SHE tried to pull her hand away but he held it firmly. He continued to talk in a serious tone. “I need you to answer thes questions truthfully.” she was afraid of what he might asked so he tried to pull her hands again. “I know you need your hands for work, don't make me break them.” he sounded dangerous. This was not the Sungmin that she thought she knew.
“What are you getting from all this?” he asked her. She shook her head indicating nothing. “Did my mom buy you that dress?” She nodded tentatively. He muttered a curse in Korean then continued. “Did I hurt you when I told...when I said those things earlier?” Tears started to fall because she was scared, hurt and embrassassed.
Wasn't earlier enough? What else do you want from me? She wanted to say it outloud but there was a lump of tears that was blocking her voice. It was the anguish that she kept in. She couldn't even wipe away the disloyal tears that fell across her cheecks. She didn't want to cry in front of him that's why she fled. Now her hear was raw and her eyes were misty and she was lost in his gaze.
“I'm sorry if I hurt you.” he said softly. “I just wanted to make sure you weren't in this for the money.”
“You're dad tried to pay me. I wasn't going to take it.” She managed to choke out. He let her hands go and wiped her checks dry.
He smiled at her and said, “Do you really want to be with someone like me? My life is not here. I have to be in Korea in a month. If you really are willing to go through this whole thing, you have to be where I am. Can you do that?” He is trying to get me to say no to him. Not going to happen, Sungmin. Two can play that game.
“Your father said that you won't be a performer forever. After your contract expires then we can get married.” She knew that he wasn't anticipating that response. She mentally laughed out loud. Here comes the dark Jans.
The Dark Jans is the version of her personality that is reserved for the viles of all the scum that walks the earth. One of her classmates from elementary school got the tongue-beating of his life when he made fun of her sister. She didn't usually use Dark Jans for supporting herself, someone this was an exception. And boy, is Sungmin in for a ride.
“But..that would take years.” he said, almost stammering because he knew that his contract was going to be up for evaluation. She let out her Dark Jans smile, something between sinister and sweet.
“I am a fangirl, remember? I know and I've told your father that you contract ends next year. That is plenty of time to say goodbye to you little hobby, right?” she knew the nerves to hit. She did after all toil over every recorded video and written word about this man. She knew that he took his work seriously and hated the stigma that he was a rich boy bored with his life. He wanted to be taken seriously and calling his career a hobby was rubbing salt to an already open wound.
“I still won't marry you! I would rather be a bachelor for the rest of my life than be married to the likes of you. I know you have an agenda. Tell me what you want, how much you really want and I will give it to you...I'll double it even!”
“Give me one month, Sungmin. If you don't love me by the end of the month. Then you win. I will leave you alone and I would tell your father to stop pestering you about being his heir. Sungyin can handle the business when he is old enough. A good for nothing like you won't be able to handle that big a business anyway. All you are good at is smiling and sending our pheromones.”
“And you think I would fall in love with a girl like you?” he was gagging to say something else. She looked at him as if challenging him to say it to her face. He seemed to have decided not to say it. She knew what he was going to say but was to tactful to say outloud. Compared to the women he dated she was a plain Jane. But they didn't have her determination. Whatever it was in his heart that was jaded and hurt by those women, or even by his father, she would find a way to get him to heal his heart.
If he wasn't going to love her, as long as he remembered how to love again, she'd be happy with that...right? Maybe.
