My Summer in Seoul

“Oh my gosh!” I couldn’t stop laughing. “Then why are you here?”

“Because”—he finally opened his eyes and met my gaze—“you’re here. Where else would I be?”

My jaw dropped. “What?”

“Just enjoy the moment, Grace. Don’t fill it with your incessant need to make sure there isn’t any silence between us. Sometimes, silence is better than words. Oftentimes, saying nothing at all helps you find yourself, center yourself, and finally discover who you really are.”

Who I really was.

Who was I, really?

Well, that was a loaded question because who I was with Lucas was completely different from who I was with Rae or anyone else. Lucas made me want to fight. He made me want to make him smile. He just… impacted me in a way that made zero sense, especially since I was pretty sure the only reason he’d kissed me was because he was curious and a guy.

“Should we talk about—”

“Nope,” he interrupted as if he knew exactly what I was going to say. “I know you talk when you get nervous, but for once in your life, enjoy the silence, Grace. Every so often, you discover more with silence than you do with words.”

“And what about things other than words? What do you discover then?” I pried.

He moved toward me until his hand was on my thigh, his face close. “You discover that sometimes you just need, you just want… and that’s okay.”

“Okay.” He’d never been this open with me before, this raw, honest, or helpful, and it somehow felt like he’d just made everything better by just speaking, by allowing me to be silent. I loved it even though my heart wouldn’t stop pounding like crazy as I mentally relived our kiss over and over again.

His smile was devastating. “Okay.” He reached for my hand and held it the entire way down to the bottom, squeezing harder and harder as if he was afraid of how fast we were going or how high up we actually were. I liked it. A lot.

And found it was a huge loss, the minute he let me go when the ride ended, almost as if we’d been holding hands for an eternity, forgotten, only to remember just how important it was for us to not touch.

Rae was waiting with Sookie and Jay when we got off the ride, looking extremely annoyed. His eyes kept going from my hand to Lucas’s as if he knew we’d been touching, which would be impossible.

“Have fun?” Jay looked between us, grin ever-present.

“Well…” I laughed it off. “He didn’t puke, so I think that’s a win.”

Rae snorted. “And also a first.”

“You puke every time?” I asked, feeling horrible that he’d gone on the ride because of me when clearly, he’d been terrified and not having a fun moment with me the entire time.

“No!” Lucas said while the rest of the guys said “yes”—loudly.

“Whatever!” Lucas waved us off, completely ignoring the fact that everyone was making fun of his inability to deal with heights. “Where’s Kai? We need to get going.”

Rae stifled a yawn behind his hand. “I think I saw him going for another corn dog. Jay and I can go look over there. You guys start making your way toward the van; just call if you find him and Solia. Dae-Jung already took off since he has an early schedule tomorrow.”

Sookie stayed with Lucas and me as we walked back toward the parking lot, passing more rides we’d missed and a few carnival games that looked fun.

We rounded the corner right before the exit gates and came to a full stop. Lucas put his arm out, stopping Sookie and me.

Kai was hovering over Solia, his hands pressed against the cement wall above her head, his mouth lowered.

She wasn’t doing anything, and then suddenly, her hands were at his shirt, tugging him against her, their mouths fused.

And then everything happened all at once.

Sookie started choking—most likely on his spit or maybe his tongue from gasping too loud.

I tried to avert my eyes but couldn’t really look away.

Lucas cleared his throat as loud as possible.

And then in one final move of total protectiveness, I put my hands in front of Sookie’s eyes like he was some pre-teen who’d never seen soft porn before—not that this was soft porn.

It was one kiss.

One steamy, forbidden kiss.

Kai jumped back, colliding with the gate. Solia stumbled forward, abnormally unsteady on her heels. And both turned to us with guilty expressions.

“She had something in her eye,” Kai all but yelled.

“Yes!” Solia said louder. “It was… he had to get it out because it’s so dark, you know?”

“Was there something in her mouth too?” Lucas asked under his breath, earning a choked laugh from both Sookie and me.

“So, we should go!” Solia clapped her hands and straightened her blazer. “Thank you, Kai, for your… assistance.”

His grin was far from angry, more amused. “Any time.”