Page 24 of When Worlds Collide
As if I didn’t know that.
“And so humble.” I lightly smacked his chest, but got distracted by the feel of his skin.
“You can pay me back later, if it makes you lose sleep.” His mouth quirked up at the side.
“Another reason to get a job,” I grumbled. “Maybe I could be an idol, make those big bucks.”
He laughed quietly, idly running his fingers over my back, tracing shapes into my skin that had the dual result of pressing me closer to him.
“Maybe you could work for the company?”
“ENT?” I had considered it, but I still didn’t know what career I wanted to pursue. I huffed a laugh. “I can’t imagine they’d consider me qualified enough to take on a foreigner who doesn’t even speak Korean.”
The weight of starting from scratch began to press down on me, almost as tangible as the weight of Jihoon’s arms around me, grounding me to him.
I felt him shrug. “You have time to figure it out.”
“Time,” I echoed. “We’ve never really had that, have we?”
Our whole relationship had been dictated in some way by time, usually revolving around there not being enough of it. Limited call times where he was either going to sleep, or I was going to work. Brief visits in between performances, TV appearances, or stolen moments in conference rooms. We’d never had the luxury of just… being.
“No. But now we do, and I want to enjoy it. While we can,” he amended.
And just like that, I was reminded that this period of leisure, of lazy days curled up around each other, was not the true scope of his life. He had a full time ‘job’.
GVibes had taken the month off around Christmas, as they always did, to rest after their most recent comeback. The other members were still in Seoul, but they’d all split up later in the month to head home to their families, scattered across South Korea.
A sudden thought struck me. “Are you planning on going home to visit your parents for Christmas?”
We rarely ever talked about his parents. I knew they’d moved back to Busan, and that they weren’t thrilled about his career choice, but beyond that… I didn’t even know their names.
For a moment, he didn’t speak, but I knew from the pattern of his breathing that he was still awake. I opened my mouth to change the topic, when he eventually spoke.
“Christmas isn’t really a big deal for us. My parents go to church, and sometimes we meet to have a meal together. We haven’t made plans this year.”
His tone of voice told me all I needed to know. It was cold, and brittle, like ice and something about his words made me want to reach for him, to comfort him. But his tone also told me not to. I was wildly curious about his parents. I knew they had a strained relationship, but now – in the pre-dawn hours of a hotel room – was not the time to ask.
“Do you want to go home?” he questioned, and I realised we hadn’t spoken once about our plans for the season, which in hindsight, probably said much about how we’d insulated ourselves in the bubble of our relationship.
“I’d actually planned to spend Christmas with Becka and her family, in Oakland,” I admitted, absently running my fingers over his forearm. “Becka and I were going to go back to the city for New Year’s though. We had tickets for Mania.” I quirked a wry smile, remembering all the favours Becka had cashed in to get tickets to one of the city’s most exclusive clubs.
With a twinge of melancholy, I wondered who’d she’d take with her now.
“Not home to England?” I could tell he was getting drowsy, his voice had taken on a deeper, more rumbly timbre. I snuggled in closer.
“Not this year.” I yawned. “I was supposed to move back in March, anyway.”
Sooner, or later, I’d have to tell my parents about my contract with Pisces coming to an unexpectedly early end. Although I’d probably leave out the more… salacious details. Hell, I’d have totell them about Korea, and then… and then… Holy hell, there was too much to tell.
I shook my head.
“Jagiya?” Jihoon questioned sleepily.
“Nothing, just trying to shake the thoughts out of my head.”
He hummed and pressed a warm kiss to my forehead, and then, when he didn’t say anything else for a long moment, I could tell he’d fallen asleep.
As I lay there in the dark, listening to the peaceful rhythm of Jihoon’s breathing, I tried to remember what my mum had always said when I was struggling with something.
