Strawberry Kisses

Strawberries

Jay must admit that Gio Kwon can cook. But no matter how divine the casserole tasted, he couldn't eat more than three spoons. He was enjoying his steak with a Pinot Noir when he got a call from Mr. Chen. He detests going out with this kind of weather but he just couldn't say no to his benefactor's son. The guy is a tad eccentric for Jay's taste.

The man even goes swimming in a robe and pajama. Jay guessed as much that Gio Kwon is a member of Tabi's intimate circle. Tabi Chen never calls in for a favor. Like never never. Besides, eccentric or not, he likes Tabi's no nonsense attitude. Never mind his weirdness, he's a decent guy who spends too much money on his hobbies; art, wine and furniture.

"You haven't eaten much," Sandy noticed. The lady of the house sat at the head of the table as they enjoyed dinner. Jay was seated on her right, across the silent Gio Kwon.

"I don't have much appetite. I only had two hours of sleep last night."

"I see. It's still the same, huh. You're still a picky eater."

She had a knowing smile as she pushed a piece of cherry tomato around her plate. Her lashes looked like tiny fans caressing her cheeks. She looked a little better now, gone was the sickly pallor she was sporting.

Jay's smiled mirrored hers. "Some things never changed."

"Yeah. Like how fussy you still are," she teased.

"And you're still stubborn as ever," Jay countered. "We're quite a pair. Why did we ever break up?"

"Because we wear each other out. At the end of the day, we're so annoyed with each other that it robs us of sleep. You're a doctor, you need your strength. After our fights, I turn into a monster that bites everyone's head off. It happens almost every day. We nearly drove everyone around us to the loony bin."

Gio felt out of place as they both burst out laughing. Spoon after spoon he stuffed himseIf, forgetting the table manners his mother rigidly drummed in his head ever since he learned the difference between fork, spoon and knife. He nearly spitted the stuff out; it tasted like sawdust, unappealing to his taste buds. It took him a lot of effort to chew and swallow the food he took pride in preparing earlier. He bet even if he choked and die, they wouldn't spare him a glance.

He eyed the other two occupants of the table. His annoyance spiked a little higher when Jay reached out to Sandy and brushed some stray hair away from her face. Worst, she shyly smiled at him as if the gesture is the most natural thing in the world. Gio didn't like the way his stomach churn. He didn't like the way she smiled at Jay. Hell, he dislikes everything she does as far as Dr. Jay f*****g Jung is concerned!

His spoon and fork clattered noisily against the gray Chinese porcelain plate. Jay and Sandy's head snapped in attention, her eyes twin pools of concern as it zeroed in on Gio.

"Are you alright, Mr. Kwon?" Sandy inquired.

Gio inwardly cursed. "Y-Yes. I'm sorry, it slipped from my hand."

"You seemed to be preoccupied. Business?"

"Just a lot of this and that. I have never been away from the office this long doing nothing."

"Your empire won't crumble if left unattended for a short period of time," Jay remarked.

"The internet's working. You can work here if you need to."

"Can I?" Gio asked. Sandy's head bobbed up and down for an affirmative.

"I have my old laptop somewhere in my room."

He held his phone for her to see. "Thanks, but that's not necessary. This is more than enough to do what's needed to be done. As long as we have a reliable connection, everything's peachy."

"I'll turn on the modem after dinner."

"That would be great." Gio pushed his plate away and dropped his napkin on the table. "I can't eat another bite, I'm stuffed. Would you mind if I smoke?"

"No. It's okay."

"I'll be at the living room." He picked up his plate but Jay stopped him.

"I'll take care of that. Leave it, man."

"Alright, if you insist."

"I think I'll turn on the modem now. " Sandy's chair gave an almost screeching sound when she pushed her chair back to rise on her feet. "You might want to check how things are during your absence."

"Are you done eating?" Jay asked.

"Not yet. Are you?"

A sheepish smile flashed across Jay's boyish features. It successfully shaved off a few years of his actual age. "I'm done if you are."

"Silly. I'll be back. I'm dying to hear what you have been up to all those years."

"Okay."

For the second time in his life, Gio felt invisible as he watched the exchange between Jay and Sandy. Disquiet settled on his chest like a mama croc nestling on top of her eggs. He didn't like it one bit. So before he could do something stupid, Gio traipsed over to the living room hoping to breakout of the maddening and senseless feeling.

He knew she was behind him; the sweet scent of fresh strawberries were enough telltale signs. But Gio paid no heed to her. He dropped himself on the sofa as she passed. She eyed him behind her shoulder before disappearing into a room behind the stairs. He was still swamped with his annoyance of himself, Sandy and the doctor.

It didn't help that Jay is good looking, or that she seemed to reserve that special kind of smile for the guy. Why can't she smile at him like that? Why does it made him feel left out? These are all new to him. He can't even begin to understand where those things came from. He's just in Fersth for business. He wondered how he ended worrying about a man and a woman's relationship as if it has everything to do with him.

A thump and a door closing a little louder than necessary made him snapped his head towards the sound. Sandy came out of the room cursing and flustered. Her blue locks were mussed, some strands escaped the bonds at the base of her neck. She kept running her fingers on her right elbow as if soothing something painful.

"Are you hurt?" The words came out of long before he could think of what he's doing. His body angled towards her, tensed like a tightened spring.

"I banged my elbow against a table leg, is all," Sandy responded with a grimace, palm rubbing her entire elbow.

"Pray tell why?"

"Uhm...the outlet goes all the way down beneath a table so I have to crawl under it to plug the modem in."

Gio didn't say a word. But Sandy perfectly perceived his silence as his disapproval for her failure to ask for his help. Her steps faltered as she neared where he's sitting at, feeling uncertain why he looked peeved. It is her house and she can do anything she wants, including asking for assistance or not over something she clearly can take care of by herself.

"Ah...t-the password?" Sandy approached the sofa from the back. She deliberately chose that way to put a barrier between her and Gio. There is something with his eyes and it's making Sany's pulse race.

"Here," he passed his phone to her.

The thing was all black and shiny. It reminded Sandy of an obsidian. She has to work fast to escape his presence. Gio's warmth still clung to it as she grasp the phone in her tiny hands. As if alive, the warm feeling crept from her palms, travelling through her arms, lingering a little in her chest before finally settling down on her cheeks. His unblinking eyes aimed at her fueled the heat, overwhelming her face with crimson. Faint tremors assaulted her thumb as she swiped her finger over the screen. The phone's security lock beamed at her, a welcoming committee throwing her into an unexpected bind. So much for the haste to get away from the man.

"Uh...The security lock."

"Sorry," he said, feeling not a bit sorry.

In fact, Gio was displeased with her looking like a scared rabbit. He was an inch away from snatching the phone from her but he restrained himself. He won't score brownie points if he did that. Wait, why would he want to score some brownie points? Gio Kwon, music industry's genius song writer s***h record producer extraordinaire, never groveled for anyone's affection.

They groveled for mine, damn it!

"Here you go, try it." Her voice sheared through his internal monologue. Keeping a tight leash on his thoughts, he concentrated on the matter at hand. He waited to get connected but failed.

Gio turned to Sandy. "It doesn't work. The password might be incorrect."

"Let me see."

Sandy perched on the backrest of the sofa so she could read the password she previously typed. He had his phone in one hand, angling towards her over his shoulder. Her face was so close to his that the sweet smell of strawberries grew too strong for him. Her scent threw Gio into an over-drive which didn't make sense. He failed to recognize reason or consequence in an instant. Faster than he could blink, his lips landed on the soft surface of her right cheek. He could literally blame those damned strawberries for his momentary weakness.

Sandy was stunned. She failed to move the moment his lips grazed her cheek. It felt like she was trapped in a suspended dimension where everything was still. Gio's lip burned the spot where it touched her. It seared through the third and final layer of her skin, the heat fusing with her nerve endings, working fast to spread to every cell in her body. She finally worked out her courage to face him and asked in a breathy voice.

"W-Why did you d-do that?"

"It's those damned strawberries," he stupidly answered. But Gio's eyes were focused on something else. "And I'm about to commit something entirely, totally the strawberries' fault again."

"W-What?" her voice trembled. She doesn't need to be a mind reader to discern his next move because his eyes were more than enough. Sandy knew she had to get away, run to Jay as soon as possible. But her thoughts were totally in contrast with what her body wanted. Instead, she felt her eyelids drop as he came closer.

"This. Blame it on the strawberries," Gio whispered as his lips captured hers in a searing kiss rivaling the heat in the heart of the house's furnace.

Sandy almost whimpered with the contact. It felt nowhere near their first kiss at Charington Hotel where he used her to dump Jessica. This one was more potent, more mind-shattering than any of the kisses she had in her entire life. It was the kind of kiss she read in her stacks and stacks of romance books. A spine-tingling, brain-freezing, knee-weakening kind of kiss. To top it all, it's Gio Kwon she's kissing, the man who could raise her hackles in a blink of an eye.

They broke the kiss when their lungs were close to bursting. All along, Gio's hands were on the back of the sofa and the other was on his knees. She was free to leave. There was no restraint or whatsoever, it's just her own freewill which kept her rooted on her spot. Upon realizing that, his eyes turned a darker shade of grey, throwing her a hooded gaze.

Sandy inwardly trembled with the way he looked at her. She couldn't help but deem it sexy. Sandy bit the corner of her lip to keep herself from smiling with her train of thought. He might get the wrong impression. No matter what he thinks, these are all new to her.

"Damned strawberries." His knuckles skimmed her jawline, a look of awe visible on his face.

Sandy felt light headed. The touch of his knuckles against her skin made her sleepy that she couldn't stop her eyelids from shutting. She felt his breath on her face before his lips came crashing down on her own again. Then her feet came swinging in the air as Gio plucked her out of her perch. She landed square on his lap, his strong arms wrapped around her waist.

She gave out a muffled yelp but he playfully nibbled on her lips, her chin, continuing to up her jaw until he reached her earlobes. As he bit on it, Sandy grabbed a handful of his hair to bring his face to her. She shook her head when their eyes met and he understood. He gave her a playful smack right on the center of her lips before letting her go.

"That's enough for today. Any more of that, you can't stop me from throwing you over my shoulder and going caveman on you." He smiled down her eyes.

"You're insufferable." Sandy climbed out of his lap and settled beside him. Her blue hair was a mess so she let it loose.

He pinched the tip of her nose. "Yes. I am a hard man to get along with, you know that by now."

Uncertainty crept into Sandy's eyes as she combed her fingers through her hair. She debated with herself but gave up and brought the question out for Gio to answer.

"What now?"

Gio was surprised with the insecurity lacing her voice. He reached out and took her hand. To his relief, she didn't protest.

"What do you think of dating me?" he quietly asked.