The car waited at the side of the road with the lights on and the engine running. Deok-su sat behind the wheel, staring aimlessly through the windscreen and drumming his fingers impatiently. Although he had no signs to indicate it, several people had stopped to ask him if he was a cab and he'd been forced to usher them on, apologising profusely for misleading them even if he wasn't to blame for their errors. A small rebellious voice inside told him to move on and leave Tae-won out in the city by himself and that he could get himself back to the apartment – he was a manager, after all, not a slave – but then he recalled the nature of the man he worked with and knew it would be worth all the trouble of dealing with his ire should he disobey his order to wait.
Two figures approached slowly; a woman who was short, young, and slight, and a man with his arm across her shoulders whose head hung in an exhausted manner and whose feet dragged more and more with every step. Despite her clear lack of musculature, the girl did an admirable job of caring for the ailing man, pausing only to catch her breath before she continued toward the car. It was only as they drew nearer and were illuminated by the headlights that Deok-su recognised them as Tae-won and Rose. Flustered by their arrival, he flung the door open and almost wiped out a passing cyclist. Deok-su shouted his awkward apologies after the irate commuter before he rushed to Tae-won's side and attempted to help him.
'Aish!' Tae-won snapped as his manager fussed about him. He shouted in Korean and Rose couldn't take in a word of it. She supposed it was an instruction to return to the car because Deok-su did just that, settling back into the driver's seat with his back rigidly straight and his shoulders squared.
The pair staggered to the rear door and Rose reached out to open it with her free hand, helping Tae-won to sit inside carefully. It was only Deok-su's assistance he was seemingly offended by, not hers. In fact, he appeared to enjoy the way she held his arm and checked that his coat wasn't about to be shut in the door, her eyes full of affection and her lips pressed together with concern and concentration.
Si-woo was nowhere in her mind or her heart in those few fleeting moments; it was all for him.
'I'll get a cab,' Rose said as she stood by the open door. 'If I don't go home soon, Yuta will –'
'Deok-su called him,' Tae-won said, his voice hoarse with illness. 'You can come back with us.'
Rose hesitated. Tae-won hadn't proven himself to be the most honest man in the world and it was entirely possible he was lying to get her to go home with him. On the other hand, Deok-su was within earshot and would have spoken up if he hadn't called Yuta or would offer to do so at that moment so they wouldn't all be caught in a difficult and scandalous situation. As he said nothing, Rose assumed it would be safe to do as she was told. At least, as safe as being alone with Tae-won possibly could be.
Rose had barely secured her seatbelt when the man dropped down to rest his head against her knee, curling up in the seat like a child. The heat radiated through her jeans and Rose reached down to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. 'Idiot,' she chastised him in a tender voice. 'Why did you bother looking for me when you're this sick? You'll just make yourself worse.'
'I told you not to run,' he said. The engine roared to life and Tae-won winced against the sound. If it had been in Rose's power to stop the car from being so loud she'd have done something about it, but she could only move her hand to his and squeezed his fingers in her own. Tae-won worked his fingers through hers, lacing them together and closing his eyes. 'Don't leave again.'
'Is that an order or a request?'
'Both.'
They were an awkward, odd trio as they staggered down the corridor in the apartment building, Tae-won between them and Deok-su leading the way. He freed himself when they arrived and leaned against the door, struggling to type in the keycode but determined to do so himself. The door yielded to him and Tae-won almost fell through. Rose's hand shot out and she grasped his elbow, keeping him upright just long enough that he could lean against the doorjamb to regain his balance. Playing the gentleman, Tae-won brought Rose into the entry-way first where she kicked off her shoes and stepped up into the apartment hall to give the two men space to enter behind her.
At least, that's what she thought would happen.
Tae-won's intentions weren't as honest as she'd presumed – he wouldn't have been Tae-won if he'd done as expected – and once Rose was inside, Tae-won followed, turned, and said to Deok-su, 'Don't call me.'
Deok-su was still protesting in Korean when the door closed in his face and the door lock engaged. To keep him from entering the code from the other side, Tae-won secured the manual latch and sealed them in. He glanced back over his shoulder and, seeing Rose's worried expression, said, 'He doesn't let me sleep when I'm sick. He just talks at me about schedules and contracts.'
'And the fact that we're alone now has nothing to do with this?'
'Do I look healthy enough to attack you?'
'I wouldn't put it past you,' Rose said.
Tae-won smirked. 'You're giving me too much credit, Japan. Besides, I don't need to attack someone who came along with me willingly. All I have to do is get better so you're not left alone with that bastard.'
'There's some kind of irony in you calling another man a bastard.'
Tae-won tore the baseball cap off his head and unhooked the mask strings from over his ears. Despite his pallid and clammy complexion, he was still a remarkably handsome man with his deep, dark eyes and soul shaking smile. Leaning against the shoe cabinet, he admitted, 'I am a bastard. It's what I have to be to survive. If anyone should understand that, it's you. Aren't you lying to everyone to protect yourself?'
Rose didn't have a good answer for that. Everything he'd said was the truth; being famous was hard work. Perhaps if Rose had realised earlier that she could adopt a persona like Tae-won's then she might never have fallen in love with Keiji and wouldn't have expected to make real friends who'd never think about her wealth or her familial connections. But, if she had, then she wouldn't have been Rose Porter-Abe, she'd have been someone else entirely. Tae-won's armour worked for him – it kept fake people at an emotional distance and spared him the pain of a broken heart – but Rose couldn't imagine treating others the way he did.
'You must be lonely,' she said. 'To live like this all the time. Not letting anyone see the real you.'
'I let you see.'
'Because we were kids together, I know, and it wasn't even for that long. It's almost... sad... that you feel like I'm the last chance you have at being yourself because of a few days that I barely remember.'
Tae-won shook his head lightly but said nothing. Rose always felt like there was something she was missing or misunderstanding with him. Now that she'd discovered their shared history, she thought that sensation would disappear, but it was just as present a feeling as ever. Rather than argue with her, Tae-won kicked off his shoes and walked past her toward the living room.
'Where are you going?' she demanded. 'You need to go to bed!'
'Aish, so bossy,' he complained, rubbing the back of his neck and tousling his black hair. 'I'm sleeping on the sofa. You can take the bed.'
Rose hurried after him and grasped Tae-won's far larger and stronger hand in both of hers. 'I don't need the bed.'
'So, you want to sleep on the sofa with me?'
'No,' she said flatly. 'Don't get me wrong, but you're not exactly the sexiest guy in the world right now.'
'Does that mean I'm usually the sexiest guy in the world in your opinion?' he teased.
Rose cleared her throat softly, her face feeling unusually hot under his smouldering – if unwell – gaze. 'Let me make you a drink before you go back to sleep. It was camomile and honey, right?'
As she made to walk away to the kitchen, Tae-won hooked Rose's jeans by slipping two of his fingers through the belt loops and pulled her close, their bodies pressed together. Moving his hands to her waist, he said, 'I've heard that if you share a cold, you get over it twice as quickly.'
'I don't think that's totally true,' Rose said. Her face felt like it was on fire and she wanted to run and hide until she regained her composure. Letting Tae-won see that he had her flustered was hardly ideal; it was just the sort of thing he'd take advantage of or mock relentlessly, even if he was still running a fever. Rose cleared her throat softly. 'Tea. I need to make tea.'
'I love you, Japan.'
'Okay, you're still delirious.'
'I'm not. I love you. It's a stupid idea and it'll never work, but it's true.'
'If we both know it's stupid and it won't work – mostly because you're a jerk – then what's the point?'
Tae-won flashed his trademark roguish grin and said, 'Because it's fun while it lasts. Admit it, Japan, you feel the same way.'
'I might admit it if you stop calling me Japan.'
'Rose,' the name rolled from his tongue like the most divinely smooth and rich caramel, decadent and delicious. It was a forbidden, passionate tone which made her tremble with desire. Never before had a man said her name with such desire or feeling.
'Say it again,' Rose breathed, unable to stop herself.
Tae-won brought his warm fingers to her cheek and brushed his mouth over hers. Rose didn't even care that he was sick or that she could catch his cold, or that this ridiculous relationship would break them both beyond repair. For one wonderful moment there was only them in all their raw, honest glory, and Rose wanted to exist in those few seconds forever.
'I love you, Rose,' he said and kissed her. In doing so, he made her heart inescapably his, and Rose was too swept away to know that this would mark the beginning of the end of her life as she knew it. Everything that followed could be traced back to this one moment and it would alter her path forever.