Lingering Affection

Lingering Affection

“Don’t move.” His voice was throaty and deep, it vibrating against the shell of her ear. She didn’t think she could move even if she wanted to, too frozen by his close proximity among other things. He was close enough to wear she could smell his cologne and she found herself immersing in it, her head leaning forward some and quietly resting on his shoulder.

Her head was there for a second or two before she pulled back and looked down, mentally telling herself she was crazy. “Sorry.” All she got in reply was a small hum of acknowledgment from him.

How did she even get into a situation like this to begin with?!

-------------------------

It was unbelievably early. To be more exact, it was 7:45am early. On a Saturday. Jinhee was going to kill Sekyung for pulling a stunt like this. Why couldn’t she have told her this sooner? She was lucky the train ran early on the weekends or else the girl would have been SOL. Jinhee only had on a pair of jeans, a black spaghetti-strapped tank top with a pink and purple flannel shirt on top, and a pair of black flats on. Her hair was being held in a knitted, black hat and she had a jacket on to keep her warm in the early morning air. It was going to get hotter, she knew, but she’d deal with that when the time came.

Glancing down at her watch, she was waiting for the trains to announce that they were going to start running. A small chill ran down the curve of her back, she bundling up into her jacket further while adjusting the bag on her shoulder.

“Jinhee, pleeeeeeease? I really need you to come. You also meet the guy I was telling you about so you can stop thinking I’m only seeing him in my dreams.” Jinhee gave a disgruntled whine, glancing over the sleeping figure next to her. Reaching over him, she lifted the clock and she nearly wanted to kill the woman on the phone.

12:26 blinked in fluorescent lettering, she dropping it back down on the nightstand. “Sekyung, it’s late. Can’t you—“

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late, okay? Good night!” The line went dead. Jinhee, after setting the alarm on her phone, set it back down onto her own nightstand and laid back down. She rolled over and snuggled into the figure beside her, one arm draping over her and holding her close but the owner not waking in the slightest bit. “Bae…Kris, I’m leaving in the morning.” Jinhee only got silence and slight squeeze in reply, he muttering something about telling him in the morning. She figured that was as good as it was gonna get for the time being.

 Groaning and rubbing at one of her eyes, she walked closer towards the edge as she heard the tell-tale sound of the train getting closer. Whatever it was had better be good. “If she’s not getting married or pregnant, I’m kicking her .” Came her whispered threat to no one in particular, not noticing someone had stepped up beside her as the train came into the station.

Stepping onto the train, she chose to stand, leaning back against the other set of doors, watching as a few people came in as well. Pulling out her headphones, she plugged them into her phone and began listening to her music to help pass the time.

The train became more and more crowded, but it didn’t disturb her, having been used to such things. A shift here, repositioning herself there. It wouldn’t be until she looked up that she’d notice the car was much fuller than she remembered. So much so that her immediate line of sight was blocked by that of a person’s shoulder. She blinked and looked up; surprised that she had to look up higher to meet eyes with the person in front of her. The first thing she noticed wasn’t his eyes or even the piercing that glinted in his ear, but it was his jaw line.

It wasn’t sharp and defined, but it was a rather slow, delicate slope downwards from his ear before making a sudden downward slope. Jinhee found herself unexpectedly staring at his profile, finding him rather familiar. The man didn’t seem to notice her staring and if he did, he was ignoring her. That is until some more people boarded the train and caused him to face her. She blinked in surprise, her hands went into her pockets and she backed up against the door as the stranger stood pressed up against her. She gave him an embarrassed smile only to have him stare back at her. It was almost like he was looking right through her.

Clearing , Jinhee proceeded to look everywhere but at him. Her thumb was going through her playlist when it came across a playlist she could deal with without skipping through too many of them. It would distract her at least for a few minutes. Her head lightly bobbed to the beat of the song, eyes closing as she did. Unbeknownst to her, the man in front of her was able to hear it.

He was still a bit upset that she didn’t seem to be worried about him. Or at least recognize him. It hadn’t been that long, had it? He didn’t dwell on it as he took a step closer, causing her to be pressed directly up against him. Her eyes popped open and she looked up at him, finding him having a rather bored expression on his face. How can he just stand there like it was nothing?! Before she could think of it any further, he moved even closer, leaving no space between them whatsoever.

“Don’t move.” His voice was throaty and deep, it vibrating against the shell of her ear. She didn’t think she could move even if she wanted to, too frozen by his close proximity among other things. He was close enough to wear she could smell his cologne and she found herself immersing in it, her head leaning forward some and quietly resting on his shoulder.

Her head was there for a second or two before she pulled back and looked down, mentally telling herself she was crazy. “Sorry.” All she got in reply was a small hum of acknowledgment from him.

“Um, could you—”

And as though he knew what she was listening to, he whispered the words to the song she was listening to, “Let me taste your party favors.” Jinhee thought she was going to go crazy. Just who was this man? She hadn’t gotten a good look at him from the front but his profile didn’t look familiar and now she couldn’t see his face at all. He was tall, definitely taller than her, and he wasn’t too slim. He had muscle to him and she could plainly see that thanks to the short sleeves of his shirt.

“What?” She sounded dumb and apparently he found it funny, he chuckling deep into her ear as he lifted one hand from her side to comb his fingers through her shoulder length hair. Any other time, the woman would have given him more than just a piece of her mind but the moment his eyes landed on hers, she found herself stuck. Something in his eyes was strangely familiar. It wasn’t like anything the way Kris looked at her. It was something…deeper. More. Something that was currently having her free hand coming out of her pocket to hold on to the end of his shirt, gripping it tightly.

They stayed like that, simply looking at one another as her playlist worked through song after song. Not once did she move thanks to him having propped her against his arm. The people around them didn’t appear bothered at all at first. But as time wore on, eyes slowly turned to look at them. Some even whispered lowly amongst themselves. Jinhee didn’t care. In fact, they didn’t even seem to matter. She never thought simply looking at someone would be like this. And the entire time, his eyes remained locked on hers, he slowly but surely leaning down to rest his forehead against her own, their nose occasionally bumping against her own but never once did their lips touch. His hands didn’t roam nor touch any place other than her face, her arms, and her waist. He was taking in as much as he possibly could. There was no telling when he would get the chance to do so again.

He wouldn’t look away until he heard his stop being next. He sighed internally, look back to her and giving her a small smile. It was so lovely now that she could see it fully…but she still couldn’t place him in her mind. Leaning back in, the man eyed her lips, they somewhat shining from the lip gloss he figured she was still wearing. His hands cupped her face once more as he drew ever closer, eyes closing into half-moons before he stopped. She had mimicked his actions, both hands now holding on to his wrists.

Waiting.

Anticipating the kiss.

But he didn’t give it to her, the ring on her finger catching his eye at the last minute. His hands dropped from her face slowly tough his face stayed near hers. That emotion in his eyes…she couldn’t understand where it was coming from. Finally, he pulled back and headed for the doors. Before he stepped off, he looked back and gave her an unknown smile, it jogging something in her mind, before he got off the train.

Jinhee’s stop was three more after that. But the entire time, she couldn’t get him off of her mind. Even as she slipped off the jacket and held it in her arms, she couldn’t think of who he was. Or why she let him do what he did. As she thought back on it, the woman found herself more and more embarrassed with herself. How could she let some random stranger do that to her?! She must have looked like…she didn’t even want to think about it.

Upon reaching her friend’s home, she walked up the stairs, wanting to be doing something and not stuck in the elevator with her thoughts. Reaching the door to her condo, she knocked stiffly, shaking her head to clear it before Sekyung opened the door.

“Jinhee! You’re just in time! Come in so you can meet him.” Sekyung pulled her in, letting her slide off her shoes before walking inside fully. Jinhee stood in the living as her friend went off looking for this mystery person. Finding an old picture of them, Jinhee laughed and picked it up, brushing her fingers across the glass. It was her, Sekyung, and their friend Yubi. And with them were some friend of theirs. They had lost contact with them for the most part what with life and whatnot going on. As her eyes fell on the tallest of them, she found herself smiling at the memory of him. He was always so relaxed but cheerful at the same time. She did have a crush on him back then but he never liked her that way, so when his job had him move away, she found herself more depressed than she should have been.

“Jinhee’s right out there. Please behave.” She could hear Sekyung coming back, a male voice promising that he would. Staring a little while longer at the picture, she put it back down when they walked into the room.

-------------------------

“So this is where you work…and you’ve even got an assistant? Jeez, Kris, you’re important now.” Kris was staring at the man in front of him incredulously, a shocked smile on his face. He was at work when his assistant told him that he had a visitor; he hadn’t scheduled anybody to see him so he thought it was Jinhee coming to surprise him.

Snapping out of his stupor, the taller male laughed and leaned back in his chair. “You liar. You said you’d be back next month.”

“Yeah, well I had a change in plans…this the wifey?” Chanyeol was looking at a picture Kris had up. Kris nodded and stood up from his desk, standing beside his friend as he looked at his picture. Chanyeol gave a small smile and laugh quietly to himself, shaking his head some. “She’s gorgeous.”

“Hey now. Don’t go falling for my wife. She’s happily taken.”

Chanyeol shook his head and placed his hands in his pockets. “…Take care of her, hyung. She looks like a good girl.”

Kris nodded and crossed his arms, staring at the picture of Jinhee and himself. “Yeah, I’m trying.”

He turned to look back at her still form, she looking confused at what just happened. Even after all that time, she still looked the same…except now she wasn’t his to have anymore.

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Hihihihijijo_143 #1
Chapter 1: Oh my god my heart broke for a moment.... But that's reality........ That was a great story authornim<3 although I would have preferred a happy ending haha ;)