Chaebol Fate

THE COMPETITION

I braced myself and readied my plan. I was going to kiss him back. He leaned down and kissed me softly. He was right. He was a damned good kisser. I told myself to fight it. I had to fight the urge to let his kiss dominate me. I pulled back, smiled, then kissed him back, slipping my tongue into his mouth and gently running my fingers through his hair. Breaking free from his lips, I trailed soft kisses down his neck, over to his ear, and started nibbling on his earlobe. I heard him gasp and knew I had won. Taking a hold of my head, he turned my lips toward his. He then looked at me with desire in his eyes and crashed his lips down onto mine as he held me tightly to him.

That little trickster! He was fighting back. He must have caught onto my game. As soon as he came up for air, I broke free from his hold and splashed him.

"Gotcha!" I laughed. He just stood there and stared at me, his chest heaving. He combed his hair back with his fingers, wiped off the water dripping down his face, and I noticed the corner of his mouth curl up into a smile. Oh, shit. He was going to get even. Just as he ducked down to splash me back, I dodged him.

"Ha! You missed!"

"We'll see about that!" He then charged at me, picked me up into his arms, and dropped me squarely into the water. As I resurfaced and gasped for air, Jimin threw his head back and laughed.

No. No fucking way I was going to let him win. As he was distracted by his laughing, I quickly ducked under the water, grabbed his ankles, and yanked, causing him to lose his balance. He fell backward into the water, and I had shown him that I don't give up that easily.

Satisfied that we had done a good job of appearing playful, I started to head back to shore. Jimin suddenly grabbed my wrist, turning me toward him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Jimin quickly lifted me, throwing me over his shoulder, and started carrying me back into the water. He then set me back down, grabbed my face, and kissed me passionately. He pulled back and breathed, "I'm not done performing this scene." He then wrapped his arms around me and kissed me again.

In my head, I screamed, "Damn you, Jimin! You are good. Really good."

It took all of my strength not to melt in his arms. No wonder women fell at his feet. I had to fight back. I had to show him I was in charge somehow. But how?

Suddenly, Jimin slipped a hand down my back and squeezed my ass. My self-defense training kicked into gear. I quickly grabbed his hand and put him in a wrist lock. I fought the urge to punch him. Instead, I burned him with my stare. He had crossed the line.

"Hands off!" I growled, then released him.

"I-I . . . "

"If you ever grope me again, I won't give a damn about our arrangement or how it looks in the media. I'll make your life a living hell. Got that?!"

I stormed out of the water onto the beach and headed straight for our lounge chairs. As I dried myself off, he approached, his tail between his legs.

"Ji-Hye, please forgive me. I got carried away. I promise I'll be more careful next time."

"Next time?" I scoffed. "What makes you think I'm going to let you kiss me like that again? Sorry, fella. Only pecks from now on. You've proven yourself to be untrustworthy."

He hung his head. "I understand. I'm just wondering how we are going to come across as a couple in love if we don't kiss. Like, really kiss?"

I thought for a moment, then came up with a solution I hoped would work. "Our interactions don't need to be steamy to be believable. How about this? From now on, we smile a lot. I mean a lot. We need to look like we are happy. I only kiss you on the cheek. You only kiss me on the forehead. We continue to hold hands and we hug. I am permitted to put my arms around your neck or your waist. You may only place your hands around my waist. No hands above or below my equator, got it?"