Freedom { Shownu Series }

Chapter 1

            Leann looked down at her short nails and ragged cuticles. If Mamaw had told her once, she'd told her a thousand times to stop biting her nails. Here she was on the other side of the world, but she could still hear her grandma's tremulous voice scolding her to "let those damn nails alone." But she couldn't. There was always so much to be stressed about. There were always things trying to sneak out that had to be reined back in again. She picked up her pace as she glanced at her phone and saw that she only had two minutes to arrive at her appointment.

She tried to compose her thoughts. She mustn't look hurried or scattered, but it was quite a feat. Her English student, Shownu, was in a band she thought was called Monsta X, if she remembered correctly. She hadn't heard their music, but she knew they had to be big since she seemed to constantly be seeing Shownu's face on billboards and at bus stops. She hated to admit that he unnerved her. He was remarkably handsome, and though he seemed open and unassuming, he had to know how handsome he was. The handsome ones always know it.

As she arrived at the coffee shop, she saw him through the window. His hair was the color of ripe wheat today. Last week, it had been black. Only God knows what it will be next week, she mused. A bell rang as she opened the door. She was greeted with the familiar rich scent of roasted coffee beans.

"I ordered you an iced Americano, but if you don't like that, I can get you something else, Leann-ssi."

"This will be fine," she replied in English as she sat down, tucking her skirt under her carefully. "How did you do with the workbook pages I gave you last time?"

"Um, OK. What means 'uptight'?" he questioned, pointing to the word on the sheet in front of him.

Leann cleared her throat, "Oh, it means when a person is very nervous." She took the paper from her straw and wound it up into a spiral. "It's like this straw wrapper. I just wound it up tight. Sometimes people can be wound a little too tight as well."

Shownu's face took on an inscrutable look. He was studying her face. She looked down. His piercing gaze made her feel like he could see too much. Don't look him in the eyes, for God's sake. Too late. Damn! The tenderness in his eyes threatened to melt her. Her heart was racing as if she were running to escape the clutches of a hungry grizzly bear.

Shownu saw her cheeks turn pink. His eyes wandered to her golden hair that was wound into a tight French Twist. He had never seen her hair down, but he hoped he would someday. Sometimes, little tendrils would slip out of the twist to form tiny curls around her forehead and behind her ears. He wished he could tug on the bobby pins he saw that were firmly tucked into one side of the roll. What if that golden fountain were released over her shoulders and down her back? He shook his head quickly, as if to shake the thoughts loose from his brain. Leann was talking, but he had heard nothing for several moments.

"... so that's how you do contractions."

"I'm sorry. Could you say that last bit again?"

"Of course," she said, as she touched the side of her hairdo as if sensing that he had mentally tried to undo it. "I was saying that some words can be combined into a contraction and it sounds a little less formal and more relaxed. For example, you can take 'you' and 'are' and put them together to get 'you're,' as in 'You're a good singer.' It's the same as saying 'You are a good singer.'"

"Oh," said Shownu, nodding his head in understanding.

"So, could you try to use the word 'you're' in a sentence?"