Authors: Marian Tee
His sneer made her itch to slap it off his face, and his next words just made her want to kill him. “Care to say that less shrilly next that time?”
Violet’s body shook with anger. Oh, what a red hand mark on that face would do for her day!
A banshee!
He had the gall to call her a banshee—she, Violet York, the most popular girl in her school! If they were back in her home in Miami, he would be lucky if she gave him the time of the day.
“Just help me with this and we’re done,” she said between clenched teeth.
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
* * * *
Twenty long minutes later and they finally reached her floor. “What’s your room number?” he snapped.
She pointed to the first door to their left.
Almost tearing the knob off in his irritation, Park flung the door open and threw the suitcases into the room. They landed with a tumble, coming only to a stop when they hit the back of the bed.
The girl shrieked.
Ah, sweet music. He had never been this glad to piss off a girl so much.
She ran past him to her suitcases. Sinking to her knees, Violet worriedly checked for damage. These had been Lilac’s going-away gift to her; the very first gift that her normally cheapskate sister had spent thousands of dollars for.
She glared up at him. “You did that deliberately!”
“You think?” he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice just before he walked back to the stairs.
Swallowing words of rage, she choked out, “Thank you!”
Park said over his back, “Good riddance!” Violet slammed her door shut in response.
Chapter Two
Violet’s teeth gnashed as she studied the map spread out on her bed, which–for once–was something just right for her size. Her Blackberry was totally useless in Japan. The country’s GPS thingy–which supposedly worked like magic–just wasn’t compatible with her phone, which left Violet doing navigation the old fashioned way.
Unfortunately, nothing in the map made any freaking sense!
Even though she read Japanese fairly well, it just wasn’t enough to turn her into Christopher Columbus overnight. Also, she was bad with directions, period. How the heck was she going to be able to find the school administration building with a map that didn’t have GPS-guided arrows automatically tracing the right route to her destination?
What was she going to do now?
Violet stomped towards the mirror, staring at her reflection.
We are not going to freak out. We are not going to be melodramatic. We will find a solution for this.
Looking at her reflection always calmed Violet, mostly because she liked seeing the results of her handiwork. She loved fashion, had always done so since she was old enough to say ‘Vogue’ and every day she eagerly spent at least two hours just planning and perfecting her outfit, even if only her mother would be the one to see the product of her painstaking efforts.
Indeed, her love for fashion had been one of Violet’s primary reasons for studying in Japan. She loved the country’s cool street fashion scene and was so very eager to be a part of it.
For her first day—which was today—Violet had chosen to tie her hair in a ponytail but leave most of her bangs to fall freely on her forehead in a side sweep, their tips emphasizing the soft lines of her face.
Since it was spring, Violet had also tried to dress accordingly but with a subtle focus on standing out in her white long-sleeved, V-necked shirt, soft gray jeans accessorized by a wide purple bet to match the color of her eyes, and a funky-looking pair of tan leather boots. And in case the temperature suddenly fell, Violet was ready for that, too, with a matching corduroy jacket meant to ensure that she’d look pretty even if she was freezing cold.
She looked good all in all, if she did say so herself. But was it good enough for the guy at the second floor? Good enough for him to help her one more time instead of biting her head off?
Violet snorted. She doubted it. He was the rudest guy he had ever met. But the fact remained—she needed him.
* * * *
Bang, bang, bang!
Someone was knocking loudly on the door again, jarring him awake. For a moment, Park was confused by a sense of déjà vu. Was it the girl again and her suitcases? But it couldn’t be. He had already played the bellboy for her, so what now?
Scowling, he got up and not bothering to wear anything over his boxers this time, he went straight to the door to open it.
It was her.
Violet bit back a gasp. Oh my God, did he not realize he was practically naked? Again, he stood in front of her with the craziest bed head she had ever seen…as well as the hottest-looking chest she had also ever seen in her life. Violet wanted to kill herself, mostly because of her body’s betrayal. How could it want this guy so much when he was such a jerk?
Her eyes dipped low involuntarily and what she saw almost made her gasp. This time determinedly keeping her gaze on his face while willing herself not to turn red at the memory of his larger-than-life erection, Violet managed to summon up her megawatt smile—the one that gave her a grand slam win in her high school’s Ms. Popularity contest.
Smile in place, Violet then waited for him to kiss the ground she was walking on.
But he only kept staring—well, fine, scowling—at her.
Oooookay.
Turning up her megawatt smile by a notch, she began, “Hi. I think we got off on the wrong foot a while ago—”
“What’s this all about?” Park cut the girl off mid-way, irritated once more at how his dick unashamedly begged to be noticed. Maybe he had been without a girl far too long, and it had made a whore out of his dick, getting aroused for the most irritating girl he had ever met.
Park’s mood blackened even more when he fully took in her appearance. She already looked hot a while ago—now, she was simply smoking. Worse, he also liked the fact that she didn’t have much makeup on, which was admittedly surprising for someone so clearly aware of her own looks and worth.
All in all, she looked too pretty for his good so Park made sure to keep the scowl on his face. It was better that way.
Violet held on to her smile with an effort even though her first instinct was to bash him on the head for being so unpardonably rude. What the heck was his problem anyway? “My name’s Violet.”
Park just raised a brow.
She gritted her teeth, aware of how he continued to ignore her outstretched hand. “I was hoping we could get to know each other better.”
“And?”
She gave up being courteous. There was no point doing so with this guy. Grabbing his hand–and trying not to smirk at the shock on the guy’s face—she gave it a quick shake.
The moment their fingers touched was spine-tingling, literally.
Fuck, Park thought, his stomach curling as he stared at the girl with even more shock. He hadn’t expected her to just grab his hand like that, and he certainly did not expect his entire body to react this way, for such a simple touch. This was so fucked up. They had even more chemistry than he initially thought.
He saw her eyes suddenly dip low before swerving back up, almost guiltily. Park realized then that she knew he was hard, and knowing that she knew just made him harder. For one moment, he imagined hauling her into his room and picking her up so he could just nail her against the wall and save them from the misery of pretending they didn’t have this white-hot flare of attraction between them.
But the moment passed, and he managed to reclaim his sanity.
“Just tell me what you want,” he said brusquely, hoping his tone would prevent her from looking down again and find out that he had just gotten larger, longer, and a thousand times more aroused.
“Look, there’s no one else I know here,” she was saying.
Park said quickly, “But you don’t know me either.”
She seemed to ignore his words, saying determinedly, “Yet. I don’t know you yet.”
“Let me rephrase that. I don’t want you to get to know me.”
Violet couldn’t believe what she was hearing and was even more incredulous when he added emphatically, “I’m not friendly and I’m not in the mood for flirtations.”
Violet nearly hit the roof at that. “Excuse me? Did I say I wanted to flirt with you?”
Another raised eyebrow. “You don’t?”
Violet actually stomped her foot in frustration and anger. God, he was such an obnoxious jerk! “Look,” she said, glaring at him. “I just need you to give me directions to the administration building. Is that too much to ask? If you tell me, then we’re done. I won’t trouble you anymore. Who’d want to be with an ogre like you?”
And off she goes, Park thought. Surprise and irritation warred inside him as she continued hurling insults. It was a bit unbelievable, to be honest. Back at home, he literally had his own goon squad to keep the screaming girls away and here was this black-haired midget, actually asking him a favor—not as a way to get closer to him—but one in exchange of staying away from him.
It was…curiously refreshing and liberating.
However, her shrill voice was beginning to grate. And Park didn’t truly appreciate being called an Asian Yeti. He looked at the girl again, saw her mouth moving, and acted instinctively.
“—my luck to pick a blond gorilla—oomph!” The only warning Violet got was the glint in his eyes before he was kissing her, his lips seemingly soft and firm at the same time, his kiss commanding. But before she could think about what she should do, it was over, and he was pulling away.
“Good way to shut women up, I always thought,” was all he said.
She opened her mouth to shriek at him, but his glance sliding to her lips made her snap her mouth shut and grind her teeth instead.
He smirked. “Now listen well, because I’ll only tell you once.”
An hour later, Park had already showered and left his room, grabbing his denim jacket as he did since the winds in Osaka could be biting cold at this time of the year.
He normally didn’t leave the dorm this early, but there was no point going back to sleep. The girl had given him such an adrenaline rush that his mind couldn’t stop buzzing. And though he would never fucking admit anything to a living soul, the girl had also given him his first pressing urge to jack off—in thirteen long fucking months—and when he did so, he had come so much in his hands it was fucking embarrassing.
And he hadn’t even pictured her naked!
All Park had imagined was her whispering his name, her violet eyes shining with welcome as he tossed her little skirt up and sink his dick into her—
Park groaned, feeling himself harden again.
That woman was a witch. She had to be, or maybe she had one in her family lineage. Either way, he was going to avoid her like the plague. No one had ever affected him this way before, and it was a complication he could damn well do without.
Park had already walked three blocks when he came to a dead stop, spotting a familiar figure down the road.
“You!”
Violet jumped. When she saw the Nordic ogre heading towards her, she turned around and hastily wiped the tears away. When she looked back, she nearly jumped again because he was now just inches away from her. It was the first time she’d seen him not looking like he had just gotten out of bed, and she hated admitting it but he looked even more gorgeous. He had on a scarf, a thin violet sweater, and what she liked to call rock star jeans because of the studded design on the pockets. He looked extremely well put together, a guy who wasn’t afraid of being stylish, and unfortunately…
It turned her on.
Everything about him right now made the fashion-loving part of her swoon, but it also made her cringe because she didn’t want him to see her like this.
“Why are you sneaking around behind my back?” Violet blasted at him. Best defense was offense. She didn’t want the Yeti to know she had been crying. She would die if he did.
Park saw the tear-stained cheeks but wisely avoided comment. If she wanted to play it tough then he’d let her. “What are you doing here?”
“Just about to cross the street.”
Park laughed. “When the administration’s that way?” He pointed to the other direction.
“I wanted to enjoy the scenery.”
“Face it. You’re lost.”
She glared at him. “I’m not. I’m just—”
“Shut up,” he said pleasantly. “Just be glad I’m in a nice enough mood to walk you there.”