She’s looking up at him, smiling.
And he’s staring down at her like it’s more than friendship, even though I know it’s my own insecurity crashing through me.
It’s like déjà vu.
What the hell?
He pushes a piece of hair from her face, and I immediately want to murder him. What’s he doing? He knows how I feel—or I guess he should know or assume or…shit. Have I even told him how deep everything goes now? Am I reading too much into this? Is it just a friendly interaction?
“Hey,” I bark like I’m losing it. “We should probably get back in there.”
“Oh, yeah.” Haneul gives me a funny look and then shrugs and walks off, leaving Ah-Ri standing there staring at me.
I nearly growl as I back her against the wall.
The door to the practice room shuts.
I stare her down. “What was that?”
She laughs and then covers her mouth. “Oh, you’re serious?”
“Dead. Serious.” I press my hand against the wall by her head.
Her breath hitches.
And I do it.
I kiss her, this time not caring who sees, even if it’s Haneul or Jisoo, even if it’s the CEO, even if I get into trouble. Because I can’t stop from feeling when I’m around her. It’s not some need to mark my territory—it’s my need to make her mine and make sure she knows that I’m not going to take the easy way out this time. I’m going to choose to love her, to show her as much as I can, even though I’m risking everything.
Our mouths meet in a frenzy that has my entire body exploding as if I’ve just been set on fire. I don’t ever want to go back. I’ll taste her forever. I’ll die this way.
With a smile on my face.
She moans against my mouth.
“Hey. Um, guys.” Jisoo’s voice sounds as we break apart. “We should probably do more practicing, less kissing.”
I don’t even know what to say.
Until Jisoo bursts out laughing and mumbles, “Knew it.”
I wipe my mouth and pry myself away from Ah-Ri. “Sorry.”
She elbows me. “Don’t be. I’m not.”
Touché.
God, I want to chase her down the hall and tackle her to the floor. Instead, I get to go sweat with everyone else when I’d really rather fucking sweat with her in my arms.
It feels like years until we’re done with practice and back at our apartment, with both girls exhausted and starving. We order more takeout.
“Look,” Jisoo says through bites. “If we just fix the lyrics on this one, I think we’ll be good.”
It’s one of my favorites of the songs we have, and I think the concept could be really exciting.
Haneul looks at her chicken scratch. “Actually, that works. It sounds more powerful if we repeat it.”
“Yup.” Jisoo pats herself on the back.
“So, what’s your story?” I ask. “How long have you been training?”
Jisoo looks away and swallows her last bite. “Four years. I, um, I just don’t want to give up.”
“Nobody does,” Ah-Ri says. “It’s mainly stubbornness, sadness, and starvation at this point.”
Haneul laughs. “This is what I want to know. Besides the things we’ve already discussed, why did you always hate us so much, Ah-Ri? I mean, seriously.”
“Good-looking boys,” Jisoo answers for her, “are always easy to hate because it seems like they have it easy. So…yeah.”
“Plus,” Ah-Ri adds, “no offense, but both of you are super-rich. It’s aggravating. I mean, you don’t have to work hard, and could have easily just followed in your fathers’ footsteps. It’s both annoying and admirable.”
“We choose to,” Haneul says quickly. “Which still means hard work and doing what we love, despite all the hate we get from our families for it.”
I can tell Ah-Ri feels guilty. Her expression falls. “That’s true.”
I nudge her. “No hard feelings.”
“None.” Haneul reaches for her hand.
I literally want to chop his off. Instead, I cough and look back at my food while Jisoo rolls her eyes and laughs. “Nice.”
I ignore her and look down at my phone. “We have a few more days to perfect this. We should probably practice tomorrow again at seven or eight, then pray we don’t suck.”
“Sleep.” Haneul gets up. “I’m gonna go get right on that. See you guys in the morning bright and early. Don’t stay up too late.”
“Never.” Jisoo looks between Ah-Ri and me, her smile less shy. She gets up and yawns. “I’ll just be on my way.”
“Yeah, same.” Ah-Ri stands.
She’s clearly walking slower.
The door opens, and Jisoo leaves.
When it clicks shut, I swear I hear the entire room buzz with tension. I grab Ah-Ri from behind and back her against the wall, my mouth on hers before she can protest. The sound of Haneul in the bathroom has us moving down the hall.
And then it’s my room.
And it’s us.
I slam the door shut.
“Hey, man.” Haneul’s voice sounds. I gently cup my hand over Ah-Ri’s mouth, feeling her full lips against my palm. “I just wanted you to know, I appreciate you. I know it’s been a rough few years with your sister and with us trying to make this work.”