Chapter 16

‘Wow’ I panted falling backwards on the bed.  I was hot, out of breath, and sweaty. 
‘Wow’ she repeated next to me, pretty much in the same state as me.  We were both sporting pretty serious looking red marks all over ourselves. 

‘We’re going to have to stop that’ she warned, turning to face me on the pillow next to me.  I glanced over at her slightly confused, hoping she didn’t mean what I had immediately thought of.

She laughed, ‘I mean the marks, I’m no expert but I don’t think you can turn up on TV or on stage with big marks on you neck and back.’

I laughed relieved.  ‘There’s this great invention called make-up you know’. I poked her side.

She smiled widely at my sarcasm and closed her eyes. ‘I could sleep for several days after what you’ve just done to me.’

I smirked even wider at her, I enjoyed making her feel like this.  I felt manly, strong and in control.

‘I need a shower beautiful ok? Do you want to come?’ I added.

‘Taemin, we just had s*x pretty much all day,’ she paused looking at the clock.  ‘Jesus Christ it’s 6pm’

Honestly, I wasn’t sure I could go again even though I desperately wanted to.  I think I had broken myself, I had no idea I was even capable of love-making like that. 

‘Ok’ I sighed.  I kissed her head and get up to quickly shower leaving her in the bed, still naked with a thin sheet covering her. 

I turned the shower on, waited for it to warm up and had just jumped in when I heard a scream from the bedroom, like a pistol firing through me. 

Like a shot I got out of the shower grabbing a towel as I ran and flinging it around me just in time to step into the bedroom.  I took in the scene in front of me, Jongin had his back to the door his hands over his face repeating ‘I’m sorry’ in Korean over and over. Jen had a pillow over her chest curled up into the far corner of the bed.

‘Tae, I’m sorry!’ She squeaked at me, her eyes where wide but amused. 

‘What?’ I asked confused.  Jongin turned to face me deliberately keeping his gaze very straight and avoiding Jen.

‘Tae!’ He excitedly shouted at me. ‘I’m sorry! I came in and thought you were sleeping, I totally forgot you wouldn’t be alone.  I didn’t think and I jumped on her!’

I looked between him and Jen and burst out laughing.  At the same time she burst out laughing too, causing poor Jongin to turn a deeper shade of red.  He was smiling but clearly embarrassed.

‘I’ll wait in your living room’ he turned and walked out closing the bedroom door behind him. 

I composed myself enough to sit on the bed next to Jen.

‘I’m sorry’ I began explaining, ‘I should have warned you, most of my close friends will just walk in anywhere from time to time’

She grinned at me clearly not embarrassed but finding the funny side of the situation.

‘I’m beginning to see a pattern forming.  Don’t worry’

‘I’ll shower quick and go out to him, then you can shower and com say hi, er, properly’ I told her.

‘Haha,’ she laughed. ‘I never thought the first time I would meet him he would jump on top of me, boy he’s heavy’

I ruffled her hair and jumped up to finish my shower.  Throwing my clothes back on and making my way out to the living room.

‘Jong?’ I shouted looking for him, I found him lurking in my fridge, emerging with a bottle of water in his hands looking sheepish.

‘I’m sorry Tae like I said I totally forgot she would be here and I just didn’t think!  Then she was saying all these English things at me and you know my English is like s**t so I just started apologising but obviously she had no idea what I was saying, and I didn’t know where in the hell to look so I just kind of got up and turned around and froze’ He finished and took a deep breath, then a long drink. ‘Is she ok?’ he asked looking out into the hall.

‘Yeah, she doesn’t seem to embarrass to easily I just think you scared the hell out of her’ I smirked at him pushing his shoulder.

‘I wasn’t interrupting?’ he asked

‘No’ I shook my head, ’10 minutes earlier and you would have’ I winked at him.

‘Urgh I don’t need that mental image’ he said shaking his head and going to sit down in the living room.

I followed him asking ‘Aren’t you busy all day?  How come you’re here?’

‘They didn’t need us all.  So I was free from about an hour ago.  I thought since I had the evening free for once I’d come by since I haven’t seen you in weeks.  I did send you messages’ he finished. 

‘Yeah because I was really checking my phone’ I laughed at him. 

He grinned and looked around, ‘Maybe I should go, she’s only just got here and I won’t be able to speak to her that well, you know it’s going to be kind of awkward’ he looked on edge not like the usual Jongin I knew.

‘No stay, you’ve got to meet her some time right? Plus the longer you put it off the more awkward it will be.  She teaches English, so you know maybe she can help you, don’t worry’ I tried to reassure him.

‘Is she coming with you back to the dorms next week?’ he asked me.

‘Yeah, well I’m not sure, maybe not at first, maybe though, we haven’t talked about it too much’

He gave me a strange look.

‘What’ I asked him.

He sighed, thinking carefully about whatever he was going to say. ‘Just be careful’

‘Why?’ I asked genuinely not understanding what he meant. 

He looked at me with a very serious expression. 

‘Ok so most people know you’ve brought a westerner back with you and there’s mixed  . . .  opinions.  I’m talking from the girls and the guys.  The girls will be jealous and I don’t know, just don’t trust everyone.  Ok?’

I thought over what he said frowning when she walked in, meaning I was unable to press Jongin anymore.  I looked up at her chuckling to myself as I noticed she was covering all of her skin with jeans and a long sleeved top.

‘Hi’ said Jen toward Jongin, a little shyly but I definitely got the feeling her tone was for his benefit rather than her own embarrassment. 

‘Hi’ he replied back blushing, standing up and bowing in her direction. 

I had to laugh.  He was shocked when I had told him she was older than me, and it obviously threw him not really knowing how to act, besides she was western as he just pointed out. 

Jen stood stunned for a second before she held out her hand to him to shake.  This was what she was used to doing not bowing.  He took it clumsily and shook it sitting back down.

‘I’m Jen’ she introduced herself sitting down next to him on the sofa and pointing to herself.

‘Jen,’ he repeated as if trying out saying it for the first time.  ‘I’m Kai . . . uh, Jongin’ he said back to her. 

This was entertaining seeing him struggle.  I knew he was shy, and very shy with English but I hadn’t realised it was quite this bad. 

‘Nice to meet you’ she told him, quite composed but speaking very definitely much slower than she usually did. 

‘Nice to meet you also’ he said back to her.  It was time for me to help.

‘Maybe you could help him with English’ I told her.  ‘He’s learned a little but as you can see he’s very shy’

He gave me a look of utter despair as she smiled in mine then his direction. ‘Sure I can’ she said ‘It’s my speciality’ I knew she could, in the short space of time I had known her she had already made me feel 100% more confident in speaking English.  She had this way of correcting you and helping without you even realising she was doing it. 

‘She will help you learn English’ I told him in Korean.

His eyes lit up and nodded in her direction bowing his head again saying, ‘thank you’.

She giggled at him and I noticed him visibly relax a little more.  ‘That’s ok’ she told him.

Jongin decided to stay a while and by the time he left he was actually laughing with her feeling a lot more relaxed about speaking to her. 

As he left I saw him to the door when he told me ‘She’s great, you’re really going to have to be careful.  Jealousy does strange things to people’.