Well, that didn’t sound good.
“And what is your confession?” she asked warily.
“All this, the table, the food, it wasn’t me,” he said, looking nervous. “Ki-tae set the table, and HanYin made the food. I’m no good at either of those things. I… don’t generally date, but I wanted this to be… special. So I called them for help.”
“It’s not easy to admit, is it?”
“What?”
“Needing help. I don’t like to admit it either, and that you would tell me this, instead of claiming credit for it, that tells me how much of a good and honest person you are, Cheongul,” she said. “That you would do this for me, it…. Thank you.”
Then he was standing in front of her, cupping her cheek in his hand. He kissed her gently, and Min-su felt it to her toes. “You’re most welcome, but it is I who should thank you for even coming here to begin with.”
“No more of that,” she said, putting two fingers over his lips. “Let’s eat before dinner gets cold. We wouldn’t want HanYin oppa’s efforts to be wasted, would we?”
“No, definitely not.”
Ki-tae
“ARE YOU sure you want to do this today?” Ki-tae asked as he pulled on his hoodie.
“I can’t keep putting it off,” Jin-woo said. “I can’t stay here forever.”
“Why not?” Ki-tae hadn’t meant for the words to come out as sullen as they did, but he liked having Jin-woo in his apartment. He suddenly found himself wrapped in Jin-woo’s arms.
“As much as I love being here with you, I don’t think we’re ready to move in together just yet,” Jin-woo said, giving him a gentle kiss. “We’ve been shoved together by circumstance, and I want to make sure this is… real, if that makes any sense.”
“More than you realize,” Ki-tae said with a sigh. He placed his forehead against Jin-woo’s. “I… really like having you here.”
“I want the chance to make that dinner I promised you for our first date.”
“You can do that here.”
“Ki-tae.”
“All right.” Ki-tae pouted, earning another chuckle from Jin-woo. “You’re still coming to dinner on Sunday, right?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it,” Jin-woo promised, and that eased some of the tension within Ki-tae. He didn’t like the idea of Jin-woo back in his apartment, not while they still hadn’t caught the person who’d broken in. Jin-woo had called the landlord earlier and was assured the locks to his apartment had been changed, but that still didn’t reassure Ki-tae. How had the person gotten the keys to begin with?
“Min-su-ya is meeting us there. She says to help, but I think it’s more of a matter of playing bodyguard,” Jin-woo said as he pulled up his pants. Ki-tae grumbled as that very fine ass was hidden from his view. Jin-woo rolled his eyes. “Ki-tae, focus.”
“I was… until you put your pants on,” Ki-tae said.
“On what we’re supposed to be doing, not my ass.”
“But I like your ass.”
“I know.” Jin-woo smirked as he sashayed, actually sashayed, out of the room. That boy loved playing with fire. If he didn’t watch it, Jin-woo would find himself bent over the couch. Ki-tae grinned. That wasn’t a bad idea.
He stalked out of the bedroom, only to find Jin-woo in the kitchen, putting bottles of water and snacks into an insulated basket. Ki-tae slid up behind him and wrapped his arms around Jin-woo’s waist as he went straight for his throat. Jin-woo’s moans were the sweetest music.
“I love the sounds you make for me,” he purred as he worked his way from one side of Jin-woo’s neck along his nape to the other side. “I love the way you tremble in my arms.”
“Ki-tae,” Jin-woo whimpered. “We have to meet Min-su-ya.”
“You’re being responsible again,” Ki-tae grumbled as he slid his hand beneath Jin-woo’s waistband and stroked him slowly.
“One of us has to be, or we’d never get out of bed!” Jin-woo moaned, bucking his hips into Ki-tae’s grip.
“And this is a problem because?” Ki-tae murmured.
“Because… dammit, Ki-tae… I can’t think when you do that!”
“That would be the point. Thinking is overrated.”
When they finally arrived at Jin-woo’s apartment, Min-su was standing outside the door, arms crossed over her chest, eyebrow up, tapping her foot. She looked pointedly at her watch. “I’d ask what took so long, but I can smell you from here.”
“It’s all Ki-tae’s fault,” Jin-woo said.
“And he doesn’t look the least bit repentant.” Min-su chuckled.
“I’m not,” Ki-tae admitted with a grin.
“The landlord recognized me, so he gave me the new keys. He had to go help his niece,” she said as she unlocked the door. “I didn’t want to go in without you. Didn’t think I’d have to wait for over an hour and a half, though.”
“Again, Ki-tae’s fault,” Jin-woo said.
Ki-tae could see him bracing himself to go into the apartment. It was hell to have a haven violated. His family had been burned out of a few homes when they had ventured out of Asia. It wasn’t pretty, but they had survived and were still together, and that was all that mattered. He took hold of Jin-woo’s hand, giving him an encouraging smile when Jin-woo looked at him. Then they all went through the door and around the little corner.
“Okay, now this is beyond all sorts of fucked-up,” Min-su declared.
Ki-tae had to agree with the assessment. All the broken furnishings and knickknacks had been replaced with what appeared to be the exact same items. All the stuffing had been removed in addition to the shredded pieces of Jin-woo’s artwork and lyrics. What made it truly disturbing were the pictures of Ki-tae all over every available surface, every wall, every table, taped to the stairs and the windows. Each one with angry red slashes all over them.
“Either someone really hates Ki-tae or really hates good art, or both,” Min-su said quietly. “I’m going with both.”
“These are my drawings,” Jin-woo said softly. “Every one of them, they’re from my stolen sketchbooks. They tore apart my sketchbooks.”
Ki-tae muttered something very nasty in Japanese. He pulled Jin-woo into his arms and away from the second assault on his sense of safety. He could feel the trembling in Jin-woo’s body. If he ever caught this person, there would be no mercy.
As he tried to comfort Jin-woo, he watched Min-su move through the room, sniffing so delicately it was adorable, even amid the macabre setting. When she returned to them, Min-su shook her head. There was still something messing with the scent markers that should normally be there. Whoever this was, they were clever.
“When did the landlord say he changed the locks?” Ki-tae asked softly, stroking Jin-woo’s hair.
“The day before yesterday,” Jin-woo answered as he lifted his head, wiping at his eyes.
“So this had to have been done before that,” Min-su said. “Have you talked to the police?”
“They said they’re still investigating.” Jin-woo sighed, and then he pulled himself up straight and stepped out of Ki-tae’s embrace. Ki-tae didn’t like it, but he didn’t fuss either. Jin-woo was pulling himself together, and that was more important than what Ki-tae might feel now. “I doubt they’ve made any real effort, though.”
“Good thing we don’t work that way,” Ki-tae said as he pulled out his phone.
Five minutes later, Shin-bai walked into the room.
“This is not good.”
“No, it’s not,” Jin-woo said, and his tone made Ki-tae look at him. He smiled at what he saw. Jin-woo was pissed, and that was a good sign. A scared Jin-woo was not a good thing, in his book, but Jin-woo looking as if he wanted to kick someone’s ass? Yeah, he could get behind that. It meant Jin-woo would not let this color how he behaved. He would not let this get to him, even though it was an invasion and a violation. “This is my space, dammit. Who in the hell gave this asshole the right to come in and fuck it up? I’d like to meet them, bec
ause I have a few choice words.”
“That’s my Jin-woo-ya.” Min-su laughed. “You aren’t as meek and mild as you seem!”
“Tell me about it,” Ki-tae purred.
“Not now, Ki-tae,” Jin-woo growled, and then he tilted his head. “Maybe later, though.”
“And that is my cue to… I don’t know, go to the bathroom or something,” Min-su said while Ki-tae just waggled his eyebrows with a smirk.
“This is an escalation,” Shin-bai said as he moved through the living room. “More than likely the culprit was expecting you to be home when they returned. When you were not, they probably went searching to see where you had gone. I would say they probably found out about your work at BLE from the college. It is entirely possible they followed you to Ki-tae dongsaeng’s place, and that triggered this response.”
“Do we still think this relates to the attacks on me?” Ki-tae asked.
“It is hard to say,” Shin-bai said as he tapped out a text on his phone and then began taking pictures. “It is still a possibility, although there is a chance they are unrelated, I would not eliminate the likelihood of a connection.”
“I am not going to be run out of my apartment again,” Jin-woo said.
“Of course not,” Ki-tae said as he turned Jin-woo to face him. “If you’ll let me, I’d like to stay the night with you, at least for tonight.”
Jin-woo said, “I don’t want this person thinking they’ve gotten to me, though.”
“Just one night.” Ki-tae didn’t want to leave Jin-woo alone. He would probably only agree to one night, but there were other ways to keep an eye on him without being in the same room. Ki-tae didn’t need that much sleep, anyway.
“I’ll think about it.”
“The police should be here shortly,” Shin-bai said. “I have sent the photos to my team. We are still trying to get the security footage from the management company. They are not being very cooperative. I do not wish to involve Soon-joon-nim, but I will if I have to.”
“Just sic Hyun-jo hyung on them,” Ki-tae said. “That’s almost as bad but equally effective as Abeoji.”
“Is it just me, or does Hyun-jo seonbae seem to stand up a little straighter when Soon-joon-nim’s around?” Min-su said absently as she wandered to the windows and looked out. “I think there’s a little crush happening there.”
“I noticed a little tension there too,” Jin-woo said. “How long has he been with the company?”
“I…. Come to think of it, Hyun-jo hyung has always been around,” Ki-tae said.
“He has been with Soon-joon-nim longer than I have. I know this,” Shin-bai said.
“He has a way of getting exactly what Abeoji needs and or wants in the shortest amount of time,” Ki-tae said. “If the company isn’t responding to our security team’s efforts, Hyun-jo hyung would be the next step… unless you want to handle it, Shin-bai-ssi?”
“His approach would be more… agreeable than mine,” Shin-bai said honestly.
“Then call him,” Ki-tae said. “We need that footage. If they were giving us difficulty, they probably gave the police just as much, if not more trouble. See if the detective in charge was able to get a copy of the footage.”
Shin-bai nodded in response just as there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it while Ki-tae and the others waited inside. When he came back, it was with the same two officers from the previous break-in. He wasn’t happy about that, but there was little Ki-tae could do. The questioning went along the same lines as last time, setting not only Ki-tae’s teeth on edge, but Min-su’s as well. Jin-woo wasn’t as subdued this time around, and the officers seemed to respond to the change in his attitude differently. They weren’t quite as demanding in their questions. It was as if they suddenly realized this wasn’t some overreaction. Yet the second man, Officer Kim, seemed to take offense at even being called to the scene.
“Could this be an ex-girlfriend?” Officer Kim asked. “Some women get incredibly emotional and obsessed.”
“It hardly seems likely, as I’m gay,” Jin-woo said. He crossed his arms over his chest, as if daring the officers to say something about his sexual orientation. He was getting feisty, and Ki-tae barely contained his response to Jin-woo’s aggression. Min-su slapped him in the arm as she covered her nose with the back of her hand. Ki-tae simply shrugged. He couldn’t stop the way his body responded to Jin-woo, and he wasn’t about to try.
“Did you lead any girls on? Give them the impression you were interested when you weren’t?” Officer Kim asked. Ki-tae tensed.
“That has to be one of the most offensives questions I have ever been asked,” Jin-woo said, his tone cold. “Have women expressed an interest in dating me? Yes, and I have very politely turned them down. If they ask why, I give them the honest answer. To imply otherwise is rude and insulting.”
“I apologize for my colleague,” Officer Lee said, glaring at his partner. “That was, indeed, an inappropriate question.”
“You should not have to apologize for someone else’s rudeness,” Min-su said.
“It’s an honest question,” Officer Kim said.
“No, it really isn’t,” Ki-tae said. “You’re trying to blame Jin-woo. He has no control over someone else’s behavior. No one deserves to have their home invaded and their sense of safety violated. You’ve implied that, because he’s gay, he is the type of person to lead another on, and thus is deserving of what this person has done. That isn’t an honest question. That’s a bigoted one.”
“We’re done here,” Jin-woo said. “You’ve taken all the pictures and gathered everything that you could. I’ll not be disrespected in my own home from someone who is supposed to be serving the public and protecting them from people such as this, but instead chooses to insult them.”
“Now wait a minute.”
“Gentlemen.” Shin-bai stepped in, a pleasant smile on his face that was anything but reassuring. “Jin-woo dongsaeng has expressed the desire for you to leave. Any further communication with him will be done through our offices.”
“Since when does a multimillion-dollar entertainment company handle such things for a small-time college student intern?” Officer Kim said.
“Kim Jang-gyo,” Shin-bai said, and Ki-tae knew the honorific was left off on purpose. Shin-bai was annoyed, and that was never a good thing. “We of BL Entertainment take care of all our employees. We are not just a company. We are a family, and we take care of our own. Jin-woo dongsaeng may be one of the newest members of our clan, but he is no less than even the president. She would be most displeased to hear of his treatment at the hands of the local authorities.”
“Are you threatening us?” Officer Kim demanded.
“I am merely stating fact, janggyo. How you choose to take it is entirely dependent on you,” Shin-bai said. “Shall I walk you out, gentlemen?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Officer Lee said as he grabbed his partner’s arm. “We have to talk to the landlord before we leave. Thank you very much for your time. We will make every effort to catch this criminal.”
“I appreciate your efforts, Lee Janggyo-nim,” Jin-woo said.
Ki-tae barely waited for the click of the closed door. Heedless of anyone else, he pulled Jin-woo into his arms and kissed him senseless, backing him up against the counter. Jin-woo wrapped his arms around Ki-tae’s neck and opened to his kiss.
“Okay, our cue to leave, Shin-bai oppa. We really don’t want to be around for this,” Min-su said. “See you two tomorrow… maybe.”
Ki-tae waved them away, not releasing Jin-woo’s mouth. He kept him pressed firmly against the counter. When he heard the door click closed, he filled his hands with that delectable ass and lifted until Jin-woo wrapped his legs around his waist. Slowly he rocked his hips, grinding their erections together through their clothes. Finally they both had to breathe, so he shifted his attention to Jin-woo’s jawline, placing small nipping kisses along the edge. He nudged with his nose until Jin-woo tilted his head, giving
him greater access. Then Ki-tae licked along the line of his neck. He sank his fangs into Jin-woo’s artery slowly, letting him feel the length of them, the sharpness.
“Ki-tae,” Jin-woo moaned, bucking his hips as hot wetness spread between them. Ki-tae growled against his flesh as he came. He continued to draw from Jin-woo for a few moments before pulling his fangs free and sealing the wounds. Then he let his legs buckle, and they sank to the floor. Ki-tae tucked his head in the curve of Jin-woo’s neck, panting.
“You made a mess of me again.” Ki-tae lifted his head when he heard the amusement in Jin-woo’s voice. He found him smiling broadly, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “You realize I’m going to have to return the favor at some point.”
Ki-tae smiled. “You already did, but feel free to do it again. I look forward to it.”
“Do you have any idea how incredibly fucking hot it is when you bite slowly?” Jin-woo asked as Ki-tae stood up, still holding him in his arms.
He took his lips once more in a leisurely kiss as he carried Jin-woo up into his bedroom. Gently he laid him on the bed and drew back. Jin-woo’s hands still rested on his shoulders. His lips were kiss swollen and his pupils were blown. He was so incredibly beautiful he made Ki-tae’s heart ache. A part of him felt guilty. He should tell Jin-woo about the bond, about how strong it was for Ki-tae. He didn’t want Jin-woo to doubt his feelings, but how could he want that when even he doubted them? The desire had been there from the beginning. It was what caused the initial issue, but now Ki-tae was scared. He didn’t know how much was actually him and how much wasn’t. Yet when he should leave Jin-woo alone, not touch him, make love to him, until everything was out in the open, Ki-tae couldn’t bring himself to do that. He wasn’t that strong.
“What’s wrong, Ki-tae?” Jin-woo furrowed his brow with his concern.
“Nothing. I… I can’t talk about it, yet,” Ki-tae said, feeling like a coward.
“Okay,” Jin-woo said. He tugged on Ki-tae’s neck, pulling him down for another kiss. The next thing Ki-tae knew, he was on his back with Jin-woo straddling his hips. “I believe it’s my turn to make a mess of you.”
Night Kiss Page 32