Hyunjin is kneeling on the floor of the bedroom, his hands outstretched, his mouth agape. She pulls back from him and walks out of the room, toward the first bedroom where her clothing has been left in the hall. He looks around the empty bedroom after she leaves, amazed, confused, unsure. He looks down at the robe, feeling very awkward in it now. He pulls it open, leaving it on the bed, stepping out of the slippers and runs to the bathroom to get a towel to wrap around himself. He ties the towel low on his hip and he steps out of the room, looking for a direction. He is unsure where she is, but he walks down the hallway, listening for signs of her, not sure where to go.
He rounds the corner and finds the living room, the patio beyond, and he hears a noise. He looks over and sees her, wearing her dress from earlier, standing in the kitchen at the counter with her back to him. He steps into the room cautiously, feeling awkward in the towel. She turns to him and smiles softly, a little embarrassed. He steps closer and looks down at his towel.
"I'm sorry, I don't know where my clothes are," he explains. She blushes a little and nods.
"I'll get them, I don't know if I can have this conversation with you in that towel," she says, smiling at him in a way he recognizes as desire and it makes him feel slightly relieved. "Have some tea," she offers. He looks over at the kettle which has just boiled and he turns to the teacups she left out. She steps out of the kitchen and disappears down the hallway as he pulls over the cup and pours the water over the tea. He stares at the cup, wondering at this crazy night. So many highs, and lows and all the unknowns, all the confusion, but being with her, that isn't confusing; touching her, kissing her, being held by her is real, and he wants more. That he is sure of.
She comes back into the room carrying his clothing in her hands. He smiles and awkwardly takes his pants, slipping them on under his towel and he notices that she watches him as he puts on his shirt, buttoning it up. He can tell that she is trying not to look at him, but it's as if she can't look away. She motions for him to bring his tea and join her on the couch. He sits down, putting the tea he no longer wants on the coffee table, and he turns to wait for her to speak, to tell him this tale, to relate the entire story to him and to finally make sense of the past week. She takes a deep breath, realizing he's waiting for her to talk. It doesn't make it easier on her, it doesn't make her feel safer telling him everything she's tried to hide from him for the entire week, but, he deserves to know the truth.
"Hyunjin, I- I am the daughter of Kim Gyu-soo. Everything I told you was true, basically." He leans in, hoping to get closer to the truth as she speaks. "I was sent to boarding school in the UK when I was seven. Do you know I didn't get to come home even for Christmas until I was ten. My mother thought it would be a good way for me to learn English and to find independence. She probably didn't care that I was a total outsider, I looked English and spoke only Korean. None of the kids there wanted to be my friend. So, I just invented a new version of myself, Sasha." She frowns as she admits this truth and feels a pang as she relives it. He reaches over and takes her hand, holding it, running his thumb over it to soothe her. "My family own a lot of companies, and properties, and I have never wanted for anything -material." She sighs and he senses what she is thinking. She looks down. "I don't own anything. I am no one, I have nothing, without them." She bites her cheek, stifling the tears. "They control everything about my life, even though I'm an adult, I still live this child like existence." She looks away from him embarrassed. "My father thinks I'm some flighty Instagram obsessed girl who wastes money and doesn't focus on anything but choreography. He let's me work with his girl groups, but probably not because he recognizes my talent, probably just to keep me under his thumb. He's never known the real me, I guess because they sent me away for so long, I came back a stranger. They only see what they want to see. So I spend a lot of time pretending." He looks at her with such concern, but he's plagued by a thought he can't get out of his mind.
"Did your father send you here to watch me?" he asks quietly. She looks up at him surprised but she bites her lip before she answers.
"My father thinks I am enjoying a vacation and keeping an eye on you, yes. He foolishly mentioned to me that they were thinking of sending you out of the country and said he was worried you could get into trouble," she admits to him. He frowns. She looks into his eyes, hoping to make him understand. "To be honest, I pretended not to be interested, hoping he would ask me to do this. I told him I just wanted a vacation, and to stay at the suite. He chose Fiji for you, because I wanted to come here, and we have properties here. He thought you could be kept out of any trouble in such a remote place." He drops his head.
"So you just came here to keep me out of trouble? Is this some sort of game?" He fights a tear in his eye as he asks, afraid of her answer. She looks up at him, fearful of being misunderstood.
"Hyunjin no, you don't understand. I wanted to be with you. If my father knew, he would never have let me come, never have sent you here. You'd be somewhere else, on your own. I convinced him to send me, to watch over you. He has no idea how I feel about you." He looks up at her, hopeful.
"How do you feel about me?" He looks worried about her answer She smiles up at him, and runs her hand along his chin.
"I want to spend every minute of every day I have with you, in your arms," she tells him, blushing at finally admitting this to him. She had played it so cool up until this point but now the act she was perfecting has shattered and it's just her, open, vulnerable, and raw. He smiles at her, so relieved to hear her words. He leans over and wraps her in his embrace, holding her close, holding her tightly.
"I'm so happy Sa-rang. I understand. I don't want you to get into trouble with your family, but, this can't end tomorrow. It just can't. You have to find a way to stay with me." He rocks her in his arms as he says the words. He wants to keep her here, as long as he can. She pulls back and looks into his eyes, studying his expression.
"I- I could try. I can call him and see. I don't know what he will say." She looks down, uncertain. "But, what happens when we get back to Seoul?" He nods, thinking.
"We can figure that out later. I don't know when I'm going back, but, I know I want to stay here with you, as long as I can." He leans in and kisses her, slowly, softly, and she reaches up to hold his face as he lays his head against the space between her shoulder and her neck. She smiles, knowing that she has a chance to be real with him, to be herself with him, and for some reason, suddenly, that feels like enough. She pulls back and reaches to get her purse laying on the table near the couch. She pulls out her mobile phone he hasn't seen at all since they met. He watches her curiously. She holds up her finger to him to wait and he sits back on the couch to see what she has planned. She opens the screen and presses an icon to make a call, putting the phone to her ear. She holds her finger to her lips to be sure he's quiet.
"Appa? It's Sa-rang. I know it's late... it's only midnight in Seoul... Appa, I was going to leave tomorrow, and I think I should stay for a bit longer," she says as she bites her lip, waiting for his response. She smiles over at Hyunjin as she listens to her father. "Oh yes, he's been at the resort. He's been doing Yoga every morning on the beach, and he has afternoon painting lessons and once I saw him at Chef's tasting." She nods and fights back a laugh remembering their first day together. He smiles and tries to be quiet next to her, reaching out to run his hand over her knee as she sits on the couch with her legs folded under her. "He's taken a lot of pictures, and the staff told me he spends a lot of time in his Villa, by himself." She winks at him and he bites his hand to stifle his laughter. "Oh yes, I think it's going well. I'm just shopping and working on my dance routines. But I want to stay at the house, because the space is better for practicing, if that's OK with you and Eomma?" She rolls her eyes at mentioning her, and waits to hear her father's response. "I can? I can stay?! Oh Appa, thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I love you. kiss, kiss," she says into the phone and then ends the call, nearly throwing the phone as she lunges toward his body, pushing him backwards on the couch as her body lays on top of him. He holds her tightly, excited for her, for them, to get more time together. No matter what happens now, he knows everything, he knows the truth, he knows the real Sa-rang, and he wants every bit of her.
"Sa-rang, I'm so happy we get to be together!" He continues to squeeze her tightly. She pulls back and looks into his eyes. "Now that we have more time together, what are we going to do first?" he asks. She grins at him, slyly.
"We still have several more bedrooms to visit." She smiles, biting her lip and he grabs her tighter, pulling her into a deep kiss, happy to be holding her, and to be connected to her, the real her. He was sent on this forced vacation to 'find himself', and he did, but he found so much more.
The End
Thank you for reading