Page 16 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

Not so long ago, I’d been sitting cross-legged on my single bed in a cramped flat that would be generous to call a ‘studio,’ watching GVibes’ practice videos on YouTube. Now, I’d just served coffee to one of them, while the other members chatted casually on a video call.

This was not normal life.

And as fun as it was, the thought nagged at me: how long did I really want this life?

A life where I play-pretended to have a career in the music industry but mostly fetched, carried, and occasionally brushed shoulders with celebrities.

Sure, it made for a great story, but… did I want my life to be just that ? a story to tell?

I had just gotten my jacket out when I heard the distant thud of a door closing, followed by a procession of people walking down the corridor. A few moments later and the group from the conference room filed past the Ops corridor and stopped at the elevator, still talking amongst themselves.

Except for Jihoon. He was staring down at the phone in his hand.

A moment later, my own phone chimed in my pocket and Jihoon looked up and saw me standing a few meters away.

He grinned, holding his phone up in greeting.

I glanced at my phone screen and saw his name in the notification box.

I grinned back at him, holding my own phone back up in silent acknowledgment.

Just then, the doors to the elevator opened and everyone started piling on, but Jihoon held back, saying something to Youngsoo and waving him on.

Only once Youngsoo had boarded the elevator did Jihoon turn back to me and walk towards me.

Over his shoulder I spied Youngsoo’s face.

His eyebrows were pinched together; his lips a thin line.

Worried, if I had to guess. I deliberately did not look at Trevor Kyle.

“Hi!” Jihoon breathed, as if he’d jogged to me.

“Hi,” I replied, ducking my head, suddenly shy.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he said, “I’m glad I got to see you. ”

“Oh?” I looked back up at him and I was surprised to see he was frowning down at me, the expression making the scar through his eyebrow more pronounced than it usually was.

“I wanted to know if you were okay.” Jihoon began fiddling with the ring on his thumb, sliding it up and down, his eyes darting away like he found the question difficult. “When you came at lunch, I saw the way the producer looked at you. It was not appropriate, and you looked upset.”

Whatever I had expected Jihoon to say, this wasn’t it. His words hit me like hailstones, and I flinched, looking down at the buttons on his shirt.

I licked my lips before I answered, “It’s not a big deal. He’s a pig, everyone knows it.”

“Should I do-” he began, but I interrupted before he could say more.

“No, please. It’s not a big deal. He didn’t even know I existed before last week. I just need to avoid him.” I forced a smile onto my face and looked up to meet his eyes. His mouth was pinched, but he nodded.

“I wanted to talk to you about something else, as well,” he said, shuffling his feet and looking down the corridor, but it was still empty. I nodded to show I was listening.

“Tomorrow is the last day I will be here. We’re nearly done with recording, and I fly home on Thursday.” His eyes dropped before flicking back up to meet mine.

“Oh,” I exhaled. I’d known it was coming; I'd even known it would be soon, but hearing it made it real and put an end-date on this strange, fairytale bubble that the past week had been. I suddenly felt as though my hands had lead weights attached to them and it was an effort to not slump.

“Everyone is going to a celebration dinner tomorrow, after we’re done. Will you come?”

His question took me by surprise. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did and for a moment, all I could do was blink up at him. Finally, I spoke.

“Um, I’m not sure I’d be allowed to go…” I trailed off, a bit embarrassed.

“You will be allowed because I invited you,” he said firmly, smiling now, finally.

Seeing that look on his face, my breath caught in my throat and the butterflies were let loose anew in my stomach.

The weights around my wrists suddenly disappearing and I grinned at him, broadly and without restraint .

“Is that a yes?” he asked, his own smile widening. I nodded enthusiastically and he stepped towards me, just a slight movement, but enough to bring him close enough that I could pick out the flecks of amber in his eyes.

I suddenly became very aware of my breathing; the way my chest expanded with each breath, the way the air felt on my moistened lips as they parted on an inhale, and as I looked up into his eyes, I drew my bottom lip into my mouth, tugging on it lightly with my teeth, feeling some type of way.

Fascinated, I watched the way his eyes darkened. It made me feel loose-limbed, fluid in a way and as my head tilted slightly to the side, his lips parted, ever so slightly.

“Ky?” The voice calling from the end of the corridor snapped me out of whatever daze I’d just fallen into and my head turned in that direction to see Becka standing there, bag over her shoulder and eyes narrowed, mouth pinched unhappily. Uh oh.

Jihoon followed my gaze and cleared his throat.

“I should go,” he said quietly, but before he turned, he brushed his hand against mine, so slightly and so briefly that you could have played it off as an accident.

But he met my eyes as he did so, and I knew it was no accident.

My heart skipped a beat as tingles ran over my hand.

I had to pinch my lips together to suppress the silly grin I knew would spread across my face. Oh yeah. I was crushing, hard.

Once he’d walked a few steps away, I turned back around to face Jeremy’s office ? blessedly vacant ? and took a few moments to compose myself. Behind me, I heard him mutter a greeting to Becka and then the tell-tale sound of the staircase door opening, and then closing.

I’d just turned back around when Becka marched up to me, grabbing me firmly by the same hand that Jihoon had just touched. She was not as gentle.

“What the fuck was that, and don’t say ‘nothing’,” she warned, eyes flashing as I’d opened my mouth to do just that.

“Can we at least wait until we get home?” I hissed, as several people from her office strolled by, chatting noisily and oblivious to the drama mere meters away.

Becka looked over to where they now stood, waiting for the elevator and gave me a terse nod in reply.

She barely spoke to me the whole way home.

The silence gave me time and space in my own head that I hadn’t necessarily welcomed.

I knew what Becka would say and if I was really honest with myself…

I didn’t think I disagreed. I mean, what the hell was I doing?

It’s one thing to flirt with a handsome celebrity – when you’re around them so often, these things happen.

Pretty much everyone at Pisces had ‘a story,’ that was practically a rite of passage in this job.

This felt different; like I was toeing the line of something I wasn’t supposed to. Something reckless.

I just couldn’t seem to help myself. The more I saw of him – the person he was behind the choreographed image of stages, and cameras ? the more I wanted to know him.

It was a dangerous game I played; I knew that.

But… I think I would regret it more if I didn’t at least see where this might lead, even if all I came out of it with was a good memory.