Page 4 of When Worlds Collide (Between Worlds #2)

W e must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, the driver was waking us, having lowered the partition. Beneath me, Jihoon stirred more slowly, his arms pulling me against him tighter as he grumbled into my hair.

I smiled as my heart fluttered, not finding it in myself to be embarrassed at the way the driver had caught us practically wrapped around each other.

“What’s he saying?” I looked up at Jihoon, who still had his eyes closed.

He grumbled again, but replied. “He says we’ve arrived at the hotel.”

Two things went through my mind at his words – firstly, hotel?

I don’t think it had even crossed my mind where we were actually heading, but now I felt foolish that I had assumed Jihoon’s home.

But that was well and truly ridiculous, seeing as how he lived with two other members of GVibes – Sungmin and Seokmin, nicknamed Lee and Ace.

The second thing that went through my head was how long had we been sleeping that we were here? Not that I knew where we were.

“What day is it?” I asked, only half-joking as my sense of disorientation was starting to feel like a cloud in my brain.

Jihoon looked down at his smart watch before answering, with a wry grin. “Wednesday.”

I blinked. “How long was this car ride? It was Monday last night.”

Jihoon laughed, a happy little chuckle that moved me up and down from where I was still leaning against his broad chest, before he flicked me lightly on the nose. “Funny girl.”

We shared a glance that seemed to pause time at the same moment it offered a glimpse into a future I had only ever briefly considered in the most abstract of terms. A future where a weekend date didn’t involve a plane ride, but instead a normal car trip, or even a quick trip on the bus. Normality.

But just as briefly as that image appeared, it disappeared like a popped bubble. He was still a performer. He still lived partly in the glare of the spotlight. My relocation didn’t alter that.

I broke eye contact first, glancing out the window at the grand-looking hotel entrance. I was just wondering if we’d be checking in together, or I’d have to covertly follow Jihoon up a few minutes later, so we weren’t seen together, when he brought my attention back to him.

“Jagiya,” he started, and something in his tone had my eyes snapping back to his face. His mouth was down-turned even as his fingers dug into my hips as if he was trying to hold on. “I have to go to ENT.”

It took me a moment while the words sank in to understand what he was saying.

“Now?!” The incredulity in my voice had a mind of its own. I had not intended to nearly shout the word. I raised my wrist to look at my watch. It had synced with my phone when I was connected to the airport Wi-Fi, so it now displayed the time and date in KST. It read just after 7:00 am.

Jihoon looked frustrated as he said, “It is a serious meeting, Ky. It’s about what happened at Pisces.”

The happy, sleepy slowness I had woken up with was firmly banished as I frowned at him, my mind racing to connect the dots I felt were just out of reach, until –

“Oh! You mean, about you and me? In the conference room? How do they even know about that?”

I wasn’t prepared for the flash of anger I saw crossing Jihoon’s face.

His eyes pinched in a way I’d only seen on him a couple of times, and all for Trevor Kyle related reasons, and never in person.

The landscape of his face was suddenly unfamiliar to me and I did not envy whoever that got directed towards.

But although his expression was severe, the way his hands continued to caress me was anything but. The way he handled me, as though he couldn’t get enough of touching me… I would never get used to it.

Suddenly, his eyes looked behind me to something over my shoulder and then the door was opened, a rush of cold air breezing into the warm bubble of the back seat, and I shivered in Jihoon’s arms.

“I’m sorry, jagiya, I have to go now. We’ll talk later.” He gently slid me off his lap, the hint clear as glass, but the bluntness taking me off guard.

Pushing down the twinge of hurt, I said, “Oh, okay.”

I slid over the back seat and stepped out of the car, blinking in the early morning light, even weak as it was.

The driver was stood on the kerb, politely holding the door open while I got reacquainted with standing upright after falling asleep curled around Jihoon for nearly two hours. My body felt stiff, having barely moved for the better part of a day.

I noticed my bags had materialised outside of the car, in a neat row next to the driver. He must be some kind of Ninja. I hadn't even heard him open the boot.

I turned back around to speak to Jihoon through the still-open car door, but it felt so awkward, like now we were here and I was deposited, I was just holding him up.

“What do I…?” I gestured behind me at the hotel.

“Oh, fuck,” Jihoon let his head fall back on the headrest. “I forgot to even tell you.” He sighed tiredly, before scooting across the back seat to close the distance between us without actually getting out of the car.

“There’s a room booked in your name.”

“I see. Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you later?” I moved to turn around to pick up my bags, but so swiftly I didn’t even see the movement, Jihoon’s hand reached out of the car and snatched my hand.

“I’m sorry, jagiya, I’m being an ass, aren’t I?"

“You’re allowed to not be perfect all the time.”

He huffed, but the twist of his lips took any humour out of the gesture.

“Am I?”

Before I could respond, he’d raised my hand to his mouth for a quick kiss to my palm, before he released me.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Dumbly, I shoved my hands into my pockets and nodded, watching as the car door was closed, and the driver returned to his seat in the front. I watched until the SUV had turned onto the main street and I couldn’t make it out anymore, amongst the stream of other traffic.

A twinge of pain alerted me to the fact I had bitten my lip, and I tried to relax my mouth. Why had I thought that coming here would erase the mess I’d left behind in LA?

TK – because I knew, deep down he was somehow to blame – had already cost me my job, why couldn’t that be the end of it?

Why did this have to drag on?

An uneasy feeling churned in my gut when I considered the potential repercussions. Sure, there was an NDA protecting Jihoon, but what was protecting me?