The protector

China - khachapuri (MM)

Beijing – day four

The room was like cocooned, everything muffled, soft, and it was as if that hushed silence was somehow wrapping him. The light of the night lamp seeped through his lids. Everything around was sweet, smooth, fallen in a still cosiness. The torpor must have taken him too. Jeong Hyeok thought to himself that he must have closed his eyes for a while.

Well, it was predictable. It had been a long day. The trekking, then that steamy pool in the spa. They had come back in the room two hours later, and In-ah had opened the beers – four – and the pad thai boxes – four too.

She was right about the pad thai. It was the best thing he had ever tasted. And there were ingredients he would have never thought they could have tasted good with noodles.

"Are you sure there's not a Thai restaurant in Pyongyang? It should."

"We'll do it at home, no worry. Tomorrow relax: forbidden city, duck, and then shopping," she had chuckled to his surprised face, "no, don't worry: grocery shopping, a kind of shopping you would like. Pad thai sauce and other stuff we can't find in NK."

She must have probably misread his face, "you can even do the other shopping if you want."

He knew many NK visited China for shopping. There was much more stuff, and the prices were cheaper. And maybe In-ah needed something too. Her only shopping in Pyongyang were the Mansudae stamps and the food, and he was curious. What was her taste? He knew women liked... things, many things, which kind of, he didn't exactly know, but women loved to own things. Though, she seemed to not have material needs. He didn't want for her to hide her consumerism only because of him.

"No, just have to take two things for Ra, but I'll do it at the duty-free," she cut him off, ending his want to be made aware of her favourite objects.

Maybe In-ah wasn't right about the pad thai only. Maybe she was right about the spa too, because he had felt full and relaxed. Jeong Hyeok had asked her to come closer, like when they had their coffee in bed and she sipped it leaned on his chest.

"Are you comfortable like this?"

"Best place in the world."

And he maybe was way more drunk and tired than he thought, because his lids felt heavy.

"Ehi," In-ah rubbed his nose, "welcome back, I've missed you."

Finally, the man managed to open those leaden eyes. First thing he saw was the adoring look of In-ah. She was still resting on his arm, but he had probably closed his eyes for more than a minute, because the food boxes and the beer weren't on the bed anymore. And the light was not the one of the lamp. It was the sun.

"Sorry..." cercò di get up, "how much..."

"You've lost consciousness after having vacuumed the last bite. Ten hours, my regards!"

So? He had lost a night with the elf falling asleep like an idiot?

"I'm sorry."

"For? I've slept 9, we were tired."

Nine hours. Had she stayed nine hours, no, ten, in the same position? Ten hours hugging?

"Yes," In-ah saw the questions on his face, "fluffiness level: disgusting. Room service and shower?"

Twenty minutes later, he was eating a spoon of strawberry marmalade from her nipple and taking the mental note to buy a lot of that, later. Plunging into her core, the painful stiffness he had woke up with was eventually finding peace in the tightness of her. Just a night, and he already was so mad, so missing her, so starving for that body.