unburdened

Teaser

She slowly raised her head and he saw the flare of emotions as she saw his face. 

He watched as her eyes widened and her face blushed the most delicate pink.

He had grown used to having woman react to him.  He knew how to deflect it to put them at their ease or encourage it to take things to the next step. 

But this woman was different.  She was immediately shuttered, closed from him. She piqued his curiosity in a way he had not experienced in a long time.

Lyra had been startled by Jin's arrival and had stupidly spilled coffee all over his desk.  She braced herself for his angry words, but instead he quietly reprimanded her.

She was busy trying to clean up the mess when she heard another man's voice in the office. 

As she looked up, her eyes flew wide in surprise.  It was the man she had met at the elevator.  Yes, she silently confirmed to herself, it was not her imagination, he really WAS that cute.

Before she made another mistake, she sharply reminded herself of her job and pulled back into the protection of her shell.

She heard Mr. Kim's comment about neither of them belonging in his office and his instructions that they both report to HR for discussions about what they had done.

She watched as irritation flickered across the man's handsome face at Jin's comments about security being lacking.

That put her guard up even more.  She briefly closed her eyes.  She was confused and weary of all of this.  She longed to be far away from here.

Instead she had a job to do and a very irritated boss standing in front of her waiting for her to do it.

She nodded at the young man  and motioned him toward the door.  Neither of them spoke until the elevator door closed.

“My name is JungKook.  You can call me JK, “ he told her, his smile coaxing her to relax and trust him.

He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself and moved away from him.  Her eyes were wary and she moved to make sure her access to the door and floor buttons was clear.

He had been wrong to think her timid.  She was cautious and had her guard firmly place. She was afraid.

He backed into the furthest corner of elevator and put his hands on either side of him so she could easily see each move he made.

He caught several other actions that betrayed how nervous she was.  He watched as she refused to meet his eyes, her hands nervously plucking at the hem of her sweater.  He looked at her closely and saw her fear and vulnerability.

What was her story?  What had caused  her fear and worry? 

His skepticism of any person's motives was strong.  He assessed new people for threats as a natural reaction. 

This time he could not make the connections. He needed insight into this woman. He was torn between distrust and an overwhelming instinct to protect her.

He realized she had not even shared her name.

He smiled gently at her and repeated, “I'm JK…..your name?”

He watched her battle against her instincts, not realizing he was holding his breath for her answer, for her to trust him.

Lyra looked at him and weighed what she knew and what she was feeling.

Finally she took a deep breath.

“I am Min Lyra,” she said quietly, realizing as she said it how very much she wanted him to say her name.

She wanted to learn more about him.

She wanted …… she wanted to simply be a girl meeting a boy, having  him ask her for a date, laughing and dancing….Her thoughts trailed off.

She just wanted a normal life, the way things used to be. 

Did she have the strength to hope for that anymore??