Park and Violet (29 page)

“Thank you, Kim. I owe you my happiness,” she whispered.

“I’m happy you’re happy.” He pulled away to smile at her.

“You’ll be happy, too. I promise. You just have to find the right woman for you.”

For a moment, his eyes darkened. “I hope so,” he murmured.

She hugged him again. “I know so.”

Park finally couldn’t stand it and went to them, curling a possessive arm around Violet’s shoulders. He stared at Kim. The baby-faced star with the killer dimples stared back. Finally Park smiled grudgingly and offered his hand. “Thank you.”

“Take care of her.” They shook hands and both of them simultaneously squeezed hard.

Violet noticed this and rolled her eyes but said nothing.
Men
.

When Kim and his band and entourage were gone, she turned to him with a scowl that would put Park’s own famous ones to shame. “You were rude,” she admonished. “You know we had other things to talk about.”

“He was whispering and I didn’t like it.” He scowled back. “Besides, didn’t you tell me before you liked me to admit being jealous? So now I’m jealous. You should be happy!”

“You’re only admitting you’re jealous because you know you’re in the wrong.”

“You---” He suddenly realized this would go nowhere. Violet could outtalk a hundred parrots in a minute. He swooped down and kissed her. When he pulled away, she was blinking at him.

“I love you.”

She opened and closed her mouth. “You did that deliberately.”

“I love you.”

She grinned. “That’s your way of settling a quarrel, is that it?”

Never fix what was not broken. What worked before should work now
. “I love you,” he repeated.

Violet laughed and threw her arms around him. “You know? You’re the only guy who has me around your little finger.” She placed a loud smack on his cheek, knowing it would make him squirm because he hated attention. He squirmed as expected and she laughed. “I love you, too, Park.”

EPILOGUE

“Un-freaking-believable.” Violet stared at her boyfriend for one year and fiancé for a week. There was a throng of reporters jostling to get the best shot of her and Park as they descended from the airplane.

Park’s face was all innocent but she was so not fooled. “Who the heck are you?” she demanded.

“I’m not an actor,” was all he said.

“I know that. I watch K movies, too, you know.”

“I’m not famous. My parents are.”

“Yup. That’s what famous children of famous people always say. And I ask again: who are you?”

He laughed. Violet acting stubborn and persistent was his favorite side of her---even though Park would rather die than let her know that.

Violet tried not to look shocked at how the press went mad when they saw Park laughing. Sheesh. She knew he was antisocial but had his Grinch-like ways also extended to the press?

“They call me the Ice Prince,” he whispered to her ear, as if reading her thoughts.

Violet couldn’t say anything. She was too busy being fascinated at how the press seemed to go crazy with every little thing Park did.

“And not because I’m blond or anything.” He put an arm around her and kissed her head as they continued to walk. There were no security checks. Someone seemed to have taken care of that for them. “My parents own a company called
Jaewon
. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

She stopped dead on her tracks. Her eyes bored through his. “What do you think?” She glanced back at the aircraft that carried them, which had Korean characters and the name ‘Jaewon’ emblazoned on its side in blue and gold.

Park’s eyes laughed at her even as he pulled her back close to him. “Don’t be mad. It wouldn’t make a difference, would it?”

She tried to think about that seriously. It was hard, though, with all those huge camera bulbs flashing. They were shouting now as well, but since it was all in Korean she didn’t understand a word they were saying.

It was Park’s turn to stop walking. He pulled her to a stop, too. He tipped her chin up. “Violet?” He was worried. “Would it have made a difference?”

She answered honestly, “I’d probably make you buy me a really, really, really expensive dress for coming here, but besides that, no.”

Park swallowed back his laughter because she sounded half-guilty, half-sincere.

“Who is she, Park?” a reporter yelled in English.

He turned around to acknowledge that reporter, turning Violet around as well.

“Park,” she hissed, paling at the way everyone’s attention was centered on them. She loved the limelight. She lived for it – but not like this, not when she was completely unprepared for it! Her mind was still reeling at the realization that Park was no ordinary Korean adopted child from the West.

Park flashed a smile, and it was more than enough for the press to go wild again.

Ah, well. She could understand that. She went a little wild herself whenever Park smiled at her like that. It was just too rare.

Violet almost jumped when he spoke, so softly she knew he intended only her to hear him. “Do you know that they called me the Ice Prince because not once had they ever seen me smile? Not even to the Prime Minister, not even the Wonder Girls?”

Her smile faded at those last two words. “You just had to say that to make me jealous,” she said with a glare. God, the Wonder Girls! They were aptly named! They had more inches on her in all the right places!

“Yes,” he admitted unashamedly.

She made a move to tug his ear hard, like she usually did when she was mad, but Violet froze midway, remembering that they were in front of the press. Oh, fuck. The celebrities were right, after all. Publicity really was a bitch.

Park’s eyes laughed at her again. He captured her hand mid-air and brought it to his lips instead.

Everyone swooned at the sight of it. Even Violet’s knees quivered. “Show off,” she hissed without heat because her heart was still beating madly, like it always did when Park did something unexpectedly romantic in public.

Park shrugged. And then he was continuing again, weaving a fascinating story of a prince she never dared dream she would meet, much less fall in love with – and have him love her back.

“The press would hound me like crazy, wanting to catch me in a good mood. But they never did---well, not until now.” He smiled down at her. “You changed me completely and for the better.”

She furiously blinked back tears. “
Park!”

Turning to face the press again, he raised his head and waved. The screams and cheers that rose from the crowd were not just deafening but they were strong enough to make the ground underneath them vibrate.

“
Annyoung ha sehyo
.” He bowed.

Now Violet wanted to swoon herself. He seldom, seldom spoke in Korean and she so loved it when he did, especially when he acted all traditional like now. It was like having her favorite Korean drama stars come to life, never mind if he looked more like a European duke than an Asian prince.

“You’re so cute,” she squealed, almost jumping in glee.

Park turned to her long enough to roll his eyes at her.

She rolled hers back. Well, duh! She was his fiancée and she was in love with him. Of course she’d find him cute!

Park faced the press with another smile. “Everyone,” he said in English. “I want you to meet Violet, the girl I fell in love with and the one I mean to marry.”

Violet burst into tears. Park hated public attention while she loved it. Without a doubt, this was his way of proving to her one more time that he loved her – over everything else, to the point that he would gladly face his worst fears for her. Like he had when he allowed himself to love her, and like he was doing now.

“You don’t have to prove it anymore. I believe you,” she half-wailed.

Park’s heart still knocked against his chest at the sight of Violet’s blushing face. “Thank you for that, baby.” Pulling her into his arms, he spoke to the press one last time before signaling the end to the short interview and walking forward, motioning for his security team to cover them on all fronts. Even with her eyes closed and her face pressed tightly against his chest, Violet still heard the way the crowd collectively gasped, as if Park had said something that declared the end of the world.

Inside his limousine, Park smiled in surprised pleasure when Violet immediately climbed onto his lap. She twirled her arms around his neck. “What did you tell them?”

He grinned at her wickedly. “Sure you want to know?”

“That bad?”

“Well, you know how I really want to prove all the time I love you, right?”

“Aaaand?”

“And one way of showing that is by doing the things I dislike the most – like getting interviewed by the press – if it was also something I could do for you.”

“Get to the point,” she growled.

He laughed even as he nipped her lip, just with enough hardness as a way of playfully reprimanding her not to get so quickly impatient. He might now secretly love the side of her, but it did tend to get Violet into trouble. “So I told them something that I normally wouldn’t consider saying.”

She heaved a heavy sigh, as if it was all she could do not to shake him. “Which is?”

“I just told them I’m going to have my honeymoon before the wedding and I’m going to make you come so many times you’ll only remember my name.”

“WHAT?”

“It’s my way of proving how much I love you, baby,” he said cheerfully. “I like doing it so please look forward to a lifetime of me happily proving it.”