Paradise (18+ Hyunjin SKZ)

A Little More

She sits up on the counter, reaching for him and he pulls her in to his embrace, suddenly feeling more connected to her as he holds her tightly. He kisses her temple, tasting the sweat of her excitement. She runs her fingertips over his back.

"Want to go take a shower with me?" she asks, pulling back to study his expression.

"I do!" He smiles broadly and he steps back to allow her to hop down off the counter. "Oh but I'm so weak from hunger," he pretends to faint. She gasps looking up at him.

"I don't fill all your needs?!" she teases and he smiles, embarrassed and pulls her in for a kiss.  "Don't worry, I'll feed you." She grins and returns to the sink to clean up and she grabs a bowl with fruit from the basket on the table and hands it to him. "Here, go sit by the pool, relax for a bit." She points to the outside and he smiles and turns with the bowl in his hand, to head onto the patio.

He steps out into the bright sunshine of the early morning and it feels so warm against his skin. He sits down on a lounge chair with his bowl of fruit and he closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth on his face. He pops a piece of the fruit into his mouth. The fruit tastes better here, it tastes fresher, it smells sweeter, it's more vibrantly colored. It's like a dream to be here. He smiles to himself thinking how lucky he is to be spending this time in such a beautiful spot on this earth, next to a beautiful girl who fulfills all his desires and meets every need. He bites his lip, blushing at how bold he felt with her moments earlier, when he demanded she use his real name. He sighs. It was really nice to hear his real name. It was exciting to think that she wants him, every inch of him, and she seems to do anything and everything to make him happy, to make his vacation a paradise. If he could change one thing about this paradise, it would be...that he wants to know her name, her real name.

He opens his eyes, a little disappointed that he had to ruin this moment of bliss with reality. She warned him to just 'be' in the moment, and yet, he is now so enamored of her, that he isn't sure he can be truly satisfied unless he knows more about her. Maybe, he can get up the courage to ask her. Maybe, she will be willing to tell him. She steps out onto the patio with a plate in her hand, interrupting the plans formulating in his mind. He turns and looks back at her smiling as he watches her carefully step towards him with the plate in one hand, filled with breakfast offerings, and a drink in the other hand. She sets them down on the low table next to his lounge chair.

"Where's your breakfast?" he asks as he begins to eat from the plate perhaps a little more ravenous than he expected.

"I always eat fruit for breakfast," she says as she sits on the lounge chair next to his. She takes the bowl from his chair and pops some fruit into her mouth. He nods, still eating.

"The waiter mentioned that," he tells her.

"Who did?" she looks at him confused.

"The man who brought the fruit yesterday, when you were in the shower. He said 'Miss Kim always has fruit for breakfast." As he says the words he watches as she stops chewing and her face seems to lose it's color. She stares back at him blankly for a moment and then she looks away quickly. He stops eating and leans back, realizing he's said something that might upset her. He gets up off the lounge chair and stands in front of her. She looks up at him concerned. "I don't care who you are, or what brought you here." He kneels down in front of her, taking her hands in his. "I really like you, and I understand if you don't want to tell me anything more, but, I do want to call you by your real name." He reaches up and pushes a strand of her long hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek with his finger, sliding his hand down to hold her chin. He stares into her eyes, trying to convince her that he is genuine. She bites her lip, and looks down, unsure. He lifts her chin a little, forcing her eyes to meet his and he smiles at her sweetly. She takes a deep breath before she speaks.

"My name is Sa-rang. Kim Sa-rang," she says, looking up to see his reaction. His mouth drops open. He definitely wasn't expecting to hear that. He looks her over, shocked. He never once, not for a moment, entertained this possibility. He shakes his head.

"You're Korean?" he asks her, dropping his English. She nods. He stands abruptly, his plate nearly toppling on the low table at the force of his wake. "You speak Korean?!" He steps away from the chairs, looking out at the water and the bright sun, looking at the house and the pool and wondering at everything, questioning everything. He shakes his head. He looks back at her, sitting with a sad expression, her eyes lowered. "Why don't you look Korean? Why do you speak English with a perfect British accent?" She sighs, realizing her admission now comes with a huge list of other questions she has to face one by one and decide if she wants to answer them honestly. A tear comes to her eye and she wipes it away quickly. He watches her, and then, for a moment, he feels bad because she never wanted any of this, she asked him to just spend this time with 'Sasha' and enjoy himself. Why can't he let it go?! He's angry with himself for forcing this issue and upsetting her. He moves back to the lounge where she is sitting and he kneels in front of her again.

"I'm sorry. I was surprised. But, it's none of my business. I don't want to upset you. I am really happy to know your name, and it's amazing that you speak Korean. I am just so surprised."

"I suppose it's time to tell you a little more about myself. I didn't intend to, but it isn't as much fun to keep you guessing as perhaps it was when this started." She sighs.

"I am Korean, but, my mother is English. I was raised in Korea and sent to boarding school in England when I was 7." She looks up to see how this admission will effect him.

"Why don't you look Korean, at all?" he asks bewildered.

"My real father, was not Korean. But my mother met my father, the man who raised me, when she was pregnant with me, and he adopted me, and raised me as his child," she explains. He realizes this story is perhaps painful and she shouldn't have had to reveal this much to him when she had indicated all along that this was a temporary fling, a week long romance, and never hinted there would be more. But he's so relieved to have answers.

"Sa-rang, that's a beautiful name." He strokes her hair and smiles. "Is this your house?"

"I don't live here, but I do live at the resort, when I'm in Fiji, and in Seoul
when I'm in Korea." He wonders about this home, but he decides that he's asked enough questions of her for now. He smiles again, shaking his head at the idea of it all. He leans closer to her, stroking her hair as he kneels in front of her.

"Can I call you Sa-rang?"