♡ 17

Sunghoon returns back right before it's time to leave. As if he wanted to spend every second he could with that woman.

He posted a new update to his mini series with her as a "special guest". Did she help him finish it? How dare he have her read my words.

I rode with Heeseung back home, not able to stomach being around Sunghoon right now. I can't believe I thought I had actual feelings for him. How insane is that?

"You guys are still coming by tonight, right?" Sunoo asks as we unload the car at Sohyun's house.

"Yeah, we will be there. No classes or work tomorrow." I shrug.

Later that night, the club is packed, music pulsing through the air as people drink and dance. I have Jungwon make me a drink as I stick to Sohyun's side as she waits for Jake and Heeseung. Riki and Jay weren't coming tonight, something about a game that is on.

When Jake and Heeseung arrive, Sohyun is off with Jake. I am happy for her, but I also don't want to be left alone here. Sure Jungwon and Sunoo are here, but they're working. And it's only a matter of time before Heeseung finds the girl he's going to take home tonight.

"What are you drinking?" Heesung asks, motioning to my empty glass, waving Sunoo over.

"Lemon drop."

"What are you, eighty?" He laughs, but he orders his drink and a lemon drop for me.

"Shut up," I swat his arm. "I like them."

To my surprise, Heeseung sits with me as we drink our drinks, talking. If I am not mistaken, he is using his flirting smile. He never uses that one with me, only the women he takes home.

I keep thinking he is going to leave to find someone else, but he stays, ordering another drink. I get water this time, not needing to get drunk.

"Do you want to dance?" He asks after he finishes his second drink.

"Me?" I look around to make sure there wasn't someone behind me. Is he serious?

"Of course. Who else would I be talking to?"

"O...Okay." I nod and glance toward Sohyun. She is far too busy with her tongue down Jake's throat to even notice. Seriously, just get a room.

As I begin to move my body, looking up at Heeseung, I can't help but let Sunghoon cross my mind. Everything that has happened this weekend, feelings that I felt even briefly.

No! He doesn't get to occupy my thoughts right now. I have wanted this for years and he isn't ruining it. We could have talked about it. Instead, he went running to another woman and had her read my script! The thought of his smile and his arm around her made my stomach turn.

"Are you all right?" Heeseung asks, bending his head down next to my ear so I can hear, as his hands land on my hips.

"Thinking." I nod quickly, forcing a smile.

"Thinking? At a club?" He laughs. "That's your first mistake."

I let out a short laugh, grateful for the distraction. He's right. I didn't come here to think about Sunghoon or what happened this weekend. I came here to forget it.

I let myself lean into the moment, Heeseung's hands guiding my movements. He's warm, confident, and effortlessly smooth, as if he does this all the time.

He does. I remind myself. But I shake it away quickly. Because that doesn't matter right now. What matters is I am the one his hands are on.

"See?" His grip tightens slightly as I press closer, his lips curving into a smirk as he looks down at me. "You're having fun."

I am. Or I want to be, at least. As good as this is, I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Maybe I should get another drink.

Something in the air shifts. I look around, feeling a familiar presence. I know who it is before my eyes even land on the tall man, leaning against the bar, taking a drink of his glass, his eyes watching me.

Sunghoon. I hadn't expected him to show up. Honestly I was expecting him to go back to not hanging out with us.

His expression is unreadable as he lowers the glass, sitting it on the table beside him. He raises an eyebrow at me as I lock eyes with him, almost as if he is challenging me.

I don't look away. If he wants to watch, I'll give him something to look at. If he can be with someone else, why can't I?

I spin around to face Heeseung, sliding my hands up his chest, before moving closer. Part of me expects Heeseung to stop me, but he doesn't. Instead he lets his hands roam farther down, gently grabbing my ass.

I should be ecstatic. Heeseung Lee is touching me. Not only me, but my ass. The reason his character calls me Peaches in my webcomic. But I can't help myself, I glance over my shoulder to make sure Sunghoon is watching. He is, his arms crossed now, his jaw tight. Good.

I look back up to Heeseung and before I can think too much about it, I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him.

I feel his surprise and I think he might pull back. Maybe tell me he doesn't see me that way, which isn't as heartbreaking of a thought as it once was.

But he doesn't. Heeseung places a hand on the back of my neck, pulling me closer, deepening the kiss, his tongue sliding into my mouth.

I have wanted this for years. I finally have the ok from Sohyun, he seems to want this, and I am single. Why are these damn alarm bells going off in my head?

I pull back from him, looking at him smiling down at me. I lean up and try again, putting everything I have into it this time. It's no use.

"Heeseung." I say as I pull back, his lips kissing my neck now. "I need to go."

"Go? What do you mean go?"

"I'm so sorry. I... I can't do this." I push away from him. "I don't want it like this."

"Y/n..." He reaches for me, but I am already heading toward the door.

I stop when I get outside, leaning against the building, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. I try desperately to clear my head, the tears breaking free now.

Why is this happening? How is it that when I kissed Sunghoon this weekend it felt like the only thing I have ever needed? And then when I kiss Heeseung, a man I have been in love with for years, I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. How the fuck is this fair?

And Sunghoon has someone else! He didn't care enough about me to talk about it before running off to someone new. He had someone waiting!

But what have I been? Someone to screw in between the times he can get to Seoul? A writer to help him launch that stupid mini series, that his fans are loving by the way.

"Come on, Peaches." His deep voice shouldn't have been a surprise, but I still jump. He leans down, picking me up. "Let's get you home."

"Let go of me." I push him away, but he holds on tight, heading toward his SUV. "I'm not going back to my dorm tonight."

"I know." His tone is short. "You are coming back to my apartment."

"I don't want to go there, either."

"That's too bad."

"Sunghoon!"

"I'm not letting you go home with anyone else, Y/n." He opens the door to his SUV and places me inside. "Nobody else gets to touch you."

He shuts the door, coming around to the driver's side.

"Your girlfriend wouldn't like this." I say as he begins driving. "Shouldn't you be sexting her or something? Instead of wasting time with me?"

"First, you have never been a waste of time for me." Even though his words are sweet, his tone is still tense. "And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you are jealous."

"You are the one that is forcing me to go home with you because I kissed Heeseung."

"And how did that go? Because it looked to me like you were disappointed."

"I wasn't disappointed." I lie, folding my arms and looking out of the window. "It was loud and the setting wasn't right."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Peaches."

"Why do you even care?"

Sunghoon doesn't answer. He continues the rest of the drive to his apartment in silence. And instead of getting out, we sit in the car for a moment.

"Listen," he sighs, looking over to me. "I'm sorry for this weekend. I shouldn't have been a jerk to you in the pool and on the phone."

"Oh." I say, confused at the sudden apology. Is he going to confess? Maybe he does actually like me.

"You were right. Our emotions were all over the place because of the concert and we got caught up." He reaches into the floorboard behind me, grabbing a small stuffed penguin, placing it in my lap. "I got that while I was in Seoul. Consider it an apology."

"He's adorable." I smile, raising and lowering the little wings on the side. "Thank you. Does that mean..."

"We can go back to how things were?" Sunghoon nods. "Yeah. We can pretend the pool never happened. We can go back to your no kissing rule and testing out the positions for your book."

"What about your girlfriend?"

"Youngji isn't my girlfriend." He shakes his head. "She is just a friend."

"If you say so." I nod, a sinking feeling in my gut. Is this what he wants? To go back to the way things were before?

"Come on. Let's get upstairs."