“You ready for me?” He asked against her ear. She nodded, looping her arms around his neck. With a thrust he was inside her causing both of them to gasp, struggling to keep from letting out guttural moans. He started moving against her, his hands gripping her butt to hold her in place.
“애인[18], tell me you want this as much as me,” He begged in a hoarse whisper.
“I want you,” she growled back, burying her face in the cloth of his shirt on his shoulder. It felt like it was in the way and she wanted it gone. She wanted his skin, craved it under her hands. Her hands made fists in the fabric and she made a small sound of frustration.
“What’s wrong,” He paused long enough to ask. “Is it not good like this?”
“No, I need more skin,” She pulled back enough to start pulling at her own shirt. Cheol helped her remove the last layers of her clothes and then pulled off his shirt, leaving them both naked. Her hands found his bare back as he resumed moving against her. His skin was hot and developing a slight sticky texture from the sweat of his exertion. One of his hands moved to the small of her back as he adjusted her position to get a better angle. Claire threw her head back, breathing loudly and struggling to keep from making more noise as pleasure began to build.
“Feels good?” He checked, as he kissed along her collar bone.
“Yes,” She gritted out, barely holding in a moan. “Harder.”
“Okay,” He nodded as he began to thrust with full force at her request. Her breath caught in her throat and she pressed her heels against the cabinet drawers to help hold herself in place. A desperate sensation gripped both of them as they looked for the pleasure that seemed just out of reach.
Her orgasm hit in a rush like a bomb reaching the end of its fuze. In a frantic effort to stop herself from screaming, she set her teeth on his shoulder, muffling her cries as she gently bit. Her nails raked his shoulder blades as she pulled him closer. Cheol felt her whole body tense around him and followed soon after, his hands holding her hips with bruising intensity.
“Do you think anyone heard?” She asked as she melted against him.
“I don’t know,” His hands wandered along her back as he worked on catching his breath. “Wanna try again, see if we can’t be quieter.”
“Ha...ha…” She smacked his ass and gave it a squeeze. “You’re funny.”
“Give me five minutes,” He panted, nuzzling her neck just below her ear. “I can go again in five.”
“Don’t tempt me,” She sighed. “I can already tell I am going to be sore by tomorrow as it is.”
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He leaned back to look into her face.
“I should be asking you that,” She frowned slightly at the look of the red ring she had left on his shoulder. “I’ll be more careful.”
“It’s okay, I liked it,” He gave her a naughty smile as she turned pink at his words.
“We leave evidence for people to find,” She shook her head. “That sort of thing raises questions about what exactly it is you’ve been doing in your free time, or maybe who…”
“No one can see that under my shirt,” He reassured her, helping her down to stand on the floor. “Don’t worry, nobody is going to see it.”
She gave his shoulder another quick regretful look before moving to clean herself up and get dressed again. He turned to pick up his pants off the floor, giving Claire her first view of his back.
“Oh god,” She covered her face in her hands at the sight of the angry red nail marks she had left on his upper back. “Next time, even if I ask, we are leaving at least your shirt on.”
“Hmm?” Cheol turned to catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror of the medicine cabinet as he dressed. “Ahhh, yeah, if you want. They’ll probably go away in an hour anyway.”
“No, those will probably be there for a few days,” She replied flatly, annoyed with herself for not being careful. “Ugh, you look like you’ve gotten in a fight with an angry cat on your back.”
“Mmmm, she was a hot kitten alright,” He teased as he brought her clothes over to her.
“Kitten, huh?” She shook her head and gave a scoffing laugh. With a grin she brought her hands up beside her face to give him the kitten aegyo expression. Cheol burst out laughing and leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead.
They made a few last adjustments to their clothes before they opened the bathroom door and peered into the hallway to see if anyone was going to catch their exit. At least no one was in the hall, Claire thought as they shuffled down the hall to the living room. Hopefully everyone was still there or in other parts of the house too far to have heard anything. The five members were, thankfully, still playing, but the relief didn’t last long as Wonjung came out of the hallway behind them, giving Cheol a knowing pat on his shoulder as he passed them. Claire’s eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink, leaving her with a very startled expression on her face when the other members turned around at the sound of their footsteps.
“What, what happened?”Jaejin asked, dying of curiosity when he saw her face and Cheol’s own embarrassed grin to match.
“Nothing, I was thinking it was about time to order some dinner,” Wonjung suggested smoothly. “Who wants what?”
“You hungry?” Cheol asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders from behind.
“Sure I could have something,” She nodded, leaning into him.
“‘Kay,” He kissed the side of her head and, keeping her in front of him, guided her into the kitchen where they kept the take-out menus. They flipped through a few choices before she decided that gimbap sounded the nicest, choosing some with cheese and some with just vegetables. He ordered that and a few things for himself before taking her into the living room and sitting her on the couch between his legs. He found himself rather reluctant to let her go, even just to take the seat beside him. Claire patiently squeezed in the space his thighs afforded her on the couch and leaned back into his chest.
“Want to play some games during dinner?” Hyunwoo suggested, sitting beside them on the couch.
“That sounds fun,” Claire agreed. “Did you have a game in mind?”
“Mmmm,” He nodded, handing her a small black box with Nominated: Who is who among your friends in white letters across the front.
“Looks fun,” She nodded with a smile as she read the description on the back. “Seems like a good way to get to know all of you a little better. Or at least what all of you think of each other.”
Hyunwoo grinned and gave her his effortless puppy dog eyes in response. He was probably the sweetest of all the members. Somehow he gave off the impression of being very young and very innocent, like a younger sibling looking for approval and reassurance. Of course when he performed it was something else. He could turn on sexy when he was on the stage and it occasionally hit her when he threw her a look. She knew it wasn’t on purpose, but there was something simmering underneath the surface of him, just waiting to come out and devastate a good portion of the world.
Everyone gathered in the living room while they waited for the various delivery companies to bring their food. Hyunwoo and Kitae set up the game on the coffee table set in the middle of the room and the members gathered around, taking seats on chairs or the floor, wherever there was space. The food began to arrive not long after they got everything set up and they had to play musical food, deciding whose order had come each time a plastic bag came with cardboard or plastic containers of various sizes arrived. Before too long, everyone had their food and were stuffing their faces happily with copious amounts of food.
Cheol opted to set up their food on the wide arm of the couch, feeding Claire bites of food between taking a few bites for himself. The game was started by Minjun who drew the first card with the prompt Who would be the leader of a cult? A few chuckles sounded around the room as everybody looked for the player number in their hand of who came to mind. Jaejin won a majority of votes, beating Wonjung by two votes.
“I know, I was meant to be worshi
ped,” Jaejin grinned, brimming with the joking confidence he was known for, as he put the card in front of him.
Kitae drew the next card Who would win the lottery but lose the ticket which he won almost unanimously as he was known for being slightly scatterbrained and relied on his fellow members to help him keep from losing things wherever he went.
They played the game for the next hour awarding Cheol with the votes for most likely to win a hotdog eating contest, Minjun as the one most likely to throw a birthday party for his pets, Hyunwoo as the one who would look best as the other gender. Claire was voted most easily seduced, with most of the members teasingly telling her she could do much better than Cheol with Changho wiggling his eyebrows as he indicated he was indeed a better choice himself, which awarded him the card for having a secret crush on someone in the room which made him turn slightly pink as he faked outrage at the ‘ridiculous insinuation.’ FX was named the person who dances like no one is watching, even when they are, which prompted him to break into dance much to the amusement of everyone. Most likely to be the last person alive was Wonjung, despite being the oldest of the members, he was well known for taking good care of himself.
After a few more rounds, FX had accumulated the most cards, making him the unlucky winner with also being awarded the cards for having vomited in the most awkward place (in the wings at a concert, ‘it was one time, guys’), being smarter than he looks (thanks, I guess), and being the first to die if they were all dropped in the Amazon naked (though with only three votes, as no one in the group seemed likely to do well in that situation according to the spread of the votes).
It was getting late as they packed up the game and Claire patted Cheol’s leg before moving to stand up so she could head home. His arms tightened around her, keeping her wedged tightly against him.
“You don’t have to go yet,” He told her before she had the chance to say something.
“It’s about time for everyone to head to bed, though and I’m just in the way for that,” She said softly, looking over her shoulder at him.
“No,” He protested. “No one is going to sleep yet. Besides, tomorrow is only Sunday and we still have the day off. You don’t have to go yet.”
“We’ll be up for a few more hours at least,” Seunghoon admitted.
“Still,” She smiled kindly, glancing at Cheol and the other members. “I’ve had a bit of a longer day and I could use some sleep.”
“Were you and Cheol up early today doing something?” Kitae asked innocently, causing a myriad of reactions around the room. Both Claire and Cheol blushed bright red, Wonjung coughed to cover a chuckle, FX snickered behind his hand, Minjun and Changho narrowed their eyes at him, wondering if he could really be that oblivious, and Jaejin looked around, still feeling like he had missed something that a few other people knew and it was bugging him not to be in on it.
“Not too early,” She reassured him, maintaining a semi-straight face as she tried to answer his accidentally not so innocent question.
“What,” Kitae asked, looking around at the other members as FX patted his back and Wonjung gave him a smile that said he was too adorable for this conversation.
“See, it’s fine,” He whispered, nuzzling and kissing her cheek.
“If I stay for a little while longer, you’re still going to ask me to stay just a little longer then,” She said knowingly. “I still have to go home at some point.”
“Can I come for one more night, then?” He asked hopefully.
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” She said, giving him a knowing look.
“Just one more,” He weedled. “I promise I’ll be good.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” She laughed, leaning away and narrowing her eyes at him.
“Anything you want,” He smiled charmingly, flashing his dimples at her. His eyes caught hers and he gave her a meaningful look through the fringe of hair that had fallen down across his forehead. Her fingers brushed the hair out of his eyes before cupping his cheek. Letting out a sigh, she dropped her hand to his chest.
“You should stay, catch up with your friends a bit,” She protested.
“We did just spend a week together on a trip,” Hyunwoo admitted. “We have seen a lot of each other.”
“See, they don’t need me here,” He pointed out with a grin which seemed to indicate he thought he might be winning the argument.
“Will you stay here tonight if I stay just a little while longer?” She offered as a compromise.
“Maybe…..yes?” He said unconvincingly.
“I don’t believe you,” She laughed, squirming off of his lap and over to the space beside him on the couch.
“애인, stay,” He requested, following her movements, leaning to loom over her slightly. Claire found herself on the couch, propped up on her elbows as he held himself over her. To call it suggestive seemed like an understatement and she found herself swallowing past the flutter of her heart in her throat.
“Oh just kiss her, already,” Jaejin scoffed, rolling his eyes from where he stood across the room. “It can’t possibly be any weirder than this. Ow, what?”
Wonjung, gave him a jab, knowing very well that it could definitely get more awkward than this.
“Okay,” Cheol shrugged, lowering himself to press his body against hers as his lips met hers. She froze for a moment, aware of where she was, before the sweep of his tongue against her lower lip brought a breathy whimper out of her.
“I was wrong,” Jaejin admitted ruefully as he scooched out of the room, averting his eyes. Minjun covered Kitae’s eyes as he escorted him out of the room as all the other members left, pretending that there was nothing to see.
“I really have to go,” She said, pulling away when she regained some small sliver of her senses.
“Don’t leave,” He plead. “I’ll be good. Or let me come with you and I will be really good.”
“You are not helping your case--” The movement of his thigh between her legs cut her off mid sentence.
“What if tonight is the last night we have the time for a long time,” He reasoned, letting his hand wander along her ribs over her shirt as he spoke.
“Then we will wait,” She insisted. “And for the love of god, no more kissing like that with everyone else around. I’m not sure I can look any of them in the face again.”
“I promise,” He blushed, feeling a tinge of embarrassment himself at his behavior.
“One more night isn’t going to make going back to everyday life any easier,” She told him.
“Sure, but it won’t make it worse,” He countered, which she had to admit was true as well.
“I need to be careful--we need to be careful,” She reminded him with some force behind her words. “Your friends may not say anything, but if you just try to sneak a kiss when you think no one will see at the office or out at lunch...if you stare too hard, someone is going to suspect something. Caution is much better than the alternatives we have at the moment.”
“Seeing you and not being able to touch you,” He curled himself around her. “I know it will be hard, but I can do it if this is my reward.”
“It will just be a little while,” She promised, cradling his head against her shoulder.
“How long?” He asked, as if she would know better than he did.
“At least the year you have left on your promise to the company,” She reminded him. “If we are lucky, Mr. Lee will be understanding and that will be one less person who we have to hide from, but even if he does, I’m pretty sure he’ll want it to stay a secret.”
“Can you stay with the company for the year?” He wondered, not sure himself it would be easier or harder having to be so close yet so far for that long. She tensed slightly, well aware that her job was unlikely to last that long.
“I don’t really know,” She sighed. “At the moment I’m there until your tour and nobody has said anything about doing more after that.”
“You’re going to leave after
the tour?” Hyunwoo asked, having heard that portion of the conversation as he had passed to go into the kitchen.
“Well not leave,” She replied, twisting her head upwards to look at him standing in the doorway. “But I might not be working with you anymore. I don’t know.”
“Oh,” He sounded a little disappointed. “You should ask about staying. It has been fun with you as a teacher.”
“I think we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” She admitted. “But I won’t just disappear. You can always ask me something even if I’m not with you officially.”
“Yes, you should ask about staying as part of the company,” Cheol agreed, not sure he could contemplate the alternative.
“We will have to see,” She patted Cheol’s arm around her waist before lifting it and getting up off the couch. “Tell everyone bye for me, okay?”
“You’re really going to go home?” Cheol reached out and took her hand.
“Yes,” She nodded. “I’ll see you all on Monday...Oh and I still need to know what Wonjung wants as a reward. Can you ask him to message me?”
“I can get him,” Hyunwoo offered, starting to turn and leave the room.
“No, no, it’s fine,” She shook her hands, indicating that it was unnecessary for him to do so. “Just have him send me a message.”
“Okay,” Hyunwoo nodded, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Good night,” She told him before leaning down to place a quick peck on Cheol’s forehead. Giving his hand a quick squeeze, she headed for the door. This time he let her go without a fight, realizing that it was a losing battle for him.
***
When she got home, Claire closed the door and leaned against it as if she was trying to keep something from opening the door from the other side. She pulled out her phone and went to her chat where she knew she could find her friends from back home. Roz’s avatar had a welcome little green ring around it, indicating that she was awake at this time.
Claire paced in the small apartment as she waited for her friend to call. She needed someone to talk to and there wasn’t anyone else she would trust more to give her advice and not say anything. They had both been there for each other over the years when one of them did something stupid and needed support or a kick in the butt to do the right thing. Admittedly, it was usually Claire giving advice and Roz having done something stupid, but maybe she was overdue on dumb decisions at this point.
The Tutor Page 16
