Chapter 21 #3
"Because I monitor all our lives." Jin-ho finally looked up, something unreadable in his expression as he held Hwan's gaze steadily. "And because I wanted to see how you'd handle it. The first one since..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to. The first one since she got here. The first one since everything changed.
"He handled it well." I offered, feeling the need to fill the weighted silence that had settled over the table. "The fans noticed he seemed happy. They were speculating."
"They're always speculating." Jae-won's voice was calm, but I caught the slight tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around his chopsticks. "That's what fans do. As long as they don't have anything concrete, speculation is harmless."
"What happens when they have something concrete?" I asked, suddenly aware of how precarious this all was. I was sitting at their dinner table, wearing Hwan's scent on my wrist, planning to spend tomorrow in Jin-ho's studio. How long before someone found out?
"We'll deal with it when it happens." Jae-won met my eyes across the table, his gaze steady and reassuring, his voice carrying the weight of a promise. "Together. As a pack."
The word settled in my chest, warm and foreign and terrifying. Pack. Was that what I was now? Part of their pack?
"Eat." Min-jun nudged my plate closer to me, his voice gentle but firm, his hazel eyes soft with concern. "You're still recovering. You need the calories."
"Yes sir." I picked up my chopsticks obediently, and caught the flash of surprised pleasure that crossed his face at the honorific.
I hadn't really thought about it — it had just slipped out.
But the way his scent warmed, the way the rose pink bond pulsed in my chest.. . maybe it had meant something.
Dinner continued with easy conversation — stories about V-Lives gone wrong, about fan events that had descended into chaos, about the time Tae-min had accidentally started a rumor that he was dating a girl group member by smiling at her during an awards show.
"I was being polite!" Tae-min protested, his face red as a tomato, his voice pitching higher with indignation. "She sneezed! I was saying bless you!"
"You mouthed 'I love you.'" Hwan was laughing so hard he was wheezing, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes as he clutched his stomach. "It was on camera. Everyone saw it."
"I have a lisp when I'm tired!" Tae-min threw a piece of pickled radish at him, the banchan sailing across the table with impressive accuracy. "It came out wrong!"
"You don't have a lisp." Jin-ho said it flatly, but there was a hint of a smile tugging at his lips, cracking his usual stoic expression.
"I do when it's convenient!" Tae-min lobbed another piece of radish, which Jin-ho caught without looking and ate calmly, chewing with deliberate slowness while maintaining eye contact.
I found myself laughing along with them, the tension in my shoulders easing with every ridiculous story.
This was what they were like together — playful, teasing, comfortable in a way that came from years of shared experience.
And they were letting me see it. Letting me in.
After dinner, I helped Min-jun with the dishes despite his protests.
"You're a guest." He tried to take the plate from my hands, his brow furrowed with concern as he reached for it. "And you're still recovering. You should rest."
"I've been resting for days." I held onto the plate stubbornly, already scraping it into the compost with pointed determination. "Let me help. Please."
He studied me for a long moment, something shifting in his expression as he weighed my request. Then he nodded, stepping aside to make room for me at the sink.
"You wash, I'll dry." He picked up a dish towel, his shoulder brushing against mine as we settled into a rhythm together. "But if you get tired, you tell me. Deal?"
"Deal." I started running the water, hyper-aware of his presence beside me. His scent was different from Hwan's — warmer, earthier, like vanilla and fresh bread. The rose pink bond pulsed gently in my chest, responding to his proximity.
"Keira." He said my name softly, and I glanced over to find him watching me with an intensity that made my breath catch, his hazel eyes unexpectedly serious.
"Yeah?" I kept washing dishes, trying to appear casual even as my heart rate picked up beneath his gaze.
"I'm looking forward to my day with you.
" He took the clean plate from my hands, drying it with careful movements, his eyes still fixed on my face.
"I want to teach you my grandmother's recipe.
For budae-jjigae. She taught me before she passed.
" His voice softened, something wistful crossing his features as his gaze grew distant for a moment. "It's... important to me."
The vulnerability in his voice made something ache in my chest. This was the caretaker already thinking ahead — wanting to share something that mattered to him, to connect in the way he knew best.
"I'd be honored." I handed him another plate, letting my fingers brush against his deliberately, feeling the warmth of his skin. "I'm looking forward to it too."
His face lit up at the words, the rose pink bond warming in my chest as his scent bloomed with happiness. We finished the dishes in comfortable silence, shoulders brushing occasionally, the simple domesticity of it settling something anxious in my bones.
When I made my way to the living room afterward, I found Jin-ho alone on the couch, his notebook open on his lap. The others had scattered — Hwan to his room, Tae-min back to his game in his own space, Jae-won to handle some business call in the study.
"Can I sit?" I gestured to the empty space beside him, hovering uncertainly at the edge of the couch. He nodded, shifting slightly to make room, his eyes tracking my movement as I settled onto the cushions beside him.
"You're not nervous about tomorrow." It wasn't a question, and I wasn't sure how he knew, but his dark eyes seemed to see right through me.
"I'm a little nervous." I admitted, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. "I don't know what to expect."
"That's fair." He closed his notebook, giving me his full attention, his body turning slightly toward mine on the couch. "I'm not like Hwan. I won't make you laugh. I won't teach you to dance."
"Then what will you do?" I held his gaze, refusing to look away from whatever I might find in those deep, unreadable eyes.
"I'll show you my music." He said it simply, like it was both everything and nothing, his voice low and steady. "And you'll show me your words. And we'll see what happens when they meet."
The bond pulsed in my chest — deeper than the golden amber, more mysterious, like looking into still water and not being able to see the bottom.
"I've never collaborated with anyone before." I heard myself say, the admission slipping out before I could stop it. "Not really. I write alone usually and hand off my work."
"Safe is lonely." His voice was quiet, but it landed like a weight in my chest, heavy with understanding. "I would know."
We sat in silence for a moment, the words hanging between us like something tangible. Then he opened his notebook and turned it toward me, showing me a page full of musical notation and hastily scribbled lyrics.
"This is what I've been working on." His finger traced a line of notes, the movement almost reverent. "Since you got here. Since I felt you through the bond."
I looked at the page, at the words he'd written in his sharp, precise handwriting.
She runs like water through my hands But I would drown to understand The fear that keeps her feet in motion The walls she builds against devotion
My throat tightened, emotion swelling unexpectedly. "You wrote this about me?"
"I write about what I feel." He closed the notebook, his expression unreadable even as his voice carried a quiet intensity. "And since you got here, all I feel is you."
Before I could respond, Hwan's voice echoed down the hallway, bright and carrying easily through the dorm. "Keira! We're starting a movie if you want to join!"
Jin-ho stood, offering me his hand to help me up. His fingers were cool against mine, his grip firm but gentle as he pulled me to my feet.
"Tomorrow." He said it like a promise, his dark eyes holding mine with an intensity that made my breath catch. "We'll make something together."
I nodded, my heart doing something complicated in my chest, too many emotions tangled together to name. "Tomorrow."
He released my hand and walked toward the hallway, leaving me standing in the living room with the violet bond pulsing steadily beside the golden amber.
Two down. Three to go.
I was starting to think that maybe — just maybe — I wasn't as afraid of what came next as I used to be.