The Stolen First Kiss

Rhea was astounded by the unexpected ingress of Ryan Jin. A whirlwind of emotions swayed her.

He was still glaring into her eyes. She couldn't take the light in his eyes. She averted her gaze down and tried to pull her hand out of the grasp but he tightened his grasp. His gaze fell on Yuan Yu and swiftly returned back to Rhea. Yuan Yu who understood what he wanted silently packed her bag and left the room. No matter how much Rhea begged Yuan Yu, there was no other result. Rhea was helplessly left alone with the tiger in the cage.

"What in the hell are you doing here?", he sounded enraged and confused at the same time. It was evident that he didn't like this. Rhea  didn't reply as she was out of words.

His fingers grabbed her chin and lifted her face up. His gaze pierced her even more. "Speak, Rhea!" his ice-cold words echoed in that room.

At that time, a shadow of a human figure silently, casually entered the room followed by its owner.

"Wow, what am I seeing? How did you manage to provoke the saint-like Ryan Jin?", the new guy curiously questioned. The voice of this man was a very familiar one to Ryan thus he reluctantly let her go and turned towards the door. The one at the door started to walk towards them as if he is Rhea's saviour.

"You have no business here, Liam," Ryan groaned. 

"Well, I do. I am here to meet Rhea," Liam pointed out at Rhea.

Ryan's frown deepened. He appeared even more confused since his best friend just told him that he was there to meet Rhea. That even concerned him. The most popular playboy in Shanghai, Liam Huan was there to meet Rhea. Ryan was very well aware that Liam was a carefree man. But he also was a doctor. It was his working hours. Liam was someone whose only emotional attachment was his profession. If he was there to meet Rhea, it must be a lot more complete than Ryan could even think of.

"What business you have with her?" Ryan asked nonchalantly.

Liam pretended not to hear his question as he drifted his gaze to Rhea, especially to her reddened arm.

"Do we need to go to the hospital? Or police station?" he asked Rhea, with a serious expression.

Ryan didn't have time for Liam's chit-chat. He had more important issues which required immediate attention. He had so many questions to ask.  Ryan didn't have a clue about her arrival in Shanghai or her acquaintance with his friend. He was already so confused to see her in the boardroom. Unable to solve the puzzle, he once again grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room.

"Don't follow!" he warned Liam in a cold tone then dragged Rhea to the end of the corridor, walked her through the fire exit door and slammed her on the wall next to the stairs.

He was upset for so many reasons.

First of all, he never agreed to sign any film. What happened in the meeting room was quite a big shock for him. He was there to meet Yuan Yu. He accidentally happened to hear everything when he was in the waiting room for Yuan Yu to finish the meeting. When he entered the boardroom, he just wanted to know who was the woman causing all those troubles but when he saw Rhea, he was flustered. He never wanted to see her there. It can be anyone but not her! Her Chinese proficiency had improved a lot. It must be the reason why he couldn't find that it was her.

'If it's not Ryan Jin, I will not sign the contract' the words she said once again echoed in his ears, enraging him. He banged his hand on the wall next to her and leaned forward.

"What are you doing here?" his words brushed her through his gritted teeth. Though he treated her in a different way than usual, she was pleased. It has already been a year since they met for the last time. For someone like him, Rhea should feel happy that he recognized her at first sight.

"You remember me?" she asked in a little voice with all the courage she could gather.  He still remembered... Remembered Her... Remembered her name... A line of frown fell on his forehead before he relaxed a bit.

Her eyes... were clear. So bright and beautiful. They seemed to be trying to convey something to him that he couldn't figure out. As if he had suddenly remembered something, his eyes wandered over her face. A year had already passed. Her innocent face and her talkative eyes hadn't changed, not even a single bit. If there is anything, she looked even more beautiful. In the end, his gaze came to a halt at her lips. The hands holding her tightened around her arms. 

"I'm..." she tried to say something making him realize what he has been doing. He realized that he was out of line, once again! He stepped back.

"I'm sorry!"

Rhea looked at him, confused. His mood swings were quite new to her. Although Ryan was very well known for his cold nature, he was not hot-tempered. If his rage is visible, that means, he is extremely angry. Although she guessed it right, she couldn't understand what made him calm once again and made him apologize.

He rubbed his temple two times. "Why are you here?". His voice sounded extremely calm now. "How Liam knows you?"

"The movie" he paused, closed then opened his eyes. There were so many questions to ask!

He summed up all and asked, "Why are you doing all this?". With every question, his voice went up and the last question was almost like a roar in his deep voice.

She didn't say a word. She was just standing there with a flustered expression, startled.

He felt like someone was clutching his heart when he saw her like that. It had always been like this. Whenever Ryan is around Rhea, his sanity vanishes or he becomes vulnerable. He hates this!

Crap! It's clearly her fault in the first place but why is it his heart that hurts? He closed his eyes to calm down. After a long while, he spoke more clearly and calmly.

"If money is the problem, I can invest in my film." he halted.

"I just wanted to retire."

"I don't want you to do that!" she cut in. She was still clearly afraid but her words were dead set! Gaze clear as ever!

"As a fan who admired you for more than four years, I don't want you to retire".

If he wanted to retire, Rhea didn't have any problem with that. But Liam had already told her what happened and how the scandal broke. She couldn't bear this.

"I know what happened!" she added. He understood. It must be Liam who told her everything. He was the only one who knew. Ryan was speechless, only for a minute. He was still confused about the reason for her interference in his business. He couldn't find any valid reasons for her to go this far.

"You don't have a say in that Miss Frank," he gritted his teeth. 

Rhea nervously bit her lip. She knew this would happen but she had to face it anyway. He avoided looking further at her lips as he continued his inquiry.

"What do you want from me? Don't tell me you are here to tell me this. I'm not stupid."

Ryan who had seen the brutal side of life, and who lived in an environment full of competition, envy, and betrayal couldn't just believe that someone will want to do something for him without expecting any benefits.

The question broke her heart into thousand pieces. What does she want from him? Of course, she wanted a lot from him, yet they were all not possible in this lifetime. Her bright eyes which were fixated on his face dimmed.

"An answer"

"For what?"

"One year ago, on the last night of your trip in Alaska," she paused, daringly looking him straight into his eyes,

"did you kiss me?"

Ryan who was anxiously waiting for her question confounded. All the questions in his head disappeared and four words filled his brain forcing him to stop breathing and functioning properly. 

'How did she know?'

The stolen kiss..... It was something he never wanted to let her know. Something which was tormenting him for more than a year. He was clearly guilty to the point, he never wanted to meet her once again, although he wanted to! That's why... That's why he clearly didn't know how to react when he first saw her in the boardroom. He was so happy, angry, guilty, and extremely sad, all at the same time. But when she confronted him like that, he couldn't help but become a stone then and there!

The scene of the night flashed in his mind as if it had been engraved in his heart exactly as it was that day. It was the day which changed him into this man. 

There was no one at that time in that area covered in snow. He was lying on the hood of the car, stargazing. When he turned his head to see what she was doing, he found her peacefully sleeping inside the car. Her peaceful face somehow pacified his heart. He got down, opened the car door, and sat down in the front passenger seat next to her, just to see her closer. His pacified heart started to pound for some reason.

She was still sleeping in the car, on the tranquil winter road. 'Like a newly bloomed rose in a wintery garden!', he thought. She was indeed beautiful like a blossom but what right did he have to pluck her? He will be leaving Alaska that day. Once he's gone, she will eventually forget him. Although she is his fan, although she agreed to work for him, she will forget him one day.

She will move on... She will join a popular university... She will grow into a talented woman... She will fall in love one day, with some other guy... For some reason, Ryan was not willing to think anymore. He didn't know why.

Clearly, there were no more intersections in their paths after that day! With time he felt like his heart is heavy. Still, he continued to look at her without wavering! With every second passed, he was enchanted more. The cold breeze was softly moving a few strands of her hair, through the opened car window next to her.

'She must be cold!' When he leaned forward and stretched his hand out to close the window, his finger accidentally touched her face, lightly.

Her face was soft. Her cheeks were pink due to the weather. His face softened while watching her. His hand involuntarily raised to touch her face, once again. It can't be really called 'touching'. It was more like brushing.

"Will you forget me one day?", he whispered in her ear while continuing to caress her face.

This made her slightly shift her head towards his hand which was already touching her face. She rested her cheek in the warmth. He still didn't know what made her do so.

Maybe the cold air... Maybe his hot breath...

It was more like that rough hand of his was captured by her soft face. Her small face fit perfectly in his large palm and her slow breaths touched and tormented his palm! Her face was serene! So serene that it seemed ethereal in his eyes.

The contrast between her moderately thick eyebrows and her porcelain white skin was captivating. Below them, her long curled eyelashes were a lot more evident, as her eyes were closed. Her straight nose was narrow and delicate. It seemed like it was contoured naturally in the best way.

At last, his eyes moved to her lips. Those rosy lips tested his patience and lucidity. They were plump, moist, and translucent. He suddenly felt the urge to know if they were soft and sweet! His thumb which was spontaneously stroking her cheeks all the time slowly shifted to her lower lip.

Soft! They were indeed soft! Soft enough to drive him crazy! He lost control. He was totally under her spell. He leaned, pressed his lips on hers. His heart was pounding wildly. After a few seconds, he let her captured lips free. She was still sleeping...

An unknown emotion flooded his heart. Uncontrollably, he planted another soft kiss on her forehead. When he leaned back a little, she was still sleeping.

He continued to stare at her. He realized that he hadn't closed the window yet from the movement of her hair strands. He pressed the window switch, then slowly tucked her hair strands behind her ear.

"I... I don't want to go back!", he murmured.

He raised his hands once again, but fisted it in midway, then sat back abruptly with a heart that was beating off his chest. It took him some to realize what he was doing.

'What have I done?', shock and panic started to grow and kill him from inside.

'Ryan, you moron!' he still remembered how he cursed himself without letting out any sound. How panicked he was. How stiff his body was...

Everything! He still remembered them. Back then, she didn't know about that kiss for sure. There's no way for her to behave normally if she had known.

He came back from the memories of the day.

How did she get to know about the kiss? That's not important now.

The thought of the day made him look at her lips again. Knowing what his eyes were doing, he averted his gaze. It is true that even to this day, he couldn't just ignore the beauty of the woman who was standing in front of him. He blankly stared at something that was not her.

It must be her first kiss. He felt guilty. But it was also the only kiss he has ever stolen.

'It was nothing to be proud of', his ears reddened.

He tried his best to be honest. He must take responsibility for his actions.

"I did kiss you!", he finally agreed.

Rhea didn't expect him to agree that easily. That was quick.

"Why?"

Lo... No, it can't be. He won't have such emotions. In his current state, he can't afford those feelings!

Lu... No. He didn't want to think any further!

So what was it?

Why was it? He even didn't know himself. What got into him that day?

Now he thinks of it, even the Ryan Jin in a parallel universe would have done the same, if it's her!

He didn't want to answer that question anyway. So he came up with another.

"What does it has to do with today's incident?"

"Why do I need to explain myself when you are not ready to explain your action?", she replied with a question again!

She did make sense. He couldn't answer her question. He can't expect her to answer.

When both of them were staring at each other, speechlessly, Liam barged in between the two.

"I was so worried about you Rhea!"

"You are that close with her?"

"We're partners", he paused when he caught the sight of Ryan whose eyes were ablaze with anger!

"We share the same goal!", he finished what he started quickly. Ryan seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"You are scaring me! Why are you so angry?" he continued. Then he turned to Rhea, "Never seen this cool head like this! You're amazing!", he showed her thumbs up!

Rhea didn't know if that was a mockery or compliment, so she stood still without replying to him.

"Shut up!" Ryan responded on her behalf.

After a moment or two, he spoke with so much determination.

"I'm not going to give in, whatever your plan is. Just stop this already!"

Liam still had few strands of hope left judging from the way Ryan behaved but Rhea's face was covered in a dark shade of disappointment.

The way Ryan behaved clearly told her, how much he hates to see her there!

"Then," she lifted her head, "I have nothing to do here", with a bow to both of them she started to walk away.

Since Rhea never expected their reunion to be something like this, she was already on the verge of crying. It would be a shame if she broke into tears, isn't it?

The two men who were still in the middle of the conversation were taken aback since she suddenly forbade goodbye.

Both of them watched her back without words.

After a few seconds, when she passed the distance, where she can't hear their conversation, Ryan calmly asked "Will she leave for America?"

"Why do you care?" Liam replied, with a sarcastic tone.

"Will she?"

"I knew you were cruel, didn't know you were stupid!"

"Enough already, why are you teaming with her against me?"

"Idiot, do you know how much you owe her?" with a strange question, Liam started to walk back.

Ryan didn't move. He halted a few seconds. 'I owe her?'

"Just tell me what happened, that I don't know," Ryan roared behind his back.

Liam stopped, turned with a smirk.

"Ok!" he agreed.