《Sunset at Han river》


 Dark room

    Her eyes felt too heavy to open, her head felt like it was cracking and her body felt like it was dead. In the midst of her confusion, Ana could hear voices from afar but could not understand a single word that was being said. ¡°This is what being buried alive must feel like.¡± Feeling like stuck in a bad dream she was starting to panic, she had no clue about what was going on and feared she was no longer in her apartment. The voices in the distance were getting closer as she slowly began to regain control of her body, she could now move her fingers. She heard the people clearly now and still, she could not understand a word. They were speaking in the native language, one she did not speak. She could move her head now and her eyes did not feel so heavy anymore, she opened them in fear and discovered she was alone. She was definitely not in her apartment anymore and she had no idea about where she could be.¡°This is not happening!¡± The people outside continued discussing whatever, as Ana looked at her surroundings. It was a filthy, dark, small room. No windows, no air circulation that she could see, no escape. Several types of scenarios rolled in her mind as to what this situation could be, but the truth was that she was clueless. Maybe it was a mistake, maybe she was not the one that they wanted, yes it had to be it. The feeling of her body was now completely recovered and the ropes around her wrists and ankles were biting on her skin. They had her laid down on her back in a bed, hands tied behind her back, ankles tied together and to the feet of the wooden bed. She was dressed in the same clothes she had when she went out for dinner the night before, or so she assumed it had been the night before. She remembered having dinner and arriving at her place, but nothing else. It was like she blacked out. Her head was pounding in pain. She was sure she had been drugged sometime that night. A drop of water fell down on her forehead and she looked up at the rotting ceiling, it was very possible that it would fall on her head and kill her before she could find out where the heck she was. Another drop of water fell on her forehead and she pulled on the ropes that bound her in frustration. There had never been a time where she felt more afraid then right now. A sob came out of her mouth and she had started to shake. ¡°You need to calm down and figure out a way out of this.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    She tried to track down in her memory, every detail of her stay since her arrival, anything that could give her a clue on to why she was there and who were those people and what they could want from her.


    *****


    Ana Aguiar, 38, Portuguese. She had arrived in the country about a year ago, hired by a prestige university to teach the Portuguese language.


    Although she did not speak a word of Korean, she accepted the challenge confident that with her extensive knowledge of the English language she could live a normal life in the country. Of course, learning Korean was in her urgent to do list, but in truth, her teaching was consuming so much of her time, she had not yet found the energy to do it. It turned out that she loved the country, she loved her job and she loved her present life.


    She had lost her parents very early in her life and she did not have any other family. Being the only person to count on in the whole world gave her a different perspective on life. She had to start working early before she finished her studies and life was not always easy on her, so she was always on survival mode, a tough cookie. But she managed just fine, the only concerning problem was she had only one friend in her entire life, back in Lisbon, and she never had a long term boyfriend. At that question, she would only say ¡°No time, no patience.¡±

 An evening to forget

    Thinking back six months ago...that just might have been the time when it all began...


    Ana smiled at the sight of a group of young students messing around with each other in the university courtyard. It was a beautiful sunny day and the weather was just starting to cool down, after a very, very hot Summer. One of her own students passed by her running throwing her an incomplete ¡°????? ???¡± (Hello teacher) that she returned in a loud voice. An older teacher on her right side gave a disapproving look. Ups! She had forgotten again that being an adult and a teacher meant that she needed to have a flawless image, whatever that meant. Ana was still getting acquainted and getting used to the cultural differences between her country and South Korea. Sometimes she made mistakes. Who was she kidding she was always making mistakes, huge mistakes. Blushing a little she bowed her head in a greeting to the older teacher and walked inside the building as fast as her legs could go without running. Her class was at 11:00 that morning so she still had some time to relax and hang out with the other teachers, at the teacher''s lounge.


    ¡°Good morning¡±


    Christopher Grey, the English teacher, was standing in the hallway and gave her one of his most beautiful smiles, that she returned.


    ¡° Hi, Chris. How are you today?¡±


    Without any concern, he shoved one arm on top of her shoulders making the students around giggle and whisper.


    ¡°You are going to get us fired one of these days.¡±


    He laughed at her remark ¡°Anything for you my little, cute Portuguese friend.¡±


    The fact that he was making fun of her height made me elbow his stomach and he let go of my shoulders laughing even harder. Christopher was 1.80mt, thin, white skin, blue eyes, and very blond hair that shone like gold every time the sunlight hit it. All the females, students, and teachers were in love with him. He had a lovely sense of humor and the manners of a gentleman and was not Ana¡¯s type of man at all. ¡°Maybe I should change my preferences regarding man.¡± she kept saying to herself.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After classes, Ana went to dinner with some of the teachers like it was common in Korea and ended up drinking one too many glasses of wine, which for her meant 3 or 4. So, she said her goodnight and went home.


    Catching a taxi at night was not always easy and after a few ignored her completely she realized she was actually a little drunker than she thought. Ana tried to keep her head as straight as possible but that did not stop her head from spinning and she closed her eyes for a moment.


    A presence in front of her made her eyes pop open. Ana looked up at the hazel eyes that faced her and blinked a couple of times.


    ¡°Ji-Hyung?¡±


    Ji-Hyung was one of her students at the university. A tall, dark-haired nice kid that always had a kind of enigmatic expression in his eyes and rarely fully smiled. The shame of being drunk in front of one of her students made her let out a frustrated moan. Trying to speak as normally as she could and yet fearing that her words would drag she gave him a shy smile


    ¡°Hello! What a coincidence! What are you doing here?¡±


    He kept his enigmatic expression just staring at her ¡°Out for a walk.¡±


    Ana smiled again in accordance ¡°I see.¡±


    Anxious to get out of there, she tilted her head to the right and spotted a taxi coming. At the same time, she raised her right arm to call the taxi the world went all crazy on her and she would have ended up smashing her face in the pavement if Ji-Hyung had not grabbed her arm and pulled her. Ana covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head slightly, this would probably cost her reputation with the kids. ¡°Fu¡­¡± she thought to herself.


    ¡°Ji-Hyung¡­¡± she faced him with begging eyes ¡°Could we pretend this never happened? Please?¡±


    A strange atmosphere was making the hair at the back of her head raise. He was way too close, looking at her funny, was still holding her arm and had a hand in her back. Ana went instantly sober and stepped back.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see this Ji-Hyung. And thank you for your help.¡±


    Miraculously a taxi appeared at that time and she was out of there in a second. Giving herself all sorts of reprimands for being responsible for the weird situation with a student, she arrived at her apartment safe and sober. After the warm bath, she was ready for bed. Giving one last look at her phone to check the time she discovered a non-read text message. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t drink so much. Glad you got home safe.¡±

 The cutest stranger

    ¡°What was that?!¡± was her first thought. The number was unidentified. ¡°Christopher?¡±  the name said out loud reverberated in the walls of the room making sense and she decided to ask him about it on Monday.


    The weekend woke up grey and warm. She was a mess because of the night before and even more ashamed of the events that had taken place. At this time, she dreaded Monday and the looks and whispers of her students.


    Ana was not usually a person who cared much for what other people had to say about her. However, that changed a lot since she came to that country and started working at the university. Not only the security of her job seemed to be directly connected to the image she gave the board, the other teachers and the students but also, she did not want to be a social outcast in a still foreign country that she wanted to keep living in. The nightmare of that little incident all over the internet¡¯s social network gave her a headache. As a means to forget the possible future disaster, she decided to get out of the house and go for a jogging. Her apartment was close to Han river park, the favorite spot for many Koreans and it was packed as usual, not even a grey day could keep people from taking their family out. She smiled at how different that was from her country where the favorite place for a walk seemed to be a shopping mall. With headphones in her ears, the jogging took almost the same pace as the songs that were playing and she enjoyed the refreshing river breeze in her hot cheeks, feeling the alcohol leaving her system. Before heading back to her building she sat down at one of the park benches eating ice cream and completely ruining her morning exercise, with a smile of satisfaction in her face.


    ¡°????? ??????¡±


    The deep voice came out of the shadow blocking her sunlight and was a perfect match with the tall, muscular, tanned, dark hair, black eyes with a teasing glow, stranger. He had also been jogging, judging by his outfit and the tiny drops of sweat in his temples. Without any hesitation, nor waiting for a reply, he sat down next to her stretching his long legs, lounging in the back of the chair letting his head fall a little behind and closing his eyes. Ana was a bit in shock, although not sure if it was because of him addressing her out of the blue, or because she found him to be gorgeous. A second later she was still staring and was caught in the act when he suddenly opened his eyes turning his head in her direction. A beautiful bright unnerving smile was drawn in his lips. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Excuse me, did you ask me something?¡±


    Ana was not a young innocent girl anymore, she was perfectly trained to mask her emotions and made use of that pretending to be indifferent to his obvious charms. He continued smiling but sat straight in the chair. ¡°


    I¡¯m sorry I did not realize you were not Korean. I asked if the ice cream was good since you seemed to be enjoying it and I was considering getting one for myself.¡± The English words that came out of his mouth made perfection by the cute accent.


    ¡°Yes.¡±  she replied, blushing a little by the sight of a now completely melted ice cream in her hands.


    Well, it seemed that she still needed to work on how to mask her shame. Getting to her feet, not really wanting to face a stranger that would probably look her in the eyes and see just how embarrassed she was, Ana bowed her head slightly and whispered a Korean goodbye. One of the few words she could say in the language.


    Walking to her apartment block she was shaking her head and feeling sorry for being herself. Why on earth had she not maintained the conversation, asked his name at least, whatever...she had found him gorgeous and he started the conversation first¡­ ¡°Ahhhh! I¡¯m going to be the death of me!¡± and there she was talking to herself in the middle of the street.


    ¡°????? ???¡± (Hello teacher)


    The young shy boy at the security desk greeted her and she gave him a smile, greeting him back. As she was waiting for the elevator, looking at the colored numbers showing the floor it was passing by. The elevator stopped for quite some time on the 3rd floor and she realized it was probably broken. Taking a quick look at the second elevator she noticed a warning sign on it, no idea what it meant though¡­


    ¡° Hi again. I think the elevator broke down.¡±


    The boy gave her a puzzled look and she started making gestures trying to explain the situation. After a couple of minutes of the same puzzled expression and getting nowhere, Ana signaled him to follow her, what seemed to have worked. The security guard looked at the direction of her pointing finger and shook his head as if he understood saying something to her in Korean. She smiled, being the only option of politeness, she had not understood a word of course. ¡°Well,¡± she thought to herself ¡°The little sin committed in the park just got payback¡± the image of the stranger suddenly popped into her mind. ¡°The ice cream Ana, the ice cream.¡±

 A stressful situation

    Ana was standing at the front gate of the university frightened as a fresher on the first day of school. She wanted to go in but her feet were heavy as rocks.


    ¡°What are you doing standing here like a mummy?¡± Christopher was standing behind her with both his hands on either side of her shoulders.


    ¡°Hoping I wasn¡¯t socially murdered this weekend.¡± Ana shivered.


    ¡°What the heck are you talking about?¡±


    Obviously not going to spill the beans to Christopher, Ana took the only option available, after a big breath she started walking ahead.


    ¡°Nevermind¡± she ended up replying.


    The sound of the bell ringing for her class got her hands shaking slightly. She entered the classroom where all her students were already seated, talking to each other. The silence with her entry felt longer than usual and she stared at them as they looked back at her waiting for something. ¡°Good morning.¡± The words finally came out of her mouth and the students replied back and arranged their seats, resuming their conversations to pay attention to the lesson. Relieved, Ana continued the program for the day.


    The bell signaled the end of the lesson and Ana smiled at the students passing by wishing her a good day. Ji-Hyung was now standing in front of her also wishing her a good day, she was so embarrassed that she barely looked at him. Thankfully the kid was a quiet one and did not seem to have spoken about her shameful drunken state. Feeling relieved she enjoyed the rest of the day and even accepted Christopher¡¯s lunch invitation.


    ¡°So what was that about this morning?¡± He was sitting in front of her cutting his steak with the elegance of a royal.


    He was certainly a beautiful man, she wondered why she felt no attraction to him.


    ¡°Not important.¡± Ana replied thanking Buda, God and all the other deities that it was true. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Christopher, you¡¯ve been here for what, a year now? Why have I never seen you eat Korean food?¡± She teased him in order to change the subject.


    Resuming his swallowing he smiled at her ¡°It upsets my stomach.¡±


    Something about the way he sweetly replied gave her a clue as to why the absence of physical attraction on her side. Christopher reminded her of a beautiful plant, pleasing to the eye but too sensitive for her touch. However, he could certainly be charming and a great company with that humor of his. She found herself more than enjoying the lunch and ended up stretching the afternoon until dinner.


    ¡°See you tomorrow at school.¡± he kissed her cheeks sweetly and closed the taxi door for her.


    The night security was not at his post when she arrived, probably doing his rounds. There was something spooky about buildings late at night, reminded her a lot of horror movies, empty and vulnerable. Ana pressed the elevator door pleased with the fact that it was working again and felt a bit uneasy while she waited. The doors opened and she jumped when a man came out unexpectedly. Apologizing at her rudeness she entered without delay and pressed the button for her floor, the 5th. The doors in that building were all code locks so she pressed the secret numbers and listened to the sound as the door unlocked. Entering her apartment she immediately locked the door. Not knowing why she was acting like a scaredy cat that evening, she turned on almost all the lights of the house. Her phone made a beep and she checked the unread SMS message ¡°You looked beautiful today. Sleep tight.¡± Christopher, always flirty and always sweet. Ana looked at the message considering again why she simply could not give the man a chance. The unidentified number again. She definitely needed to remember to ask him the next day, why his second number was not identified.


    After a refreshing bath, Ana sat down on the couch with a glass of white wine and the towel still rolled around her wet hair. She opened the lid of the laptop resting in her lap and pressed the power button. She had some work to do before going to bed and could sure use the distraction. Correcting the class exercises soon became her sole task and halfway to the wine glass her body and mind became relaxed. She stretched her arms to the ceiling and looked at the time, 23:00 pm. It was still early so she decided to watch a movie online and as she clicked the start button a loud bang made her heart jump to her throat. Slightly shaking she got up laying the laptop on the coffee table. The sound was loud and seemed to have come from the inside of the apartment. Her mind working overtime to make sense of the situation and come up with a reasonable explanation to what she heard. In slow steps, she made her way through the small apartment, never before she was so aware that she was alone. Shaking her head warding off the silly thoughts Ana entered the bedroom and stared at the window completely opened, banging the wall with the strength of the wind. ¡°The window was opened? Merda (shit), you¡¯re such an idiot Ana!¡± laughing out loud she closed the window and went to turn off the computer.

 A very frightened woman

    Friday night again. The people around the table were buzzing with drunken giggles and loud conversations. Ana was not yet drunk, nor did she have any intentions of being. Her mind still had very vivid memories about what had happened the last time she overdid her drinking. Laughing about what one of the teachers was telling her she made a big gesture with her hands and ended up throwing down the glass of wine on the floor, breaking it. Still laughing, she squatted and began picking up the pieces ending up cutting one of her fingers.


    ¡°Oh! ??? (Ana), you alright?¡± The other teacher covered her mouth and looked at her with concerning eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s nothing.¡± Ana replied as the waiter approached them with a broom and a cloth to clean up her mess.


    She apologized to the man and headed to the bathroom to wash her hands. The cut was small and stopped bleeding in no time, under the running water. After splashing her face, realizing she was not yet drunk but not completely sober either, Ana returned to the table. It was time to head home, picking up her purse to take out her wallet she touched her vibrating phone and picked it up instead.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± number unidentified. Rising her head searching for Christopher to thank him for his concern, yet not understanding why he couldn¡¯t just simply have asked her personally, she found him chatting with another teacher. Her gaze must have called his attention somehow because he looked at her smiling and shrugged his shoulders when she pointed at her mobile. He seemed to have no idea what she was talking about. Her heart jumped in her chest as she slowly scrutinized her colleagues around the table looking for a look of understanding. None was found.


    Feeling a bit freaked out and telling herself she was overreacting, Ana left the restaurant wanting to arrive at the safety of her apartment asap. The taxi ride was filled with the sound of her breathing exercises, meant to calm down her racing heart, to the point she got one strange look from the taxi driver. Entering her building she felt safer while greeting the smiling security man at his desk. She was home, she was alright. She was overreacting, probably one of the teachers sent her the message and was too drunk to care about it afterward. She would ask on Monday. Surely, that had to be it! Her apartment was warm and the cold tile floor at the entrance felt good underneath her feet. Ana went straight to the bedroom and changed into her pajamas. Wanting some water before sleep, she turned on the kitchen lights and froze while staring at the countertop where a single bandaid was waiting. Like a sentence. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Someone had been in her apartment?! The realization of that fact shut down her brain for a few seconds and it took her that amount of time to react. Like a crazy person, she grabbed a jacket, her purse, and her shoes and left the apartment without even bothering to check if the door locked. Grabbing a taxi, she asked the driver to take her to the closest precinct.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you, someone was in my house.¡±  Losing her patience she rose her voice and found everybody staring at her.


    ¡°Madam, calm down.¡± the policeman taking her statement told her in bad English.


    He was growing impatient with what he obviously thought was a hysterical woman in need of attention. Ana was also growing impatient trying to talk to someone who barely spoke English and clearly was not interested in what she had to say at all. However, she was not about to go home not knowing who could be in there waiting for her. Close to the breaking point, the tension was rising to the point of being palpable when a deep voice disrupted the scene.


    ¡°?????¡±


    The sound came from somewhere behind her and grabbed the attention of the policeman in front of her. While the officer spoke to the other guy in a speedy Korean speech, his colleague got around the desk and stood in front of her, standing next to his partner. With a neutral expression, Hee-Joon gave him his full attention not even looking in her direction and then, with a pat on the guy¡¯s back, said ¡°??? ??.¡± The officer got up giving her a hard look and the man who had interrupted them took his seat.


    ¡°So madam, how may I be of service?¡±


    That phrase should have made her even angrier if it wasn¡¯t for the crescent shame she was experiencing right now. The gorgeous Korean man she talked to at the park a few days before was now in front of her, and she could only imagine what he must be thinking by the surprised look in his eyes staring at her choice of outfit.


    ¡°There was someone in my apartment.¡±

 The cute detective

    Their eyes met and for the first time that night, she felt she was being taken seriously.


    ¡°Start from the beginning.¡± Calm and soothing, very different from the playful tone she heard the first time they met.


    Ana took out her phone, accessed the weird messages she had received and extended the device towards him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been getting these strange messages from an unknown number and today when I got home there was a bandaid in my kitchen counter.¡±


    After checking the messages he gave her back her phone.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t know the person who sent the messages? Did you ask your friends or family about it?¡±


    She had meant to ask but in truth she forgot. Feeling stupid, Ana passed one hand through her face and nodded a negative.


    ¡°I forgot. But what about the bandaid?¡± She was now doubting everything that she thought before and that showed in her voice.


    ¡°Ms¡­¡± he paused a second looking up her name in the computer ¡°Aguiar. Are you sure you didn¡¯t put it there yourself and then forgot about it? Living in another country can be difficult. Make you on edge.¡±


    In contradiction to her own words, she banged one fist on the desk


    ¡°I¡¯m not stressed!¡±


    ____________


    Beak Hee-Joon looked carefully at the woman in front of him. All he heard from her until then, sounded like a big misunderstanding caused by a stressful situation. There was not a single red light in her story, nothing that made him want to investigate. However, comparing the strong personality he met a few days back and the scared woman dressed in pajamas sitting in a police station, trembling, he could not just ignore it.


    ¡°Look. Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± He got up from the chair and grabbed his jacket hanging in the back of the next chair.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you home and give a look around your apartment. We¡¯ll take it from there, ok?¡±


    She seemed to calm down at the suggestion and got up also.


    The building where she lived was close to the precinct and it did not take them long to get there. The neighborhood was quite at that late hour and the building had a security guard. She greeted the man behind the desk and was greeted back with sympathy and a curious look. Which showed she probably did not bring many strangers home. She pressed the elevator button and they patiently waited. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°The guard has been here long?¡±


    Her pretty brown eyes looked up to meet his.


    ¡°At least since I started living here.¡±


    The bling of the elevator sounded and the doors opened, they went in. He looked around and located the security camera in one of the upper corners. Ana had pressed the 5th-floor button and the elevator moved. Up until that moment, with them both stuck inside a small closed space, alone, he had not realized how petite she was or how her hair was leaving a trail of the scent of flours in the air. The doors opened and she was the first to step out, showing him the way. He let her press the code of the door and made a gesture for her to let him in first. The apartment was clean and quiet, it had a minimalist decor with soft but bright colors. As a sign of respect, he took off his sneakers and roamed around the place looking carefully at anything that seemed out of order. Going back to the kitchen he stared at the bandaid on the countertop. Ana had already gone inside also and was now standing in front of him with an anxious expression in her eyes.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one here. And, as far as I can see nothing seems out of place.¡±


    She nodded with her head and bit her lip.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait here as you take a look around, make sure everything is where it usually is ok? By the way, do you have a small plastic bag and tweezers?¡±


    Hee-Joon watched as she looked inside the cabinets for the bag.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re a Portuguese teacher. Where are you from?¡±


    Her light brown hair looked soft as it waved around with her movements.


    ¡°Lisbon. Is this ok?¡±


    The innocent almost child-like facial expression took him by surprise and his body reacted twinkling.


    ¡°Perfect.¡±


    This was not appropriate at all. He was there in a work-related situation, but his body did not seem to care about that. She did not seem to notice his reaction and walked in the bedroom direction


    ¡°I¡¯ll look around then.¡±


    She almost whispered visibly still concerned. Heading to the living room window, Hee-Joon looked at the windows of the next building. All the lights were off and the curtains down.


    ¡°Here are the tweezers. Nothing is out of place.¡±


    Her fingers were ice cold as he accidentally touched them picking up the tool


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Heading to the counter he carefully picked up the bandaid with the tweezers and put it inside the plastic bag. Before her surprised look he smiled


    ¡°I will collect a favor and let you know.¡±


    She nodded


    ¡°In the meantime here¡¯s my number. If something happens, call me.¡± As she picked up the business card from his fingers, she smiled thankful.


    The brightest, most beautiful smile he had ever seen and his body agreed.


    ¡°Thank you for not treating me like a mad woman.¡± He smiled back at her ¡°Try to get some sleep and don¡¯t forget to change the entry code.¡±

 Was it just a scare?

    Ana looked at the business card she had been holding like a life saver. ¡°Beak Hee-Joon.¡± she found a strange pleasure saying his name out loud. Finally, she gave up trying to sleep and turned on the lamplight. Suppose calling, asking him to come back and sleep there with her was out of the question. She laughed at the thought, feeling the weight on her chest disappear.


    The morning light was already out when Ana finally managed to sleep. She heard the sound of the mobile ringing, first very distant and then gradually closer, waking her up. With eyes still shut she felt her way to the device.


    ¡°Hum, sim?¡± for a moment she forgot she was not in Portugal anymore; that was a first.


    ¡°Hello?¡± she hurried to correct.


    The silence on the other side made her heart jump.


    ¡°Ana where are you? I¡¯ve been waiting for you for 40 minutes now.¡± Christopher''s pissed off voice was also a first.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Chris.¡± she jumped off the bed and opened her closet to take out something to wear.


    ¡°Give me 20 minutes, no 15 minutes.¡± she was putting on her jeans at the same time as holding her phone between her ear and her shoulder.


    ¡°Forget about it. Let¡¯s just leave it for another day.¡±


    Man, he was really upset with her! Before she could say another word he had already hanged up on her. Dropping the phone and letting herself fall on the bed she stared at the ceiling still sleepy. ¡°Great! You managed to piss off who is probably your only friend in this country.¡±


    The sunset near the Han river was even more beautiful. Seated with her legs crossed on top of the bench, a bag of fried chicken on her lap and a soda on her side, Ana was emptied of worries and concerns. Watching as the oranges, reds, and yellows were turning into a light and then darker shade of blue. The chicken was finished and so was the soda. The place slowly filling with groups of young people smiling and talking.


    ¡°????? ???¡±(Hello teacher)  the greeting almost made her fall from the seat.


    ¡°Oh, ????? (hello) Ji-Hyung.¡± Putting down her legs she assumed a more dignified position.


    Since that night she was never again comfortable in the presence of this student. He was towering over her as usual and she felt the need to get up to her feet.


    ¡°Beautiful night isn¡¯t it?¡± the silence needed to be filled. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Yes, it is. Are you here by yourself ??? (teacher)?¡±


    A red light of warning lighted up with that question. Why did he want to know if she was alone or not? Why was he here anyway? What if he was the one sending her all those weird messages? What if he broke into her apartment? With her hand on her phone ready to dial 119 or to throw it at his head if need be, she asked:


    ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    He gave her a shy smile and pointed out a group of people 200 meters ahead.


    ¡°I came with some friends.¡±


    OMG, she was going nuts, poor kid, of course, he had valid reasons to be there it was a park after all¡­ she gave him a big smile of apologetic relieve.


    ¡°Well have fun. I have to go now. See you in class on Monday.¡± Ana gave her student a wave of goodbye and watched as he joined the others.


    Shaking her head she made her way out of the park while answering her ringing mobile.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Is this Ana Aguiar?¡±


    Oh, that voice again...she could get used to hearing it every day.


    ¡°Yes, this is she. Officer Baek Hee-Joon?¡±


    ¡°Detective. I see you haven¡¯t forgotten about me.¡±


    Ana could hear the smile in his voice. Forget about him? Now there was a challenge.


    ¡°How could I? You were so kind last night. And I didn¡¯t even thank you properly.¡± Ana rolled her eyes at herself realizing she was automatically making a very sweet voice.


    What the hell was that?! That was not her voice! And how inappropriate, he was the detective taking care of her complaint!


    ¡°I just called to let you know that there were no fingerprints found in that bandaid.¡± The smile had now disappeared from his tone.


    ¡°I see.¡± Great! Now he must definitely think she was an attention seeker.


    Not that she wanted something to be found, or that someone other than she had been inside the apartment. But, she also did not want him to think she was a hysterical woman.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually strange. At least your fingerprints should have been found. But it was clean. Nothing else happened so far right?¡±


    Now that he mentioned it... he was right, it was strange. After all, when you pick up a thing you¡¯re bound to leave at least a partial print.


    ¡°Yes, nothing strange happened again.¡±


    Entering her building she greeted the night security guard with a wave and a smile.


    ¡°And you changed your password, right?¡± His voice showed concern and Ana was very thankful for that. It made her feel safer.


    ¡°Yes. Right after you left.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say that there¡¯s not enough to open an investigation and without a warrant, we can¡¯t look for the origin of the phone messages. But I¡¯m sure nothing else will happen. You probably spook him calling the police.¡± He was clearly trying to calm her down. ¡°If you need my help, please feel free to call.¡±


    ¡°Can I call you even if I don¡¯t need your help?¡± the cheeky thought almost went out through her mouth. But she pressed her lips together in time.


    ¡°Detective. I would like to properly thank you for what you did yesterday...could I maybe...buy you dinner one of these days?¡± Before he could reply she continued ¡°Or lunch, or coffee...just to say thank you.¡± Staring at her reflexion in the elevator mirror she shook her head disapprovingly. She sounded like a fearful teenager.

 The bouquet of red roses

    ¡°Ms. Ana Aguiar, I¡¯m afraid that could be considered bribe. So, I have to decline.¡± The smile came back to his voice.


    Her heart jumped and she could feel her face turning red hot.


    ¡°However, if you ask me out as a ¡­ possible friend, I would be free to accept.¡±


    Teasing her, that¡¯s what he was doing. And apparently, she was letting him. She couldn¡¯t help but smile, her heart skipping a beat and her cheeks getting even hotter. Two could play that game.


    ¡°Very well, Hee-Joon?.¡± she audaciously addressed him in a more friendly way. ¡°In that case, would tomorrow night be alright for you?¡±


    She did not hear his reply though. Frozen by the image of a large bouquet of red roses standing in front of her door.


    Her face lost all the excitement and her lips dropped the smile, as she carefully approached the flowers. The sudden silence to his reply must have shown something was wrong. Standing rigid near the bouquet she finally registered his odd voice.


    ¡°Ana?. Ana?. What wrong?¡±


    She heard him curse and hurried to reply.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I got distracted for a second. Someone sent me roses¡­¡±


    Ana reached for the roses looking for a greeting card.


    ¡°Does it have a card?¡± his voice suddenly tense again.


    ¡°No. But they¡¯re outside the apartment...so, even if it was that freak it means he couldn¡¯ get inside. Right?¡±


    She wasn¡¯t really talking to him, more trying to reason with herself to prevent freaking out again.


    ¡°Are you alright? Do you want me to come and check it out?¡±


    ¡°No. It could have been a gift from Christopher. I¡¯ll call him and ask.¡±


    Ana got inside the apartment, leaving the bouquet outside exactly where she had found it. The conversation had lost its charm and she excused herself promising to call him again. She was now standing at the entry of the apartment quietly looking for something out of the ordinary. She took off her shoes and made her way inside walking slowly and turning on all the lights. Through the kitchen and the living room, through the bedroom and finally the bathroom. It was empty and nothing was out of place. She drank a glass of water attempting to calm her nerves and dialed Christopher¡¯s number on her mobile. While she waited, listening to the ring of the call, her heart was pounding so hard on her chest it hurt.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Christopher was still upset with her and it was clear on his tone but, that wasn¡¯t something she cared about right now.


    ¡°Christopher, did you send me roses?¡±


    She went straight to the point not concerning herself with the normal pleasantries.


    ¡°No. Why? Is there something wrong?¡± The pout like voice gave place to a concerning tone.


    ¡°It¡¯s just there was a bouquet of red roses at my door and it had no card so...I thought it might have been yours¡±


    She was trying her best not to give away feeling a nervous wreck.


    ¡°It was not me. This time. Did you want it to be?¡± There was his flirty tone of voice back again.


    Ana wanted to hang up the call right away, she was in no mood for that but, did not want to explain what was going on either. She decided it would be best to pretend normality. It was not his fault about what was happening and she had already made a mistake with him today.


    ¡°Ahhhh, there you are. I thought you would stay mad at me forever. I¡¯m so sorry about what happened, let me make it up to you.¡± Her fake lively tone sounded so bad at her ears, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡±


    Ana quickly said her goodbyes promising to schedule a proper date with him next time. She would have promised nearly anything just to get off the phone.


    Roaming around her apartment she was driving herself crazy thinking about what to do and who could be behind those insane actions. Jumping at every little sound she heard she was about to have a heart attack, the second glass of white wine was not calming her down. She had always been weak to wine but tonight, the alcohol was not making any kind of effect on her. Fidgeting around the place, her thoughts were so messed up she considered packing up her things and leaving the country that night, with no care for her responsibilities. She could not do that. She knew she could not do that. Maybe she could get herself checked in to a hotel for a couple of days. But what then?! The police were not helping... could not help, at least before having something more incriminating in hand. Maybe they were waiting for her to get murdered or worse! Now she was getting pissed off. She finished the third drink in one go and fill up the glass again.


    Anyway, going to a hotel was not a solution it was merely a temporary bandaid. ¡°Bandaid¡± She started laughing out of nowhere. Maybe she was getting drunk after all. The doorbell made her literally jump and she dropped the glass of wine on the floor. Cursing under her breath she made her way to the door shaking like a leaf in the wind. Standing close enough to hear the sounds on the other side but, too far to peek in the peeping hole she was battling with her reason to answer the door knock. Again, the bell made her jump ¡°Merda (shit).¡±

 Lifesaver

    Breathing deeply a couple of times Ana finally looked in the peeking whole and an immense feeling of relief flooded her seeing Hee-Joon¡¯s face on the other side.


    Opening the door she could have hugged him if that hadn¡¯t been way too weird for Korean¡¯s culture. That is, she must already seem crazy enough at that guy¡¯s eyes without needing to add to it. So, she just stood there staring at him for a couple of minutes before inviting him in.


    ________


    Hee-Joon looked at her not sure if the expression on her face was one of relieve or dissatisfaction. Maybe it hadn¡¯t been such a great idea coming over.


    It was just that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to sleep not sure if she was alright or not. Right or wrong, he kinda felt responsible, he was a detective and yet there was nothing he could do for her in that situation.


    She seemed to make up her mind and invited him in.


    The short tiled entryway for her apartment was separated from the rest of the house by a small step she nearly missed. Her sloppy steps letting him know she had probably been drinking, then confirmed by the smell of wine in the air. She had not said a word so far and he decided to patiently wait until she would.


    ¡°Sorry about the mess.¡± when she finally spoke, her voice sounded restrained.


    Kneeling down she was about to pick up the fallen glass when he grabbed her hand lifting her up the floor. Gently, he pulled her to the couch and sat her down. Without a word, he picked up the glass from the floor and wiped it clean, served her another glass of wine and one for himself. It had been a very long time since he had that unbearable feeling of helplessness. Walking back to the couch he reached out the glass to her and seated beside her.


    She had been watching him all that time with a blank expression on her face but now, she looked as if she were about to cry. It was a split second glance and then it was gone.


    ¡°So, detective Baek Hee-Joon, what brings you to my house at this hour?¡±


    For some reason, he felt mad hearing that question. Silly woman, he was obviously worried about her. That¡¯s what he was doing at her house so late at night.


    ¡°Thank you for coming.¡±


    ¡°Aish (shit)¡± almost slipped through his lips. What the hell! She was showing him so many personality traits in such a short amount of time it was leaving him speechless. Besides, having that woman look so vulnerable close to him was not a good idea. He was having all sorts of not advisable longings right now, at the sight of her sweet eyes and bitten down lower lip. Keeping his body as still as stone sculpture, afraid to move even one muscle and not be able to help himself, Hee-Joon replied.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    She gave him a shy smile and sipped her wine.


    ¡°Did you have dinner yet?¡± She looked surprised at his question and replied with a negative shake of her head.


    Hee-Joon got up and went to the small kitchen to roam at the closets for something to cook her dinner with. He needed to clear his head and decided that concentrating his attention on cooking was a good escape. Besides, if she didn¡¯t eat something with all that drinking, she would feel lousy in the morning. He picked up a frying pan and a pot and started slicing some vegetables. Completely absorbed in the action of cutting vegetables, he was totally caught off guard when she sat down in a stool in front of him, with her face in one hand and the glass of wine in the other.


    ¡°O que est¨¢s a cozinhar?¡± She was starting to drag her speech.


    ¡°What?!¡± He smiled not understanding one word of what she said.


    She laughed ¡°Now you know what I feel when I hear Korean.¡±


    She laughed some more and passed a hand on her eyes. She set down her almost empty glass and gave it a little shove away from her grasp.


    ¡°I asked what are you cooking? You seem to be having fun.¡±


    ¡°I like cooking.¡± He resumed cutting vegetables and putting them inside the frying pan with oil, turning on the heat.


    ¡°It shows.¡± she smiled again.


    ¡°So, that was Portuguese? Talk some more.¡± He wanted to keep her distracted.


    ¡°Hum...like what?¡±


    ¡°Anything.¡±


    ¡°Tu ¨¦s muito giro.¡± Her voice adopted a cute flirty tone.


    Hee-Joon smile but did not look at her. He had no idea what she was saying, but that tone of voice was universal.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± He teased her knowing she would not tell him. Well, maybe if she had had enough wine¡­


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to tell you detective Baek Hee-Joon.¡± she giggled.


    ¡°Right now I¡¯m not detective Baek Hee-Joon. I¡¯m just Hee-Joon.¡±


    ¡°Well, I might tell Hee-Joon...when I¡¯m sober.¡±


    His name in her voice was a sound he wanted to hear more often, along with that giggle.


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s just unfair Ana.¡±


    ________


    She had fallen asleep on the couch, knees close to her chest and one arm under her head. Hee-Joon turned off the TV and looked at her wondering if he should take her to her bed and risk waking her up. On a final decision, he went to get a blanket to cover her. Finding a paper napkin he wrote her a short note and quietly left the house, making sure to change the security code on the door.


    The night sky was already turning a light blue color when he stepped outside and the breeze was getting colder with the arrival of Autumn. He took in the cool morning air and passed a hand through his hair. There was nothing he could do for her right now as a detective but, he¡¯d be damned if we¡¯d let anything happen to her. Turning the bouquet in his hand he looked at the roses and frowned. Suck a petty, that freak had turned a nice gesture into something a woman would fear for the rest of her life.

 Chasing a ghost

    Ana woke up from a very troubled sleep with her throat completely dry. Getting up she massaged her neck, strained by the night spent on the couch and stretched her arms to the ceiling making a very audible yawn. ¡°Wait. Couch, wine, dinner, Hee-Joon¡­¡± her eyes immediately scanned the place looking for his presence already feeling the heat of shame in her cheeks. No one was around, which made her a bit disappointed. Heading to the fridge she spots the napkin on the counter under a bottle of water. ¡°I changed your door code: 873241¡± Ok...that was short. No wonder. She was giving that guy so much trouble, he probably could not wait to get away from her asap. Who could blame him?


    There¡¯s an old Portuguese saying: ¡°O travesseiro ¨¦ o melhor conselheiro (the pillow is the best adviser).¡± and that might be just right. At that moment she was reminded of the building security cameras and that she just might be able to find out who was the person freaking the shit out of her by checking those footages.


    Ana gulped down the water as fast as she could and, after a 10 minutes bath and change of clothes, stormed out of the apartment heading straight to the security desk.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± she smiled to the guard on the other side of the counter.


    ¡°?? ?? (good morning)¡± he replied back turning his full attention to her.


    Now, that she was face to face with the security guard, she suddenly struggled with how she was going to explain to him what she wanted¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± she began


    ¡°...the cameras¡­¡± she looked around trying to spot the one in the hall of the building.


    She needed to learn Korean and fast if she was to remain in the country. She was getting so frustrated at the questioning look at the young man¡¯s face and her inability to communicate she ended up letting out a curse


    ¡°Bolas (Damn).¡±


    ¡°Can I help ??? (teacher)?¡±


    For a split second, all Ana could do was stare at him with her mouth opened in dismay. Really! That guy could speak English and was just staring at her while she struggled that whole time?!


    ¡° I was wondering if I could have access to the footage of our security cameras.¡±


    The languages the man could speak were not her main concern at the moment. So, she just moved on.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Why? Was there a problem?¡±  The young man got up.


    ¡°Yes...well no...I mean I don¡¯t know. I think maybe someone was in my apartment a couple of days ago and maybe yesterday also.¡±


    Trying to convince him to let her look at the footages she went a little overboard.


    ¡°I already made a complaint at the police station.¡±


    ¡°If that is true it¡¯s very serious. Let¡¯s go to the security room.¡±


    She had managed to scare the security guard enough for him to go over the footages with her. Both inside the small room they looked carefully at the computer screen. The footages of the night before, in the period of time the flowers would have been left by her doorstep, showed a person dressed in a uniform wearing a cap, in the other cameras, you could see the person¡¯s face clearly so the security guard handed her a print screen of the best possible image. However, they could not find the security footage of the day she suspected someone was in the apartment. When questioned about it, the guard shrugged his shoulders telling her he did not have any clues about why there were no footages of that day. She thanked the security guard for his help and headed for the elevators.


    Maybe she would have to change apartments to feel safer. But, although that was a nightmare on its own, after all, finding an apartment in Seoul was not easy. She was not allowing that freak of a person to break her. He, or she, was just enjoying messing with her head, that¡¯s all. The sound of an incoming message shook her heart however, this time she didn¡¯t hesitate to look at the screen.


    ¡°Did you sleep alright last night?¡±


    This time the number was showing on her phone but she did not recognize it.


    ¡°Sorry I had to leave so early. Duty called.¡±


    ¡°Did you find my note?¡±


    That second message put her at ease and she found herself smiling with excitement.


    ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°I slept fine. Thank you for keeping me company.¡±


    ¡°I did find the note.¡±


    Ana was wondering what else to write, she did not want the conversation to end yet. Another bling came in and she hurried reading the message.


    ¡°Who was the man in your apartment last night?¡±


    ¡°Are you cheating on me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you both.¡±


    Ana dropped the phone on the hallway floor and just stared at it. That whole thing was getting out of hand. She kept looking at the phone and trembling as she read message after message coming in. She was so changing her number and getting out of that apartment. Picking up the phone, she fought the fears that were taking over her again and telling her not to go home. Sitting at her couch Ana looked at the received messages from the unidentified number.


    ¡°You bitch! ¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just a teaser aren¡¯t you? You smile at every fucking guy who looks your way and then take them home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Forgive me. I lost my mind there for a minute.¡±


    ¡°It''s just that I like you so much.¡±


    ¡°Please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s just a friend.¡±


    ¡°Did you like my gift?¡±

 Table for 3

    Staring at the young employee Ana felt like she was about to kill her.


    ¡°What do you mean I can¡¯t change my number?¡±


    The young woman was about to have a first seat row to her rage.


    ¡°Madam, you have a 24-month contract.¡±


    ¡°I know that. At the time it looked like a good deal. Look I don¡¯t want to terminate the contract, I just want to change the number.¡±


    Being at the store for over 45 minutes now, both her and the employee were tired of that subject.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry ??? (customer). It¡¯s just not possible.¡±


    Putting an end to the conversation the girl just turned her back and made herself busy with another client.


    And man did that piss her off! Usually, Ana was a nice person who did not like confrontation. However, she was not leaving that store without a new number. In all that crazy, messed up situation, that was the one thing she could and would control. She stepped out to the street with the device in her hand and faced the busy road with a determination glow in her eyes. In a swift gesture, she threw the mobile in front of a passing bus and watched it getting crashed beyond repair. The lights turned green. With a smile on her face, she picked up the pieces that were left and went back inside the store. Facing the young employee with the nicest smile she could master, Ana held the broken thing in front of her face.


    ¡°I had an accident. I need a new phone.¡±


    Before the look of amazement, the girl gave her Ana continued.


    ¡°With a new number, please.¡±


    After hearing the explanation of how she would have to pay for the old phone in full and return all the bonus she had during her 6 months previous contract, along with the fees and so on, and so on. Ana finally had a new phone with a new number. With a dug bank account and a light heart, she left the store.


    Dialing the number written down on a paper, she heard the phone ring once, twice.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go with me to find a new apartment?¡± she said cheerfully.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this? Ana?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me your Portuguese friend. So, do you?¡±


    ¡°Why do you have a new number? And why are you moving to another apartment?¡±


    ¡°I had an accident with the other phone and I¡¯m tired of the present apartment. It has...hum...bugs.¡±


    ¡°Bugs?! It¡¯s the first time you''ve mentioned this.¡±


    ¡°And why should I have told you about my apartment¡¯s bugs before? Come on, do you want to keep me company or not? I¡¯ll buy you lunch¡­¡±


    ¡°Sold. Where do I meet you?¡±


    Of course finding another good apartment to rent was not as easy as getting a new mobile number, least now that she had a caved bank account. But the mere thought of it cheered her up.


    As expected to be around Christopher lighted up her mood and Ana was able to forget about her messed up life for the afternoon. It was too much fun to see Christopher¡¯s reaction to the two apartments they visited if you could call them that. The truth was that her current budget was not helping either, but she was determined to move even if she had to stay in one of the matchbox apartments she saw today.


    When the time came to go home her good mood melted away. Not wanting to give away her inner feelings, but not wanting to be alone either, she invited Christopher to have dinner at her place. Something she had never done before because of the mixed feelings he kept sending her. One day a good friend, the next day a lover wannabe. But today he was in the good friend mode so she didn¡¯t think it would do any harm.


    Christopher also liked to cook, which was good because she wasn¡¯t worth much in the kitchen. So, leaving it to him she started setting up the table. There was no dining table in her apartment, it was just too small for it, so she set the table in the one in front of the sofa. She turned on some music and accepted the glass of wine he handed her. Christopher was walking around so comfortable you could say he had been there before, for some reason that made her feel at ease. It was like having fun with an old friend. Seated at the counter looking at him cook, talking about fun facts and accepting what he gave her to taste every now and then, just like old friends. He had the most contagious laugh, made her laugh along.


    She was still laughing, with a cup in her hand when she opened the door, without even looking in the peephole.


    ¡°Your number is disconnected.¡± an angry Baek Hee-Joon was standing in front of her eyes.


    And what do you know, he was sexy when he was angry. He was studying her, from the smile she had when she answered the door until the glass of wine in her hand.


    Ana felt guilty. The truth was that she did not tell him on purpose. She didn¡¯t want him to associate her with problems and crazy issues. She didn¡¯t want her image of her to be one of the problematic woman, not in his eyes. So, she was going to call him, the next day, to invite him to dinner, or lunch, or coffee...


    ¡°I changed my number.¡± Ana showed him a smile and pointed the living room.


    ¡°Please, come in.¡±


    Watching as he controlled his emotions and stepped inside the apartment, she continued.


    ¡°Do you want to have dinner with us¡±?

 Unsettling dinner

    Now inside the room. Baek Hee-Joon¡¯s attention shifted to the man on the other side of the counter, cooking like he was home. In the same place, he had been not so long ago. His eyes traveled through the rest of the space reading the meaning on the set table, the glass wine in her hand, her good mood, the soft music playing, the man staring back at him in a defying manner. They were on a date. That was what it looked like.


    ¡°Please stay for dinner?¡±


    Her soft voice reached his ears, but her good mood was making him angrier inside because he could see that the tall, blond man with blue eyes was the reason for that.


    ¡°?????¡± His Korean upbringing running in automatic mode.


    ¡°Hi. How do you do?¡±


    The English accent coming out in every word, he saw the man extend a hand to him. They shook hands testing each other, like rivals. He was not wrong, that guy was interested in Ana. Now the question was, does she feel the same? He thought they, him and her, had something going on. He could feel it when he was with her, a sort of invisible pull. The flirty conversations between them, the sweetness in her gaze. Had he been seeing things? Had she been sending him wrong signals? Maybe it was an occidental culture thing...


    ¡°Will you eat with us? I¡¯ll set one more plate at the table.¡±


    She didn¡¯t wait for his reply and was already heading for the kitchen closet.


    ¡°Why did you change your number?¡±


    Yes, he was pressing for answers and being nosy. He was completely putting aside his cultural upbringing and being rude and probably inconvenient.


    ¡°Not only her number. Ana is moving from this apartment also. Apparently, it has bugs.¡±


    Why was that man giving him private information about her? Who the hell was he to know about that, to speak so freely about her to someone else? Hee-Joon wanted to grab him by the collar and get him out of the house. No, throw him out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about that later. Now, let¡¯s eat. I¡¯m starving.¡±


    Putting an end at his murderous thoughts she made way to the table.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Is it alright if I wash my hands first?¡±


    And yes, he was going to give him a run for his money. After her agreement, Hee-Joon headed for the bathroom. Yes, he knew where that was.


    Looking in the bathroom mirror while washing his head he was reprimanding himself. That was so childish. He knew that but couldn¡¯t help it and now it was already done. Drying his hands on the towel, he swore to control his bad temper for the rest of the dinner.


    At the table, Ana and the man he still did not know the name of were sitting side by side, his own seat was in front of her.


    ¡°? ????? (have a good meal)¡± Picking up a fork Ana smiled brightly.


    ¡°? ????? (have a good meal)¡± They both replied in one voice.


    _____________


    In truth, filling her mouth with food right now was a good excuse to try and hide the fact that she was nervous.


    There was a weird tension in the air. In the beginning, she had thought that it was because Hee-Joon was upset with her lack of good judgment. A reason which she accepted and fully understood. After all, he had done for her, she should have told him at least about the change in the telephone number. But for a while now it seemed his anger was hiding another reason.


    As she stole a look at him, their eyes met and she suddenly wished Christopher would evaporate and leave only the two of them.


    OMG, she was being so unfair to Christopher, he was the one standing beside her all afternoon, making her laugh and forget her problems. He said something she didn¡¯t hear and passed a hand in her harm to call her attention. A gesture he did all the time and one she did not think anything of, but lite up a strange fire in Hee-Joon eyes as he stared at Christopher¡¯s hand on her harm.


    Ana turned her attention to Christopher, making him let go of her arm. She needed more wine.


    ¡°So what do you do?¡±


    She heard Christopher ask Hee-Joon as she got up to get another bottle of white wine.


    They had finished their meal and she decided to prepare some cut fruit as was a costume in Korea after dinner. Maybe also an excuse to stay away from the line of fire for a while. She took her time as she listened to the conversational flow between the two men. They seemed to be slowly laying down their arms.


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s go.¡± Ana thought to herself as she held the plate of fruit in one hand and the bottle of wine in the other.


    Finally, the dinner was over. It was late and all that stress was now making her sleepy, well it had been good for something at least.


    Christopher was giving her two kisses on the cheek, as normal, and Hee-Joo wished her a good night also leaving the wish for something more in the air. The door was closed behind them and the house fell quiet, too quiet.


    Shaking it off, Ana changed to her pajamas cursing the two guys for having cleaned up. Without that she was left to battle with her own thoughts.

 Undeniable attraction

    The doorbell rang and she took her eyes off the window to go answer. A look at the peephole showed her Jee-Hoo¡¯s face on the other side and with her heart starting to race she opened the door.


    ¡°Why did you change your number?¡±


    His hair was disheveled and he had both hands inside his pants pockets. He didn¡¯t make a move to get inside and was barely looking back at her.


    Was he that mad again?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell you. I was going to¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t let her finish continuing his interrogation.


    ¡°And why are you moving?¡±


    God, she felt she was on trial. He was being so cold with her it almost hurt. Ana¡¯s head fell and her hand moved across her eyes, suddenly a lost for words. He stepped inside making her back up a few steps and facing him again. He closed the door behind him, standing a mere step away from her. She could smell his scent, feel the energy beaming from his body, creating a field around them.


    ¡°Aish (shit)...what is it you do not want to tell me?¡±


    His voice got velvety, giving her goosebumps, making her heart skip a beat.


    What was it? She couldn¡¯t think right now, she could barely breathe right. Caught in the shine of his eyes, being pulled by the invisible force around them urging her to get closer.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Her hand moved up to his chest trying to keep the distance between them, she needed to clear her head, fight against the emptiness her brain was turning into standing so close to him. His eyes followed the slow movement of her hand, then staring at the slight touch of her fingers seemed to get stuck there forever.


    Ana saw his hand raise to meet hers, felt the soft warmth of his palm and anticipated the step he took forward to her. Her mouth went dry and her breath fastened, it was like the world was moving in slow motion. Hee-Joon''s other hand cupped her face sweetly and directed her upward to face him. His lips getting closer, parting slightly... If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The bang on the door was so strong that made them both jump. In an instinctive movement, Hee-Joon pulled her behind him. After a breve wait, he peeked to see who was blasting the door at that time of night but found no one.


    ¡°Stay here.¡±


    And disappeared into the hallway closing the door behind him.


    Left alone to handle her own fears, Ana sat down on the couch counting the minutes to hear him knock on the door again. Her heart was hurting in her chest and she was so jumpy, the night breeze whistling outside her window was frightening. A hundred thousand images about Hee-Joon¡¯s safety were popping up inside her head, swiftly being put aside, just to give place to others even more distressing. She was about to go look for him, not giving a care if she would encounter the freak asshole who was driving her crazy when the bell door rang. She almost ran to the door.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t find anyone.¡±


    And without leaving space for an argument he wrapped it up.


    ¡°Pack your things, you¡¯re not staying here tonight.¡±


    Ana had no intention to argue with that. The question was, where would she stay? Was he thinking she would stay at his place? Did she want that? Was it wise at that point? With all that insanity going on? These thoughts were stumbling on each other as she packed her things.


    Going out the door, her hand on his, at a fast pace they went out of the building and in no time were inside his car.


    _____________


    As he sat down behind the wheel Hee-Joon grabbed her hand again.


    He was not ready to let go just yet and could feel in her grasp she was not either. His heart was still racing with the episode that took place at her apartment, although he was not sure which of the two was making it race at that moment.


    The light turned red as he stopped the car.


    ¡°Will it be ok if you stay with me tonight?¡±


    He was asking and needed her to say yes, for the sake of his peace of mind. There was no way he would be able to sleep thinking about how distressed she must be and how scared. He himself was getting extremely restless with all that was happening. What the heck happened tonight?! Why the sudden attack on her nerves? Up until then, that crazy asshole had been in stalker mode but was never threatening. Why now? What changed? Did he think she was alone and was trying to get her to open the door? A lot of unanswered questions were roaming in his head and he wasn¡¯t liking that one bit.


    She remained silent to his question and on the next red light, he stared at her more attentively.


    ¡°Ana? are you alright?¡±


    She squeezed his hand a little tighter and nodded her head positively.


    ¡°Is it alright if you stay with me tonight?¡±


    Faced with her remaining silence he hurried to explain.


    ¡°I know this is an unconventional request and, if you prefer I can take you to a hotel. But, I¡¯d feel a lot better if you¡¯re within my eyes reach for tonight. See it as police protection.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±

 Like a butterfly in a jar

    ¡°Prote??o policial (police protection)¡±


    Laying down on his bed, facing the white ceiling above her, she kept chewing the words. She wanted Hee-Joon¡¯s protection, not police protection. That simple statement built up a wall between them, a gigantic transparent reinforced glass wall!


    Ana looked at the clock on the night table beside her. It was 01:15 am and she was nowhere near getting any sleep tonight. The prospect of having to give classes the next morning was not pleasing. Giving up on sleep, she got up to get some water in the kitchen.


    Hee-Joon¡¯s house had been a pleasant surprise, very different from her¡¯s both in size as well as in the layout. His front door opened to a large living room full of light, divided into three different environments. A small kitchen, a tv area and a sort of greenhouse separated from the others by a glass tiles wall, after double sliding doors, there was also a very small laundry space. A small w.c. was also located on that floor. The second floor of the house had only the master suite.


    Her steps on the wooden stairs were silent, given her bare feet and also calculated because she did not want to wake Hee-Joon, sleeping on the couch. He was sleeping silently, looking like an angel in his peaceful sleep.


    The living room area was a safe distance from the kitchen, so although the area was opened he would probably not be disturbed by the sounds of the fridge being opened or the glass being filled with water. Ana took the glass with her to the adorable small greenhouse area, that was filled with plants and flowers. She had been curious to find out if they were real or not since she had walked in the house. Letting her mind be filled by those simple thoughts was a blessing to relieve her stress. Touching every single one she confirmed they were real and wondered if it would be him that took care of all of them. Somehow the thought he was sensitive enough to watch over plants gave her a warm feeling. The contrary to what happens with Christopher, who she thought was way too picky for her taste. A detective that knew how to cook, take care of plants and protect her. It sounded too good to be true. Where was the flaw? It had to be a big one right? Ana smiled at her own line of thoughts.


    ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡±


    His husky voice interrupted the silly images that were starting to take shape.


    ¡°Hum. Did I wake you? Sorry.¡±


    Turning to face him, she encountered his sleepy adorable face.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t. Want some coffee?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She followed him to the kitchen nevertheless.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°So, are you ready to tell me what happen that made you change your number and start to look for another apartment? And please don¡¯t tell me it has bugs.¡± He smiled.


    Ana started talking slowly at first but, as she remembered the situation, more and more anger driven. He was just listening, with a frown on his forehead, getting tenser as her speech developed and she showed every emotion she was feeling.


    ¡°Do you think it was him at the door?¡±


    ¡°I wish I could tell you no. You say there was nothing on the CCTV¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Nothing that I could relate. How serious should I take this?¡±


    ¡°For now I think you¡¯re taking all the right steps, changing your number and looking for another apartment. That should be enough to stop it.¡±


    ¡°How about my job¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to think he knows where you work, all that happened was related to your apartment.¡±


    That was true, she thought. All the messages and disturbances were stringent at her apartment. That made her feel better.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you find a new place to stay. In the meantime, do you have a friend in whose place you can stay?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that many people yet. As for friends, maybe only Christopher¡­¡±


    ¡°You can stay with me. If you want.¡± He didn¡¯t even let her form THAT thought.


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea. I¡¯ll figure it out. Maybe a hotel¡­¡±


    Stay with him?! Was he just begging for trouble?! That was such a bad idea...good, but a BAD idea. He agreed, probably thinking the same as her. Until she figured that whole thing out, there was no need to make things even more complicated. No matter how much she was imagining it in her head.


    ___________


    The morning came grey as her mood.


    Having a coffee at the university¡¯s park, Ana was contemplating what to do regarding the apartment. Knowing she would have to go back to it by the end of the day crept her out, but she didn¡¯t have much money and if she was to move out of the apartment she couldn¡¯t stay at a hotel. To appeal to Christopher¡¯s goodwill she would probably be attacked by a bunch of questions she did not want to answer. There was Hee-Joon¡¯s offer but, as selfish as it might be, right now she needed him to be detective Baek Hee-Joon and not Hee-Joon the hottest piece of temptation ever.


    Her thoughts were interrupted by a feminine girly soft voice.


    ¡°Ana ??? (teacher), what are you doing out here all by yourself?


    Ana smiled back at the Korean teacher looking down at her.


    ¡°Taking a break Lee Ji-ae ??? (teacher).¡±


    She seat beside her sipping on her drink.


    ¡°Kids driving you crazy?¡±


    ¡°No. I wished it was that simple.¡±  Ana laughed.


    ¡°Man problems then?¡±


    Ana looked at the other woman with curiosity. It was not common to have a Korean person ask someone they didn¡¯t know well about their problems. Maybe she was trying to become closer to her.

 A new friend

    ¡°House problems.¡± She decided to be honest with her and not miss out on an opportunity at what could become a good friendship.


    ¡°I need to move out of my apartment as soon as possible but couldn¡¯t find another yet.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. What¡¯s the matter with the one you in now?¡±


    ¡°Bugs¡±


    Now that was a big fat lie but, come on she could not tell the woman the whole truth, she barely knew her.


    ¡°Very big bugs.¡± She continued shamelessly.


    ¡°Oh my God! That¡¯s disgusting.¡±


    The expression of horror in the other teacher¡¯s face made her laugh and soon they were both laughing at the situation. The conversation stretched to other subjects and as they both had to go to their classes, they agreed to have dinner together that night.


    __________


    Ana and Ji-ae were laughing at all the odd things their countries had, the differences, the similarities and the things they would change. The conversation was flowing and they were having a good time finding their trail of thoughts were not that different. It certainly felt nice to find someone else to talk to about trivialities like that. Her new found friend ended up offering her the couch of her house to stay for a few nights. After all, according to her, at night the big bugs could bite. Ana gave it a thought and considered that to be the best option at the moment. The universe was giving her a hand.


    When her head hit the burrowed pillow she realized the day had passed with no hiccups. No weird scary messages, no strange suspicious deliveries.


    The sound of the incoming message gave her butterflies of expectation.


    ¡°Are you sleeping?¡±


    Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled.


    ¡°Not yet.¡±


    ¡°Was the day ok? Are you home?¡±


    ¡°The day was calm. No, I¡¯m at a friend¡¯s house.¡±


    The shortstop in the incoming messages made her wonder if he would ask what she knew he wanted to know. She could just tell him but, she wanted him to ask. Yes, she was being devilish and her smiled showed it.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad everything¡¯s ok. Sleep tight.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Great. Now she was feeling sorry to not have told him.


    ¡°She is a Korean teacher at the univer¡­¡± The message was left mid-sentence and then erased.


    ¡°Good night Hee-Joon?.¡±


    ¡°No more complications Ana.¡± she told herself.


    ____________________


    A couple of weeks had gone by until Ana could find a modest apartment, according to her monetary possibilities. But she was happy with her choice, it was safe and still fairly close to the university where she worked.


    At that time she kept in touch with detective Hee-Joon, who was investigating her case. Although he followed the only clue he could find, the delivery guy that showed in the CCTV footage, it turned out to be a dead end because the flower shop did not have a paper track related to the customer and all they could remember was that he looked like any normal Korean guy. For her, that was not a total waste. She did not like to admit but, in her madness, she actually had considered Christopher to be a suspect. It was a relief that it was not him. Lee Ji-ae had turned out to be a very good friend and even though Ana did not tell her the truth about what was going on, she helped her out in any way she could without raising many questions.


    Looking around the new apartment she was feeling light as a feather like all the problems had disappeared. She made a new friend, had gotten closer to another friend and had now a clear head to try and salvage what had been the beginning of something exciting. Thinking about Hee-Joon and how distant they were from each other she wondered she was still in time to do that.


    ¡°Ok, m?os ¨¤ obra. (Ok, let¡¯s begin work)¡±


    Rubbing her hands together she chose one of the card boxes and opened it. The cleaning was done and now she needed to put all that stuff in the right places. Books, plates, sheets. The hurry to leave the old apartment made her throw everything inside boxes without caring much for the organization or logic. Saturday was sunny and bright, she turned the sound of the music a bit higher and distracted herself singing at the top of her lungs as she was going around the place. Her selection of music had everything since American, to Korean, to Portuguese, to Spanish and even Cuban music. Singing and dancing all around her apartment she was having a blast, that didn¡¯t even feel like a chore. The bell door rang and she hurried to lower down the volume of the music wondering if maybe it was a neighbor complaining. She couldn¡¯t be expelled on her first day! Looking before opening she saw Christopher¡¯s smirking face. Damn, he was going to make fun of her for the rest of her life. Maybe he didn¡¯t hear anything.


    ¡°Is that what you call a Portuguese party?¡±


    There goes her hope down the drain. The worst was that behind him was Ji-ae also trying to contain her laughter and that was not all...at her side was a very amused Hee-Joon looking down to the floor, a big smile on his lips.


    ¡°Was is this? Do you all know each other?¡±


    She tried disguising her shame diverting the conversation.


    ¡°No, singing girl. We coincidentally met outside and found each other coming in the same direction.¡±


    She should have known that would not work with Christopher. Giving a smile of defeat she stepped aside to let them in.


    ¡°My house is a mess. I was just cleaning up.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that was what you were doing?¡±


    ¡°Come on Christopher? leave Ana? alone.¡±


    Ji-ae gave her a plastic bag with some food and so did the others. It was a costume in Korea to bring some sort of useful offer over when a friend changed houses and they had chosen to bring her food. What was actually a great idea because she was getting hungry.

 Between friendship and…

    Hee-Joon looked around the place. The house was a mess and they were eating on the floor, given the table was under a lot of boxes, but everyone was laughing and friendly teasing each other. Ana was shining she was such in a good mood, that was a side of her he was seeing for the first time. Every time Christopher would teaser her she slapped his harm slightly and he was actually very jealous of his arm right now. He was still not sure what had happened only that, after the night she stayed at his house, she drove as far away from him as she could and even though he was trying hard not be totally pushed aside and at least remain as a friend, he was not sure that was what she wanted.


    He tried his best to find the suspect that was turning her life into a living hell but unfortunately, there were no more clues to follow. With no concrete physical evidence left behind, she could not file a complaint. All he could do was hope that he had lost her track with her moving. That was actually the reason why he was at her place today, to make sure that everything was ok. And he had confirmed it, now it was time to leave. The problem was convincing himself of that. Taking his eyes off that beaming woman in jeans and t-shirt, who was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed eating fried chicken and Ddukbokki, laughing and playing around.


    ________________


    A left hand took another piece of pizza to the mouth, while a right hand held the binoculars in place.


    What a sight, a group of friends laughing and playing, relaxed all sitting around her. The hand pressed the binoculars harder as the person saw the swift movement of the beloved¡¯s hand smacking the blue-eyed man. Rage making the heart race.


    ¡°Calm down he¡¯s just a friend, just a friend.¡± he whispered to himself.


    He had been standing in that position for so long, his legs were starting to cramp. But he could not take his eyes off her, not now that he was closer than ever before. Not now that he could see every little detail of her life in between the open space of the curtains.


    ___________________


    ¡°See you on Monday.¡±


    Ana said goodbye to her guests but hesitated when looking at Hee-Joon. She wanted to find a reason to ask him to stay, unfortunately, that was not the time nor the place. She looked around, there was still a lot to do until that place was considered liveable and the afternoon was passing by too fast. With her back turned to the door she felt a shiver down her spine and shook it off. Was it getting colder?Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Throwing away the garbage left by their meal, Ana hit the start button on her smartphone to resume her cleaning. By the time it was finished she was exhausted and the clock marked 12:30 am. She took a warm bath and had just finished when her phone started ringing. Coming out of the bathroom with a towel around her body and another around her head she picked up the phone she had left on the bed.


    ¡°????? (hello?)¡±


    All the time she was spending with her new friend was allowing her to finally pick up on some new Korean vocabulary.


    ¡°????? (hello?)¡±


    The silence on the other side made her think that probably the person did not have a good reception right now. She kept going around the room with the phone in one hand while trying to get dressed.


    ¡°Jee-ae?, I can¡¯t hear a thing. You¡¯ll need to move somewhere with a better connection.¡±


    Looking at the screen, as if that could change anything, Ana finally gave up on the call.


    ¡°Jee-ae? I¡¯m gonna hang up and call you back ok?¡±


    Ana finished putting on the pajamas and picked up the phone again. Dialing Jee-ae¡¯s number she waited as the phone rang on the other side, with no answer, then decided to send a message.


    ¡°Jee-ae? is everything alright?¡±


    A few seconds after her phone bipped.


    ¡°Yes. Sorry, bad connection. I just wanted to wish you goodnight.¡±


    That struck as a bit odd given she had just been at her place but, Ana didn¡¯t think much of it.


    ¡°Goodnight for you also. See you on Monday.¡±


    __________


    A heart beating as fast as a racing horse. The person couldn¡¯t believe that worked.


    The binoculars never leaving the eyes and the eyes never leaving her sight.


    _________


    Sunday started bright and early. Her favorite spot to run was now not as close as before so she still needed to catch the subway. Two stops after, the Han river breeze hit her face now cooler, announcing the upcoming Autumn. She began at a slow pace warming up her muscles as she moved forward, then she picked up the pace into steady jogging. The riverbank was her selected jogging location, allowing her to enjoy the scenery and the breeze. With the music playing in the headphones she could almost shut out the world around her. The mobile ringing cut off the singer in mid-sentence and after pressing the button she could hear Hee-Joon¡¯s voice on the other side.


    ¡°Ana?? Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Hi, Hee-Joon?.¡±  Her breathe was hasty because of the sprint she had just taken.


    ¡°Sorry, I was jogging.¡± She stopped near the grass and squashed trying to catch her breath.


    ¡°I know, I can see you.¡±

 The start of something

    Ana rose her head looking around trying to find out where he was. She pinpointed a man in a dark blue t-shirt and white shorts that seemed to be coming her way. Fully dressed Hee-Joon did not seem to be that muscled. But now, in bare legs and arms, her eyes got stuck enjoying the sight of the defined lines of muscles covering his limbs. By the time he reached her, she was on her feet, able to disguise her hot cheeks behind a bottle of water. However, the vision of the wet sexy hair, the sweated temples and the strained body muscles now so close to her made her choke. Gasping for air she leaned over her head to the ground, while Hee-Joon gave small taps on her back to help.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes...I¡¯m fine. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°I thought that you would find another place to jogge, closer to your apartment.¡±


    ¡°Well, in truth I love this place so...here I am.¡±


    Why was the conversation so hard and strange between them?


    ¡°Do you want to go for some coffee?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s good.¡±


    Ok, he said yes now all she had to do was not screw it up.


    Sitting down in front of each other with their chosen drinks they were unsure of what to say.


    ¡°So, did you manage to tidy all that up?¡±  Hee-Joon broke the ice.


    ¡°Yes. Thank you for coming over that day.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s tradition for friends to bring gifts when you move houses.¡±


    Friends ah? Ana took a sip of her drink.


    ¡°I know. But thanks anyway. I still owe you lunch or dinner.¡± She tossed the coin in the air and hoped to get lucky.


    ¡°Yes, you do.¡±


    Oh wait, did he just agree to have a meal with her? They were staring at each other¡¯s eyes trying to read if there was a hidden meaning in their words.


    Ana¡¯s phone rang and she picked it up.


    ¡°Sim? (yes)..ah...?????(hello?)¡± She was so out of it, her Portuguese came out first.


    ¡°????? (hello?)¡± The complete silence got her to repeat herself.


    Ana looked at the phone screen, frowned her eyebrows and ended the call, putting the phone back on her purse.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. It was Jee-ae? but the connection wasn¡¯t good.¡±


    ________________


    ¡°Don¡¯t hang up on me Ana. Never hang up on me.¡±


    The phone was thrown away in anger.


    ¡°You should be smiling at me not him. It should be me in front of you not him.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Both hands through a face in despair.


    ¡°Soon.¡±


    ________________


    Ana looked down at the hand resting on top of the table and swallowed again.


    ¡°You were saying you owed me dinner.¡±


    There was that teasing smile she saw the first time they met. Ana smiled back.


    ¡°Well Hae-Joon? I don¡¯t like to have debts so, why not let me repay tonight?


    ¡°Ana? you¡¯ve got yourself a date.¡±


    _______________


    18:45 pm


    Feeling as nervous as if it was her first time going out with a man, Ana looked at her reflexion in the mirror. Was she alright? Was that enough? Was it too much for a simple dinner? It didn¡¯t matter, after changing outfits about three times already she refused to do it again. Her phone rang for the third time and Ana ran to answer hoping it wasn¡¯t him calling her to cancel their date.


    Unidentified number. Ana shook at the sight of that.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m giving you the pleasure of ruining my evening you freak.¡±


    Angry, she turned off the phone and threw it on top of the bed.


    A few moments later, the bell rang and with a heart beating fast out of excitement she went to answer.


    ¡°I tried calling you, but your phone is turned off.¡±


    His eyes were trying their best not to roam around her body and stay fixated on her eyes alone. She smiled inside at that, mission accomplished.


    Grabbing her purse, she stepped outside the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s out of battery, sorry.¡±


    The lie didn¡¯t make her feel guilty. She was not going back to getting anyone play with her life and less drive them away again. There was a feeling that took over her whenever she thought of Hee-Joon. Whenever she saw him, whenever they were together like tonight and she needed to find out what it was because if she didn¡¯t, she was afraid she would regret it deeply. So no, Ana wasn¡¯t feeling guilty at all about that white lie. Walking side by side, he had his hands on the pockets of the black pants, a sweet smile on his lips and even a sort of shy look in his eyes. Mesmerized, Ana could not take her eyes off him nor did she want to. They left the building and headed to his parked car.


    ¡°So, where are we going tonight?¡±


    Although the invitation had been hers, Ana asked Hae-Joon to choose the restaurant given her lack of knowledge in that field.


    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise Ana ??? (teacher).¡± He was teasing her again.


    ¡°You are not kidnapping are you detective Hee-Joon?¡±


    He laughed.


    ¡°Maybe ??? (teacher).¡±


    Inside the car, the atmosphere got a bit tenser. She suddenly realized that it was such a tight space for two people alone. It was like it¡¯s gotten hotter, and she fought the urge to take off her cardigan.


    ¡°So, Why did you choose to be a detective?¡±


    The need to get her mind distracted was urgent and she realized that she didn¡¯t really know much about him. The rest of the way was filled by the sound of his soft voice telling her the story of his life. He made her laugh and even made her a bit emotional talking about his family. By the time he parked the car, Ana wished she could stay inside forever just the two of them.


    He was a gentleman opening up her door and grabbing her hand as she got out. Maybe that had been just a sweet excuse to hold her hand because he didn¡¯t let it go until they reached the designated table. The restaurant was small, with minimalist decor which made the environment even more inviting. Located inside a traditional Hanok, Ana got the feeling she steps back in time for a moment. Sitting face to face, she was facing the window, looking out to the yard.


    The food was chosen and the wine was served between stolen looks and a trivial conversation about food.


    ¡°Your turn. Why did you choose to be a teacher and why here in Seoul?¡±


    Ana wished she could tell him something like her profession was a calling like his. But the plain truth was that it was not, it actually had been more like a necessity, that later on had grown into a calling.


    As she unveiled the simple facts about her life, she surprised herself by conveying also the emotional wrapping that came with it. Ana was a very reserved person, she did not open up easily to people, not about her personal life and her feelings. But, with him it just happened, unplanned, unthought, unreserved and a little bit scary. She found that talking to him was easy. There was no judgment in his eyes and so false sympathy, he was just listening.


    Time went by so fast. To her surprise, before she knew it they were having dessert, laughing about crazy situations they both had experienced in foreign countries.

 The point of no return

    22:30 pm


    They left the restaurant deciding to have coffee somewhere else, he promised to show her the perfect spot in all Seoul. So they got in the car again, feeling more relaxed and comfortable with each other¡¯s presence. If there wasn¡¯t one thing that Seoul was missing was a coffee shop. They were everywhere and even in the most unexpected of places like flower shops. So, to find only one to be perfect was a feat she was curious about. And he did not disappoint. Sitting down at the table, being served a hot, wonderfully perfumed cup of coffee and looking around to find the devastatingly beautiful view of the city of Seoul from above and at night time, most certainly made that place special and perfect. The spots of red, yellow, white and green lights made the city look like the sky at night. At some point, the conversation turned into her plans for the near future. Would she stay, would she go back home after the school year was over? Not even Ana knew the answer to that question. There was not much to make her go back to Portugal but there wasn¡¯t much holding her there so, she didn¡¯t really have the answer.


    00:45 am


    The ride back home was quiet with Ana trying to decide if she should or not ask if he wanted to stay over. She wanted him to stay the night and with all the craziness out of the way, she was going to make sure of that, even if she had to smash another phone, there wasn¡¯t a reason not to. On the other hand, she just did not know how to say it without it sounding way too forward. She was not sure how he would take it, the all cultural barrier thing now getting in the way. Maybe she was overthinking it, probably she was overthinking it. Lost in her own mind, Ana was suddenly surprised to find out she was already home. The silence felt heavy as they looked at each other fighting to find words.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think just spit it out!¡± she kept saying to herself, at some point she did just that.


    ¡°Do you want to come up?¡±


    Her voice sounded foreign to her like it was said by someone else. Why the heck was she so nervous? It was not the first time she asked a guy if he wanted to stay over. He seemed to take a few seconds considering it and then without a word he gave her a smile and turned to open his door. As he got around the car he did not take his eyes off her, making her heart going on overdrive. Hae-Joon opened the door on her side her reached out his hand waiting for her to grab it. That gentleman¡¯s side of him was really sexy and also a bit disconcerting, gave her butterflies. Ana took his hand to get out of the car and did not let go until they got to her apartment. His hand was warm, strong and quite bigger than hers. As they went up in the elevator, she relished the sight of her tiny hand almost disappearing in his. She opened the door feeling a slight tremble of excitement. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Her apartment was even smaller than the one before and it took them a mere 3 steps to be in the middle of the living room/kitchen. Feeling more nervous by the second, suddenly not knowing what to do next, she tried to relieve the tension in the air.


    ¡°Do you want anything to drink?¡±


    They were standing face to face, a couple of steps away.


    ¡°??? (no).¡± He whispered, stretching out a hand for her to grab.


    And she did. Each step making her heart skip a beat, her lips parting in an effort to breathe. His eyes on hers coming closer and closer, becoming darker and brighter. Their fingers intertwining as he cupped her neck with his other hand, pulling her closer, lowering his head slowly, making her shiver with anticipation. She raised her head to meet his faster, grabbing his waist. There was a brief millisecond when their lips were almost touching but not, like in a field of repelling energy between two magnets with the same pole. Their eyes closing while the lips finally touched in a soft kiss, closing on each other, tasting each other for the first time.


    A heat taking over her body, creating an unbearable need to touch him, to get closer. Their bodies pressing against one another leaving the sweetness aside, being swept away by desire, not even capable of thought. Their tongues touched and she held onto his hair with both hands wanting him even closer as he pressed her against him with both hands on her back. One hand on her hair pulling her head back and then trailing a path with his lips and his tongue down her throat. A moan escaped from her mouth and he took her lips again picking her off the floor, wrapping her legs on his waist, grabbing her buttocks as he blindly found the bed.


    Laid on her back beneath him, Ana stripped him off his shirt while he played with her ears making her giggle. Their pace slowed as she passed her hands through his strong, hot back muscles and he stripped her off her dress at a painfully slow pace. His mouth now on her nipple while his hand slowly climbed up her leg, pulling the fabric up. Her hands were now pulling at the bed sheets, her body arching towards his.


    In a swift strong move, she pushed on his upper body and overturned him. Grabbing his wrists above his head she tasted his neck, feeling his rushed heartbeat beneath the tip of her tongue as she traveled lower down. His parted lips letting out a heavy breathing sound. Her nails scratched softly the inner side of his arms making his skin crawl, she untied his pants teasing the limit of his boxers with her fingers while playing around his torso with her teeth, enjoying the sounds she was pulling out of his lips.


    Suddenly all their clothes were on the floor and he had taken over the game. Parting her legs and kissing her mouth at the same time, he took her, whispering against her lips in Korean words she could not understand.