I Belong to Her

Chapter 1

Yeji.

(Eighteen Months Earlier) 

I'm seventeen years old when I first met him. Seventeen and crazy about Niki.

"Yeji, come on, this is boring," Chaeryeong says as we sit on the bleachers watching the Football game. Something I know nothing about, but pretend I love because that's where I see him. Out there on that field, they practice every day.

I'm not the only girl watching Niki, of course. He's the quarterback and the hottest guy on the plane or at least in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, Illinois.

"It's not boring," I tell her. "Football is a lot of fun." Chaeryeong rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Just go talk to him already. You're not shy. Why don't you just make him notice you?"

I shrug. Niki and I don't run in the same circles. He's got cheerleaders climbing all over him, and I've been watching him long enough to know that he goes for tall blond girls, not short brunettes.

Besides, for now, it's kind of fun to just enjoy the attraction. And I know that's what this feeling is. Lust. Hormones, pure and simple. I have no idea if I'll like Niki as a person, but I certainly love how he looks without his shirt. Whenever he walks by, I feel my heart beating faster from excitement. I feel warm inside, and I want to squirm in my seat.

I also dream about him. Sexy dreams, sensual dreams, where he holds my hand, touches my face and kisses me. Our bodies touch and rub against each other. Our clothes come off.

I try to imagine what sex with Niki would be like.

Last year, when I was dating Yeonjun, we nearly went all the way, but then I found out he slept with another girl at a party while drunk. He groveled profusely when I confronted him about it, but I couldn't trust him again and we broke up. Now I'm much more careful about the guys I date, although I know not all of them are like Yeonjun.

Niki might be, though. He's just too popular not to be a player. Still, if there's anybody I'd want to have my first time with, it's definitely Niki.

"Let's go out tonight," Chaeryeong says. "Just us girls. We can go to Chicago, and celebrate your birthday."

"My birthday is not for another week," I remind her, even though I know she's got the date marked on her calendar.

"So what? We can get a head start."

I grin. She's always so eager to party. "I don't know. What if they throw us out again? Those IDs are just not that good—"

"We'll go to another place. It doesn't have to be Aristotle."

Aristotle is by far the coolest club in the city. But Chaeryeong was right, there were others.

"Okay," I say. "Let's do it. Let's get a head start."

»»»

Chaeryeong picks me up at 9 p.m.

She's dressed for clubbing, dark skinny jeans, a sparkly black tube-top, and over-the-knee high-heeled boots. Her hair is perfectly smooth and straight, falling down her back like a highlighted waterfall.

In contrast, I'm still wearing my sneakers. My clubbing shoes I hide in the backpack that I intend to leave in Chaeryeong's car. A thick sweater hides the sexy top I'm wearing. No makeup and my long brown hair in a ponytail.

I leave the house like that to avoid any suspicion. I tell my parents I'm going to hang out with Chaeryeong at a friend's house. My mom smiles and tells me to have fun.