Page 79 of Signed, I'm Yours!
“I’m so sorry,” Seojun says for the hundredth time, and all I can do at this point to show him it’s okay is to take him in my arms and squeeze him.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Of course it is. I created this mess. I came up with this stupid engagement lie for whatever reason. I bound you to me. I made you lie to your friends. Everything that’s happened is my fault.”
The cab driver glances at us through the rearview mirror, and I smile at him. I press Seojun closer to me, stroking his hair, inhaling the floral and citrus notes of his shampoo like they’re my oxygen.
It’s true. Neither I nor my family would be in this mess if it weren’t for him. And while that’s frustrating, especially for my friends’ safety, there’s no way Seojun could have predicted how terribly this could have gone. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Kevin’s for not vetting the guest list better, and I guess both of ours for not double-checking. We all made mistakes that led up to this disastrous night, but my friends are nothing if not fighters.They can handle themselves. They’ve handled themselves during worse things. Things that led me into their lives.
“You were only trying to find your family.”
He shakes his head, and I feel wet patches as he rubs against my chest.
“Yeah, in all the wrong ways, and where has that gotten me? I brought my enemies home.”
The cab stops in front of my apartment building and Seojun gets out as I take a moment to pay the driver.
“I’m a horrible person,” he says when I join him outside and envelop him back into my arms.
“I thought you were a supervillain.”
Instead of taking my bait, he looks at me with the saddest eyes and squeezes his fists around my jacket.
“I’m being serious here.”
“I know. I know.” I plant a kiss on his forehead and lead him inside.
He doesn’t say anything when I usher us into my apartment or when I take his jacket and shoes off. He barely looks up at me when I turn the TV onto aReal Housewivesepisode and pass him the remote while I go and make us both hot cocoa.
The house is quiet without Shuga here. I hope she’s okay back in Seojun’s guest room. I hope everyone’s okay. I shoot a message to Annie and grab a blanket on my way back to the couch.
Seojun is staring at the TV with dried streaks across his cheeks. It’s an image I never want to see again. Good thing hot cocoa can fix almost everything. And the things it cannot, I’m here for.
“Here. Drink this.” I place his hands around the cup and wait until he’s got a good grip on it before I let go and drape the blanket around his back.
He moves the cup to his mouth when he pauses and looks down at the whipped cream and marshmallow extravaganza.
“What is this?”
“Pizza,” I tell him as deadpan as I can, which I’m fully aware isn’t much, but hey, it still elicits a laugh out of him, so it can’t have been that bad.
He takes a sip, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.
“You should have turned me in,” he says, eyes still shut.
“To whom?”
“The police.”
“Pftt, and what? Watch you pretend you’re the police captain trying to get out of it? This is easier.”
That makes him open his eyes and grimace.
“So I am your prisoner now.”
I shrug. “Tit for tat, honey. Tit for tat.”
That makes him roll his eyes, and it’s almost, almost as if the cocky, sarcastic Seojun is back.
