Finding the Right Words

Chapter 129- Twelve

I heard the hotel's chaos as the movie's cast and crew moved in, taking up much of the space. But apparently it didn't cost anything since the hotel was sponsoring the movie, and we'd also be using it for the shoot.

I didn't even take the time to book a hotel room. I went straight to the room number I'd been texted, cat and all, like I was being pulled toward my destination. Nobody seemed to even see me. I'd slipped under the radar, the press so hyperexcited to see Liam Hemsworth and Shay Mitchell arrive that they never even realized I wasn't with them. Because I'd come early, already there. I'd snuck in with a group of tourists.

I knocked on the door, wondering if the other members would realize I was there. I hoped not.

The door opened, and I looked up.

"Niuwang... you look like Hell."

"You're so romantic," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "At least I've showered recently. Over the past few months, you should be glad of that."

He wrinkled his nose. "That's gross."

I sighed, feeling exhausted. "You're telling me. Now are you going to let me in, or do you have a girl hidden in there?"

"How could you say such a thing?" he laughed, grabbing the cat carrier from my hands. "KyuMin, I don't think your mother trusts me."

"I trust you. By the way, when the cab arrived, he said he'd already been paid. You wouldn't happen to know..." the guilty expression on his face said it all. "Mimi! You don't have to pay for me!" But I couldn't deny that it made me feel warm and fuzzy. 

"Just trying to help," he said, trying to look cool, but then he tripped over the edge of the bedspread. I laughed, and he straightened up, embarrassed.

I suddenly felt really tired, and he looked up, concerned. He opened his arms, waiting. "Come here. Now."

I obliged, folding myself into him. Instantly, I felt my whole body relax. I hadn't even realized it'd been so tense.

He stroked my hair, even though it was so much shorter than it had been the last time I'd seen him. He didn't even seem to notice. "There. Is that better?"

I wrapped my arms around his stomach, burying my face in his shoulder, taking him in, feeling all of the muscles I'd spent so much work on getting dissolve in moments, in that embrace. "I stole your blanket."

He laughed. And then we were both laughing, and I was pushing away from him and sitting down on the corner of his bed, kicking off my shoes. He sat down next to me, and I told him about filming the movie, the climbing wall, first meeting Liam, and confessing that there might have been a flutter there, but it quickly evolved into an obsession with poking him with my tail when I wanted to tease him. I told him how much better it was this time, how I was tired all the time, but never really felt tired, because I never gave myself the chance to relax. How every day was exciting, and how amazing my character was, and how much I loved singing with Liyin and BoA.

And Zhou Mi told me about the transfer back to China, about Henry trying to drive and getting them lost in the red light district, and how Manager Kim disappeared for a while, and then declared that he was never, ever, ever going to let Henry drive again. He told me about songs and phone calls, and about getting an offer to be in another drama, that he was thinking of accepting. He told me about his new favorite fashion lines, and visiting his family, and how I should go and see them, now that I was back in China. 

"The clothes, or your family?" I asked, my eyes drooping. Not that I wasn't interested- I was hanging on his every word- but I was just so tired. Somehow over the hour, I'd ended up in his arms again, my feet twisted in the blanket.