Chapter Seventeen

It was only about five minutes after Dongwan and Briley left that Choongjae was showing up at the girls’ room with a bouquet of calla lilies. Lily brought him into their room for a moment so that Lily and Nik could find a vase to put them into. Once settled into a vase, Lily quickly snapped a couple pictures of them on her phone and then took the arm offered to her as they made their way to the elevator.

Choongjae opened the door and helped Lily up into the van. “You look beautiful,” he said sheepishly as he pulled the van out of the parking lot, keeping his gaze on the road and willing the blush the was creeping up away before Lily noticed.

Lily hid her face in her hands at the compliment. “Th..thank you,” she whispered. Choongjae smiled at her reaction. He reached one hand out to pull hers away from her face and laced their fingers together.

They drove in silence the rest of the way. Lily had never been to Arkansas so she was enjoying the view, but couldn’t help looking back to where her hand was interlocked with her companion.

Choongjae was trying to keep his nerves to himself. He hadn’t been on a date in a long time, and he was definitely pulling out all the stops for this one.

He pulled the van into a parking spot in front of a huge spa. He opened the door for Lily and held her hand as they made their way into the building. There was a small water dispenser full of orange and lemon water. He poured her a cup before making his way to the front desk to check in. He spoke quietly with her and then made his way back to Lily.

“Come on,” Choongjae took Lily’s hand in his once again and they followed one of the staff back into a room that smelled of lavender and rosewood. The staff member showed them each into separate rooms to change into a robe, then had then each lay on one of the massage beds in the heavenly smelling room.

Not long after they were settled on the beds just gazing happily at each other, two masseuses came in. Choongjae and Lily were told to put their faces down into the hole and then their robes were pulled down and the massages began. Choongjae would be lying if he said he didn’t take a peek at the New Yorker, grinning to himself as he listened to her blissed out sighs.

Once rerobed, the couple were led to a hot spring private bathing area. “I...I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” Lily whispered to the tall man after their helper had left the room.

Choongjae laughed and pulled out a bag. “Nik sent yours with me.” They separated and changed quickly.

Choongjae beat her in changing, and sat with his feet dangling in the water as Lily stepped out of her changing room. He would swear that his heart stopped momentarily. The pink and aqua halter fit her slim frame perfectly and the boy shorts were a perfect match. His ears pinked slightly as she slowly made her way to where he was sitting. “Wow,” he mouthed, voice barely a whisper as she came to sit down next to him at the edge of the heated pool. He was having trouble taking his eyes off of her even after she sat down next to him.

“You ok?” Lily asked. The way he was watching her made her fidget with her fingers.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Um, that swimsuit really suits you,” he was trying to hide the blush he could feel encompassing his neck and ears. Trying to find a way to hide his embarrassment at tripping over his words, the man slipped the rest of the way into the water and sunk under to soak his har. A thought crossed the baby bird’s mind when he came up and saw Lily was still perched on the edge just dangling her feet into the water. Going back under water, Choongjae reached out and grabbed the feet dangling down and pulled.

Lily squeaked right as she hit the water. The sound was cut off by her head going under water. Choongjae quickly stood up and helped the New Yorker right herself and watched as she gasped for air. As he watched her calm down, he reached out to push Lily’s hair out of her face better, tucking it behind her ears and running a hand back down and cupping her face momentarily.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to nearly drown,” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck and giving her an apologetic smile that reached his eyes.

“I can’t swim, and hitting the water so suddenly I got disoriented a bit.”

“I’m really sorry,” he apologized again. Choongjae reached out to grab her hands and pulled her into a hug. He really did feel bad, even if it was just a simple prank. He held her close, enjoying the closeness and enjoying it even more since Lily hadn’t made to pull away at all. In fact, he felt her arms settle around his waist as she rested her head against his chest. He could hear her sigh as he ran his fingers through her wet hair. They sat like that for several minutes until Choongjae finally pulled back some, so that he could look in her eyes. “Do you forgive me?”

Lily blushed, “Of course. Just don’t try to kill me again, ok?”

“I make no promises.” Choongjae shot a wink at her before collapsing back into the water and creating a giant wave that splashed up into Lily’s face. She laughed, but when he came back up, she attempted to pout at being splashed. He laughed at her fake frown and splashed her childishly. Lily returned fire and they ended up having an all out water fight like the children they truly were.

Eventually they settled down. Choongjae watched Lily move back to the edge before following suit. They sat and talked, Choongjae occasionally reaching out to move Lily’s hair or run his fingers through it, until one of the staff came and brought a meal out and sat it close so that they could eat and stay in the water. The look in Lily’s eyes when she saw the food made him laugh. “Are you that hungry?” he smirked.

“Maybe a little,” she stuck her tongue out at him, but opened as soon as he was offering her a bite of the steak he had cut. She moaned around the bite, “Oh my gosh, this is so good.” Choongjae quickly sliced another piece and fed it to her.

They ate like that, Choongjae doing most of the work and Lily taking whatever he offered her. After all of the food was gone, the bird reached out and wiped a little off of her face with his thumb. “Feel better?” She smiled and nodded, and he beamed at her. “Would you rather stay in the water? I scheduled us facials and an aromatherapy wrap, but if you are content to sit here, I’m all for that as well.”

“You planned so much!” Lily exclaimed.

He reached out and grabbed one of her hands. “I wanted to have a special day. It really is no trouble.” He was surprised when Lily leaned in and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a warm hug. He heard her mumble a ‘thank you’ into his chest and he leaned his head down to rest his forehead against the top of hers. She pulled back to look up at him and smiled. Choongjae ran a hand down through her hair and across her cheek again. As he gazed down into her eyes, he couldn’t resist. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He closed his eyes as he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer and sighing as he felt her moan softly against his lips. He turned them around and pinned her against the side of the pool, groaning when he felt Lily tangle one hand into his hair. He was starting to feel desperate as he gripped her hips, gently massaging there. He bit her bottom lip and felt Lily arch into him slightly.

The moment was ruined when they heard someone clear their throat. “I’m, um, I’m sorry to intrude, but you are late for the facials,” a very flushed employee of the facility informed them, though he couldn’t make eye contact with either of them.

They were both blushing furiously and slightly out of breath. “We...we will be right out,” Choongjae responded and watched as the scarred employee escaped the embarrassing situation. Once the lady had left, Choongjae turned his gaze back to Lily, who was completely red from the chest up. “I guess...I got carried away.”

“I guess we did.” She smiled shyly up at him and he watched as she struggled to maintain eye contact.

“Come on, they are waiting on us.” He wrapped his hands around Lily’s waist and lifted her easily out of the water, laughing when she ‘eeped’ and her hit the ground beside the food they had just shared. Her feet were still in the water and she kicked him gently in the chest for laughing at her.

Choongjae couldn’t help but grin. He placed his hands on either side of Lily’s legs and pulled most of his body up out of the water, leaned in to brush his lips once more to hers before pulling himself completely out of the water and going to grab them both a towel while Lily sat there processing what had just happened. Choongjae reached to help her up and wrapped a towel around her. He grabbed her hand and they walked out to find the gentleman that had come to get them waiting on the other side of the door to lead them to their next appointment. It was obvious that he was still embarrassed as they walked to the next room because he kept his voice quiet and still could not make eye contact with either of them.

They both enjoyed the facial and the wrap. Since Choongjae had requested everything as a couple treatment, the two were able to sit in the same room and talk quietly and get to know each other more as they were being pampered.

“It’s already dark!” Lily said in shock as they headed back out to the van. Choongjae opened the door for her once again and helped her into her seat. This time, though, he leaned in and buckled the belt for her. Before he pulled completely out to walk back around, he kissed her again, smiling as she returned the kiss and glowed with pride at the look in Lily’s eyes as he pulled back.

The moment he was back in his seat, he grabbed her hand and didn’t let go once as he drove them back to the hotel.