81 Dango

Lee Changhyuk opened the door to Andy's room and his cheeks blushed instantly as he saw the woman in front of him, his hand flew to cover his parted lips. She was beautiful

"Yuki kun? Come!" Andy called him.

He was completely stunned for a moment but Andy's voice jolted him back to the present time. He coughed on his hand before closing the door behind him. He was mesmerized by the sight before him, he knew he was always right. A little touch was more than enough to transform her into a Goddess.

He wordlessly leaned against the wall, like a perfect tall and lean statue standing there with folded arms, admiring her like she was an exquisite work of art.

Shizu snapped her head to Lee Changhyuk and a beautiful smile appeared on her pleasing face. She ran towards him like an excited kid who couldn't wait to show off to her father. There was a light 'thud thud' sound as her wooden geta sandals hit the floor.

She stopped when she was 5 feet away from him then spinned to show the beautiful outfit. The black floral yukata was beautifully wrapped on her delicate body. She was wearing minimum makeup, her eyes glimmered and her long hair was pulled back from the face, twisted just above the neck it revealed her alluring nape.

"What do you think?" Her eyes widened with excitement as she asked him.

A smirk appeared on his drop-dead face but he didn't answer her, instead he casually tilted his head to talk to the guy far behind her.

"Andy.. promise me that you will never style her unless I am around."

Andy the top stylist of Le Sucre was also in a festive mood, he was wearing a red yukata and a red wig. He put down the hair blower and brush then beamed.

"She's stunning, right?" He put his hands on the waist then looked at Ms. Supervisor with a great satisfaction on his face. As if he just presented the greatest masterpiece. Well, anyone who saw her would definitely agree!

Her big eyes remained fixated on him, as though she was dissecting every little expression he made.

Lee Changhyuk's smirk became even more distinct and he had a devilish look in his eyes as he met her brown ones. "Daebak.. (1)" He playfully left those wet lips parted to indicate his utmost approval.

Her brain had stopped functioning at this point. She could not think of anyone else who could ooze such provocative air with the least of effort, but then a lazer beamed out of her eyes as she realized a Korean word slipped from his mouth.

Lee Changhyuk sucked his lips in then shrugged his shoulders with amused expression. The warning 'Watch your word!' flashed in her eyes, causing Lee Changhyuk to let out a silent chuckle then seductively winked at her.

Ignoring her glare, he extended his hand and finally spoke to her in a gentle voice "Hello beautiful, shall we go?"

---

All 7 people in Le Sucre's group went out of the hotel.

The festival area was only 10 minutes by walk from the hotel. The 6 people in the group were all in their traditional yukata except, Lee Yuki. He refused when Andy and the others offered to lend him one.

He was wearing dark toned trousers and a simple white t-shirt with a black jacket wrapped around his waist. Despite the Lee Yuki accessories that covered half of his face, he was still breathtaking as always, so breathtaking that the visitors who were there to sightseeing halt for a moment everytime they saw him.

They were heading to the shrine to attend the annual ceremony. Lee Changhyuk was quietly walking beside Shizu and the latter looked up to glance at his gorgeous face. His eyes were trailing with excitement, it would widen whenever he found some interesting stuff, mostly food, but at the end he never said a thing.

Shizu was wondering why he did not say anything despite that adorable curious expression on his face. She knew Lee Changhyuk loved food. He was the biggest eater in GreenEast! Little did she know, Lee Changhyuk was worried that the milk girl would not follow him if he ever wanted to stop somewhere. They were going to see a very popular ritual, what if he'd ended up spending the festival without her?

Shizu cleared her throat. "Yuki - kun.."

Lee Changhyuk turned his head and lowered his lids to meet her.

"Do you wanna try that dango(2)?" She pointed at a food stall where they displayed many colorful sweets which Lee Changhyuk returned with a straight nod.

"We're going to the shrine first. We'll meet you guys there?" Andy butted in and the milk girl replied with a quick OK. Hence they parted ways.

His eyes sparkled even more, it was almost blinding. The milk girl was smiling inwardly as she happily guided this on-holiday-puppy to the sweet stall.

Along the lane shone hundreds of red lamps- illuminating with their flickering flame. You could find some painted faces and masks with most of them in colorful yukatas. There were food stall, game stall, accessories stalls and many more. Food scent waved through the mass of onlookers it perfumed the air with heavenly smell. It was sparkles and laughter.

Shizu stopped in front of a sweet stall and talked to the friendly seller, a middle aged woman with a red scarf on her head. Since Lee Changhyuk said he liked anything, the lady recommended them to try the kuro goma dango (3).

Shizu quickly paid for it and the lady handed them a plate of 5 skewered dango, coated with black sesame paste.

Lee Changhyuk frowned because she didn't let him pay but since Shizu convinced him that he could pay for more expensive stuff, he gave in. Shizu handed him a skewer and Lee Changhyuk gave a quick bow to thank her.

He opened his mouth and take a big bite. His face looked charmingly serious as he tried to study every texture that the dango had; chewy, tender, soft but still firm and toothsome. Shizu almost gaped at how refined he looked by doing such a mundane thing. No wonder every company wanted him to represent them, she already got a watery mouth only by watching him!

Lee Changhyuk felt her hopeful gaze on him. He blinked at her and in a silvery voice said "Try it, it's very good."

Shizu put her gaze on the dango then took a full ball of sweets in her mouth. As soon as heaven hit her taste buds, she shot up to meet him with shimmering eyes.

"Hmm?" His handsome face looked as playful as always but there was tenderness in his eyes as he waited patiently for her adorable comments on the dango.

"You are right, it is good!" Her answer was innocently short and simple causing his soft lips to curve upwards.

After finishing the dangos, they continued walking through the lane to head to the shrine. There were simply too many interesting things in the festival but then something came to her mind so she decided to ask him.

"I noticed that you were eyeing the hotbath. Have you been to one before?"

"Nope, got a tatto. So I always rent a private one."

"What tattoo?" Was the next question that Shizu asked and she instantly regretted it the moment she got a reply.

"It's on my ribcage. Do you wanna see?" He questioned in amusement.

"He.. here??" She stammered, flushing hard.

"I'll show you once we're back in our room."

He said nonchalantly like it wasn't a big deal and Shizu still continued to just gape at him as they walked.

Her thoughts ran wild. W-what? In our.. room? She repeated in her head. Smokes could be seen fumed out of her ears. Shizu slapped her cheeks hard and scolded herself inwardly.

He had always been carefree and acted with that devil-may-care attitude ever since their first meeting. Causing her to wonder, since when did every single word he said have this much impact on her?

She finally understood something. No wonder he refused to wear yukata. He must not want anyone to see the tattoo.

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Daebak (1): is a slang term in Korean, used to express when something happens that is good, cool, fun, etc.

Dango (2): is a Japanese dumpling and sweet made from rice flour.

Kuro goma dango (3): black sesame dango