Taste | Changbin

Chapter Fifty-Two

Lennon's eyes shot open the moment her body hit something soft. 

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You accidentally slipped out of my grip. Go back to sleep." 

She realized how dry her mouth was. Ignoring Changbin, she forced herself up off her bed. She glanced around the room trying to find something to quench her thirst. Not to mention, her mouth still tasted like vodka and fruit. 

"Are you thirsty?" 

"Yeah." 

He walked over to a small mini fridge and pulled out a cold bottle of water. He opened it and handed it to her. She quickly started to chug it. 

"Relax, it's not going to go anywhere. If you drink it too fast, you're going to make yourself feel worse." It's almost like he could read her mind. "Where is your toothbrush?" 

"In my suitcase." 

"Can I grab it?" 

"Please." 

She pinched the bridge of her nose. She must have fallen asleep in the car because she was back in her hotel room. She had been carried all the way to her room. The dark red curtains were thrown over the window to keep out the sun. A lamp near her bed had been turned on instead. It only lit up a small portion of the room. She dropped her arm and closed her eyes again.

"Open your mouth." 

She didn't object to it. She opened her mouth and allowed Changbin to brush her teeth. Bristles and minty toothpaste rubbed over teeth. She opened her eyes to see him with his eyebrows furrowed. He was trying to make sure he coated all of her teeth with toothpaste.

Without warning, she started to laugh. He instantly pulled the brush out of her mouth. His eyes met hers, "what's so funny?" 

This caused her to laugh harder. Specks of foam left her mouth and landed on his hand. He gagged at the sight of them. "Ew! You got your cooties on me! Don't choke on your toothpaste! Let me get something for you to spit in." 

He hurried to the bathroom to try and find something. A dispenser on the wall held small dixie cups. Feeling grateful, he grabbed one and took it back to Lennon. "Here, you can spit in this." 

She shook her head, "too late." 

"Did you swallow the toothpaste?" 

"Uh-huh." 

"Lennon, you're not supposed to swallow it! Oh my god, you're like a toddler when you're drunk. I've got to wash your spit off my hand, but you need to lay down and go to sleep." He took the bottle of water from her hand and recapped it. "Lay back down and try to sleep." 

She let herself fall back onto the queen sized bed. She watched as he went into the bathroom to wash his hands. He came back out and glanced at her. She had shimmied underneath a large white comforter. She patted the side of the bed, "lay with me."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You need to get some sleep and I should go back to my room. I've got to tell the guys that you're safely back in the hotel." 

"Pwease!" She pressed out her lips in a pout and batted her eyelashes. "Pwetty pwease?" 

"Never say that ever again. I suppose if you insist, but you need to scoot over." 

"You're so pwetty," she blurted out. 

Blush appeared on Changbin's face. "Uh, thank you?" 

Before he knew what was happening, she reached up and grabbed his face with her hands. She pulled his face towards her and pressed her lips onto his. It took a few seconds for him to register what was going on. He quickly pulled away and took a step back from the bed. 

The smile that was on her face disappeared immediately. "You didn't like it?' 

"No, no, I really liked it, but I think you're still drunk. We shouldn't do this while you're drunk. I don't want you to do something you'll regret in the morning." 

"I won't regret this. I really, really, really like you. I like you so much, it physically hurts me." 

"Lennon..." 

"Kiss me again!" 

"No." 

"I'm not asking you Changbin, I'm telling you. Now, kiss me again!"

 "You're drunk and we shouldn't be doing this. You don't know what you're saying, we'll talk about it in the morning."

"I won't have the courage in the morning!"

"It wasn't supposed to end up like this."

"Just kiss me!" 

"Lennon, you're drunk and I'm not going to take advantage of that. Get some sleep and when you wake up, we can talk about this. I promise it can be the first thing we talk about, okay?"

Tears filled Lennon's eyes at once. "Do you still hate me? Is that why you were flirting with the girl at the beach? Am I really that bad? Is it because I'm ugly?" She barely got out the words. "Is it because you said that I'm a whore?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Changbin lifted up the comforter and slid beside her. "I don't hate you, I never hated you. We talked about this, remember? I was stupid to interact with the girl at the beach the way that I did. I hurt your feelings and I'm sorry I did that."

"You're not bad," he continued. "You're a lovely person with a lovely personality. You're not ugly, you're far from it. I think you're the most beautiful girl that I've ever laid my eyes upon." 

"You think so?" 

"I know so. You're so kind to people and even when they don't deserve it, you try to be nice to them. You walk into a room and you light it up. You're wonderful and amazing and I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, so you could understand what I'm talking about. As for the last part, you're not a whore. I regret that I told you that. I didn't and still don't mean that. That was something I said out of anger and I never should have said it." 

"Can you lay with me until I fall asleep?" 

"Will it make you feel better?" 

"Uh-huh." 

Changbin let his head fall onto one of the fluffy pillows. Lennon scooted over towards him. She dropped her head onto his chest without a word. She closed her eyes and let her be lured to sleep by the sound of his strong heartbeat. 

Meanwhile, Changbin couldn't feel anything, but guilt. Was this seriously what Lennon thought of herself? Did she think she was ugly? He should have never called her a whore. While Lennon drifted further and further into dreamland, all he could think about was how he could make it up to her. 

How could he prove that she was perfect?