Heart & Seoul Read online

  Drake noticed as well, watching the man who adopted him in extreme fascination. I could only imagine his head must be spinning.

  The volume of the crowd blasted several octaves, pulling us both back to the footage.

  “Make sure you get this, George.” A much younger Memaw Lorraine next to the cameraman pointed ahead, and the camera followed.

  A small plane on a runway opened its door and out of it came several people. The camera zoomed in, and the people became clearer. They were tiny women, all of Asian descent, and they carried small bundles in their arms.

  “Oh, Phillip,” Mrs. Drake gasped.

  She and her husband waved. Mr. Drake lifted a small sign in his free hand, but with the camera angle, I couldn’t see what it read. Whatever it said had gotten the attention of a woman in blue, the bundle of yellow blanket she held nearly overwhelming her she was so tiny.

  Smiling brightly, she walked right up to the Drake’s. I held my breath as she unwrapped the small bundle in her arms.

  Inside was a tiny child with a head full of messy black hair. The baby’s tan cheeks were painted a rosy red, and also adorably chubby. The little one’s eyes were shut tight, sleeping soundly despite the elevated noise of the crowd. Other than sleep, the baby’s only focus seemed to be the small thumb in his mouth, sucking on it innocently during his dreams.

  I placed my hands to my mouth, my eyes glassing, as I watched the child handed to Mrs. Drake.

  Her tears weren’t welling now. They’d completely escaped her eyes as she brushed her fingers along the baby’s chubby cheek.

  She sniffed, cooing to the child. “My sweet boy,” she said, kissing his flushed cheek. “My sweet Truman.”

  The footage focused in on the care and love between the new parents and their small child. I couldn’t focus on it long. I was watching the room. Mrs. Drake, now older, but still lovely, had the same tears in her eyes as she did then. She was drawn to the image just as Memaw Lorraine. Her head was tilted, watching the footage behind glistening eyes, as if seeing it for the first time. She had her hand on Drake, rubbing and squeezing the arm of her grandson that was no longer a boy, but a strong man.

  A wonderful man.

  Drake sat there beside me, awed by something he was clearly seeing for the first time. Though he wasn’t displaying the same emotion as his mother or his grandmother, the way he studied the image in front of him showed he was feeling the same thing. His dark eyes flickered, moving with the action on the screen. His lips parted, his nostrils flaring once with a light flush to his cheeks. He couldn’t possibly remember that day, but it was obvious he was feeling it, reconnecting with it and all that it was. It was a day full of emotion, a day filled with so much love and beauty. He was loved. Loved so very much, and I had a feeling it was even more than he knew.

  Chapter Three

  “These turned out so well, baby,” I said to Drake, admiring the black calligraphy on one of our freshly printed wedding invitations.

  His mother let us keep one for our records yesterday during tea. The rest were headed off to the planner for mailing, and since we got to keep one, I couldn’t keep my eyes off it. Even now, despite the fact we were at our departure gate in the airport waiting to fly off to Seoul. The art deco elements in them looked wonderful. Drake and I agreed on a vintage, old Hollywood style wedding. He was going to wear a white jacket and black slacks and everything. This was his idea, not mine, but I was glad he had it. He’d look adorable.

  Drake wasn’t lying when he said he enjoyed talking anything having to do with the wedding, but today he only seemed to be half listening to me. His look was very reminiscent to the one he held yesterday as well. The one he sported long after the footage of his arrival to America had ended.

  He seemed lost, staring off into space. He had his foot propped on his overturned carry-on, his elbow rested on his knee, and his fingers to his chin. His thoughts were clearly moving. No doubt about everything that awaited him ahead. Was he anxious about the trip? Was he, dare I say, scared? Whatever he was, I’d be there for him. That was my job, and I was so happy to do it.

  I slipped the invitation into my satchel. Pulling my legs up onto the airport chair, I cuddled underneath his arm.

  This got his attention. His fingers dropped from his chin, and he dipped his head, smiling that heartbreaker smile at me.

  I kissed his neck once, running my fingers along his chest. “You okay?” I asked him.

  He gathered me up close to him. Lacing my fingers with his, he shrugged. “It’s all just so crazy, you know? That this moment is happening. I’m going… home.” He shook his head. “It’s so weird to even say that. Why does it feel weird to say that, Lace?”

  He looked down at me, questions in his eyes I was unsure if even I had the answers for. I rubbed my cheek against his chest. “Maybe it’s because you have two homes. Two lives. Two families.”

  He thought about that, nodding. This trip was so important to him. I couldn’t say that this experience might change his life. The correct word to use was: would. This trip would change his life, and I’d be by his side as it did.

  “What if I like it?” he asked. “What if I go there, meet… her, and love it? What if I never want to come home?”

  I smiled. “Then I guess we have to think about some major life choices, and you,” I paused, grabbing his chin, “need to learn a lot more Korean.”

  Though he’d been working with Natalia for a few weeks to prepare for this trip, his Korean didn’t stretch far past that of the traditional tourist. He could get us food, taxi service, and if we were in a jam, the police. Of course, he also had knowledge of quite a few other helpful things. We were getting a translator when we got to the adoption agency. I read on the Internet that Seoul was fairly English friendly since it was such a big city, but if we’d be living there, he’d need to be proficient and me at least functional. Now, I could barely say hello.

  He chuckled lightly at my statement. “I suppose you’re right.” He kissed the back of my hand, sending shivers throughout my body. The small brush of his lips actually managed to bud my nipples. Only he could do that to me, and I loved it. He looked down at me. “You’d live in Seoul for me?”

  I cocked my head at the question. “You’re acting like you didn’t hop across the pond to live in Paris with me.”

  “What about your acting?”

  He was referring to the show I recently got the lead in. I was going to act in the big theater starting this fall. Just like my mama. “So I finish it up, but I can act anywhere, Drake. You’re forgetting there’s only one of you.”

  A subtle smile creased his full lips. He leaned down, brushing my mouth with light kisses. “You’re too good to me.”

  I silenced my moan. “I think you’ve got that the other way around.”

  Our moment of PDA was short lived when the airline agent announced boarding for our gate. She started with first class, so that was us. I didn’t think it was necessary to fly in the expensive class, but Drake had already bought the tickets when he asked me to come to Seoul with him. I still hated he spent so much money and had asked about exchanging them for coach, but he refused, stating he wanted me to be comfortable while we traveled. He’d been very protective and conscious of me since my accident. I told him I’d be fine, but when he stressed this was a fourteen-hour flight, I didn’t fight him on the decision for very long.

  Dropping his foot from his carry-on, he went to grab my bag and his.

  I touched his arm. “Wait. I have a gift I want you to open before we go.”

  He eyed me curiously as I got the plastic bag from my carry-on. I didn’t have time to wrap it since I went out last night to buy it. I had to wait until Drake fell asleep, so it was pretty late. He was up half the night making sure all our travel preparations were taken care of.

  He stared at the parcel I placed on his lap. “You bought me a gift?”

  I nodded, practically bouncing in my seat in anticipation. “Open it.”
<
br />   Rather slowly, he did, his eyes trained on me. “I didn’t know it was my birthday.”

  “It’s not. I just thought this was fitting after yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?”

  “Mmmhmm.”

  He opened his mouth to, I assume, question me further, but he stopped after he got the item out of the bag. He held up the small device, a black handheld camera. His eyes flickered from it to me, and he smiled.

  “I just thought we should document everything so we can remember it forever,” I said, hoping he liked it.

  He touched his fingers to my lower back, guiding me to him. I tilted my head back, touching his warm lips with mine.

  “Too good to me,” he whispered, and my heart fluttered knowing that he liked his gift.

  Chapter Four

  We were in the final hour, the sun in the distance as we traveled through the clouds above. Drake was staring out of the window, taking it all in. I made sure he had the window seat. He should be able to see everything.

  I secured the camera on my hand, propping it up to bug him with it again. “Wave to the camera, baby.”

  He turned. Though he looked a bit sleepy—we both slept the final few hours of our connecting flight in our plush seats—he was smiling. Lifting his hand, he gave a small wave.

  I giggled. “Now, we have to log everything. Tell everyone who you are, the time, and what’s about to happen.”

  He tossed his head back, laughing. “Are you going to make me regret doing this?”

  I pouted. “Play along. We want our future selves to remember everything.”

  “All right.” He sat up, being professional. “Well, future self, my name is Drake as you know. Behind the camera is my fiancée, also known as your beautiful wife, Lacey.”

  I flipped the camera, giving a toothy grin into it before turning it back to him.

  “The time is 7:04 a.m. Seoul time,” he said, checking his phone. “The time in Chicago: 5:04 p.m.—yesterday. So we are officially in the future.”

  I had to laugh at that. We were time travelers.

  Dropping his phone in his lap, his lips lifted. “As far as what’s about to happen, I’m almost home.”

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Drake and I were greeted with a pleasant surprise after we retrieved our bags from baggage claim. We expected to hail a cab to our hotel, but there was a man dressed in all black waiting for us with a sign that had our names on it. He looked to be a local of East Asian descent.

  Curiously, we went over to him. He had on the brightest smile, and his face was very kind.

  He bowed to us. “Mr. Drake, Ms. Douglas, allow me to introduce myself,” the man said, his voice heavily accented. “My name is Han, and I am one of Mr. Jason Harrison’s assigned drivers while he is here in Seoul.”

  My mouth dropped opened. “Jason is here? What is he doing here? Where is he?” I gazed around, so excited. Though I hadn’t seen my former colleague and friend from Paris in months, we’d kept up constant communication through email. The last I heard, the opera he stared in was still in its extended run before they toured it in Europe, so I was surprised to hear of him here.

  “He is currently on a commercial shoot, but has requested you both to have the use of one of his drivers while you are here. It would be an honor to drive you.” He bowed again.

  I did mention to Jason that my fiancé and I were planning a trip to South Korea. I had no idea he would be here working while we did. He did ask me a lot of specific questions about it now that I think about it. He must have been trying to coordinate my arrival with the driver. That was so nice of him to think about me. He was such a sweetheart.

  “He also requests that you have dinner with him this evening if you are not too tired from your travels,” Han continued.

  I went to Drake for reference. This was so much more his trip than mine. Though he stressed he wanted our time spent here to also be a mini vacation before our wedding, we both knew that was second to his search for his mother.

  His expression read he couldn’t be more okay with it. “Sounds good to me. I think it’s time I met the guy who took care of my fiancée while she was in Paris.”

  I snuggled up on his arm, and he kissed my hair. I wanted him to meet Jason too.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  Drake and I watched the action of the busy streets of Seoul through the tinted window. There were so many people. So much life and activity. There weren’t many times I was so blatantly aware of my race, but being here was definitely a bit of a cultural shock. Not in a bad way, though. Just different. I wondered if Drake felt the opposite. He grew up in an area that wasn’t diverse at all. Perhaps, for the first time, he wouldn’t be so aware of his ethnicity here. I had my video camera out to gauge his reactions. We needed to record everything. When he noticed my spying, he simply gave me a wink, then gazed out the window again.

  We arrived at our hotel, an angled beacon in the sky. It was seriously taller than anything else around it and glistened in the South Korea sun. I shifted my camera to take it all in.

  “We’re here, Ms. Douglas. Mr. Drake,” Han said, grinning proudly at the establishment.

  He helped us out of the car with our bags, then promised to be back promptly at five for dinner. He left instructions on how to contact him if we ever needed anything or wanted to go anywhere.

  Drake checked us in, and I couldn’t put my camera down. The place was seriously awesome. Everything was so shiny and bright, down to the doorknobs on the doors.

  Drake led me to our new home for the next few days, which I quickly found out was a two-room suite with awesome views of the city. I rushed over with the camera to the suite’s largest window in the sitting area and shot the busy streets below. There looked to be some kind of shopping district ahead with flashing lights.

  After capturing the excitement outside, I maneuvered around our suite, getting in shots of the large marble bathroom with the whirlpool tub. I saved the bedroom for last, and it was a good thing I did. I practically fell to the floor it was so ritzy. The bed had to be a California king it was so big, and it was also amazingly… fluffy.

  I hopped onto the puffy surface, bouncing on my knees. Drake made it into the room and lounged against the doorjamb, a small smile on his face.

  “You like it I take it?” he asked.

  Like there was ever any doubt I would. This place was amazing. “It’s so great, baby.”

  He pushed off the door, and my camera refocused on his large frame. “I’m glad. My parents stayed at this hotel when they first came to the adoption agency. This was where they were that whole week. The week they first met me before they adopted me. They visited Seoul quite a few times during the process.”

  I stopped bouncing. Tilting my head, I couldn’t stop smiling. “Really?”

  He plopped down to the bed on his side, resting on his elbow. “Yeah, they did. For this trip, my mom took care of the arrangements for us. She said we’d like it here.”

  I moved closer to him, placing the camera to rest on my hip to make sure he was in the shot. “So what’s our plan for everything? What do we do first?”

  “Well, we have an appointment at the adoption agency first thing tomorrow. They’ll give me everything they have and I go from there.”

  I nodded. “What do we do until then?”

  He angled his hand along the curve of my hip, and I sucked in a breath. His lips curled up to the side; he knew exactly what he was doing. He slid the camera out of my hand, clasping it shut and placing it behind him.

  “I can think of some things,” he said. Pushing himself up, he pulled me underneath him, enveloping me with his large body. “Some outside.” He placed a sweet kiss on my jaw. “Some inside.”

  Sliding his hand between my thighs, he traced the seam of the leg of my jeans with his finger. I swallowed as he moved along it, eventually brushing over my heat. I could feel his touch burning through the material; particularly when he placed a solid hand on my mound.

&nb
sp; “Yeah?” I said, sucking in a breath. I didn’t know how I managed to respond to what he’d said, but I did.

  He nodded and surprised me when he pulled back and freed his hand from my body. He cocked his head. “Though, I have a feeling we should probably go out since we won’t know how long it will be before we return here.”

  Darn it. He was right about that. I pushed my hands around his neck. “So what do you want to do then?”

  He ran a large hand up and down my forearm. “You choose. There are a bunch of things within walking distance. Shopping, food, an indoor amusement park—”

  I kissed his nose. “You had me at shopping.”

  Chapter Five

  After Drake checked in with his mom, we headed out of the hotel and onto the street. She wanted him to call her often with his progress, make sure he was okay. Before he left he assured her he’d be fine and that wasn’t necessary. She insisted though, so he had to appease her. Their conversation lasted several minutes with lots of, “I’m fine, Mom. I promise,” on his end; along with a couple, “Yes, Lacey is fine too.” Of course I got the whole exchange on camera. It was so cute how he talked to his mother these days. They’d gotten so much closer since we moved to the North Shore. After he finished soothing her, she eventually let him go.

  It was still morning on the streets of Seoul, but Drake and I were running on Chicago time. We’d probably be heading to bed in a few hours back home. The jet lag would be killer, but I suggested we take a catnap before heading to dinner with Jason to help that. Drake agreed.

  We went hand-in-hand down the busy walkways; however, they weren’t as busy as I thought they’d be. Most people were at work around this time I guess. I held on tight to Drake’s hand to keep from losing him, but even if I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have a problem keeping sight of him. He was taller than the majority of the people on the street, and they literally parted like the Red Sea as he made his way through.