Tae looked over at Woong. She was standing only about three feet from him. She had stopped to look at her phone. Then she glanced up at him, studying his face for a moment before she gazed back down at her phone. He watched as her finger contacted the screen several times as though she were reading several posts. Then a sad look passed over her countenance for a moment before she pocketed her phone. She stepped up to him, but she didn’t meet his eyes.
He missed the fire he had seen earlier in those amber eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked her. Thankfully, his fan club had turned away as she’d approached him. If Woong knew who he was, this whole situation would go from bad to worse.
“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong,” she responded breezily, but…
“Why won’t you meet my eyes then?” he queried.
She raised her eyes to his own, attempting to mask her distress. “I’m fine. Really. Just anxious to get inside. Look…um…you must be bored. I mean, you’ve been here before. I would totally understand if you need to head back to your hotel…” Her voice trailed off.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” His heart was sinking. He had really been looking forward to hanging out with her tonight. He really liked her. He wanted to get to know her.
“What?” Her face turned ashen. “No! Why would I want to get rid of you?”
He squinted at her, his mind working furiously. “You read something about me online, didn’t you? Come on, what was it?” He might as well face this head-on.
She sighed. “Why would I read about you online? Are you famous or something?”
“I think you already know I am.” His eyes were holding hers steadily. “You can ask me anything.”
As she stood staring at Tae, she felt tears springing from her eyes. Why did this guy already mean so much to her? She suddenly felt quite shy. She had no idea what to say.
Tae stared at her in some consternation. She wasn’t saying anything. He had thought she was forthright, but now he wondered. She wasn’t being honest with him. She was also avoiding his gaze now as she studied her shoes. The line moved, so without any conscious thought, he stepped forward, reaching for her hand to pull her along.
His hand was suddenly embracing hers, his palm warm against her own, his fingers closing around hers. She felt a shiver run through her at his touch.
What was this? Oh, intrepid heart, don’t you dare betray me!
She followed along as Tae nearly dragged her several feet forward. He didn’t release her hand when they suddenly came to a stop. Rather, he stood clinging to her as he gazed down at her. She stood once again studying her feet. Then her eyes shifted to his shoes.
“Do they feel awful?”
“What?” Tae was confused.
“Your feet. Your shoes. They’re wet. I bet they squish every time you walk.”
He was still holding her hand. She was conscious only of that warm contact. It seemed that a natural flow of heat was being pumped out of his fingers into her own, to run along every nerve in her body, relating a happy song to every one of her cells. They were all singing at his touch. She was undergoing an inner struggle as she battled to bring every traitorous thought captive. And fought to calm her nerve endings. They were all harmonizing joyously with one another.
Stop that! Tae is just a guy! Maybe the most famous pop idol on the planet, but just a guy, nonetheless! And it’s not like he’s my guy! Clearly, he is NOT! So what are you all so excited about?
Yet one question remained: why is he holding my hand?
There was no way she was getting it back either. Just when she thought he might be shifting to relinquish it, his fingers slid along hers, intertwining with them. Now the two Woongs stood with their fingers interlocked. She was good and captured. There would be no fleeing from Tae tonight. She sighed. She might as well give in.
“Can I continue to call you Woong?” she whispered to her feet.
She felt the tip of a raised finger lifting her chin as Tae gently moved her head so that her eyes would meet his own. He had removed the sunglasses.
“What else would you call me?” he whispered, oblivious to all the people standing around them.
As her amber eyes caught hold of his chocolate ones, every fiber in her being sighed. Oh, no, no, no. This was no good. She could feel herself slipping. She was in danger of falling right into those exotic orbs. He was so beautiful.
Against her will, her eyes studied his adorable face. His fine, midnight hair had finally dried and was falling in a curtain over his forehead, completely obscuring his dark brows from her view. Except for the top corner of his left eyebrow. There was a slight part in his raven fringe, and a few hairs of his dark brow were peeking out at her as though they were hoping to flirt with her. She shook her head to dispel this fanciful thought.
Her eyes moved lower. His straight nose was just perfect. Her gaze slid down its ski slope to dismount above his lip, in the deep divot hiding in the shadow of his upper lip. How could even that little well be so captivating? It drew her eyes with its persistent beauty.
Tearing her eyes away from it, they collided with his pretty lips. His mouth was just gorgeous. It sported a very clear Cupid’s bow. His pale pink lips were both full and often stretched into a smile that some might call ‘boxy,’ for his mouth resembled a rectangle when he grinned widely. It was unusual, but then she found all of Tae outside of the ordinary. He was stunningly beautiful in the most exotic way. And he had a personality to match: quirky, funny, sweet. She sighed. This internal discussion was not helping her fortitude one bit.
“Woong?” his soft, deep voice found her ears once again.
Startled, she met his gaze, a faraway look in her eyes of fire. He lost himself in them momentarily. He was still fascinated by the glowing flames that seemed to emanate from her irises. How on earth had she gotten eyes like these? Full of fire and promise. He felt a little scorched just gazing into them. But he found that he didn’t want to flee from this fire. Rather, he wanted to be consumed by it.
He bent lower, his forehead touching hers as he continued to gaze into her eyes. He was cross-eyed now. They both were. And her heart was racing. What was he doing? What was he thinking? His eyes slid away from hers as they dropped to study her red lips. Then his tongue darted out to wet his dry lips, and she swallowed hard. She found she could no longer breathe.
Neither of them noticed the two girls standing in front of them. But the two ARMYs couldn’t help but notice the way Tae was flirting with Woong. Her heart sinking, the young Tae bias sighed. She was tempted for a moment to take a pic of Tae and his girlfriend and send it out to ARMYs all over the world, but then she considered how she would feel if it were her forehead Tae was pressing himself against right now. And she knew she would want that moment preserved for just the two of them. So she paid forward the favor that she would desire from someone else. She did take that picture. Then she posted it on a private page that only Tae would get the link to. Her friend looked at her questioningly as she wrote the link on a piece of paper and prepared to hand it to Tae at an opportune moment. Right now wasn’t it. Tae looked like he was about to kiss the girl. And she looked just as lost in his gaze as he was in hers.
