Page 38 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

I t took me longer than necessary to dress in the pair of shorts and t-shirt I’d found in my bag, owing to the extra few minutes I’d needed to come back down from the dangerous ledge Jihoon had placed me on.

I walked back downstairs, stopping at my work backpack, still by the front door, where I’d dropped it hours ago.

I pulled my phone out and shoved it in my pocket before continuing on to the living room, where I found Jihoon.

He was sprawled out on the massive sofa, flipping through channels.

There was something oddly sexy about the way he was spread out.

That, or my hormones were in a constant state of arousal.

Honestly, probably both of those things were true.

“Hi,” I said shyly, padding over to him when he smiled and patted the seat next to him.

I settled, tucking my feet under me and watched as he fiddled with the TV remote.

“What are we watching?” I asked, eventually.

“I don’t mind,” he admitted with a shrug, and handed me the remote. “You pick.”

“Alright.” I took the remote from him and, seeing it was a smart TV, pressed the button for Netflix and signed myself in .

“But you have to pick what type of movie,” I countered. “Funny, romance, horror, or action?”

Jihoon thought about it for a moment, frowning in a way that made me want to run a finger between his brows.

“Horror. Then you can hold me when you get scared.” He grinned at me lasciviously, making me laugh.

“Alright, but I warn you, I have a strong disposition, I’m not easily scared.” I began to flick through the available scary movies, stopping every now and then to ask his opinion until we settled on Train to Busan. I knew of it, but I’d not gotten round to watching it.

We'd only just finished the opening credits when a loud knock at the front door startled me so badly that Jihoon’s prediction came true, as I practically threw myself at him.

He laughed, and said, “I ordered pizza, I forgot to say.”

I grumbled and peeled myself off him as he rose to his feet and headed for the door. I paused the film and pulled out my phone. I immediately saw several messages from Becka, so I swiped up to read them.

Becka

Have u let go of him yet? lol

[Sent 18:14pm]

Becka

Have u found the new clothes I bought 4 u yet, or don’t u need them? heehee

[Sent 20:38pm]

Becka

Helllloooooo o

[Sent 20:09pm]

Becka

SIS!!! I WILL call the idol if I have 2!

[Sent 21:02pm]

That last text was sent just ten minutes ago, but before I could tap out a reply, I heard a burst of music from the foyer.

Jihoon walked back into the room holding a flat pizza box and two smaller box containers.

He hurriedly set the load on the wide coffee table in front of the sofa before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

I had a feeling I knew who it was, based on the way his eyebrows rose as he looked at the screen before holding the phone up to his ear.

“Hello?”

He was quiet for a second, listening to the other person, his eyebrows getting progressively higher and higher up his forehead, until he looked at me with an expression that was almost… alarmed?

“It’s for you,” he said, holding the phone out to me.

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the name on the screen and, trying not to giggle, I held the phone to my ear as Jihoon discreetly backed out of the room.

“BISH YOU BETTER BE DEAD, IT’S BEEN HOURS!”

“Hello to you too,” I pinched my lips together to ensure absolutely no mirth escaped.

“Excuse me! I’ve been literally messaging you for hours! I drop you to a strange house to see a guy you BARELY know, against my best judgment, I might add, and I can’t even get a reply? I was worried, ho!”

“In my defence, I left my bag downstairs.”

There was silence on the line for so long that I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.

“Um, hello?” I said, tentatively.

I heard Becka take in a big breath and then puff it out, obviously searching for the strength to calm down.

“So, you’re not dead.”

“No.”

“You’ve not been treated badly? ”

“No.”

“Have you at least been ravished yet?”

I choked on my spit, unable to answer as I coughed and spluttered.

“Becka, Jesus Christ,” I wheezed out, eventually.

Becka laughed, and I knew the storm had passed.

“It was a valid question,” she protested, “did you see the things I got you today?”

“Yes,” I hissed, keeping my voice to just above a whisper as I said, “are you serious about those negligees?”

Becka was giggling madly, her words coming out in a gasp. “I thought you might need a little encouragement!” I mean, what do you even say to that?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jihoon walking back into the room, so I said as quietly and quickly as I could, “I’ve got everything under control and I gotta go, bye!”

“The condoms are in the front zipper pocke?” I cut her off, her shouted words seemed to echo in the quiet room. I couldn’t tell if Jihoon had heard them or not though.

“Everything okay?” He asked as he put down a tray with plates and two bottles of beer on the table alongside the food boxes.

“Oh yeah, sure,” I waved the question away with as much cheerful indifference as possible. “She was just worried when I didn’t text her back.”

“She thought I might have lured you here to murder you?” he chuckled, folding his legs underneath him to sit cross legged on the floor alongside the coffee table.

I scooted off the sofa to sit on the floor next to him, the plush, navy-blue rug as good a cushion as any.

“Something like that,” I evaded.

He nodded easily and opened the boxes in front of us, releasing hot wafts of steam that immediately tickled my nose and reminded me just how hungry I was.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he said, ducking his head, “I ordered for us.”

The pizza box contained a large, cheesy pizza with a variety of toppings; pepperoni, peppers, sweetcorn, Italian sausage and olives. My mouth watered. The other box, however, was even better.

“Dough balls!” I exclaimed, grinning wildly.

Seeing my reaction, Jihoon’s face lit up. “ Good choice?”

“The best!” I nodded enthusiastically, the little golden balls topped with a sheen of garlic butter, so unassuming in their plain box. The only other box was filled with a variety of dips.

“Honey mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch and hot sauce,” Jihoon read the little labels.

I re-started the movie while Jihoon filled our plates with a selection of everything, passing me my plate first.

I groaned as I bite into my first dough ball, the inside had a little pocket of garlic butter and I happily jiggled from side-to-side, doing what my mum called, my ‘happy food dance’. I opened my eyes and found Jihoon staring at me so unabashedly that I immediately felt self-conscious.

“What?” I mumbled, swallowing my bite.

“You’re just so cute.” His expression confused me; he wasn’t smiling, he looked dazed ? it was the only word I could think of. He’d said it like… like he’d just figured something out.

Abruptly, he turned back to the movie and shoved a pizza slice into his mouth. I watched him for a while longer, but the moment seemed to have passed. I shrugged, grabbed another dough ball and settled in to watch the movie.

“So, tell me,” I said after taking a sip of my second beer. We’d finished the first bottles pretty quickly. “Is Busan the place to go to escape the zombie apocalypse?”

Jihoon tilted his head to the side and made a ‘mm’ noise as he thought about it.

“Seoul has more military, but Busan isn’t as populated and it’s on the sea, so you could take a boat and just ?” he made a sailing motion with the hand holding his bottle.

“Where would you go?” He turned to me, as the screams of the characters on screen were cut off and replaced by the sounds of zombies chowing down.

“Probably Jersey,” I said after a moment’s consideration.

“The city?” he said, with some consternation, and I giggled.

“No, the island.” Seeing his frown, I went on; “there’s an island, called Jersey, in the English Channel. It’s not very big, and it doesn’t have very many people, but it does have lots of farms and some castles .

“I’d sit my happy butt in a castle, pull up the draw bridge and wait it out.” Pleased with myself, I took another swig and happily jiggled my feet, enjoying the warm buzz I was beginning to feel as a result of the salty, cheesy pizza and cold beers.

“If you lived in a castle, wouldn’t that make you the queen?” He grinned at me and I laughed.

“Wanna be my king?” I waggled my eyebrows at him.

“God, yes,” he exclaimed. I hid my delight with another swig from my bottle.

To my surprise, Jihoon grabbed first one of my feet, and then the other one, pulling them into his lap and possessively laying his large, warm hands on my ankles.

The mirth faded, replaced by something warmer, something that pricked the corners of my eyes and tightened my throat. I cleared it softly, turning my attention back to the film, where the main characters were, once again, running for their lives.

It was nearly midnight by the time the credits rolled on the film, and I was stiff from sitting on the floor. I stretched, arching my back over the sofa behind me.

“Time to sleep,” Jihoon announced. I swear, this man was made of elastic, judging by the way he folded his legs underneath himself and pushed up to his feet with about as much effort as I expended in breathing.

He held out his hands to me and pulled me to my feet.

“Alright, let’s clear this away first” I gestured to the food boxes and beer bottles.

Together, we cleared away our mess before heading upstairs.

Though Jihoon had said he’d slept on the plane over, I couldn’t believe he wasn’t exhausted, but he hadn’t complained once and only yawned a couple of times.

The upstairs was dark as we headed up, lit only by soft runner lights illuminating the stairs. The darkness highlighted how quiet it was in the house, an experience I’d forgotten existed whilst living in the city.

We stopped outside the smaller bedroom, where Jihoon had put his things, and again I felt guilty that he was staying here, instead of in the master. The bedroom was nice enough, but it still seemed wrong.

I remembered how weird he’d gotten when I’d brought it up earlier, so I held my tongue, instead saying, “I’m really glad you’re here.

I had the best day.” I leaned up on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.

At the last moment, he turned his face and caught my lips with his own, placing his hands around my waist. The kiss was brief, but it left me breathless when he pulled back.

I stared up at him, the moonlight shining in from the large window reflecting in his eyes, making him seem ethereal, like something I might have dreamed up.

He seemed to be searching my face as I searched his eyes.

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to join me, but I… I just couldn’t find the courage to push past that barrier. So instead, I told him goodnight and retreated back down the corridor to my large, empty room and shut the door quietly behind me.