Chapter 43
Yeonhui-Dong, Korea
Blue Lantern and Seishu-Sushi House
Silence followed.
It should have been maddening silence, but it wasn’t.
If it were Lucien or Lula, they would have been talking to fill the silence. The same with Dae-Ho.
But with Seon Rain and Kita Yasuhiro, it was welcomed and comfortable.
After an hour of driving in circles, Rain broke the silence.
“You fell for her? Or him?” Rain quickly added the latter in case he was gay.
Kita looked over at her; he was waiting for this, and was surprised it took her this long to ask. “Seon Rain, do not ask because I cannot tell you. What I can tell you is that no, I did not fall for them and that is all I have to say on the topic. Where did you want to go?”
Rain made a mocking face.
“I saw that,” he informed her, checking to make sure they weren’t being followed.
“I would be greatly insulted if you hadn’t,” she smugly informed him, mimicking his tone.
That caused him to chuckle.
“Did you want to go to the movies?” she asked with a smile when a familiar sight came into view.
Kita sighed, shaking his head but slowed to turn into the parking area she pointed towards. “Don’t you get enough of movies since you’re in them?” he asked, curious.
Rain shrugged, looking around. “Not the kind of movies I like.”
“And what kind are those?” he asked, weary.
A smile filled her face and she wagged her eyebrows, causing him to groan.
She got out before he could get the door for her, so he grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
“Security protocol,” Kita warned. “Always wait for me to get the door for you so I can make sure it is clear. Always allow me to walk in front of you so I can protect you. Do you understand?”
Rain looked up at him. “No. Yes. But mainly no. I understand what your role is, I don’t accept it, but I understand it. I didn’t understand where Uncle’s concern was. I do now that your sister beheaded Mr. Milk in front of me… She has issues, doesn’t she?” she asked, sounding suspicious.
Kita tried not to, but he laughed. “That is the prevailing opinion of many,” he conceded.
“Come on, I’m taking you to the movies,” Rain said, motioning for him to walk.
“This isn’t a date,” Kita sternly warned.
She gasped, as if offended. “Do you truly think so little of me and my understanding of your boundaries?” she scoffed. “Some people’s bodyguards!” she dramatically complained.
Why he bothered, Kita didn’t know, but what he did know was it was progressively getting harder to keep the stick up his butt and maintain pretenses with Seon Rain.
Instead of listening to his direction, Rain walked in front of him since she obviously knew where she was going. Kita fought the urge to remind her of procedure because he knew it’d be a futile endeavor with her.
With a smile, she skipped up to the ticket booth.
“Two,” Rain said, sliding some money to the attendant then took the tickets they handed her. “Thank you!” she beamed, grabbing Kita’s hand, to his surprise, then pulled him through the gates.
They seemingly went from Korea to Japan when they passed through the gates. The area was designed to look like a Japanese garden with colorful teahouses that housed small movie screens for screening movies that hadn’t been on a large screen in decades. Each teahouse had a theme, but Kita couldn’t make sense of them as he was pulled past them by the rushing young woman. They crossed over a moon bridge that spanned over a large pond that were filled with koi. Overhead, paper lantern crisscrossed and illuminated the area in warm light, and trees with full canopies of cherry blossom fluttered in the breeze.
“Seon Rain!” the hostess at the far teahouse greeted with a bow. “You bring a date?”
Rain bowed before slipping out of her shoes. “Ayaka, it has been too long,” she greeted instead of trying to explain that Kita wasn’t her date, wasn’t a friend, and really didn’t like being around her, or was a bodyguard, to the older woman. “Service for two tonight, please.”
Ayaka smiled, bowing repeatedly. “Of course. Sit. Sit. Movie will start soon.”
Rain smiled wide then pulled Kita inside the teahouse with her and motioned for him to sit on the silk pillows on the floor. She sat, shucking out of her jacket, and made herself comfortable.
Kita followed her lead, watching her closely, not entirely sure what she was doing or up to. “I’m scared to ask,” he said.
She looked over at him then giggled. “Just a movie, sushi—don’t worry, they know of my allergy so I don’t have to worry—and some sake. This teahouse is for food allergies; that’s why the color of it is black with green. It’s a way to organize the kitchen and servers. Here!” she beamed, handing him one of the tickets she purchased.
Kita took the ticket and looked at it; it was a novelty ticket designed to be a keepsake.
“A token of our first not-actual-date,” she teased, wagging her eyebrows.
He shook his head, pocketing the ticket then looked around to familiarize himself with the layout. “Private theater?” he asked, eying the projector overhead and the white screen on the other side of the room.
Rain smiled. “They play unique movies.”
“Nothing you’re in?” he asked, keeping his voice down.
She shook her head. “No. These are good, awesome movies!”
Kita softly snorted under his breath, trying to keep from smiling at her antics.
Seon Rain was one of the most refreshingly innocent and carefree people he’s ever met, and the truth was he found it hard to maintain pretenses around her. That irritated him, just as his sister’s accusations before they left did. He didn’t want Seon Rain crying because of him, and his words, that were solely meant for his pesky little sister to hear, caused those tears to fall.
It was something he vowed to remedy, and if that meant moving his sister offsite and to a strictly remote logistics job in this security detail, so be it.
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