Page 61 of The Awakening

He pauses and looks at me. “What the hell is ‘brekky’?”

I laugh. “Breakfast. The soup works as a breakfast meal as well. With rice. Very filling and comforting with this colder weather settling in.”

We both take a moment to fill our respective bowls and small plates, and once we’re comfortably digging in, Jun breaks the silence. “Your father taught you how to do this?”

“Yup.”

“Does he know you’re here? In Japan?”

“He does. I don’t know if it’s because I’m closer, but he’s been calling me a little more lately. Like, once a week. Usually it’s once a month. Always asking about my health.”

“That’s nice,” Jun says, taking a spoonful of rice and dipping it into the galbitang broth. Perfectly done. “Maybe he’ll want to see you?”

I sigh. “I don’t know. He told me his mother is ill recently, and that he has to do a lot to help her. I don’t think he’d have the time to meet up with me.”

“Did you tell him you’re a vampire?”

I scoff, shaking my head. “God no. He doesn’t even know that I’m bisexual.”

“You’re not bisexual, Jae. You just love. We don’t think of ourselves in those strict terms. Your sexuality exists on a broad spectrum that you’re free to explore.”

“Tosh.That works fine for you, but it took me my entire youth to accept that label. Don’t try and take it away from me now. It’s mine.”

Junichi chuckles at this. “Have it your way.”

“I will.” I lift my chin, smirking.

If I truly had things my way, we’d make love tonight after we finished dinner. Since that can’t happen (apparently), I have another idea. It isn’t until we’ve talked more, finished dinner and cleaned up the kitchen that I express it.

The music has been playing low this entire time. Junichi is wiping up the counter when I’m standing in the open living room space. The moon is full tonight, so even though it’s dark, the sky shines in a deep, warm blue, with moonlight spilling through the glass walls at the back of the house. I turn to look at him, smiling. “Dance with me?”

He freezes in his wiping motion and looks up at me. I’m a clown giving him anxiety again. “What?”

“You heard me. Show me how. I know the basic step because of YouTube.”

He falls back into the counter and covers his face with his palm. “Dios mío…”

“I’m not awful, I swear.” I grin, realizing I’m this pasty half-English bloke and how I must look to him right now. “I can move my hips fairly well.”

Junichi lowers his hand from his face, his black eyes shining and one eyebrow raised. “Oh, I amfullyaware of how well you move your hips.”

“Cheeky sod…” I turn my nose up, smiling. “Alright then, come on. Chop chop.”

When he actually stands straight and swaggers around the kitchen counter and toward me, my heart jumps up into my throat. I’m excited. I’m probably coming into this overconfidently, but I really think I can do it because of all the videos I watched. Just like when you sit on the sofa eating crisps, watching Olympian-level gymnasts miss their landing, and think, “Jesus, what’ve you been training for all these years?Imight as well get out there.”

He’s standing in front of me and lifts his left arm. Instinctively, I clasp his hand with my right as he places his right hand at my waist. I put my free hand on his shoulder, and I can’t stop grinning. “See?”

“We haven’t even started moving.”

“Igotthis.”

“What’s the step, Jae?”

“Bachata? Side-together-side tap.”

“That simple?”

“Yup.” I nod. The song playing now is slower, as luck would have it. I set my shoulders back. “I’m ready.”