Chapter 17

Fast Ball

The door creeked. "Hey!" He piped from the door balancing a tray with both hands as he enters.

"Hi." She looked up still tugging the blanket from underneath her.

"Tired?"

"It's been a long day." she smiled.

"I brought you something to eat. I didn't see you eat anything apart from the soup, half a sandwich, two grapes and a forkful of cake." He said, placing the tray on the table in the middle of the room.

"Sounds a lot to me."

"I've seen you eat." He tried to humor her.

"I'm not really hungry. I'd rather sleep than eat right now." She decline.

"Come on, this is the second time you turned me down since this morning. Just for tonight, indulge me." He said with a slight hint of pleading on his voice.

"But I all ready brushed my teeth."

"You can brush it again." he offered his hand.

"All right. What do you have there?" she relented wearing her slippers and oversize white cotton pajamas; she trudged to take her seat next to him. She took notice of his black silk pajamas that greatly contrast his skin...and his eyes...there is always something with his eyes.

"Do you like what you see?" He asked smiling

"I like everything that's mine." she said evasively.

“Yours. It sure feels so damn satisfying.”  He smirked.  So his wife can be possessive as well. He gestured toward the food, "What will you have? We have a little of everything."

"I'll have a sandwich and those frozen berries please. What about you?"

"I'll have a biscotti and cheese." And hopefully you he wanted to add

"Want some wine?" Dara offered.

"Yes. Please." He nodded.

"It was good thing the wedding was kept private or else the media would have feasted at the sight of me crying and kissing the bestman." she laughed in amusement.

"Thank you for not bolting at the altar earlier." he said looking at her

"I just hope you won't regret this." she raised her hand to show him the ring.

"I intend to make this relationship work and hopefully make the other party fall for me." He replied

"Good luck." She replied good-naturedly.

"This reminds me, my grandparents are kind of excited at the prospect of being great grandparents that they have started asking if the rumor is true."

"Can you imagine the trash one reads on paper these days?" she took a bite off her sandwich.

"True . But I also told them that we'll be working on it."

"You what?" she nearly choked on a berry.

"It's not such a bad idea." he handed her a glass of water.

"Are you sure this is not a conspiracy?" she eyed him wryly. He laughed a good hearty laugh.

"I've got something for you." she took a step towards the cabinet.

"Really? You didn't have to."

"I'm feeling extra generous tonight..Here." She retrieve a box form one of her suitcases. "Open it." she adds in jest

"Mittens? Aren't this a little too small for me?" he asked turning the cloth in her hand. "Unless of course, you've changed your mind about us having a baby."

"That is not it.! Look closer. It's old, it's pink and it has my name on it. These mittens were mine."

"Yours?"

"Yes, mine. One of the very few things my real parents left me." she states as matter of fact.

"But why are you giving this to me? It's yours."

"Exactly, possibly the only thing I truly own, keep it." she nods "Along with it comes my loyalty and possibly whole life."

He was dumbfounded, after a tumultuous month, is it really over? Did he finally win? "I...I" he stammered. Now even speaking is a challenge.

Dara slapped his shoulder with the palm of her hand. "Snap out of it." she said. "It's ok if you don't want it. I can take it back." She said off-hand still smiling.

"No..no..I'm keeping this." he replied moving the box away from her grasp.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive." he nods

"All right then, let's get some sleep . I'm beat." she rose from her seat when he grabbed her wrist.

"I'll take care of this." he promised.

"You better."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good Morning, Mrs. Kwon!" morning, it was indeed a wonderful morning.

"Seunghyun!" she exclaimed.

"Flowers for the newly-wed"

"These are beauitiful, thank you." she smiled openly.

"And so are you...don't I get a hug?" He asked indulgently.

"For you anything."

"Hmmmm... I almost forgot how good you smell in the morning." He murmured still nuzzling he neck.

"I missed you too." She tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek, laughing.

"I knew it. We should have gotten married instead." he chortled.

"I got jilted, remember?" she pouted

"I heard you received a last minute proposal." He smiled "Why did you turn him down?" he asked curiously.

"Marrying your brother is not quite the same as marrying you." She replied sprightly.

"True...True.." He beamed

"Now, I wonder what did I ever see in you?” She teased.

"My stunning good looks?" he teased back "No wonder he doesn't like me."

"Who?"

"Jiyong."

"Why?" she frowned.

"Because either way you get me for free." He wiggled an eyebrow.

"Seunghyun!"

"You want breakfast?" he continued

"Yes, I'm famished." she confessed

"Since when did you starve yourself?" he scowled.

"I wasn't, I just kind of forgot."

"Right." He gently lifted Dara on to one of the stools and lifted the apron off her.

"What are you doing?" she asked adjusting herself on her seat.

"Taking care of you. Your husband seems to have forgotten about it as well." he handed her a bowl of rice toppings. "here." he started feeding her.

"You didn't come here to boss me around, did you?" she asked cheekily.

Seunghyun stopped. " No I came to check on you."

"I'm fine." she said in between mouthfuls.

Fine. She is always fine. "How mechanical." he thought. He fell for it once, he's not about to do the same mistake again. Their story was that of misadventure, trust, betrayal and second chances. He had loved her since he was 10, maybe even more that he can fathom. He fussed over her in his teens and shed tears in silence because she loved his brother more. All of this changed that particular night, It was exactly a week since they learned of Youngbae's affair. It was tumultuous; she hated him almost as much as she hated his brother. They both just got off the phone, seated across each other, he leaned in. You haven't touched your food." he said obviously concerned, the half-empty glass of bourbon on his hand and the deep frown on his face were dead giveaway.

"I'm fine." An all too familiar reply came. "Do you think it'll work?"

"Does it matter?" he asked back

"It does... to me." she admits

"Do you realize what you’re giving up?" he asked

" My freedom."

"Your life...your future and the children that you will bear."

"It's not such a bad sentence." she smiled "Not when I'm spending it with you. I can have as many children as you can sire." There was a long pause, "Tabi." it was barely audible

"hmmm..."

"Will you marry me?"

Silence.

"Tabi.."This time a little louder

Seunghyun reached for her hand, "No, Tokki. Will you marry me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wipe that smile off your face. You look like a pug." he berates her.

"An adorable pug." she nods

"That drives everyone crazy. Why don't you go home and catch some sleep."

"I'm trying to organize a party here." she grinned

"Since it's for me, I call the shots." he grinned back , tapping her on the cheek.

"I own the place." she continues to argue.

"And I still own half of it." he raise a glass toward her.

"You are impossible." she cried out.

"And so are you. You never listen." he shove another spoonful in . "Just like your husband." he spat.

"What does he had to do with this one?" she munched on

"I told him to slip you off the country to an island somewhere before you manage to collect your thoughts and start acting normally. If I were him, you'd still be strapped in my bed. !"

Dara blushed. They both laughed. "Thanks, man." she kissed him

"For what?"

"For always making me feel better." she gave him another hug.

"Listen, Tokki. Even if I still don't like him, the guy is obviously crazy about you."

"What made you say so?" she raised an eyebrow.

"He talked to me about you... he also expressed his concern towards our unabashed display of intimacy."

"He what?!" she screeched

"I wonder now if he followed my advise, I'm considered a Dara expert, you know." he smiled mischievously and started peering down her blouse.

"What are you doing?" Dara snapped

"I'm looking for marks."

"What marks?" she asked incredulously.

"Of passion, of course. So how was it? I hope he was well worth the wait." he chuckled.

" Choi." Dara grunts in exasperation. "Since when did you become so erted?"

"Ahhhh... that I can not tell you, along with the things that I told him.. haha. They may be a little too sensitive for your ears." He bit her ear.

"Yah!" Dara was now semi-wrestling Tabi into confession when Jiyong arrived.

"What going on?" Jiyong asked surprised

"Just keeping your wife company while you were away." Seunghyun answered.

"Thank you, then. I'll take it from here." he then turned to face Dara and touched her cheek. "You look flushed."

"It's hot here.” she squirmed. "Are those for me?" she asked staring at the flowers he's holding.

"Yes." he handed her a bunch of tulips.

"It's yellow!" she enthuses

"You like them?"

"She loves them." Seunghyun replied taking a stem off the bunch. "Remember the yellow tulips back in college?"

"You mean those I used to receive whenever I visit Seungri."

"How many guys sent you yellow tulips before?" Jiyong frowned

"Just one, I think. I used to receive it every day though." she recalls

"Remember the guy you used to have a crush on, the one who lived next door?" Tabi gave her a furtive glance still holding the flower on his hand.

"You had a crush on campus?" Jiyong exclaimed.

"The Tulip-guy, the one in spectacles. People used to call him GD" she snapped her fingers in rapid succession. "I never really had a good look at him though, but he seems fine. I wonder what ever happened to him.." she mused

"Got married I heard." Seunghyun replied

"Heard from whom?"

"You and Seungri lived on the same building, didn't you ?" Tabi spoke to Jiyong

"You kept in touch?" Dara asked again.

"You can say that." Jiyong replied

"So how is he?"

"You tell me, you are looking at him."

A/N:  another update for you guys.  Thank you for reading.  I hope have a great weekend.  Spread love!  I woul really like to hear from you.

- Chen