Chapter 20

I was familiarizing myself with my computer when Ryusuke suddenly burst out laughing. I looked over to him to see what was so funny.

“Heol, Jaehyun you’ve gone viral on Twitter!” he said.

“Huh?! Why?” I scrambled over for a look, but Eunsoo, being closer, got there first. He snatched Ryusuke’s phone out of his hand and looked at it.

Whatever was on the screen was also apparently hilarious to Eunsoo, because he burst into laughter. “That’s barely viral,” he said. “But… haha! That’s gold!”

“It’s still new,” insisted Ryusuke.

I managed to pry the phone out of Eunsoo’s grasp for a look. Not for the first time today, my face flushed with embarrassment. It was an edited clip of me asking who eats ramyun at 2AM. It had over seventy thousand views. I groaned. “Seventy thousand people have seen this?! It’s not THAT funny!”

“Look at the top comment thread,” Eunsoo said gleefully.

Heol. Someone had taken a still of my face (thank god it was covered) and overlaid text on it that read, ‘SIMPING HOURS ARE OVER / ITS 2AM BABE’.

There were variations of it down the line. GO HOME GIRL / ITS 2 AM. NO RAMYUN FOR ME / ITS 2 AM. LEAVE ME ALONE / ITS 2 AM.THE HAT STAYS ON / ITS 2 AM. They became progressively less understandable down the line. Sometimes the 2 AM was on top, with a comment of what they were going to do instead.

“What the hell?” I choked slightly. The first one had almost 100k likes. “Most of them don’t even make sense. Who even posted this?”

“Someone from LC’s chat, I guess.” Ryusuke held his hand out for his phone back but I was too busy scrolling through with horror.

“There’s a debate on the thread about whether you’re a mossol or a hunnam.” Eunsoo had pulled it up too. “Obviously the ones arguing hunnam don’t follow LC.”

I was mildly flattered that there were people arguing in that direction at all.

“The meme is trending more hunnam I think,” Ryusuke said sympathetically.

“This is a disaster. Can we ask LC to take it down?” I finally handed Ryusuke’s phone back to him. I didn’t want to see or hear anymore.

“Oh he never had control of this,” Eunsoo said. “But he’s probably getting a lot of traffic on his channel from it, so he’s probably celebrating.”

He grinned at me and I resisted the urge to physically assault him. “Ironic that you’re so hellbent on being secretive and yet now you’re trending on Kakao and Twitter.”

“It’s on Kakao too?” I groaned.

Turns out there generally weren’t meets on the weekdays. That wasn’t good for me and my lack of income. It probably meant I’d have to race every weekend to keep up with expenses, especially if I wanted to upgrade my car. I’d already decided I’d use the Tiger’s base as my de facto “home”. It had everything I needed, and Sungmin didn’t seem to mind us being here without him.

I got everyone else’s numbers from Eunsoo. As I texted to let Seol-hee know I had a phone now, I felt unusually nervous (despite all we had done the other day).

[ hey seol-hee. its jaehyun. just letting you know i have a phone now. ]

I anxiously watched the screen. I hadn’t had any way of contacting her since the morning, and I didn’t know how she felt about my disappearance, even though she had ordered me to leave. After an agonizingly long wait, my phone beeped.

[ :) ]

It was just an emote but it felt like Seoul-hee herself had physically smiled at me. I felt relieved that she didn’t seem to be upset with me.

I hesitated a long while before working up the courage to send the next text.

[ are you going to come to the hangout later? ]

I was used to Taejun’s near instant replies, so I grew even more nervous as minute after minute went by without a reply.

[ prob not. im streaming tonight ]

I was disappointed in the reply. I had wanted to see her again. Another text came in.

[ is sungmin looking for me? ]

The hope that I had felt after receiving that second text disappeared quickly as I finished reading it. I was bitterly reminded of Eunsoo telling me she liked Sungmin.

[ no. just wondering ]

I hoped my texts weren’t coming on too strong. I felt a little pathetic after asking if she was going to come over and getting a no.

“Texting Seol-hee already?” Eunsoo’s voice in my ear caused me to flinch sharply upwards, smacking the top of my head into the bottom of Eunsoo’s, who was leaning over the back of the couch to sneakily read my texts.

We glared at each other as we rubbed our injuries. “Why were you looking?” I snapped at him peevishly at him.

“I wasn’t trying to see your pathetic attempt at flirting,” Eunsoo grumbled as he rubbed his chin. “I was hoping to get a clue as to why you’re so secretive all the time. Not that you’re good at it.”

I put my phone away and turned away, intent on ignoring his interrogation.

Eunsoo persisted. “Who are you hiding from?”

“Why do you want to know?” I said irritably.

“I just want to know if you’re in legal trouble or something,” Eunsoo said.

“Trust me, I’m not.”

“Hiding from loan sharks then?”

I froze. Though that was only part of the truth, I was also hiding from Han Jungho. Eunsoo read my silence instantly and grinned triumphantly.

“Seriously? How are you eighteen and already in debt?” he asked excitedly.

“It’s not my debt,” I said, feeling heated.

“Then whose?”

Eunsoo could tell from the look on my face that he had pushed me too far, so he dropped the subject.

The next few days passed quietly for me. I mostly spent them in luxurious indolence, browsing the web or playing games with Eunsoo. Despite trying not to be obvious that I was pretty much living there, Eunsoo sniffed me out almost immediately after he found my stuff in the bathroom. He ended up dragging Ryusuke over daily to harass me.

Eunsoo invited me back to his place once to play games, stating that he had even more game choices there. I was pretty surprised to see that Eunsoo, despite being so called ‘set for life’, lived in a fairly modest and simply furnished apartment, similar to Taejun’s. When I questioned him about it he just shrugged and said that he was perfectly comfortable living the way he was.

“I’d rather spend the money on other stuff. Like car stuff,” he said.

I appreciated that Eunsoo was pretty down to earth. It was a nice change from all the overwhelming level of luxury that everyone else seemed to be living at. Ryusuke and him must have been close friends, as they were always together, and over the next few days my friendship with them developed as well, despite Eunsoo occasionally being extremely annoying.

I spent my evenings taking my Z on joyrides around the city to get to know it, but without being in a race scenario, I couldn’t really tell what I’d like to change in it yet. Every night when I parked it next to the now-abandoned Eclipse, I found myself slinking upstairs in a guilty haste.

Lee Seol-hee did end up coming over to the hangout on Wednesday. I tried to play it cool despite being overjoyed that she had showed up. I was disappointed that she acted casually around me like nothing had happened, but at least I had gotten a heads up from Ryu and Eunsoo that that was probably what was going to happen.

If anything, Eunsoo was the one who was going to blow my cover, with how often he kept glancing between Seol-hee and I and maliciously grinning.

“Heoooll! James Li is coming to Seoul. I’ve got to get tickets,” Seol-hee gushed.

“Who?” I asked, wincing internally at the pang of jealousy shooting through me. It was definitely an idol name, but the English first name was unusual. He was probably Chinese, then.

“Only the hottest guy in the whole world,” Seol-her said dreamily. “He’s my favorite.”

That night after everyone left I googled James Li. He didn’t look anything like Sungmin. I didn’t think Sungmin was particularly handsome, but James definitely had those heartthrob features that most handsome actors or idols had. And great hair. I hated him almost immediately.

On Thursday morning, I caught sight of my reflection in a shop window. I had taken to wearing my cap pretty much constantly, even indoors, but today I had forgotten it after my shower. I grimaced at how overgrown my hair had gotten.

A few embarrassing hours at a salon later, I returned home with a fresh cut. Despite doing my best to describe what I wanted without having to namedrop Seol-hee’s favorite idol, the hairdresser read me like a book.

“Ah ok, so similar to James Li’s style for his current album!”

I could feel myself melting into the chair under the barber cape. “Just don’t bleach my hair,” I mumbled.

As I looked at myself in the mirror while the hairdresser showed off her handiwork, a mix of emotions churned inside me. Even with my hair now styled, I looked nothing like James. I looked like Taejun.

I don’t think the hairdresser appreciated me immediately cramming the hair she had so painstakingly sculpted into my hat but I didn’t care. I was too spooked by the ghost image of my brother in my own reflection.

That hat stayed on, and while it did, no one else noticed I had gotten it cut.

On Friday, Sungmin finally returned, with Sunhee attached as usual. I was excited that there was finally going to be a meet again tonight. When Hoojin showed up, I just smiled, unphased, at the sour looks he kept shooting me. Fortunately, he settled down after Seol-hee arrived and he saw that there was no lingering favoritism, at least on her end.

Sungmin got a call. “Allo,” he said cheerfully.

He immediately almost dropped the phone as someone shouted something at the end of the line. He swapped to speakerphone. “Christ, LC, what’s wrong with you?”

“Are you with that pet byeongsin of yours? Put him on!” screeched Le Creuset from the other end.

He must have meant me. Sungmin sighed and said, “He’s here. You’re on speaker.”

“Baek Jaehyun! Why the hell is the NIS looking for you?!”

Everyone in the room turned to stare openmouthedly at me. I tried to keep a cool head and a calm exterior despite the growing panic within.

“I just got a fucking NIS agent calling me asking me for information regarding your fucking meme! Apparently he traced it back to my channel and asked me if I knew anything about you and your current whereabouts.”

“What did you say?!” I asked frantically, unable to keep up my facade.

“I’m no snitch, and either way, I don’t know where the hell you live. But hell, he really put the pressure on, so I eventually had to say I just met you at a local car meet, it’s fine, there’s nothing illegal about a meet as long as we’re not racing, but then the asshole made me tell him where it is!” rambled Le Creuet from the other end.

I cursed mentally. So the damn meme must have made it around to even Taejun. Now he had a clue as to where to find me.

LC did not take kindly to my continuing lack of reply. “You have two seconds to explain why the hell the fucking feds are on your tail, asshole. You’re endangering the entire goddamn meet! What the hell have you done?”

“I haven’t done anything,” I said, grinding my teeth. Everyone’s stares were like daggers. I wished this call could have come in private. Now I had to admit everything to everyone here. “It’s not the NIS looking for me. Just my brother.”

LC was stunned into silence, but Sungmin wasn’t. “Your brother?!”

“He works for the NIS, that’s all.” I hoped that was enough.

“You mean all of your efforts to be all off-grid is because you’re just hiding from your brother?” Eunsoo gawked.

“He’s tracked me down before,” I said tightly.

“But why are you hiding from your brother?” LC exclaimed. “You piss him off or something?”

To be honest, I never really stopped to consider why I had started hiding from him. I had even been on my way back to him before I was distracted by Sungmin's car. Impulse had gripped me in the moment, just like when I had decided to steal Do Hoon’s car. But I knew that he would never let me live the life I was living now, and despite the short amount of time I had been living in it, now I never wanted to leave. For the first time in my life, I had found something that made me truly feel alive.

“He’s trying to send me out of the country because our family owes some money,” I forced myself to say. I tried to keep explanations as terse as possible, but it seemed that it was impossible.

“Who’s dumb enough to try to extort money out of a freaking NIS agent’s family?” Ryusuke said in loud disbelief.

Han Jungho, I thought glumly. But I didn’t need to answer every damn question they asked.

“You’re hiding just because of that?” asked Sunhee.

“I don’t need him to handle things, I can handle myself,” I found myself saying hotly. “He’s the one making everything worse by sticking his head where he shouldn’t.” My sudden anger must have startled everyone, because they all leaned back slightly and stopped interjecting with questions.

“What are you guys, Sherlock and Mycroft? Look, I don’t need to know about your dysfunctional family. But there might be narcs at the meet tonight. I think you and the Tigers should lay low for a bit,” LC said. His frantic state (I don't blame him, he’d never had to deal with a vindictive Taejun before) seemed to have settled down after all the questioning. In fact, everyone seemed to be calming down at last.

“What happens if he talks to you again?” I asked nervously.

“Again, I’m no snitch. You might be a dumbass, but you’ve been good content for the channel. I want you to stick around. I’ll tell him the truth. That I haven’t seen you since the last meet,” LC said.

I knew how oppressive Taejun could be trying to get what he wanted. I doubted LC could hold out. But he really didn’t have much other information to give Taejun. Now that all his questions were answered, LC bid us a tentative goodbye after a few more comments.

I was somewhat relieved that I wasn’t about to be turned over to Taejun by my newfound friends. At least intentionally. In my relief I had completely forgotten about another important detail.

“So you are Baek Taejun’s brother,” growled Hoojin. He stood up, seething with rage. I barely got onto my feet in time to meet his rush, but I wasn’t ready. There was much less distance for him to cover than the last time we had fought briefly. He grabbed me by the collar and bowled me over. Park Hoojin was about my height, but far stockier, and we went down in a tangle of struggling limbs. One of the girls, probably Sunhee, screamed.

“You lying piece of shit,” he shouted into my face as he shook me against the floor.

“Hoojin, fucking stop!” Sungmin was yelling. But Hoojin paid him no mind. He shifted his grip to pin me down by the neck with one hand and punched my face. The impact smacked the back of my head against the floor and I saw stars. He continued to lay blows into me after my initial stun.

But I’d had far worse than Hoojin, and my anger quickly returned to me. I didn’t have to take Hoojin’s shit. Instead of trying to force him to loosen his grip, I punched into his stomach, just under his ribs, where I knew it would hurt. He choked as my punch knocked the wind out of him, and his hand flew to his side to protect against another blow.

I twisted out from under him and the moment my foot was free, I kicked at Hoojin’s now unprotected face. His head snapped back and he fell over off me. But before I could launch my counterattack, someone headlocked me and dragged me bodily off Hoojin.

“I told you to fucking stop,” Sungmin hissed into my ear as I struggled angrily against his grip. “Hoojin! Sit your ass down!” he commanded Hoojin, who had recovered somewhat and was starting in towards me in my now vulnerable state.

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill him right now!” Hoojin shouted. His nose dripped blood. Eunsoo moved to grab Hoojin by the arm, but I doubted he could actually hold him back if Hoojin rushed me again.

“I didn’t arrest your fucking dad,” I snarled. I tried again to jerk out of Sungmin’s grip. “Take it up with Taejun, asshole.”

“Jaehyun, stop it right now,” Sungmin snapped. His grip tightened threateningly. I surrendered, not wanting to be choked out.

Hoojin wiped his bleeding nose with his hand, drawing a red smear across it. “I should just drag you into the NIS right now,” he snapped.

“You’d only be helping the guy you hate,” Sungmin said irritably. “Don’t be a dumbass.” That shut Hoojin up. “It was already bad enough between you two,” Sungmin continued. “I won’t stand for you assholes fighting each other every Friday.”

“Friday night fights,” said Eunsoo unhelpfully. We glared at him. In a panic he sputtered, “Maybe we should just set them outside and let them fight it out.”

“I’m down,” snarled Hoojin. I was, too. We’d started twice, but got interrupted almost immediately both times.

“We’re not doing that. No more fighting. I’m going to let you go now Jae. Don’t make me fucking regret it.” Sungmin loosened me. I rubbed my neck and contemplated launching at Hoojin anyway and making him regret it. Sungmin shot me a warning look.

“That could have been a good fight though,” said Seol-hee. Unlike everyone else in the room, she seemed thrilled by the fight, not tense.

“Don’t encourage them, Seol-hee,” Sungmin warned.

“I want him off the team. Right now.” Hoojin said, pointing his bloodied finger at me. “You heard LC. He’s endangering the whole meet.”

I didn’t have a reply to that but Sungmin did. “And yet LC wants him to stick around. You need to calm your ass down, Hoojin. Jaehyun’s got nothing to do with what his brother does for work.”

“How can you trust him? He could be working with him!” Hoojin bellowed.

“Did you miss the entire part of the conversation where we talked about how badly Jae doesn’t want to see his brother?” Ryusuke said in exasperation. He immediately shrank back at the look Hoojin threw at him.

Hoojin smoldered with anger. “Fine. If you all are so fucking in love with this prick, you all can sit here and suck each other off. I’m out of here.” He stormed off, throwing us the middle finger as we did so. A few moments later, we heard the tires of his Mustang screech as it left the garage.

“I’m down,” said Eunsoo.

“Shut up,” Sungmin snapped at him.

To my surprise, Seol-hee had gone to the kitchen to get a bag of ice and a wet towel. I let her coax me into sitting. I felt the last flames of my anger snuff out as she gently wiped down my face with the towel. In my rage I hadn’t even noticed that Hoojin had busted my lip and it was bleeding. I took the bag of ice and held it against my face where my cheek was throbbing. I felt justified satisfaction when she remained by my side, taking my free hand in both of hers to squeeze comfortingly.

“Where’s Hoojin going?” I asked, as I calmed down.

“Probably to the meet to try to fight your brother or something,” Sungmin sighed. He flopped back down next to Sunhee and rubbed his temples.

I couldn’t help letting out a small contemptuous laugh. “Then we’ll probably never see him again,” I snarked. “They call my brother the Demon of Inner Seoul or some shit.”

Sungmin shot me a look. “That’s your brother?”

“Rest in peace, Hoojin,” said Eunsoo mournfully.

With our plans for the night now ruined, we just sat around the couch glumly to have drinks. My one comfort was that Seol-hee stayed next to me. She leaned against me as she typed idly on her phone, and my heart was pumping excitedly at her closeness.

“I can’t stand this tension,” Sungmin groaned. “Should we go somewhere?”

“We could go clubbing,” Eunsoo suggested. “Take our mind off things?”

I didn’t expect Sungmin’s reply. “That’s the only smart thing you’ve said all night. Might as well.” He stood up.

I looked at him blearily. In my stress, I had drunk quite a lot quite quickly and was already feeling a bit dizzy. “I don’t think I can drive.”

“Then sit in Eunsoo’s car,” snapped Sungmin irritably. I looked at Eunsoo. He shrugged.

Even the atmosphere of the club, throbbing with music and illicit thrills, did nothing to help my mood. Seol-hee had disappeared into the crowd almost instantly the moment we arrived. After a few more drinks, everyone else had also disappeared. I stayed at the bar, downing drink after drink.

Eunsoo reappeared some time later. “You’re still here?” he asked, draping an arm over me comfortably. Even though I hadn’t seen him at the bar since the beginning, he sounded giddy and drunk. “Here. Take this. Improve your mood.”

He fumbled something out of his pocket and gave it to me. It was a pair of pills. “What is this? Where did you get it?” I asked suspiciously.

“It’s just MDMA. I got it from Sungmin.” He patted my hair. “Hey, did you cut your hair?”

Somehow, hearing the source was Sungmin made the pills sound safe. I moved out of his clumsy fondling and downed them both with the last of my drink.

“Bro! You’re supposed to do it one at a time,” said Eunsoo in alarm. I looked at him irritably. Then why had he given me two?!

“I’m going to find Ryu,” Eunsoo decided suddenly. “Come dance later. Music’s good.” He wandered off.

I watched him leave and waited for the pills to take effect.

Eventually I made my way to the dance floor, if only to find my friends. I’d never actually been in a club before, and that had contributed to my initial reluctance to step onto it. But now that I was here, there was something about the vibe about other young people dancing (most of them quite unrestrainedly) and the quake of the sound system that was undeniably thrilling. The vibration of the EDM music blasting away at ear damaging levels rippled through my chest in a way that reminded me of the Tsunami’s rumble.

A pair of arms wrapped around my waist. My initial alarm disappeared when I heard Seol-hee’s voice, shouting into my ear to be heard. “I thought you’d never show up!”

I turned in her arms to face her properly. The lights were flashing around us, and I could only make her out in flickers of colors. I don’t know how she recognized me in this setting, because I could barely make her out. She must have been dancing a lot, because her skin was dewy to the touch.

I put my hands around her waist as she had done to me, and she moved her arms up to my neck.

I said something to her but she couldn’t make it out. “What?” she shouted.

I leaned down to say it into her ear. Despite wanting to whisper it, I had to speak somewhat loudly against the music. “You look beautiful.”

She grinned and kissed my cheek. I felt my spirits lift considerably with that one fleeting touch. “Are you going to dance?” she shouted at me.

I shook my head. “I’ve never danced before,” I shouted back.

“It’s easy!” she insisted. Her hands trailed over me to hold me by the hips. I shivered under her light touch. Seol-hee undulated from side to side, her body moving in one smooth wave down from her shoulders to her hips and back. The sight of her moving like that made my breath catch in my throat. She moved back up to talk in my ear again, and I was thrilled at her closeness. “Just have fun.”

It wasn’t as hard to shake off that initial reluctance as I thought it would be. Everyone else seemed to just be mostly rocking back and forth with a bit of wiggle, or jumping up and down whooping at the drops in a song. Once I started, it wasn’t hard to keep up with the majority’s mediocrity.

I could tell though that Seol-hee was better than the average clubber. She often formed a small, reverent circle around her of awestruck onlookers. I was definitely one of them. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was in another one of those revealing outfits she liked to wear to the meets but somehow she looked even more sexy in the flashing lights that only lit her up for a brief tantalizing moment. As she constantly moved, the flashing lights only gave us glimpses of her in motion.

The occasional guy, probably bold from alcohol or drugs, would step towards her and ask her to dance. Every time she would just laugh at them and whirl away, leaving them in disappointment.

I pulled her in to comment on it. “A lot of guys asking you to dance with them,” I half shouted at her. Most of them had been fairly good looking guys, the only ones with enough confidence to approach the stunning Seol-hee.

“I don’t want to dance with them,” she shouted back.

Fair enough, I thought. No girl had approached me, but I doubted if I’d want to dance with a perfect stranger either. Most pairs seemed to be mostly just grinding against each other.

“Do you want to dance?” Seol-hee shouted into my ear. I shivered with excitement at her sudden approach.

“I don’t know how.”

She put my hands on her hips. Lewd memories flashed through my mind, and I took in a sharp breath. Seol-hee put her hands on mine. “Just follow me!”

I don’t know if I was keeping up with Seol-hee but with us so connected, I just let her lead me through the rhythmic movements. At some point Seol-hee seemed satisfied that I knew the basic movement, and her hands started to roam over my chest and waist, making my heart rate spike dangerously. She pushed herself against me and I groaned in appreciation at the feeling of her soft, sensuous body against mine. I ran my hands up along that body, and I felt her shiver slightly against me.

Seol-hee shifted, turning against me so that her back was pressed to my chest. My heart was slamming in my chest again as though it were trying to escape towards her. As she pressed her hips back, I felt myself surge with heat down below at the contact. I almost lost my mind when she started to undulate against me, sliding over the front of me. I grabbed her hips but that didn’t stop that maddening movement of hers that was quickly sending me over the edge of sanity.

She threw her head back against me and I could see her chest bobbing with her panting breaths. That was the last straw for my drugged and drunken mind. I wrapped my arms around her greedily, working my hips against hers. I kissed that perfect pale neck with frantic desperation. I wanted the taste of her skin. I wanted that full contact. I wanted Seol-hee.

I wanted her to want me as badly as I wanted her.

“Jae,” she gasped, suddenly going inert in my arms. She pushed against them. “Jae, let’s go sit for a while.”

It was hard to fight the frustration of that interruption. But we weren’t alone on that dance floor, and I had probably overstepped. I let her lead me off to a table on the side. Disappointment grasped me as we sat. It was quieter here, and after a few moments, the insistent pounding of my heart had settled somewhat. She leaned against me comfortably as we tried to regain our breaths.

After a while, she moved to look me in the eyes and ruffled my hair. “You cut your hair,” she noticed finally. I leaned into her hand and let her ruffle it, feeling comforted and pleased by that friendly touch. She laughed at how complacent I was under her touch. Seol-hee started moving her hands more purposefully through my hair, arranging piece by piece carefully like she was styling it.

“I like it,” she said. Satisfaction and victory danced within me. Thank you James Li, wherever you are. Hopefully not Seoul though.

We looked into each other's eyes with her hands still lingering over my face. She leaned forward slightly and I took the hint aggressively, meeting her with a fierce, longing kiss. Seol-hee hummed appreciatively against my mouth and moved away.

“Is it true you’re in love with Sungmin?” I asked, surprising myself with the sudden question that bubbled up out of nowhere.

“Who told you that?!” Seol-hee’s eyes widened. My heart pinched painfully.

“Eunsoo.”

“That gossipy bitch,” she cursed. We were quiet for a moment, then suddenly Seol-hee surprised me by kissing me aggressively, like I had just done to her. When she let go, she said. “I’m not. Anymore.”

I was drunk off those words and her kiss. I felt like I could float away. I smiled.

“He’s smitten with that stupid old bitch,” she fumed. Even her anger was endearing to me.

“Your sister?”

“I hate her.”

I understood completely.

“What’s so good about Sungmin?” I found myself asking pettily. I didn’t think he was that good looking at all, yet he had caused such a rift between both of the Lee sisters, who were both fairly attractive (especially Seol-hee).

Seol-hee looked at me and laughed. There was an almost crazy pitch to her usual gentle laughter, but I found myself joining in for some reason. It just felt good to laugh. I looked at Seol-hee fondly. I felt like I was completely on the same wavelength as her.

“I liked how dangerous he was. He used to be so unpredictable. Wild. Confident. Risky.” She looked off into the distance with a dangerously dreamy look. But she snapped out of it quickly. “But now he’s totally whipped by my bitch sister. He’s turned into a shitty househusband.”

We laughed again, bordering on hysterics. Seol-hee let me wrap an arm around her as we shook with exaggerated laughter.

“You’re kind of dangerous too,” she said, after we had calmed down. My heart jumped excitedly but my idiot brain had to talk again.

“I’m really not.”

“Yeah you are. You’re even wanted by the NIS.” I opened my mouth to protest but it had been a joke, and I joined Seol-hee in her giddy laughter once more. My heart hummed happily at the bond forming between us. I felt so close to her in this moment.

“And you drive like a maniac,” she said, as though it were a compliment. In my drunken state, I took it as such. I ran my hand through her hair. Its usually silky texture was sticky in some parts, probably from spilled drinks or sweat, and I carefully untangled those bits.

She leaned against me. I shifted so she could be more comfortable.

“Seol-hee, do you like me?” My mind kept producing question after question I could never have asked sober.

“I’m still deciding that,” she answered. It should have disappointed me, but I just felt victorious. It was better than the prognosis that Eunsoo and Ryusuke had suggested. I was right. I was special. Even if it wasn’t all the way there yet, I knew I’d be able to convince her.

I sat up slightly, dislodging her from her previously comfortable position. She looked at me questioningly. The sexual frustration from the dance floor awakened in me again and I desperately craved a different kind of contact with Seol-hee.

She made an adorable surprised sound as I pushed her against the booth, trapping her against its barrier with insistent kisses. She surrendered to it. I had one of her hands pinned to the side, but her free hand moved up to my face to correct my erratic ministrations. It still wasn’t enough. I pushed her more. She couldn’t escape me as I closed in. My other hand pressed on her, roaming up and down over her body and making her squirm.

“Jae,” she begged against my lips. The way she said my name shot straight through me, only inciting me to greater desperation and need. She gasped breathily as my hand went under her dress. My fingers moved her underwear side and dipped slightly into the warm wetness between her legs like how she had showed me before.

Seol-hee cried out and shivered against my body pressing against her. “Jae,” she gasped, sounding as desperate as I felt. “Jae, someone could see.” When I refused to stop she smacked me with a fist.

I stopped, withdrawing my hand. My fingers were slick with her. “I don’t care,” I told her. My aggressive tone drew out another shudder that rocked her body.

“We don’t have to stop,” she said breathily. I didn’t think I could get even more excited but I somehow did. “But let’s go somewhere else.”