Regard Gold as Stone. Part III
Eun Soo was in her small office, crouched over some scroll, diligently reviewing it and placing markings on the border.
He stopped to watch her.
Her hair was in disarray, tickling her nose and blocking her view. The doctor moved it off her face in annoyance, leaving an ink mark on her forehead. She proceeded to scratch her head, mumbling something. After a few minutes she stretched, yawning and closing her eyes. "I am tired," she said. Only then she noticed him standing at the door.
"Young- ah? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you."
"Did something happen?"
He simply shook head. Nothing. "I missed you."
"I meant to ask you, did you ever mention to the kids what my father told me?"
She looked at him confused.
"Regard gold as stone," he clarified.
"Ah, that one. No. Why would I?" She yawned again, covering her mouth this time.
Choi Young's eyes smiled, but he persisted with his inquiry without being swayed by her cuteness, "Imja, remember when we first met you said you had a dream to open up your own office. And you wanted to have a lot of money."
Eun Soo's mouth let out a coy smile. She used to dream of things that lost their importance now. "I did."
"Do you wish to have a better life? To have more things, more clothes, pretty things?" He peered at her more intently, eyes darkening.
"No," she simply answered without a second's hesitation. "I have everything I need and want here. I have you, the famous General Choi Young who gives me surprise visits at work." She tenderly ran her fingers over his jaw and placed a kiss on his lips. "I have Yoo Seong and Dae Jung. I have the clinic, Woodalchi. And I am friends with a real life Queen. Who in Gangnam can ever beat that?" she laughed, obviously enjoying her own cleverness.
"Still, the things you adored so much..."
"Don't get me wrong. I still love all the shiny pretty things, who would not? But where would I wear it? And there are no paved roads to wear heels. You won't let me have shorts or sleeveless tops because it is not appropriate. I get, I get it." She put a palm up as he opened up his mouth in response. "I don't mind. What I have is the most precious. I could never be happier."
Choi Young's heart sped up again, just a couple beats. "At times I can't believe you ever decided to stay with me."
"I did not have a choice." She sounded calm and serious.
They rarely talked about this topic. And when they did, her husband inevitably ended up saying this phrase. And she inevitably would respond the same way, year after year, her answer unchanging.
And inevitably they would stop at that, as if ashamed of the words that had to be said aloud again, embarrassed of the fact that he could ever wonder and she could ever make him wonder and that words of doubt and anxiety would bubble up and burst onto the surface because something might have triggered a meaningless, but nagging guilt for the shortest moment in time, but happened nevertheless...
He was glad that he was not much of a talker. Sometimes it put him at a disadvantage with her, but today he walked through the whole conversation in his mind, realizing how silly and wasteful it would have been and how magical silence was, because it allowed him to speak his mind so loudly the time itself had to stop and listen. The discussion was over even before he started it. The urgency he felt when he ran from the gardens all the way to the clinic, has not evaporated, it became stronger and more insistent.
Warmth filled the space in the room, his loving eyes smiled at her with adoration. Eun Soo blushed, after all these years not impervious to the affect this particular look had on her. She shyly smiled back at him, expectation of what's to come sending butterflies to her stomach.
"Imja," he said softly, his velvety voice making her hold her breath. Choi Young wanted to say so much, but words awkwardly crowded in his throat, tickling it with their bumbling uselessness. Expressing his feelings with words was never his strong suit. Doing was.
He approached her in three swift steps and kneeled in front her, his eyes fixed on hers, his lips opposite Eun Soo's. He kissed her lightly and then pulled back to look at her open face, at her shining with desire eyes and flushed cheeks. He kissed her again, now deeper and longer, feeling her breath quicken and body soften in his arms. He trailed kisses down her throat, enjoying the moans of pleasure she let out, and then back to her lips. Eun Soo was grasping his hair, her fingers fumbling through it till she found some rest on the nape of his neck, pulling him harder and closer.
"Wait," he mastered to pull himself away and closed the door on the lock he installed a while ago, just for the times like this when the doctor required privacy.
"What are you..." he did not let her finish. He easily lifted her and placed on the desk, the scroll thrown down and the ink spilled.
"Young-ah, you are making such mess," she chided him with a giggle.
"Shh," he pressed his finger to her mouth. "Be quiet."
Eun Soo happily obeyed. Choi Young's head disappeared underneath the fabric of her skirt and she felt the heat of his breath on her thighs. He did what he often did, let the gratitude and immense appreciation he had for her spill over in the way he touched her and made her tremble under his tongue.
Thoughts pleasantly disappeared from her mind and only strong sensations like hot and languid liquid spread through her body. She did not notice how her fingers clutched the side of the desk to the point of getting numb or how the hot beads of sweat on her skin soaked the fabric of her dress making her breasts shamelessly perk through, or how the pin in her hair fell out when she threw her head back curving toward Choi Young and completely unaware of her surroundings. Forgetting that they were at the clinic, and that behind the wall that separated them from the rest of the world, there could have been people who might have overheard her hard breathing and muffled whimpers. She did not pay attention when somebody hesitantly knocked on the door and called "General, are you there?" prompting Choi Young make an angry roar-grunt and put a hand over her mouth.
Whomever had a death wish to look for Choi Young at the moment, shuffled by the door and knocked once more, than left hurriedly as if pulled away by another, much smarter person, who obviously valued his life.
All the Woodalchi, who worked at the clinic knew to never disturb Choi Young and his wife when the commander came for a visit. They knew how fiercely he guarded the little time he had with her and how private he was about his personal life. They never dared to imagine what kind of business their revered General was conducting behind the closed doors. Whatever it was, they were lucky to witness his serious mood lighten up and friendly smiles instead of the usually stern face and sharp eyes.