Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 34 - ALL NIGHT LONG

ELLIE

My eyes felt heavy but I felt the vibration around my wrist, indicating that my alarm went off. It was time to get up. I rubbed my eyes open and noticed the unfamiliar ceiling above me. And I turned my head and saw the dark curtain that was certainly not mine nor Jackson's. Then slowly everything started to register into my mind. We were in a hotel suite because Jackson didn't want us to get disturbed by anyone. And by anyone, he really meant anyone. Not his members, not his manager, and certainly not his mother. Which, according to his complaint, had a bad habit of popping in his house unannounced sometimes. So, he decided to book a hotel suite, a different one from the earlier one that I got as complimentary from the hotel that we used as our wedding venue. This one was much bigger, it even had a living room outside the bedroom area. I remembered last night, the boys were hanging out here after the party, but Jackson basically kicked them out.

Especially Bambam. He didn't get a chance to interrogate me. Turned out, Jackson just told them about our previous arranged marriage just before the ceremony, so obviously they were curious to know more. But since Jackson had one mission to do yesterday night, Bambam didn't get the chance to ask me anything, while Jinyoung and Jaebeom were less reluctant to leave us alone. We'd be here in Beijing until Sunday and then we would fly back to Korea since Jackson promised the rest of his members that he would celebrate our wedding there as well. Mark was probably on the plane to Korea by now, while Youngjae would be back to Seoul just in time for our celebration. Jackson also invited the press afterward for a short conference press. He asked me for permission to announce our wedding publicly when we planned this wedding and I agreed. I let him announce our wedding, but asked him to keep my identity secret.

I was about to slip out of the bed and take a shower but even before my feet touched the floor, a strong arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back to bed. My back collided with a hard chest. A very naked chest. My cheeks went red immediately when I recalled our conversation last night.

"Aren't you going to put on a shirt?" I asked him when I saw him slipping under the comforter without putting on any shirt. He just put on a pair of sweatpants after he changed from his tuxedo.

"Why? We're officially husband and wife now," he said nonchalantly, pointing to the ring on his finger. "There's no need to be decent in front of you. In fact," he supported himself on his elbow to face me, "You should be grateful that I still put on some sweatpants."

I frowned when he wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Why?"

"Because I usually don't wear any pants to sleep," he said as if it was nothing before scooting closer.

JACKSON

"I even sleep naked sometimes," I scooted even closer to her and it was amusing to see her stunned face. Yeah sure, we've been living together for quite some time, but I knew that she would run away if I pushed the boundaries too much. That including sleeping with some clothes on because I knew she would be uncomfortable if I slept as usual. And her reaction just now proved just much. She still hasn't said anything and I let the silence fill the air as it was really funny to watch the change on her face. It was filled with confusion at first, but as realization hit her, blush started to creep up her face and her face became red completely.

"Come on," I decided to break the silence. "Aren't you going to sleep?" I patted the empty bed beside me," wiggling my eyebrows to tease her but she still sat closer to the edge of the bed. "I promise I won't bite," I added at the end when I saw her didn't budge at all. After narrowing her eyes at me for a minute, she finally gave up and slipped under the comforter as well.

"You do know that this is a king-size bed and there's plenty of space left, don't you?" I asked when I saw her lying really close to the edge that she could roll off the bed if I nudged her even just a little. After rolling her eyes, at last she scooted a little bit closer to the middle and she was finally within my arm reach so that I could pull her into my hug. I rubbed the top of her head with my chin and tucked her head on the crook of my neck, wrapping my arms around her waist. I let the silence fill the air once again but I knew she hadn't slept yet. Even though she said nothing, I could feel that she had questions that she didn't dare to ask me, yet. But I said nothing. She would eventually open her mouth when she couldn't bottle it any longer. And I was right. After five minutes of complete silence, I felt her shuffle and I could feel her staring at me.