Tell Me That You Like It Chapter 10.2 - Self-consciousness

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

 

It was close to 40 minutes from Toledo to Consuegra.

Consuegra was the background where Don Quixote, who was traveling with Sancho, mistook a windmill for a giant and fought.

 

It was a small town with nothing special to see other than the windmill on the hill, but the scenery overlooking the village from the top of the hill and the windmill were lonely and beautiful.

 

The windmill with a pointed cone-shaped roof on a white column was huge. Seeing the huge wings move by themselves in the wind, they thought Don Quixote might have mistaken that size and movement for a giant.

 

“Shall we have coffee before going to Seville?”

 

“Good.”

 

The two entered a cafe below the village. After ordering an espresso and Americano with ice, Lucino left for a moment to find the restroom.

 

Anna looked inside the cafe, looking at the bright sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling window. The noise made by some customers was all in Spanish. It seemed like they were probably villagers living here.

 

As she was staring blankly at the orange juice machine across the bar, wondering if oranges were put into that machine and then squeezed and sold right away, a man as tall as a mulberry tree approached Anna.

 

The man looked at Anna with a hazy look, speaking in incomprehensible Spanish. Anna, sitting in a chair, looked at him with a curious look.

 

Then the man suddenly spat on his palm and extended his hand as if to shake Anna’s hand.

 

What the hell is this?

 

It was an absurd act. Anna sat motionless at the incomprehensible act. The sunshine in the cafe was bright and warm, but everyone inside was only talking about their own stories.

 

For a moment, Anna fell into the uneasy illusion that she and this strange man were alone in her cafe.

 

She was scared. There are so many people, why is there no one… They don’t care, do they? Even the cafe owner over the bar didn’t care about them.

 

It was then.

 

Lucino approached the man with a fierce tone, speaking not English but Spanish. Judging by his momentum, voice intonation, and facial expression, Lucino was angry.

 

Like a fire-breathing dinosaur, Lucino seemed to be hurling harsh abuses at a man.

 

Lucino, who was taller and much bigger than this strange man, walked up to the man, grabbed him by the collar, and pushed him back forcefully.

 

Then the man, as thin as a rolling pin, stumbled and fell. Lucino spat between the legs of the man who fell down.

 

The man, pushed by the harsh force, took a step backwards and ran out of the cafe without even looking back.

 

There was a dispute, but the people in the cafe only glanced at them and did not report them to the police. They just looked at it with interest.

 

Anna was very surprised by what happened so quickly. And then she realized what was going on.

 

Although she couldn’t understand, the man made sexually harassing comments to her. The act of spitting on her palm and shaking her hand seemed to indicate that she was selling her body.

 

Even before she felt humiliated, Lucino cleaned up the situation and Anna missed the timing to get angry.

 

As he turned around, there was a lingering anger on his face.

 

“Anna, are you all right? He didn’t touch you, did he?”

 

He grabbed Anna by her forearms and looked her up and down. He just left for a moment to go to the bathroom when the naughty asshole approached her.

 

“Yes. I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

 

He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

 

“I didn’t mean to leave your side.

 

“No. I knew Lucino would be here soon. I’m fine.”

 

Anna realized once again. No one tried to protect her from her threats. Rather, her younger brother slapped her for her money, and her parents did not protect Anna in that situation.

 

Until now she had never had anyone like Lucino. There was no one willing to protect her.

 

As she realized it, a sharp pain pierced her heart like a blade cutting through her. At the same time, her heart filled with joy as Lucino hugged her tightly and patted her.

 

It wasn’t until he gave her a hug that she realized she was shaking.

 

She was afraid of unexpected threats in unfamiliar places and unfamiliar environments. Anna began to cry in his arms. The man’s voice reassuring her that everything was okay and that she was safe now was so sweet that she cried.

 

She cried because she didn’t know who would protect her like this when she returned to Korea, and she didn’t want to go back to that lonely place even though it was her country. She shed tears of both relief and pain endlessly.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Why are you sorry?”

 

“I think time was delayed because I cried.”

 

“Anna, that’s not something to apologize for.”

 

“Then?”

 

“You have to say ‘thank you for waiting.’”

 

“I like you too, Lucino.”

 

Instead of saying thank you, Anna told him she liked him. Then he willingly kissed her. It was a sweet kiss that tasted like tears.

 

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

 

The two arrived in Seville after a long journey of five hours from Consuegra, a windmill village. It took longer because they had to rest at the rest area and eat meals in the middle.

 

After several days of intense sex and the aftermath of today’s incident in Consuegra, Anna slept in the car all the way to Seville. Lucino just drove quietly without even turning on the radio for Anna, who was asleep.

 

The place he reserved in Seville was a cozy home with a garden and kitchen. He wanted to personally cook food for Anna and spend comfortable time alone with her in a more private space than a hotel.

 

Anna was deeply asleep and did not wake up when they arrived. Parking his car in the garage, he carefully picked Anna up and carried her into the house. He gently laid her down on the bed and gently brushed her forehead as she fell asleep.

 

Anna, who was sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed, looked much younger than her age, and strangely enough, his heart ached.

 

He left a note saying in big letters that he would go to the supermarket, and only after checking the lock on the house two or three times did he leave.

 

Anna didn’t wake up even though he went to the grocery store that was open until late at night. He organized the groceries and bottled water he bought in the refrigerator and made tomato ragu sauce in the kitchen while waiting for her to wake up.

 

If you have sauce, you can boil pasta and put it on it, or you can quickly make risotto with rice, so he boiled Ragu sauce carefully.

 

It was almost boiling down, but he heard the sound of steps. Anna, who was sleeping in the bedroom over there, finally woke up.

 

“Did you sleep well?”

 

He put down the spatula and quickly approached Anna and hugged her. He placed a light kiss on her plump lips and inhaled her scent. When she woke up from a deep sleep, the scent of her flowers was wafting out.

 

“Yes.”

 

She now accepted the kiss with familiarity.

 

At first, her body was stiff  as if she was unfamiliar with him kissing lightly all the time, but now she knew how to embrace the kiss deeply with her arms wrapped around his neck.

 

A moaning sound came from deep inside her lips as he gently sucked her slick tongue. He hugged her tightly and caressed her whole body. The kiss, which was supposed to be light, was getting deeper and deeper.

 

Then a rumble knocked Lucino off her lips.

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

“Yeah. What’s this smell? I think it’s going to be so good.”

 

When he reserved this house, he also showed it to Anna in advance, so even though Anna had just woken up, she didn’t feel unfamiliar with the house.

 

“Tomato ragu sauce. Should we have pasta or risotto for dinner?”

 

“Let’s do it quickly.”

 

“You must be very hungry. I think pasta will be done faster.”

 

“It looks so delicious. Is there anything I can do?”

 

“There is.”

 

“What is it? I live alone, so I can help with this and that well.”

 

Then his eyes narrowed strangely. Anna had never mentioned her family before. Of course he was curious too. But maybe she didn’t have time to talk.

 

“Anna, all you have to do is change your clothes comfortably, wash your hands and sit here in a chair.”

 

He meant to get ready to eat.

 

Her eyes, which were full of enthusiasm, were surprised for a moment. She began to laugh.

 

“Ah, Lucino is really, really funny.”

 

“That’s my happiness, to make you laugh.”

 

“I think Lucino is good at talking nonsense.”

 

“I will continue to do so. If only it could make you laugh. The suitcase is in the bedroom.”

 

“Okay.”

 

With fast steps she disappeared into her bedroom. He quickly turned up his firepower to the maximum and placed a pot of water on the fire. It was a pot for boiling pasta noodles.

 

After a hearty dinner, the two went out to the garden. Seville, located in southern Spain, felt much warmer than Madrid, perhaps because of its location. It wasn’t that cold even if she only wore a thin jumper.

 

Sitting on a beach chair in the garden, she looked at the sky as if stars were pouring down. With only one chair, Anna lay superimposed on Lucino’s body.

 

“It’s good to have only one chair.”

 

He hugged Anna lying on top of him and whispered. Anna giggled and wriggled over because of Lucino playing a side-tickling prank.

 

It wasn’t until the prank ended that the conversation could continue.

 

“Seoul is a big city, so it’s hard to see stars like this because the air is bad.”

 

“I think it would be a nice place, though.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Anna, because that’s where you live.”

 

“I think Rome, where Lucino lives, would be a nice place.”

 

“Really? Then come to Rome during your next vacation.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The weight of the word ‘come to Italy,’ which was considered lip service, was different now. Anna wanted to go to Rome. She wanted to be with Lucino. Anywhere he was would be great.

 

“I live with my family in Rome.”

 

The place where he lived was a mansion. Crowded with his family. He would become independent when he got married, but there was no need to live separately as he was single.

 

“Then when I go to Rome, I won’t be able to sleep at Lucino’s house.”

 

“Why? You can come to my house as much as you want. There are plenty of rooms where you can sleep.”

 

“But wouldn’t your family feel uncomfortable?”

 

“I don’t care. You can go to the hotel if you are uncomfortable. Anna, you said you were living alone. Does your family live somewhere other than Seoul?”

 

Suddenly, she was speechless.

 

Lucino, who said he lived with his family, looked very harmonious. It was smeared with tender consideration that he was loved and raised well.

 

It was shabby to talk about her family in front of such a man. She didn’t want sympathy. She’d rather…

 

“They died in an accident.”

 

In a sense, it was not wrong because she thought they were dead. If it wasn’t for the accident, which tore her eardrum, Anna wouldn’t have thought her family died in her heart.

 

“Oh, my… Anna. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

 

“It’s fine. Now, it’s really fine. I’m fine.”

 

Anna said numbly, feeling a tingling in her chest.

 

“More than that, Lucino. Tomorrow, we’re going to see the cathedral and see Alcazar next door, right? Watch flamenco in the evening.”

 

She tried to erase her bitter thoughts quickly. Anna was with Lucino in Seville, Spain, not Korea now. When she immersed herself in reality, her painful sensations would quickly disappear.

 

“Yes. Is there anything else you want to do?”

 

“Um, if there is a soccer game, can I buy tickets?”

 

“Did you want to see the La Liga game? Do you like soccer?”

 

La Liga meant the first division of Spanish professional soccer. 

 

“Since I came this far. I don’t really like soccer, but I wanted to watch it if the schedule allowed.”

 

“Alright. I’ll find out.”

 

The two got up from the bench. He lifted Anna up and hugged her like he always did. She squealed at first, but then burst into laughter.

 

“I know how to walk, too.”

 

“I know, but don’t let that down, and try harder in bed when you’re with me.”

 

“What, really?”

 

“That’s why you like it more.”

 

Anna had nothing to say in shame because the confident words were right.

 

She didn’t know that when she came on this trip, she would discover another side of herself. She had lived a plain life all her life and thought she was not interested in men, but she simply had never had an opportunity to be interested.

 

She suddenly realized.

 

Her life was an irony. She said that if she had traveled to Spain as originally planned, she would not have met Lucino, but thanks to the postponement of her trip, she was able to meet him.

 

Anna said as she entered the house cradled by him.

 

“Actually, I was planning to come last year, but something came up, so I came this time.”

 

“Really? But we would have met.”

 

“Lucino, did you plan to come to Spain last year?”

 

“No. But somehow I feel like we might have met somehow. I’m sure I had to go to Korea or something. I think it’s fate that I met you.”

 

He said romantically as he sat her down on the long sofa in her living room. He squatted down in front of Anna, faced her eye level, and kissed her.

 

“Do you think it’s fate that we met?”

 

“You flew for more than ten hours and met me. If this isn’t fate, what is it?”

 

He lightly rubbed her lips several times like a bird pecking.

 

“I think I was wrong, Anna, no matter how much I think about it.”

 

“What?”

 

“You said you were lucky, but I think I’m the lucky one. Because I met you.”

 

His bright blue eyes were sparkling beautifully, as if filled with starlight. Those were the eyes of a man enamored with the woman in front of him. Lucino was always looking at her with those eyes.

 

But Anna didn’t know how deep her heart was, how much she was into him. A part of her heart was weighed down with anxiety because if she went back, she might not be able to see these eyes anymore.