“ What the Hades were you trying? I told you to stay out of my office!” Onew stormed through the door. Jessica raised an eyebrow. “ I Wanted an eyeful of the American heir.” Onew looked at him, “ You already had one.”

“ No harm done then.” Jessica lounged in the wingback chair. “ No?” Onew sneered down at his niece. “ If you’d taken his wallet as you were supposed to, he’d have been delayed, maybe even gone home in disgust. Instead, he’s here and oh so very anxious to look over his property. I’ve stalled him until the morning. You’d better find what we need tonight. There must be enough of it to fill a van.”

“ I’ll find it. Trust me uncle.” Jessica said. “ Trust you? I’m not that stupid!” Jessica ignored. She stretched her thin legs out towards the empty fireplace. “ Where is the Foreigner now?” She asked. “ Safely ensconced at Joon’s.”

“ How nice. Tuck away your newest opportunity in your inamorato’s ( this actually means lover, or boyfriend or something along those lines.) cottage.” Onew sat in the opposite chair, rested his forearms on his thighs and snarled towards Jessica. “ A word of advice. Don’t fail. It could get difficult for you if you don’t succeed tonight. Remember whom you’re letting down.” Jessica smirked. “ Such unkind words, Uncle. Threats even. You hurt my feelings. Maybe I won’t tell you what I stole from Mr. Jongwoon.”

“ You will.” Jessica reached into her pocket and hefted a small brown leather book. She made as if to toss it to her uncle, then pulled back her arm. “ Interested?” She smiled at Onew’s outstretched hand. The hand stayed open. “ Give,” Onew hissed. Jessica tossed the book at him. Onew caught it and flicked the thin pages. “ His diary. Wonderful. Now we know when he plays bridge.” ( Bridge is a card game) “ More than that, Uncle. I had a good read while you were out courting him. It’s one of those ‘everything’ books phone numbers, addresses, bank account numbers and every lunch date and dentist appointment since January. Without it he won’t be doing much telephoning or sending postcards to his pals back home.” Onew wrapped his fingers around the soft leather. It might make interesting reading but its loss was not enough to make him want to leave. He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. “ It’s almost four o’clock. I’m taking him over to the house at eleven. That gives you eighteen hours. Find everything.” Jessica tilted his chin. “ Or else? What?” He asked. “ You may have to get  an honest job.” Jessica paused in the doorway. “ Don’t worry, Uncle. It won’t happen. Who’d hire me?” Onew frowned at the empty grate. Hadn’t Jessica understood anything? They couldn’t risk those papers falling into anyone else’s hands. Too many reputations were at stake and too much money. If only the wretched man had had stayed home. He could have had a comfortable three- quarters of a million. He would have setled some old scores, and been set up for life. He had to be gotten rid of. No, a better idea. Woo him? Why not? Court him a little. Break his heart and he’d go running back home.

A knock on the door woke Jongwoon. He stared at the unfamiliar pitched ceiling and remembered. The door opened; he noticed earlier that there wasn't a lock, only a wrought iron latch. A pleasant face smiled around the door. “ Sorry to disturb you. I’m Joon Lee. I’m about to put the kettle on. Would you like to come down in a minute and have a cup and I can explain things?” Mr. lee liked to chat. He also wanted to be called Joon, took three sugars in his tea, and worked in a bank in Leatherhead. “ Such a lovely house you have, beautiful. Worth a small fortune at today’s prices. Of course, whoever buys it will have to spend a pretty penny on it.”  Why did everyone assume he was selling? “ Where exactly is it? I haven’t seen it yet.” Joon’s eyes widened. “ Orchard House? It’s just across the Green.” Why hadn’t Mr. Lee pointed it out? They must have passed it driving here. He’d look for it later. His arrangement with Joon involved bed and breakfast and unlimited cups of tea. Other meals Jongwoon would have to fend for himself. He planned on exploring neighboring villages and the ‘Leatherhead’  everyone referred to as the local metropolis, but tonight he’d content himself with the Barley Mow. He’d walk. He needed the exercise. He’d barely moved his muscles the past twenty- four hours, except to sit or sleep. The evening was colder than he expected so he doubled back to the house and slipped upstairs.

Pulling a sweatshirt over his head, he heard a voice from the bedroom next door, “.....Out to get dinner…. I don’t know...An hour or so I expect…. No of course not I didn’t…. I’m leaving all that to you… When can I see you? …. Alright.” Uncomfortable at overhearing a private conversation, he tiptoed downstairs and closed the door quietly behind her. The Barley Mow packed a fair crowd in the evenings. Alf had a helper, a young man with and a large ring in one ear. “ Evening Mr. Kim. Guinness wasn’t it?” Jongwoon nodded. “ A small one please.”

“ Half a pint it is then.” Alf called to his helper, “ GD, half of Guinness and watch the head. Anything else?” He asked Jongwoon. “ I need dinner do you have a menu?” Alf nodded towards a chalkboard on the wall. Jongwoon scanned the scratchy writing: Shepherd’s pie, lamb curry, cornish past, steak and kidney, scampi, bangers and mash, Dover sole and an assortment of salads. “ I don’t eat meat. What do you recommend?”

“ Vegetarian, eh? If you eat fish, I’d go for the sole or the scampi.” Alf suggested. “ Sampi it is than, Alf.” In the spirit of adventure he added a jacket potato. Whatever that was. Jongwoon settled in an empty table near the window, took out a paperback mystery, and settled into reading as he sipped on her drink. “ Why hello there!” He glanced up from her book, to meet Jessica’s pale blue eyes. Her smile implied she was just so lucky that she found him. “Hi,” she said and purposely went on reading. She pulled out the opposite chair. “ Ever glad to bump into you again.”

He wouldn’t return her smile at any price. No way was he encouraging her. He didn’t need to. He set his glass on the table. The nerve of that woman. Three times in a day was beyond chance. Jongwoon debated telling her off, but it would be a waste of breath.

Kyuhyun braced himself for the scent of human blood that waited on the other side of the closed door. He seldom came into the Barley Mow, nut it was the best place for local gossip. He grasped the knob, remembering to hold it gently, no point in mangling doorknobs and getting unwanted attention. He stepped into the crowded bar every nerve and sense alert and watchful. He froze. He was in there. Kyuhyun knew it. Nonsense! His senses hadn’t developed that well. He might sense a known quarry when he haunted, but not this unknown Jongwoon Kim. Besides he wasn't hunting him. His only interest in him was an invitation into his house. The news that he had arrived had spread like wildfire, yet the house was still unoccupied.

Why did he sense him so keenly? Was he one of them? Perhaps from another colony. Maybe. If Jonghyun was to be believed, Vlad Tepes had half-populated the states with his offspring, but only mortals filled the crowded bar. He would have sense one of his own in a heartbeat. He glanced around, nodding and smiling at the locals, until he found him.

How did he know it was him? Because he just knew him the minute he laid his eyes on the male. Blond hair fell across his face as he read. Kyuhyun had a glimpse of smooth skin and a creamy hollow at the base of his neck. He sensed, not he could smell the scented richness of his and forced himself to snap out of it and return to the task at hand. He couldn’t afford distractions.

A woman walked across the bar to his table. Eyes as Dark as the the shining night sky looked up from beneath silky lashes. Angry eyes in a calm, cold face. Given that the woman standing over him, he didn’t blame him. Jinki’s niece! He had brains equal to his beauty if he already disliked Jessica. He wrinkled his nose as if he had smelled something rotten. Kyuhyun smiled to himself, when he noticed the glass he was so passionately holding on to, almost like a weapon.

Close up he had the bloom of early roses. The pulse at the base of his neck beat in perfect rhythm beneath the flawless skin. He smelled of night air, lavender soap, and human blood. He never even noticed him. His attention was on jessica. his irritation was focused on Jessica. The quiet thud of heavy glass on wood broke the tension as kyuhyun put a Guinness in front of him. “ Here you are, sorry it took so long.” He looked up. He gaped when he put a second glass on the table. He let Jongwoon gape and turned his will on to Jessica. “ Cho? You’re with him? I …. I never… I didn’t … didn’t realize.” Her pale eyes popped  like a demented  Pekingese.

“Really?” One word. That was all it took. “ Didn’t know you were with Jongwoon. See you later.” Jessica grabbed her drink and disappeared into the crowed. Kyuhyun took the empty seat. “ May I join you?” Jongwoon looked straight at him, chin up, his brows creased, studying him like a specimen. He met his eye without faltering, a flicker of amusement twitching the corner of his mouth. Was he really a mere mortal? With a presence like this? With his ancestry, who knew? “ Suppose I say no?” He said. “ Suppose I move on and let Jessica have another chance?” Kyuhyun said back. “ Too late, she just left.”

“ I’m desolate.” ( Desolate means alone or abandon, It usually a term for empty places, But in here it used as if saying Kyuhyun is avoided by people.) “ I’ll bet you are! You chased her off deliberately. What if you’ve destroyed a great romance?” Kyuhyun liked his sense of humor. “ I didn’t” The corner of his mouth tighten. He had made Jongwoon mad. “ What makes you so sure?” Elbows on the table he rested his chin on his hand. “ I could smell the antagonism between you.” Jongwoon open his mouth to complain. Then shook his head and smiled at him as their eyes met. “ Could you also smell too much beer?”

“ Any amount is too much for Jessica.”He leaned back on the chair and watched him, willing himself to ignore the warm blood singing through his veins. “ You despise her.” He shook his head. “ I wouldn't go that far she irked me the first time I met her. She isn’t my type. You can’t despise someone you’ve only known one day.”

“ It’s possible. Trust your instincts.” he said. “ Yes, and safer than trusting a stranger who tries to pick me up in a pub.” He looked around as GD thumped  a plate in front of him.  His dinner. Good. A nice distraction. Jongwoon stared at the plate in front of him. A jacket potato was baked, without sour cream. He wanted to eat and read in peace. Fat chance. Person number two was a distinct improvement over Jessica, but then again anything would be. Jongwoon mashed butter into her potato as he thought about the tall man sitting opposite. He wasn’t that tall. He just blocked out the rest of the room with his broad shoulders, Black turtleneck and black slacks. All he lacked was a black hat to complete the villain outfit. But he had disposed of Jessica for him. That was a definite recommendation. Even if he looked like Even If he did look like Blackbeard with his eye patch. “ Bon appetit,” he said. He looked him straight in the eye. Straight in his one eye, dark and warm as velvet. “ You’re going to sit there, and watch me eat?” The corner of his eye wrinkled. was he smiling? “ You’d rather I left?” Placing his hands flat on the table to start to stand up. “ No!” Jongwoon grabbed his wrist. Stunned at his action, he met his eye again. This time the smile was unmistakable. He looked down at the hand that was wrapped around his wrist. “ I’ll stay if you insist. Why don’t you finish your dinner before it gets cold?”

Jongwoon let go of his wrist. He didn’t think that he would get cold but now he was. Kyuhyun however felt how his wrist was burned were the other had held it. “ I’ve no idea who you are.” He said. “ The name is Cho, Kyuhyun Cho.” Jongwoon noticed a silver ring with a black stone on his offered hand. Long cold fingers met Jongwoon’s. Strong, cold fingers. “ Here to meet Will Shakespeare?” His fingers stiffen in his grasp. “ Sorry. It just slipped out. I bet everyone you meet makes that crack.”

“ You’re not the first.” He smiled. He had a very nice smile. Jongwoon wasn't about to think about his smile. Or the goosebumps on his arm. Holding his hand was quite enough. More than enough. He shook it and let go. “ I’m Jongwoon Kim.”

“ Great- Nephew and heir of the renowned Misses Underwood. Just arrived from America in one of Stanley Collin’s vehicles. Staying with Joon for the night.” He had Jongwoon gaping for a second time. “ How did you..?” He gave up. Maybe jet lag caused terminal confusion. “ News travels fast. Someone has been tracking you since you arrived into town. Someone somewhere knows your shoe size, the color of your toothbrush, and how many sugars you put in you coffee.”

“ Just like small towns everywhere.” He nodded. Slim fingers the stem of his glass. “ You may find Bigham…. unusual.” He said. “ May? I have already. Total strangers accost you in pubs.” Jongwoon said. “ I did offer to leave.” Kyuhyun had and he grabbed him. Maybe wrist grabbing was a come-on in England. He hoped not….” You don’t have to. I’m going as soon as I finish eating.”

“ Stay and finish your drink.” He nudged the second drink towards him. “ I won’t proposition you on the strength of one drink.”

“ How many does it take?” Jongwoon almost choked. Hes must be getting drunk. He’d never said things like that. “ I’m interested in your library. Not you.” Reassurances like that shouldn't be disappointing. “ My library?”  “ The one you inherited in your house.” It took him a couple of seconds to realize he meant Orchard House. “ You want to buy my library? I’m not sure if its for sale.”

“ Just a few books. I’m interested in paranormal. Your aunts had quite the collection. I’d like to buy some of them.I’ll pay market price. I’m not bargain hunting.” A reasonable business proposal; it should not leave him breathless. “ I haven't seen them yet. If I think of selling them…”  He was cut off. “ You’ll give me first refusal?” He leaned forward, waiting on his reply. He nodded. “ Yes, if i sell.” He stood up to go. “ Where can I find you Kyuhyun?”

“ I drop by here every so often.” He would from now on. “ If not, i live in Dial Cottage, up from the station.” Goose bumps again. It was definitely his smile. He stood up with Jongwoon. “ Shall i’ll walk you home?” This was like something out of Romance Novel. “ Thanks, but i'm fine.”  

Jongwoon was out the door before he wondered how Kyuhyun knew he walked. Lights from the pub windows lit the lane in each direction; they also showed a dirt path across the green. Looking up at the stars in unfamiliar positions in a cloudless sky, Jongwoon realized he wasn't the least bit ready for bed. Joon had said that Orchard House was on the other side of the green. It couldn’t be that far, and Jongwoon wanted a glimpse of the house he’d come to claim.
 

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