Page 9 of GR8VITY

All the way up to the moment I fall asleep, I can’t stop myself from imagining what it would’ve been like to kiss her. The way she would’ve felt in my arms. How she would’ve tasted. I’ll find out one day.

TRACK 03

SUNSHINE

KYUNG

It’s only been like seven weeks or so since the night of the almost kiss. There hasn’t been a single night that has passed that I haven’t spent with Lizzy. We’ve taken our fair share of walks. We’ve tried many of the smaller restaurants along our routes. Even the ones closer to her home, which she eventually let me see.

Of course, that was after our first kiss. Sitting in my chair at my computer, I cross my arms on my chest and swivel the chair back and forth as I lay my head back and think about it.

We’d been going on our late-night outings, or dates as we can call them now, for about two weeks. We decided to take a new route to walk, and of course that’s the night the sky decided to open and try to drown us. Since neither of us had thought of bringing an umbrella, we ran for the closest cover we could find: a small shop awning.

She’d laughed and pushed her hair back away from her face as she looked up toward the sky. I knew. That was the moment. I’d never seen anything more beautiful in my life than her standing there soaking wet, grinning like she’d never been happier.

“Liz,” I’d whispered, making her turn toward me.

Her gaze immediately went to my lips, and I had no choice but to lean down to give us both what we wanted. The moment they touched, it was like my skin started tingling. This kiss was like no other I’d ever felt before. Even my first one.

Everything felt so right.

Her lips parted on a soft sigh, and it was all the invitation I needed. With my very first taste of her, I knew that I would be addicted. The way that her tongue teased mine, making me delve even deeper for more of it, was enough to have me tucking her closer. Our difference in size gave me the perfect angle to give us both exactly what we’d been driving toward for weeks, and I was so glad we waited.

I’m not sure how long we spent underneath the awning, but it’d stopped raining before I was able to pull myself away from her. We were both out of breath and our cheeks were flushed.

She looked at me like someone who was seeing the stars for the first time. “No one has ever kissed me like that.”

“Maybe that’s for a reason,” I murmured, watching the goosebumps rise across her arms and loving that my voice gave her that reaction. “Maybe it was saved for this moment right here.”

Smoothing the wet hair away from my face that’s been dripping between us and neither of us caring, she’d said, “I think you’re right.”

Every night since, I’ve found a way for my lips to touch her. Whether it be her cheek or her lips, or sometimes the back of her hands. I’m completely addicted and can’t get enough.

“What are you thinking about smiling like that?” Dav En asks.

He startles me, but not enough to give me a jump scare. Kind of get used to it when you’ve literally never lived alone. Perched on the corner of my desk, he’s got his arms folded across his chest as he looks at me, waiting for my answer.

When I’m not fast enough, he turns his head to the wall. “Why do I feel like we’re not friends now? I know we’ve been busy, and I was doing my stuff last month. Ever since I’ve been back, though, things have been weird. You’re never home at night. You barely talk to me. I was going to see if you wanted to go to dinner last night, but I couldn’t find you and you didn’t answer my text. Not to sound weird or anything, but I miss you. I miss my friend.”

“I’m sorry, Dav,” I tell him, knowing he’s right. It’s not like I’ve purposely been avoiding him, and I tell him as such. “Like you said, we’ve just both been really busy, and I have been more distracted than usual.”

His lips purse as he cuts his eyes back over to me. “You going to tell me where you’ve been going at night?”

“Yes,” I assure him, “but not today. You’re right. I’ve been keeping a big secret, but it hasn’t been on purpose. Would you be willing to wait until tomorrow, and I’ll tell you everything? We can hang out when we get home. Go get dinner or something.”

“Sure,” he says, slowly relaxing into the friend that I know. “Does your secret have anything to do with why you’ve been smiling a lot more lately and going harder in dance practices?”

I laugh. “I haven’t really noticed myself doing that, but yeah, I guess it must be.”

“You know that I’m happy when you’re happy,” he assures me. “No matter what the reason.”

Now, he’s got me curious as to what he’s thinking it is, but I don’t want to open the subject any more than it already is until he meets her. I shouldn’t have put it off this long as it is.

“Want to stay and game with me for a while?” I offer.

He huffs. “No thanks. I’ll stay, but I’m not gaming. You know I suck at those games you play. Be right back. I’ll grab my chair.”

I watch him leave and feel the worst kind of guilt. Dav and I have been inseparable for a long time. We even enlisted and served our military time together right before our debut. I couldn’t imagine any part of my life without him. Another one of the reasons why keeping that line between myself as a person and an idol separate is so important. I never want to lose my best friend. It’s wild how quickly that line blurs, too.