CHAPTER nine
Our Space

“You’re still here?” Jaejoong asks with a tinge of annoyance in his tone as he walks back into his office. He doesn’t know why his question came out that way but he wishes that he could rewind ten seconds back in time to take it back. Too late.

Boa’s doe-like eyes widen at his sudden entrance and she stands up twiddling her thumbs. “Y-yeah.”

She seems afraid of him, and Jaejoong couldn’t quite figure out if that was good or bad. Ignoring her stare, he drops his folder of files on his desk and leads the way out. “We’re leaving.”

“Eh? Where are we going?” Boa questions in her spot. Jaejoong turns his head around.
Our house spoken in Boa’s voice plays in his head but he doesn’t say it out loud.

“Are you coming or not?” he answers plainly, not giving her much of a choice really. The way that she sadly looks down at her feet, bites down on her frown and looks up beaming at him pokes a small hole in his chest.

“…Yes.”

☆

The ride home is understandably quiet, despite the fact that Boa is hanging onto his Jaejoong’s waist and leaning the side of her cheek into his back, as the two try to figure out what to say and what the other might be thinking.

Being the man, Jaejoong decides to break the awkwardness first.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks, keeping his concern under a gruff voice. Deep under in fact.

Boa perks up, detaching her face from his jacket as they slow down to a red light. “Huh? Nothing. Just… just thinking about things.”

Jaejoong wishes that he could erase that fake smile off of her face, which he sees in the rearview mirror, when suddenly she spits out, “I am thinking about you.”

He steadies his heartbeat and hides his face in his helmet, stepping on the pedal once the light turns green.

Boa pouts, wondering perhaps that he didn’t pick up on what she said. “Did you hear-”

“I heard it,” Jaejoong snaps, despising how he can’t stop his body from burning up at those tiny little words that probably mean nothing to her but mean almost everything to him.

Although of course he’d probably kill someone before he admits to that.

Boa sighs to herself and gently nestles her right cheek into his spine again. He internally shivers, but thinking that she didn’t draw much of a response from him, back to her thoughts she goes.

☆

The question of ‘how much do I value him?’ continuously taps on her brain as she stares at his back the entire time that they make it back to their apartment.

Boa supposes that Jaejoong is pretty valuable to her. He did kind of save her after all, and he is taking care of her in a way, even though he treats her like a pet of some sort. The reason as to why, though draws her curiosity, doesn’t seem that much important anymore. She likes it here. She likes him. She values him. A lot.

Boa’s lips curve into a great, big smile at her realization – pure and genuine. She taps Jaejoong on the shoulder when they approach the door. “Jaejoong, I-”

He slaps a hand over and nudges her towards a corner of the hallway. She looks back at him with fright chilling her bones. Why is he acting like this?

“There’s someone in our house,” Jaejoong whispers, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were stuck in such a dangerous predicament he would have cursed himself for letting ‘our house’ slip out of his idiotic mouth.

Boa couldn’t figure out why but she could feel her heart thump inside of her as she studies Jaejoong’s profile. Perfection.

And the way he leans over her protectively does her no good.

Boa breathes in deeply when Jaejoong lets her go and stealthily makes his way to the door. After listening outside for a minute, he grumbles under his breath. “It really is her.”

Boa’s ears twitch. Her?

“We can’t stay here,” Jaejoong mutters and holds out his hand. “Let’s escape.”

Boa takes a moment to look back at that open palm that seemed to suddenly glow in a golden light. Thump, thump, thump.

She leaps towards Jaejoong’s grasp and they sprint towards the elevator and out of the building together.

☆

“Thanks for letting me meet your friends today, Jaejoong,” Boa says out of the blue as she shyly sits on the king-sized bed in the hotel room that they just booked moments ago.

“You must be kidding me,” Jaejoong groans as he grabs his blonde hair with his fist.

How can she talk about other men when we are together in a place like this?

“Why aren’t you answering my calls, bastard!” He yells when Jiyong doesn’t pick up.  Jaejoong throws his phone at the pillow. “These so-called friends are useless.”

“It’s okay!” Boa chirps and recovers the poor phone. “I mean, you already paid for the night so-” she stops her sentence when Jaejoong is hovering over her. Thumpthumpthumpthumpthump. She is barely able to move a centimeter when he has her lying flat on her back on the bed, and his face just a pinky finger’s length away.

“Is this really okay for you?” Jaejoong whispers with his eyes fixated on her lips. Boa’s eyes are wide – feelings of anxiety and some other emotion she can’t identify all mixed in a bunch of goo dripping from her heart.

She blinks back at him at the most rapid pace, not knowing what to do. She didn’t tremble the least bit but boy was he shaking.

“UGH.” Jaejoong collapses onto the floor and leans his head back upon the edge of the bed as he wipes his face with his palms.
 

The soft words of “you must hate me” escape past his lips, and Boa widens her eyes at such a thought.

She descends from the bed and quietly makes a spot right next to him, curling her legs towards her chest. Boa smiles slightly at the way his blonde hair is in a mess, jabbing up and out in all different directions as he runs his fingers through them, forehead glued upon his knees.

“I hate myself,” Jaejoong continues, sulking in his state of anger and confusion.

“I don’t hate you,” Boa tells him and places a hand on his shoulder. He flinches, brushing her hand away and looks at her wildly.

“DON’T TOUCH ME,” he yells at her with eyes reflecting those of a madman. But regret, regret, and more regret washes over him.

However, Boa stands her ground and makes a grab for his face with both of her small hands. She forces him to look her back in the eyes seriously, her eyebrows knitted in a bit of anger for the first time.

“Look, Kim Jaejoong!” she starts firmly and Jaejoong can’t help but stare back in utter surprise. He listens. “I will touch you as much as I want! BECAUSE-” She pauses. “BECAUSE I VALUE YOU A LOT!”

Is that a confession?

Jaejoong didn’t know whether he should be happy or mad, but the way his face flushes red tells the world exactly how he feels. He is overjoyed.

But of course his next maneuver is to pull her hands away from his handsome face and head straight to the bathroom to splash some sense onto his head with cold water.

Boa doesn’t know what to make of his response but she knows that he is Kim Jaejoong after all, and she can’t keep him out of her thoughts as he takes what feels like an eternity in the shower.

She lets out a giggle when he hears him yell from inside the bathroom. “WHY IS IT SO HOT IN HERE!?”

He’s a special one.