by Marian Tee
What Park had described he wanted—a relationship minus words of love—was also exactly what Violet had with him.
She was in love with Park.
All along, she had loved him, without saying the words or without even realizing it. Was it the same for him? Did Park not yet know he was in love with her, too? And if he did find out, would he ever admit to it?
When she woke up the next day, she knew that everything was going to be different. Today wasn’t just a new chapter starting in her life. It was practically a new book, one that promised such incredible changes Violet couldn’t help but feel afraid.
She was in love with Park.
Violet was as sure of it as she was sure that Park was just as in love with her—without even being aware of it, too. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. How crazy was that?
A glance at her watch told her it was only nine in the morning. There were no classes scheduled today for either of them, and Violet felt a little giddy, thinking about what they could do together before work.
She grabbed her clothes, shoes, and bag, locking the door behind her before rushing down to Park’s room. She banged her fist on the door. It took Park about a minute to open the door. Again, he was bare-chested and wearing the sexiest pair of black boxer shorts. His hair was tousled and he was glaring and squinting in grogginess at her at the same time.
Oh God, but she so loved this guy.
“What the heck are you doing here this early?” he growled. But sleepy as he was, his mind couldn’t help but register how delectable she looked, in her camisole…Park’s eyes widened. What the fuck was she thinking, wearing something like that in public?
“Hey!” Violet exclaimed in shock and bewilderment when Park suddenly hauled her inside and slammed the door behind her. “What?”
“Why the hell didn’t you change first before coming here?”
She glanced down at herself in confusion. “But I always—”
He gritted out, “It’s different now. Didn’t we just talk about this last night?”
Her eyes widened. “We did?”
“You are mine. So until I make fucking sense of that, don’t do anything that would get me into a brawl. Because I will kill anyone who so much as looks at you the wrong fucking way.” Park’s gaze was dead serious as it met hers. “Got that?”
Violet managed a nod. She did get it, she totally did, and Violet wondered even more giddily how long it would take Park to realize that those kinds of thoughts were only something a guy in love could have.
Trying to ignore the way his body was reacting to her almost-naked form, he asked Violet in a growl, “What made you come running down here anyway?”
I was so excited to see you I forgot about changing.
Violet almost snorted to herself. Nah. Park would throw her out of the room if she said that, even if it was the truth. Especially if it was the truth. In the end, she decided to just brazen it out. “I’m not in my underwear,” she said airily with a shrug.
“Barely,” he barked, still scowling. “Don’t do that again, Violet.”
She raised a brow. “Or you’ll what?”
“Kill you,” he said seriously.
She grinned. “Do those words mean you’re thinking along the lines of Violet’s mine again?” she teased.
Color burned on his cheekbones. “You know what? You could go walking out naked for all I care.”
But his stiffened back said otherwise and Violet found it too cute to resist. She really loved this guy, and he really, really loved her.
“Park?”
That was all the warning he got.
She launched herself in his arms, forcing him to fall—luckily or as planned—on the bed. Violet’s kisses prevented him from moving.
Park’s arms automatically went around Violet. But he was asking, “What are you—mmph!” Violet’s tongue touched his, effectively shutting him up. Seconds passed like eternity. Park felt like something was wrong. Something wasn’t right because things, well, they felt too right.
He found the effort to pull away. “What’s gotten into you?” he asked hoarsely, strictly keeping his eyes on Violet’s face because her camisole top had dipped alarmingly low.
Love has gotten into me. I love you so much and I know you love me, too.
But of course Violet was smart enough to keep those words to herself. There would be a right time for them, but not now, not when Park was so clearly still affected by his past. With a little sigh, she sank back to him, her legs moving restlessly against his hard bare legs as she deepened the kiss they shared. Oh, those romance novels that Lilac loved to read were all right! Kisses between two people who were in love were really so much more beautiful. And they were way hotter, too, if the wetness between her legs was an indication.
She sighed, unable to help it.
Park pulled away at the sound. “Violet?”
She tried not to squirm under Park’s questioning gaze, hoping he wouldn’t be able to read her emotions in her eyes. “Err, sorry. I was thinking of, umm, something.” She couldn’t help but smile at him as she spoke. It was impossible not to.
Loving Park freed her from the past, and it was exhilarating. She was whole again. Thanks to Park, she had cut off the last remaining hold Andrew had of her, the memories firmly pushed back to the past where it belonged.
Park found Violet’s smile disconcerting, enough to clear the lust from his mind as he demanded, “What’s wrong with you?”
Violet shook her head, smiling. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
“You’re acting crazy again and you’re freaking me out,” Park told her.
She laughed. “I know. And really, what’s new?”
“True,” he agreed sourly. There was nothing new about Violet arousing such a reaction from him. Damn. That was a bad choice of word. Last night, he had been determined not to have sex with Violet until he figured out how to get rid of his extremely possessive feelings towards her. It didn’t feel like love yet, but Park knew it could get there if he wasn’t careful.
“Let’s go out,” she suddenly said.
He blinked. “Out?”
“Yes, out.” Her eyes sparkled at him.
Park bit back a groan. Even something as simple as the sparkle in her eyes only made his dick stiffen even more. “I don’t want to go out.” He growled the words out, irritated at his inability to control his body’s urges.
“But I want to!” She pouted at him.
“Then you go. I’ll—” He saw her take a deep breath. Shit.
“Please, please, please, pretty, pretty, pleeeeeaaaaseeee—”
Park’s head ached. “Yes, dammit, okay,” he snapped, willing to say anything just so Violet would shut up.
She beamed. “Thank you! Let me take a shower first and then we can have breakfast together. Your treat, of course.”
Before Park could answer, Violet had already jumped off the bed and hurried inside the bathroom.
His bathroom.
Dammit!
“Violet!” he roared. “You have your own damn bathroom. When are you going to fucking use it?” She always did this to him–always.
“When I fucking want to!” And the sound of water blasting out from the shower drowned the rest of her laughter.
Park covered his face with a pillow as Violet started to sing in his shower, her voice glaringly off-key. Despite himself, it made him smile. He couldn’t imagine any other girl doing the same thing with him. He had spent a sleepless night, worried that what he revealed would change things between them. But it hadn’t. Thank God.
He had been scared that Violet would act pushy with him or imagine that he was in love with her. But he should’ve known Violet was smarter than that.
Violet was like him, after all. They both knew from experience that love was just for fools.
Chapter Thirteen
“Cherish the love,” Violet sang. “Ta-da-da-da-da.”
Park let out a laughing snort. “What th
e fuck was that? Ta-da-da-da-da?”
Violet grinned. “I didn’t know the lyrics.”
Park shook his head. “Then sing a song you know the lyrics to.”
“But I want to sing this song,” Violet said stubbornly.
Park waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. I don’t know why I’m arguing with you about something like this anyway.”
Because you like the sound of my voice, Violet thought and giggled to herself.
Park gave her a suspicious look. “You are really creeping me out.”
Violet made a face. Why did she have to fall in love with a guy who always said she creeped him out?
“Hi, Violet!”
Violet turned to see two guys from her class, and she returned their smiles with one of her own. “Hi!” She saw the way their gazes skittered almost reluctantly towards Park, and Violet knew it was mostly because of Park’s reputation as the toughest and coldest guy in uni.
She not-so-subtly elbowed his side, making him grunt. “Say hi, Park.”
“Hi,” he said obediently enough, but the scowl on his face also worsened, making the two younger boys pale and hurry away after saying their goodbyes to Violet.
“You shouldn’t lead them on, you know.” And he wasn’t saying it because he was jealous, Park told himself. In fact, he was just looking out for those two. They’d only be hurt if they thought they had a chance with Violet.
She shook her head. “But I’m not leading them on. They know the score.”
She sounded so convinced Park glanced at her curiously. “Why do you say that?”
She fluttered her lashes. “Because they all know I have you?”
Park gave her a look that clearly said “drop dead” before stalking off.
She ran after him laughingly. “Park!”
“Get away from me.”
She laughed harder. “Oh come on, Park!”
At work, a tiny devil seemed to have been reborn inside her, urging Violet to tease Park mercilessly.
“Jun-Yee, you look so much more buffed these days,” she gushed, letting her fingers trail on Jun-Yee’s admittedly muscled arms. Behind them, Park dropped the newly delivered box of stuffed toys on the ground, the heavy thud making even Violet jump.
Jun-Yee looked at her like she was mad.
She couldn’t blame him. Earlier, she had been flirting with Park outrageously and yet here she was, not a minute later, practically caressing Jun-Yee’s arms.
Ignoring the warning look in Jun-Yee’s eyes, she fluttered her eyelashes at him in exaggerated fashion, knowing he wouldn’t take her antics seriously. “Have you been working out lately?”
Just as Jun-Yee opened his mouth to speak, she saw Park about to stalk off in the corner of her eye. She immediately sped to his side before he could leave. Pretending she didn’t see the cold look in Park’s eyes, Violet told Jun-Yee over her shoulder, “If you keep it up, maybe you have a chance of catching up with the beautiful Park here.” She tried drifting her fingers on his triceps, but Park wrenched away from her with a scowl.
Violet stubbornly followed him to the edge of the store. Giving Park a wide-eyed look, she said, “Don’t be so touchy! I still think you’re the sexiest man here.”
She raised herself on her toes, bending closer to him inch by inch until her lips were almost touching his. “And you’re certainly the only man I want to fuck,” she whispered just low enough for only Park to hear.
She could feel him stiffen at her words, and she would bet her life he was also extremely hard for her, too.
The stockroom door opened, with Crayon poking his head in. “Calling Violet—there’s someone called Lee dropping by for a visit and looking for you!”
Violet perked up. “What a surprise!” She whirled around, leaving Park without a word or even a backward glance. It wasn’t really a surprise since she had made up some excuse for Lee to come visit her. The urge to check how Park was reacting to all this was difficult to resist but she managed to sail through the door without looking back.
Violet knew that she was playing with fire, the way she was swinging back and forth between flirting with Park and provoking him. But she couldn’t help it. She wanted–no, she needed…to catch a glimpse of Park’s true feelings for her.
“Something’s different about Violet,” Akito remarked to him the moment Violet left.
“Really?” Park tried to sound disinterested when in truth, he was seething inside at the nonstop way Violet and Jun-Yee had been flirting with each other. A while ago, it was all he could do not to throw a punch at seeing Jun-Yee’s hands briefly span her waist when Violet almost fell off the ladder while stocking the upper shelves.
“I had this feeling before that she didn’t really want to have anything to do with guys.”
Park snorted. “Haven’t you noticed what a flirt she is?” And she had been even more so, after trusting Park when he said he had gotten rid of Schwartz for good.
“No, really,” Akito insisted. “Sure, she flirted and teased, but it was all a game to her. It was very clear that she wouldn’t let anyone else close to her like you are.” Akito shrugged. “Then again, you’re different. You don’t count because you’re not into girls.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically, wondering if Akito knew how gay he made Park sound.
The sarcasm flew right over Akito’s head. “But now, something’s different.”
“Why are we even talking about Violet?” Park demanded. Everything lately was about Violet. Violet, Violet, Violet! He fucking had her in his dreams and he thought about her when she wasn’t with him. It was getting sickening.
Akito ignored his words. “It’s like she’s opened up or something. I think she’s ready to get into a relationship now.” Akito flashed a grin. “Whoever it’s gonna be is one lucky guy.”
Lucky guy indeed, Park thought with clenched teeth. And could that fucking guy have a name like Jun-Yee or Lee? Maybe if he changed his name to Parkee he would be in the running as well.
“Parkee?” Akito repeated in confusion, making Park realize he had muttered his last thought out loud.
He flushed. “Nothing.”
* * * *
When Park actually asked Crayon and Akito to walk her home that night and he also wasn’t around to walk her to school the next morning, Violet knew she had some serious making-up to do. But she was pretty confident she could sweet-talk her way back into Park’s good graces. She always did, so why should today be any different?
It was a question she struggled to answer when she got to school and the first thing that greeted her was Park, a tall gorgeous figure standing by the gates, surrounded by a bevy of girls. The last part wasn’t really surprising–this was Park, after all. But what made her heart skip a beat—and not in a good way—was the fact that Park was also allowing all the girls to fawn over him when normally he’d be busy frightening them away with his scowl.
What on earth was happening?
The sight had Violet rooted to the ground, just a few feet away from the gates, her gaze hopelessly drawn to the painfully unfamiliar sight of Park being receptive, if not responsive, to other girls’ overtures.
Seeing him like this made Violet realize how much she had taken his Nordic ogre ways for granted. Dear God, she prayed desperately, if I survive this, I will never complain that he’s an Asian Yeti ever again. She would even try not to get mad every time he grunted his way through mornings. Oh God, she would take the blond gorilla jerk anytime over this…this seductively mysterious stranger.
“Hi, Violet.” Every boy who passed her by greeted her, their voices ranging from shy to excited.
She barely noticed them. She still couldn’t stop staring at the way this quiet, mysterious, non-scowling Park was drawing girls to him like bees to honey.
The school bell rang. The girls began to leave and Violet was about to turn away herself when she saw one of the few remaining girls at Park’s side steal a kiss, her lips landing dangerously close to Park�
��s mouth.
Violet turned around and walked away. She had seen enough.
“Hey, Violet.” Park was suddenly walking next to her. “Didn’t you hear me calling?”
She didn’t say anything.
“What’s the hurry?” Park asked innocently.
Violet gritted her teeth. “Nothing,” she snapped.
“But you look angry,” Park remarked.
“Good of you to notice, now shoo! Go away.”
When he did just that, Violet let out a shriek.
It was all the warning he had before the screaming banshee from his nightmares was back. Violet launched herself up in his back and began pulling his hair hard.
“Ouch! Dammit, stop it! Ouch!” Park finally managed to pull Violet away from his back. Jeez! Didn’t she realize she had the entire school staring at them? “What’s gotten into you?”
Violet took a deep breath and then spat out in Spanish, “I hate you!” She knew Park didn’t speak a word of Spanish, and it was the only reason she felt safe revealing her emotions this way. Finally, her love for languages was put to some use!
Park’s eyes narrowed. He might not have understood what Violet had said, but he was goddamn sure it wasn’t nice. “What did you say?” he asked ominously.
“I hate you, hate you, hate you, because I love you!” she answered still in Spanish.
“This is how you want to play it?” he demanded.
Violet raised her chin.
“Fine.” And he said in Korean, “You flirt too much. I think you’re obsessed with other guys’ attention, and I think it’s pathetic that you’re using it to get to me. Yes, I’m attracted to you but the true reason I’m letting you in my life is because I can fuck you whenever I want.”
“Thank you,” Violet said stiffly and waved her iPhone on his face. “I’ll let you know what I have to say when I get this translated by Jun-Yee.” She had recorded every word he said.
And that was the moment Park realized he was in big trouble.
* * * *
Violet had skipped her classes for the day. He had found out about it too late, though, and Park knew whatever chances he had of reversing the tide were slim to none by the time he arrived at their workplace, still breathing hard after getting off the bus before its stop and just running all the way here.
