Chapter 6

"So have you been here before?" the better looking half of one of the American couples asked.

They'd been on the bus for about five minutes and according to the driver, it was a fifteen minute ride. There were about 7 couples on the minibus so although it was quite full, there was still enough space for Shin and Ji Won to sit separately.

Noticing that the girl was waiting for a response, Ji Won smiled and nodded. She hadn't quite understood what the lady had said in her strong New Yorkern accent so nodding was a safe bet. She quickly looked away so as not to encourage her to continue the conversation but the chubby, curly haired girl didn't take the hint. It was her first time outside of New York and she was so excited to talk to anyone who'd listen.

"Oh really?" she tapped her husband's knee. "Honey, she's been here before!"

"Really?" he asked, suddenly interested in the conversation. In the years they'd been married, he'd learned to tune his wife out whenever she went poking her nose where it didn't belong. But this time, it looked like it had actually done some good. "Where do you recommend we go? After today, we want to quit the tourist bullsh.it and live like the real locals. We want to see what the real Aruba is like. I tried talking to the concierge but he wasn't much help. Do you know any bars that are only frequented by locals? We want to eat their food, drink their homegrown brews and listen to their music. So where can we go for that?"

When Shin saw Ji Won nod again, he laughed. Poor thing. With all that nodding, he hoped she didn't end up selling herself to someone.

"Alex ssi, have you been to Aruba before?" he yelled in Korean.

She turned back to look at him sitting two rows back. "No. Why?"

He pointed at the couple she'd been talking to. "You just told them that you've been here before and now they are asking you to recommend places to them."

"Oh," she said, turning back to look at the expectant couple. Her face had already begun to turn crimson and she wished she could just shrink into the seat. "Sorry." She waved, incorporating sign language. "First time here," she said, pointing downwards. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's your first time? Where do you live? And what are you doing here? Is that your husband?" the wife asked, pointing at Shin.

Ji Won sighed. What was wrong with the dumb girl? Couldn't she tell that she barely understood a word she was speaking? Before she could nod one more time, Shin jumped out of his seat and sat next to her.

"Why don't I interpret?" He turned to the woman. "I'm Shin and she's Alex and no, we aren't married. You?"

"I'm Nancy and he's Tim," she said, holding her husband's hand before proceeding to tell their story. Apparently, they got married three years ago in Vegas and after Tim had gotten a great bonus the previous year, they could finally afford to go on their honeymoon. "What about you? What's your story?"

Ji Won shared her story about being a chef, substituting the American father with a Chinese one and changing her location from Seoul to Shanghai. When she was done, Shin shared his.

He looked away and sighed dramatically. "My long term girlfriend and I had planned this vacation for months but two weeks ago, she called me from her parents' house to tell me that she didn't love me anymore and that she was getting married the next day. To my cousin! To cut a long story short, I tried to get a refund but I couldn't. So here I am," he said sadly.

Tim's and Nancy's mouths fell open and when they finally recovered from what they'd just heard, they offered cliché words of comfort. From them, Shin learned that his ex was no good and that the right one would come along shortly.

When the couple turned around to face forward, Ji Won asked him what he'd told them. After Shin recounted the story, her face froze. "I'm so sorry," was all she could come up with.

He laughed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen eyes grow so big. Gosh, why were people so gullible? Did they think his life was a silly MBC drama? "You can relax your face– I made it all up."

"What?" she asked, still in a trance.

"I didn't get dumped by my ex. It's not a true story."

As soon as that sunk in, Ji Won heaved a sigh of relief. "So what's the real story?" Now, she really wanted to know why he was vacationing alone.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," he said dismissively. "It'll only put you to sleep."



***



"Interpreter," she yelled, calling Shin to her side. "What is he saying?"

Three couples had already gone hang gliding and it was finally her turn. She'd been a little scared at first but after the looks of elation on the others' faces shortly after landing, she knew she just had to get up there.

Shin repeated the safety instructions in Korean.

"Ask him what I should do if I feel like I'm falling."

He shook his head as he watched the guide clasp the life jacket around her. "You're completely safe – this is not even real hang gliding. Heck, it's not even paragliding."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, you're completely safe. Look," he said, taking hold of the straps connecting her to the speed boat. "This is what will really propel you into the air and bring you down. They are in complete control the whole time so you don't have to worry about a thing."

Ji Won frowned and looked away from him. Why was she already getting the friend vibe from this guy? If he was supposed to be her fling, he had to long for her and think of her in sexual terms. She'd yet to catch him staring at her boobs. What could she do?

He tapped her in encouragement. "You'll do fine," he said, stepping away.

"Wait!" She suddenly got an idea. She held onto his arm and tried to look as scared as possible. "What if I fall?" Yes, it was time to play the damsel in distress. To get his loins roaring, she had to make him feel like he could protect her. After all, how many men were attracted to female body builders who could kick their asses?

Shin raised his brow. Was this woman bipolar? Just a few minutes earlier, she'd begged the French couple to give up their space on the queue so that she could go next but suddenly, she was scared.

"You won't fall."

"But what if I do?" she whispered, grabbing his shirt tighter. Shin looked down and saw that she was holding onto him so tightly that the veins on her hands were threatening to pop.

"You'll be fine," he said as he attempted to pry her hands away. But whenever he managed to get one hand off, she held on tighter with the other one.

"Shin ssi, please will you come up with me? I'll feel so much safer with you. I need a strong man like you to make me feel safe." Ji Won blinked rapidly and swallowed hard to keep the bile from rushing up her throat. Had she really said that?

The guide looked at him with pleading eyes, begging him to concede to her. Even though the young man didn't understand a word they were speaking, anyone within a ½ mile radius could probably correctly assess what was going on.

"Okay, put the life jacket on me too," Shin told him. They were holding things up and he could already tell that the others were anxious to get up there as well.

He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her body. As they took off, Ji Won moved her hands up and laid them on his. They felt strong and solid and as they glided in the air, with the wind blowing through her hair, she imagined what those arms would feel like as both of their bodies passionately rocked together.



***



"Who knew hang gliding could be so scary?" she commented as they walked towards one of the benches occupied by other members of their group. "Now I can't wait to go jet skiing. My adrenaline is pumping!"

He laughed. He barely knew her but had already begun to notice little things about her. Like the way the edges of her eyes crinkled when she was thrilled. When they were in the air, he'd been worried by her screaming till he realized that she was loving every single minute of it. "And to think you were so scared a minute ago. What would you have done if you were facing real death?"

"I'd have held on to you tighter," she said, leering at him.

Shin looked away, pretending he hadn't seen it. "It reminds me of the third time I went hang gliding. And I mean the real one – so I wasn't attached to a boat like this one. It was just me, my glider and the wind."

"Wow!" Men loved their egos stroked so Ji Won made sure she looked very impressed. "I don't think I can do that. I wouldn't even go if there was an expert glider with me. I'd be too scared!"

He nodded in agreement. "And if I had been as smart as you, I wouldn't have nearly died."

"What?"

He leaned towards her. "Yes, I almost died. The ride went on longer than I'd planned and since the winds were really strong that day, even though I was trying to navigate myself down, I just kept gliding and gliding. So I decided to give up and just roll with it. I figured that I'd eventually get down."

"Impressive. I would have died of a panic attack."

"Well, I got so comfortable that I actually fell asleep. When I woke up, I found myself quickly heading towards a large rock," he said dramatically.

"Oh my god!"

"So I started hitting the hand navigator," he said animatedly, mimicking the actions, "trying my best to swerve away from the huge, brown rock but it didn't seem to be working. I pressed it and pressed it and pressed it and…"

"And?"

"Boom," he said, slamming his hand on the table for effect. "For a second, I thought I was dead but when I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was falling. I don't even remember pulling my parachute cord but according to the doctors, that's what saved me."

"Wow. You were lucky."

"Very lucky. This is the only thing I have to show for it," he said, showing her a small scar on his knee. "And the funny thing is that the doctors said that I actually died for a few seconds."

"Really?" she asked in disbelief. If he only got that baby scar, how bad could it really have been?

"Yes, I remember it. Even when you're unconscious, you still have some level of consciousness and I think that at the moment I died, everything went very still. And silent. Dark. Still. Silent. It was surreal."

"Dark and silent?" she hissed. "Is that what we all have to look forward to? I need something more dramatic. It needs to end with a bang. At least a bright light or something. Or maybe you didn't see it because you were going to hell," she teased.

He laughed. "And to think that I didn't want to mention the bright light because I was trying to avoid cliché."

"Cliché? What do you mean cliché?" She eyed him suspiciously. "Did you just make the whole thing up?"

He nodded. "I sure did."




***



Ji Won had always loved seafood so she was already anticipating enjoying her meal at the restaurant the bellman had suggested. After returning from the beach, they decided to have dinner together.

"Alex, have you decided yet?" Shin asked as he watched her peruse the menu.

She shook her head. She was debating between the Shrimps Creole, which was Shrimps with some kind of Creole sauce or the grilled shark. Or maybe she could try the pan-friend barracuda. The restaurant was packed and lively and if she happened to die from barracuda poison she was sure that one of the numerous tourists was a doctor. So would it be barracuda or shark?

Since she could easily find shark in Korea, deciding on barracuda, she was about to shut the menu when Shin said, "If you're having difficulty deciding on what to eat, you can try the 'Keshi Yena.' I had it at another restaurant and it was really good."

Ji Won looked down to read the dish's description: a soupy brew that combines Gouda cheese, spices, and the meat of your choice in a thick brown sauce.

Great, she thought sardonically. It was something she could probably whip up herself.

She shut the menu and handed it back to the waitress. "Keshi Yena." Damn. Stupid men and their egos. She really didn't want to eat any damn thick sauce but since she needed them to end the night on nothing but pleasant terms, it was a sacrifice she was going to have to make.

After the waitress left, he said, "So what's your favorite dish to make?"

She looked up at him. Huh? She caught his eye and remembered her supposed profession. "Yeah, I love to make lasagna," she said quickly.

"Oh. Is it an Italian restaurant?"

"Yeah." She focused all her attention on the wine menu. "I'm think—"

"Which one?" he interrupted. "Maybe I've been there before."

"I doubt it," she said, still keeping her head down. "Have you been to Shanghai before?"

"Yes, whenever I have to meet my p--," he started to say till he caught himself. "Yeah, I've been there a few times."

"Really? That's great, but I don't really want to talk about work right now. I'm on vacation to forget it all. Let's change the subject," she said, smiling. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know yet," he replied, agreeing to let it go. Besides, from what he could see, she probably needed a lot more time to work on her lies.



***



Shin switched his computer on and waited for Windows to load. For the first time in a long time, he'd spent a day without logging on and was surprisingly okay with it. He was shocked that he hadn't begun to get jittery like a heroine addict looking for a fix. Instead, he was calm and even refreshed. Maybe, just maybe, there was hope for him after all. Not that he'd ever admit it to his agent, Jin Mo, because if he did, he'd most likely have to deal with at least a full year of gloating.

He sat at the desk and waited for his computer to connect to the hotel Wi-Fi. Just as the icon popped up to inform him that his wait was over, he heard two loud knocks at his door.

According to his table clock, it was 10:23pm and he certainly wasn't expecting anyone. Curious, he walked over to the door and opened it.

Ji Won smiled and didn't let the look of shock on his face discourage her. She'd taken a shower to make sure she was clean in all the right places and had applied a fresh coat of make up to make sure she looked just right. All she'd done with her hair was towel dry it because if the media was to be believed, there was nothing sexier than water dripping down a woman.

She held out the bottle of white wine to him. "I felt like a drink but didn't want to have it alone. I hope you don't mind. Have you got some glasses?" she asked, walking into his room thereby making it impossible for him to reject her.

Even though she was still wearing the t-shirt and jeans she'd been wearing earlier in the day, Shin caught a whiff of lavender shower gel as she walked past him. Plus her hair was wet. So it was either that she'd planned on going to bed before deciding to drink or something was up. He watched her as she sat at his desk and placed the bottle on table.

"Let's drink this now – I don't want it to get too warm. It's the cheap stuff so you know it's better chilled." She unscrewed the top of the bottle. "See? It doesn't even need a corkscrew. Can you get some glasses?"

He raised his brow. What was the rush? His air conditioner was on full blast so it wasn't like the wine was in danger of boiling.

He turned around and walked towards the mini bar. There really was something off about this woman. During the day, she'd been detached but friendly – saying a lot without really revealing much about herself but suddenly, at night, she was sitting in his room with a bottle of alcohol in her hand. But on the other hand, if he really thought about it, there'd been some moments he wondered if she'd been flirting with him. He knew when a woman was interested in him but this one was just weird. She was giving far too many conflicting signals.

The sudden sound of the chair scraping against the floor interrupted his thoughts and when he reacted by turning around, he caught her standing up and taking off her blouse.

His eyes widened in surprise. Okay, that was one hell of a clear signal.

He was still in shock, his feet rooted to the ground when she threw her top on the plush, brown carpet and walked towards him. Then she reached behind and unhooked her bra. As the black lace fell to the floor, revealing her breasts, she said, "Let's have sex."