“Well…” I can’t think of a reason, but fish…?
“It’s salted and dried,” Yuna explains. “When you grill it, it’s quite good.”
We sit down, Yuna’s father at the head of the table, Yuna’s mom to his right. Yuna takes the seat to his left, and I sit next to her.
As we eat, I notice Yuna’s mom and dad picking up items from dishes and putting them on Yuna’s rice. She smiles, then returns the gesture for her dad, especially with the braised fish.
She does it for me, too, with a meat dish.
“Thanks,” I say, surprised. “Am I supposed to do it for you?”
“You don’t have to…although you could if you want,” she says.
So I pick up some spinach for her because she seemed to like it when we had Korean food in Los Angeles.
The hair on the back of my neck bristles, and I look up to see her dad giving me a laser-glare of doom. I immediately smile. “Would you like some, too?”
“No. I don’t like spinach.”
Getting his blessing is going to be harder than getting my first acting role.
Chapter Sixty
Declan
I turn over, turn over again, then turn a third time. I beat the pillow, then smooth the thing out because I don’t want Yuna’s parents to think I have something against their pillows. Although given the number of household staff I’ve seen, I doubt her mother and father handle the pillows themselves. But a housekeeper could always report.
I check the time. Three a.m.
I’m so jet-lagged.
But it’s more than that. I can’t possibly relax when my bedroom is in the same hallway as Yuna’s parents’. Yuna’s sleeping in a room in another complex within the compound. Apparently there are a few detached units within the residence, one for her brother Eugene and one for her.
I stare at the ceiling. Eugene arrived at the end of the meal and barely said hello. He sat next to me over tea and muttered, “If you hurt my sister, I’ll have you killed.”
Nice to meet you too, man. Nice to meet you too.
Maybe the exorbitant hostility is the reason I can’t sleep. I’m sleeping among people, except for Yuna, who want me dead. Or at least become impotent from the way they hover over her protectively.
Finally, I sigh and get up. Four fifteen. Great.
To work off my excessive energy, I go out into the hallway, which is dark. But there are lights on downstairs.
&
nbsp; I go down and see Yuna’s dad reading the newspaper in a leather armchair. He’s in pajamas and sipping hot tea.
Shit. I start to back away. No need to disturb a man who probably wants to murder me already anyway.
“You can come sit down,” he says without looking up.
No escape. “Yes, sir.”
I sit on a sectional near him. I should’ve just stayed in my room and done jumping jacks if I wanted to burn off energy. This is too damn awkward. At least he isn’t holding a knife. He could always throw the teacup, but I can probably survive that.
He puts down his papers. “Jet lag?”
“A little.” I smile, remembering what Yuna told me. “And thinking.”