Dimmed Lights, page 11
part #3 of On Stage Trilogy Series
However, Joe didn’t start to drive. Instead, he looked at me, his hand resting on top of the steering wheel, amused smile twitching his lips and one eyebrow cocked up as if to ask, “What’s up?”
I didn’t feel like talking, so I only tapped my wristwatch, trying to signal that we were in a hurry, and I definitely did not have time for this.
“I see I’m getting the silent treatment,” Joe said, that damn annoying little smile still playing on his lips. But after a slight shrug, he finally did drive the BMW through the gate. I stayed silent, not about to give in anytime soon.
Joe drove way slower than I did. Well, actually he just followed the speed limits, to the teeth. It still lengthened the commute significantly, so when I dashed through the familiar hallways of LBR towards the practice studios, I was already a half an hour late. Cursing under my breath, I ran straight to the locker rooms and changed in an even more of a hurry.
The others had already started the practice, all having their backs towards the entrance. I tried to sneak past them to my place and started dancing like I had been there the whole time. Of course, my sneaky entrance didn’t go unnoticed. At once, Minjae stopped the music and glared at me through the mirror.
“You are late,” he stated as if I didn’t know it myself.
I held down the urge to roll my eyes at him and apologized. It was almost comical how much his self-esteem had skyrocketed after he had gotten together with Do-hyun. Gone was the apologizing, insecure Minjae. I almost regretted ever helping them.
“Joe drives like a grandpa,” I explained, shrugging.
While Minjae only narrowed his eyes at me, before turning the music back on, Do leaned towards me. He whispered, “Relatable,” before flashing me a short smile.
I snorted. Joe had been Do-hyun’s guard before, so he understood better than anyone. But as soon as Tae shot me a dark glance through the mirror, I cut it and at least tried to focus. No one wanted a full-blown lecture from Minjae; I knew that.
The rest of the day went by fast. We only had a half an hour lunch break around one o’clock in the afternoon, with some take-out they delivered to us from the cafeteria downstairs. It was a rough and tiring day, but even Minjae softened up on me when I was the first to get the choreo right. To be fair, I had spent a lot of time trying to memorize the new parts on my own during the past few days—which totally had nothing to do with the fact that Joe had avoided me until yesterday.
Afterward, I took my time changing. Everyone left before me, while I tried to come up with ways to get my keys back from Joe, deep in thought. Imagine my surprise when I caught Tae waiting for me in the hallway by the time I did exit the locker rooms. As soon as the door closed behind me, he lifted his eyes from his phone and glanced at me with a slight, tense smile.
Before I even managed to wonder what was up, he asked me to come to his office with him. I agreed, nodding, though a bit confused. The day was supposed to be over. The others had left already. Nevertheless, I followed him up in total silence.
Just when I sent Joe a text that I would be late, Tae opened the door to his office. And I was taken by a surprise again. Jae-beom, the middle-aged lawyer, was waiting for us inside. He was sitting on Tae’s chair, so I sat down on the couch with Tae, an uneasy feeling settling to the pit of my stomach.
After the mandatory greetings, Jae-beom went straight to the point.
“There have been some complications with Chris’s case,” he stated, the usual calm in his voice slightly faltering.
It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, but it did. I couldn’t mutter out a single word, somehow shocked.
Tae recovered sooner than me, as he had most likely anticipated something like this. He had always been ahead of others, always preparing for the worst-case scenario. “What complications?” he asked.
“The first attempt at settling this directly turned out fruitless today. It’s not the end of the world or anything, I’m sure we’ll get this settled one way or the other. But I still need you to understand that if the negotiations fail this coming Thursday, we’ll be facing a full-blown trial.”
“Which means we can’t go to the Billboards?” Tae finished for Jae-beom, leaning back on the couch, deep in thought. “It would be too late.”
Jae-beom nodded. Tae became visibly more anxious, his eyebrows drawn together and right foot starting to tap against the floor.
“It means I can’t go to the Billboards.”
“Oh, shut up, brat,” Tae huffed. “It’s not like the rest of us would go if you can’t.”
“Why not—”
“More importantly…” Tae cut me off. “We can’t let others know. Under any circumstances. We both know Minjae will lose it if we add this to his burdens. He’s stressing about the Billboards enough as is. Not to even mention Joonie. We’ll continue working towards this as normally as possible.”
I only nodded. I knew it myself without him saying it.
“No, Chris, you don’t understand. You can’t even tell Joe about this.”
Now that made me scrunch my eyebrows together. “Why?”
“Because he might tell Do-hyun and we both know where that leads,” Tae said.
“Right,” I muttered. The realization that I actually knew nothing about the man I was falling for at an unnatural speed hit my guts. I even kept forgetting he was basically best friends with Do-hyun. Aish, this all was giving me a severe headache, fast.
“Is there anything we can do to help with the case?” Tae asked Jae-beom.
He leaned back in Tae’s chair and started twirling a pen between his fingers. “There is, but you’re not going to like it.”
Oh, I knew where that was heading. “If you’re planning on including my presence in the negotiations, it ain’t happening.”
“It would earn us sympathy points.”
“I don’t give a fuck. I can’t see his face.”
“I mean for once, I agree with Chris,” Tae said, much to my surprise. “I’d rather not see him either. Ever. Or I can’t be held responsible for the consequences.”
Jae-beom sighed. “Well, that pretty much concludes it then. I’ll win this thing sooner or later anyway. Just thought I’d throw that option out there.”
After that, both Tae and Jae-beom concluded the little meeting with some meaningless comforting blabbering, trying to convince me that this wasn’t a major setback and most likely everything would turn out fine in the end. Tae even ruffled my hair and said, “Don’t worry, we’re gonna get through this too. It’s only a few days more.”
I excused myself and walked to the parking hall in some kind of haze.
Joe was waiting for me there and the way home was spent in total silence. I tried to wrap my aching head around all this. Not succeeding very well, I might add. Again, I was grateful that Joe appeared to sense my moods somehow, as he didn’t try to make any small-talk on the way either.
When we reached home, I was still way out of it and walked inside, Joe following me right after. But I got ripped away from my deep thoughts as soon as the front door closed behind us, because a large, warm body pressed against my back, arms wrapped around my waist and a chin landed on my shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Joe asked, deep concern saturating his voice.
“Nothing, it was just a long day with the choreo and all,” I muttered, delivering a hastily put together lie. “What do you want?” I continued right after, trying to put up my usual defence-walls around my heart but failing miserably as Joe nuzzled his cheek against the hollow of my neck.
“I’m recharging. Or trying to cheer you up.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
He tightened his grip. “My Chris-battery is empty, so I need to recharge.”
I slapped his forehead, trying to hold down a chuckle. “Stop it.”
“How about some ramen—”
“Don’t even try.”
Joe completely ignored me and continued, “I’m addicted to a drug called Chris, and I need my daily fix.”
“You’re so cliche.”
“I know, and you like it,” he said confidently before pressing his lips to the side of my neck. “No, but really, I have a proposition for you. Assuming you want your car keys back, hmm?”
Truth to be told, I had completely forgotten the thing with the car keys. But Joe did catch my interest with that, I admit. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You’ll let me sleep in your bedroom.”
I nearly choked to my own saliva.
“No, really. Think about it. It’s a win-win situation. I’ll be there to wake you up whenever you have a nightmare. I get to cuddle. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You never give up, don’t you?”
“Nope.”
“What if I attack you again? In my sleep.”
“Oh please, as if I can’t defend myself.”
Truth to be told, it didn’t sound like a super bad idea. Just a regularly bad idea. I actually gave it a thought. I didn’t exactly enjoy the nightmares and lack of sleep. I was willing to give this thing a try. There was only one but.
“What happened to the ‘let’s avoid Chris like the plague’ thing?” I asked, surprised, but also slightly relieved that he was getting back to being the flirty Joe I both hated and… something else too.
“Screw that. Teasing you is way more entertaining.”
Hmph.
Bathroom Incident
The tiniest hairs on my neck stood up and I instantly knew someone was staring at me. A light shiver, or more like a tingle, ran all the way from the nape of my neck to the tip of my tailbone. As if I wasn’t antsy enough, considering the fact that tomorrow was Thursday.
Doomsday. Quite literally.
But who else would’ve crept behind me, other than Joe? All I wanted to do was to turn around and confront him, but I think we all know that would’ve only led to hearing some highly disturbing and/or suggestive comments that would’ve driven me up the wall. We had already been sleeping together ever since the night I’d had the nightmare and attacked him. I admit my nights were way easier when he was around…but he didn’t need more reasons to further inflate that already very swollen ego of his. I refused to give in.
Hell-bent on resisting the almost unbearable urge, I flat out refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing what kind of effect his mere presence had on me. So, instead of turning around and acknowledging him, I continued wiping off the light make-up that I wore at work, facing the mirror.
But I couldn’t resist glancing at him in the mirror when I was sure he wasn’t paying attention. He had already changed for the night, now only wearing some loose sweatpants and nothing else. We matched. He leaned against the door frame, an unreadable expression on his face, otherwise relaxed. When he crossed his arms over his chest, the defined muscles on his arms and chest flexed. Wondering if he did it on purpose or not; I couldn’t help but admire his physique…which admittedly was… a sight. Just saying.
I continued with a full-blown face-cleansing routine cycling through it like three times with different products for different purposes, hoping Joe would get bored. Joe switched his position loudly a couple of times and cleared his throat, probably hoping to gain my attention.
I wasn’t going to give in. Really. But I could sense his every move, which made ignoring him a task and a half. My ears tuned to pick out the slightest sounds of his every move. For example: the sound of his pants shifting as he rolled his weight from one foot to the other. Even the sound of his breathing sent a surge of pleasurable tingles down my neck.
It was like one of those creepy YouTube ASMR videos but on steroids.
For once, I won. Joe gave up first. I had to bite my lower lip to not let the smile of victory spread on my face when I heard the determined footsteps approach me. Forcing my face to a deadpan, I laid the towel I was using to dry my face on the counter and met Joe’s eyes in the mirror.
As soon as our eyes met, he placed his hand on my naked waist. The soft touch sent a jolt of warmness through my whole body, starting from the spot where his hand touched my skin and ending at my crotch. It took every bit of self-discipline to keep my face somewhat blank as I stared at him with my eyebrows raised up questioningly.
“You’re taking way too long with this.” Joe stated. His deep voice startled me with its loudness because I had been so focused on the smaller sounds in life. “Come to bed.”
“In a minute.” I grabbed the toner and padded a little on my face.
“I wonder. Why bother putting that shit on your face in the first place if it takes ages to clean it off?” Joe placed his other hand on my waist too, sending another shock through my body. It became hard to remain calm. Leaning even closer, he laid his chin on my shoulder and whispered, “I mean, you’re beautiful either way.”
In an instant, I froze. My every muscle stiffened as I narrowed my eyes at him and studied his face. Surprisingly enough, he looked sincere. Honestly, he hadn’t acknowledged my ruined face ever. Not once.
“I’m starting to wonder if you have working eyeballs,” I eventually muttered.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, even if you don’t count the fact that there’s a square inch of skin missing altogether that is now replaced with scar tissue, I’m hardly beautiful. Cute, maybe. Or handsome, with a stretch. But not beautiful.”
“I beg to differ,” he mumbled and brushed the scars softly with his thumb. A sad-looking glimpse of some emotion flashed in his eyes, right before they darkened to an almost pitch-black shade—that dark flame flickering in his eyes that I had seen one too many times lately. It was the look that flashed on his face every time he was about to mess with me. I froze solid again.
“Want me to show you exactly how beautiful you are?” he asked, murmuring it softly to my ear. If eargasm was a thing, that was it. Damn. Now of course he couldn’t leave it at that and call it a day…instead, he stood upright before starting to massage my stiff as fuck shoulders before continuing. “Besides, you could use some relaxation; you’ve been very tense lately.”
I barely held down a moan as he hit just the right spot on my shoulders with his thumb. It became increasingly hard to hold back, as he continued kneading, unclenching my stiff muscles. Eventually, I did find my non-moaning voice again. Thank goodness.
“I have no idea what you’re planning, but I do know it’s probably not going to be a good idea,” I said. Although, my voice wasn’t as convincing as I would’ve hoped.
Joe flashed me a wicked grin, staring me straight in the eyes through the mirror, before pushing me against the counter. His hands sneaked a bit lower on my sides before he circled one of them to the front and started trailing the dip between my abs with the tip of his index finger.
“I have nothing but good ideas.”
That low, soft voice of his dissolved the last bits of resistance within me. Damn, I was getting soft. My eyes drooped, my mind hazed up and it felt like I was flowing in a different dimension. Sighing, I leaned back in his embrace, totally giving up. Yes. It happened faster every time.
Joe’s hands wandered all over my body. His lips found their way to my neck, to my shoulder, to my back. I lost track of time, so it almost felt like he was all over me at once. Brushing his fingertips on my skin here and there in one moment with the uttermost care, then moving on to grabbing my ass with a bit rougher manners, he drove me wild. He didn’t even have to try. It was hard to keep up with him, so I didn’t, and let myself feel.
“It’s amazing how you can turn me on by just existing,” Joe murmured in my ear, apparently reading my mind and stealing my thoughts. He rolled his pelvis against my behind, his hardening dick pressing against it as if to prove a point.
Once again, I hoped the mirror would’ve been fogged, though this time it was for entirely different reasons than ever before. Before, I had wished it so I wouldn’t have to look at the scars too closely. This time, it was because I couldn’t escape seeing the lewd expression on my face. My eyes drooped and my mouth hung slightly open, and a moan escaped my lips every now and then. And I had to watch it all play out in front of my eyes.
Well, not if I’d squeeze my eyes shut. But every time I tried, Joe stopped completely. And I couldn’t deal with that either. I was too horny and frustrated for that. Again, Joe played me, reading me like an open book.
Annoyed, I dropped my eyes down to the sink. I was trying to resist his charms before embarrassment over having to watch myself would get the better of me, but failed. And got pissed at myself for not having any self-control whatsoever. Again, Joe stopped.
“You’ll have to look at yourself, shortie, if you want me to do something about this problem down here,” he stated, proving his point by brushing my dick through the sweatpants.
My knees nearly gave in when he reached the tip. Obviously I wasn’t able to resist the teasing, and I reluctantly lifted my gaze back to the mirror. It sent a whole new wave of bright red blush to my cheeks.
“Good boy,” Joe whispered, sending another tingle running down my back.
If my face hadn’t been as bright red as my freshly colored hair, it certainly was now. But I couldn’t focus on being awkward for long, because Joe laid another kiss on my neck and finally, finally, shoved his hand under the waistband of my sweatpants.
Joe’s hard-on pressing against my behind, my gaze strictly glued to my own face on the mirror and his hand palming my erection through the underwear, drove my arousal to reach whole new heights. It was like I was on drugs. And I looked like I was just that high, too.
My eyes drooped several times as Joe kept teasing me, and every single time, he noticed. As soon as he decided I was too out of it, he reminded me to focus. And I did. I obeyed him every single time. Deciding once again that I’d deal with the consequences later, I allowed myself to forget the fact that I wasn’t supposed to be this much under his spell.
