Of course, Nancy Jung also saw the news. Not only was she jealous of Samantha"s status, but she was also enraged that Samantha was going to be working with CEO Daniel Cho. She thought that although they wouldn"t really be working together closely, their collaboration would definitely give Samantha a lot of chances to be close to him. Compared to Daniel Cho, despite the fact that her boyfriend, Andrew Park is the CEO of the top entertainment agency, he was still inferior. How could she accept it if Samantha will be paired to the CEO of Cho Corporation?
Of course, Nancy doesn"t know anything. What would happen if she were to find out that Andrew was actually Samantha"s ex, and that Daniel Cho is now her boyfriend?
…
"Joon, when was the last time that you went on a holiday trip?", Becca asked before she sipped her takeout coffee.
She and Seo Joon were currently walking by the garden after they had their late lunch. For the past few days, they"ve both been spending a lot of time lately. Dinners, hanging out to kill time or a walk in the park.
He found Becca"s company quite pleasant. She was carefree and didn"t have any drama in life. Every time they were out, they would always have a good time laughing while getting to know each other.
Seo Joon thought about it first and answered, "I guess it"s been almost 2 years?"
"Jeez, I don"t think I can last that long. Work and no play?", she commented and Seo Joon chuckled.
Looking at the woman next to him, he suddenly noticed the tiny dimple sitting below the corner of her mouth. She was smiling at him and that dimple was so cute not to notice.
"You think so? Where would be a great place to go on vacation?", he asked.
She continued to walk but her pace slowed down as she tried to scan her memories, "What"s your ideal place to relax?"
"I don"t have any preference, really. But I would want to be somewhere quiet. You travel a lot, do you know any?", he asked casually.
"You know what, actually, I do. There"s this-", Becca"s words were cut when the rain suddenly fell. It was just drizzling at first but it quickly changed in a matter of seconds, huge raindrops started to fall heavily. "It"s raining! Quick, where shall we go?", Both of them started running but Becca was slower because of her heels.
Looking left and right, Seo Joon found a small tool shed. Without thinking twice, he grabbed Becca"s hand and led her towards it. When they arrived, he tried to twist the k.n.o.b open but it was locked. There was nowhere else to go for them.
Leaving no choice, they had to stay outside the tool shed and take shelter under the roof overhang. They were soaking wet but didn"t really have any other options.
"Are you okay?", he asked when he turned to face her.
Becca smiled at him and nodded her head. "It looks like it won"t clear up any time soon."
Seo Joon"s gaze, for some reason, lowered until it reached her chest area but his eyes averted right away when he saw that Becca"s blouse became see through. He swallowed before he took off his coat and handed it over to her.
"No, I"m okay, Joon.", she said while shaking both her hands in front of her.
He turned his head to her and sighed before he put his coat around her. "You need it. It"s cold.", he insisted as he fixed the coat in place, closing one b.u.t.ton properly.
Not noticing how close they were at the moment, their personal s.p.a.ce was invaded. Becca"s heart started to thump and her cheeks became hot, "Joon, how come you suddenly became so handsome?", she thought and pursed her lips.
When Seo Joon lifted his eyes to look at her, that"s when he realized their proximity. He saw her purse her lips and his instinct kicked in, suddenly focusing his gaze on her mouth.
"Becca,", he whispered, his eyes never left her lips.
.
.
.
"Can I kiss you?", the words left from his mouth even before he realized it.
She didn"t make a sound, nor did she move.
She swallowed and right after she did that, Seo Joon leaned in for a kiss.
...
Early in the evening, Daniel Cho took Samantha out for dinner. He brought her to a restaurant that was in the outskirts of the city, they have already changed into a more comfortable outfit. Samantha was wearing a loose sweats.h.i.+rt, dark jeans, and white sneakers while Daniel was in a black sweats.h.i.+rt and jeans. It was like Country D all over again, spending the night together like normal couples.
Walking hand in hand, they strolled to the park and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, "So, how does it feel, CEO Kim?", Daniel said as he squeezed her hand lightly.
Samantha"s feeling at that moment was different, there was something within her that she couldn"t put into words. She had always lived her life in the shadows, away from the limelight and away from people"s criticisms.
Back then, she would always feel reserved and as if she was living somebody else"s life. There were tons of things that she wanted to do but because of how she was, the fears that she had would always stop her. Like she was trapped and kept in place by an invisible metal chain, a chain that she had put herself in. A chain that no one else can break but herself.
Did she ever try to free herself from it? She wanted to. She tried, and yet she failed. She failed herself.
She was trying to search for adjectives to describe it. But there just weren"t any. She could feel that the chain was still there, it wasn"t totally gone. She wasn"t completely free but the chain that was holding her back had cracked. And now, it may be possible that it had already turned into something more bearable... a string.
"I feel… hmmm… better?", Samantha chuckled, "I don"t know… I can"t quite say."
Daniel pulled her to sit on a bench, "That"s understandable. This is something new to you. But you did great, I"m proud of you.", he smiled at her.
"How do you not run out of patience for me? You already have a lot on your plate, spoiling me isn"t really a good idea. I might end up depending on you too much.", she said with a chuckle.
"Who says I"m spoiling you? This is an investment, I"m investing myself to you. And you have to make my investment worth it.", Leaning in, Daniel captured her lips and kissed her slowly. His lips tasted like the wine he had at dinner, and Samantha"s were sweet, just like the chocolate mousse that they shared earlier. The two of them savored their flavored kisses to each other before breaking away. "And please, depend on me as much as you can."
Daniel leaned his forehead to hers, "Samantha.", he breathed her name.
Pulling back and looking into her eyes, he spoke with all gentleness to the woman in front of him who"s capable of making his heart flutter like a thousand bolts had struck whenever he"s with her,
"I love you."
Samantha"s gaze didn"t falter, she was looking back at him with eyes full of inexplicable emotions. Her mind had already responded to his words but her mouth seemed to have been broken. "Why is my mouth not moving?"
Daniel continued to look into her eyes, very patiently, he said one more time, "I love you."
1 second.
2 seconds.
3 seconds.
4 seco- "I heard you the first time.", she managed to get the words out of her mouth.
His expression was still the same, he was calm and he was sure. And as if he was in a chant, he wanted to repeat, like saying the words once, twice, wasn"t enough. Slowly, he opened his mouth and told her once again, "I love you."
.
.
.
"Marry me."