Chapter 32

Jessica lay on Li Jingming's bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. It was the first time she had slept in a man's bed; she had never even slept in her parents' bed. The bed did not have the strange smell she had imagined a man's bed would have; instead, it had a fresh, sweet fragrance. The silk quilt was thin and cool, and the pillow was large and soft. Everything suited her perfectly, but she just couldn't fall asleep.

The early summer night was alternately hot and cool. Jessica felt a bit cold with the air conditioner on, and a bit hot with it off. After turning it on and off a few times, she found herself feeling a bit disheveled, with a sticky, uncomfortable sensation on her body. The bedroom had a bathroom, but she had no change of clothes. Jessica was the type who refused to wear dirty clothes to sleep, so after hesitating for a moment, she decided to ask Li Jingming for help.

"Jamie, wake up, Jamie." Jamie was Li Jingming's English name, and Jessica preferred to call him this to seem more intimate.

Li Jingming opened his eyes with a frown, quickly glanced at Jessica, then closed them again. He sighed and said, "What is it now?"

"I want to take a shower." Jessica's face was a bit red, a rosy flush spreading over her fair skin, making her look especially beautiful. However, with the dim lighting and Li Jingming's closed eyes, no one could appreciate her beauty.

"The bathroom is right there. You can shower yourself. Did you call me to help you scrub your back?" Li Jingming said gloomily. "Why wake me up just to take a shower?"

"I don't have any clean clothes to change into," Jessica said, lowering her voice and trying to be polite.

Li Jingming kept his eyes closed, thinking that women were so troublesome. "Just wear your dirty clothes for the night."

"Can you really bear to wear dirty clothes?" Jessica couldn't suppress her dissatisfaction, and the word "ya" slipped out again.

"Is this how you ask for help?" Li Jingming sat up, now fully awake. He just wanted to play "Dynasty Warriors" and vent his frustration by selecting Zhao Yun to kill a thousand enemies. "Do you expect me to magically produce clean clothes for you? It's so late, I can't go breaking into people's windows."

"OPPA, can't you go to the convenience store and buy me some underwear? I'm afraid of the dark and don't dare to go out!" Jessica steeled herself and used her ultimate skill, "Invincible Reverse Cuteness," tilting her head and looking up at him with a face that was usually cold but now full of cuteness. The more usually proud and cold a woman was, the more effective her cuteness could be, and this was the charm of the reverse.

Li Jingming hated it when beautiful women acted cute. He clenched his fists, as he always found himself unable to resist such situations. "Why didn't you use this skill earlier?"

Convenience stores sell underwear? Li Jingming, feeling a bit dazed, started to change his clothes to go out. Even though it was late and there weren't many people around, he couldn't just go out in his shorts and tank top. In his past and present life, Li Jingming had rarely been to convenience stores and didn't know they sold underwear. He still thought of them as places that sold snacks, magazines, and cigarettes.

The cold wind on the street cleared his head, and the effect of the "Invincible Reverse Cuteness" seemed to weaken. He stood on the street, frozen in place, as if possessed by Balotelli, deep in thought. This can't go on, Li Jingming told himself. If he always gave in to women's cuteness, he would be taken advantage of. He wanted to slap himself for being tricked into buying women's underwear for Jessica. Would the people at the convenience store think he was a pervert? In his helpless moment, he saw an angel, a middle-aged man in his forties.

Li Jingming walked over to the wall, where a man was lying on the ground, apparently drunk and resting by the roadside. But Li Jingming recognized him; he was one of the leaders of the Li family's security team, responsible for his own safety.

"Uncle Shengmin, pretending to be a drunk again? The mosquitoes are starting to come out, they might throw a party on you," Li Jingming said, pretending to be helpful but actually teasing him.

This middle-aged man wasn't dressed like the security personnel in movies and novels, in neat suits and long coats. It was June, and dressing like that would be both hot and make him look crazy. Uncle Shengmin wore a khaki T-shirt, beige pants, and work boots, looking like a typical drunk construction worker lying on the street. In Korea, no one would bother to check on him.

This man, Li Shengmin, had been a guard for the Li family for generations, almost watching Li Jingming grow up. He had been responsible for Li Jingming's safety since he was three years old. He was a great martial artist, skilled in Wing Chun, not Taekwondo or Hwarangdo.

"Got something to ask, kid?" Li Shengmin didn't call him "young master" but "kid," treating him like a nephew. Only someone like this could be trusted with Li Jingming's safety.

"Uncle Shengmin, can you do me a favor?" Li Jingming asked.

"Spit it out, why so hesitant today?" Li Shengmin was curious, as Li Jingming usually spoke directly to him.

"I need you to buy me some underwear at the convenience store," Li Jingming finally said.

Li Shengmin looked at Li Jingming, who seemed a bit strange today. "Why don't you buy it yourself?"

"Women's underwear," Li Jingming added.

"Spit it out!" Li Shengmin sprayed his beer, surprised. "You have this fetish, do you like wearing..."

"Ya!" Li Jingming quickly stopped him. "Not for me."

"Oh..." Li Shengmin nodded, remembering the girl Li Jingming had brought home earlier. "Our Kan has grown up. Your birthday is coming up soon, let's have a good drink when you get back."

Li Jingming was born on June 13, 1986, a Friday.

"Alright, wait here, I'll buy it and throw it to you," Li Shengmin said, sighing, and walked to the 24-hour convenience store.

Five minutes later, Li Shengmin appeared in front of Li Jingming, holding a box. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Li Jingming took the box and stuffed it into his chest. Li Shengmin waved and left without a word.

"Snap!" A smaller box fell to the ground. Li Jingming bent down and saw it was a box of Durex. He called out to Li Shengmin, who was disappearing into the night: "Uncle Shengmin, your Durex."

"No, it's your Durex!" a deep male voice replied from the darkness.

Li Jingming was stunned. What was his uncle thinking? Feeling that waste was shameful, Li Jingming picked up the box of Durex and went back home with the women's underwear. Entering the living room, he didn't see Jessica, so he quickly hid the box under the sofa.

At the bedroom door, Li Jingming knocked and then pushed it open. The light was on, and Jessica was lying on the bed, nodding off.

Jessica was scared being alone in such a large, unfamiliar house. She had waited for Li Jingming in the living room, but even though the house was well-lit, she felt something was watching her. Terrified, she ran into the bedroom, deeply regretting her decision to stay over.

When Jessica finally saw Li Jingming return, she immediately woke up and called out happily, "OPPA, you're finally back."

It felt like a wife waiting for her husband to come home, calling him "OPPA." Li Jingming was confused by Jessica's behavior. "Jessica, where were you? Who are you?"

"Ya!" Jessica was indeed strong when she wasn't scared.

"Looks like you weren't replaced," Li Jingming said, throwing the box of underwear on the bed and two pieces of clothing, a T-shirt and shorts, still in their plastic bags.

The clothes were bought by Li Jingming's mother, Kim Runshu, who had known her son would return from America and had bought some clothes for him. She had a key. Li Jingming hadn't brought his clothes back from America, and the clothes at home were too small. The accessories in the wardrobe were old, but the clothes were all new, bought by Kim Runshu in the past two days. She knew her son's tastes and bought trendy styles for young people.

"My clothes might be a bit big, but they're new. Just make do," Li Jingming said, indicating the two pieces of clothing. The T-shirt was black with a white clown on the front, its hat bent at the tip. It would look good on a girl. The pants were white, seven-eighths length, which would be loose on Jessica.

"Thank you," Jessica said.

Li Jingming nodded. "You're welcome."

Jessica looked at Li Jingming, who didn't move, and finally said, "You can go now, thank you." This guy really had no sense of the situation; she was about to take a shower, and he was still standing there.

"Uh," Li Jingming scratched his head. This was his bedroom, and he was used to waiting for her to leave so he could sleep. They ended up staring at each other for two minutes.

"Go ahead and shower, I'm going to sleep," Li Jingming said, covering his embarrassment, and left the room.

By the time Jessica took a shower, it was already 1 AM. Li Jingming had forgotten all about his plan to sneak into her room and fell asleep immediately. It had been a long and tiring day, and he didn't even have the energy to call America.

At 6:30 AM, the sunlight woke Jessica. She usually slept in and had a worse temper than Li Jingming in the morning, but today she woke up early. She found it unbelievable that she had slept in Li Jingming's house for a night. It was unlike her to take a shower and sleep in someone's house after just meeting them. Li Jingming made her feel safe, and he hadn't betrayed her trust.

Standing in front of the large mirror in the living room, she smiled at her reflection in Li Jingming's clothes. The oversized T-shirt reached her knees, and the seven-eighths length pants were loose on her. With a few accessories, she looked like a hip-hop girl. She made a "I love you" gesture (the "Very Six Plus One" gesture) to her reflection. She had washed her clothes, which had been soaking overnight, and would dry them in the dryer. She also washed Li Jingming's dirty clothes, something she had never done before. If Krystal saw her sister washing clothes, especially for someone else, she would scream that a monster had possessed her. At home, Jessica never touched water and always left her clothes in a pile for her mother to wash.

Li Jingming was still sleeping on the sofa. Jessica knelt beside it, staring at his face, thinking how handsome he was. Li Jingming's breathing was deep and steady, and the "Mixuan Gong" was automatically circulating, giving his face a serene and peaceful look, like a fish in water or a bird in the air. He seemed to be in perfect harmony with his environment. Jessica stared at him, the room quiet, even her heartbeat was clear.

After watching for a while and seeing that Li Jingming wasn't waking up, Jessica decided to do something to thank him for letting her stay and buying her underwear in the middle of the night. She decided to make a sandwich for breakfast. The only thing she could make without killing someone was a sandwich. She had never thought about learning to cook, but this was the first time she felt it might be necessary.

Jessica opened the fridge and started checking the contents. There were many bottles, some with English labels, some with Korean, and some with Chinese and French, which she couldn't read. She opened each one, tasted them with her finger, and took out the ones she thought tasted good.

Jessica performed exceptionally well today, frying an egg without burning or breaking it, feeling a small sense of accomplishment. "Aha!" She took out the lettuce, ready-to-eat ham, and toast from the fridge and started making the sandwich. She tasted the sauces, found one that tasted good, and added a bit. Another one tasted good too, and she added a bit of the one with the French label, even though she couldn't read it.

"Chop, chop," Jessica almost cut her hand while slicing the toast, as she heard the sound of a key turning in the lock.