THIRTYFOURTH CHAPTER
Wicked Fate by Kenzo
A hard habit to break
Driving on his way to Dara’s house, Ji immediately stepped on the breaks when he saw “his date” in sweats running towards the direction of the beach. He was planning for a romantic formal dinner and to find Dara in sweats while he had taken pains to groom himself to look decent enough for a five-star restaurant baffled him.
“What the?!?”
He immediately maneuvered his car towards Dara and saw her eyes widen in surprise the minute she realized it was him. She stopped jogging and waited for him to come down the car.
“Dr. Kwon” she uttered, catching her breath.
“Nurse Park” he greeted formally – as was both their habit, his eyes taking in her flushed face “I asked you out for a date.”
The redness on her face went up another notch and he watched as she grasped for words. “I – I”
“You don’t want to go out?” he tried to supplement – more concerned by the seeming onslaught of her stuttering fit rather than feeling disappointed. Was something going on? Why was she jogging?
Dara took a deep breath to steady herself and looked at him apologetically “Would you be very angry…” she finally began “… if I told you that I wasn’t really sure if I said yes or no?”
Ji felt his heart race up at how her eyes looked straight into him – as though she was not only apologizing but trying to probe into his soul – it was disconcerting and… awkwardly y… and what he was thinking was totally inappropriate given the vow he had made with himself tonight about being a “good” boy.
“No” he dragged from his insides, trying to level the effect she had on him “I won’t be angry.”
“So I said yes?” she clarified, really bothered by missing out on her answer to his request. Obviously, she has been thinking about this matter for quite some time now. How could she have forgotten this?
He smiled at her, understanding that she didn’t mean to be unsure about the answer she had given him when he asked her this morning but had, sadly, forgotten about it. For what reason, he couldn’t make it out. “Yes you did” he answered.
“Oh no!” she exclaimed in horror and it was then that he saw her take a good look at him from head to toe – affirming to herself that he was looking his best while she was sorely underdressed “I’m so sorry… sorry.”
He reached out to put a hand on her… shoulders – trying not to let his hands roam somewhere else “It’s ok.”
“It is?”
“No… not really” he answered with a smile, unable to help himself, as the beginnings of a frown furried her brows “I was looking forward to a night with you in a little black dress.” Dara’s frown turned into surprise as he took off his dinner jacket and loosened his tie “I’ve been thinking about making this too formal because I was gunning for a really good impression but I guess I’d forgotten…”
“Forgotten what?”
“That all I want is to be with you so it doesn’t matter where it is” he answered and took her hand “Come with me.”
“In only this?!?”
He laughed at her popping eyes. “Do you want to take that off?” he asked playfully “We wouldn’t be able to go anywhere if you do that.”
Rolling her eyes as he noted how she had recovered from the initial surprise and was now going back to her “fight” mode, she pursed at him “Are you being coy with me?”
“Why yes I am” he admitted proudly and held out his hand for her “I don’t take kindly to being forgotten and in all my years of dating women… this is the first time that someone FORGOT that she had agreed to go out with me. It’s not good for my ego.”
“But I didn’t mean to” Dara defended herself, unsure of taking his hand.
“You continue on like that and you’ll work my confidence to an all time low. It would have been better if you’d meant it because by then it would have told me you wanted to make an impression.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I believe you already have a good enough impression of me… AND I don’t think someone like me can indeed work your confidence to an all time low like that. You are after all the GREAT Dr. Kwon Ji Yong” Dara answered, still not taking his hand, understanding that Ji was hinting at a payback.
Shaking his head in mock disbelief, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to stand only a few inches apart from him, feeling the breath she had expelled in surprise. He looked deeply into her auburn eyes – swimming in them as he told her in his perfect baritone voice “As I told you… I don’t take kindly to being forgotten…”
Dara gulped visibly – hanging on to his words.
“Now… to make sure your memory doesn’t slip again, we are both going to do something that I am sure you will ALWAYS remember.”
“And what is that?” she asked nervously.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out” he answered mischievously and without breaking a sweat, had her seated in the passenger seat before she even knew what hit her.
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Tangerine Dreams
Dara wiggled one of her fingers just to desensitize her hand from the electric currents that were going around it ever since Ji had taken them in his. It had so affected her that even now when he had let them go, they were still tingling with his touch. She had to keep her head on balance because like a potent drug – Ji Yong was undoing her resolve faster than a speeding bullet.
Every thought flew out of her head the minute she had realized he was there to pick her up for the date and her heart almost shot out of her chest when he stepped out of his car in a suit.
She already knew how good he looked in his leather jacket and his scrubs but his body was absolutely built for a formal suit. He was such a stunner that Dara felt oxygen leave her body – how could a man be so divinely handsome?
“You don’t want to go out?” he had asked then and Dara wanted to dissolve into thin air at how unexpected the question was.
Hadn’t he noticed that she was almost grasping for breath because of him? How could she not want to go out?!? All her efforts for a sophisticated answer got lost as she admitted to him that she had forgotten whether she had said yes or no.
And by God… when he smiled at her, she almost swore at how that smile could literally run an electric company – it set light bulbs all around her head.
“What are you thinking about?” Ji asked her – popping her balloon of high schoolish daydreaming.
“Huh?” she asked, caught off guard again.
Ji shook his head at her “You’re not like yourself. Is something going on?”
Dara wanted to answer that in truth, this was the closest she had come to becoming her real self again.
The mother hen they all knew at the office, the tough girl that had lived all on her own in Seoul and in the Philippines – that was another girl.
“I’m just a little distracted” she answered – not able to share the truth just yet.
Her answer didn’t seem to go well with Ji, though, as his brows slightly raised. “You seem bent on taking digs at my ego tonight” he told her “First, you forget all about our date and now… you’re thinking of other things. It makes me wonder Nurse Park whether this is how you treat men that you date.”
“I told you already… I didn’t mean to.”
Ji shook his head and just continued to drive.
Dara wanted to punch herself for becoming dense with Ji. With any other guy, she took care of what she told them – always careful to make them feel respected, at least, even if she didn’t have too much interest – but with the guy who she wanted to impress the most, here she was blabbering the most unintelligent answers ever.
“Are you angry?” she asked now.
“You’ll find out later” Ji answered mysteriously and turned to the left.
It was then that she remembered to ask him where they were heading. She knew this street but wondered where could Ji possibly take her. “Where are we going?”
Ji stopped the car and looked at her smugly “From here on out, you’re only going to do what I say.”
“What?!”
He pulled out a handkerchief “I want you to close your eyes.”
“I don’t want to” she replied.
“Well I’m going to force you into it if you don’t cooperate.”
“I’m going to scream.”
“I’ll scream with you then” he answered unfazed.
Frustrated by her feeble attempts at trying to be stubborn, she pouted before conceding to Ji Yong’s plans. “If you’re up to no good, I’m going to make sure you’re on ER duty for a month.”
Ji laughed “When have I ever been up to anything good?”
“Aing!”
His hands securely tied the handkerchief around her eyes and he started to drive again.
Trying to show him she was still irritated rather than excited for it, she tried to seriously frown. There was no denying, though, that the butterflies in her stomach were doing 360’ cartwheels in anticipation.
What Bom had said was true about Ji Yong… you never knew where you’re going to end up on a date with him. Dropping his initial plans without preamble and spontaneously taking her to the first place that popped into his head – he was like a whirlwind that took you in and would never let you go.
She felt the car break and heard him go down the car. Just a few seconds after, he was opening the door on her side and he took in both her hands. “Hold on to me” he told her, guiding her to stand steadily “Don’t let go ok?”
“I have no plans of doing so” she answered and heard him chuckle.
Going bonkers over his voice, she was acutely aware of all other sensations around her – the gentle wind, the sound of gravel under her feet, the warmth of Ji Yong’s hand – it all contributed to her growing sense of curiosity. They were walking somewhere and suddenly the gravel ended and smooth land greeted her feet but it wasn’t the beach. There was no sound of waves splashing against land.
She heard buttons being pushed and a soft thud before she and Ji continued to walk – deeper into wherever this was.
“All the girls I dated wanted me to take them here” Ji explained to her and then his voice became whimsical “But I always took them over rocky cliffs and other dangerously dark places… I guess I don’t want girls ruining what this place is for me.”
“Where are we then?” she finally asked.
“You’re in my sanctuary” he answered and slowly untied her blind fold.
Shocked by the glaring lights, she covered her eyes with her hands and slowly opened them to find that they were standing in the middle of an orchard – bathed in yellow light. Everywhere she looked there were oranges and it felt like she had been plucked from reality and put inside a children’s book.
“Oh my” she exclaimed.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“Is this your family’s orchard? I’ve never even been here.”
“We don’t normally take people here who are not part of the family.”
She nodded, touched by what he had said and in awe of the place as she continued to look around the lines of trees – all glowing with sunlight producing bulbs scattered beside each tree – making the orchard look surreal on this dark dark night.
“I can’t believe how wonderful it is here.”
Ji smiled proudly “When we were younger, we all helped out here whenever it was harvest time and then we slept at that little hut over there.”
He pointed at a modern-looking hut built with humongous windows standing at the far end of the orchard. It looked like a mini glass box supported by wooden polls and floor boards.
“That’s amazing.”
“It is isn’t it?” Ji agreed and took her hand to walk her towards the glass hut. “The caretakers would most probably be asleep now so I’m betting there are only two of us wide awake in this whole area.”
“How do they keep this place secure then?”
“We actually passed by an electronic gate” he answered as they walked nearer towards the hut and Dara realized how lovelier it was up close.
“Whenever I feel angry or just too tired, I go here and stay the whole night” Ji told her “I’ve always found myself calming down right after.”
Reminded of Chaerin and Bom’s story, she paused before entering the hut “I just remembered that I’ve been told about this place before” she told Ji Yong “and they told me that you guys have a ritual here for people who enter the hut the first time.”
Ji nodded. “Yes we do.”
“What kind of ritual is it?”
“Didn’t they tell you?”
She shook her head.
Ji positioned himself beside her “When we were younger, our mothers did it to us and we were all embarrassed as hell.”
“What is it?” she asked fearfully.In a very serious tone, he looked straight into her eyes and said with all earnestness “A person who has already entered the hut must exchange a kiss with the person whose about to enter it for the first time.”
“A kiss?!?”
Still not losing that very serious tone, Ji further reiterated “A kiss on the lips.”
“You just made that up” she accused.
“You can ask the one who told you whether it’s really the truth.”
She raised a brow at him “I don’t believe you.”
“Then I won’t let you enter the hut.”
“What?!?”
“We don’t believe in things like this normally but in this one we know better than to break it.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“I’m dead serious” Ji told her.
“What happens if I enter without doing the ritual?”
“The oranges won’t be sweet.”
“I don’t believe it” she told him.
“Well… it’s ok if you don’t. We can just hang out here and let ourselves go hungry and cold. I mean… there’s a warmer inside and there’s a fridge full of food. I was actually thinking of cooking something for you but we can stay out here and just talk –“
“Ow! Ok! Ok!”
They had kissed before hadn’t they? This wasn’t supposed to be a big deal but Dara knew better than to court temptation. The last time they had kissed – she almost ended up in the waters. She didn’t trust that her sweats would be enough protection from the heat he could draw out of her.
She didn’t want to kiss him coz she knew that just maybe… she wouldn’t be able to stop.
Ji’s whole demeanor changed as he positioned both of them to face one another – making her breath catch.
“Welcome to the Orange Glass House” he whispered to her and slowly reached out to cup the back of her neck to guide to meet his.
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