Page 25 of King Foretold
“You know ...” It’s my turn to feel awkward. “Nothing like ...that.”
“Hmm.” Jihun stalks toward me, blazing heat flickering in his eyes. “And you know that how?”
“Be ... because we ... we’re friends,” I stammer and retreat until my back hits the wall.
He stops in front of me and leans a forearm against the wall, his face only inches from mine. I tip my head back to meet his gaze and immediately wish I hadn’t. His pupils are blown wide, making his eyes nearly black, and my breath gets trapped in my chest. This ... this isn’t friendly teasing.
“Are you sure about that?” His deep, silky voice rumbles in the charged air between our bodies, and his head slowly dips until I can feel his breath skating across the bridge of my nose.
My eyelids flutter as though tempted to fall closed, but I will them to stay open. I should look away, but I ... can’t. My chest strains against the loose knot of the towel as I inhale, desperate for air. Jihun sweeps his thumb across my collarbone in a touch so light that I might’ve imagined it, but for the goose bumps spreading down my arms. A bewildered frown tugs my brows together.
“Sunny?” That thumb of his traces the line of my jaw, gentle but greedy. “Are you sure we’re just ... friends?”
“I ...” He’s breathtaking up close. I gape at his wide eyes and ridiculously long lashes, his dark brows and aristocratic nose, and his perfect lips. My pulse flutters at the base of my throat, my body responding to his proximity.Gods.He isn’t trying to give me a hard time. Hewantsme. “Jihun, please don’t—”
“Sorry I took so long. Someone took away the bowl of water in front of my room. Don’t ask me why. So I obviously couldn’t moon shift there and ...” Hailey trails off. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Yes,” Jihun growls at the same time, still leaning over me, and I can’t breathe or look away.
Please don’t fall for me.A strangled whimper escapes my lips as tears fill my eyes. Did I mislead him somehow? My awareness of him, my body’s reaction to his beauty, is real—I see that now—but not intentional. Whatever attraction I feel for him is purely physical, something I can easily brush aside because our friendship means more to me.
I can’t bear for Jihun to hurt because of me—I care about him too much. But my heart belongs to Ethan. I wish I could tell him not to fall for me because I love Ethan and always will. I wish I could give him something more concrete thandon’t. But I can’t tell anyone. I have to hide my love deep inside me so Ethan never finds out. I know I’m choosing to protect Ethan over Jihun, and my heart breaks for all of us.
“Don’t,” I whisper helplessly. “Please.”
Jihun closes his eyes for a long moment, then sighs. He straightens to his full height at what seems like glacial speed and takes a step back, then another. I exhale shakily and rush over to Hailey, grabbing the clothes out of her hands.
“Sorry. I was in a hurry and—” Hailey cringes.
“It’s fine.” I run into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “Thank you.”
I slide to the floor with my back against the wall, clutching Hailey’s clothes against my chest. I bite down hard on my trembling lower lip and swipe an impatient hand across my leaky eyes. I’m blowing things way out of proportion. Jihun saw me standing in his bedroom, with nothing but a towel. His idiot switch got turned on, that’s all. Any straight, red-blooded male would’ve reacted the same way. His heart had nothing to do with what happened. Besides, did anything happen? Nope, nothing actually happened.
With a firm nod and a sniff, I shake out the clothes Hailey handed me. I blink at them for two seconds, then slap a hand over my eyes. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“Sorry,” Hailey squeaks from the other side of the door.
“Come on.” The dress is a fluttery silver slip, short enough to make my casino uniform look demure. “This can’t be all of it.”
“It’s a mini dress on me, but it should hit midthigh for you.”
“I’m notthatshort,” I grumble, then push off the floor because a dry scrap of satin is better than a damp towel.
I shiver as I drop the towel onto the floor and slip the dress over my head. The soft satin feels annoyingly good against my skin, and the dress does in fact fall to midthigh for me—because Iamthat short. Well, I can retain some dignity at least. After a fortifying breath, I step out of the bathroom.
Hailey sits perched on the side of the bed, so I plunk down next to her, tugging on the hem of my dress. I glance at Jihun, who stands against the far wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze travels the length of my body in a slow, heated perusal, but I quickly look away before our eyes meet because I’m chickenshit. I tug again on the scrap of fabric masquerading as a dress. After a pause, he strides over to his desk and turns the chair around before lowering himself onto it.
I’m exhausted, and I don’t really want to know, but the tense silence is suffocating. “Did you find Daeseong?”
“Not yet.” Jihun rakes his fingers through his shoulder-length hair, making it ripple like liquid silk. “It feels like we’re being sent on a wild goose chase, but I know we’re close. I can feel it.”
“Oh,” I say faintly.
We’re almost out of time, but I focus on thealmost. Today was a lot to handle, but we made progress with the Yeoijuandthe sword of light. I intentionally don’t think about the rune on my back. If we keep busting our asses, we might actually be ready to take down Daeseong by the time we find him. But I hope he stays hidden until then—especially since we have more immediate concerns like stopping a war from breaking out with the Kingdom of Mountains.
“Was Ethan here to discuss new intel from the Shinsi Palace?” I narrow my eyes into slits when Jihun smooths his face into a blank slate.“I’ll drop-kick you if you say ‘This isn’t my story to tell.’ Ethan already told me you guys are planning to deal with the King of Mountains on your own to avoid an all-out war.”
