by J. S. Lee
“No one is paying any attention to me,” JongB said, glancing around. “They’re paying more attention to you.”
He wasn’t wrong. Looks of curiosity were being sent in my direction. It wasn’t because I was the most stunning creature to be walking the river. I mean, hey, I wasn’t unattractive at all. I just happened to be tall, white, blue-eyed, and currently with blonde hair (albeit a shade of peroxide), walking hand-in-hand with an Asian.
I pulled the hood of my jacket up, appreciating the faux-fur lining as it gave a little more protection to my face. JongB may well have been used to people staring at him, but it was weird to me, even if it wasn’t malicious.
We stopped at several points to take photographs, enjoying the sights and each other’s company, until we had to head back to the hotel. I could have stayed out longer; the area by the river, despite the people, was peaceful, but beside me, JongB kept yawning. I could see he was trying hard to hide it, so I started yawning myself.
The route we took led us down one of the busier streets with lots of expensive fashion brands. Although we were trying to get back to our hotel, I couldn’t help but stop every few minutes to take pictures. Unlike JongB, I had never been to Shanghai before.
Suddenly, JongB let out a grunt of frustration, pulling me off down one of the much smaller, much quieter, side streets. “I’m sure this is the wrong direction,” I told him.
JongB stopped, whirling around, and yanked his mask down. “I don’t care. I’ve been wanting to do this all evening.”
Despite the fact we were standing in the middle of a road, he jerked me to him, his hands wrapping around my back as he tipped me backwards and kissed me. My attempt at a startled squeal was silenced as he slid his tongue into my mouth, kissing me eagerly.
I was clinging onto his jacket, trusting that he wouldn’t let me fall despite my angle, but hell, I kissed him back. In the back of my mind, it was entertaining. This position was the kind of thing that occurred in a Disney movie and the way he was kissing me was definitely not anything that would ever be suitable for children to view.
It was the rain which broke us apart. JongB pulled back, looking down at me. “I’ve wanted to do that all day.”
I looked up at him as the rain fell heavier. “This wasn’t quite what I imagined when you said you were going to get me wet.”
Just like that, I was upright, JongB holding tightly to my hand as he led me back to the hotel with a heated determination. About a block away, the rain coming down was more like a high-powered pressure shower. By the time we stumbled into the hotel (no longer holding hands), we were drenched.
Sungmin was waiting in the lobby. “Where have you been?” he demanded.
JongB sheepishly held up a hand. “My fault, hyungnim. I led us down the wrong street.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Sungmin muttered, shaking his head. “Be ready for breakfast at seven. Youngbin wants to practice and you have press and interviews before the show in the afternoon, so it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” He gave us a sympathetic look. “Go dry off, the both of you.”
I didn’t dare look at JongB as Sungmin escorted us up in the elevator. Sungmin caught my gaze in the elevator’s mirrored reflection. “I’m sorry. Next time, I won’t let you walk around with just JongB. He has no sense of direction at all.”
I gave him a polite nod of agreement. On our floor, I said goodnight to them both and then stepped into my room. So as not to drip water everywhere, my first port of call was the bathroom, which was thankfully the first door after entering the room. I took my coat off, my top, at least, dry underneath, and hung it up over the bathtub.
I had just gotten my shoes and soaked socks off when there was a knock at the door. For some reason, I was expecting it to be Sungmin. I certainly wasn’t expecting JongB to be there. His hair was still wet, but he had replaced his clothes with a pair of basketball shorts and a sweater.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed at him. “What if Sungmin leaves his room?”
“I guess you’d best let me in before he catches us,” JongB shrugged, giving me a mischievous smile.
I stepped back, letting him, then made double sure that the door was locked and bolted with every security feature in place. In all honesty, I did not expect anyone to come in, but I wasn’t going to risk it.
I turned back only to have JongB wrap his arms around me, pinning me against the wall as he kissed me. He tasted of mint: the guy must have moved like lightning to get changed and brush his teeth.
I pulled back and he tilted his head at me. “I need a couple of minutes,” I told him. “Go wait on the bed,” I added, waving him away.
JongB pouted then did as he was told.
I ducked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I was in my skinny jeans which were soaked through still. Skinny jeans were not easy to get off when they were dry. This was something which most definitely did not need an audience.
Given how difficult it was to get them off, and how not-gracefully I accomplished it, I was glad I had opted to do this in the bathroom. I also took the opportunity to run a brush through my hair and brush my teeth, ridding my mouth of that lingering McDonalds taste.
I left my underwear on. It was emerald green and cute as fuck with little black bows and the occasional diamante detailing. It was one of the sets I’d bought in Osaka, and it was something that needed to be showed off. Plus, the cut of the panties made my butt look great.
With a quick pinch of my cheeks, I stepped out of the bathroom and returned to the main room. JongB had drawn the curtains and turned off all the lights apart from one lamp at the bed.
“Sorry about that,” I said, walking to the bed. “But it will be worth the…” I trailed off, leaning over.
JongB was asleep.
He’d lost the sweater but was wearing the basketball shorts still. With his hands behind his head, I thought he had been waiting for me, but his eyes were closed. “JongB?” I said, softly.
Nothing.
I chewed at my lower lip, then blew out a breath. I didn’t have the heart to wake him. It was already past midnight, and if we had to be at breakfast early so they could spend a full day practicing and performing, he needed to rest.
I won’t pretend I wasn’t disappointed, but he looked so relaxed. Instead, I went to the closet and pulled out the spare blanket so that I didn’t have to disturb him. I draped it over him as gently as possible. He stirred in his sleep, rolling onto his side, but he didn’t wake up. And then I discovered Nate had been right: JongB snored.
Yawning, I got into bed on the other side of him. I lay there for a while, then finally decided the reason I felt so uncomfortable was the bra. I took it off, flinging it to the side, then curled up. Beside me, JongB was happily snoring away. It wasn’t completely irritating, but it did keep me awake. In the end I rolled up and prodded him. “JongB,” I hissed.
“Mmmm.”
“You’re snoring.”
He rolled over, capturing me in his arms. “I don’t snore,” he murmured.
“Yeah, you do,” I corrected him, but he had already gone back to sleep. At least now, for the time being, he was silent.
제 12 장
Wake Me Up
I was having the most wonderful dream. And by wonderful, it was kind of filthy. I wasn’t quite sure who it involved because one moment the hands belonged to Jiwon, and the next moment, they belonged to Youngbin of all people, then Xiao made an appearance before the person seemed to morph into JongB. Hell, it could have been all four of them.
Slowly, things started to become less hazy. A mouth was sucking and kissing at my neck. Something hard, yet familiar, was poking into the small of my back. And best of all, fingers were playing with my clit.
Then those fingers did something that had me opening my eyes, arching my back and crying the word “fuck!” a lot.
It wasn’t a dream.
I was being awoken by fingers that weren’t mine.
F
ingers that were relentless.
Ignoring the fact that I was coming, fingers slipped inside me. I reached up, pulling JongB’s head to mine kissing him frantically. JongB moved, just enough to slip another finger in me and move his thumb back to my clit. I thought he was drawing out my orgasm. Fuck no, he made me come again.
I writhed under him as his mouth swallowed my cries.
JongB removed his fingers from inside me but kept them playing lazily with me. “Good morning,” he murmured, nipping at my neck.
“Oh fuck,” I sighed, unable to open my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I was still experiencing the after effects of those orgasms, or if JongB was creating the small spasms that shot up me. “That was… fuck.”
“That was your wakeup call,” he muttered, still kissing, still sucking at my neck. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“My alarm clock has been fired,” I whispered. JongB changed the pressure and I couldn’t stop the whimper.
“That sound right there, is a better alarm clock alarm,” JongB told me. “So, I think we both win.”
“You need to stop that, or I’m going to-” I didn’t finish the sentence as he gently turned my head and kissed me, his tongue going deep into my mouth, playing with my tongue.
His fingers left me, despite my swallowed objections, but only for him to pull me back towards him, raising my leg. As soon as I felt his cock at my opening, I obliged by lifting my leg higher. He entered me, the angle filling me. “Fuck!” I cried, breaking away from him.
His hand held my thigh as he thrust into me, harder, faster. Flesh hitting against flesh.
And then I had my third orgasm, JongB close behind.
I lay there, trying to catch my breath and find my sanity. I felt like JongB had just fucked all rational thought out of my brain. Finally, I rolled over to face him. He had a smug smile on his face, but his eyes were closed. “I think I’m going to keep you,” I told him.
“I think that’s a good idea,” he agreed.
“Are you going to go back to sleep?” I asked, stretching out. JongB nodded. He opened his arms, inviting me in. As soon as I scooted over, he pulled me close. I sighed, nuzzling into him. His skin was hot, but it was welcoming. I was just about to fall asleep myself when a panicked thought hit me. “What time is it?”
“Sleepy time,” JongB murmured.
I sat up, leaning over him to grab my phone.
“Or maybe it’s playtime again,” he said, reaching up for my breast.
“Playtime needs to wait,” I informed him, batting his hand away. “It’s seven.”
“That’s fine: we don’t have to be downstairs for another half hour.”
“And what time do you plan on going back to your room?” I demanded. I pulled back the covers. “You still need to go to your room. Do you want to risk leaving mine at the same time as Manager Sungmin does?”
JongB stared at me, unblinking. Then he groaned. “Shit.” With another groan, he got up off the bed.
“You might want to sort that out too,” I said, pointing at his half erect penis, a condom still on it.
JongB glanced down at it then rolled his eyes. “Morning wood. It’s cool,” he shrugged as he tossed the condom in the trash. He pulled his shorts and sweatshirt on, meeting me as I got off the bed. He gave me a quick kiss. “This; needs repeating on a regular basis,” he declared before stepping back to look at me. “Simba,” he added.
“Simba?” I repeated, confused. “Don’t you mean Nala? And why the Disney reference?”
“No, I mean Simba,” he said, before hurrying out of the room.
Lord, he was weird. Was that supposed to be one of his puns? Did Simba mean something in Korean? I didn’t have time to think about it as I darted into the bathroom.
Which was when I noticed my reflection.
Going to bed with wet hair, plus morning sex, equaled one hot mess. My hair looked like a lion’s mane. No wonder he had called me Simba.
Cringing, I decided I was having the world’s fastest shower. I was out less than ten minutes later, charging around the room to get dressed and throw all the last-minute items into my case. I hadn’t even dried properly when I was pulling my clothes on. As for my hair, I split it, braiding it into two pigtails.
I made it downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant only five minutes late. JongB was already there, his hair also wet from a shower, staring at me, smugly. I shot him a glower then went to get breakfast. I piled my plate high with the weird combination of western food they had. JongB had really worked up my appetite this morning.
It wasn’t until I was midway through my breakfast that I picked up on the strange mood at the table. Despite the fact they had a concert today, everyone was subdued. The only two talking were Jiwon and JongB, though given that they were sat at their own table and huddled together, they could well have been talking about me and JongB.
“Is everything OK?” I asked Sungmin, quietly.
He shook his head. “There was more backlash over Xiao being missing tonight on SNS. A fan site took pictures of him in Seoul, out having chicken and beer with a member of H3RO and HIM.”
“Him who?”
Sungmin gave me a confused look, before his eyes widened in understanding. “HIM is a group at another company.”
“Next question: what’s a fan site?”
“What it sounds like,” he explained. “A website that is run by a dedicated fan. They will organize gifts, meet them at the airports, usually turn up to all the events; they’re the ones at concerts with the cameras to rival yours.”
So that’s who they were!
“What’s the problem with that? He still has to eat,” I shrugged.
Sungmin nodded. “Many are saying that he should show respect to his Chinese fans. That means he shouldn’t be going out and enjoying himself.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked in amazement.
“It’s not uncommon for fans to react like this,” Sungmin added, sounding surprisingly calm, considering. “Xiao is from Shanghai, so he’s a local celebrity too. However, Xiao’s fans are Onyx fans. They’re passionate about Xiao but they will still be there to support the rest of the group.” He was speaking to me, I think, because his attention was on CX.
I looked over at the maknae. His breakfast was barely touched.
“We should get to the venue,” Youngbin declared, getting to his feet. Slowly, the others started following his lead and we went out to the minibuses. While Onyx and Sungmin were in the first, I was with the rest of the team and the luggage in the second.
It was just after 8:30 when we arrived at the venue and there were already fans queuing. That made me feel more reassured: I hadn’t realized until then, but in the back of my mind, I had been worried they were going to boycott the concert.
Onyx went straight inside while I helped the team unload all the cases into a secure room in the venue, then went to see what Sungmin needed from me.
The guys were already on the stage, running through a soundcheck, and once again, Youngbin seemed stressed. I was aware that he wanted things to be right, but the tension was all I could see up there. Even JongB, who had seemed so relaxed only a few hours ago, was now dancing with moves that looked strained.
I thought things would get better after lunch. With something to eat, they had some time to relax before they tackled their interviews. Sungmin had asked me to be in the room, taking photographs so they could use them for a tour DVD or something to that effect. I didn’t mind.
The interviews were in Chinese. Without Xiao, it seemed the next most fluent member was MinMin, but Onyx had an interpreter. I followed some of it. A lot of the questions got repetitive as the afternoon wore on: tell us about the album, tell us about the tour.
And then came a question no one seemed to be expecting. MinMin reacted first, looking startled. Then the interpreter, who wasn’t part of our team, but someone who had been brought in for the show, recited the question in Korean and the rest of the group froze up.
/> I wasn’t sure what the question was. I’d picked up on CX and Xiao’s names, and if I had to guess, it was something along the lines of ‘why is CX replacing Xiao?’ but I wasn’t convinced. Onyx seemed too uncomfortable for it to be that. The sly smile on the interviewer’s face also didn’t add up.
Youngbin reacted first, replacing the surprise with a refined smile, and he answered politely. I think he was saying something about the interviewer being mistaken.
I tapped at the side of my camera as I watched, promising myself I was going to dig the Korean language textbooks from the bottom of my suitcase and learn more at every available opportunity.
The interviewer asked another question and it seemed to get a similar reaction. Once more Youngbin responded, keeping his cool. This time, Sungmin stepped in, informing them that their time was up.
As the interviewer left the room to be replaced by another, I could see the looks shared by most of the group. The only one not joining in the silent conversation was CX; he was too busy staring at the table in front of him.
Not caring whether it was my place to or not, I scooped six fresh bottles of mango juice off the refreshment table and hurried over with them, heading straight to CX first. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room as I unscrewed the lid and pushed it to CX.
When he looked up at me with big quizzical eyes, I gave him a bright smile. “You’re all looking a bit peaky. It’s not great for photographs,” I informed him, before moving down the table. “It was mango juice or water, and mango juice has Vitamin C and A in it. I think you could all do with a boost right now. And it’s good for other things too,” I added with a wink, as I gave a bottle to Jiwon. Mango was good for a healthy sex drive, or so I’d read. I had no idea if it was true, but it earned me a snort from JongB.
During the interviews, I’d also learned that mangos were CX’s favorite food. It wasn’t a mango, but as I looked down the table, I could see him drinking with a small smile on his face. I knew it wasn’t going to solve any problems, but it was serving as a distraction, which was my intention.