Page 98 of Paradox
I want—
“What’s that?”
Eden smiles against my mouth as I try to look sideways into the living area. “The reason you couldn’t go in the shed.”
I wriggle in his arms until he reluctantly lets me go.
“I haven’t been ignoring you, Jin.”
Like I’m a child who's never been given a gift in their life, I gingerly step closer.
It’s got three shelves, and is entirely made from scrap pieces of wood that fit perfectly together. The two sides are covered with traditional Korean drawings burned into the timber: A tiger on one side and a dragon on the other, both surrounded by Dancheong patterns. They aren’t perfect, but I know he’s done them from his memory of Tek’s art. And across the top is a smaller, intricately shaped piece of wood with the phrase;I like being myself. Myself, and nasty.
I spin my head back to Eden. “How did you know?”
“I took the English version of your book one morning while you were still asleep. You had chapter six dogeared, so I read through it until something seemed appropriate.”
Bowing my head to hide my smile, I turn back to the bookshelf and run my fingertips over the letters.
“You’re a little bitch, Jin. You’ve got a smart mouth, and you cuss me out daily.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Eden steps behind me and reaches around to press his hand against my stomach. “It kinda makes my dick hard.”
There’s no need to hide my smile now. “So why do you fight back so often?”
“Because sometimes I can’t help myself. Just because it turns me on, doesn’t negate the fact that you piss me the fuck off.”
“You piss me off, too.”
“And the cycle starts all over again.”
My smirk turns into a laugh, and Eden rests his chin on the top of my head. “What do you wanna do tomorrow?”
“Spend it with you.”
“You don’t have a choice in that regard.”
“I dunno… Maybe cook outside again. If it doesn’t snow.”
“Okay. But I still know you can do better than that.”
Turning in his arms, I press my forehead against him and squeeze as tight as I can. He smells of musk, organic detergent, and the ever present undertone of smoke.
Craning my neck, I look him dead in the eye, but before I can get a word out he says, "Do not ask me to fuck you.”
Stubborn to a fault, I shoot daggers at him. “Fine, then. I wanna go fishing.”
“That’s a lot of work on Christmas day. And you did just throw a tantrum about walking around for twenty minutes.”
“I. Want. To. Go. Fishing. Then I wanna come back and cook them on the fire.”
“Fine. But on one condition.”
“And what’s that?”
“You have to make your gochujang rice and vegetables.”
