When I opened my eyes, I was in the back of a van beside Tae Yang. I sprung forward but the seatbelt restrained me.

"Easy there," he said, his hands up as if he were trying to tame a wild beast.

On the driver's and passenger's seat were two men so massive, they seemed to shrink the space around them. The one on the passenger's side turned to me and offered a water bottle. No words.

Eyes wide, I turned to Tae Yang. "Are we being kidnapped?"

"Uh, no." He shook his head. "But we're not far from the club, we can still turn back if you want."

That cleared up some of the haze in my head and I recalled the exchange at the bar, where he'd asked me if I'd wanted to head back home with Leyna or him and I said—

I groaned and let my head drop forward. My hair came forward like a cascade, hopefully obscuring my face. "I want to die."

Burly guy one, behind the wheel, turned his head back for a split second. "Please, not all over the upholstery. It's leather."

Burly guy two tossed the water bottle on my lap. "We have antacid here somewhere."

A pair of hands guided me back to rest against the seat and pushed my hair away. Tae Yang's face appeared before me. His forehead was wrinkled. "Why did you drink so much?"

I sighed, burrowing my cheek against the palm of his hand. "I needed to drown my sorrows."

"Did it work?" he asked.

No.

Yes? It had magicked him out of thin air. I was considerably less sad next to him, than with his presence only in my mind.

A boulder rolled within my stomach and I sat up ramrod straight to keep it down. The water bottle in my lap was sealed shut, and I broke the seal to take a big gulp.

"Antacid is not a bad idea," I said, and burly guy two handed over a pack of medicine. In the motion, I glanced out the window and recognized the street. Leyna must have given them my address. "Whoa, whoa. Stop the car."

"Are you gonna puke?" the driver asked, his voice five octaves higher than normal.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I just can't go home like this."

The van was pulling into my neighborhood, and the thought of Mom seeing me in this state made me break into a cold sweat. I popped some more medicine as a terrible picture popped into my head, of Mom wielding her chancla at her thirty-something-year-old daughter.

I swallowed thick and whispered. "Mom will kill me."

Amid all my suffering, Tae Yang had to bite his lips hard not to laugh.

"Turn around, Mickey," he said. "Let's go to my place instead. I'll drive her home when she feels better."

The driver, Mickey, asked, "Are you sure?"

The passenger must be Steve, who turned around. "We blocked any pics at the club but if anyone sees you taking her into the house—"

Tae Yang waved a hand. "We'll figure it out."

In unison and with the same amount of irony, both men said, "Okay..."

Battling with the seatbelt, Tae Yang removed his hoodie and put it on my lap. "You should take a nap, I'll wake you up when we arrive."

The hoodie was thick and impregnated with his warmth. When I pulled it up to cover my arms, I caught his scent on the fabric and I closed my eyes. I didn't even respond, but I did obey his suggestion in a second.

Which was also for how long I was out, before Tae Yang was shaking my shoulders. "Wake up, sleeping beauty."

More like a troll, I said, "Nghargh."

His chuckling perked me all the way awake. The van was parked in a massive garage. Mickey and Steve were outside the vehicle, checking out the perimeter as though expecting a monster to spring out the dark.

I narrowed my eyes. "Where are we?"

"My house," Tae Yang said, unbuckling his seatbelt and sliding open the door. "Well, the house I share with my roommates."

He helped me out of the van, which was just as fine. I still didn't have all my motor abilities. I did make sure to grab his hoodie, because without it I was colder than ice.

"Coast is clear," Mickey announced.

"Maybe the roundabout trip helped," Steve said, shrugging. "Bottom line is, we were lucky this time."

"Thanks, guys," Tae Yang said. "Great job tonight."

"We'll let the boss know you got home safe," Mickey said. "So if you still go out later tonight, be careful."

The younger guy saluted them before offering his hand to me. "C'mon, let's get you sober."

Mickey and Steve gave me looks, as though they weren't sure about me when it was I who didn't understand what in the hell was going on.

Tae Yang took me through a door leading into the house. He flicked on a light switch and one by one, the ceiling fixtures came to life from the hallway we were in, down the largest living room and kitchen I'd seen in my life.

My jaw dropped. If I measured this place, I wouldn't doubt it was the size of the entire building Mom and I lived in with three other apartment units.

"Whoa."

"Want some water? Juice?" Tae Yang asked, humming under his breath. "I've actually heard more alcohol is effective to sober up, but I don't know that's the best course of action here."

"Is this where you live?"

He turned around, eyebrows raised. "Ah, yeah."

"Carajo." The ceiling was so high, it was probably fit three levels of a normal construction. Massive windows faced out to a dimly light garden with a lot of green and a dash of turquoise—a pool. "I knew you were loaded but not this loaded."

He snorted. "It wasn't always like this."

Our hands were still clasped together, and he tugged me towards the kitchen. He sat me on a stool and started rummaging around the fridge and cabinets. He'd lost the cap at some point, and since I wore his hoodie, that only left him with a black tank top. One of those with deep cuts on the sides that didn't cover much.

Boy was fine.

So fine, I had to turn away before I ousted myself as a perv. Every line of him was defined, from his shoulders and all the way down to the sides his tank top allowed a peek at. I zipped up his hoodie all the way and brought the collar over my face, which felt hotter than the sun. The problem was, I was now inundated by his smell.

"Ah hah!" He snapped his fingers. "I still have some non-spicy ramyun left. It's usually the last one to go."

Barely intelligibly, I asked, "What?"

"Basically noodle soup," he said, as he took out a pot and a few other things. "I don't know a better way to perk up than ramyun. You'll see, you'll feel better after the first spoonful."

I already did, from the moment he showed up.

Resting my chin on my hand, I watched him work around the kitchen. His muscles flexed as he washed his hands, the veggies, as he chopped them up. I knew the display was pretty but he also knew how to use those muscles, going by how he'd handled that harasser at the casino. And then there was the way he'd picked me up and carted me out of the nightclub like it was no biggie. He looked slimmer under the shirts he typically wore, more boyish.

But he was all—and as I let my eyes wander down his frame, I determined—all man.

Still without glancing at me, Tae Yang asked, "So, what were the sorrows?"

Since the question caught me in the middle of devouring him with my eyes, I jumped in my seat and asked, "Huh?"

He lifted his eyes, though not his face. "The sorrows you were trying to drown."

The heat from the stove settled permanently on my face and I was powerless against it, especially if he kept looking at me like that.

Clearly, I was still under the influence of alcohol because I was debating telling him the truth. That it had been every thought of him, what I'd been trying to drown. Every beat of my heart saying yes, it was true, I had a major crush on him.

Tae Yang took my silence as something different, because he said, "Did your asshole boss do anything to you?"

Was it just me, or was he chopping the vegetables with more strength?

I shook my head. "No, I avoided him all week."

Like I had avoided Tae Yang, although the reasons were vastly different.

"You know what, if we talk about him I really might spill my guts all over your marble counters."

Right away, he said, "So, how about the weather? Pretty chill tonight, huh?"

I smiled.

That was the effect he had on me—ever since I figured out we were no longer going to die on that plane, and I took one look into his eyes and didn't feel alone.

Here he was, making me soup in the middle of the night in his freaking mansion, worrying both about the state of my stomach and whether my stupid ex might have led me to this point.

Mierda, mamá tiene razón. When did I become such a coward?

If I let this man go to someone else, I'd be a fool. Sorry, Ga In.

It wasn't like I hadn't done anything scary before, so with a deep breath, I said, "It was you."

Tae Yang paused in the middle of stirring the pot. Literally.

I stretched my hands before me. The sleeves of his hoodie were so long I could only see the tips of my fingers, and they itched for his hair. His skin. I locked my eyes on his and jumped into the abyss.

"You were the sorrow I was trying to drown."

He exhaled slowly and set the spoon down. For a long while, he stayed quiet, observing me as though he wanted to memorize the moment.

Then he asked, "Why?"

My heart hammered in my throat as I said, "I'm scared?"

"Of me?" The way his expression fell physically hurt.

I rubbed my arms and hugged myself. "Sorta, but no. Not of you. Of how you make me feel."

"And how is that?" he asked, his voice thick with effort as if he were holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. I wasn't sure if what I had to say would relieve that load or increase it.

"I don't have the best record with guys," I said, focusing my eyes on the marble counter and how it shone like a jewel under the light fixture. "Every guy I've dated has always wanted something very specific out of me, and ditched me when I made it clear I wanted something more—better. A stable relationship, a partner for life, the whole nine yards. After Bryce, I decided I was through with men. And then you showed up."

"Ah." He ran his hand through his hair, giving me a precious view of his working bicep. I shook my head to center it on topic again.

"So, I—er, I don't really want to put myself through all of that again. I figured it would be better if we stayed just friends." I unzipped his hoodie and took it off, giving it back to him. "Put this on, you're distracting me."

He looked down at himself. "I am?"

I groaned. "Just put it on."

Tae Yang looked back up with a grin and folded his arms. "No."

I pursed my lips. "Didn't you hear anything I said?"

"Oh, I did." He made a long, long pause to check the soup, turn off the heat and start serving two bowls. "Basically, you like me and you're scared of getting hurt."

I was glad to have taken off his hoodie because suddenly I was so hot, sweat poured out of me.

I opened and closed my mouth.

Still nothing came out.

Cool as a cucumber, Tae Yang placed a bowl of soup, a fork and a spoon in front of me. Beside my spot, he put the second bowl and a pair of chopsticks, before sitting next to me.

"Eat, before the noodles get soggy."

"Is that really what matters right now?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Yes. Eat first, talk later."

"Fine."

It suited me well. Not only did the soup smell delicious, making my stomach rumble, but it would also keep my mouth busy while also preventing me from further putting my foot in it. Win-win.

As he leaned forward to grab a huge mass of noodles and stuff it in his mouth, the cut of his tank top opened up to reveal abs that had abs. I reached for the hoodie and threw it over his shoulders. Tae Yang froze while chewing and blinked at me.

I went back to my soup, spearing noodles with the fork. For a while, only slurping and chewing echoed across the vast kitchen. The house seemed quiet, like we were the only people in it.

Good.

I choked at the vehemence with which I thought that. Anyone who heard my thoughts would think I intended to pounce on the poor guy.

Wordlessly, as he was still munching on his food, Tae Yang got up and got me a glass of water. I debated whether to pour it down my throat or all over me, because I needed to cool down stat. In the end, down the guzzler it went.

"Back to the topic," Tae Yang said easily, once he was done with his meal. I wasn't done with mine yet, and giving a pointed look at my bowl he said, "Take your time. It's my turn to talk."

Ay mamá.

Tae Yang swiveled on his stool, now facing me. He put his elbow on the counter and leaned his head on his fist. "I can understand where you're coming from because I'm scared too."

I stopped eating.

He gave me the tiniest smile. "I've always been sort of a skeptic. My parents met in high school, like some love at first sight type of thing. So did my best friends, ten years later and both couples are still together. And then there's me."

While chewing, I managed to ask, "You've never dated?"

"Oh, I have." He shrugged, which made the awkwardly placed hoodie slide down one of his shoulders. "I've had a couple of girlfriends, none of whom my parents set me up with, by the way."

The way he said this was as though he didn't want me to think he had no game but, oh, I knew he had game.

He wrinkled his nose. "It just never felt... like this."

I swallowed down. The soup almost went down the wrong pipe. I pushed the bowl aside because I needed to focus.

"Like what?" I asked, turning the tables on him.

"Like this." His eyes were unflinching on mine as he turned my stool towards him with his feet. "We can talk all night and I still wake up in the morning wanting to call you, you know? I even like Walmart now."

I bit my lip.

"I started looking into tae kwon do lessons to be better prepared in case you need help again."

"Oh."

Tae Yang's smile grew. "There's more."

"Now you're just being a tease."

He chuckled, and the tremors it caused sent the hoodie tumbling down the floor. "The worst part is you're making me write love songs."

I sucked in all the oxygen in the room. "That piano song..."

"Yeah, I have a whole album of love songs now." He shook his head, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was saying. "That's never happened before and it's your fault."

"Sorry?"

His foot nudged mine. "You should be. Because even though here I am, daydreaming about you, trying to figure out how to make you see me like I see you, you go and tell me to date some other girl."

I groaned and hid my face with my hands. "I had the best intentions."

"That way usually leads to no good." Tae Yang's hands were hot against my wrists as he pulled them away, revealing my face once more. "So yeah, I'm scared too, because with one word, one glance, you already have the power to cut me down to my core."

My chin trembled and heat prickled my eyes. He hadn't let go of my wrists, his thumbs running circles over my skin. His skin was lighter than mine, his hands much bigger. I wanted to turn them around and lace my fingers with his.

"What if this is a mistake?" I whispered.

"What if not doing anything is the mistake?" Tae Yang asked. I lifted my eyes to his and drowned all my sorrows in them.

I slid down my stool and breached the distance between us. He stayed put, just watching me as I put my arms around his shoulders. As he sat and with my heels, I had to look down at him as I said, "If you kiss me we can find out."

His eyes crinkled around the corners.

As his hands pulled me against him by my hips, Tae Yang said, "Sounds like a plan."

I leaned down and kissed him.

SONG OF THE DAY: Sixpence None the Richer - Kiss Me

Tae Yang is too smooth