Foolish (1/2)

Foolish boy. What a foolish boy Kim Jongdae was. The thought occurred to Liyin more than once after she formally met her company junior and duet partner Chen. He had appeared youthful, which was to say eager and passionate, causing her to almost forget that by law he was very much an adult. Over the time of getting to know each other and promoting together he had soon revealed to be a responsible person, but in her head the label ‘foolish boy’ remained firmly attached to him. He showered her with attention and care, something which flattered her as greatly as it made her cautious. He was younger, manners were his duty to show and everything beyond it was flirting one might as well interpret as promoting strategy. She told herself the latter although it was very unlikely. Jongdae was genuinely taking care of her, but she did not want to get her mind confused about what him flirting her implied. No, Liyin had filed and tagged him appropriately as a funny cheerful junior and thought it to be the end of it. "Jongdae?" Liyin softly knocked on the door of Jongdae’s hotel room. She was bored by herself and he always knew how to chase boredom away for her so she sought him out. This was not the first time they spent time after schedules, not going to sleep but sitting, talking, drinking. It was usually very comforting to be around Jongdae, his presence made her stop dwelling and enjoy the moment.

When no reply came she knocked a little harder, hoping whatever he did at the time he would hear her. Approaching noise behind the hotel room door informed her of her success and she put a smile on her face when the door opened only to freeze up in that state. “Liyin!” Jongdae exclaimed but she noticed his heaved breath. Another thing she noticed, long before he had spoken, was his shirt, sleeves rolled up over the shoulders. It exposed the reason for her slight paralysis: a set of lean, muscular arms. Liyin blinked, quickly taking in the veins visible on his upper arms and the firmness of his forearm. It got all her labels and tags confused.

Jongdae seemed oblivious of her staring, just smiling back.

“Oh, you brought drinks. Come in, let’s get comfortable.”

Liyin finally regained control over her body and took a step back, shaking her head.

“It seems like I disturbed you in the middle of something, I’m sorry. I’ll go back to my room.”

“Now don’t be like that. You are no disturbance.” Jongdae replied and reached out to take the bottle and two glasses from her hands. With minor fascination Liyin observed how the muscles flexed and sighed before following him inside.

“I did a minor work out, that’s it. I figured when cute-face Minseok gets to wear muscle shirts why not me, so I’m working on building my arm muscles bigger.” Liyin just nodded silently and sat on the floor, facing the TV. A Hong Kong sitcom flickered over the screen and she tried to focus, but soon her gaze returned to Jongdae and his surprisingly built.

“I am sure if you keep this up you soon have your wish.” Liyin complimented him, concealing her awe.

“Well, obviously I will never be Thor.” He shrugged while pouring them each a glass. Then he handed her one, clicking them together before drinking. She stared at him rather indecently and he blinked at her while setting his glass down.

“What? It’s true. It would not look good on me.”

“You already look good now.”

The words spilled from her lips while she thought them and he gave her a surprised look. To cover her embarrassment she slung back her drink. He smiled at her.

“You think so? Thank you.” Liyin laughed and turned to the TV.

“So, what happened this week? Did she find out yet who he cheats on her with?”

“No, but her ultimate plan is to follow him around town.”

“How Sherlock of her.” Jongdae snorted and refilled the glasses.

“If people knew just how much sass you possess…”

“Psht” Liyin said “don’t destroy my reputation.”

“Of course, because having humor makes you a less ethereal being.” He replied jokingly and Liyin hit his arm. For a moment she just wanted to rest her hand to feel the warmth.

“Did they give you lessons in flattery or do those words come out of your mouth just naturally?” Liyin shot back. Jongdae winked at her and drank again.

“Your presence prompts them.”

“Okay, now you are too much!” She laughed and he smiled, saying nothing further. They drank until the bottle was empty and Liyin started yawning. Jongdae hugged her as usual when they parted, an action they only did among themselves. Liyin suddenly was aware of the strength of the arms wrapped around and the confusion taking her over made her lose at least another hour of sleep. From there on Liyin could chuck her ‘foolish boy’ label into the bin. Her mind made it so she could not stop noticing. Before she had not bothered with the boy with his great voice who came to studio recordings in pajamas just like her and wore suits throughout their promotions further than that he was a talented junior who possessed a natural talent for variety shows. Sure, he flirted with her and put her at ease, but he had always been a boy. He was a boy to her no longer. She observed not only now how his button up shirts stretched over his chest, she recognized his biceps under the suit jacket and enjoyed every form of physical contact they had. When he opened doors for her and extended his arm to let her go through first her gaze found its natural way to it instead of to the front. The simpler the action the more she was drawn to watch his muscles. Liyin felt shallow for being fascinated with his arms, at the same time she felt surprise why, among all toned and muscular men in the company, he was the one she paid attention to strongly.In the back of her mind he had never been a boy. In the back of her mind every move beyond politeness and every flirtatious comment had infested the thought that he was the kind of man she wanted to pay attention to her. And did he pay attention to her. Although she drew lines every time she felt him come too close, Liyin wanted him close, but not too close.  They were idols, Jongdae more so than she was, being in love was complicated and she did not want to risk her heart exposed and hurt. Allowing the feeling of falling for him was all new to her and she was careful not to show too clearly. If he noticed how she stopped drawing lines she was not sure, but he did not push further uncomfortably and their usual ease remained. “Can I ask you something?” Jongdae asked her while they did another performance practice before flying to Jackie Chan’s concert. Liyin tilted her head slightly and nodded while he took off his hoodie.

“Sure.”

“Did they grow bigger?”

Jongdae rolled his sleeves up and flexed his left biceps at her. Liyin’s breath hitched at the sight. God, he was cruel. The urge to touch surged through her and she took a step closer, hand reaching up. Her fingers wrapped around Jongdae’s biceps and she felt the firmness against her palm. Her fingertips slid over the visible veins and she delighted in how they pulsed underneath. The last time she had seen his arms they had already been toned, but the muscles had been only lightly visible. Now they were big.

“Definitely.” Liyin replied Jongdae’s question simply and slid her hand further to his forearm, thumb swiping over the flexor at the bottom.

“Do you like them?”

“Yes” she breathed fascinated while a smirk tug at the corner of his lips.

“That much, huh?”

Quickly she jerked away, flustered and embarrassed over her slip up.