emotions | love alarm

30 ~

Chapter Thirty

It was the day of the luncheon the week before the banquet that shit hit the fan in the worst and best way.

Ae-ri and In-ho had been forced into interaction the day before for the sake of their parents and despite the silent seething that came from both of them, no one knew the better.

She would not fold, and if anything the distance was welcome.

All the guests were currently arriving as she and her family stayed in the foyer of their home, smiling and welcoming people as they came in. The activity reminded her of warmer memories of when Sun-oh had been next to her in the Dominican Republic when her family had gone on a business trip.

She missed him.

The conversation in the cafe had left her with a bottomless pit of dwelling sadness but also with a numbness she was more than accustomed to. In her head, she deserved to feel it and most importantly did not deserve Sun-oh.

Her mother, almost sensing her daughter's growing wariness smiled softly and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as the next guests came up. Ae-ri shifted and leaned in, sighing before painting her perfectly practiced smile onto her face.

Fifteen minutes passed by and she was beginning to grow a rhythm. Roughly 20 more minutes and by then all the guests should have arrived. The home stretch was near.

"Welcome, welcome!" Ae-ri's dad greets cheerfully.

Ae-ri looks up, her smile still warm and inviting, as she takes in the next guests. Her entire body stills, her breath leaving her lungs completely, her eyes locked into gentle eyes that stared right back with the same intensity.

"It's a pleasure," Sun-oh's mom and dad greet warmly.

Sun-oh eyes don't waver for a second even as his parents greet her with a gentle hug and she doesn't dare look away either. Their parents chat, making conversation, but it's Sun-oh's mom that suggests they catch up before the luncheon officially begins and Sun-oh doesn't spare a second for Ae-ri to reconsider.

"We will see you later," he says to no one in particular as he slips his fingers to the small of her back and leads her to a quieter part of the house, both of their bodies abuzz at the contact.

***

He had taken her to one of the activity rooms, this one filled with a pool table, a bar, and things her dad undoubtedly appreciated. She turns to face him when he closes the door and they breathe each other in from a distance, the silence warm, buzzing but also a bit heavy.

She opens her mouth to speak but she doesn't get past the first syllable before he is close, the warmth of their bodies greeting each other in a sigh of relief as his fingers slip up her arm to her neck and cup her jaw gently.

Ae-ri felt like a live wire had touched her, every nerve ending on her body alight and painfully aware of what he was touching and what he wasn't. His eyes soften as she looks up at him, her eyes full of emotion he mirrored right back at her.

He offers her a gentle smile. "Next time you plan on apologizing, can you make sure you hear my reply first?"

She lets out a relieved laugh, relaxing into his touch as her hands slip up to his hand and tug his hand away only to intertwine their fingers before nodding, "Okay."

"You're right. You were a bit of a hypocrite but for the plot I guess, right?" he muses.

She could kiss him.

"I forgive you," he murmurs, his eyes slipping to her mouth and back to her eyes.

"You shouldn't."

"I do."