Her Astronaut

✯4✯

"FUCK!"

The sound of a new voice standing behind her startled Nova to the point of knocking her knee into the coffee table.

"Shit, that hurt", she winced.

Her pain overtaking the surprise, she quickly forgot that she was no longer alone until a large gentle hand softly touched her knee.

"괜찮으세요? I mean, are you alright?"

Normally Nova would flinch at the thought of a stranger touching her, but for some reason this touch was comforting. Looking up she was greeted with a soft concerned gaze.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Her heart skipped a beat???????

She had a positive physical reaction - potentially romantic or maybe sexual - to someone of the opposite gender?!?!?!?

That never happened.

Ever since her disastrous attempt at dating in college, she never felt the need to pursue a romantic or even sexual relationship with another human.

Not once did another human make her heart skip a beat like this handsome stranger had.

It got to the point during her early 20s after he freed herself from a disastrous relationship when she started questioning if she was potentially in the asexual spectrum. Which was no big deal, she just never found herself truly attracted to anyone. No matter what gender they identified with. Even in her previous relationship, she never really felt sexually attracted to him.

Not wanting to give her sexual preference a title, she just took it as a sign that romance was not in the cards for her. And that was perfectly fine.

Needless to say, she was instantly intrigued by this handsome caring man now in front of her.

One thing was for sure...

Her life was never going to be the same from here on forward.

"Excuse me, are you hurt?" He asked slowly in English.

Nova smiled, "아프지 않아"

A surprised look flashed in his eyes but quickly softened into a smile.

"You must be Nova." He continued in his native tongue, "Our management informed us we'd have an American assistant helping my brothers and me during our stay. One who spoke fluent Korean."

"That'd be me." She blushed.

Get a fucking grip woman. She thought to herself.

"Nice to finally meet you. I'm Kim Seokjin," he bowed his head in greeting.

"Nova Kim at your service."

"Kim? Are you Korean?" he asked puzzled.

"No, I legally changed my name in college."

He looked confused. Not judgmental. Just intrigued.

"It's a long story but I cut ties with my biological family when I turned 18. Jennifer Kim, an old family friend, took me in. She was more of a mother to me than the woman who birthed me. I asked if I could take her last name as my own. She died last year due to complications from COVID."

"Oh. I'm so sorry for your loss. My apologies if I was being too invasive." His gaze softened which temporarily made her forget her own name.

She waved him off, "Oh no you're fine. I'm used to questions like that. Don't mind, especially if it gives me a chance to talk about my Aunt Jenn."