Chapter 10 #2
He drew her in for a kiss, and Lia let herself sink into it completely.
Her fingers laced in his hair while his hands moved higher up her back, then around her front to brush his hand over her breast, flick over her nipple.
Lia’s pambahay was old and ratty enough that she felt the heat of his fingers on her skin, like she wasn’t wearing anything at all.
“Remember when you said we can do this more than once?” he asked, his hand sliding between her legs, his kiss swallowing the moan on Lia’s lips. She jerked her hips against his gentle fingers, wanting more.
“Well, one of us is busy recording an album. Finding a new agency for his band.”
“And one of us went to Gyeongju.”
“On your recommendation! Is this because you came without warning the first time?” She asked. One of Cal’s fingers brushed the front of her panties and she shuddered, gripping him tighter at the unexpected reaction.
“Maybe. Or maybe I can’t have enough of you,” he said, and Lia winced when his fingers attempted to slide inside her. “What is it?”
“Dry.” Her nose was still wrinkled as Cal eased his fingers away. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” He kissed her lips, trailing them across her cheek, behind her ear, down to her neck. “That’s what lube is for.”
He tugged down the neck of Lia’s pambahay and sucked at the skin revealed. He declared his intentions to mark a path down her body like a pirate on a mission, and Lia didn’t much mind being his willing island.
Her experience with these kinds of sexual encounters was that guys tended to lose all sexual appeal to her when they tried to go down on her—they just didn’t seem to enjoy it much. But Cal licked her up and down with enthusiasm and gusto, sucking at her clit as his fingers slid inside her cunt.
“Cal, someone could walk in—“
“I told Siwan to go ahead with them to the studio. Do not disturb.”
“So this is a planned seduction.” Lia tried not to giggle as she recalled Cal’s quick trip to his bedroom, his face gleeful as he came back with another bottle of lube—strawberry flavor, which he seemed proud of.
He seemed to welcome the rise of Lia’s hips against his face, rewarding the action with a longer suck, by lapping up the wetness that leaked.
“Baby, you’re so wet for me,” Cal said, his fingers making a satisfying squelching noise as he pumped them into her. “And strawberry flavored.”
Lia’s torso shuddered as it clenched involuntarily with laughter. “That’s the lube!”
“Just the lube?”
“Cal, please don’t make me argue with you about lube while you’re—fuck!”
“Mmmm. Lia. You’re going to come like this?”
“Is that…a question? Or a challenge?” Lia asked between labored breaths, and Cal grinned that devilish smile of his as he tugged her by hooking his hands under her thighs, took a playful little bite of the flesh of her inner thigh, before he fully expounded on the definition of “eating her out.”
Sex between them was all about just feeling good, but in the back of Lia’s mind, a secret part that she didn’t examine, she knew it wouldn’t feel like this with anyone else.
“I forgot how good I was at that,” Cal said, his mouth wet and his breathing labored, and Lia was in danger. Girl, so in danger.
“No argument from me,” Lia managed to say, still feeling a little loopy from her orgasm. “The fanfic girls are missing out.”
“Maybe let’s cut the fanfic talk.” Cal kissed her lips, and a shudder of lust rocked Lia’s body like an aftershock when she tasted herself on his lips.
Well. Herself and strawberry. Who knew a casual affair would make her feel so sexy?
Desirable and beautiful? “I want to seem much more mysterious than I am.”
“Consider my lips sealed,” she agreed with a nod, making him smile. “Kkeut.
“I’m taking you to lunch,” said the guy with three meetings and lessons and whatever else lined up for the day. “I’ve been saving this place for us.”
The place, as it turned out, was this lovely little neighborhood called Mangwon, slightly farther from Hongdae, and Cal’s favorite neighborhood in the city.
They spent their mid-morning waiting for the gelato store to open at eleven, then walked around.
They had lunch at an Italian restaurant that looked like a guy’s living room.
The shop owner was the chef and waiter, and served them Ligurian pesto and roast pork.
Mangwon had a surprising number of specialty stationery stores that made Lia’s eyes light up, and her heart flutter as Cal took her to his favorite spots.
There was a small artist’s studio with watercolor prints, handmade pottery, and star-shaped pins.
There was another shop that sold exclusively Korean artists’ work, and Lia could have spent days there.
But what set the neighborhood apart was how quiet it was. There were only one or two self-service photo booths, and the people Lia saw wandering the streets seemed to be local kids being ferried by the adults in their lives, or families enjoying a meal.
It also meant she and Cal could wander outside with him in a mask and cap, their hands clasped.
“This is nice,” Cal admitted as they were walking toward another shop, his other hand already carrying Lia’s purchases. “Walking and holding hands.”
“You holding all my new stationery.” She giggled. “Honestly Cal, I can carry it.”
“Yes, but I would be a bad boyf–roommate if I didn’t hold your purchases.” She didn't miss the little Freudian slip there. “And your heavy ass tote bag. What is in this?”
“Just the essentials!”
“You’re already wearing a cap, why do you also need the umbrella? And the water jug?”
“A girl needs to stay hydrated! Come on Cal, put those guitar muscles to good use.”
She imagined he’d never had the opportunity to do this before—before Bomseok, there was the year and a half that everyone had been enamored of his very fake relationship with KPop princess Seo Minji for the “Let’s Go Dating” variety show.
God, Lia could make a list of that show’s sweetest moments, her favorite little things that the CalMing Couple had shared between them and the entirety of Korea.
The show's premise had been simple—random pairings of celebrities (Cal and Minji, in this case) would go on dates and people were invited to join a group of hosts commenting on the progression of their “relationship.” Siwan had been so good at commenting on what Cal could possibly be thinking at a particular moment that he was there for most of the season.
What had happened was the slowest burn in the show’s long history—she couldn’t even speak banmal with him at first!
—but also the one with the biggest payoff, when Cal presented Minji with an entire diary that had a photo from each episode, how he felt with each one.
Some pages bore the signatures of other artists and the hosts' notes. It was undeniably sweet and endearing, and there was no faking Minji’s tears as she hugged him goodnight.
It had been a lot. And had done wonders for both Cal and Minji’s careers, which had been the point.
“There’s Loser Records,” Cal said, and the excitement in his voice was palpable as they reached a particular corner of the street. He tugged Lia’s hand in the direction of the store. “They serve einspanner coffee here. I learned the word! It’s Vienna-ese.”
“You mean German?”
“It might be enough for you, you coffee snob.”
“Said the man with a LaMarzocco in his house!”
The music shop was lovely. The space was small but almost every corner was filled with something to see—records, merchandise, posters, light sticks.
It would feel a lot more cramped if it weren’t for the large windows that looked out into the autumn trees, and the small tables that had a record player or a CD player on them so customers could listen while they had their coffees.
There was also a large selection of CDs for sale, some from groups that pre-dated CoBOLT.
Cal was happy to point out some of his favorites.
Today Lia learned that he was a huge KST fan, and while he’d grown up with Parokya ni Edgar and Barbie’s Cradle like her, he also had Epik High.
Lia could spend hours talking about how she loved the Spice Girls and M2M, how a lot of her teenage music choices were defined by US Teen dramas (she was a One Tree Hill girl, therefore also a Fall Out Boy fan) and Guitar Hero.
“Come to think of it, CoBOLT fit right in,” she noted as she looked at a copy of the Twilight movie soundtrack. Still so good. It was fun to browse, but Lia’s heart actually skipped a beat when she spotted a familiar blue cover.
“Hoy!” she exclaimed as Cal swiped the copy of Thunder! LIVEning! CoBOLT! from her hands and held it above his head—aka the place she would never reach vertically. “Gatekeeping your own band?”
“This is a rare album,” he pointed out, and Lia didn’t need him to explain that to her.
Of course she knew that already. Thunder!
LIVEning! CoBOLT! was the album featuring recordings from their first Asia tour.
The band handpicked which version of the song would appear on the album, and they released only a limited number of copies.
At the time, Lia couldn’t even afford the bootleg copy of the album, much less an original.
“And there’s only one left. This should fall in the hands of a BoLT. ”
Lia narrowed her eyes at him. “Track three. Coffee Baby. Recorded in Manila.”
Cal peered up at the back of the album to check. “Yes. And…?”
“I was there. Araneta Coliseum. Lower Box, your left side, third row.” She announced, and the swell of pride in her chest was new and unfamiliar, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. “So technically, and I think this was the point of doing this, I’m part of this album, too.”
“This and every album.” Cal smiled, lowering his hand to give her back the box. “You know I had to fight to have this album made. It was part of my list.”