"Assistant?" Mirae asked being more surprised.
James again nodded and continued "I thought of asking you before but I couldn't... so, I had come today to ask you this but I'm glad to see that you left your job." As James thought of Mirae working right next to him, he felt very happy that she would be close to him always and while imagining all that, he gave a teethsy smile not realizing that Mirae was able to see him.
Mirae looked at him smiling and she scrunched her brows. "Um..." She didn't know what to say. She wanted to have a job. Obviously, if she had no job, she couldn't pay her rent or send money to her parents.
So, she had to have a job.
But an assistant position... that too in James' company?
Was she going to be okay trying to handle the close proximity of James?
James shook his head and sat upright. He stopped the car nearby a restaurant and said "You can think and tell me your answer. But... I hope it will be a 'Positive' reply." He applied more pressure on the word 'positive' and opened the door of his car.
As Mirae noticed him stepping out of the car, she asked "Where are you going?"
"Let's go eat." James walked all the way to her side of the door and said while looking at her through the window. "I'm hungry and I'm sure you hadn't had anything to eat." He quickly opened the door for her and allowed Mirae to step out.
Mirae stepped out of the car and they both went inside the restaurant to eat.
After ordering a few dishes which would fill up their hungry stomachs, Mirae sat there thinking about what was just happening... She couldn't deny the feeling of this dinner... a private room with just the two of them, red wine, tension, anxiety, nervousness.... everything was filled in this room.
All this only happens when you are on a date especially a first date....
Thinking about this as a date, Mirae began to blush. She could feel her cheeks turning red and she immediately sipped through her red wine. After emptying her glass, she took the napkin and wiped her lips.
"Are you enjoying the time, Mirae?"
Maybe Eun Mirae was very much occupied with her thoughts that she had not realized that James was observing her. He had a very calm and relaxed smile on his face as he kept on enjoying her actions. However, James Park also wanted to join in the enjoyment with Mirae and so, he teased her.
Mirae who had her head lowered after feeling her cheeks turning hot, immediately lifted her head up only to see James giving an attractive smile. And like a cherry on top of a cake, he even pouted his lips.
Mirae felt her heart throb at this attractive view and she felt her words getting caught up in her mouth.
"I... I... uhh... Yes, I'm enjoying the time." As she realized what she told, Mirae shook her head and corrected herself "What enjoyment? I... you bought me all the way here and are asking me if I enjoy the time?" She began to pretend that she was angry but upon witnessing James' abundant laughter, Mirae looked at him with an unbelievable look.
When the waiter came in to serve, James stopped his laughter and Mirae stuck out her tongue as in a manner of showing him that she had won and he had lost.
Sitting uprightly, Mirae pushed her braid behind her back and began to drink the soup.
Just as she took one spoon after blowing on the hot spicy soup, Mirae winced with pain. She stuck out her tongue and drank some water... The soup was really hot and it burned the tip of her tongue.
"Get some brown sugar, please!" James ordered the waiter and shortly after the waiter returned with brown sugar. James gave Mirae the small cube of brown sugar and told her to keep it on the tip of her tongue.
"Having brown sugar when your tongue is burnt recovers the taste buds." He explained Mirae and Mirae kept the sugar cube on her tongue for a minute. Shortly after, the cube began to dissolve and she ate it. Eating sugar was one of Mirae's favorite hobby to pass her time.
Whenever she was alone, she used to eat sugar to pass on her boring time. However, she didn't know that sugar was used to recover the burnt taste buds.
She smiled and appreciated James for his help.
Shortly after, their order arrived and both Mirae and James had a delightful dinner.
****
While on the way home, the ride was awfully silent and Mirae didn't like it. The man for whom she was beginning to have feelings, she was sitting in his car... Although they talked day and night, Mirae didn't know much about him except for his name and his work.
Among his family, she knew that James had one sister and that sister's daughter was Song Jenny who was now married to Yeonjun, her first ever crush.
But she didn't know about James' personal life... whether he had someone or was committed to someone.
Judging from how James behaved with her, Mirae assumed that maybe James wasn't committed to anyone but before starting something with him, Mirae wanted to know if he had someone. If there was a possibility that James had someone whom he liked then Mirae promised that she would back off.
But she wanted to know.
So, she asked "Do you have a girlfriend or someone you like, Mr. James?" Although, she asked this in a normal and friendly manner, deep inside she could feel herself getting nervous and anxious for his reply. As she waited for him to reply, she began to shake her legs subconsciously.
"Not a girlfriend but I do have someone I like."