G.K. grinned, "Yeah, he's been my best friend since I was 6."
"And he's your only family?"
G.K. hesitated. "Well no. My mother and father both live in Seoul, but we uh...haven't been speaking."
Leila paused in the middle of her meal. "I hope I'm not being nosy."
"We had a falling out." G.K. regarded her before shaking his head. "My father didn't approve of Kai’s girlfriend at the time, Noel, and believed I should feel the same."
"But you didn't?"
"To be honest I did at first, because I thought she'd get in the way of the group, but Noel ended up being the best thing for Kai. When I didn't do what my father wanted, he disowned me."
Leila's eyes widened. This was something out of a soap opera. Did people actually disown their children over things like that in this day and age? G.K. continued, "I haven't seen or spoken to my parents in months. We also fired him as our manager and went to Jin Yung, so that also didn’t help the situation."
While her mother hadn't approved of her decision to leave home, she had still supported her. She couldn't imagine not speaking to her mother ever again.
"I can't imagine never talking to my mother or sister ever again," she said softly. "They thought I was crazy to move here, but they love me."
G.K gave her a small smile "You’re lucky.”
With that, G.K. and Leila finished their meal in companionable silence. Afterwards as she lightly dabbed her lips with the linen napkin, Kyle returned and began to remove their now empty plates.
"Everything was satisfactory?" he asked. G.K. assured him it was. "Well then, I hope you two saved some room for desert. The chocolate ganache cake is sin on a fork," his eyes twinkled.
Leila shook her head. "Oh my god if I eat anything else, I'm going to pop, but I can't believe I'm saying no to chocolate."
"That makes two of us. But can we get two slices to go perhaps?"
"Of course. Be right back." Kyle gave G.K. the leather folder with the check as he went to fetch the deserts.
G.K. produced his credit card, placing it inside.
***
By the time they made it outside of the restaurant, a light drizzle had begun to fall. The valet quickly brought the van around to them. Once inside, G.K. revved the engine.
"So what do you want to do now? I didn't know if you would still want to hang out, so I didn't plan anything." He cringed a little bit internally at his juvenile wording.
Hang out? Really G.K.?
Leila didn’t seem to notice it though, and replied,"It's still early. We could go see a movie if you want. There's an action film with my name on it."
G.K. chuckled. "Action? You like action movies? I thought most women hated them."
She raised an eyebrow. "Well I'm not most women. For me, the more explosions the better."
His voice deepened. "I should have known better, you're not like any other woman I've ever met before." The heated look he gave her washed over her like a warm wave. A sputtering and a sudden jerk stalled her thoughts as the van came to a complete stop. Horns honked and cars zoomed past them.
G.K. said something that sounded like a curse in Korean.
"What happened?"
He tried starting up the car again, but to no avail. Leila looked over at him, then at the gas meter. It was on empty.
G.K cursed himself. Why hadn't he checked that before? Or even noticed the low fuel light?
Because you were so excited to see her,
he thought. In that moment everything that had gone wrong on this first date rushed back at him.
Frustration welled up inside of him.
Leila noticed his growing frustration, and when another car sped around them with a beep in their direction G.K’s irritation overflowed.
Her eyes widened and she fought a laugh when G.K. began muttering to himself in Korean. "What? What did you say?"
He glanced at her before replying, “I said. This has been a disaster! First I underdressed..."
"The restaurant didn't have a problem with it," Leila said soothingly but G.K. was in no mood to be cosseted. "My hair looks ridiculous. I almost killed you with the appetizer, and now we're out of gas in the middle of downtown New York.”
“None of this would have happened to Kai,” he mumbled under his breath.
He really is upset about this,
She thought. True they had hit some snags, albeit some major snags, however; when they had been talking there was such a familiarity between them. And the sparks that flew off them when they flirted or touched had made this one of the BEST first dates she had ever been on.
He pounded his hand on the steering wheel. "I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me again. I’m sure you can tell that I don’t have any experience with this, I can’t even get a first date right.”
"You've really never dated anyone," Leila asked softly.
"Now you see why."
Leila was shocked by his admission, and said as much. “How is that possible?”
G.K.’s expression became a sheepish one. “In Korea they like for idols to remain unattached. It’s mostly for the fan’s sake as well as the sanity of the couple. A lot of our fans can be pretty crazy…” he paused before continuing, “So a lot of us date in relative secret, but it just never worked out for me. I never met someone that I was willing to risk it all for.” He finished.
Leila touched his thigh, again drawing his gaze. "Well this wouldn't sway me from wanting to see you again, or becoming something more…if you think its worth the risk"
Did she just say what I thought she said?
G.K. felt a smile cover his face, but he wasn’t able to respond when flashing lights in the rear view mirror drew his attention. He rolled the window down as the officer approached.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"My van has run out of gas. I'm calling for roadside assistance right now."
The officer merely nodded as he leaned into the vehicle. G.K. didn't know if he appreciated the way the man's eyes settled and then narrowed on Leila before looking at him and then back to her again.
"Maybe we can just have it towed and take a cab instead." G.K. suggested, drawing the officer's attention. He appeared unduly fascinated by the two of them.
The officer agreed. "That would probably be your best bet. I'll call for a tow and leave the information with you."
"That will be fine. Thank you officer."
As the other man returned to his patrol car, G.K. pulled out his phone and called Jin Yung, asking him to call a tow truck. He avoided his questions, telling him in Korean, that he would explain later, before hanging up. His task completed he got out of the van and flagged down one of the many taxis that sped past the stalled car. When one slowed down, he retrieved Leila from the van, took her hand and escorted her to the waiting cab. He sensed the officer's unspoken curiosity, but had no interest in explaining anything to him. It was none of his business.
Moments later the tow truck appeared and after a quick exchange of information in which he instructed the driver to return the van to the hotel, G.K. slid inside the cab beside Leila and they were on their way.
Leila asked him, "Do you have an American driver's license?"
G.K. released a chuckle shaking his head. "No, why do you think I was so nervous?" Leila laughed hard as the cab drove them to her home.
"Well, this was quite an adventure," she said to him. At his crestfallen reaction she took his hand in hers. "Now don't look like that. I really had a great time."
The rest of the ride was shared in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. All too soon the taxi pulled up in front of her building.
"I'm going to walk the lady to her door," she heard him tell the driver.
G.K. watched as Leila retrieved her keys from her purse. She unlocked the door and he followed her up the few flights of stairs, debating with himself whether or not to kiss her goodnight.
He wanted to, wanted to salvage something of his pride from the otherwise disastrous evening.
Leila stopped in front of the door of her apartment. "I know you won't believe me G.K. but I really had fun tonight."
Before he could argue the point, she reached over and pulled him in for a kiss and suddenly the whole crazy night had been worth it.
His lips were warm and insistent, pressing against hers in an act of stark of possession. Her hands left his head, snaking down along his strong back. When she yielded, The G.K. who'd emerged when he forcefully asked for their date, re-emerged and he was hungry.
“Open your mouth, I want to taste you," he whispered against her lips as his fingers lightly stroked her face, cupping it in his hands. She opened to him and he delved deep into the recesses of her mouth as her body notched itself firmly to his. It was crazy how badly he wanted her, how much she'd come to matter to him in such a short span of time. His hands traced down her side and the bare skin of her back as she trembled in his arms.
G.K. thought his legs were going to give out, when Leila fitted herself snugly against him, pushing against his arousal.
And Leila wanted nothing more than to open her door, throw him on the couch and sex him down like a hussy.
Lord forgive me,
she thought as he planted soft kisses against her chin and the curve of her neck.
"Well, Well, somebody is giving a show.” came a soft accented voice on their right. “Here I was just expecting the pizza guy.”
Both pulled away, doing their best to look not guilty as a young woman grinned like a maniac. She extended her hand. "You must be the hottie who's had my roomie singing k-pop at the top of her lungs for the past week. I'm Marcia and if you have an available brother, who likes sexy Latinas, send him my way," she said with a wink.
G.K.felt his face heat up the longer she stood there smiling at him. He cleared his throat before saying, “Uh..hi. I’m…”
“Hot?” Marcia interjected.
G.K. blinked, “No, I’m…”
“Way more attractive than I was expecting…” she interrupted again.
G.K. flushed and Leila fought back a laugh as she came to his aid, “That’s enough Mar…”
Her roommate shrugged before inching past them toward the door. Once it was unlocked she slipped past them inside. “Don’t be too long Leila, I like my rundowns fresh.” She called over her shoulder before closing the door behind her.
When they were alone Leila buried her face in his neck, arms circling his lower back.
Yup, it seems I was right, he always smells this good
, she mused, breathing in deeply.
“I’m sorry about that. Marcia is…Marcia.” She told him. G.K. leaned back slightly giving her a peck on her nose. “She seems nice. She kind of reminds me of Kwan and Young,” he told her.
Leila only smiled as him before releasing a sigh. “I better go inside, she isn’t known for her patience.”
G.K. chuckled, “I wouldn’t have guessed,” he said sarcastically. He placed another small kiss on her smiling mouth.
"Anyway, I'd better not keep your cabbie waiting. I really had fun tonight, G.K. Please don't think otherwise."
He gave her a grin as she stepped away from him.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Leila nodded, opening the door as she gave him a saucy grin. When it closed behind her, he was left with a tantalizing afterimage of soft brown skin and her light fragrance.
G.K. turned with a happy bounce in his step.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Chapter Six
The next morning, Leila walked into the studio, hoping to find G.K. already there. They needed to talk. If this was going to happen, for the moment it would be best to keep things secret.
She'd been in the scene long enough, had watched fellow dancers--male and female--become involved with a director, choreographer or lead. Watched camaraderie turn into jealousy and backstabbing. Leila knew she'd not been chosen to remain with the troupe because of anything G.K. had done; Michael had made that rather clear. She'd earned her right to be here fairly, regardless of G.K.'s feelings for her, and she wanted no special favors from him. In public, they'd behave as professionals. In private...
I wanna sex him up wearing that cardigan and nothing else,
she giggled as she tied her dance shoes.