Taste | Changbin

Chapter Fifty-Three

Lennon woke up to nothing, but darkness. It was pitch dark and she didn't know where she was. Wherever she was, it was silent. She tried to reach her arm up, but she couldn't see it. Her head pounded and her mouth was so dry, she thought she was dead. 

A click filled the air and a thin beam of light entered. She squinted her eyes at the sudden brightness and let out a groan. She shoved a hand over her eyes to block out the light. 

"Sorry, I was just making sure you were okay." 

"Changbin?" She croaked. "What are you doing? What happened?" 

The light became brighter before it disappeared. Changbin entered her hotel room and shut the door behind him. "You don't remember?" 

"No, but I feel like shit. Did I almost die or something? Where are we and why can't I see?" 

"It's three o'clock in the morning. We're in your hotel room, that's all. Do you want me to turn on the light?" 

"Please." 

The moment the lamp turned on, she slammed her hands over her eyes. She let out another groan. "It's so fucking bright, I'm going to go blind." 

"You're not going to go blind. You've been sleeping in the dark for a while. I'm glad you're back to your senses. You're a handful when you're drunk." 

"I was what?" Lennon sat up at once. "What?" 

"You really don't remember? You got wasted last night. I don't know how much you had, but I had to rescue you from a bar." 

She squeezed her eyes shut and dug the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. That was one thing she promised herself she was never going to do. She knew how much alcohol could screw up a person. The one promise she made to herself, she had broken it. 

The alcohol wasn't done with her yet. Her stomach lurched beneath the blankets. She ripped them off and hurried to the bathroom. Shoving her hair up with one hand, she barely got to the toilet before vodka flavored vomit spewed out of her mouth. Her stomach curdled at the smell and she threw up again. 

Changbin grabbed her hair up and gathered it together. He slipped her hair tie off his wrist and twisted her hair into a simple bun at the nape of her neck. Tears pricked at her eyes. She pressed her forehead into the toilet seat. "Why do you care about me?" 

"Why not?" 

She couldn't take her gaze off the floor. "Because I'm a mess. The tour hasn't been on for a week and I've already screwed it up. I caused you and Chan to get into a fight. I ruined your free day yesterday. I've been a pain in your ass since I've gotten this job. Now you're here and trying to take care of me while you should be sleeping." 

"You've only been a pain in the ass because I've been a pain in your ass. If I'd just get over my ego, we wouldn't have a problem. Let's get you up and into the shower. You'd feel so much better." 

"I don't want to get up. The room is spinning." Lennon squeezed her eyes shut. "You can go back to your room and leave me alone. I know you don't want to really help me." 

Changbin scoffed, "that's not true! I want to help you because I'm trying to prove that I'm not an asshole. How about a bath?" 

"I don't want to move." 

"Do you want me to help you?" The words shot out of his mouth before he could stop them. "I mean, I don't have to, obviously. It was just a thought." 

Lennon took a deep breath and slowly turned towards him. She lifted her arms above her head. Her hands dangled towards the ground limply. 

"What are you doing?" 

"I thought you were going to help me." 

"Oh...um, right. Of course, let me start your bath first." He turned around, added the plug to the tub, and turned on the water. His fingers ran beneath the water while he waited for it to heat up. Once it was to a warm temperature he turned back to Lennon. "Are you sure?" 

"I wouldn't have offered it if I wasn't sure." 

"I just want to make sure you're not still drunk." 

"I wish I was." 

She lifted her arms back up towards him. Slowly, Changbin bent down and grabbed the edge of her shirt. He held his breath as he lifted it off of her. Underneath, she was wearing a black sports bra. He quickly looked away from her. Lennon glanced up and realized this. 

"You can look at me, I'm not going to bite you. You don't have to be embarrassed. There's nothing jaw dropping to look at anyways." She slowly stood up and shimmied out of the spandex shorts. 

Changbin didn't dare look at her. Blood wasn't just rushing to his cheeks. "Are your clothes in your suitcase? I should go get those. Yeah, I'm going to go do that and you can just let me know if you need anything." 

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Without removing her undergarments, Lennon stepped into the tub. This was really no different than wearing a bathing suit around him and it was bound to happen one day. She slid down and let the water cover her body. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. 

Changbin dug through her suitcase looking for a pair of pajamas for her. He found a shirt, but he hadn't found shorts yet. He dug through the fabric getting closer and closer to the bottom. Thinking he found a pair, he pulled them up by the waistband.

Instead of a pair of shorts, he held a soft pink thong. He quickly shoved it back into the bottom of the suitcase. He was so glad that Lennon couldn't see him because he was mortified and also insanely turned on. It felt like something a pervert would do. 

"Did you find them?" 

"Yeah, I found them. Just give me a moment to zip up your suitcase!" He called back. He took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. He dug through her clothes again and finally found another pair of spandex shorts. Quickly, he slammed her suitcase shut and rezipped it. 

How was he supposed to face her again with a large bulge in his basketball shorts?