Page 4 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

“Give it time,” he said darkly. “Anyway, pop stars aside, I’ve got a shit job for you today,” he said apologetically, grimacing slightly.

“Some absolute jobsworth in tech wants us to inventory the store room and move some stuff upstairs to the suites and move some other stuff back downstairs to storage.”

“Well, thank God for elevators, eh?” I replied with a smile, even if it was a bit forced. Storage was… probably going to be featured on an episode of Hoarders any day.

Jeremy huffed out a laugh. “Heh, yeah. Come on, let me get you started and show you what I’m talking about.” He pushed himself out of his chair and together we made our way down the stairs to the ground floor and to the storage room.

Twenty minutes later, and I had already taken off my plaid shirt and wrapped it around my waist. Yeah, it was going to be one of those days. Spectacular.

2 hours late r

I was covered in dust. I was hot and my fingers ached from lifting boxes.

I huffed out a breath to blow hair out of my face as I stood there in the middle of the room, assessing the situation and re-assessing my life choices.

I looked at my watch. Just after 10:00. Surely, I can get away with having a quick break?

I’ll just take up one more box and then I’ll go get a drink, I reasoned with myself. It would also give me an excuse to scope out the suites. I didn’t think he’d arrived yet, but you never know.

With a sigh, I picked up a clear, plastic box full of cables that had been designated to the recording suites on the second floor and awkwardly opened the door leading out to the lobby.

Blessedly, it was cooler out here and I took a moment to breathe it in.

It was also nice and bright, making me feel less of a cave troll living in my dark, cramped, hot, storage cupboard.

The elevators were on the other side of the large reception, and I headed towards it. Fuck, this box was heavy.

Just then, the front doors slid open, allowing in the noise of traffic and mid-morning chaos from the street.

I slowed my steps as I immediately spotted Trevor Kyle, the producer with the golden touch and the grabby hands.

He was with Celine, the Booking manager.

There was a very tall man with them who was hard not to spot.

He had close-cropped black hair and was wearing a black suit jacket and blue jeans.

He was holding his arm out towards the door.

And that’s when I saw him. Him.

“Ooft! ” My vision blanked for a split second as pain radiated from my left hip and my body jolted, bending nearly double over the metal bollard I hadn’t seen before crashing into it, knocking loose my grip on the box I was carrying.

To my horror, it crashed to the ground with a noise not unlike a car crashing into a wall.

I froze. No. No, please God, no. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose, trying to ignore the pain throbbing in my hip. I opened my eyes and saw, to my increasing mortification, that the entire group had paused and was facing in my direction.

Celine let out a high-pitched sort of laugh that sounded more like a horse whinnying than a normal, human laugh. “Whoops,” I heard her say, even though they were still some distance from me .

I tried to bring myself to look towards the middle of the group. I just couldn’t.

Mortified, I dropped to one knee and hurriedly began to scrape the fallen cables across the shiny, marble-effect floor towards me, grabbing at them and stuffing them back in the box in whatever order I was able to grab them.

So focused was I on the fallen piles of cables that I didn’t notice him until his hand was mere inches from my own. Long, pale fingers with several rings began to reach for the same cables I was frantically trying to grab. Startled, I looked up and was immediately stunned, frozen mid-movement.

People say that all the time, don’t they?

That they were lost for words, or stunned into silence, and it always sounds like such nonsense.

But it’s true. I literally froze as a remarkably kind pair of dark eyes met my own.

He’d been wearing a black face mask, so commonly worn in Asia, but a bit jarring in the US.

He’d pulled it down under his chin. I could still see the faint pink lines on his cheeks where it had cut in slightly.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that.

It can’t have been more than a few seconds before another man dropped down to the floor beside us. The spell was broken.

“Gwaenchanhayo ? ” The tall man directed this at him , not me, brow furrowed.

He nodded and put the cable he’d been holding in the box.

With a moment’s hesitation, the tall man ? the bodyguard, maybe ? began grabbing fallen cables.

Suddenly regaining my senses and my ability to move, I waved my hands and said, “Oh, no, please, you don’t have-” I broke off in a hiss, placing a hand on my hip, the pain taking me by surprise.

He reached towards me and gently took the cable out of my hands.

“Are you okay?” His voice was accented and quiet. I could barely meet his eyes. I was painfully aware of how mortified I was, desperate not to embarrass myself further.

I nodded. “Yes, thank you. I’m so sorry.” My voice was barely a whisper. I’m sure my face said it all. He waved it away and together, all three of us managed to put all the fallen cables back into the box. I pulled my knee off the floor and reached for the box to pick it up .

He gently pushed my hands away and picked up the box, standing up with it. The tall man ? his bodyguard, I decided ? made an unhappy noise and tried to pull it out of his hands.

“Naneun geugeos-eul gajigoissda,” he muttered to the big man, straightening up.

“Please,” he said to me, “I will help you.”

Self-consciously, I pushed my hair out of my eyes and took a calming breath, internally trying my damnedest not to freak the fuck out.

“O-ok, thank you,” I stammered. We crossed the room together and the group waiting by the front doors met us halfway. Trevor looked amused. Celine looked like she was chewing a bee. There was a new man there now; a shorter, dark-haired man wearing fashionably thick-framed glasses.

“Where does this go?” He turned to me and said.

I had to push past the brain fog to find an answer in an appropriate amount of time. “Oh, um, 2nd floor. I think we’re going to the same place.” I even managed a smile. God, I hope I didn’t look too deranged.

He smiled and nodded but also looked over to the shorter man who said something to him in Korean. He nodded again, making a sound of understanding.

“Shall we?” said Trevor Kyle, holding out his arm and we all started moving towards the bank of elevators.

We all piled in. Blessedly, these elevators are big enough to accommodate large groups and heavy, bulky equipment, so we got on comfortably enough.

I don’t know how it happened, but I was somehow positioned against the far-right wall and he was stood next to me.

He was several inches taller than me and was so close I could feel his body heat.

The doors closed and no one spoke. It was only one floor, but it felt twice the normal ride time. When the doors finally opened, he looked at me and motioned with his head that I should get off before him. I complied, following behind Trevor Kyle, who was now in conversation with the shorter man.

I stood to the side while he and the bodyguard got out of the elevator. He looked around from side to side and lifted the box in his arms.

“Where do I put this?” he asked, smiling at me slightly. I shook myself and reached forward to take it out of his arms, but he angled his body to stop me .

“No,” he said firmly. “ I have it. Where?” he asked again. He held my gaze, and I unconsciously bit my lip. I saw his eyes flick down briefly before meeting my eyes again.

“Um, r-room two” I forced out, holding my arm out and indicating the door to the left of the elevator two doors up the hallway.

He walked towards the room I’d indicated and I had to take two steps to one of his long strides to catch up.

I opened the door as he reached it and gestured to the floor where there were already several boxes piled up haphazardly.

“Anywhere is fine,” I said. He complied, squatting to place it far more gently on the floor than I would have done.

I felt like I should look away when he put the box down. I absolutely did not. But I did make sure my eyes were at the ceiling when he rose to his full height again.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice unusually breathy.

He waved his hand and said, “No problem.” His voice was… it was unreal. It was so familiar and yet completely and utterly new.

His eyes were hypnotic. Part of me knew I should look away, leave, whatever, but I literally could not.

With a moment that felt like the air rushing back into the room, he took a half step forward and extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Baek Jihoon, nice to meet you.” It sounded practiced; it rolled off his tongue far easier than anything else he’d said so far.

Thankfully, my muscle-memory seemed to be intact and on impulse, I wiped my hand on the back of my jeans before reaching forward to clasp his outstretched hand.

His hand was warm, his rings hard against my skin, and I prayed to whoever was listening that my palm wasn’t damp.

He held my hand gently, but firmly. He smiled that famous smile and I couldn’t help but mirror his expression, a contagious reaction.

Hopefully it was a normal person smile and not a frantic, star-struck leer.

Judging by his reaction, I guessed it was a normal smile.

“Kaiya,” I breathed. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes assessing my face. I knew what he was noticing for the first time. People didn’t tend to notice until I introduced myself .

He held my hand for what felt like a longer time than was strictly usual, but it could just be that my internal clock had stopped. Sooner than I’d have liked, he let go and took a half-step back.

“Thank you again, for the help, “I said, gesturing at the box.

He shrugged and smiled. “No problem.”

“Jihoon, you good?” Trevor Kyle poked his head round the door and for the first time, I noticed that the tall, beefy-looking man was standing there. Had he been there the whole time? You’d have thought I’d have noticed ? the man was not subtle.

“Yes,” Jihoon said and walked towards the door, following Trevor out. He turned back once and held up a hand. “See you,” he said. I waved back.

Fuck I hope so , I thought to myself as I slumped against the wall, equally terrified that I actually might.