(this one is moving along pretty quickly....but I'm not sure what will happen along the way. at least i have an idea of where it will end lol

The food had arrived and they sat in the middle of the floor to eat. He had run to a store and gotten some beer to go with it. He watched her eat fries dipped in the thick brown sauce from the noodles between bites of the hot chewy pizza and sips of beer.

“I guess you were really hungry.” Minwoo chuckled as he started on his second slice of pizza.

“I was so nervous before I came that food was the last thing on my mind. And the ramen just reminded me how hungry I really was. ” She grabbed her chopsticks and slurped noodles from the bowl they shared. “Plus the nap earlier messed up my time. I’m still on Cali time.” She finished her beer and opened another, she took a huge gulp and set it down. She covered and let out a burp. He laughed at her.

“So are you glad everything is done here? Now all you have to do is set up the workshop downstairs. All the boxes that were labeled for that are stacked in the spare room. We thought you should be the one to do that.”

She smiled at him slyly, “So who unpacked my clothes? I’d hate to think one of the guys was all touching my .” She giggled and ate some more fries.

“Kaye handled that, I was going to but she pushed me right out of the room.” He remembered how hard Eric had laughed at his face.

“Well, it’s only fair….it’s not like you’ve seen them before.” She swirled a fry in the sauce and held it out to him. He opened his mouth and ate it. She watched his lips and sighed. It had been difficult not to go beyond kisses with him when she was here before. She wanted to make sure she was ready before things got physical. When she had seen her therapist before she left for Seoul they had talked about how in the past her getting physical too soon had been part of the reason her relationships hadn’t worked out. They talked about why she did it and it came down to her wanting to create a closeness with her partner. In most cases it was too early and the person saw her as easy or needy. With Minwoo she really wanted to make sure she was ready because she could tell she really did like him and wanted things to work. was something they hadn’t even talked about yet but her therapist suggested she should try and bring it up in a non ual setting so they could be open and honest about it. Little did her therapist know that Minwoo was basically on legs, every movement held a deep ual spark……this was going to prove difficult.

Soon they were finished with their food and Minwoo went to take the leftovers to the fridge and put the delivery stuff out in the hall to be picked up. She watched him and tried to think of a way to bring it up in a way that wouldn’t end with them all sweaty and in bed together.

“I’ve got some sheet masks and stuff that got when I was here and never used. Wanna do a mini spa night with me? My skin is kinda dry from the flight.” She stood and headed for the bathroom.

“Sure, that sounds like a good idea. Do you have any cute animal ones?” He laughed as he put the extra beer in the fridge and pulled out a couple of bottles of water. “Of course I do, Minbong. Hyesung went with me to pick them out and he got all the best ones.” She walked into the bathroom and brushed her teeth really quick and change into a tank top, it was a little warm in the apartment, before she grabbed the basket that held all her facial supplies. When she came back out he had put a couple of cushions on the floor and rested on on. She went over to him and set the basket down and sat with her legs crossed. He dug through it. “Wow you have a lot of Korean products in here.”

“Well you guys do have great stuff. My skin has never looked better since I switched to the cleansers and stuff I got here.” She grabbed a couple of fabric bands to keep their hair off their foreheads and handed him one. It was pink and had a fabric flower on it. He slipped it on and she giggled at how cute he looked. She reached over and grabbed her phone off the table and took a picture of him. “Don’t worry, this is just for me.” She set her phone down and put her own on, it was white with little yellow ducks on it. She pulled out an oil cleanser and some cotton balls.

“You first, Minbong.” She grabbed another cushion and put it on her crossed legs. He moved and laid on his back with his head rested on it and looked up at her. “This is nice, I love spending time with you.” He reached up and squeezed her hand gently and then closed his eyes.

She put some cleanser on a cotton ball and began to sweep it gently over his face. She made little circles across his forehead and dipped it down to run along his nose. His eyelashes fluttered sightly and he made a happy sighing sound. She smiled and ran it along his cheeks and jawline. She should have felt nervous, he was very close but she didn’t. She dropped the cotton ball after his face had a thin coating and used her fingertips to massage the oil in gently. He opened his eyes and saw that she stared at him, her eyes soft and a faint smile on her full lips. He let them close again and sighed happily. “You’re really good at this.” He whispered. She put one finger against his lips to hush him and he kissed it gently before he went quiet again. She let her fingers trail along his jawline to his neck, where she felt his pulse beat strong and steady. When she was done she pulled a mask out of the basket and opened it and arranged it over his face gently, she had chosen one that was a panda. She giggled softly at how cute it looked and then grabbed her phone to snap another picture and set a timer.

“Okay now you have to stay still for 20 minutes.” She hummed softly and played with the ends of his hair that the headband made stick up. He laid there and listened to her and let his whole body relax.

His voice broke the silence, “So what made you decide to come here? Was it just me?” She though about it before she answered.

“Well you were definitely part of my reasons, Minwoo. I wanted to see if what we had while I was here was just a fluke or something real. But I’ve also always wanted to live here. And being able to work at the same time really appealed to me.” She tried not to stare at his lips and bit her own nervously. The timer went off and he went to sit up but she pushed him back down gently and pulled the mask off and patted all over his face gently. When she was finished she tapped him on the shoulder gently.

“Now you can sit up.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Wow, you really got into that.” He sat up and turned to her and kissed her. She kissed him back then pushed him back gently. “It’s my turn now.” She said softly. He grabbed the pillow and sat down on his cushion. He put the pillow in his lap, just like she had and she laid back and closed her eyes right away. He picked up the same cleanser she had used.”

“No not that one, use the one with the pink cap. It’s the one I use at night.” She chuckled and felt him lean forward to grab the right one. He put some on a cotton ball like she had done.

“So now that I have you as a captive audience, why don’t you tell me why you decided to have dinner with me in the first place? You never said that night and I’ve been wondering.” He swiped the ball over her forehead and watched as furrows formed.

“Well….it was the way you handled Kaye with all the Eric stuff. He’s your friend, just like family and you chose to protect her. I figured any man that would do that couldn’t be all bad.” She’s had plenty of time to think it over and it was the reason she’d decided was behind her reason to go out with him.

He smiled and ran the cotton ball down her nose and swiped down each side. He started on the left and ran it along her cheekbone and down the line of her jaw and then switched to the right side. As he ran it along her cheekbone he noticed a scar. It was small, round and about the size of a pencil eraser. “What’s this from?” He asked quietly as he moved down her jaw. She smiled and chuckled.

“A rock fight with my older brother. He just barely missed my eye. My mom almost killed him over it.”

“Siblings fight like that, don’t they?” He chuckled and ran the cleanser down her neck and dropped it beside him. He started at her neck and started to massage the oil into her skin. He felt her neck relax and she sighed softly. He slid his hands up to her jaw, then her cheeks. His fingers made tiny circles and he watched her lips form a soft smile.

“You really know what you’re doing, Lee Minwoo. Should I be worried you're going to open a spa and work on beautiful women all day?" She opened her eyes and looked at him. He saw amusement in her eyes and he tapped her on the nose. “Not at all, silly Maggie. You don’t have to worry about that all.” He gently closed her eyes. “Now let me finish okay?” He finished rubbing the oil in and picked out a mask. It made her look like cat and he grinned as he slipped it onto her skin and started the timer again.

“Minwoo?” Her voice was small as she spoke. “If we don’t…..you know have for awhile you won’t be too upset will you?” He looked down at her, shocked.

“Why are you suddenly asking something like that?” He had no idea what went through her mind but he wanted to find out.

She sighed and turned her head, “I know we haven’t talked about it at all and we haven’t spent much time together yet….but it’s eventually going to happen and I want to make sure we are both ready. I’ve had issues in the past and I don’t want to dive in when I’m not ready just because you are.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot haven’t you?” He turned her head again so he could see her face.

She opened her eyes and nodded. “Probably way too much honestly. I just know that I find you attractive, along with about a million other women…..and I am just worried it’ll be too easy for me to get carried away.” She felt her cheeks flush under the sheet mask and was thankful she had it on.

He her hair softly and leaned down to kiss her forehead through the mask. “You will know when you’re ready and that is when I'll be ready. Not rushing, no forcing yourself because you think I want to, okay?” He felt her relax. “Okay Minwoo, I’m glad we were able to talk about this. I was worried the whole time I was back in Cali….how we would have this talk. It was one of the things I discussed with my therapist at my last session before I left. She knew how eager I was to see you again and wanted to help me prevent past mistakes.” Thankfully the timer went off and she was able to get out of that vulnerable position. He slipped the mask off and patted the extra product into her skin and helped her sit up. Instead of letting her move he wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a moment. He could feel the rapid uneven beat of her heart so he only held her for a moment before he released her. She scooted back to her seat and focused her gaze at the basket as she looked for something. “Ah ha, here it is, step two.”She pulled out a tube and squeezed a bit of cream onto her fingers and used her fingertips to sweep it over her skin. It was a calming lavender moisturizer. She remember how dry the air here could make her skin and sometimes the smog made her break out. This was a preventative measure. When she was done she finally looked at him.

“Would it be strange if I asked you to stay over? I don’t want to spend my first night alone.” He shook his head. “Not at all. I can even sleep on the couch if that’s easier.” He stood and grabbed the basket and went to put it back in the bathroom. As he came back to the living room he got his first look at her tattoos. One was hollow diamond shape done in thick black lines and the other is an owl done in an watercolor style. He moved to sit in front of her and ask about them but when he looked at her, her chin rested on her chest and she is fast asleep. He knelt and took her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. He got her all covered up and settled before he slipped in beside her. She laid on her back and he laid as close as he could but still gave her plenty of room. For the second time today he watched her sleep and this time he was able to join her in sleep.