Chapter 650: So Far

Mina woke up feeling sore all over. The night before President Lee had taken her many times, and truthfully, she was falling asleep before he was finished. He kept waking her with rough kisses, but she could barely keep her eyes open and now that it was time for her to get ready for work, she did not want to move.

"Mina, you are going to make us both late. Get up," President Lee whined. Mina found it odd, because the man was still cuddled up behind her, equally, if not more exhausted.

"Leave me alone. I can get dressed in under a minute." Ian chuckled and pressed a kiss on Mina's temple.

"Okay then, get up so that I can get up. I'm too comfortable to move." Mina whimpered like a spoiled child, then begrudgingly climbed out of President Lee's bed, grateful that the man had slipped his shirt over her head before they collapsed into sleep.

"You're heartless," she called out, stomping through the adjourning door as the man chuckled, still in bed she noted.

By the time Mina was dressed, she was no longer as sore, but she was so tired that she kept yawning. President Lee was prepared though, and when she crawled into the backseat, the man was holding a travel mug that was lined in her favorite color.

"You look like you need this," he mocked, and Mina snatched the mug from him, not failing to notice how beautiful it was. The man chuckled at her reaction and Mina closed her eyes, wanting to sleep a little during the ride, but she was disrupted by a kiss.

"Haven't you had enough?" Ian laughed loudly and Mina shifted her back to the man before sipping on her drink. "This is good, did Chef Tan come back?" Ian smirked triumphantly.

"I made it myself." Mina scoffed and President Lee scooped her toward his chest. He knew he had hurt the woman the night before because he could feel her tension toward the end of the last time they were together, and he was afraid she would not want him again. "Are you feeling okay?" Mina took a deep breath and turned to face the man who was staring at her in concern.

"President Lee, I'm not actually upset with you. I'm just tired." Ian studied Mina's face, amazed that they had gone so far but she still refused to call him by his name.

"Why don't you call me Ian?"

"Because I don't want to accidentally call you informally. People have already been saying that I stole you from your fiancé, and I want us to remain as professional as possible."

"Mina look at me; who told you that?" Mina removed President Lee's hand from her chin and held it on her lap because that was one thing she genuinely wanted to confirm.

"Is it true?" Mina asked, still holding onto the man's hand as she questioned him.

"It's not. Lisa and I were never engaged. Mina, please listen to me. People talk, and I can't always stop them, but if someone says that to you again, please tell me."

"They don't say it to my face; they talk behind my back and Director Porter tells me what's being said."

"Does it bother you?" Ian asked, and Mina shook her head.

"You told me that it isn't true, and I believe you. Just don't turn me into a liar when I defend myself."

----

The workday went by with Mina's mind on President Lee's lips. He was a good kisser, and he knew exactly what parts of her body to allow his lips to trail over, which always made her feel a flutter in her stomach.

So far, things had not changed between them, but Mina wished that it would. Like when she told him about the rumors Director Porter heard, she wanted the man to step up and tell her that he would make their relationship official, but he did not. Either he had taken her requests for privacy regarding their sex life too literal, or he did not want people to know about them. Either way, it lent to Dom's words that the man was not as serious as she was, but for now, Mina was okay with their arrangement.

With a hint of excitement, Mina crawled into the back seat of President Lee's car, eager to relax. She was surprised to see that the man was on the phone, his laptop open across his legs, but when the car door was closed behind her, he held the call, and pressed a kiss on her cheek, telling her that he still had a little bit of work to do.

Mina felt bad, she had not considered that President Lee was leaving work up to an hour early to pick her up on time. She crawled closer to him, peaking over at his screen to see if it were something she could help with, but it was not. The Lee group needed to find a cheaper place to buy raw material for one of the products they owed the patent on. They could not avoid export taxes levied on them by the Sani government, and as it was, they were already paying the bare minimum for the cobalt they used in the devices.

Ian ended the call and sighed, he looked over to Mina who had fallen asleep during the ride, before continuing to make calls. The mines his family had been using were the only ones they could find that did not use child labor, and it had just changed hands from the senior in the family. The man's son had professionally listed out the losses they were taking by excluding underage miners to accommodate the Lee family and Ian could poke no holes in it monetarily. Sadly, he was uncertain an ethical argument would matter.

"Are you done?" Mina asked, her eyes still closed.

"No, but we still have another twenty minutes before we get to my home." Mina slid her hand on the back seat until it rested against President Lee's.

"I heard your conversation, and thank you for caring." Ian rested his hand on top of Mina's wearing a smile of his own. His family may have been harsh, cruel even, but there were limits, and child labor was over the edge.

"You don't by chance know of a place that has untapped cobalt veins, do you?" Mina's eyes darted to the side and Ian closed his laptop to press the woman. "Mina?"

"There is one, but President Lee, there are people who live there. They work hard and they have basically nothing. They don't even know what they are sitting on, and people don't visit often enough to tell them."

"You've only been outside of Pan a few times. Where is this place?" Mina opened her phone and pulled up a map of her hometown, then used her fingers to drag the map to an unmarked area.

"Doctor Sancho took me there when I was twelve. None of their children made it through the initiative, but before his wife fell sick, she would send things for them. They are among the poorest in the nation, and a lot of them have never been to school." Ian went to make a call, but Mina held her hand over his device. "Please tell me you'll let me be involved. If those people are going to be displaced, at least let me help relocate them." Ian cupped Mina's face and kissed her passionately. He loved how kind she was, even if it sometimes worked against her.

"Are you sure you can handle that? It may not be pretty, especially after I get Cam involved."

"I can," Mina replied, not entirely convinced she could. President Lee released her face and made the call he had been wanting to make. When he was done, he turned to face Mina wearing a curious expression, however, he never got to question the woman, who climbed out of the car the moment it stopped moving.

----

Mina felt guilt begin to settle in as she paced in her bedroom. President Lee had made the arrangement to visit the area where she had seen the cobalt on her next day off, but that was not what was worrying her.

Mountain people were often misunderstood and stereotyped beyond imagination. She had often heard stories about them intermarrying one another, having grotesque children and more, but in her experience, they were just people who could not afford to be a part of a world that focused so much on the dollar, that nothing else mattered. The people she met lived off the land, used real skills to survive, and they were family oriented; a quality Mina admired most.

"I thought you would be in bed," President Lee said as he wrapped his arms around Mina's waist. He hated the pajama she was wearing. It was definitely something his nan would wear, and he made a mental note to have it thrown away.

"I can't sleep."

"I can help you with that," Ian whispered, and Mina found her breath catching in her chest.

President Lee picked her up and carried her into his bedroom, where he removed her clothing. He positioned his body between her legs and Mina felt him push against her before she used her hand as a barrier to stop him. She had not seen him put on protection, and when she looked, he was not wearing one. The man apologized, saying that he had gotten too into the moment, and Mina ignored the offense as his first mistake. He corrected himself, and Mina settled back into his embrace before she allowed him to enter her body.

There was discomfort, but Mina was not in pain, she clung to President Lee, who was rolling his hips in the way that brought her to that climbing sensation, which usually made her shout, but this time, it felt different. Even through the discomfort, Mina could feel pleasure building within her, and the fact that the man was so close was only making the sensation better. She loved when their bodies touched, when the warmth of his chest warmed hers, and when he held her the way he was.

Mina craved the closeness, it made her feel like what they were doing was more than just sex, and that maybe, somewhere along the lines, real feelings would develop between herself and President Lee. She badly wanted to be important to the man, not just as a woman he felt guilty towards, but as a friend, who had become his lover.

Ian rested his forehead on Mina's, closing his eyes as he relished in the sensation of making love to the woman, who he believed was not as emotionally involved as he was. So many times, he had wanted to suggest making their relationship official, but he knew Mina would not go for it unless he could prove that he was serious, and it was why he had already commissioned a ring for the woman.

Before the month was gone, Ian wanted to propose to Mina. He wanted her to have a fairytale wedding, and he wanted it to be before she noticed the changes in her body that he had. Her areolas had darkened from the pink that they were, to more of a brown in color, and when Ian researched it, it was listed as one of the earliest signs of pregnancy, often overlooked according to the text he read. He hated that he may have gotten the woman pregnant without her knowledge, but he hoped he could make her happy enough to forgive him.

To Ian, he just needed Mina to agree to being with him without protection once, but his first attempt had already failed and his nerves were beginning to rattle. He did not want her to go back to hating him, not when they had already come so far.