Chapter Five

"You can't," Naomi said in a tiny voice. She pushed back from him enough to look up without whacking her head on his chin. "I didn't ask for you to pay for it. I wouldn't ask you to. It's too much to ask of you." She tried to step back, but he held her tight to him.

"You didn't ask, but I offered." Lifting a hand, he brushed away the tears on her cheek. "I don't like seeing the pain in your eyes, and I've seen how much your students love and respect you. Taking it from you is like taking a child from its mother. I want to pay for you to stay in Korea." His fingers moved up into her hair, holding it back away from her face.

"I… I can't just let you do that," she stammered, her cheek heating up against his hand. "I don't like taking charity. I haven't needed it since I lived in America, and I won't take it now."

Seunghyun smiled. "Then you can pay me back." Without waiting for a response, he lowered his head and kissed her lips, still gently holding her head in his hand. So close, he could feel her breathing through her nose for a split-second before her own hands came up and rested on the lapels of his jacket and she was kissing him back. He wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him. A car horn beeped twice in short succession, a sound of congratulations. It brought reality home, and the kiss reluctantly broke.

Her lips were trembling, and through her heavy breathing, Naomi looked at him with eyes that looked hurt and confused. "Pay you back?" she said softly and leaned her head into the warmth of his hand.

"You just did," he whispered and bent to kiss her again. This time, it was a bare brush of their lips. "I care about you," he confessed. "You're beautiful and so different from the girls I know and have to date." His thumb brushed her lips. "I want you to stay in Korea."

She dropped her eyes to his chest and shyly smoothed his lapels. "I don't… know how to repay you for this. It's too much to ask when I haven't known you very long. I wouldn't let Seong-Li do this for me, and I've known her for two years." She nibbled her lower lip, worrying at the dry skin.

Seunghyun lifted her chin to face him. "Will you go out with me?" he asked. "Let me take your mind off your problems for a night? Let's call that your way of repaying me, arasso?" He burrowed his fingers into her bangs to hold them back from the wind so he could see her eyes.

Uncertainty bubbled there for a few moments, and she almost said no. But then she remembered that kiss and how the electricity of it had sizzled all the way to her toes and warmed every cold dark corner of her mind. Unconsciously she touched her lips with her fingertips, and he knew he had her. "Okay," she said quietly. "When?"

He held up a finger, now cold and stiff, and tapped the tip of her nose. "First things first, Miss Naomi. I want to introduce you to my group. Seungri wants to meet you." Not entirely true, but he had peripherally heard the youngest member complaining to Jiyong that he hadn't thought T.O.P had any friends outside the entertainment business anymore. Well, it was about time to prove the little snot wrong. "I think Daesung would like fussing over you for the night."

She smiled, her cheekbones turning pink again. "Okay," she agreed and ducked her head to try and hide the blush. "I just need to call Seong-Li so she won't panic when I'm not home before she goes to bed."

"She doesn't go out on Friday nights?" he said, but in all honesty, he wasn't surprised at all. She was a teacher, after all.

"Saturday is her favorite night to do things. She does her grading on Friday when people are less likely to bother her." With cold fingers, Naomi fumbled her phone out of her pocket and sent a message that she had to retype three times. 'Don't wait up for me. I'm going to spend some time with a friend. He'll bring me back. Sweet dreams.'

He pulled her to his side as they walked back along the bridge back to the Camaro. "You're half-frozen."

"The bridge was your idea," she pointed out, but she was giggling, and it sounded prettier than any note Daesung had ever belted out. He squeezed her shoulders so one bumped his side, and he fished his keys out of his pocket.

"I'll warm you up when we get to the dorm." The sly smile on his face turned him wolfish, and her cheeks reddened more. "Not like that, goofball."

"You made it sound ual," she accused.

"Only if your mind was already half-way there."

"It was not!"

"Sure it wasn't."

"Seunghyun."

"Naomi."

By the time they pulled into the garage under BigBang's dorm building, it was midnight, and their footfalls echoed hollowly in the silent rows of vehicles standing like metallic soldiers. Seunghyun locked the car remotely, the lights flashing briefly, and held out a hand to his companion, who took it hesitantly. Several flashing red lights followed them down the concrete corridor to the faintly-gleaming elevator doors, and Naomi could see the low light flashing off the round dead eyes of security cameras, hanging like bats in the corners.

"Aren't you worried about someone leaking security footage?" she asked nervously, thinking of what might get back to the school administration if she was found to be out with an idol. Not just out, but in a dark garage with him at midnight. Would he risk getting involved in a scandal like Seungri had?

He shook his head. "Security officers are signed to a very strict contract. If they leak anything from the cameras, they will be fired and sued." He looked at her sharply. "Are you afraid of me?"

"N-No," she stammered, but she felt her hand shaking in his. "I-I was just thinking about… scandal."

"You mean Ri's?" Seunghyun turned and lifted her hand to his lip, kissing it lightly. "I'd protect you from whatever they tried to throw at you. I promise."

She dropped her eyes. "I'm not worried about me, Seunghyun. I'm nobody. I'm worried about you."

"What's a little scandal?" he shrugged. "Just more attention. Besides, there are worse things than bringing home a beautiful girl." His eyes sparkled.

"Bringing home an ugly man?"

They burst into laughter so hearty, the regiments of cars echoed with it. By the time the elevator dinged onto their level, they had melted into sporadic giggles that didn't seem to want to stay quiet. "I think Ri will like you," Seunghyun said through a wide smile that slitted his eyes into half moons.

"I hope so," Naomi replied and tucked her hand into his arm as they rose through the silent building. "I'll be grateful for the couch, if the others don't mind. The doors of my building lock after eleven."

"Actually," he said slowly, "we have our own rooms, and you can have my bed. I'll share with Daesung tonight."

"I can't kick you out of your room," she said uncomfortably.

"Do you want to share it with me?"

"… maybe," she said in a whisper that was almost swallowed by the ding of the elevator as the doors opened.