Chapter Fourteen

 SooYun stirred and languidly stretched. Whatever tea Mrs. Hung had brought her had helped ease the sore muscles in her body. She sat up and looked around the room. She looked over at the open panel door to LiYul's room. Had he wanted her to stay? She felt her face grow hot at the thought. She felt giddy and then sobered. "What are you twelve? Get a grip!" 

 As she continued to chide herself, there was a rap on her door. The door swung open, and LiYul stood there dressed for the day. He leaned against the door jam. "How are you feeling?"

 She nodded mutely and then cleared her throat, "I'm good," SooYun said. "You?"

 He didn't answer and disappeared into the hall then returned holding up several shopping bags before he walked into the room. "Get dressed, Mrs. Hung has breakfast downstairs." He set the bags down on the end of the bed and walked out, closing the door behind him. 

 She looked in each of the bags and found a new set of clothing and undergarments. She got up and grabbed the bags, and, limped into the bathroom to wash up and dress. She came out and limped to the door and opened it. LiYul was standing on the other side. He nodded at her appearance and stepped up beside her, pulling her in close to his side and supporting her so she did not have to put any weight on her sprained ankle. 

 "I'm fine, really," SooYun started and began to hobble toward the elevator. 

 LiYul stepped in front of her, "Either I help you this way, or I carry you." 

 SooYun stepped back to stand close to his side. He nodded and pulled her against his side. Together they stepped into the elevator and rode down to the first floor. 

 Mrs. Hung smiled at them as they walked in together. She looked at SooYun, "Did you sleep well, SooYun?" 

 LiYul brought her to the nearest chair and made sure she was seated before going to sit down in the chair across from her. SooYun smiled over at the woman, "Yes, Mrs. Hung. Thank you."

 The dishes were brought out and they were left in silence. SooYun placed her napkin in her lap and sipped her orange juice. When she looked up, his gaze was on her. "Why did you think I had left you at the clinic?"

 She made a face. "A silly memory from long ago."

 "I'm listening," he said.

 "I was coming home from an art exhibit," SooYun began. "It was my exhibit. My then-boyfriend and I were arguing – we were breaking up. He ran a red light, and we were in an accident."

 LiYul stopped eating, put his spoon aside, and folded his arms over his chest. His frown deepened. SooYun dipped her head as she began to recall the night of the accident. "I ended up having to go to the emergency room. Nothing serious, but he said he was going to take care of the discharge and come right back. Only he didn't. He left me there and I was stranded. Being in the wheelchair in the hall yesterday dredged up a bad recollection." She bit her bottom lip and then laughed lightly. "Nothing similar about either incident except the hospital hallway and me in the wheelchair – the mind acts irrational at the most inappropriate times."

 "Yes," He said then his attention was drawn away. A security guard came in carrying a black box and SooYun's canvas satchel. LiYul waved the guard over and spoke low to the guard, and the guard set everything at LiYul's elbow and disappeared. "Everything in your satchel was unharmed. Your sketch diary, pens, and pencils are in there." LiYul reached into his pants pocket and drew out her phone. "Your phone was also miraculously unharmed. It's been charged." He placed her phone on top of the box and slid it toward her. "Your watch was not so lucky, so I took the liberty of syncing your phone to the new watch. It will automatically sync with the server at the facility when you get back."

 She opened the box, took the new watch from its housing, and strapped it to her wrist. It appeared that he was preparing her for her departure. Mrs. Hung came in with a cup of tea. "SooYun here is another cup of healing tea for you. Drink it up while it is hot!"

 SooYun took the cup and blew lightly on the surface and drank it in three gulps. Mrs. Hung smiled happily. "I feel better now, you will heal quickly!"

 "Thank you, Mrs. Hung," SooYun said. As Mrs. Hung took the cup away, she drank the rest of her juice.

 LiYul scoffed lightly. "You've made Mrs. Hung happy. She attempts to make me drink her concoctions regularly."

 "It does have an earthy taste," SooYun replied. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure she was not overheard and looked back at LiYul. "A little like –

 "Dirt!" LiYul said and smiled when SooYun laughed softly, nodding in agreement. 

 "It may be mushrooms of some sort," SooYun said. "But whatever it is, it helped, so I couldn't refuse."

 LiYul looked at his watch and then over at SooYun. They were back to being awkward. "I have a conference call coming up that I need to prepare for. Jae-Ho is coming to take you back to the facility. You should rest and continue your revisions on Monday." He got to his feet, executed a stiff bow in her direction, and left the room.

 SooYun drew in a deep breath and puffed it out in exasperated relief! He was incredibly difficult to talk to! While trying to recover her bearings, the watch vibrated against her wrist, and she looked down at her phone. It was a text message from "Korean Titan". SooYun felt her face burn in embarrassment! He had not only looked through her sketch diary he had also added his contact information to her phone list of contacts. She opened the message.

 "Thank you, SooYun. Thank you for protecting me."

 "You're welcome," SooYun whispered to the phone as she typed her response. She finished her breakfast. Mrs. Hung took her on a tour of the first floor of the townhouse. It mirrored the personality of the lord of the house. It was on the austere side. She stood in a large living area and noticed a large group of photographs of young horses grazing. "The Director has horses?"

 "Oh, yes," Mrs. Hung said proudly. "One of his favorite pastimes. Do you ride?"

 "It's been a while," SooYun said. She leaned in close to Mrs. Hung and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "When I was in high school, I interned for five years as a stable hand at the local racetrack." She continued in a normal tone, "Then my dad got a job in South Carolina, and we had to move. In college, there was a riding club on campus. I seriously thought of becoming a veterinarian."

 "What happened to take you away from that field of work?" Mrs. Hung asked. 

 "The tuition to become a veterinarian was expensive," SooYun replied. "My mom was sick, and her medical bills –," She paused, "We all had to make adjustments. The advertising firm I went to work for paid well, and I was able to help with her medical bills."

 "What a good daughter you were," Mrs. Hung said. "Your parents must be very worried about you being in a faraway country."

 "Both have passed away," SooYun said and glanced over at Mrs. Hung. "But I think they're glad that I am writing and doing what makes me happy."

 Mrs. Hung patted SooYun's arm. "Yes, I am sure they are very proud of their daughter."

 There was a soft chime and Mrs. Hung smiled, "That must be Jae-Ho."

 Mrs. Hung hurried to the front door and opened it, greeting Mr. Lim warmly. He grinned at her and bowed respectfully before giving her a quick hug. They spoke at length. SooYun could hear their animated conversation as she slowly made her way to the front entrance. When Mr. Lim spotted her, he hurried to help, offering his arm. "SooYun, are you in much pain?" He asked in English.

 "Hardly any at all," SooYun said. "You'll be happy to know that I got lots of pictures of the temple and the outbuildings."

 "How is he?" Mr. Lim looked over at Mrs. Hung, switching to Korean briefly.

 "He is fine!" called LiYul from the top of the stairs. He held up the contract and started down the stairs, "Nam-Ji signed the contract and is waiting on your call."

 Mr. Lim took the contract and smiled happily at the document, "Aquila's been trying a long time to get a contract with Master Kang." He switched back to English for SooYun. "I know our producers will be happy to hear the news." 

 "All it took was a visit from the White Lotus," LiYul responded in Korean and looked pointedly at SooYun. 

 Mr. Lim looked from LiYul to SooYun and cleared his throat and adjusted his eyeglasses awkwardly. Then he smiled at SooYun, "So you had a good visit with Master Kang?" This time when he spoke, it was half English and half Korean, but SooYun understood what he had said.

 "I did," she responded. "I found him to be quite charming."

 Mr. Lim chuckled and threw an amused look at LiYul. "Nam-Ji always did have a soft spot for blondes!" This statement was in Korean and LiYul allowed a smile to play around his mouth.

 Mrs. Hung frowned disapprovingly at both men. SooYun only caught that they were speaking about Master Kang. "You boys should be ashamed to speak of Master Kang so disrespectfully!" She said in English and turned to SooYun and hugged her. "I hope to see you again soon!" 

 SooYun returned Mrs. Hung's embrace and the housekeeper left the entrance clucking her tongue at both men as she bustled off. SooYun stepped behind Mr. Lim as he continued to speak to LiYul. She collected her canvas satchel from the shelf where her now cleaned and dried high-top sneakers sat next to the pair of hospital slippers. She tucked her sneakers into her satchel and dropped the hospital slippers on the floor. She set the guest slippers on the shelf for the next visitor. 

 Mr. Lim concluded his conversation with LiYul and stuck his feet in his shoes where he had left them. "Ready to get back to the Eagle's nest? The others are anxious to see you back."

 LiYul pushed off from where he lounged against the staircase newel. He took the canvas satchel from SooYun and handed it to Lim. Without any warning, he scooped SooYun up in his arms. "Get the door, Jae-Ho!"

 Lim stood in shocked amazement then rushed to hold the door open as LiYul carried SooYun down the steps and then hurried to open the passenger side of the SUV and LiYul set her in the seat. He grabbed the seatbelt and leaned in. His face and body came close to hers as he secured the belt. He looked at her then leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "Protect me, SooYun. Jae-Ho will ask questions."

 "Always!" SooYun declared. LiYul's eyes softened as their eyes met. Lim was still amazed at LiYul. As far back as he could remember, LiYul had never gotten this close to anyone, not even Mrs. Hung!

 LiYul nodded to Lim then bowed silently to SooYun and closed the door. Lim opened his mouth to say something, but he decided against it. He watched LiYul storm back into the townhouse and disappear behind the doors. Lim got in on the driver's side and glanced over at SooYun, "Did the nurse come last night?"

 "Yes," SooYun replied. "Mrs. Hung said that he had finally taken the injection."

 "He looked surprisingly good for having been through such an event," Lim said. "I don't think I've ever seen him get so close to anyone before."

 "Mrs. Hung said the same thing," SooYun said. "Why?"

 Lim drew in a breath and sighed. "From the time of the accident, all through high school and college, he's never allowed anyone to touch him."

 "Maybe he feels different," SooYun surmised. "Maybe I'm different?"

 "I think you are very different," Lim replied with a pleased smile. "You've been messaging him daily, haven't you? He's a different person. I can't even annoy him like before!"

 "He said you wouldn't tell him who I was," She said, slightly frowning at Lim. "That he was thinking Brittany was me."

 Lim chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, "He was drawn to you, but he thought you were too young to be SooYun. You should have seen how relieved he was to know he had been correct."

 "Had the plan been that I would be the only passenger in the car?" SooYun asked.

 "The luggage created a huge problem!" Lim replied and he threw a grin over at her. "When it was decided that you and Miss Woods would ride in the car he expected you to be in the passenger seat. Miss Woods was too quick."

 "Brittany had issues with me," SooYun replied lightly, "She fully expected the Director to fall for her."

 Lim scoffed at the thought. "She might as well look elsewhere," he told her, "LiYul's heart belongs to you, SooYun."

 She ducked her head and looked out the passenger window. She smiled at the thought.