they had met. He was not over her.

"You... do you still like me? I thought you were over me."

"I like you more every day. I just got better at hiding it."

Hyunjin's words rang in her head. He was not like the others who got over her quickly.

"You're not saying no, and you're not moving away." He pointed out.

"I'm scared. I'm older than you."
"I couldn't care less about your age."
"I'm your teacher. What if class suffers?"
"I've liked you this whole time and have still been a good student. That's irrelevant. I'm a grown man! I am still not hearing a no."
"JYPE..."
"Forget about the company. It's fine. Teresa, I'm going to kiss you now. Please say no or push me away if you don't want this."

She couldn't. She was frozen in place. She had to come to grips with the fact that she wanted him to kiss her. He had passed the threshold. He was too kind, too good, too sweet, too smart, too attentive... he was a good man, regardless of his age.

She looked into his eyes, and did not move an inch. He kissed her softly, then checked for her reaction. She had tears in her eyes. "Can I kiss you again?" She nodded.
This time he kissed her deeper, his hands holding her in a tight embrace. She slowly began reacting and hugging him back, melting into his kiss. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity.

He slowed down the pace then kissed her cheeks, and her forehead. Then hugged her tightly. "I think I'm falling for you, Teresa."

She was speechless, tears falling. "Why are you crying?" He wiped her tears.

"I am terrified. I don't know what to do. I don't know why I'm so scared to just let go. No, that's a lie. I do. I know. I'm afraid of getting heartbroken again by someone who said they'd be here for me, but then took off soon after. You're younger. I'm probably a fleeting moment in your life.

We can't guarantee the future, but Teresa, it's almost been two months and I haven't stopped. I don't know if I can. Let's just try and see what happens, yeah?  Who knows? You might be the one leaving me, but I'm willing to take that risk if I get to be close to you.

He had a point.

At that moment she kissed him, giving him the answer he was searching for. The threshold was displaced. She was finally closer to being his.