In Deep Kimchi (36 page)

Shaundra looked at Ichiro for consent and he nodded.

“Just make sure you don’t allow him to lock you in any room.”

Satoshi took Shaundra up the stairs, leaving Ichiro alone with Yori. Yori patted the porch for Ichiro to sit down. “I know we’ve had our differences these last few weeks, but I need to talk to you about something.”

“Like what?”

“Shaundra.”

“What about her?” Ichiro asked.

“Have you been getting any threatening emails about her from fans?”

Ichiro sighed. “Yes, quite a few.”

“Did you respond?”

“No, I figured it wouldn’t do any good. I forwarded them to Masaaki to turn over to the police.”

“Good, but that still doesn’t help the situation. I need to ask you a favor that you probably won’t like.”

“Can’t be worse than getting punched in the face.”

Yori grimaced. “I would say I’m sorry, but you had it coming to you.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Stop seeing her.”

Ichiro opened his mouth but remained silent.

“You’re putting her in danger every time she’s seen with you.”

“I can’t just walk away and pretend I don’t care.”

“She’s returning to the United States in a few weeks so what’s the difference if you do it now or then?”

Ichiro did not answer. He just sat silent for several minutes as if contemplating an answer. “I can’t desert her.”

“You’re going to get her hurt because of your selfishness.”

“I love her,” Ichiro confessed. “Do you truly know what it means to find someone who makes you complete?”

Ichiro’s admission startled him. He had no idea their relationship had progressed so far. “How can you be in love with her? You barely know her.”

“The same way you do. The only difference is that I am free to pursue her.”

Yori sighed. “This has nothing to do about the way I feel about her. How do you plan to protect her?”

“I could officially announce that we are dating. That would take the pressure off of you.”

“I’m not worried about me.”

“You should be. You are the leader of Aomori. We would be nothing without you. If they hate you, they hate us.”

Twenty-five and already philosophical, Yori mused. And in love for the very first time. “If you can’t give her up then promise me that you won’t take her off anywhere without the guards. Or the two of you can meet here.”

“There is no privacy here,” Ichiro stated matter-of-factly.

“What do you need privacy for?”

Ichiro looked away.

“Oh.” Yori chuckled. “Don’t get your hopes up so high. Shaundra’s an experienced woman who needs a real man to please her. If you know what I mean? And you’re young and inexperienced with women.”

Ichiro smirked. “Just because I’ve never been with a woman before does not mean that I can’t please her. So don’t try to con me. I’m closer to bedding her than you are, and she thinks I’m cute.”

“Satoshi thinks you’re cute too, but I think he has a better chance of bedding you than you have of bedding Shaundra.”

Ichiro folded his arms in front of him. “Manhood jokes are so below you, Yori, and besides, Satoshi is not my type.”

Yori reached over and rustled his hair. “Okay. You win. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He rose and started up the stairs.

Ichiro jumped up quickly and nearly knocked him down getting through the door.

“What’s the hurry?”

“I forgot. She’s alone with Satoshi. He’s after her too.”

Yori sighed deeply. It was lucky for them that Shaundra would be leaving in a couple of weeks or she’d be the death of them.

* * * *

“When did you first know that you wanted to be a singer?” Shaundra asked Satoshi as the fiddled with one of the synthesizers in the practice room.

“The first time I saw Michael Jackson perform,” he replied, playing around with a beat. “I think I might have been six or seven. I was over at a friend’s house. Of course, it was an old broadcast, but I knew right then and there that I wanted to be an entertainer like him.”

“You’re not saying that to score brownie points because I mentioned that I wanted to marry one of the Jackson Five when I was a girl?”

Satoshi shook his head. “No, I don’t have to stoop that low to win a woman’s affection.”

It was too easy not to take the bait. “What would you do to win a woman’s affection?”

Satoshi stopped. “Is that one of your interview questions?”

Shaundra shook her head. “No, I’m just curious.”

“It depends on the woman that I’m trying to impress.”

“What about the young lady you took to the publishing company’s party.”

“Oh, you mean Miko. She’s a singer. We trained together for a while before making our debut. Mr. Niigata thought it might be cute to make us a duo.”

“What happened?”

“Aomori,” he answered. “Or, I should say Ichiro. Mr. Niigata heard him sing and then he changed his mind thinking a boy band would make a better package. So he snatched Takumijo and Yori from other groups because we were similar in height and appearance and formed Aomori.”

“Now back to Miko. Are the two of you still close? Is she your girlfriend?”

“No, I only invited her because she is a friend and was a part of a girl group that performed at our concert.” He paused. “You don’t remember her?”

Shaundra sat down on a seat next to him. “Not really. I didn’t pay too much attention to the girl group.”

“Why not?” Satoshi asked, looking deeply into her eyes. “They’re a very good group.”

Shaundra smirked. “I’m not into girls.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Why look at a bunch of girls when there are so many beautiful men around to gaze at?”

Satoshi actually blushed.

“Oh, not you too. You guys need to stop that blushing. It makes me feel like a dirty old woman when I pay you a compliment.”

Satoshi raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“A dirty old woman.”

Shaundra slapped him on the arm. “No, you’re the first guys younger than me that I’ve taken an interest in.”

Satoshi tried to duck the hit. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why us?”

Shaundra lowered her head. “I have no idea. I saw a picture of you guys before I came to Japan and, I don’t know, I think something inside of me woke up. I’ve never been attracted to men outside my own race or age group before.”

He used his finger to lift her chin. “You mean we turned you on?”

She nodded. “Totally,” she said, going back to her questions.

“But you can’t date all of us.”

“I know that. Where did you grow up?”

“Are you trying to change the subject?”

“I’m supposed to be working, not fantasizing about what I would do if I was stuck on a deserted island with all four of you.”

“Okay, let me make this easy for you. I know you don’t like me that way, and you can barely tolerate Takumijo, so that just leaves Yori and Ichiro. How do you really feel about Ichiro?”

Shaundra sighed. “He’s so hot. I think I lose my fricking mind whenever I’m around him. He makes me feel so alive.”

“But he doesn’t talk,” Satoshi said sarcastically.

“He does to me.”

“That’s what bothers me. What is it about you that makes him animated? We’ve been trying to get him out of his shell for years. And what do you see in him that you don’t see in the rest of us?”

Shaundra smirked. She could not possibly tell him that.

Satoshi laughed. “It’s the hair, isn’t it?” He laughed. “I knew it. You’ve got a thing for Ichiro’s hair.”

“So do you, and that’s down right freaky.”

“Would you still desire him if he was bald?”

Shaundra stopped and thought about it. “That’s a good question. Hell yeah.”

Satoshi moved away from her. “Why? What is it about him that makes you desire him so?”

Shaundra shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I think when two people click, it just happens.”

“What about Yori?”

Satoshi would have to go there. “What about him?

“What do you desire about him?”

Shaundra thought about it. “Nothing anymore. He’s engaged.”

“I saw the two of you dancing in the lounge one night and then making out in the hall outside of your hotel room.”

“That seems like a million years ago. What do you want me to say?”

“Explain to me how you can be in love with both of them.”

“I’m not, okay?” she said angrily. “I only love one of them.”

* * * *

Two weeks went by in a blur. It was hard to believe that she would be returning to the United States in a couple of days, ending her stint as a journalist and returning back to her normal life.

“This is a pretty damn good story,” Harper said as they ate lunch in the hotel restaurant.

“You say that like it is a surprise.”

“It’s not. I knew that you were a journalist before you started writing novels. Why did you give it up?”

“I wanted a family,” she confessed. “The next thing I knew, I was too old to compete with all those youngsters that came after me.”

Harper flipped the page and continued reading. “You surprised me, though. I thought you would have written a bigger story on Ichiro.”

“That would be bias and I wanted to give all of them equal treatment. Besides, Ich is a very private fellow and doesn’t like all the hoopla.”

Harper put the paper down and reached from her hand. He held on to it. “How long are you going to play this little cougar game? You’re going to break his heart when we leave the day after tomorrow.”

“Why does everyone think that I’m playing a game? Is it that hard to believe that someone my age can actually fall for someone his age?”

“Yes, it is. But I get it. You’re in a foreign country and you want to sow a little wild oats before you’re back in grandma mode.”

Shaundra removed his hand from his grasp. That response was another reason she and Harper couldn’t date. He lacked depth and understanding beyond his own needs.

“And what about Yori? You have him so confused. Don’t you know that you piss him off by messing with Ichiro when he’s obviously the want you want.”

“You’re confusing me. You think I’m leading Ichiro on, but you have a soft spot for Yori?”