E S C A P E | | Bangchan

"No strings attached" - C H A P T E R 28

The performance was clean. Tight. One of their best yet.

Eclipse lit up the stage like they'd been born on it. Jaeyun didn't miss a step, didn't drop a note, didn't flinch when she caught Chan in the wings, watching.

She was electric. Dangerous. Untouchable.

But when the lights went down and the adrenaline wore off, her heart thudded in her chest like it didn't know whether it was from the dance or him.

She found him after the show, alone near a vending machine backstage, scrolling on his phone like he hadn't just stared holes through her the entire set.

"You killed it," he said without looking up.

"You watched?"

"Couldn't not."

She folded her arms. "You're laying it on a little thick, don't you think?"

He finally looked at her then. That same unreadable expression she was starting to memorize.

"Come with me," he said.

She blinked. "Where?"

"I don't know. Somewhere not in this building. A theme park?"

She blinked again. "You want to go on a roller coaster?"

He shrugged. "Unless you're scared."

"Please," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You'd cry before I do."

He smiled. "So that's a yes?"

Jaeyun hesitated. Not because she didn't want to. But because she did.

And that was the problem.

She lifted her chin. "Fine. But no strings."

His smile faded into something slower. Deeper. Something almost like... disappointment?

"No strings," he echoed. "Got it."

But the way his eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered said otherwise.

They left that night. Hoodies up, masks on, in the backseat of a manager's car with music low and silence thick between them.

The city lights gave way to blinking neon and distant screams as they pulled up to the gates of an all-night amusement park just outside Seoul.

Empty lanes. No fans. No chaos. Just lights, machines, and the hum of too much unresolved tension.

She turned to him as they got out.

"One ride," she warned. "Then we go back."

He looked at her like she'd just dared him to break the rules.

"Sure," he said. "Just one."

—————————

sorry for the short chapter guys😭
i love slowburns and this book is a slowburn with touches there and there 🤭
idk how long this book will be like maybe 40-50 chapters?