Ryo nods. “Of course, I would. Also yes to space.”
I immediately think back to the new toys I have, just waiting to be used. It would be amazing to have my own bedroom, tohave the freedom to lay in bed and fuck myself, slow and leisurely, lost in a fantasy of Kija doing me the same way, without worrying about someone else barging in or finishing quickly. I close my eyes for a moment, savoring the idea. There’s something kind of funny and a little bit sad about being twenty-one years old and having achieved so much but still not having a room of my own.
“Lux?” Nikko is elbowing me like I must have spaced out longer than I realized. “Your ramyeon is getting cold.”
“Here, you can have it.” I push my noodles over to him with a smile, like I wasn’t just imagining lazy afternoon sex with the man of my dreams.
“Excuse you. If anyone else is going to finish that, I will,” Ryo says, snatching the bowl away from Nikko before he has a chance to argue, which he wouldn’t anyway.
Everyone starts laughing again at him pulling the eldest hyung card, as usual, and Chita trying to lean back far enough to grab beers without tipping his chair over.
My daydreams can wait for a while. What I’ve got right now is too good to miss.
FIVE
KIJA
“Delete. Delete. Mark as unread. Delete. Junk. Pretend I didn’t see it. Delete.” I mumble as I navigate through the maze of glass-walled offices without looking up from my phone. I know I’ve reached my own space when I trip over the same damn rug outside the door that I have gotten caught on almost every day since it’s been there.
The sound of a giggle coming from inside my office immediately draws my attention. It’s not unusual for people to still be around at this time of the evening, but it is completely unprecedented for one of those people to be RYSING’s maknae. Who is sitting primly on my desk, ankles crossed, swinging his feet.
Lux looks entirely out of place, everything about him a carefully styled sort of casual that directly contradicts with the almost sterile feel of the shine and straight lines of the corporate decor around us. Even though he’s just wearing an oversized long sleeve tee and jeans, he could have easily stepped off the page of a magazine. His hair is fluffier than usual, his features softer somehow. It takes me a second to realize he’s not wearing makeup. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him—or any of the other members, except for maybe Nikko—quite this fresh-faced before.
I have no idea why he’s here—why he would be waiting for me. I’m fairlycertain this is the first time the two of us have ever really been alone together. Finally, I think to ask him. “Hello, Lux. Is there something I can help you with?”
He smiles, gives a small shrug of his shoulders. “I was just out for a walk. I started thinking about you, so I decided to stop by and see if you were around. Thought I might say hi.”
When I don’t respond—because I have absolutely no idea how to—he speaks again.
“Have you had a good day? I know you’re always busy. Sometimes it seems like you’re the one running this place. I bet you could.” Lux pauses, glancing off into the distance like he’s picturing it. “You’d look even hotter as the CEO.”
Deciding to ignore the very cheeky compliment, I try to give him a little smile to at least acknowledge his kind words. “I appreciate your faith in me, but I’ve got a long way to go before I’m anywhere near that kind of power.”
“It will suit you,” he says, leaning back on his palms, resting further on my desk as though it’s his to take ownership of. “If that was what you wanted. Is it?”
I shake my head, while wondering where exactly this conversation is going. “No. I’ve never had my eye on anything like that. I enjoy what I do now, and I’m happy to see where it takes me.”
“You do well for yourself. Your family must be proud.” His feet are swinging again, but there’s something more restrained about the motion, like he’s more aware of what he’s doing.
“They are,” I tell him. “They don’t understand what I do, but they see that I’m good at it and I’m fulfilled by it.” I scan the room, trying to figure out where I can go that’s not just hovering awkwardly here near my desk. I slip my phone back in my pocket. “Did you need something, Lux?”
He tilts his head, considering what he’s about to say next. “My name is Yung-Sun. You can call me that.”
Even though I know this, have seen it on every legaldocument pushed across my desk about the group, the idea of addressing him that way still feels wrong somehow. “I don’t…”
“You should call me Yung-Sun,” he insists, cutting me off before I can protest. “Please.”
“Okay. Yung-Sun.” I’m about to ask again what he’s doing here, how I can help him so he can get off of my desk and go home to the dorms and I can feel less on edge, when he shifts, ever so slightly. The whole position of his body changes, though, a subtle arch to his back, legs falling open.
Everything about it looks like an invitation.
Yung-Sun trails his fingertips from his knee to his thigh and I’m very aware of the way my eyes follow. “May I speak freely?”
I have to swallow before I can answer him. “Yes.”
“I want you.”
My jaw drops. I’m not completely surprised by this, but the unabashed delivery still shocks me. I try to control my expression and respond as calmly as I can to the brazen admission. “I… thank you?”
