Taehyung

When we'd left Ewon's house, I'd figured we would go by the hotel, grab my things, come back, and tumble into bed again. After all, it was more than enough time for both of us to recover after going one round. Hell, we could have gone one more before we left the house at all.

But then we ended up at that Thai place again.

We debated eating light because we still had plans for the evening, but I could smell the Pad Thai a server was carrying past our table, and then a minute later she walked by carrying half a pineapple filled with fried rice, and... it. When our waiter put a plate of Pad Thai in front of Ewon and a pineapple in front of me, we looked at each other across the mountains of food, and both shrugged. We wouldn't be able to move after this, never mind fool around, but it was just so good. And since I was done with my promo tour and wasn't filming again for a few weeks, I could actually eat like a normal human being for one goddamned weekend.

"I know this is going to kill our plans for later tonight..." I said as I loaded some rice and pineapple on my fork "...but I can't resist." 

Ewon laughed, twirling some noodles around his own fork "This is totally fine by me. I mean, this was kind of the best case scenario I was imagining for the weekend anyway."

I cocked my head "What do you mean?"

"Well, we were pretty much strangers." he shrugged and nudged a piece of chicken onto the twirled noodles "I was just hoping we'd get along and have a good time. I wasn't expecting, um..."

"Yeah, me too, actually." I took a bite of the rice and pineapple. And oh yeah, totally worth it. Totally ing worth it. The sweet and savory flavors were so perfect, it had to be witchcraft. It wasn't spicy at all, either—exactly how I liked it. After I'd taken a sip of water, I said "I'm not complaining about how things worked out."

God, his smile was so adorable. I would never get tired of that.

"I'm not complaining either." he said "And even if we stuff our faces tonight, we still have tomorrow night."

I squirmed in my seat "Yeah, we do. All day tomorrow, in fact."

"Mm-hmm. I can't decide if I want to take you to Seattle and play tourist, or just stay home and..."

"Play star?" 

Ewon laughed "Something like that, yeah."

"Why don't we see how we feel in the morning?" I let the toe of my shoe subtly graze his under the table. Enough to let him know I meant it, but not enough to draw anyone else's attention "We don't need an itinerary or anything."

"True." he nudged my foot back "Playing it by ear sounds good. It's worked out for us so far."

"It so has." I put some more rice and vegetables on my fork "I am kind of interested in that Seattle Underground Tour. I saw something about it once, and I've always been curious about it."

"We can do that, then."

"Or we can save it for the next trip. I'm easy." as soon as the last two words came out, my teeth snapped shut and my cheeks were on fire.

Ewon chuckled and reached across the table to pat my arm "I know what you meant. It's okay."

"Ugh." I groaned and rolled my eyes "I sometimes don't think before I speak. Especially when there isn't a camera in my face."

At that, his humor faded "How do you handle that, anyway? Having people chase you around and ask you obnoxious questions?" 

"I constantly remind myself that I love what I do and those idiots are the price of admission."

"Okay, fair. But still—that has to drive you insane."

I shrugged tightly, shifting my attention to the food that suddenly wasn't quite so appetizing. As I chased a chunk of pineapple around in the rice, I said "I won't lie—it . Every time I leave my house, I have to decide if I want to go out of my way to sneak past them, or just it up and let them see me. I can't go anywhere or do anything without someone snapping a picture and then speculating about what it means." I sighed ", last year? Someone got their hands on a shot of me spacing out in line at the grocery store, and everyone went nuts trying to figure out what I was thinking."

"I remember that." Ewon admitted softly "I, um, think it got turned into a meme, actually."

"Yeah, it did." I laughed dryly and speared the piece of pineapple a little harder than I needed to before I met Ewon's gaze "You want to know what I was thinking in that picture?"

He nodded.

I laughed again "I was trying to remember if I was supposed to pick up laundry detergent or if I had enough at home."

Ewon's eyebrows shot up "Really?" 

"Yeah. But I mean, you snap a picture of someone when they're in mid-sentence or mid-thought or ing chewing something, and you can read all kinds of into what their expression means." I glanced at the fork, wondering if I really wanted that piece of pineapple. Lowering the fork, I exhaled "It's like everyone wants celebrities to be on all the time. If we leave the house wearing something comfortable and not looking like we're ready to hit the red carpet, people wig out. If we aren't smiling, people have to speculate about what it means. If we..." I hesitated.

Ewon sat up a bit "What?"

I swallowed, and struggled to meet his eyes "If they see us out in public with someone, it has to mean something."

His eyes widened "Wow. I mean, I knew that, kind of. I see the tabloids and all. But...damn."

"Yeah. So that means if someone sees us..." I chewed my lip.

It was Ewon's turn to stare at his food, and I got the feeling he wasn't so hungry anymore either. Especially when his eyes flicked to the sides like he was surreptitiously assessing our surroundings and wondering if we were being watched. We weren't, though a woman had looked at me with possible recognition before taking a seat at another table, mercifully putting her back to me. 

I shifted uncomfortably and folded my arms on the table's edge "If you don't want to deal with that , I'll understand. Believe me, it's no picnic. So if it's a deal-breaker, just—"

"No, it isn't." Ewon shook his head and looked in my eyes "I'm trying to get my head around it, but no, it's not a deal-breaker."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded, and slowly, a smile came to life "I want to see you again."

My heart swelled, but smiling back was a struggle "They will speculate about us. I guarantee it. And they don't hold back about anything. What kind of relationship we have. If you're cheating on me because you stood within five feet of another man. What we're doing in bed. It's all fair game."

Ewon shuddered "Yeah. I know. I've seen the they say about you."

I blinked. I'd kind of assumed as much since he'd been a fan and God knew the tabloids always seemed to find plenty to say about me, but it was a bit surreal to have confirmation. Especially since I'd always wondered what it would be like to date someone who'd read all that bull about me. Whether it would affect a relationship or change how a guy looked at me.

I fidgeted some more "For the record, some of it's true, but most of it's not. If you're wondering about any of it, it's okay to ask." 

"Nah." he shook his head "It's tabloids, not your Tinder profile."

That actually made me laugh "I totally should've made a Tinder profile with nothing but those stupid headlines."

Ewon laughed too "It would've gotten some attention, that's for sure."

"Right?" I snorted "Swipe right if you want the real story behind thatphoto."

He chuckled, but quickly sobered "Living under a microscope like that...God. I don't know how you do it."

I grimaced "Well, if we keep doing this and don't keep it as discreet as possible, you might find out." my stomach clenched, and I was instantly convinced Ewon would take that comment to heart and suggest I stay the hell in California. Maybe even move my flight up to tomorrow. Or tonight.

But instead, he took and released a deep breath, and met my eyes "I'd rather put up with photographers and wild speculation about my life than have the same regret I've had for the last five years."

That caught me off-guard, and I straightened, not sure how to respond.

Ewon swallowed "I've seriously been kicking myself ever since for not getting your number. I don't want to spend the next five wondering what might have been." 

Holy crap. I could barely breathe as I held his gaze, taking in the sincerity in his eyes and his quiet words. Finally, I managed "Really?"

"Yeah." without so much as a wary glance around the room, he put his hand on my arm again, and he left it there "I want to see what happens if we keep doing this. It might take me some time to get used to the cameras, but they're not going to chase me off."

I exhaled, putting my hand over the top of his "Good. Because I want to see what happens too."

Though neither of us finished our food, we'd still eaten more than enough to leave us both full and lethargic. By the time we got back to his place and brought my handful of luggage up to his bedroom, about the most either of us was good for was flopping on the couch and watching TV.

Which is exactly what we did.

Ewon's couch was pretty good size, but it did get a little crowded with the two of us and a slowly expanding Belgian Malinois. Lola took up a cushion and a half, leaving us to share the remaining one and a half. That was fine, though—I curled up against Ewon with My arm around his shoulders. Aside from occasionally having to move my feet to accommodate Lola's hind legs, not to mention getting whacked with her tail whenever she moved, it was perfect. I didn't even really mind the legs or tail.

After we'd watched a couple of episodes of a sitcom, Ewon said "Have you watched Altered Carbon?"

"Not yet. Is it good?"

"Oh my God, yes. It's dark and twisted, but it's awesome." he trailed his fingers up and down my arm "Want to try the pilot and see if you like it?"

"But you've already seen it, right?"

Ewon chuckled and pressed a kiss to my jaw line "I'm the kind of guy who will watch and re-watch something a million times if I like it. Trust me—I don't mind."

"Well, in that case..." I shrugged with the shoulder that wasn't tucked up against his shoulder blade "Sure."

He pulled up the show and clicked on the pilot "You want anything before it starts?"

I lifted my chin and looked at him through my lashes "That's kind of baited, isn't it?"

Ewon blushed "I meant like a drink or something." 

I sighed with theatrical disappointment "Aww. Damn it."

"But, I mean, if you've got something else in mind..."

We gazed at each other, and after a few beats, I reached up and drew him up into a kiss. I'd only meant for a quick one. Maybe a playful one.

The instant our lips met, though, I knew we weren't going anywhere. He had me mesmerized just like he had out on the beach and lying in his bed. It wasn't like I'd never been kissed before today—though I'd never had , I had made out a few times in my life—but Ewon's kiss stopped time.

Lola grunted and flopped hard beside me. Then she kicked my leg, startling me enough to break the kiss. I glanced back at her—she was on her back with her head hanging off the cushion.

Ewon took advantage of me turning away, and he shifted a bit before leaning up to kiss my neck.

"Oh God." I whispered. Yeah, so much for watching TV. I didn't see us ing after we'd eaten so much earlier, but I was pretty sure there was still plenty we could do. That after-dinner lethargy was sure as hell evaporating, especially as Ewon trailed hot kisses up to my ear. I leaned into him, tilting my head to silently encourage him.

He nibbled my earlobe, and I was caught off-guard by how y that was. If I hadn't already been painfully hard by that point, I definitely 

would've been as soon as his teeth pressed into my skin.

"Jesus Christ." I moaned "Why is that so hot?"

He laughed, a rush of warm breath whispering past my ear "Does it matter why?"

"Good point."

He bit it gently again "You know, we did walk around a lot today." he murmured "And we fooled around earlier. Probably wouldn't hurt to grab a shower."

"Mmm, good idea. Maybe we should share one." I slid my hand over his thigh "To save water, I mean."

"To save water. Right. Good thinking."

He lifted his head, and when our eyes met, we both grinned. Then, without a word, we got up and headed for the stairs.