Rm looked up at the sound of the door opening and quickly jumped to his feet and gave a bow, he then indicated with his hand that Rose should sit opposite him, and thanked the grandmother for her help.
Rose also thanked the lady and went and sat down on one of the cushions. She was gratful she was wearing trousers, sitting on the floor was another new thing she had had to get used to and it wasn't so easy in a skirt.
The air was palpable and neither made eye contact , Rose held her drink between both her hands and nervously turned the cup around and around . Eventually not being able to stand the silence any more she looked up and said "I'm sorry " at the exact same time as RM said the same sentence. A nervous laugh escaped them both and some of the tension eased.
"After you " said RM determined to prove he could be a gentleman.
Rose looked up and met RMs eyes , she inwardly sighed then said , " can we start over ? , she brought her drink to her mouth and took a sip of the straw .. RMs eyes followed the movement of her lips and swallowed...
Shit what did she say , he thought in a panic ! he'd been lost since she met his eyes ..
Rose glanced up , why wasn't he replying ? And noticed RM was red faced and staring at her.. concerned she said " are you okay ? "
Rm closed his eyes and took a breath. As formally as he could muster with his cheeks burning and his heart thumping he said " you mesmerise me " he closed his eyes again quickly , what ? That wasn't was he was supposed to say ! Where had those words come from "
Rose blushed and said " erm .. thanks. " silence again and she took another sip of her drink.
Abruptly Rm stood up and went to stand by the window..hands clasped behind his back Rose admired the view. He was wearing cream coloured loose fit trousers and a navy blue tee shirt ,that stretched across his back nicely.
With out turning to look at her Rm said " I'm sorry , I don't know who I am when I'm around you, everything comes out wrong , and feels awkward, I've never felt like this before . I am especially sorry for kissing you with out asking permission, that's definitely not who I am , I wanted to clear up some misunderstandings we have with each other before the shoot, and then we won't have to see each other again and I won't be a bother to you any more " the last was added because Rm remembered that she didn't like him . He took a breath and turned towards Rose .. he could do this , he could have a conversation with her, he needed to be able to do this.
Rose sat quietly , wondering what to say in response to Rms honestly. She hadn't understood really why he'd apologised for the kiss , but now she did , and she could logically understand that having a crush could make you feel overwhelmed if you'd never felt anything like it before , he may be older than Rose but culturally she was more mature .
She knew she had to choose her words carefully, knew she also owed him an apology.
"Rm ..she started , another deep breath , you don't owe me an apology , I owe you one , ..misunderstandings ? We have a few , first and foremost, I am not a racist , I love all people regardless of race colour creed or sexuality. I was in the wrong , I didn't think about you last night, just me , I am not used to the level of respect here yet I guess and I acted up. I didn't respect our cultural differences , which I love by the way, " she interjected quickly " but , we do come from different worlds , in my world if two people like each other they can act on the feeling with mutual consent , have fun and move on no hard feeling , It's not better or worse , just different , I let my emotions and needs get to me and I flirted shamelessly with you. I am honestly so sorry. I wasn't saying I wish you were English because I don't think you're perfect as you are , just I was sexually frustrated ...she blushed beat red and let her words trail off ...
She took a peak at Rm who was still standing and towering over her , she felt tiny " can you please sit down " she said flustered..
Rm obediently did as he was told and forced himself to meet her eyes. It was difficult though , she'd just said she was sexually frustrated!! What exactly was he supposed to say to that..I'm sorry ? He picked his own drink up , but didn't drink it.. " can we just both say sorry , accept each others apology and pretend none of this never happened ? " he asked hopefully , really not wanting to touch on the subject of sex...Rose replied quickly.." can you? "
They both sat and put some thought in their answers before replying .. Rm spoke first " I..I respect you as an artist , and I truly admire your work. I genuinely wanted to learn pottery and was excited to learn. My crush on you is what started this , please understand that when I said I wouldn't act apon my feeling it wasn't a negative towards you. " he ran his hands through his fringe , which made Rose want to run her fingers through it too , she clenched her fingers under the table ..Rm continued " How well do you know BTS ? " he asked .
Rose thought about lying briefly but truth won out.." actually quite a lot, she said " in college I was a part of Army big time , had a bias , had a ship " she laughed gently to her self then carried on " I'll be honest , last couple of years unless you've been on english radio not so much , I like classical or jazz when working or English radio when I feel homesick. "
Rm smiled , a sort of little sad smile " So you know we're pretty famous then ? "
Rose laughed " that's an understatement I'd say "
"Well then , said Rm , the thing is , we are not allowed to date , part of our contract , and you mentioned you had a ship , girls that have been shipped with me , even though completely innocent , have been known to get hate messages , and well I don't know that I'd ever risk being with someone and have them get hurt because of me. " thoughts of Tae came to mind , and what he went through only a couple for years ago were still fresh .
"So you plan on staying single forever ?" Asked Rose quietly
Rm nodded .