Page 50 of A World Apart (Between Worlds #1)

Kid – You and the pretty boy reminded me of these birds.

Swallows fly thousands of miles every year, but sometimes, distance is just a measurement of space.

If two people from two different places each fly thousands of miles to a new place and find each other…

well, what the fuck do I know? They’re just pretty birds.

I laughed, even as a tear slipped down my cheek.

Jihoon called me later on that night to say he’d arrived safely but was going into meetings and staging preparation for the whole rest of his day, because for him it was just after lunchtime on Monday.

I didn’t think I’d ever be used to the vast time difference between us. With a sixteen-hour difference, it was like he was living in the future. It warped my mind to do the mental acrobatics every time.

The next time I spoke to Jihoon, it was Wednesday morning ? my time ? and he was just going to bed.

“What time is your flight?” I asked as I brushed my hair into a ponytail.

Jihoon rubbed a tired hand down his face, and I felt a twinge of guilt that he’d stayed up to speak to me when he probably should have gone to bed earlier.

“8:00am, the car is coming to get us at 4:00am.” He yawned widely.

“Joon,” I whined. “Go to bed, we can talk later.”

“I will, I will,” he nodded, “but I’ll sleep on the plane anyway.”

I’d already Googled how long the flight was from Incheon to Heathrow. A mere snip at fourteen hours.

I winced in sympathy. “At least London is only eight hours ahead of LA; you won’t need to stay up so late to see me,” I offered a shrug at such a small upside, but he nodded.

“That is a good thing, but it’ll probably still be late. Our days are very busy.”

GVibes was flying to London for the week to perform at the Hyde Park festival, and while there, they were also going to be appearing on Radio One’s Live Lounge, filming two TV segments and a full episode of their Weverse show .

When he’d first told me he was going to be in the UK in September, I’d joked about how he could go meet my parents, and I don’t think he’d realised I was joking, judging by the very serious, very uncool look on his face.

I just considered it a joke from the universe that only the second time that GVibes were performing in the UK, I’d be in another country. The first time, I’d just been too poor to go see them live at the 02 arena.

I’d actually considered flying back over to try and attend, but when I’d floated the idea of leave to Jeremy at work, he’d chuckled, patted me on the head and said, “Good joke, kid.” I hadn’t paid much attention to my internship contract when I’d signed it ? too excited to be working in LA ? but on closer inspection, I wasn’t entitled to leave.

So, there’s that. I’d figured as much, but it sucked to confirm.

When Jihoon yawned again, I told him more firmly to go to bed, and this time he conceded.

“Yes, alright,” he mumbled, before looking straight at the camera and saying, “I miss you, jagiya.”

I felt the sappy smile, but went with it. “I miss you too.” I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling like there were words missing, but I pushed it aside.

“Send me a message before you’re in the air, so I know how long to worry for.”

He snorted and waved a hand. “Goodnight.”

“Good morning.” And one shared smile later, we hung up, and I went on with my day.

I was just finishing up for the day when I got the message from Jihoon to say they were about to take off.

I wasn’t religious, but I sent up a silent prayer anyway.

It wasn’t public information, but I hated flying.

I’d had to dose myself up with Night Nurse before boarding the flight that brought me to LA from the UK, and that had only been about twelve hours.

I shook my head ruefully as I slid my phone back into my pocket. I didn’t know how they did it, they seemed to spend dozens of hours every month in the air. I shuddered.

“Everything okay, Kaiya?” Jeremy paused mid-stride to frown at me.

“Yeah boss, just someone walking over my grave.”

“Your who-now, what-now?” He gaped at me as if I’d just said I had peed myself.

“Y’know, that weird feeling when your whole body shivers for no reason?” I prompted.

“Is someone walking over your grave?” he said, doubtfully. “Is this an English thing?”

“I-I don’t think so, but maybe? ”

“Yeah, okay, whatever.” He ran a hand over his face. “Listen, we got that band coming in tomorrow, and I already know they’re gonna be a pain in the ass. Whatever you got pencilled in, cancel it.”

“The Smoking Guns? Yeah, sure,” I agreed easily, only planning on shadowing the tech team all day anyway. “What do you think you’ll need me to do?”

He sighed, a long-suffering sigh that echoed of early retirement and neat whiskey. “If the last time is any indication, holding sick bags and reminding them this is a no-smoking building.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding.”

“The fuck I am,” he grumbled, and turned to continue his journey down the corridor, before spinning around, pointing his finger at me and saying, “and for the love of god, do not let them near the fucking proc deck!”

“So, babysitter, then?” I called after him.

“You got it, kid!” He waved a hand over his shoulder, not turning back around.

“Just another day in LA.” I muttered to myself.