Chapter 14
When she opened her eyes again, Hae was hovering over her, haloed by the hazy glow of the setting sun. It made him look even more like the godly hero from her webtoon. If she hadn’t believed before, she would now.
“Can you hear me?” he asked.
She realized she was lying on the pool deck, drenched. When she sat up, her head spun once before settling.
Haechi was happily splashing about in the shallow end of the pool, swimming small laps.
Hae knelt next to her, his white button-down shirt plastered to his skin.
It was practically see-through, revealing a body so fit it made Grace blush as she averted her eyes.
It’s not that she hadn’t seen a guy’s body before.
She’d been to the beach often enough. She’d even seen Lincoln without his shirt on.
But, for some reason, seeing Hae like this was too much.
Her whole body felt suddenly flushed. And she was sure it showed on her face.
“What happened?” Grace croaked out.
“You tell me. Did you never learn how to swim?”
“Of course I can swim,” Grace replied, her memory finally clearing. A flash of the weird voice echoed in her head, and she shuddered. It had to have been a stress hallucination or something. “I don’t know what happened. For some reason, I couldn’t find the surface.”
She started to push to her feet. Hae moved in to support her, lifting her in his arms. Grace could feel the planes of his muscles as he pressed too close.
“I don’t need help.” She pushed at him, afraid that he’d feel the sudden leap in her heart rate. “Um, I’ll, uh, get us some towels to dry off.”
When he backed off, Grace ducked into the pool house to do just that. And to put some distance between them.
She grabbed two towels, swinging one around her own shoulders as she returned to hand Hae his.
“Thanks,” she said. “For pulling me out of the pool.”
“Of course.” Hae took the offered towel, running it over his hair. It made the damp locks stand up at wild angles, and with his bangs out of his face, Grace noticed a cut on his temple.
“You’re hurt.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Let me see it.” Grace leaned in to dab at the blood. Hae yelped.
“Sorry,” she said.
Hae glowered, gingerly touched his forehead. When his own fingers touched the cut, he hissed in pain as he glared at the blood smearing his hand. “What is happening? I shouldn’t be able to get hurt like this.”
“Maybe you’re not as all-powerful as you thought.”
He scowled at her and Grace just shrugged, trying to hold back a grin.
She had to admit, he looked cute when he was flustered. Wait, cute?
What are you thinking, Grace? He’s not cute. He’s someone who is completely upending your life. You’re too smart to get distracted by a six-pack…
“What are you looking at?”
She blinked, realizing she was literally staring at the hard planes of his abs. And Hae was watching her curiously. His eyes looked far too knowing, and she had a sudden, horrible thought.
“Um.” She coughed to clear her dry throat. “You can’t, like, read minds, can you?”
He grinned at that, a mischievous glint lighting his eyes. “Why? Are you thinking inappropriate things about me?”
Grace rolled her eyes. If he had to ask, that was answer enough. He hadn’t heard her embarrassing thoughts.
“Wait here. I’ll get something for that cut.” Grace stepped into the pool house again to retrieve a first aid kit.
When she came back, Hae was sitting on a lounge chair, the towel draped over his shoulders.
As Grace sat on the chair across from him, Hae leaned away, eyeing the antiseptic and cotton swabs suspiciously. “What’s all that for?”
“I need to clean the wound.” Grace saturated a swab to dab against the cut, but Hae dodged her.
“Stop being a big baby and stay still.” She tried again, but he batted her hand away.
“I’m a god, not a child.” He turned his head to the side just as she pressed down with the swab. Instead of dabbing at the pink skin around the cut, she pressed the disinfectant right in the center of the scrape.
Hae jerked back with a yelp.
“I told you to stay still.” She held in a laugh at his pained expression. When she tried to dab at the skin again, he evaded her.
“It still stings,” he protested with a low whine.
At his pout, Grace couldn’t stop the laugh this time. But she took pity on him.
“Here.” She held him in place to stop him from turning away again and leaned in to blow on the wound. It’s what her halmeoni always did when dressing Grace’s injuries, and it helped ease the sting until the antiseptic dried.
“Better?” she asked.
She started to lean back, but he wrapped his hands around her wrists, holding her in place. Now they sat, frozen, Grace cupping his face, Hae staring at her with those unnerving golden eyes.
The way he watched her made something vibrate in her chest. Not that familiar swarm of anxiety. Softer, like butterfly wings fluttering against her heart.
“Mm-hmm,” he murmured, his voice a low hum that made her hands flex involuntarily.
“Huh?” Why was it so hard for her to gather her thoughts in any logical order?
“You asked if it’s better.” A satisfied smile moved across Hae’s face. “It is.”
She narrowed her eyes at his knowing grin. He knew how he was affecting her, and he was milking it.
“Here, put your own Band-Aid on.” She threw one into his lap, not caring if he wasn’t versed in modern wound care. She needed to get away from him to settle herself.
You’re just still amped up from the fall into the pool. Plus, he saved your life. Of course that makes him more attractive in this moment, but it will fade, she told herself. She escaped back into the pool house to return the first aid kit.
But when she pressed her palm to her chest, her heart was still speeding. Maybe she’d just take another minute alone in here to get her bearings before facing the very attractive god who’d interrupted her entire life.