Page 89 of A World Apart
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to join me, but I… I just couldn’t find the courage to push past that barrier. So instead, I told him goodnight and retreated back down the corridor to my large, empty room and shut the door quietly behind me.
Chapter 28
Ibrushed my teeth and washed my face with practiced efficiency, all the while staring at the girl in the mirror, asking her what the hell her problem was.
Once done in the bathroom, I stripped off my clothes and shoved them back into the dino rucksack, clearing off the bed at the same time, until I was then confronted with the dilemma of pink or black. I stared at the two scraps of lace after having mentally discarded the idea of sleeping in my t-shirt when it now smelt vaguely of beer and pizza.
Closing my eyes, I waved my finger around and then stopped, opening my eyes to see where I had pointed to. Pink it was.
It was a good fit, I thought at least. It was snug under my breasts, giving more support than I’d have thought it would. I did keep on my underwear though. The top may be enough to not wear my bra, but I wasn’t prepared to go bare-ass.
I turned off the light and slid into the massive bed, the sheets cool and comfortable against my flushed body, the buzz from the beer still tingling gently under my skin. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, my mind processing the events of the day. It was so quiet that it felt like my thoughts were shouting inside my head. I tossed, and I turned and when I huffed in frustration and looked at my phone, only half anhour had passed. I turned on the bedside lamp, the soft glow barely illuminating the room; a reading light, at best.
I flipped onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, the fan spinning gently and with quiet efficiency. With more determination than I felt, I threw the covers off and rolled out of bed, striding towards the door before I could talk myself out of it. I pulled open the door, ready to stride down the corridor, but instead nearly crashed into Jihoon, silently standing outside my door, a hand raised as if he were about to knock.
“Whoa,” he gasped, catching me about my arms to stop me from falling forward.
“Jihoon,” I panted, adrenaline pounding through me from both the shock and my loss of balance. “What are you doing?”
He released my arms and ducked his head, rubbing a hand down his neck.
“I, ah, I was coming to see if you were okay.”
Silence stretched between us in the darkness.
“Wait,” he said, looking back up at me, although I could barely make out his face, “what were you doing?”
I felt the familiar flush crawling up my neck, but a sudden recklessness squashed it back down and I said, “Coming to see you.”
“Is everything okay?”
I actually hadn’t thought this far ahead, hadn’t thought what I would say. So, I went with the truth.
“Stay with me tonight. I want you to.” I swallowed, my toes digging into the plush carpet under my feet, feeling the weight of his gaze on me.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered, firmly.
“Okay.”
I moved back a step and held the door open wider for him to step through, and then closed it behind him. I watched him approach the bed to stand by the side I had just vacated, and in the light of the dim lamp, I saw he was again shirtless, wearing only a pair of loose-fitting shorts. The light turned his skin into gold and for a moment, I was frozen to the spot where I stood.
Until he turned to me, his face so unassuming, so normal, even in the unbelievably attractivesense.
I took the handful of steps towards him that it took to reach the bed and, as I stepped into the small ring of light, Jihoon’s eyes met mine, and then travelled down the length of my body. His dark eyes widened as they slowly made their way back up, meeting my own.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, reaching for me and pulling me closer towards him. I went willingly, but he didn’t try to kiss me. Instead, he lay his forehead against my own and together we stood there, just breathing in each other’s presence, the glow of the lamp like a bubble in which only we existed, if only for this moment. I lay my hands against his forearms, feeling the strength just under the skin, the firm but gentle way he held me. It was everything.
Eventually, Jihoon pulled back and looked down at me, his expression unreadable.
“It’s late,” he said. I nodded, and he pulled back the covers and moved aside so I could slide in. He pulled the covers up to my shoulders and turned off the lamp, and it was only from the weak light of the moon coming in through the windows that I saw as he moved around the bed to get in the other side.
I felt the bed dip as he slid in, but he was far enough away from me that I couldn’t reach him, even as I extended my arm out. Then I felt his fingers on mine as he reached for me and there, in the dark, in a bed that didn’t belong to either of us, we held onto each other. My eyes closed and sleep claimed me soon after.
I woke up in the still-dark room, and for a moment I didn’t know where I was. The almost-silent hum of the over-head fan as it spun softly was the first thing I heard, grounding me enough to wake up a little. I then became aware of a warm, firmness underneath me and I tentatively moved my fingers. Instantly I knew I was lying on top of Jihoon. I must have shimmied over here in my sleep, because I was now lying over half of his body, my head and torso sprawled over his chest like he was a body pillow and − I moved my leg slightly − yup, my leg was thrown over his hip and rested in between his legs, the little hairs on his thighs tickling my calf when I’d moved.
I knew I should move, I just really didn’t want to. I listened to him breathe; deep, soft inhales that gently rocked me up and then down, a calming motion I couldn’t bear to disturb. The warmth of his skin against mine was like a balm. It seemed to go deeper than surface level touch, I felt it sink into me in a way it never had before. He was like the first, perfect sip of hot chocolate on a cold, winter’s day, the heat chasing the chill away as it spreads through your whole body. For some inexplicable reason, I felt my eyes prickling as waves of emotion crested over me in ways I was unprepared for.
