Page 20 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

I smelt the rosemary and mint before I saw the many bushes of both lining the far wall, trellised by thousands of tiny, twinkling lights.

“Wow,” I breathed, “pretty.”

“Yes,” Jihoon replied, but he wasn’t looking at the patio arrangements. I blushed under his stare.

I sniffed suddenly, smelling cigarette smoke. Looking to my right I saw a couple sitting under a patio warmer, their clouds of smoke puffing into the air. They talked too low for me to hear, and I didn’t think they’d seen us yet. I also couldn’t tell if they were from our party or not.

“Over here,” I whispered, and without thinking I clenched my fingers in his t-shirt and directed us both to a spot along the wall farther away from the door and the couple.

There was a lone padded rattan sofa here, but no further furniture. It was clear this was not part of the patio’s main area, which suited me fine, even though it was dark .

Once I was sure we hadn’t been spotted, I looked back around to see Jihoon looking down at where my hand was still fisted in his t-shirt. Embarrassed, I dropped my hand.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

He looked down at me, dark eyes shining in the lights reflected off the glass buildings all around us, expression unfathomable.

“Should we sit?” I motioned to the sofa beside us. He gestured that I sit first, so I sat down and crossed my legs. Jihoon sat beside me and folded his hands in his lap. He didn’t look at me, his eyes were focused on the view spread out in front of us.

“You must be tired,” I commented, “it’s been a long week.”

He pursed his lips as he cocked his head to the side, “Yes, but I’m used to it so it’s not been bad.”

“Have you been able to do anything fun while you’ve been here?”

At this, he looks at me. “I got to meet you.” My blush could have acted as one of the patio heaters, but I wasn’t sure he could see it, tucked away as we were.

“I’m not sure I count,” I mumbled, fiddling with my bangle.

“I think you do.” He nodded as he said this and I beamed at him.

“Can I ask you something?” The frown on his face made me pause, even though I thought I knew what he was going to ask.

“Anything,” I said quietly.

“Are you a fan?” So straightforward, but then what would be the point of beating around the bush?

I inhaled deeply. “Would it matter?”

Jihoon tugged on his earlobe and looked back over towards the street, his earrings glinting. “I want to say no, but I think it does.”

I nodded, looking down at my fingers

“I've been a fan for a couple years, although I’m not sure I’m at ‘Viber’ level,” I chuckled quietly, remembering the conversation Becka and I had had about this very subject.

Jihoon hummed. “Have you been to a concert?”

“No,” I answered honestly, “last time you toured the UK, I couldn’t get tickets.”

He tutted at me, “Next time, I’ll get you tickets, don’t worry. ”

My heart stuttered in a way that reminded me who I was sitting next to. The giddy little flutter made me feel guilty, which in turn reassured me that his idolness was not the reason my breath caught in my throat to see the way he looked up at me from under his eyelashes.

I laughed, the tension rolling up my throat to bubble out in a burst of laughter that had me slapping my hand over my mouth.

Jihoon smirked at me, and I leaned my head back against the wall as relief made my whole-body tingle.

I was also woman enough to acknowledge I was buzzed from all the times the efficient servers had re-filled my wine glass.

“I was so afraid you were going to tell me to get lost,” I admitted.

He frowned and I quickly explained, “I thought you’d tell me you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

His eyes widened and his lips made a silent ‘o’ before he nodded, “Normally, it is hard to be friends with fans, they want you to perform all the time, to be the stage person, but you don’t make me feel like that.”

Before I could stop myself, hell before the thought even crossed my mind, my mouth opened and out fell, “Friends?”

Jihoon’s eyes shot to mine before quickly flicking away. He huffed a quiet laugh. “More?” he said, so quietly I leaned forward, but he still didn’t look at me, just fiddled with his thumb ring.

I felt like we were teetering on the edge of some precipice, still dancing around each other. There were so many reasons to hold back. A clean break, like Becka had said. I should stay away from him; I shouldn’t even entertain the idea of him. He was off limits and so far out of my league…

I opened my mouth to say something ? what I don’t know because at that moment, my phone chimed with several insistent chirps.

Frowning, I pulled it out of my pocket and slid my finger up the screen to unlock it.

“Ah shhii…” I hissed quietly, reading the multiple messages from Becka.

Becka

Where the fk are you?

[Sent 21:57]

Becka

Okay but srsly, where are you?

[Sent 21:58]

Becka

you’re not in the bathroom, where R U?

[Sent 22:01]

Becka

C says JH isn’t here either R U WITH THE IDOL?

[Sent 22:02]

Becka

Babes, people are starting to look for him, so if you’re with him, SCATTER!

[Sent 22:03]

“Fuck,” I muttered, looking around to see if people were indeed starting a search party.

“What’s wrong?” Jihoon asked, following my gaze.

“Becka says people are looking for you.”

“Fuck,” he sighed, and I burst out laughing.

“What?” he asked, frowning at me as I tried to stifle my giggles, my happy buzz not dampened by the thought of the drunk staff of Pisces searching for the man sitting next to me.

“You’re not supposed to say, ‘fuck’,” I giggled.

“You said ‘fuck’,” he protested.

“I’m not an idol,” I stage-whispered, holding a hand to my mouth.

To my delight, he just rolled his eyes and stood up.

“Come,” he said, and he held out a hand to me.

Without hesitation, I put my hand in his larger one and allowed him to pull me to my feet.

I wobbled slightly in my heels, but his firm grip on my hand held me steady as we stood face to face once more .

Not laughing anymore, I said, “We better go back in.” He nodded, and I turned to walk away towards the door.

I’d taken one single step past the bench when Jihoon grabbed my wrist, turning me around so fast that I stumbled back into his chest. His other hand found my waist as he firmly guided me backward until my back hit the wall.

He released my hand to put his above my head, holding me gently as he caged me in.

Panting suddenly, I looked up at him, his eyes dark but his face gentle.

“Tell me ‘no’,” he whispered. I said nothing, my chest heaving above my pounding heart.

His head lowered until his hair tickled the side of my face. “Tell me to stop,” his voice was almost a whine as he ran his nose softly down my cheek.

“No.” My voice was barely a breath, my thoughts scattered.

“No?” He pressed his mouth to the sensitive spot just under my ear and I shuddered, heat coiling low in my belly, tension thrumming through me like a struck chord.

“Don’t stop,” I said firmer this time, then gasping as his hand moved upwards from my waist, tracing the contour of my side and feathering up to my shoulder.

“Yes?” he whispered against my cheek, the heat of his body burning me through the thin fabric of my clothes.

“Yes.” The word was barely out of my mouth before his hand trailed up my neck, his thumb tipping my chin up to meet his mouth as he pressed his lips to mine.

I groaned into his mouth as the touch ignited something inside me.

His lips were soft as they moved against mine, insistent and hungry and I met him with my own insistence, parting my lips slightly.

He tilted my head back further, deepening the kiss, pushing me more firmly into the wall.

His body was hard against me, all the firmness of his body pushing into the softness of mine.

He tasted of whiskey and warmth, his tongue teasing along my bottom lip. It was like I was falling into him. My head swam with the intensity of the need I felt, and I had to physically restrain myself from pawing at him.

When he finally pulled back, he was panting as he leaned his forehead against mine and I realised I was tightly clutching the front of his t-shirt in my fists. I let go, embarrassed and he grinned. He gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as I looked up at him, still breathing heavily.

“I have a free day tomorrow and I want to spend it with you. Will you come?” he said softly, not making any effort to move away from me, seemingly quite comfortable with his hand still resting on the wall above my head.

Not even taking the time to think it through, I nodded and said, “yes.”

Jihoon smiled and kissed the tip of my nose, the action so sweet and unexpected that I felt my eyes prick but I blinked away the sensation as I looked over his shoulder towards the door that led back into the restaurant.

“We should go before someone comes looking for you.”

Jihoon sighed, but didn't refute the idea.

His hand fell away from the wall, and he took a step back.

I immediately missed the warmth of his body as a chill breezed over my skin, making me shudder and I unconsciously swayed towards him.

I wished he could put his arm around my shoulder, but heading back into the party like that would be ill advised.

I silently sighed to myself, feeling a confusing mix of elation and melancholy.

We decided it would be best if we went in separately, so Jihoon went in first, the idea being that everyone would be focused on him so that when I went back to my table, no one would notice.

While waiting a couple of minutes to give Jihoon time, I went over to the balcony to look out over the block.

Emporia was in a trendy, downtown spot surrounded by other bustling nightlife, but across the street was a small park that seemed out of place surrounded by concrete, thumping music and neon lights.

It wasn’t big, just a handful of trees in a grassy square with a meandering path lit by quaint streetlights.

I watched for a few minutes, seeing a couple strolling through, hand-in-hand, completely unaffected by the idea that someone might see them.

I sighed and turned away, heading back inside.

The rest of the night was a blur of noise, loud talking and stolen glances and before long, the restaurant was closing, and we were being herded out .

Looking down at my phone I saw it was just past 2;00am. It was amazing we hadn’t been kicked out hours ago, but then I imagine that’s what being a VIP got you.

Most of Pisces was amassed on the sidewalk, laughing raucously and calling rides and so almost no one noticed when a black SUV pulled up to the kerbside and Jihoon and his team piled in.

I was watching though, I saw him scan the crowd once, twice before his eyes found mine. He smiled and I waved back.

Becka was quiet next to me, practically falling asleep standing up and when our Uber turned up, the driver got out and shouted our names over the hubbub of the crowd, I had to pull her along and shove her in the backseat where she proceeded to lean her head back on the seat and fall asleep.

“Good night?” The driver asked amiably.

“The best,” I replied, looking out of the window as the lights sped past, smiling the whole way home.