Authors: Ong Xiong
CHAPTER
15
Sue watched Jae
jump from the cliff and gasped as he dove head first into the pool. Crazy, this
is crazy, Sue repeated to herself. Why did she let him convince her to do this?
She was not a strong swimmer; actually, she couldn’t swim at all. She could
swim fairly well as long as her feet could still touch the ground.
She watched him
swim to the edge and pull himself up. When he approached her on the cliff
again, she thought he was going to dive again. Instead, he motioned for her to
dive. “No, I don’t think so. You see,” Sue swallowed, “I could drown.” She
swallowed again, looking over the cliff.
Without saying a
word, Jae approached her with a mischievous grin and lifted her off her feet.
He carried her to the edge of the cliff and in one swift motion, tossed her
into the water. She screamed all the way.
When Sue didn’t
immediately surface, Jae dove after her. Moments after he dove, she surfaced,
spurting and cursing. He didn’t realize she had such a colorful vocabulary.
“You asshole!” she shouted at him and tried to push him away from her. He held
onto her and swam toward the edge of the pool. She pushed at him but he held
onto her. As soon as she was standing on the ground, panting, she kicked him in
the shin.
“Ow!” he
bellowed. Surprised from her physical reaction, he almost faltered back into
the water.
“Don’t you ever
do that again! I could have drowned!” she shouted as she turned and stomped
away.
How dare he
!
When he told her where they were going, she was excited. Then when they reached
the falls, she was utterly stunned by what she saw. The view of the waterfall
was breathtaking and for some time, she just stared in awe.
Twin falls
cascaded into a pool of the clearest water Sue had ever seen. It was a clear,
warm spring afternoon and the water reflected a beautiful blue sky. The deep
blue of the water was further amplified by the dark rocks and greenery
surrounding the falls. It was as if she had entered a calendar picture
showcasing an exotic destination one must visit in their lifetime. The water
plunging into the pool created a cascade of crystal sheet water that hypnotized
her senses.
There were other
people there diving, and Sue watched with amusement. It wasn’t until they were
by the edge of the pool at the bottom of the falls that Jae started stripping
off his clothes. The crisp mist floating her way drew her to the mystic falls
and without much thought to what Jae was doing, she stripped to her swimming
suit and was preparing to dive into the clear, blue water, forgetting that she
couldn’t swim.
That and seeing
Jae’s tattoo. An ancient dragon in shades of black and gray curled from Jae’s
left shoulder down the left side of his back. When he flexed his muscles, the
dragon appeared to come alive, as if clinging to him. The next thing she knew,
Sue was standing on the cliff next to the falls. Sue watched as Jae approached
the edge, stretched his arms over his head then dove perfectly into the pool.
An amused grin
spread on his face before Jae chased after her. “You didn’t drown,” he said
when he caught up with her. Then something occurred to him. “Don’t you know how
to swim?”
She reached their
clothes and pulled on her shorts. “I said I could drown! I didn’t say I could
s-swim!” she retorted angrily, her teeth chattering.
“I see,” he said.
“I should not have jumped to the conclusion that you could not swim from your
declaration that you could drown.”
“Oh, sa-nap! He
jokes! And I thought the man didn’t have a sense of humor!” She picked up her
shirt and yanked it on. She glared at him while she grabbed her towel and her
backpack before she stomped away. He tried to block her and she swung her
backpack at him. She didn’t do much damage to his strong, tall frame. She
sidestepped around him and shrugged off his hand. He let her walk a few feet
away from him before he went after her.
He caught up with
her then swept her off her feet. Startled, she dropped her things and grabbed
onto him. She gasped as he swung her in the air, twirling her in a full circle
before pulling her to his chest. She opened her mouth to give him a piece of
her mind, but before she could make any sound, his mouth covered hers, kissing
her. She forgot all about her anger and wrapped her arms around his neck,
lacing her fingers into his wet hair. She kissed him back.
Jae gently coaxed
her lips to part with his tongue. On a daring wild impulse, she conceded to his
silent request and her lips gave way. His tongue brushed hers and she felt a
sensation she had never felt before. She gave an involuntary moan of pleasure
and he tightened his hold on her, drawing her closer to his bare, muscular
chest as his tongue challenged hers into a battle.
“Truce?” he asked
against her lips. She was momentarily speechless and gave a nod in response.
She was still trying to calm her rapidly beating heart and catch her breath
from the unexpected kiss. Lord, he took her breath away. And she knew then that
she would never forget this moment for the rest of her life. She would remember
him forever.
“Truce,” she
whispered against his lips, panting. She felt his lips curve into a smile as
their lips parted and her eyes fluttered open. Jae was still smiling at her.
Feeling a little embarrassed, she asked him to put her down, even though she
wanted to stay right where she was. He lowered her to the ground but he still held
onto her.
With one hand on
her waist and the other on her chin, Jae tilted her pretty face toward him.
“Want to try again? Diving, I mean.”
If he wasn’t
still holding onto her, her weakening legs would have given out from beneath
her. She didn’t realize before how beautiful he was. He had high cheekbones and
light brown eyes. The bump on his nose made him appeared rugged, dangerous. His
tanned skin shimmered in the sunlight and his wet tousled hair fell freely over
his forehead, partially covering his brows. Her hands were on his arms, feeling
his tight muscles beneath her palm. Goodness, she really needed to get a hold
of her thoughts.
Focus
!
Their bodies were
intimately pressed together, his hands still holding onto her; her hands still
holding onto him. Their closeness was not forgotten by either one of them.
“I don’t think
so,” she replied with a shaky voice. Being so close to him was making her
nervous. She had never been this close to a man before and this was her first
kiss. She was so inexperienced; she didn’t know how to respond to him. After
all, what should one say to someone who just took their breath away? The
shameful truth was, she wanted to kiss him again. But how should she go about
kissing him without being so shamefully wanton? She needed to be a good girl
and good girls didn’t go around standing outdoors showcasing their affections,
pressed to a gorgeous man with thin materials as the only barrier between their
naked bodies.
This was also not
something she could read about. There was no book instructing how she should
appropriately react to such a breathtaking kiss. If there was, she hadn’t read
it. Forget propriety, she might not get a chance like this again. She tiptoed
and kissed his chin.
“Why did you do
that?” he asked, surprised by that unexpected show of affection. She was
beautiful, even more so with her wet hair. Holding her close, looking into
those captivating dark brown eyes, glistening with such curiosity, he had to
restrain from kissing her again. Her innocent response to him and that sexy
whimper she gave when he kissed her made his skin crawl. Then she kissed his
chin with such gentleness, he didn’t know what to make of it.
“I missed,” she
said.
“Missed?” he
asked, raising an eyebrow. Just what does she mean she missed?
She nodded,
giving a little nervous laugh. “If you weren’t so tall, I would have kissed
your lips,” she confessed and blushed.
He laughed softly
as he leaned toward her. He brushed his lips against hers, one hand on her jaw,
holding her gaze. “Does this help?” he asked, giving her a devilish grin.
She let out a
nervous laugh. He was taken aback by her candid reaction to him and didn’t wait
for an answer. He slightly tilted his head and kissed her again and again until
they were both breathless.
CHAPTER
16
After the
waterfall, Jae showed her what she wanted to see. “This is Hong Dae, the city
of my inspiration,” he told her as they walked down a boulevard of lighted
walkways and knick knack shops.
“Inspiration for
your dancing?” she asked.
“Yeh.”
“How long have
you been dancing?”
“A long time.”
“How long?” she
prodded.
He shrugged. “I
don’t remember.”
“I see.” She
paused. “Who taught you?”
Jae didn’t reply.
“Jae, if you
don’t mind me asking, where are your parents?”
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go
get something to eat.”
“Does that mean
you don’t want to tell me where your parents are?”
“Are you always
this nosy?” he asked.
“Just around
you.” She sighed. “Are you always this…evasive?”
“Only around
you.”
“You could just
say you minded, and I wouldn’t have prodded further,” she said with a note of
irritation. To her surprise, he stepped in front of her and she walked right
into him. “Now what?” She didn’t mean to sound harsh but the words came out
more forceful than she intended, and she regretted as soon as she realized what
she had done. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice.”
“Suzy,” he said,
taking hold of her arms and taking her with him as he stepped aside to let
people pass them on the sidewalk. His jaw tightened as his eyes silently searched
hers for understanding. He looked like he wanted to say something but instead,
he sighed and held her gaze. “I…am not used to people asking me such personal
questions. Please understand.”
She nodded and
didn’t ask further questions. Before getting dinner, Jae took her to a place
that looked like a night club: dark corners, loud music, and large crowds. This
was the first time Sue was in a night-club setting and she looked around with
interest. Several times, Jae had to pull her arm to get her moving and to get
her to stop staring at the people around her.
There was a
second floor filled with people. Some were sitting down; some were standing.
Some were hovering over the railing that kept them from falling on the crowd
gathering in the middle of the room. Music blasted in the background and she
expected dancing, grinding and bumping, but the crowd was still. They seemed to
be waiting for something. Her eyes followed in the direction of all the heads
toward a stage in the middle of the room. She noticed a square area in the
middle of the crowd was unoccupied.
A young man
wearing a white T-shirt, baggy pants held up by an elaborate belt that sparkled
in the light, and a white baseball cap, worn sideways, stepped onto the stage.
The music abruptly stopped and he began speaking into a microphone he held in
his hand.
Jae stood in back
of her. He placed his hands on her waist as he leaned in and translated what
the man was saying in her ear. His warm breath on her neck sent goose bumps
throughout her body. He pulled her closer, pressing her back to his hard chest.
She didn’t know what to do with her hands so she did the first thing that came
to mind. She placed them over his, feeling his masculine hands beneath her
palms. She felt his arms fully encircled her and her breath quickened.
Despite the loud
atmosphere, she heard him clearly and was grateful for the translation. There
were several words she couldn’t catch and she didn’t understand the slang words
the young man used. And even if she could understand, she probably wouldn’t
have understood. Her mind was focused on Jae and the way he held onto her. When
the young man stopped talking and walked off the stage, Jae rested his chin on
her shoulder. She remained still, afraid to move. Her heart raced and she wondered
if he could hear her heart pounding or feel her pulse racing.
He must have felt
her nervousness. He placed a kiss on her neck and she felt an unexpected
tingling sensation vibrated through her body. “Relax. I don’t bite,” he
whispered.
She heard his
soft laughter and turned to look at him. His face was inches away from hers.
“How am I supposed to relax when you’re so close to me like this?”
He smiled.
She frowned.
He tightened his
hold on her and gestured toward the stage. “If you keep glaring at me, you will
miss the show.”
She returned her
gaze to the stage and tried to keep her thoughts to herself. The kiss, the
touch—Jae made her feel all sorts of feelings she couldn’t describe and in the
short time they’d come to know each other, she was starting to like him. Really
like him.
Focus
!
Two young men,
dressed in similar style as the announcer, except they wore colored T-shirts,
stepped onto the stage. They faced each other, reached out their right hands,
nudged, withdrew, and then took their pose.
“They are
dueling,” Jae explained. “The one in red is Leopard, and he is the reigning
champion. The one in yellow is Monkey, the challenger.”
“Leopard?
Monkey?” She turned in his arms to glance at him askance. He smiled and nodded.
“Okay,” she mouthed. He gestured for her to turn back to the stage. She did,
smiling. The music began and the two dancers began to dance. Several audience
members cheered and some booed. They were both amazing dancers and Sue watched
with enthusiasm. Her closeness to Jae was not forgotten. He was still holding
onto her. She smiled.