Page 17 of Fallen Starboy

The running water in the bathroom was indication enough that luck was on my side. I pushed the door to his room open and sucked in a breath.

I’d found him here earlier, when he’d been engrossed in the closet. We’d been so close, I could have leaned forward an inch and kissed him, were I so inclined. But I wasn’t, and neither was he.

“I’ll just put this in his luggage for now,” I whispered to myself, tip-toeing across the floor to keep from alerting him to my presence.

I knelt on the floor beside his suitcase and unzipped it slowly, hating the loudness of the zipper even though I knew the spray of the shower would prevent him from hearing me. When I’d tucked the microphone under his clothes, I closed the lid and started to slide the zipper around again, my mind so focused on the task at hand that I hadn’t noticed the water being shut off.

“Already breaking into my stuff, huh?”

I spun around and landed on my ass, staring up at a very naked Jun, who was currently dripping water all over the floor as he stared down at me. He hadn’t even bothered with a towel, and though I tried not to, my eyes trailed over his body, which was just as I remembered it, and yet so, so different.

I’d known Jun as a teen, his striking boyish looks just beginning to turn into the body of a man. He’d been impressive at seventeen, but now that he was in his mid twenties, he’d outgrown the boyish phase and skipped straight to sex icon.

Funny, I didn’t remember his cock being that big before.

I had the decency to cover my eyes and pretend I wasn’t drooling at the sight of the man before me. That I didn’t wonder what kind of new tricks he might’ve developed while I’d been . . . working. Clawing my way up to the top in an effort to forget.

“I didn’t take you for a thief, Arista,” he muttered, kneeling to get on my level. I scooted back and my spine ran into the side of his bed, effectively pinning me here.

“I’m not,” I mumbled, hating the situation I was in. Hating myself more for not paying attention to the shower sounds or moving faster. “Just returning something Yejin brought me.”

His eyes darkened dangerously. “I thought I told you to stay away from her.”

I was on my feet in a flash, desperate to leave this room as anger threaded through his tone. “I didn’t go looking for her, Jun,” I protested, dropping my hand to meet his stony glare. “She came to my door with your debut mic and asked me to return it so she didn’t get in trouble.”

“I don’t care what excuses you make up,” he snapped, straightening to his full height in an effort to be imposing and tower over me. “I won’t repeat myself. You made your choice concerning her when you walked away and left her on my doorstep.”

“Yeah, cause that was such aneasydecision to make,” I spat, hating that he thought it was easy for me. That I hadn’t deliberated over that mistake, that decision, that heartbreaking choice to put my daughter’s safety before my own selfish desires and love. “You know what, forget it.” Turning off my emotions was easier said than done, but it had to be done. I had to walk away before the seven years of hard work came crashing down around my ears and ruined everything I’d worked for, everything I’d hoped for when I gave up all my hopes for the future in exchange for hers. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning—and don’t forget about your schedule of interviews between stuff for the label.”

I didn’t wait for him to retort with anything sassy or snarky or even cruel, I just turned and left and shut the door as gently as I could on my way out. There was no point in alerting the restof the house to our little spat. Hell, the last thing I wanted was everyone in this house knowing there was something going on between Jun and myself.

That was history, and it belonged in the past, where I’d buried it long ago.

I couldn’t afford to mess up both our futures by rocking the boat now.

Chapter

Six

JUN

This was an ever-loving nightmare.

In Korea, my old label knew better than to schedule me before lunch. Yet here we were at six in the morning, on set for a photoshoot to announce my joining a new label.

kNight Records wanted to get things moving quickly. It wasn't an option to have a late start.

From the evil glint in her eyes when she banged on my bedroom door before fucking sunrise, I assumed she was enjoying herself, knowing damn well I didn't do mornings.

You don't have a choice. This is from the higher-ups.

And I'd just fucking bet she had nothing to do with it. Not even a single word she uttered in their ear had anything to do with their decision.

Sure.

If this was the best she could do for revenge against me, then let her. I could suffer through one or two mornings of hell. I'd do it with a smile on my face if it pissed her off more. If she thought she could chase me off by doing the worst job ever as an assistant, then she had another thing coming.

And I wasn't about to tell the label that I could speak perfect English. They never asked, so that was on them.

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