Page 48 of A World Apart
His reply was nearly instant.
Joon
Have breakfast with me first and then you can tell me.
[Sent 08:21]
Me
Breakfast sounds great. Where?
Joon
my hotel?
[Sent 08:22]
I knew it was a sensible, no fuss suggestion, and it made sense. Hell, the location was probably as private as it got, but it still made my stomach flip to think about meeting him in his hotel.
Me
Send methe address.
Forty-five minutes later, my Uber pulled up in front of a skyscraper, the towering 'I' symbol of the Intercontinental Hotel prominently displayed high above, visible from miles away.
"Intercontinental Hotel, Wilshire Boulevard," the driver announced.
"Thanks," I murmured, sliding out of the car while craning my neck to take in the imposing structure. As I walked toward the entrance, I couldn't help but feel under-dressed − an impression that the doorman seemed to share, though he was polite enough not to say anything as he held the door open.
The ground floor was nothing short of palatial. It was vast − so expansive that a few laps around it might get a person well on their way to reaching that golden 10,000 daily steps.
“Miss Kaiya,” a voice politely halted me in my tracks, and I looked around for the speaker. Eun, Jihoon’s body-guard walked towards me from where he seemed to have been stationed close to the doors and I breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn’t have to try to navigate this place by myself.
“Good morning,” I nodded at him politely, which he returned with a brief smile.
“Good morning. Baek Jihoon-nim has asked me to take you to his room for breakfast.” Eun’s voice was heavily accented, but his language was excellent, like Jihoon’s. I think this was the first time I’d actually heard him speak.
“Okay,” I smiled, but he just turned around and walked away, presumably thinking I’d follow. I hurried to catch up, the man’s legs were like stilts.
The elevator we rode ascended so quickly that my ears popped, the numbers on the little screen racing past so fast that when the doors opened, I had no idea what floor we were on, but I followed Eun like the obedient puppy I felt like.
It felt like several minutes had passed before we finally turned down a quiet, plushly-padded corridor. About halfway down, Eun reached a door and knocked brusquely. He had just raised his fist to knock again, when the door swung open and there stood Jihoon, smiling broadly at me and giving Eun a brisk bow.
“Kaiya, I’m so happy to see you.” His face was like sunshine, his expression so genuine, so open that it tugged on my heartstrings.
“Hi, Jihoon,” I said shyly, tucking my hands into my pockets.
“Please, come in,” he said, gesturing for me to enter. I chanced a brief look up at Eun, and though his face was stony, it didn’t seem unkind. Just… disapproving. Jihoon didn’t seem to care and closed the door behind me as I stepped over the threshold.
“Wow,” I murmured, looking around the well-appointed room, but I was really looking straight past it all to the floor-to-ceiling windows that ran along the whole back wall, looking out over downtown LA and as far reaching as the distant mountain range.
The suite itself was really two rooms: a bedroom, visible through a door to my left, and the main room we were standing in. In front of the windows was a seating area with a plush sofa and two padded chairs arranged under a hanging lamp, and further along the back wall, a small dining area clearly positioned to take advantage of the view. The main living area was as big as our entire apartment, I thought wryly to myself.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I got a bit of everything,” Jihoon said. He led me over to the dining area, where the table − set for two − was indeed laden withdifferent dishes of pastries; toast and assorted butter, jams and preserves; and bowls of brightly coloured fruits, yogurts and even some small, individual boxes of cereal.
“This looks great, thank you,” I said, my stomach rumbling at seeing all the food. Just as he’d done when we ate lunch on Saturday, Jihoon pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit, pushing it in for me as I did so. It was such a little gesture, but it made me feel warm.
Jihoon sat in the chair opposite me and offered me a plate filled with pastries. “Please, eat,” he encouraged. I took a Raspberry Danish and, together, we began to eat.
