It was early morning when Jia woke up first. Her arm felt numb from sleeping on it in just one position. Her eyes were still closed, but flew open when she realized her other hand was inside Jeon's shirt. Her palm was flat against his rock hard midsection. She moved her hand gently, running her hand over the contours of the smooth yet hard surface, her pinky finger grazing a nipple.
"What are you doing?" Jeon asked, laughter shaking his voice.
"Nothing."
She quickly snatched her hand away but he pulled it back and held it against his chest. She kissed the mole on his neck.
"Is this how you intend to greet me every morning?"
She didn't answer but continued her foray uphis jawline.
Jia, I'm warning you, if you don't stop this...."
"You'll what?"
"Getting braver I see. Since you're feeling adventurous, you want to shower together?"
"Nooooo. Speaking of shower, I think I need a cold one."
She pushed him away and stood up suddenly, running for the bathroom. He laughed, lying flat on his back, too lazy to get up. Surprisingly, he slept well despite Jia's nearness. He was also happy how she wasn't embarrassed to explore things he knew she'd never done with anyone but him.
He got up and went through his email, answering a few of them. He left Jia's room to shower and dress up for their next shoots for the day. He sent Jia a text message, telling her he'd pass by her room so that they can eat breakfast together at the restaurant café.
"Hello again," he greeted Jia, kissing her on the forehead. "Hungry?"
"Yes, I didn't eat much last night."
His hand engulfed hers as they rode the elevator on the way up to the Sky Lounge, which showed a fantastic view of the beach. It was still cold but the sky was bright and clear. Jeon hoped the weather would continue till they finished the shoot.
"You think we'll need to stay one more night here," Jia asked.
"If you mean do we stay due to the shoot, maybe not."
"Ok. It's nice here though."
"You want to stay one more night?"
"Would be nice if we did."
"We'll stay then."
"For real?"
"Is that ok though? Won't it be an issue for you to be seen with me?"
"Yes I was thinking of that too."
"We'll figure it out later, ok?"
In the end, they had to stay the night because the shoot wasn't finished within the day. Jia was exhausted by the end of the shoot. She quietly went to her room to lie down for a bit. After about an hour, she woke up and went down to the function room that served as holding area for the vloggers. The vloggers were already out of the room, most likely having dinner. Only Hei-Won was in the room working on her laptop.
"Hi, Hei-Won," Jia said, tentatively.
"Oh. Hi Jia." Hei-Won greeted her without looking up from her laptop screen. Was it her imagination or did Hei-won seem to be cold and distant towards her?
"Are you working on the script for the sequences to be shot tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Do you need help?"
"No."
She sat quietly beside Hei-Won, waiting for her to finish, wanting to make a connection with her. But Hei-Won seemed to disregard her and went on with her business.
"Hei-Won, is something wrong?"
"What? No."
Jia stood and quietly left. As she went out, Jeon was in the corridor looking for her. He noticed her sad demeanor.
"Something wrong?"
"No, just my period. I'm exhausted too."
"Let's have a quick dinner then rest."
He put his arm around her, letting her lean against him. She closed her eyes, loving the feeling of his strength supporting her tired body. They went into the elevator, ready to go up to the Sky Lounge. As the elevator doors were about to close, Hei-Won suddenly caught up, stopping the elevator from closing.
She saw Jia's head on Jeon's shoulder, his arm around her. She caught his thumb caressing her arm. With a tense nod at both of them, she stayed close to the door, refusing to look at them. Jia was trying to get away from Jeon but he refused to let go and held on to her.
As Hei-Won went out of the elevator, Jia pushed Jeon away.
"What are you doing Jeon? Are you intentionally hurting her?"
"No, I'm just acting naturally. Are we going to hide like we're guilty forever?"
"I understand but maybe a little sensitivity might be good?"
"Jia, I've waited so long for us to get together. Years. Could you please attempt to understand me too the way you understand her?"
They ate dinner in silence. After a while, Hobi and Hei-Won walked in to have dinner but chose a table away from them. Jia felt so awkward. It seems now, even Jeon was not talking to her.
"Are you mad at me?"
"No I'm not," he said, sighing.
"Jia, I don't want to avoid touching you just because Hei-Won is around. I have nothing to hide. I didn't do anything wrong back when we were together. The whole time I was with Hei-Won, I was faithful to her. If you remember, Hei-Won and I were also physically affectionate in front of you. It's the way I am. Was I wrong then?"
"No. We never had a relationship, we were just friends. But you and Hei-Won broke up just three months ago. I don't want to seem like I'm flaunting being you, and gloating at her."
"I understand. I know you value her friendship and you're worried about what she thinks of you. But can you please think of us more? It's not wrong to be happy. Please, sweetie, don't feel guilty about what we have."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Look, let's get you some rest. Do you want a massage? That will relax you."
"You'll do it?"
"I'm good at it," he said, smiling.
"Ok, but I'll shower first."
"No worries, I will too."
Jia fell asleep while Jeon was massaging her back. He slowly turned her over, to ease her into a more comfortable position. He turned up the covers to tuck her in, closing the rest of the lights. He kissed her forehead, but as he was about to leave, she held on to his wrist.
"Please stay," she said softly. She moved to give him more space, letting him cradle her head again like last night.
"Jeon."
"Hm?"
"I will miss this when we get back."
"I will too."
"I'm sorry about thinking too much of Hei-Won. You're right I should think of how you feel too."
"Forget about it. Let's just make the most of our time together whenever we find the chance. No more guilt. I promise I'll talk to her. to sort everything out."
"I worry about that."
"Talking to her? Why?"
"I don't want to lose you again."
"You won't. We waited too long for this, I won't let you go ever."
They kissed softly, her hands moving up his shoulders, pulling him closer. When he broke the kiss, they were a little breathless. She kissed the bare skin exposed at the vee of his shirt, her hand against his chest. In a few minutes, she was asleep again.
He was going to find a way to fix this. He would ask for Hobi's help, just to get this over with. Hei-Won will have to face him sooner or later.