Hye-jae: Book 2 - New Loves

New Adventures Part 18

As Hye-won and Ciara had left the green room, Seon-jae stepped out also, moving to stand behind a decorative panel separating off the backstage area where - though he couldn't see the stage - he could hear the performance clearly.  He was aware that the women had chosen to perform this masterpiece portraying the infinite moods and faces of the seas so he had imagined that there would plenty of dramatic highs and lows - though he didn't know the piece - but he wasn't prepared for the breath-taking range of emotions in the 5 songs and listened appreciatively.  Hye-won's touch has such range - so sensitive in parts, so dramatic in others.  

The ebb and flow of musical expression in Hye-won's and Ciara's brilliant performance was the perfect accompaniment to the swirling storms within him, as though the music was in tune with the flux of his thoughts.  One moment, he felt the toxic flush of anger spike his blood pressure, then an intense pang of regret struck and a nag of anxiety pushed his feelings into the ground beneath him, only to feel a surge of optimism and hope lift him again, before the cycle was repeated.  In his mind's eye, he saw Hye-won's expression change instantly - on hearing the word marry - from tearful joy to raw shock.  He saw her look away and then pull her hands from his grasp.  He felt again the hurt - the stabbing, piercing, deep hurt - that he had felt then and how the air in the taxi had charged with unspoken intensity for the remaining silent moments of the journey.  There had been no time to talk it through, to find out how they were feeling or listen to each other's fears.  The performance had to be the priority and so here he was, in an agony of anger and regret and hurt.  And it's all my own fault.  Why did I blurt it out like that?  She didn't see it coming.  With how she has lived to now, of course the word marry would be a shock.  Idiot.

The raucous outbreak of applause broke in on his tempestuous thoughts and he roused himself sufficiently to be aware that this was obviously an audience who felt they had been treated to something very special.  Dieter's earlier point about Gentians not being well-disposed to the 3 qs might or might not have been the case but they were certainly not afraid to express their appreciation with loud, prolonged bouts of clapping, stomping of feet and hails and calls circling the venue and Seon-jae thrilled to hear it.  She deserves it.  And much more.  

He stepped out from behind the screen and saw the 2 women holding hands, while bowing repeatedly in thanks for this fervent appreciation, before eventually leaving the stage.  As they approached where Seon-jae stood, he saw that both had flushed cheeks and excited eyes and then Ciara turned to Hye-won and hugged her animatedly and Hye-won hugged her back, just as excitedly.

When the hug broke, Ciara turned and saw the figure of Seon-jae standing partially hidden in the shadows.   Reading the intensity in his eyes as they locked on Hye-won, Ciara popped a quick smile and darted past.  What happened next was as shocking to Seon-jae, as his earlier proposal had been to Hye-won.  

Advancing on him in 2 brisk strides, Hye-won unceremoniously grasped the lapels of his dinner jacket and forced him backwards behind the screen and up against the wall.  She seized both his cheeks in hard, flat hands and kissed him forcefully, angrily, passionately, kissed him hard enough to take his breath away and long enough to take his senses.  Her whole body seemed to thrum with the force of feeling within her and it communicated itself to Seon-jae so powerfully, he felt as though an electric current was running through him.  He didn't think or move, he hardly breathed until Hye-won lifted her head a fraction, her grip on his cheeks easing.  She spoke in hot breaths, punctuating her words with hot, breathy kisses on his captive lips, her touch now transforming to a caress: 'you are right, Seon-jae...darling, darling Seon-jaea...you are always right...I am your one...you are my one...our love, our one is all I could ever want...all I could ever need...so if you really want to marry me...wherever and however you want that...I want that too...so my answer, Lee Seon-jae, is yes...yes...yes...you darling fool...I will marry you.'

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At first, Seon-jae's head was spinning with the unexpectedness of Hye-won's actions but as his love spilled her heart to him in desperate whispers and as her touch softened and her kiss deepened, his body and soul were already responding, while his brain was still processing what she was saying.  She wants me...yes...she is saying yes.  As Hye-won professed yes...yes...yes...you darling fool...I will marry you, Seon-jae's heart sang out in exultation and when she kissed him then as though she would die without him, he kissed her back in just the same way.  With their lips still joined, he reached his arms around her, one to the back of her head, one to her waist and spun her inwards, so that his body was now blocking her into the wall.  With this delicious privacy, he devoted himself to the kiss with religious fervour, like an acolyte attending to ceremonial duties.   He wanted everything to be expressed in this kiss, from the intensity of his response to Hye-won's stunning appearance, to the joy of his exuberant proposal and the hurt of his rejection.  Every feeling that had coursed through his veins while he had hidden and listened to Sea Pictures now flowed to her in his kiss.  His desire, delight, devastation, all tumbled from him now and their impact on Hye-won was tumultuous.  She flung an arm over his shoulder and around his back and another around his waist, as though she could never get enough of him, no matter how close he came to her.  Her kiss told him how shocked she had been but also how sorry she was to have hurt him.  Most of all, this kiss - this precious, stolen moment - told them both that what they had been - 2 separate beings with individual dreams and sorrows - was no more, obliterated by the dark energy of their love.  It told them that this, here - this moment - was their union, their sacred fusion and any ceremony that might follow would be a formality.  Seon-jae lifted his head and, against her lips, he desperately hissed, 'we are one,' and, just as desperately, she agreed, 'we are one.' 

A moment later: 'Seon-jaea, love?' 

'Yes, my darling?' 

'I've just remembered,' 

'Hmm?' 

'The concert - we still have to perform tonight.'

They looked at each other in astonishment and then laughter took them.