There’s a fine line between too much and just enough detail. I love giving the reader a taste of the environment the main characters play in. In my latest WIP, behind the scenes imagery on what it’s like to work with a K-pop group informs the hero and heroine’s behavior and the angst that keeps them apart. Of course, it’s total fiction, but I’ve no doubt you guys will tell me if my tale rings true or false. LOL It’s almost too bad I’m planning to publish this before my upcoming trip to Seoul…
In this unedited snippet, which picks up where last week’s left off, Sinna and Tan go on their first “date.” Tan shows our heroine that he’s anything but shy when it’s time to go after the woman he wants. But our girl is no pushover. Let me know what you think!
The picture is Johnny Huang. I just watched a Chinese drama called Addicted, and he left a serious impression on me. It’s a gay love story, but listen, the romance is real. LOL It’s a crying shame the series was banned in China. It ends abruptly, but watch it anyway.
XOXO,
SS
Quiet as kept, she was watching him as much as he watched her. She was just better at not getting caught. Part of it was that shyness. It was so different from his performance persona. That duality, alongside his looks and genuine good guy-ness, he was like catnip for her. He was the sexy one in 501K. Bik was its visual, with his unheard of natural blue eyes and sculpted anime face, and Hua was its charm, but Tan was its shy but undeniably lusty heart.
She’d watched all of his dramas and movies. In her favorite one he played a version of himself, a sweet-natured idol who went incognito in a small mountain village after a scandal. He turned things upside down as three of the village women did their best to marry him. Of course, he fell in love with the one woman who didn’t seem to want him. Eventually, after he sang and danced and blinked soulfully, she fell for him too.
No shocker there. His voice was stunning, and he was amazingly light on his feet for such a big man. She’d stared along with the rest of the building while he rehearsed for an upcoming solo the other day. It was tough to take her eyes off his lean hips rolling like a wave and his long arms popping sharp, perfectly angled movements over his head. But at least she had work to excuse her absorption.
She put together the perfect all white outfit for the performance. She even requested a wind machine so the fabric would billow, and was pleased when she got it. It would look stunning against his mink brown hair with its gold highlights. The stylist followed her instructions on color to the letter, and it suited him perfectly.
She’d have had her teeth pulled out before admitting how closely she listened whenever anyone talked about him. She suspected people were deliberately feeding her information – Koreans seemed to love matchmaking, even when the pairing was impossible. Idols couldn’t date – nuances to this rule she ignored.
Years ago, Sinna made the conscious decision to devote herself to securing a comfortable lifestyle for herself and those in her family who were willing to do what it took. She dated after her big heartbreak, as Saint liked to call it, but too many potential partners were adept at either deliberate or unconscious sabotage for her to waste time hoping for another boyfriend let alone marriage.
She accepted that lasting romance was not in the cards for her, and she moved on. She felt the occasional pang of regret that she had no children, but that was the price of doing business. Or rather, the price of not doing any.
An honest creature, she could admit to herself that now, as Tan pulled her along on their first official date, she enjoyed feeling his big, warm hand around hers. She felt small and dainty, like someone in need of protection. It was the most charming bullshit.
I’m still a woman, she thought, smiling as she acknowledged it.
They entered a dimly lit restaurant. He spoke to the hostess, and she led them to a secluded booth. He helped Sinna take off her sweater then seated her, opened the drinks menu and handed it to her.
“I’ll have an Amaretto Sour with DiSaronno.”
He gave the waitress her order and got Korean beer for himself.
“I hope you don’t mind. This restaurant specializes in rice bowls.”
“What are you having?”
They talked menu for a few minutes, and he seemed satisfied when she got the same thing he did.
The drinks arrived.
“May I try that?”
She’d already accepted the Korean habit of sharing food, so she didn’t hesitate to push the drink across the table. She laughed when his eyes squinched up at the sweetness.
“Good?” she teased.
He nodded.
“Liar,” she laughed. “Saint and Jon call it a toothache.”
“It is very sweet. Do you like me?”
She raised a brow at the abruptness of his question, but her answer was just as swift. “Yes.”
“As a man, I mean. Not just someone you work with.”
“I don’t know you as a man.”
“Would you like to?”
“No.”
Sherrod Story - Here lies your book boyfriend...naked. 