Page 45 of A World of our Own

Kaiya.

[Sent 17:29]

Jihoon.

Joon

Does anyone know where you are?

[Sent 17:30

Joon

Come back

[Sent 17:31]

Joon

Or let me come get you.

[Sent 17:32]

I snorted, swinging my leg under the table, torn between being irritated and something not quite irritated.

Jihoon, I’m an adult.

Joon

Trust me, I am aware, but it is getting dark and you are alone in a city you do not know.

[Sent 17:35]

I put my phone down, staring daggers at it as I resolutely drank my coffee and watched the flow of people and traffic. I was annoyed at the implication that I was incapable of taking care of myself, but most of all I was frustrated, because I couldn’t pretend I didn’t like that he was worried. My phone chimed again, but I left it a few minutes before I deigned to pick it up and look.

Joon

Kaiya, please.

[Sent 17:42]

My gut twisted, too many emotions and reactions coursing through me to make sense of any one of them. My jaw clenched, but I tapped out a response.

I’ll be back soon.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket, standing up and swinging my rucksack onto my shoulder. I was planning on heading back anyway. I’d had no intention of being out past dark. I wasn’t completely without common sense. And if my eyes were narrowed a little more than was usual as I walked, it was because the setting sun was in my eyes.

I understood why he was concerned, but even that understanding frustrated me, because this was how he acted when he worried. Bullish, demanding, over-protective. Despite myself, and while I hated how he did it, I couldn’t deny that I liked that he cared enough to worry. But I did not like how he acted because of it.