by Leigh Ban
He laughed, his eyes glimmering with pride. “You know, I think you should keep running the website. Have fun with it.”
I couldn’t contain how warm and fuzzy he made me feel. I threw myself into his arms, resting my weight on his fit, strong body. Though his breath tickled my neck, I didn’t mind. When I inhaled, I was tantalized by his warm, masculine scent.
“I think this is more fun,” I purred, giving him a peck on the lips.
Gusun lifted me onto his lap and whispered into my ear, “How about this?”
Within seconds, our lips were pressed together. He kissed me with urgency, his chest heaving. As our tongues explored each other’s mouths, I nervously ran my fingers across his wide, muscular back. Even though I’d gotten intimate with other guys in the past, I hadn’t been attracted to them with this level of intensity. I’d never craved their love so wholly—body and soul. Making out with Gusun was far more electrifying than anything I’d experienced before.
“Oh, Dana, you’re the prettiest little thing I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he said in a raspy, smoky voice, sending shivers through me.
He gave me a devilishly sexy smile as his rock-hard bulge rubbed against the back of my thigh. Once I reached down and massaged him over his sweatpants, I knew there was no turning back. My hands gradually traveled up, and I pulled off his white T-shirt. When I saw his chiseled chest and stomach, I gasped in awe. I planted quick kisses on his collarbone as I felt his tight abs.
“You’re still too covered up,” I protested, grabbing the waistband of his pants and tugging them down.
Gusun groaned. “As are you.”
Seconds later, he hitched up my short dress and slipped off my black cotton thong. His fingers slid up my thigh, and he smiled as he felt the soft, bare skin between my leg.
“You’re so wet,” he murmured.
After teasing me a little, he slipped two fingers inside of me. I squirmed and bucked against his hand. When he began to glide his fingers back and forth, I couldn’t stop myself from moaning.
“I want you closer,” I said, pushing down his gray boxer briefs to reveal his throbbing hard member.
As I wrapped my fingers around his thick shaft and fondled his velvety smooth skin, he grew even bigger. When I saw him leak precum, I bit my lip hungrily and knelt on the floor. I took his tip into my mouth and sucked on him, glancing up to look at his face. Although he appeared to be scowling and his eyes were closed, I knew he was enjoying the sensations from the ragged sounds he was making. Then I slid my lips, pushing him further inside my mouth. I continued until there was no more of him to take in. My eyes watered, but I didn’t stop. While my throat convulsed, he released a guttural groan.
He panted as he raised me off the floor and sat me on his lap again. “If you kept going, I wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”
“I’m soaking wet for you,” I purred, swallowing back my embarrassment and touching myself.
“Wait, Dana, we don’t have a—”
I swiftly dipped into my tote bag, pulled out a canvas toiletry pouch, and took out a condom.
“This?” I whispered.
Once he rolled on the condom, he grabbed me by the waist and raised my body. I eagerly wrapped my legs around his back. He positioned me down onto him so that I was slowly penetrated by his large member. While he filled me up, shoving himself deeper each time, I cried out from both pleasure and pain.
He grunted. “Dana, I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” I replied, gazing into his mesmerizing eyes.
Once I uttered those four words, I immediately felt him harden even more. As I whimpered, he took my nipple into his mouth and rolled it around with his tongue. I moaned his name, my voice raw and strained. Soon our tongues were entwined. We kissed ardently, our bodies moving in sync.
When he broke off the kiss, he got up with my legs still wrapped around him. I clung onto him, amazed at his strength. He took a few steps until my back was pinned against the wall. Then he plunged into me, grunting. As he thrust vigorously, he nuzzled my neck.
“You’re mine,” he growled, burying his face in my breasts.
Chapter Ten
After Gusun and I ate Thai delivery food for dinner, we sat on the sofa in his living room, clinging to each other while his air-conditioning was on at full blast.
“I’d better get going soon. We have class tomorrow morning,” I said, grabbing my phone to check the public transport route.
“Can’t you stay?” he protested, squeezing my thigh.
Although I desperately wished to sleep over in his apartment and stay in his arms for the rest of the evening, I was worried about getting caught having spent the night with him. For some reason, that seemed immensely riskier than just hanging out at his house for a couple of hours.
I shook my head with an apologetic smile.
“Just a little longer?” he asked before kissing the nape of my neck.
I looked at my phone screen. “Gusun, you know I would if I could. How about another time? There’s a bus stop down the road from your apartment. I’ll catch the bus that arrives in fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll drive you back.”
“Are you sure? I catch the bus all the time.”
“I want to drive you to your dorm. After all, I’m sober today. Dana, let me take you back,” Gusun insisted.
To be honest, I was glad he offered to. Although I felt obligated to leave his apartment before it got too late, I still wanted him by my side for as long as possible.
Though my body ached for him, I didn’t ask him to walk me to International House. However, once he parked his car, he gave me a tender look and hopped out without saying a word. We wore black face masks to cover the lower halves of our faces and kept an arm’s-length distance between us. While we made our way to my dorm from a quiet street nearby, we took short, slow strides as if we had an unspoken agreement to prolong our goodbye stroll. I winked at him, hoping to make him smile underneath his mask. After he let out a muffled chuckle, he hummed our secret code. Once I checked to see nobody was around, I hummed it back to him.
When we saw the entrance of my dorm building, we stopped. For a brief second, we were standing under a lamppost in silence. I hastily waved, then motioned for him to go. To my astonishment, he pulled me in for a tight hug, causing my heart to thump frantically. As our bodies pressed together, I got one last whiff of his deliciously enticing scent.
“Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end,” Professor Kwon called out in his booming voice after he checked the attendance on Friday. “However, we still have one special class left. As always, I’d like to keep the mood light and cheerful today. Now, I’m going to call each pair up to the front. Introduce your project to us and give us a performance if that’s what you’ve prepared. I hope everyone can share what they’ve been working on for the last three weeks with pride. Afterward, we’ll make a delivery order and have a pizza party. My treat.”
Some of the students cheered upon hearing the word pizza. Professor Kwon bowed theatrically, which made the entire class crack up. Since there were around twenty pairs of students in our class, people explained their projects as briefly as possible. To my surprise, only a couple of students performed in front of the class: one pair prepared a parody rap on early-morning commutes while another pair sang a Broadway duet that they’d translated into Korean. Most of the other students opted to hand in audio and video recordings. Although Professor Kwon gave us the opportunity to raise questions when each pair finished speaking, everybody smiled back with their lips pressed shut. Pizza party or not, the class seemed eager for the presentations to end.
“Gusun and Dana, you two are up next,” Professor Kwon announced.
When we got up from our seats, I heard students snickering behind us. Initially, I presumed they were reacting to something else. Perhaps they’d snuck a peek at a funny image on someone’s phone. Since we were one of the last ones to introduce our project to the class, I did
n’t expect to speak to an engaged audience.
“You guys look good together. Twenty-first-century love!” bellowed a guy sitting in the back row.
“Cuter than the pictures,” the girl sitting beside him commented.
Professor Kwon clapped loudly, causing me to flinch. “Students, we’re not at a circus. Behave yourselves and show your fellow classmates some respect.”
I stared at Gusun, confused by what was going on. Although they hadn’t made any outright disparaging remarks, they were still poking fun at us. Why were we suddenly the target of jokes when our classmates barely knew who we were? Were they rabid fans of Undone with pent-up anger toward me?
Ordinarily, I didn’t find public speaking intimidating. Even if the response was lackluster, I was able to keep a grin on my face and talk with confidence. However, when Gusun and I stood in front of the classroom, an odd feeling stirred in my gut. Seeing as I’d spent half my childhood in Seoul, I wasn’t a stranger to being singled out because of my not-quite-Korean appearance. Yet I felt cripplingly self-conscious about what had just happened. I stared at Gusun helplessly. Thankfully, he didn’t appear to be affected by the uncalled-for jokes. After all, he was an entertainer who regularly spoke in front of massive crowds.
“Hey, everyone. We’re Dana and Gusun. Both of us were interested in the way music enhances our memories, so we decided to explore how songs age and are remembered over the years. For the past three weeks, we interviewed Rhymee on ‘The Rhymez,’ met up with the owner of Carrot, a live music bar dedicated to hits from the nineties, and wrote reviews of various albums from our childhoods to ultimately launch an online magazine called Wait a Few Years: Revisiting Hits. You can visit our website at…”
As Gusun spoke like a true professional, explaining what we did for our online magazine in his energetic, clear voice reserved for public appearances, I flashed a timid, foolish smile. Since I didn’t want people to stir up suspicion by peering at Gusun and couldn’t bear to exchange glances with my classmates, I kept my eyes on Professor Kwon. He gave me a sympathetic look. I supposed he assumed I was scared of public speaking.
Once Gusun finished talking about our online magazine and we were sitting down again, I mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
Though I wanted him to comfort me by caressing my back, I knew he couldn’t touch me when everyone else was around. Nothing tremendously awful had occurred, but I still felt dejected. Professor Kwon had one of the students order our pizzas a little early so that we could eat as soon as the presentations were over. While everyone rushed toward the pizza boxes, I remained seated. I’d lost my appetite.
“I can’t believe it’s the end of summer sessions,” Gusun said to me, handing me a slice of pizza on a flimsy paper plate.
“Goodbye, Creative Music Projects,” I replied limply.
While he was devouring his second slice, his phone vibrated. When he saw the name on the screen, he furrowed his brow.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Let me take this call.”
Gusun promptly got up and slipped outside. Class ended fifteen minutes later. Professor Kwon made a short speech, assuring us we were all talented and innovative young people with bright futures. The entire class got up and gave him a standing ovation. When the other students started heading out, I sent Gusun a message to find out what was happening. He couldn’t have gone far. He’d left his backpack slumped on the desk. Once I was sitting alone in the classroom, my phone rang. It was Gusun.
“Hello? Where did you go?” I cried out as soon as I picked up.
He whispered, “Dana, I got an urgent call from my manager. I’m sorry. I had to leave.”
“What do you mean? Where are you right now? Is there a problem?”
I vehemently hoped he would try to calm me down by insisting there was nothing I needed to worry about.
He lowered his voice. “Hang on. I’ll send you the link to the article. My manager has been freaking out at me. I had to run to a bathroom to call you. Can we talk again later? I don’t think I can return to campus today.”
“What article? Why can’t you come back here?”
“Just check the link. I’ll message it to you right now. Sorry, I have to go.”
“But I have your backpack,” I blurted out, trying to stop him from ending our call.
“Can you keep it until the next time we meet?”
Before I could protest, he hung up.
I nearly fell out of my chair in shock after I opened my chatroom with Gusun. He’d shared an article from Star Report Korea, an online tabloid notorious for spreading gossip on the rich and famous. Some stories were outlandishly false while others were strangely accurate. Back when the lives of celebrities had nothing to do with me personally, I occasionally wondered how the tabloid journalists managed to get hold of all the supposed evidence and details they leaked. The people running Star Report Korea certainly didn’t seem to care about encroaching on people’s privacy. Funnily enough, I found myself dwelling on the same question again.
The headline said, “Undone Sun Gets Cozy with Campus Girlfriend.” My fingers were trembling as I clicked the link and scrolled through the article. There were several grainy images of Gusun and me standing under a lamppost and wearing black masks. Although the photos were taken from a distance, Gusun’s thin white T-shirt showed off every bit of his impressive physique and drew attention to him. Furthermore, since I hadn’t bothered to cover my hair, my long tight curls were undoubtedly eye-catching. For anyone who knew either of us, we weren’t difficult to identify at all. In one of the pictures, his arms were wrapped around me. I thought of how a wave of exhilaration had flooded my body as we embraced. But now, sitting in an empty classroom, I felt chills down my spine.
Despite being petrified about what else might be revealed in the tabloid article, I told myself I couldn’t toss my phone into my bag and ignore what was going on. Gusun was already in trouble with his manager and possibly his agency, so I knew I had to confront the reality and see for myself. After I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth, I read the article. I was referred to as a “mysterious West Seoul University student” and “Gusun’s secret lover.” Although the sensationalistic tone bothered me, I sighed in relief when I realized whoever had been watching over us hadn’t spotted us getting out of his Porsche together. According to Star Report Korea, we’d been enjoying a “romantic stroll on campus.”
What really ate away at me was the comment section.
“Why on Earth would a top star like Sun date a black nobody? They’re obviously just friends. Unless he’s going blind.”
“If the girl’s an ordinary college student, why is she wearing a mask too? I bet she’s mad ugly. Probably gives good head.”
“Hahaha ‘romantic stroll on campus’ my ass. One of my relatives is a professor at West Seoul University. The school’s unofficial nickname is West Sex University because those nerdy students are horny from studying and are often spotted hooking up with each other all over campus, especially on the rooftops and staircases.”
“At least she has nice legs. She should do something about that nappy hair though.”
Clearly, I should have known better and steered away. Online comment sections, particularly for celebrity gossip, tended to bring out the worst side of people. My chest tightened with each hateful word I read until eventually my heart was completely crushed and my phone screen was damp with tears.
Chapter Eleven
Gusun called me again later in the afternoon. I was sitting on the sofa, alone in my suite. For the first time ever, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him. I’d never felt so humiliated. Frankly, I didn’t want to talk to anyone, which was rare for me. Nevertheless, I picked up the phone. I knew how hectic his life must be and didn’t want to stress him out even more.
“Dana?” he croaked.
“Yeah?”
“Are you alright? I want you to know I love you. You’re mine and I’m yours. Nothing is going to change that. W
hat we’re dealing with isn’t a problem between us, but an issue with the people who think they can invade our privacy and cast judgments on our personal matters. Should I have been more careful? Truthfully, I don’t regret anything. People are losing their minds over a hug. They need to calm down.”
I sighed. “Gusun, what did your agency say? You can be honest. I’m not deluded.”
“Don’t worry. I haven’t been forced to stop seeing you. I talked to the chief of my agency. He said the situation isn’t as dire as it might’ve seemed at first. Star Report Korea is a rubbish tabloid. They’re the most disreputable ‘media outlet’ in South Korea. Nobody takes them seriously. So I was simply cautioned on being spotted on dates and displaying affection in public. He told me people are always watching, et cetera, et cetera.”
“Were you told not to get caught snuggling with black college girls?”
“Are you referring to the online comments? Dana, those people are spewing crap. Don’t let them get to you.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Did your agency tell you to stop fooling around with an ugly, nappy-haired nobody who’s only good for head?” I barked.
“No, Dana. Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s how everybody seems to view me. They think I’m not good enough for you,” I sneered, choking back sobs.
“What are you talking about? Those commenters are not everybody. Maybe I should own up to the rumors then. I want the world to know that I’m in love with a gorgeous girl, whether they like it or not.”
“Oh, Gusun,” I croaked before bursting into tears.
“Dana, you’re everything to me.”
“They were so degrading, talking about me as if I’m merely a… thing,” I said, bawling. “And so racist. I speak Korean and half my relatives are Korean, but some people will always wag their fingers at me and make me feel like I don’t belong. I spent half of my life living here. Why do I have to be treated as an outsider?” I dabbed my eyes with the tips of my fingers. “Gusun, I don’t want you to publicize our relationship though. You need to pretend there’s been a misunderstanding and keep our relationship private for the sake of your thriving career.”
