My Summer in Seoul

“Well, no, he’s a friend—”

He rolled his hips against mine.

Oh shit, I could feel him, every inch. “Do you want this?”

“Yes, yes!” I blindly reached for him.

“That’s too bad.” He winked, already pulling away. “Because I have a really early day tomorrow, so I need to get going…” He legit started getting out of the bed.

I gawked. “You’re kidding, right?”

“What? Are you gonna tie me up?” His laugh was pure evil. “I imagine you won’t be thinking about Rae’s kiss tonight when you fall asleep, Grace.” He was already at the door. “Think of me instead.”

“You’re a dick!” I hissed, ready to throw a hard object at him.

“You want my dick?” He frowned. “Grace, that’s not very ladylike; you should probably go say some prayers, repent a bit. Lust is a sin, you know.”

“So is murder!” I raged.

He threw his head back and laughed. “And to think I was having such a shit night with how jealous I was…” He opened the door a crack. “Get some sleep… and Grace?”

“What, asshole?”

He laughed harder yet kept it soft like he was trying not to wake everyone up. “I really, really like you. Don’t feel bad, all right?”

My entire body tingled. Oh my gosh, he likes me! While simultaneously, outrage hit that he’d gotten me all hot and bothered and was leaving pulsed through me.

“Enjoy your cold shower,” I grumbled. “And I don’t like you!”

“Yes, you do,” he called back.

I was tempted to flash him, but that would be petty and immature, so I stuck out my tongue instead—because that was so much more mature—and flipped onto my side, smiling as I fell asleep to the memory of his touch on my skin.

Later that morning, after a ton of caffeine to make up for the restless sleep and sex-infused dreams, I was still buzzing from the way Lucas had completely manhandled me in the best way…

I was having a hard time concentrating, and we were at one of the coolest places ever, so I was annoyed with myself. It was called Let’s Run Park and had actual horse races you could bet on, food, drinks. Agh! It was so cool, and I wanted to explore so badly, but the guys had a mini concert to perform for their diehard fan club. We were at capacity, and security was tight.

The screaming literally hadn’t stopped since the guys arrived.

Uncle Siu was backstage with us, which I found weird until Solia told me he’d actually been their manager before the label took off and didn’t want to quit on the first group that hit it big—that was why Siu was so heavily involved. She was his second hand in everything and knew the ins and outs, and since he’d started the company as their manager—he wanted to stay that way even though he couldn’t dedicate as much time to the group. That was why he used interns and other assistants within the label to help. Would have been nice to know that sooner, but it all finally made sense to me.

Plus, SWT wasn’t a new group, so they were able to navigate for the most part without the trauma of being a fourth-generation K-pop band—man, I was learning fast—that was just getting tossed into the industry like lambs to the slaughter.

I should have asked my uncle more questions, but it made me feel dumb and felt invasive, so I was glad I was finally getting more answers out of Solia. Ha! Ever since we caught her and Kai, it was like she couldn’t do enough to help, which made sense since I was sure she worried I would rat her out.

Um, no, not when I was in a similar situation. Not that she knew it.

I was totally going to keep that to myself. I could only imagine what the conversation would be like: you have to keep a secret, but Lucas and I keep making out, and now he’s not struggling as much, but also… I may be crossing a line I can’t help but cross, and I like him… I really like him. I also take my duties very personally but clearly not in this… um, er way

Ugh, that wasn’t even it, though, and I was still worried sick about him. I know he didn’t think I noticed, but he still had those moments off-stage, when the light left his eyes briefly like he was drained or maybe just so tired of being so many things to so many people.

I wanted to ask him about it, but the last time we tried to get personal, we both got distracted. I promised myself that I’d try again, that we’d figure it out as the days progressed, and that right now under as much stress as they all were, it wasn’t the time to dive into what was making that darkness show and how we could keep it at bay.