How Much Will It Cost Me To Have You On My Bed?

Nana hadn't realised Tan had been standing so close to her. "And now?" He asked, drawing closer to her, making her step back in retreat.

"And now what?" She asked, not following the line where the conversation was going.

"Do you still consider me a stranger?" He asked, reaching for her hair as he looked deep into her eyes.

"Um, I don't think so," She said, swallowing hard as she bumped her back against the wall.

"We've spent five days together in my home, and you're still unsure? Maybe we need to confirm it," He said, lowering his head to hers.

She wasn't thinking. Her heart was racing. She knew she needed to move away from that spot, to move away from him, but she couldn't seem to find the strength nor the willpower to resist him.

She could smell the wine on his breath, "H--how?" She asked with a light stutter flicking her tongue over her lips nervously, making him groan.

"Are you innocently naive or deliberately trying to drive me crazy?" He asked, rubbing his head against her forehead.

"Ask me to stop, and I will. Just say the word, and I will stop," He said as his lips touched hers.

Before she could withdraw her mind from its distant places, his arms were around her, sure and hard. She felt again the rush of helplessness, the sinking yielding, the surging tide of warmth that left her limp. And the beautiful face of Ji-tae, her boyfriend, was blurred and drowned to nothingness. He bent back her head across his arm and kissed her, softly at first, then with a swift gradation of intensity that made her cling to him as the only solid thing in a dizzy, swaying world. His insistent mouth was parting her shaking lips, sending wild tremors along her nerves, evoking from her sensations she had never known she was capable of feeling. And before a swimming giddiness spun her round and round, she knew she was kissing him back.

Slowly they made their way from the porch to his bedroom; how they did that, neither of them could tell. Their mouths were intertwined as their hands roamed all over each other's bodies.

Tan placed his hands under her shirt and tried to unstrap her bra. Suddenly, she realised what she was doing.

"Stop, please stop. I can't do this," She whispered, ashamed of herself. The same thing she had denied Ji-tae from doing for the past year was what she was allowing this stranger she had barely known for a week to do to her.

"I want you, Min-jung, I want you," He said, looking at her with longing in his eyes

"No. You don't know me. This doesn't seem right," She said as much to herself as to him. She stood up, "Forgive me, but I can't do this," She said, walking to the door.

"How much?" He asked.

"How much what?" She asked, suddenly confused.

"I mean, how much will it cost me to have you on my bed? Just name it. Name your price."

"I beg your pardon? Are you calling me a prostitute right now?" She asked with a slightly raised voice and dimmed eyes.

"Well, you've been giving me mixed signals. One moment you're burning hot, and the next, you're pushing me away; I just assumed you wanted me to offer you.." Before he could complete his sentence, she picked a book from the couch near his bedroom door and threw it at him angrily.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," He said, suddenly realising she was furious.

She looked around, looking for something else she could throw; her gaze fell on the little flower vase on his dressing table.

"No, no, please don't do that. Not that, please." He said, moving closer to her pleadingly.

"You sat there to call me a prostitute, and you think you have the right to tell me what to throw?" She screamed at him, angrier with herself for allowing him to touch her.

"You're a jerk. A lowlife jerk living a rich life," She said, marching out of his room angrily; she suddenly remembered her slippers were in his room. She marched back into the room, picked them from the floor, and used it to hit him before walking away.

She's so crazy. He said to himself, not knowing whether to laugh or be mad. Ok, yes, he had messed up. He had no right whatsoever to have offered her money or implied she traded her body for money.

But he had thought, like every other woman he knew; she'd jump at the offer. He rubbed his hands wearily over his face; he didn't feel well around her.

**********

Nana angrily marched inside the kitchen to meet Mi-Ok. "Are you ok? Don't tell me you both had another argument."

"He is so annoying! So pigheaded. How in heaven's name did you manage not to strangle him these whole years?" She asked with a flushed face.

"He's also sweet and generous. Don't forget that in the heat of your anger," Mi-Ok admonished her.

"There is no way that asshole I just had to flee from has the word sweet or generous in his dictionary."

Mi-Ok chuckled lightly, causing Nana to flare up even more.

"You're being biased because you raised him," Nana growled, leaving Mi-Ok in the kitchen. She needed to blow off steam; she needed to talk to someone who wouldn't take Tan's side. Who else was better to speak to than Min-jung, her best friend who would always take her side? She hated to bother Min-jung, but she was in this situation because of Min-jung, she told herself as she redialed Min-jung's number.

**********

Min-jung stared at her phone as it kept ringing. What does Nana want again this time? She asked herself. She reluctantly pressed the receive button.

"Wassup girl?" She asked with forced cheerfulness.

"I'm going to murder this guy before the end of this week, I promise you. And it will be on you," Nana growled, making Min-jung sit up in surprise.

"What has he done this time?" She asked audibly.

"Can you believe that conceited buffoon had the right to offer me money for sex?"