But how could that be?Shrugging, Jim pushed the idea out of his head. He wasn"t in his right mind anyway, now that he was attracted to this country girl. Instead, he concentrated on helping her out of her seat, as she let go of her knees rather reluctantly. Jim had half a mind to pick her up and carry her out, she was acting so slow. But that would only have made her withdraw from him. So he gathered his patience, and quietly held her hand as she tried to get up.
Miya felt as if she would buckle on her knees. She was thankful that Mr. Hunter grabbed her hand tight. She would have otherwise fallen.
When they finally managed to stand on mother earth again, Miya was so relieved, she wanted to kiss the ground. She had successfully landed. And without hurt!
She would have done a happy dance, but then she looked at another creature who was already doing it for her.
Ben jumped up and down excitedly, his small hands balled into fists, as he talked to Mr. Park with impatience.
"That was so cool!" he said to the old man, "Especially when the plane was about to fly. It sped up so much! I wish my legs had touched the floor, uncle. That"d be so awesome!"
Mr. Park smiled at him pleasantly.
"Someday they will, dear one," he told the boy while patting his head, "someday they will."
Miya immediately felt better.
When they sat in a limousine again, this time, their seats had somehow interchanged. While Ben sat excitedly with uncle Park, Jim was seated beside Miya. He was still holding onto her hand, which she never let go of either. Jim lazily watched the boy and his butler, his expression slightly amused.
The boy was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness with just one plane ride. And he was so enthusiastic in his discussion with Park, Jim couldn"t help but feel that the old man could befriend just anyone in the world.
Someday, Jim thought, he"d take the kid out for a ride in his chopper.
Miya meanwhile, had recovered considerably.
She had a.s.sured herself that she was safely on land, and was being driven away from the airport. Which meant her nose was going to be safe too. Satisfied, she decided to start executing her plan, which was to research on the Hunter family.
She was going to pull out her phone, when, for the first time in quite a while, it dawned on her that she was still holding the young master"s hand.
She looked at their intertwined hands, and immediately turned red.
Her reaction did not escape Jim"s notice.
Smiling slyly, as he tightened his hold on her, he whispered, "Something the matter, dear?"
Miya"s mouth flew open at once.
D-dear…! This man again said dear!
Jimmy laughed and let her go.
She turned away from him quickly, and then took out her phone. Thankfully, the battery hadn"t died yet. As she typed in "House of chairman of Hunter corporation", a few images popped up.
Miya was astonished.
Never in her life, had she seen such a huge, or elegant house, even if it was just in a picture. From the look of it, it resembled a castle that was painted white. She could also view quite a few gardens and orchards, from pictures that had been uploaded by people who must have visited the house sometime.
It seemed the mansion itself was quite popular, and parts of it were open for the common public to visit. Almost as if it was a king"s palace.
Well, in a sense, it was.
Miya was awed, as she dug in further.
Jimmy, who was at least a foot taller than her, could easily see what she was reading about. He was surprised, and then he smiled. She was smart, alright, couldn"t walk into an unknown territory without information. That was not only smart, but also showed the mindset of someone used to dangerous situations.
The recent sequence of events ran wildly in Jim"s brain, and he remembered how murderous Miya had looked while fighting off those goons. And as he watched the expression on her face become more determined, something dawned on him.
Jim looked before him, at the happily chatting child and Park. Feeling somewhat uneasy, he took out his own phone.
Then rapidly, he began to type in a text.
[I need to tell you something important. Can"t say it in front of your kid. Are you okay with texting?]
He then pressed "Send".
Miya"s phone buzzed.
She was surprised, as she seldom received texts. When she saw it was Jimmy Hunter, she glanced at him doubtfully. What was he texting her for? Weren"t they sitting right next to each other?
She opened the message.
Once she had read it though, she was instinctively worried. She began to type in too.
[Yes. Everything okay?]
[Yeah. Just saw you look at pictures of my house.]
Miya"s hands stopped.
She was such an idiot! She had made no attempt to hide what she was searching! Then again, she hadn"t actually expected Jim to peek over. Giving him a sideward glance, she almost admired the poker face that Jim had on, as he looked at the screen of his phone.
Giving it a second of thought, Miya typed in.
[Just curious. It"s beautiful.]
[It wasn"t built by me.]
[I never said it was.]
Jimmy gave her a quick glance. Somehow, he had expected the reply.
[Well… Miya. The thing I wanted to say. It"s about my father.]
[Yes?]
[Don"t get this wrong. But he"s not a nice man.]
Miya frowned.
She didn"t know how to react to that piece of information. Well… even if the Chairman was not a nice person, what did she have to do with it? Before typing, she looked at Jim questioningly.
Jim began to type in furiously again.
[What I mean is… As you know, our contract remains secret. So naturally, no one would know that the marriage is not permanent. Let me put it bluntly. He"s not going to like you.]
Miya looked at the words for a long time.
She, but obviously, knew that. What she couldn"t wrap her head around, was how worried Jim was being. He must have known that since the beginning. Why had he married her, in that case?
Shrugging, she wrote.
[I know. Don"t worry. As long he doesn"t kill me, I"ll be fine!]
Jimmy sighed. He didn"t know what to feel.
[He"ll glare at you. Be outright insulting. Will you be able to take that?]
[Bring him on! Wait… won"t you defend me?]
[I"d kick his a.s.s for you, dear. But if I do, he"d take that as a personal insult and make your life h.e.l.l. I"m avoiding long term conflict. I"m really sorry. I"ll try to make him keep it down.]
Miya fell into thought.
First off, she would have to kick this young master"s face for calling her "dear" again and again. Secondly, it looked like she was in for a train of insults and a lot of scolding for the next one year. The idea of it angered her, but then again, it was in exchange for Jimmy Hunter saving her and Ben"s life.
According to her, of course. She typed slowly.
[Can I retort? Answer back?]
Jim was quick.
[Of course.]
[Won"t that be taken as a personal insult?]
[I"m sorry beforehand. He"d think you"re too lowly for him to be affected by your words. Again, sorry.]
[In that case, he should be ready for a showdown!]
[I"ll make him tone it down. Promise.]
[Thanks for the warning!]
Miya closed the chat and without sparing a single look at Jim, continued to research. Jimmy, on the other hand, stared at her warmly. It unsettled him somewhat, that her face had grown more determined, but he was at ease with himself now.
The car turned around a corner, and Jim clenched his fists.
It had been a while since he had last met his old man.
And well… if the last meet had been fiery, this one was going to be a storm.