Chapter 20 – His and hers, forever.

By Saturday night, even though Mr. Kim hadn’t called. Hyomi was a nervous wreck. In her mind, she ticked off the details that she and Jaejoong had already handled. They’d called La Cherie, making a reservation for two at a window table overlooking the river, and ordered a bottle of imported champagne. Jaejoong was dropping off a note at the restaurant explaning what they had done, to be delivered to their parents after they were seated.

If only we could be there to see how it all turns out. Hyomi thought. The phone rang and Hyomi picked it up in midring, hoping it wasn’t Mr. Kim.

“Hyomi?” she recognized Jaejoong’s voice and sighed with relief. “Everything okay?” he asked. “all set on this end. But you scared me to death! I thought it was your dad.” “Sorry bout that.” He chuckled. “Aren’t you dying to know how it’s going to turn out?” “I was just wishing we could be there” she confessed. “Don’t you dare we suggest we hide under the next table.”

Hyomi giggled. “I can just see the waiter’s face if we poked our heads out from under the tablecloth to place our order!” “I wasn’t thinking of anything that obvious, but I was thinking that maybe we could kind of check on them from outside.” Jaejoong said. “You know, to make sure they got together.”

“Jaejoong, that’s brilliant!” Hyomi cried. “But we’d have to be very careful so that they won’t see us.”

“They’ll never know we’re there.” He said. “Let’s do it!” After arranging to call Jaejoong as soon as her mom had left, Hyomi hung up and raced upstairs to change into a sundress and white flats. She could hardly wait for her mother to get going so she and Jaejoong could check the progress of “Operation Patchup”.

It was a few minutes after eight when Jaejoong’s car turned in at the sign announcing the French restaurant. Hyomi had only been there once before, and she was slightly overwhelmed by the tall tress that lined each side of the driveway, forming an oak alley. She gazed at the large white bulding with pillars across the front—la cherie had once been a plantation home.

Jaejoong pulled into the parking lot. before he and Hyomi got out, he tooka shopping bag from the backseat.

“you plan to shop here?” Hyomi teased. “What’s in the bag?”

“Secrets.” He said with a mysterious smile and he refused to tell her anything more. As they approached the restaurant, Hyomi warned. “not too close.” Jaejoong looked around. “see those bushes over there? If we sneak behind them, we can get a good view.”

“Okay, Agent A. Lead on.” Casually they strolled across the moonlit lawn toward the shrubberry as if they were just out for an evening walk. When they reached the bushes, they quickly scurried into the shadows and edged around the bulding until they had a good view of the window tables on the riverside.

Hyomi clutched Jaejoong’s arm. “Jaejoong, there they are—in the corner.” She whispered. “And here comes the note we wrote.” He whispered back as the waiter presented Mr. Kim with an envelope. “We’re just in time.” They watched Jaejoong’s father read the message and hand it to Hyomi’s mother. “He’s smiling!” Hyomi said, waiting anxiously for her mother’s reaction.

Then Mrs. Park smiled, too and looked into Mr. Kim’s eyes, her face glowing. As Mr. Kim reached for her mom’s hand, Hyomi and Jaejoong beamed at each other. “I think we pulled it off.” She said. Jaejoong nodded. “We’re getting pretty good at this. I don’t think we need to stay any longer. Come on.” He took her hand and led her down to the wooden walkway along the river. The full moon dominated the dark sky, bathing them in it’s soft glow.

“Where are we going?”Hyomi whispred but she didn’t really care. As long as Jaejoong held her hand, she’d walk forever. His smile widened. “we have to eat, too.” Stepping off the boardwalk, he sat down on the grassy bank next to it, pulling her down beside him. “I wish we could have gone to someplace nice.” He said “but after this romantic interlude.” He nodded toward the restaurant. “I’ve used up all my available cash, so I brought chinese. It’s probably icecold by now.”

Hyomi laughed, thinking of her own depleted allowance. “I’m crazy about cold chinese.”

Jaejoong opened his shopping bag and produced several white take-out containers, a package of birthday candles and a box of matches. Then he took out a single red rose. “You said you thought flowers were romantic, too.”  

Speechless with delight, Hyomi pressed the rose to her cheek. No one had ever given her flowers before. She knew she’d rather have this one perfect blossom than her mother’s whole bouquet. Jaejoong never ceased to amaze her. Just think what I might have missed if Mr. Kim hadn’t started dating my mom, she thought.

Opening the package of candles, Jaejoong wedged each one into a narrow crack between two planks in the boardwalk. Then he lit them until a row of tiny flames flickered beside them. “How’s that for a candlelit meal?” Hyomi didn’t know if she was going to laugh or cry.

In her whole life, she was sure there would never be a more romantic dinner. “It’s perfect.” She murmured.

He leaned over and gently brushed her lips with his. His hand twined Hyomi’s hair, pulling her closer as the kiss deepened and ignited a spark within her. Releasing her briefly, Jaejoong blew out the candles, then took her in his arms. “we don’t want to cathc fire.” He murmured into her ear.

Too late. Hyomi thought blissfully and wondered if Jaejoong could feel her heart pounding next to his.

“I hope everything works out with our parents as well as it has for us” she said softly. “We’ve done everything we could.” Jaejoong said. “From now on, they’re on their own. We have more important relationship to worry bout—ours.”

And as they kissed again in the moonlight, Hyomi forgot about everything except the joy of discovering her very own romance.

END!~

A BIG WARM THANK YOU TO ALL MY READERS! I WON'T MADE IT THIS FAR WITHOUT YOU GUYS.