Chapter 29 Monroe
“I’m just saying, for a man who claims to be some legendary fighter with impeccable hand-eye coordination, you’d think you could land a few more rings on a peg.”
Jin shoots me a disgruntled look, the summer breeze off the Delaware River ruffling his dark hair as we walk along the pier. “You got lucky.”
“Lucky?” I laugh, bumping my shoulder against his arm. “I beat you by six points, oh Great Silent Hunter. Not one. Not two. Six. That’s not lucky. That’s being outmatched skills-wise.”
“The rings were weighted unevenly,” he insists moodily. “The odds were in your favor from the start.”
The fact that he’s making up excuses only makes the whole thing funnier.
“Sure they were,” I say, taking a bite of the funnel cake we’re sharing (or supposed to be anyway but I’ve mostly hogged). “Keep telling yourself that.”
Before I can take another bite, Jin’s hand darts out and snatches the paper plate right out of my grasp, holding it up over his head where I can’t possibly reach it. I make a grab for it anyway, stretching up on my tiptoes, but he’s got a foot of height on me and it’s a lost cause from the start.
“Jin! Hey! Give it back!”
“I thought we were sharing,” he says innocently, tearing off a piece of the fried dough and holding it just out of my reach. “Open.”
I narrow my eyes at him, but my stomach wins out over my pride. My mouth begrudgingly opens to accept the offering. He places the piece of funnel cake on my tongue, his thumb brushing against my lower lip, holding my gaze as he does.
The innocent yet not-so-innocent gesture feels sensual and erotic and sends a cool shiver tingling down my spine despite the warm afternoon sun.
When he pulls his hand back, hunger flashes in his dark eyes. I realize a split second later it’s because I’ve gotten powdered sugar on my lip.
He takes it upon himself to lick it off, cupping me by the chin and tilting my face up toward his. He comes in swiftly, his tongue flicking out to wipe the sugar off—and indulge in his own greedy taste of me.
Okay… so maybe I’m not that mad about the funnel cake theft.
I’ve lost my train of thought as my heart flutters and my body buzzes with pure raw attraction. Basically, the never ending lust I have for Jin and that’s gone unfulfilled since that evening in the abandoned building.
It’s only been twenty-four hours since Jin and I have gotten back together, and so much has happened that we haven’t had time to truly enjoy each other yet.
But as we’ve spent this breezy afternoon together, it’s become increasingly obvious we’re ticking time bombs.
“I’ll get even at the next game,” he vows. His arm slides around my waist and pulls me close as we continue our walk along the pier, the squawks of seagulls and distant music and happy tourists filling the air around us.
“You’re such a sore loser,” I tease, leaning into his warmth.
“This from the woman who nearly flipped the table when we played Yutnori,” he fires back. He shoots me a look with his left brow cocked and his mouth twitching at the corner. “Such an angry little rabbit.”
“That game is rigged and you know it,” I mutter bitterly. Yet I’m smiling too as he presses a kiss to my temple and my heart gives a flip.
This is what I missed.
Our easy banter. Our teasing and laughter and how Jin’s harsh, hard exterior falls away only around me. How we always seem to be so tuned into each other that nothing else registers in the moment. We’re too busy being off in our own little world.
It’s as we’re continuing down the pier that Jin’s energy shifts from taunting and playful to contemplative. We’ve reached the waterfront, the warm summer sun baking our skin and the sea air filling our lungs, and we slow our pace to a lazy stroll.
I sense what’s on his mind before it ever comes out of his mouth.
“I have something for you,” he says, reaching up to his neck. “Something that belongs to you and I want you to have.”
He pulls out the engagement ring on the chain he’s been wearing. The same ring he’s told me he hasn’t stopped carrying with him from the moment I gave it back. He carefully slides it free of the unclasped chain and then holds it out in his palm for me to take.
My gaze falls to the ring and how the diamond shines in the afternoon light. I’d worn it so proudly and happily for months, instantly one of my most prized possessions.
“This is yours, Monroe,” he says, his tone earnest. “It was always yours. I would still very much like the honor of someday making you my wife… if you’ll have me.”
I stare at him for a moment, stunned to my core yet unsurprised at the same time. Our feelings for each other haven’t changed.
They’re still just as intense and unending as they’ve always been. We’ve encountered several hardships and had to fight our way through, but we’ve always loved each other every step of the way. Even as we broke up and went our separate ways.
A handful of seconds pass before a smile tugs at my lips and I look up at him.
“Seo Jin-tae, is this your new way of asking me to marry you?” I tease. “Is this your latest version of a proposal?”
His ears go red—possibly the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen on a deadly man covered in tattoos and who is normally so stoic and unflappable—but he gives a nod.
He clears his throat and answers, “Yes. I’m proposing, Tokki-ya.
Nothing has ever changed on my end. I’m still deeply in love with you, and in my mind, you’re already my wife. ”
My smile widens into a full grin, my cheeks rounding and my heart beating faster out of joy. I hold out my left hand to him and tease him some more.
“Then it sounds like you better put a ring on it and make it official.”
He releases a laugh and gives a shake of his head as if in disbelief of me and in love with me all at once. Then he slides the ring onto my finger where it belongs and scoops me up into his arms. I’m suddenly whisked off my feet as he spins me around, and I let out my own shriek of laughter.
Other people on the pier have taken notice, slowing down as it dawns on them what they’re witnessing. Applause and cheers and whoops and whistles follow as a crowd quickly gathers. Some pull out their phones to capture pictures and record the moment.
It barely registers until Jin’s set me back on my feet and we look over to find a whole audience watching and beaming at us.
“Looks like we’re about to go viral on social media,” I say.
“I can see the captions now,” he answers. “Tattooed Korean gangster proposes to sweet Black woman at the pier.”
I giggle. “I hope they tag me.”
“I just can’t believe it,” Mom gushes for what has to be the fifteenth time since we sat down to dinner, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin.
“My baby, back with her man. I prayed and prayed, you know. Every night. I said, ‘Lord, I know you have a plan, and I trust in your timing, but if you could see fit to knock some sense into those two stubborn children of mine, I would surely appreciate it.’”
“Mom,” I groan, half amused and half exhausted. “You’ve mentioned the praying. Several times.”
“Because it worked! That’s what I keep telling you, Moni.
” She gestures at Jin, who’s sitting across from me at her dining room table looking remarkably at ease despite being the subject of my mother’s enthusiastic monologue.
“Look at him, sitting there, eating my catfish like he belongs here. Because he does belong here. He’s family. ”
“Or he’s just hungry and your cooking is that good,” I offer.
Mom scoffs. “Nonsense. This is all part of God’s plan.”
But regardless of what she says, the spread she’s laid out is impressive even by her standards. She’s made crispy fried catfish, golden baked mac and cheese, tangy coleslaw, homemade cornbread, and has a banana pudding waiting in the fridge for dessert.
It’s the kind of dinner that’ll have us in deep hibernation tonight.
Jin catches my eye across the table, a glimmer of amusement in his dark almond-shaped eyes, despite his polite and attentive demeanor. He’s been a remarkably good sport about Mom’s rambling, nodding and murmuring agreement in all the right places.
It makes me love him even more for it.
“Actually, Mom,” I say, “there’s something we wanted to tell you.”
She freezes with a forkful of mac and cheese halfway to her mouth. “What? What is it? Are you pregnant? Lord, I knew it, I knew—”
“Whoa, slow down. I’m not pregnant,” I interrupt quickly, before she can spin off into another tangent. I hold up my left hand to show off the ring on my finger. “But we are engaged. Again.”
The fork clatters to the plate. Mom’s hand flies to her chest, clutching at the fabric of her blouse like she’s gone into cardiac arrest. “Engaged? ENGAGED? You’ve been here for an hour and you’re just now telling me this?
You’re telling me that man proposed and you said yes and I’m just hearing about this NOW? ”
“It happened this afternoon,” Jin offers. “At the waterfront.”
“The waterfront!” Mom fans herself with her napkin and gives an impressed nod. “Great location! Oh, how romantic! Did I tell you me and your father’s first date was there? We shared a funnel cake.”
The rest of dinner passes with Mom’s walk down memory lane and us stuffing our faces with the amazing food she’s prepared. By the time we’ve cleared our plates of dinner and have moved onto the banana pudding, I’m so full I can barely handle a couple bites.
At the end, Mom hasn’t even had a chance to rise out of her seat before Jin’s insisting he clears the table and washes the dishes.
“It’s customary as a guest,” he says. “As a thank you for this delicious meal, Daisha.”
Mom shoots me another impressed look as she follows him into the kitchen.
I hang back for a moment and watch Jin at the sink, unruly hair on his brow and hands submerged in soapy water, and I can’t help smiling to myself.
People who fear the great Silent Hunter, the Baekho-je of the Baekho Pa himself, would never believe he’s so respectful and dutiful in his private life.