The Moon on a Frozen Lake

6: Waterfall

Trickles from a sliver of a crack,

'Til it widens into a stream.

Emotions long kept locked,

Becomes a waterfall, spilling from the brim.

--- J., 2008

After a streak of grey, smoggy days, the sun finally made an appearance. Golden afternoon light filtered through the windows, alighting Yingyue's hair with dappled specks of brilliant blue. Jihoon furtively observed the way the strands grazed the delicate lines of her jaw. She sat across from him at the breakfast bar, a small frown between her eyebrows. While she tapped away on her laptop, he took in the peachy color she'd swiped on her eyelids, cheeks, and lips. The light flush made her winter-pale skin glow with health.

Pretty.

As soon as the unbidden thought came, he flicked his eyes back to his laptop and focused on the work email he'd been reading. He typed his reply while sounding each character. Although he was fluent in conversational Mandarin because his mother had insisted he and his sister speak and study it when they were young, writing with proper grammar was still a bit of a struggle.

Just as he was about to press send, a soft hum drew his attention back to the woman in front of him. She was gnawing at her lower lip causing tiny commas to appear at both corners of her mouth. The desire to reach out and trace them made his arm itch. Clenching his fists, he forced himself to look away.

What the hell was wrong with him?

After he apologized this morning, he promised he'd keep the flirting in check. As much as he enjoyed getting a reaction from her, there was a fine line between friendly physical contact and sexual harassment. It was one he'd never cross.

So why did he keep getting these weird ideas and urges whenever she was near? Mulling on the question, he sent his reply and scrolled through the remaining pending items. Even though everyone in China just started their week-long holiday, it wasn't the same for the rest of the world. Opening a sales report, he browsed through the numbers and made a note of questions he had on a separate file. He managed to make it halfway through before a sudden realization crossed his mind.

Pausing, he chanced another glance. The sight of her gave birth to a tingly sensation at the pit of his stomach. As it grew, it spread upwards until it felt like a flock of tiny swallows were unleashed in his ribcage. Throat dry, Jihoon grabbed his mug and gulped down a mouthful of tepid coffee. That should calm those stupid swallows down. Still feeling a flutter here and there, he drank some more tilting his mug to get the last drop.

There, that did the trick.

Placing his cup back on the marble surface, he went back to scanning her features. To his surprise, she was shining, a halo of gold outlining her body. He was reminded of those romantic Korean dramas his grandmother used to watch. Maybe he'd gone crazy. Or, it could be the universe mocking his attempts to suppress his obvious attraction. Most likely, it was the sun backlighting her. Whatever it was, it took a couple of blinks before the effect faded away. Was this the literal version of seeing someone in a new light?

At the silly thought, his lips quirked up, too.

Right then, Yingyue looked up and caught him staring. Jihoon froze, feeling like he'd been caught misbehaving.

"What is it?" she asked.

"N-nothing." A vehement shake of his head accompanied the proclamation.

An eyebrow quirked up. "Then why were you smiling?"

"Am I not allowed to smile?" he countered.

"I didn't say that. I was just wondering if there was something on my face."