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"What? You have tattoos?!" Emma exclaimed, her eyes going wide with absolute shock and excitement.
She bounced on the leather seat of the SUV. "Show me, show me, show me all of them!"
Michael let out a deep, rumbling laugh. "I would have to take my shirt off for that, Emma,"
Instead of taking his shirt off, he reached for the cuffs of his dark button-down shirt.
He slowly unbuttoned them and rolled the sleeves up past his elbows, exposing his forearms.
Emma gasped softly.
Wrapping around his strong forearms were stunning, dark ink tattoos.
"So cool," she whispered, tracing the air just above his skin. "They are so intricate. Is that a dragon?"
"Yeah," Michael smiled gently, turning his arm so she could see the scales and the beautiful waves crashing around the mythical creature.
"I stayed in Japan for eight months a few years ago. I got these from a traditional Japanese artist in Tokyo. It took dozens of hours, but the detail is incredible."
Emma was completely impressed.
She leaned in, looking closely at the incredibly detailed artwork, her fingers hovering just inches from his skin.
Michael just kept smiling at her, completely captivated by her curiosity.
"Speaking of cool things," Michael said, shifting the topic. "I heard you got a role in a massive multistarrer movie?"
Emma's blue eyes instantly twinkled with excitement.
She sat back up, practically vibrating with energy. "Yes! I got cast in the live-action *Minecraft* movie! It is going to be insane, Michael. It's this huge, blocky world but brought into real life. I play this character who is a master crafter and explorer. She's super quirky, wears this heavy leather armor, and carries around a pixelated diamond sword. The whole plot is about our group of misfits getting sucked into the Overworld, and I'm the one who has to figure out how to build the portal to get us back home while fighting off Creepers and dodging the Ender Dragon. We are going to have these massive practical sets and green screens-"
Michael raised an eyebrow, interrupting her with a highly amused look. "Emma, didn't you sign a massive NDA for a project that big?"
Emma just waved her hand in the air carefreely. "It's you. I don't care about NDAs when it comes to you."
Michael couldn't help it.
He started chuckling, his chest vibrating with warmth. He reached out, pulled her close to his side, and gently took her hand, intertwining his long fingers perfectly with hers.
Emma, being an absolute photo addict, immediately gasped. "Oh, hold still!"
She used her free hand to pull her phone out of her pocket, opening the camera. She quickly snapped a beautifully aesthetic photo of their intertwined hands resting on Michael's dark jeans.
Seeing her cute, bubbly, and unapologetically happy personality, Michael felt his heart completely melt.
He was hopelessly in love with her.
But then, a thought popped into his mind.
He looked down at her. "Emma... why were you so bold today?"
Emma looked up at him, blinking innocently.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Michael explained, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, "you are always so nervous about these things. Whenever we text, you take ten minutes to type a reply because you're overthinking it. When we call, you get shy if I flirt with you even a little bit. But today, you sneaked into my car, trapped me, and practically demanded me to be your boyfriend. Where did that come from?"
Emma let out a long, heavy sigh.
She scooted even closer to him, resting her head comfortably against his broad chest. "Let me tell you about last night..."
________________________________________
The scene shifted to a messy hotel room.
Emma and Asha were sprawled out on Asha's large bed, surrounded by popcorn bowls, watching a romantic comedy on the TV and talking about completely random things.
Suddenly, Asha muted the TV.
She rolled over onto her stomach and looked at Emma with a very serious expression. "Does Michael actually *like* like you, Emma?"
Emma paused with a handful of popcorn halfway to her mouth.
She fell into deep thought for a moment before nodding. "I'm certain he does."
"Are you?" Asha challenged, raising an eyebrow. "You know, people like Michael-guys who have that insane aura, who look ridiculously cool even when doing a bad thing like smoking a cigar, they have a very high chance of having a dozen girls moving around them at all times. He's a millionaire author, Em."
Emma started to panic a little, trying to justify things in her own head.
"No," she thought. "Michael told me that day in the car that I was his first kiss. That means there are no girls near him, right? But... look at that face! How is it possible he doesn't have models throwing themselves at him?"
Asha, seeing Emma's internal crisis, got a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You are certain he likes you a lot, right?"
Emma nodded firmly.
"And you like him a lot too, right?"
Emma nodded again, her cheeks turning pink.
"Then what is stopping you?!" Asha threw her hands up. "Make it official!"
"But..." Emma mumbled in a low, insecure voice, picking at the blanket. "What if I read the signs wrong? What if I ask him, and he rejects me?"
WHACK.
Asha grabbed a heavy hotel pillow and threw it directly into Emma's face.
"Idiot!" Asha groaned loudly. "He literally told you that *The Fault in Our Stars* is inspired by you, right?"
Emma peeked out from behind the pillow and nodded.
"Then it is a given!" Asha practically shouted. "It is the most romantic, heartbreaking book of the decade! He wrote a masterpiece for you! Why are you overthinking it?! Tomorrow, you are going to meet him at the airport, and you are going to talk to him before he even gets to the hotel."
Fired up by Asha's speech, Emma felt a sudden surge of pure determination.
She grabbed her phone and immediately opened Evans's contact.
Emma: Evans, I need a massive favor.
Evans: Anything for the Ms. Myers. What do you need?
Emma:I need to see Michael at the airport tomorrow. Before the interview, before the hotel. Can you sneak me into his car?
Evans:Say no more. Be at the VIP garage, Bay 4. Black SUV.
Emma:Thank you!! You are the best!
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Inside the quiet, moving SUV, Michael threw his head back and started laughing heartily at the story.
Emma, still resting on his chest, sat up and lightly smacked his arm, feigning anger.
Her cheeks were totally flushed. "It's not funny! I was terrified!"
"You really thought I would reject you?" Michael asked, looking at her with a mixture of amusement and deep affection. "Emma, I have had these helpless, pathetic puppy-dog eyes for you since the day we met. Anyone with eyes could see I was entirely obsessed with you."
"Me too!" Emma argued playfully, pouting her lips. "But you can't be too sure about these things! You never made a move just flirted, so I had to take matters into my own hands!"
Michael smiled softly, lifting her intertwined hand to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "Well, I am very glad you did."
________________________________________________________________________________
In a fully white room.
"Ugh...I mean good for him but...ugh. At least say 'Saranghaeyo' or at least have the song 'you are mine~'. K-drama is still better than this." Said the man who gave Michael his powers.