He stopped, turning to look at me. “Get away with what?”
“This,” I said, gesturing to the massive box in his arms. “You didn’t even try to argue.”
Wynter tilted his head slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips. “Why would I? You wanted it, didn’t you?”
I narrowed my eyes, searching his face for some hidden agenda. “What if I picked it just to see if you’d stop me?”
“Then I guess I passed your test,” he said simply.
The calmness in his voice infuriated me. “You don’t have to say yes toeverything, you know.”
His smile faded slightly, his expression softening. “I am fully aware of my right to refusal Yesoh. But I figured this wasn’t even about the Lego set. That it was about you trying to see if I’d stand by my word. To see if I’d show up for you and back you till the end or not.”
I froze, caught off guard by the honesty in his words. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.
“Well,” I said finally, trying to regain some control, “I hope you’re ready to spend the next month building this thing with me.”
Wynter chuckled, hoisting the box higher. “Deal. But only if you promise not to quit halfway through.”
“No promises,” I shot back, though the edge in my voice had softened.
As we headed to the car, the rain had finally stopped, leaving the air cool and fresh. When we settled down into the car he closed the door to the drivers seat but before he could reach to start the engine I pressed my lips to his cheek. I left little pecksalong his sharp jawline, once, twice, three times until he let out a frustrated groan and turned his face to me before pressing his own full lips to my neck taking me by surprise. I felt him take the chain of the necklace I wore between his teeth and my mouth ran dry in surprise. I threaded my fingers through his dark hair.
“Wynter Andy Kwon who would’ve guessed that you could be such a slut?” I teased, “I thought you were the one with all the composure in the world?”
“Onlyyours.” He hummed against my skin.
“My what?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”Oh and I did indeed.
And then my lips were on his, cold, wet and desperate.
The tension between us felt different now—still present, but quieter, like the storm had passed and left something else entirely in its wake.
24
The Starring Role
The day of my audition for the right of spring the dressing room felt awfully suffocating. As if the air had weighed in sync to my own anxiety. It was supposed to be the start of something new but instead all I could think about was a stupid commented passed to me on my way inside by a classmate of mine, Gillespie.
“Do you really think they’ll really let you lead? This is a ballet, not a cultural festival and even if they do you’ll just be the token diversity hire.”
I know it wasn’t something I should linger on, and yet I couldn’t stop hearing his voice radiating through my skin and infiltrating my mind like a cruel reminder that I would never truly fit in here. It was a splinter under my skin. I had worked hard for this harder than most. It wasn’t daddy‘s money, political influence, or any kind of manipulation that got me into Julliard. For my brother and I was nothing but effort and determination nothing but tireless sleepless nights, even when our hearts were heavy, it was afternoons spent at immigration, making sure our documents were up-to-date so we didn’t give them any reasons to doubt us any more than they already did. I dedicated everything to this audition, but now, in the silence of the dressing room, the weight of doubt was even heavier, suffocating the confidence I fought so hard to build.
My makeup was flawless, costume pristine but I felt like I was standing on a ledge. I tried to reach for my phone and ring my mother but she didn’t answer it just kept ringing.
“Mum pick up please…” I pleaded much to my disappointment.
A knock on the door startled me, I glanced up to see Remi standing in the doorway. She wasn’t the kind of girl who was good at dealing with her own turbulent emotions let alone that of others and yet she was here nevertheless.
“Are you okay?” She asked stepping inside.
I didn’t answer with words but I shook my head in refusal. “You know I’m no good at this but I’ll sit with you as long as you want, or call someone?”
“No.” I finally refused choking down every negative emotion.
“Yesoh come on please.” She insisted, “Then you have to tell me what happened at least?”
