Page 26 of A World Apart
“It must sound strange to you,” he smiled and hunched his shoulders, like he was used to writing this off as an oddity, as opposed to what it was – a unique, cultural difference.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “In England, we roll cheese down a hill and then chase after it.”
Jihoon frowned, his mouth pinching slightly as if he was trying to figure out if I’d just started talking nonsense.
“And that’s not all. A lot of the time, people get hurt. Badly. Broken arms, legs, noses. One time, a man even died.”
“This is a… story?” He said slowly.
“Oh no.” I waved my hand dismissively. “Totally true, they do it every year. Does Korea have any weird traditions?”
“Not like that,” he said, raising his eyebrows. I laughed and took a sip of my drink.
After we’d eaten, we each cleared away the containers.
“Would you like a coffee?” I asked, moving towards the shiny, chrome machine. Normally I’d not bother, but, when in Rome…
“Something sweet?” he asked, hopefully.
“I can certainly try,” I laughed.
For me, a simple white coffee with a pump of hazelnut syrup was perfection. For him, I looked at the menu card from the pocket taped to the machine before I tried my hand at ‘something sweet.’
A couple minutes and a lot of hissing steam later, I walked over to where he was standing in front of the windows, watching the Saturday traffic.
“Jihoon?” I said, tentatively. He turned around and I handed him the mug with a flourish.
“Caramel macchiato. Or at least I hope so.” I laughed.
He took it from me, his long fingers sliding against mine.
“I like the way you say my name,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, like he was telling me a secret he hadn’t meant to say.
The breath in my chest seized and I knew I was biting my lip again, but this time it was less to do with feeling self-conscious and all to do with the way those words made me feel. Like I was too hot, but not because of the room temperature.
“Will you be here tomorrow?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink and then making a ‘mmm’ sound which would have sent me somewhere, had he not paired it with the cutest face. The duality of this man…
“No,” I said, with genuine regret. “I don’t think I could come up with a good reason for me to be here on a Sunday.”
His mouth turned down at the corners and he frowned.
But naturally, our time was up.
Youngsoo at least had the courtesy to knock on the door before he opened it.
Jihoon looked… annoyed? Frustrated? Both. I heard him sigh under his breath before he turned to look at Youngsoo. He said something that had him backing out the door.
I looked at Jihoon, my brows furrowed.
“I asked him to give me five minutes.”
“Oh,” I said, puzzled. “To drink your coffee?”
“To ask for your number.”
Holy hell.
Chapter 11
