Chapter 24

We spent the day in the hotel near the beach.  Mostly sleeping since we didn’t really sleep well on the drive here. 

When we did wake up we ordered room service, stayed in bed and generally acted like kids. 

We took a bath together in the jacuzzi sized tub in the hotel room and put fluffy bathrobes on while we relaxed on the bed.

‘Do you think all the girl groups staying in the dorms are going to act the same way?’ she asked me out of the blue.  She was laid back with her head in my lap and I was absentmindedly stroking her hair. 

She looked up at me as I took in what she had asked me.

‘I don’t know honestly.  I don’t think so.  There are some that won’t care, won’t even think twice about it and just go about their business.  Do you remember who it was who said that about you?’

‘No, I don’t recognise any of the girls’ She told me looking back down.

I didn’t think she was that worried about it all to be honest, so it was unsettling to me that she had brought it up.

‘Taem…’ she began, playing with the rope of her robe.

‘Yes…’ I answered.

‘Do you think if the fans found out about me it would be like that?’ She didn’t look up at me. 

I swallowed hard.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her I thought it would be 100 times worse.  Not only would they say things, they would stalk her, they would throw things at her, get death threats.  It sounds extreme but this was kpop life in Korea and it had happened before.

‘It would be bad I think’ I told her as honestly as I could.

She sighed and didn’t say any more.  It made me sad really.  Idols and celebrities in other countries could have relationships and they didn’t receive the same treatment as here.  But here the hardcore fans were crazy. 

‘Are you having second thoughts about this?’ I asked her afraid of the answer.

She looked up at me again, her eyes bore into the back of my head. Her face broke into a breath-taking smile as she replied ‘Never, besides, no one has found us out so far right?’

‘Right,’ I smiled back.  In my mind, I couldn’t help but think it was just a matter of time. 

For some reason I had the urge to tickle her, so I grabbed her by her sides, left it for a moment as she looked at me in complete surprise and began to tickle her as hard as I could. 

She screamed so loud you’d think I was killing her, it made it all the more hilarious to me and soon we were in a ball of a mess on the bed, she was pinned under me, her hair thrown about her face, our legs tangled together as she screamed out ‘TAEMIN-AH!’

I stopped tickling her momentarily dazed by what she said, ‘Did you just said Taemin-ah? Like a Korean?’

She looked up at me panting before we both fell down in hysterical laughter.

Her phone beeped in the distance bringing us back to reality. 

‘Who is texting you?’ I asked.

‘Chanyeol,’ she replied distractedly.

I frowned, ‘Why?’

‘He says he’s bored’ she told me giving me a quick glance. 

I couldn’t say I was 100% happy with him texting her, but I wasn’t overly bothered either.

‘Tell him you’re busy playing with me,’ I whined pulling at the tie on her robe exposing her body to me.

She looked up briefly from the phone and smirked at me. 

‘What do you want, Taemin-AH!’ she teased.

I stroked my fingers lazily up and down her soft white skin, smirking back at her.

‘I want to play’ I winked.