Kyu Jong watched as Kayla made her way inside the apartment, swaying a bit, the bags in her hands hitting her legs.

“Ahhh home! Let’s have these snacks and more to drink!” She announced, holding the bags up in excitement.

Kyu Jong chuckled, “Ne Kayla, though we’re out of alcohol.”

“We have tea K, tea! It’ll be good enough for this ongoing party, wooo!!” She squealed, putting both arms up in a vibrant cheer for the seemingly innocuous beverage.

“Tea?” Kyu Jong frowned.

Kayla wobbled her way into the kitchen, “Yes! I have some good strong iced tea…with lemon!” She said with flourish.

He blinked the started laughing, unable to hold back any longer.

A few minutes later, she came back out, swaying a bit as she carried a large glass pitcher in one hand and two glasses with ice in the other. Kyu Jong hurried over, grabbing the pitcher and reaching out to steady her with his other hand.

“Ooops! Thanks K!” She made her way over, to the couch and sat heavily, “Ok here it is, it’s my favorite tea, it’s very lemony!”

He chuckled, “Ok.”

“I have some rum; I can add it to make it even better!” She announced, starting to stand when Kyu Jong reached out, stopping her quickly.

“It’s ok Kayla ssi, this is fine.”

“Are you sure? You’re supposed to be drinking to celebrate and this tea would be even more epic with some good damn rum,” Kayla stated matter of factly.

“It is ok if we don’t drink anymore.”

Kayla frowned, “Really?”

“Ne, just the tea.”

“With lemon.”

“Ne the tea with lemon is fine, really,” Kyu Jong said, reaching out to take the pitcher and one of the glasses, filling it and handing it to her before pouring some for himself.

“Just as well, tea this good shouldn’t be sullied with rum anyway,” Kayla nodded, taking the glass.

Kyu Jong grinned and nodded, setting the pitcher down carefully.

Kayla studied him drunkenly before smiling, “Ya know something K?”

“Hmm?” He said, lifting his glass to his lips, taking a sip of the highly anticipated tea.

“You’re very cute, y really.”

Kyu Jong’s eyes widened and his promptly spit out the tea he’d barely had a chance to taste, reaching out frantically for a napkin.

Kayla never flinched as she took long drink, watching him steadily before slamming the glass back down on the table, “Why the hell are you still single man?”

He looked over at her in shock, jumping a bit when she slammed her glass down.

“You’re kind and smart, talented, y as we’ve just established, why are you still single? Explain!” Kayla demanded.

“Uhh…w-well…” he started, clearly flustered.

“Don’t women in Korea know a catch when they see one? Why, if I was single, I’d snatch you up in a second!” Kayla stated passionately, downing the rest of her tea and sloppily pouring more.

Kyu Jong reached out, holding the glass, staring hard at it.

“I mean, I don’t get it, why are…You’re one of the good ones, you should be married with ten kids K!”

His eyes widened and he looked up at her, “Kayla ssi…” He said softly.

“Guys like you don’t come around so often you know?! You have a job, you’re super nice, this isn’t right!”

Kyu Jong smiled a bit, “It is ok Kayla, the right woman hasn’t come along for me yet.”

“Ahh, it that what it is?”

Kyu Jong nodded.

“The right one…The right one…I guess that makes sense, or does it? What girl wouldn’t want to be your right one?”

“Aww Kayla…”

“Why am I not single? I am practically, right?”

Kyu Jong stopped, just watching her intently.

“I should be single right? So I could be single with you, we’d be single together, only…only…I wouldn’t want to be. If we were both single, we could be together right?” She said suddenly.

He said nothing still, just continued to watch her.

“We could date, right? I would be your right one…couldn’t I?”

Kyu Jong gave her a pained look.

“We could get married, I’d give you ten kids, or fifteen, I don’t care how many cause you’d be happy…”

“Kayla…” he whispered; the agony clear on his face.

She started to sway a bit as the sleep started to descend. She pitched forward towards the table before Kyu Jong reached out, grabbing her to keep her from falling. Kayla leaned heavily against him, suddenly looking up at him imploringly,

“We’d be happy together…right?”

Kyu Jong looked into her eyes, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek gently, “Ne Kayla, we’d be very happy,” he whispered, his gaze growing softer, wistful.

She smiled sleepily, her eyes drifting shut, “Then…let’s be together, ok Kyu Jong? Let’s be happy together,” she murmured before sleep took her.

~~~

Kyu Jong continued to stare at her, his heart pounding so hard it was becoming difficult to breathe. He didn’t know where the sudden tears came from, but he could hardly see her at this point. He knew he couldn’t put much into it, she was drunk, people tended to become irrational when they were drunk and say things they didn’t mean, and he was sure that’s all this was but still…

As she was speaking, he could see it, see it all, he couldn’t stop the images in his head. Them dating, smiling and laughing and then the thoughts that hurt him the most, they crept their way in. Images of young children, a ring on her finger and then…

Kyu Jong shook his head, reaching up to quickly wipe at his eyes, he had stop, nothing like that was going to happen, ever. The pain in his chest after that thought seemed to spread throughout his whole body. He had to stop before it was too late, though he feared it may already be.

The Next Day

Kayla shook a couple aspirin into her hand and then put the bottle away and made her way into the living room and over to the couch, slumping down, sighing heavily. She hadn’t drunk like that in a long time, it’d been fun, just like it always was when she hung out with Kyu Jong.

Slowly she closed her eyes, thinking of everything that had happened yesterday. Hearing Kyu Jong’s song, making amends with her Dad, celebrating Kyu Jong, celebrating Kyu Jong’s song with drinks and conversation, it was nice. Sadly, she didn’t remember much, when she woke up, she’d been lying on the couch, a blanket spread over her. When she’d gotten up, she’d seen he’d washed their glasses and pitcher out before leaving, he really was too sweet. She needed to text him and see what time he wanted to get together and run lines.

Grabbing the sandwich she’d made, she took a large bite and picked up her phone, shooting off a quick message before setting it back down and taking another large bite of her sandwich, popping the aspirin in and swallowing it all down with a huge gulp of water. After finishing up her sandwich, she made her way into her bedroom to get her scripts, just as she got notification of a new message. After hurrying back out to her phone, she saw a new message from Kyu Jong stating he was ready when ever she was. Kayla texted him back telling him to come down whenever, that she too was ready.

A short time later, there was a knock at the door, hurrying over, she flung the door open and smiled brightly.

“Hey K! Come in,” she said a she stepped aside to let him in.

He gave her a gentle smile, taking his shoes off and made his way in, script in hand.

“Have a seat, would you like something to drink?” She asked as she headed into the kitchen to get another bottle of water.

“Ani, thank you.”

Kayla opened the fridge, grabbing two bottles, getting an extra just in case he changed his mind later. Turning, she saw Kyu Jong standing there, watching her steadily.

“I must’ve passed out last night huh? I’m so sorry, you were supposed to be the one who got drunk, but you were so lucid,” Kayla frowned.

Kyu Jong smiled softly, “I don’t handle it well, so it was for the best really.”

“I’ve failed you, Shane will be so disappointed.”

He chuckled, “Ani, I still had a good time with you, I always do. I’m glad I had you to share in the excitement with.”

She smiled, “You are too good to me K, you know that right?”

Kyu Jong simply smiled and she made her way past him and over to the couch, reaching out to grab her script and then handed a copy to him and he did the same with his.

“Kayla ssi, how are you feeling?”

She looked up to find Kyu Jong watching her closely.

“I’m ok, just a bit of a headache, but I’m hanging in there. I took a couple aspirin and they’re already starting to kick in so no problem. It could’ve been a lot worse, did you cut me off at some point?”

He hesitated a moment, “Well…”

“You did? Thank you! Geeze, I become so goofy when I drink. I promised myself I would take it easy; I tend to become quite loose lipped and say crazy stuff,” she sighed.

Kyu Jong looked away suddenly and she stilled.

“K…Did I say something weird?”

Slowly he looked over at her, “Kayla…”

“I did didn’t I? Holy K, what’d I say?”

He shook his head, “It was nothing Kayla, do not worry about it.”

“It was that bad?! Holy crap! What? Was it inappropriate? Did it make you uncomfortable?”

“Kayla…”

“I never should’ve drunk anything, , I’m sorry K, for whatever I said. If it made you upset or angry, I’m sorry, I take it back.”

“Ani!”

She stilled, looking at him intently, he looked almost on the verge of tears.

“Don’t…don’t take it back, ok? Just…” He stopped, a look of pain crossing his features.

“You don’t want me to take it back?”

Kyu Jong shook his head, “A-ani.”

Kayla frowned a bit, taking a few steps closer to him, “Just…what did I say K?”

He said nothing, looking up, his eyes widening when he saw how close she’d gotten to him.

“Why don’t you want me to take it back?”

Still, he said nothing, just continued to watch her.

She stopped right in front of him, “Look K, if I said something that I shouldn’t have, if I said something that may have offended you, though I would hope even drunk I’d have some small sense of right and wrong, you don’t have to cover for me, ok? Just like you said, I need to be held accountable for my wrong doings…”

“No Kayla…no. You didn’t say anything that offended me, it was…quite the opposite actually.”

Kayla blinked, “The opposite? So, it made you happy?”

Kyu Jong nodded once, looking right at her.

“What did I say K?” She asked softly.

He looked away quickly, taking a step back and then another before making his way around her.

“Don’t worry Kayla ssi, come, let’s start practicing ok?”

Kayla watched as he picked up the script again and she slowly grabbed her copy, an odd tension in the air. Whatever she’d said, he’d like, he seemed upset, but not angry, more like…conflicted, she sensed almost a feeling of desperation in his eyes. Just what had she said to him? She wished she could remember.

Clearing , she looked her script over, “Ok, sounds good.”

Kyu Jong looked up at her and gave her a warm smile. They spent an hour and a half on her script. Kyu Jong was easy to work with, he had great timing and presence. While she did like her co-star, she wished Kyu Jong was with her, he made her very comfortable.

After a quick dinner of delivery Chinese food, they resumed with Kyu Jong’s script. Kayla scanned through the first couple of pages to get a feel for the plot. After a few minutes, she made her way to the center of the room.

“Ok, are we starting at the beginning or…?”

“Ani, I was hoping to start at page 67, fourth line down, I’m having a little problem getting the right emotion and feel for the scene.”

She nodded, “Alright,” she said, flipping to the page.

She grabbed her bottle of water and took a quick sip before recapping it and setting it back down. Kyu Jong had eventually ended up taking the other bottle she’d brought out, after all the taking, their voices grew dryer and dryer and it’d come in handy,

Once she finished reading through the stage directions, she looked over at Kyu Jong.

“Ok Kayla ssi, the set up here is my character is meeting with Lejna’s character after they have a fight at their job. They’ve moved outside to have their argument. These two seemingly don’t get along, and the fight they had has finally sort of brought it to a head. That said, there is some underlining tension and repressed feelings, and this is the moment those tensions boil over.”

Kayla nodded, “Got it!”

They both took a few seconds to get into character and then started.

“Why must you always interrupt me?!” James said.

Samantha’s eyes widened, “Me? It’s the other way around! I can’t do anything without you sticking your nose in and making comments where they’re not needed. If I wanted your advice, I’d ask you for it, but you don’t need to worry about that,” she spat, moving down stage away from him.

“So, you’re just gonna run away like you always do when I try to talk to you?” James said suddenly.

She turned to look at him, “Excuse me?”

James started towards her, “You heard me, you never finish our conversations.”

“Why should I? I don’t have much to say to you.”

James stopped, watching her, “Are you sure?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that I see the way you look at me.”

“What?”

“When you don’t think I notice, I see you watching me, that look in your eyes.”

“You are sick and so arrogant to think that everything revolves around you huh? That everyone is looking at you…”

He shook his head, “Not everyone, just you…” he said softly.

She shook her head, “You really have some nerve, what are you doing? Stay away from me!” Samantha said coldly, taking a step back as James advanced on her again. “Stop!” She said, holding her hands up, pressing against his chest.

Kayla felt the jolt through her body at the touch, it was the first time she’d ever had contact with him aside from his hands or leaning against him. She could feel his warmth through his shirt, feel the sculpted, firm muscles underneath and she felt her face growing flushed.

“Kayla ssi? Are you ok?” Kyu Jong asked suddenly, taking a step back, alarm and worry in his voice.

“H-huh? Oh…y-yeah, fine. Sorry, let’s continue”

He nodded and she looked back down at the script before bringing hands back up to once again carefully rest on his chest as Kyu Jong stepped closer to her again.

“What if I don’t want to?” James said softly, taking another step closer.

“I’ll scream,” Samantha whispered.

“Will you? Will you really?” He smirked, looking down at her hands on his chest and then back up at her.

Samantha stopped, watching him closely, “What are you doing?”

“You feel it, don’t you? It’s always like this with us. You look as nervous as I feel, we bicker and hide our true feelings, all the time. I’m getting tired of it, I think you are too.”

She shook her head, “I don’t know what you mean, now, move out of the way.”

“No, not until we talk about this, we need to clear the air.”

Kayla felt herself starting to tremble a bit, she hoped he couldn’t feel it, hoped he couldn’t tell she felt as if she were slowly becoming absorbed in the part.

“No we don’t, you need to move so we can go back to work. They’re going to wonder where we are, move!”

James hands came up, grabbing at her arms with firm, but gentle strength.

Her heart dropped and she felt herself faulter, starting to break character as he looked into her eyes.

“No, I can’t let you go, not now, please Samantha.”

She stared at him, her heart pounding, “J-James…I…”

Her eyes widened as he leaned in her eyes slowly fluttering closed as she too leaned in close to him. She could feel the heat from his body engulf her, the faint light brush of his lips as they moved in close to hers.

The shrill ring of Kayla’s phone broke the moment and their eyes flew open and they quickly stepped away from each other. Her hands, that had at some point, fisted up in his shirt, dropped away from his chest and his hands dropped from her arms and they stared at each other, the sounds of their joint heavy breathing louder than the incessant ringing. Her phone rang again, and she lowered her gaze to the coffee table to where her phone laid.

“I-it’s Terrance.”

“You should answer that,” Kyu Jong whispered.

“N-no, I’m still pissed at him,” she said bringing her gaze back to his.

They continued to stare at each other until her phone stopped ringing and a few seconds later, she got notification of a new voicemail.

“I think…we should probably stop for today,” Kyu Jong said quietly.

Kayla nodded, “Oh yeah, I guess so,” she said.

He took a few steps back, “Thanks for your help Kayla, I really appreciate it.”

She nodded, “You too, you’re really good, it was fun.”

They continued to stare at each other, knowing that somehow, things had suddenly, drastically changed.

_____________________________

A/N: Whew what a chapter right? So much going on here, Kayla in her drunken stupor, has something so important, something so pivotal, how can Kyu Jong ever cope with it? Then with practice too, wow, how about that ending scene? These two are starting to feel something, something that neither one is really prepared for, it'll be interesting to see how their interactions with each other change if at all, though I'm sure you can't do what they almost just did and not have some sort of repercussion, good or bad. Thanks for hanging in there and happy holidays to anyone living in the US who celebrates. I am thankful for you all and thankful for your continued support!

Until next chapter!

~MO