Chapter Twenty Three – Ava.

I yawned, rolling over in the plush bedding and stretched my limbs out, feeling refreshed despite not being in my own bed. The sun was shining into the hotel suite through a crack in the blinds, and I glanced at the time, noting it was earlier than the alarm was set to wake us up.

It was a rare occasion lately that I would wake feeling this way, and I relished in the moment, excited to feel like my normal self for a change. And then my stomach growled, indicating the growing hunger within me. I refused to listen right away, turning my focus to the sleeping boy beside me instead.

Taekwoon was lying on his back, his head rolled towards me and his mouth was slightly ajar. His arms were thrown in two different directions like usual, and he was slumped further down the bed than I was. I moved my foot a little and then smiled, finding his leg not far from my own. He shifted in his sleep, his leg moving to throw over me. I tried not to break out in a grin, knowing the boy wasn’t aware of how much our sleeping habits were alike.

For ten minutes I watched him as he slept, taking in all his little details. I thought I had always known every inch of the man I loved, and yet I was intrigued to find yet another beauty spot on his skin, my hand gently touching the one I loved on his finger. His long fingers wrapped around mine then and I finally grinned, diverting my attention to his closed eyelids, waiting for his warmth to greet me.

“Satisfied?” he mumbled and I frowned, feeling disappointed that his eyes were still closed. I moved closer to Taekwoon and kissed the bridge of his nose gently.

“With?” I asked and he finally opened an eye, letting out a deep breath before following suit with the other.

“Me.”

Rolling my eyes, I tried to pry my hand out of his. He wouldn’t budge. “Seriously. I was satisfied until you woke up.”

“Someone slept well,” he mentioned with a lazy smile, pulling me back to his side and kissing my forehead. “And you are.”

“No, I absolutely cannot stand you.”

“I love when you deny the obvious.”

“Why, because it makes you feel good at how much you affect me?” He nodded honestly and I pouted. “You would.”

“What’s on the schedule for today?” he questioned, sitting us both up and I scrunched my face up again, not wanting to leave the bed. He seemed to pick up on my thoughts and a devious expression appeared. “I wish we could just stay in this room all day long.”

“Well since you did the press conference yesterday when we arrived in Guangzhou, today we have the rehearsal for the showcase and then later on you go on stage. Nothing out of the ordinary for an overseas trip.”

“You don’t know that,” he murmured and I refrained from rolling my eyes again, considering he had asked me for the schedule in the first place.

I jumped out of the bed and went over to the blinds, opening them and gaining pleasure out of him squinting at the invasion of bright light. “No I don’t, but I do know I need to go start getting organised so I can eat some breakfast before I lose my good mood.”

“I need the bathroom first!” he exclaimed and before I could get across the room he was in there, the door lock sounding as I got to the barrier between us.

“Jung Taekwoon!” I cried, banging on the door in frustration. “I need to use the bathroom now!”

“I won’t be long, I promise!” he called and I grumbled, realising how full my bladder was. Opting to sit down so I wouldn’t desperately dance around, I tried to distract myself with my phone and was engrossed with a game when I heard the door slide open. I glanced up at Taekwoon, not noticing anything different about him for the amount of time he was in there. My eyes narrowed at his rudeness before I placed my phone down, and rushed into the bathroom.

I shut the door and locked it just in case he tried to steal my bathroom time again and turned around, looking for the toilet in the foreign layout. In front of me was a large mirror and I froze, my eyes barely registering the now open makeup case that I had blindly placed on the counter under