Page 88 of A World Apart
Seeing my reaction, Jihoon’s face lit up. “Good choice?”
“The best!” I nodded enthusiastically, the little golden balls topped with a sheen of garlic butter, so unassuming in their plain box. The only other box was filled with a variety of dips.
“Honey mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, ranch and hot sauce,” Jihoon read the little labels.
I re-started the movie while Jihoon filled our plates with a selection of everything, passing me my plate first.
I groaned as I bite into my first dough ball, the inside had a little pocket of garlic butter and I happily jiggled from side-to-side, doing what my mum called, my ‘happy food dance’. I opened my eyes and found Jihoon staring at me so unabashedly that I immediately felt self-conscious.
“What?” I mumbled, swallowing my bite.
“You’re just so cute.” His expression confused me; he wasn’t smiling, he looked dazed − it was the only word I could think of. He’d said it like… like he’d just figured something out.
Abruptly, he turned back to the movie and shoved a pizza slice into his mouth. I watched him for a while longer, but the moment seemed to have passed. I shrugged, grabbed another dough ball and settled in to watch the movie.
“So, tell me,” I said after taking a sip of my second beer. We’d finished the first bottles pretty quickly. “Is Busan the place to go to escape the zombie apocalypse?”
Jihoon tilted his head to the side and made a ‘mm’ noise as he thought about it.
“Seoul has more military, but Busan isn’t as populated and it’s on the sea, so you could take a boat and just −” he made a sailing motion with the hand holding his bottle.
“Where would you go?” He turned to me, as the screams of the characters on screen were cut off and replaced by the sounds of zombies chowing down.
“Probably Jersey,” I said after a moment’s consideration.
“The city?” he said, with some consternation, and I giggled.
“No, the island.” Seeing his frown, I went on; “there’s an island, called Jersey, in the English Channel. It’s not very big, and it doesn’t have very many people, but it does have lots of farms and some castles.
“I’d sit my happy butt in a castle, pull up the draw bridge and wait it out.” Pleased with myself, I took another swig and happily jiggled my feet, enjoying the warm buzz I was beginning to feel as a result of the salty, cheesy pizza and cold beers.
“If you lived in a castle, wouldn’t that make you the queen?” He grinned at me and I laughed.
“Wanna be my king?” I waggled my eyebrows at him.
“God, yes,” he exclaimed. I hid my delight with another swig from my bottle.
To my surprise, Jihoon grabbed first one of my feet, and then the other one, pulling them into his lap and possessively laying his large, warm hands on my ankles.
The mirth faded, replaced by something warmer, something that pricked the corners of my eyes and tightened my throat. I cleared it softly, turning my attention back to the film, where the main characters were, once again, running for their lives.
It was nearly midnight by the time the credits rolled on the film, and I was stiff from sitting on the floor. I stretched, arching my back over the sofa behind me.
“Time to sleep,” Jihoon announced. I swear, this man was made of elastic, judging by the way he folded his legs underneath himself and pushed up to his feet with about as much effort as I expended in breathing.
He held out his hands to me and pulled me to my feet.
“Alright, let’s clear this away first” I gestured to the food boxes and beer bottles.
Together, we cleared away our mess before heading upstairs.
Though Jihoon had said he’d slept on the plane over, I couldn’t believe he wasn’t exhausted, but he hadn’t complained once and only yawned a couple of times.
The upstairs was dark as we headed up, lit only by soft runner lights illuminating the stairs. The darkness highlighted how quiet it was in the house, an experience I’d forgotten existed whilst living in the city.
We stopped outside the smaller bedroom, where Jihoon had put his things, and again I felt guilty that he was staying here, instead of in the master. The bedroom was nice enough, but it still seemed wrong.
I remembered how weird he’d gotten when I’d brought it up earlier, so I held my tongue, instead saying, “I’m really glad you’re here. I had the best day.” I leaned up on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. At the last moment, he turned his face andcaught my lips with his own, placing his hands around my waist. The kiss was brief, but it left me breathless when he pulled back. I stared up at him, the moonlight shining in from the large window reflecting in his eyes, making him seem ethereal, like something I might have dreamed up. He seemed to be searching my face as I searched his eyes.
