Ye Jun
I rolled my eyes so hard I almost dropped the phone. "Yeah, yeah, secret half-oga club, whatever. Focus, Titi. The point is Ohm texted . After everything. And I haven’t read it because if it’s ’delete my number’ I’m going to throw myself down the stairs."
She gasped again. "Open it right now. On speaker. I need to hear this."
"No way in hell. I’m at breakfast with the enemy sitting two feet away pretending he didn’t choke out last night." I peeked around the corner. Mom was laughing at sothing Dad said, Si-woo was still murdering his toast. "Later. Promise. But yeah... Ohm. Hot damn. Even if he’s still round like a teddy bear, I’d let him sit on ."
Titi scread again, quieter this ti but still feral. "You are so gone for him. Always were. Even when he was the chubby kid who couldn’t climb the monkey bars without huffing. And now we’re all grown and he’s probably still in Bangkok running his dad’s empire and wait, why the fuck is he texting you now? After years of radio silence?"
"No clue. Maybe he saw the ga highlights or sothing. Or maybe he just felt like torturing ." I was smiling so stupidly my face hurt. Couldn’t stop. That dumb crush from when I was twelve hit like a truck all over again. "Anyway, I gotta go before Mom notices I’m not eating. Love you, don’t die of jealousy."
"Love you more, slut. Text the second you read it or I’m flying there and beating it out of you." She hung up laughing.
I shoved the phone in my pocket, walked back to the table like nothing happened, and sat down. Si-woo shot the dirtiest look ever but I just grabbed my toast, took a huge bite, and grinned at him with my mouth full. Because yeah, I was smiling like an idiot. Because Ohm Narravit my childhood crush, the one I used to dream about in that embarrassing way had texted the sa night I got wrecked by my stepbrother. Life was hilarious and cruel and I was here for every second of it.
Mom clapped her hands together. "Okay, family! Big day. The design firm from Bangkok is visiting the office today, full presentation, new collab line, the works. We’re all going together. Bonding ti! Your dad and I will ride in the rcedes. Si-woo, you take Ye Jun in the Audi. Be nice."
Si-woo’s fork clattered against his plate. "Why can’t he just take his own car like a normal person?"
"Because we’re a family, honey," Mom said, all sunshine and rainbows. "And traffic’s terrible. Go together. Talk. Bond."
I kicked him under the table again, lighter this ti. "Yeah, hyung. Bond with ."
He stood up so fast his chair scraped loud. "Fine! ."
The car ride was exactly the war zone I expected. I’d barely clicked my seatbelt when he peeled out of the driveway like he was trying to leave my soul behind. I grabbed the oh-shit handle and laughed. "Jesus, trying to kill us both before we even get to the office? Bold move after last night."
"Shut your mouth," he growled, knuckles white on the wheel. "I don’t want to hear your voice for the next twenty minutes."
"Too bad, because I’m talking the whole way." I leaned back, crossed my arms, and poked the bruise on my wrist just to feel it sting. "So. You hate . Got it. Tell sothing I don’t know."
He swerved around a slow truck, jaw clenched so tight I heard his teeth grind. "I really fucking hate you."
"Again, old news. Try harder."
"You’re a manipulative little shit who gets off on making my life hell."
I snorted. "And you’re the golden boy who fucked his stepbrother raw and then left him at 2 a.m. like a guilty coward. Pot calling kettle black, you asshole."
He slamd on the brakes at a red light, car jerking forward. "I should make you walk the rest of the way."
"Do it. I dare you."
He actually did it. At the next turn, he pulled over on the side of the road, hit the unlock button, and stared straight ahead. "Get out."
I stared at him. "You’re joking."
"Walk. et at the office. Maybe the fresh air will shut you up."
I laughed actually laughed because this was so stupid and so him. He undid the seat belt and pushed out. I had no power against that man. "Fine. Fuck you too." I yanked the door open, stepped out into the stupid morning heat, and slamd it so hard the whole car rocked. He drove off without even looking back.
I cussed the entire three-block walk. Loud. Creative. Every swear word I knew in Korean and English and even the couple Thai ones Ohm taught us when we were kids. My wrists burned under the turtleneck sleeves, my throat itched, and every step reminded exactly where he’d been inside last night, but I was still grinning like a maniac because Ohm was going to be at the office and Si-woo was throwing a tantrum like a child. Life was cody gold.
By the ti I stomped into the building, sweaty and pissed and still smiling, the whole team was already in the main hall maybe a few hundred people, all buzzing, setting up the big screens for the collab presentation. Dad was at the front shaking hands with so suits. Mom waved over like everything was perfect.
And then Titi appeared out of nowhere, arms wide, screaming my na across the hall. "Ye Jun-ah!"
We crashed into the hug so hard people turned to stare. She slled like vanilla and good old trouble, sa as always. "You made it! And you look like you walked here, you idiot. Si-woo ditch you?"
"Yep. Told to walk. I cussed him out the whole way."
She pulled back, eyes sparkling. "God, I love your dysfunctional family. But focus Ohm’s the collaborator. The actual Ohm. His dad’s company is the one partnering with us. He’s presenting today. I’m one of the lead models for the new line, so I get to stand there looking pretty while you lt into the floor. You ready?"
My stomach flipped. "He’s here? Right now?"
"About to walk in any second. They’re doing the big intro."
The lights dimd a little, soone tapped a mic, and the CEO, our CEO cleared his throat, my step dad alongside my step horny brother, oh my bad, my step brother ca out. "Everyone, please welco our special guest from Bangkok, the lead representative for Narravit Designs... Ohm Narravit."
The doors at the back opened.
And in he walked.
Not the round, soft-faced kid I rembered. Not the chubby boy who used to huff after us on bikes. This Ohm was tall stupid tall sharp jaw cutting through the air like it could slice paper, shoulders filling out the crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled once like he couldn’t be bothered. Black trousers hugging everything, and yeah, there was no hiding the bulge. Obvious. Heavy. Pressed against the fabric like it had its own zip code.
Titi’s hand shot out and grabbed my arm so tight I felt nails. We both gasped at the exact sa ti, loud enough that a couple people nearby glanced over.
"Oh my God," she breathed.
I couldn’t even speak. My brain short-circuited. Because the guy I’d been low-key obsessed with since I was twelve or ten maybe, the one who used to be soft and safe and mine in that stupid childhood way was now this. Glimring. Hot. Walking toward the stage like he owned the entire building and every person in it.
I was so cooked.
Completely, totally, irreversibly cooked.
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