My Summer in Seoul

He parked across the street from an older apartment building. It was about eight stories, a lot smaller and less intimidating than the guys’ place.

“What now? Are you just going to walk up to the apartment and ask to speak to the girl that ruined Lucas’s life?” Jay asked.

“Of course not.” I rolled my eyes because, yeah, that was exactly what I was going to do. I just needed… “Ah, there we go, pizza. Damn, I should have been a spy in another life…”

“You’re crazy.” Jay shook his head. “So, you’re going to walk up to her door then reward her with food?”

“Nobody turns down a free pizza.” I pumped a fist into the air triumphantly. “Nobody.”

A few sweaty and terrifying minutes later, where I attempted not to botch a pizza order from the place across the street by using my app, and I was ready to go.

The box was hot on my fingertips as I jogged back to the van and quickly got in the front seat again.

“Why is she sweating?” Jay asked nobody in general.

“Because sting operations are stressful!” I huffed. “And I’ve never ordered pizza in Korea.”

“Pizza is pizza.” Jay smirked.

I glared. “How was I supposed to know that.”

“You don’t get out much, do you?” he fired back.

Ignoring him, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Is Lucas ready?”

Lucas started getting out of the van.

Rae locked eyes with me. “Don’t get caught.”

“This isn’t my first stakeout.” I winked.

“I suddenly feel sorry for Kevin,” Jay said under his breath.

“Heard that.”

“You were meant to.” He laughed.

I stuck out my tongue like a three-year-old, then realized he couldn’t actually see it and got a crap ton of face mask pressed against my tongue. Wow, I was regressing in my maturity the longer I stayed away from home.

“Shoot, wait.” I stumbled out of the van like I had zero grace. Why had my mom picked that name, of all names? “Can one of you tell Lucas I need him to keep the pizza box in front of his face at all times just in case? I’ll come up with some excuse about training him how to deliver… Well shit, we have a problem.”

“Am I translating the shit too?” Rae’s dark eyebrows shot up.

“No. Yes. Never mind.” I sucked in my lower lip. “We’ll just throw the pizza at her.”

“Oh good, and get charged with assault. I’m thinking this plan isn’t so foolproof.” Rae gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

“No, it’s fine; we’ll wing it.” Decision made, I grabbed the box and then nodded to Lucas. “Ready?”

He exhaled, then finally nodded at me. Traffic was pretty light as we crossed the street, careful not to bring any attention to ourselves—which I had to be honest, Lucas was doing a stellar job at. I, however, kept gaping up at the buildings since I’d been trapped indoors for what felt like days.

Once we were right in front of the building, Lucas jerked the pizza box out of my hands and then huffed out something under his breath that sounded like an insult.

And probably was.

Hey, I was doing this for him!

He opened the door to the building and waited for me to go in first, which I absolutely should not take as a compliment, even though I did despite my desire to keep him at arm’s length.

It was always the pretty ones that were the most complicated.

And mean.

I frowned. It wasn’t that he was actually directly mean to me, more indirectly. I was just thinking about how I’d misjudged him when he nudged me in the side and jerked his head toward the elevator.

My face heated.

I’d literally been standing next to him in front of the elevator doing what? Daydreaming about his face?

There was no hope for me.

I quickly pressed the up button.

“She’s on the third floor,” I said, even though he knew that. I whipped out my phone, opening my app. Why were my hands shaking? “Just keep your disguise on, shove the pizza or peace offering into her face and see if it’s the same girl that attacked you with her mouth.”

The app translated as the elevator hit the third floor.

Lucas’s lips pulled back into an amused smile.

I hoped it hadn’t translated that as literally as I feared, like the fan attacked his mouth. Ugh, I needed to be careful.

He nodded.

The hallway was smaller, the apartment complex definitely not as nice as theirs, not by a long shot.

The lights were flickering like they did in horror movies before you get stabbed by a zombie, which wasn’t making me feel better about our plan. What if she was a psychopath and attacked Lucas again?

Well then, Grace, you block her with your body and keep him safe, and then you tell him to run.

Run was universal, right? Just like thank you?

I hid behind the next corner then beckoned Lucas forward with my hand like I was in a spy movie. He walked right by me, ignoring me as I hunched near the ground, and stopped right in front of her door.