No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 7

"You know, mom, typically, I would be pissed at you for meddling in my life, but I have to say that having Norma around has been nice," BM grudgingly admitted. "But we had an incident the other day that really freaked me out," he told his mother.

"Oh, really?" she asked, hoping for more details.

"Yeah, I took her to play paint ball and she totally lost control when she saw the guns. No amount of convincing that they weren't real helped at all. She was just totally non-functional for some time after that," he confided.

"Mm," his mother replied in affirmation that she had heard him.

"Do you know anything about why that might be?" BM questioned.

"Why would I know anything?" was her non-answer. Now, BM was very suspicious. He knew his mother through and through and he was sure that she was being evasive. He was also sure that she wasn't going to crack under interrogation. So, he quickly ended the call. He haphazardly made his bed in the hopes that he could convince Luna to sleep over again.

At around 7:00 in the evening, Luna showed up with a strawberry and cream cake from a local shop and a dreamcatcher with several tan feathers hanging from it.

"I brought this for you," she said, excitedly, seemingly back to normal after the rather dramatic events of their last meeting. BM took it from her and studied it closely.

"Do you think it really works?" he asked her as it twirled under his hand.

"I mean, I have no idea," Luna admitted. "But I tend to trust indigenous people on the whole. So, I figure it can't hurt. Even if it's a placebo effect, it's still worthwhile," she reasoned.

BM and Luna walked to his room, and he hung the dreamcatcher from the chord of the ceiling fan. He watched it wind one way and back the other until it was finally still.

"Um, I just wanted to apologize again for what happened the other day," he ventured.

"It's fine. Let's not talk about it, okay?" she requested. Luna bit her lip nervously. She had misgivings. If her story ever resurfaced, it could spell disaster for BM's career. Yet still, she was drawn to him and felt that they should have the right to explore this history they had as children and the relationship that they might be able to form now as adults. It would be exceedingly sad to see a life cut off over something that happened merely 13 years into it. So, she pushed aside her misgivings and decided that she had every right to be happy.

She slid under the covers of Woojin's bed and patted the space beside her. He slipped into the bed beside her. They both lay on their sides, looking at each other tenderly. Luna stroked his black hair and cooed, "Aigo, uri Woojin-ah."

He laughed and then kissed her palm. "I never realized how much Korean you picked up at my house," he marveled. "You know, you never did answer me about why you left LA so quickly without even saying goodbye," he ventured.

Luna tried to look away, but he pulled her face back to where it had been just moments before. "Ay, pobrecita de mi Normita," he cooed, mirroring in Spanish what she had said to him in Korean.

"Look, Woojin-ah, there are just some differences in how we grew up that affect the experience we had in LA," she said enigmatically.

"Differences? Like what?" he asked.

"Like the neighborhoods where we lived, the people we came in contact with, the options we had in a crisis," she explained, which only further deepened his questions.

"Why are you saying all this?" he asked. "You know we never made you feel like you were any different because you came from a poorer neighborhood or your skin was darker than ours," he defended.

"Woojin-ah, privilege doesn't have to be spoken about for it to exist," Luna argued. "I'm not claiming that you 'othered' me. I'm just saying that the reality is that we didn't have the same childhood," she continued.

"But we did," he argued. "All those play dates and sleepovers were just the two of us, living our best little elementary-school lives," he said with a grin.

Luna sighed. There was no point in belaboring the issue. He wasn't able to see his privilege at that moment, and no amount of lecturing was going to help him see it. Instead, she went back to stroking his silky hair and strong jawline.

"Are you staying the night?" he asked in a low whisper.

"It depends on whether you can be good," Luna teased.

"Well, like, how good are we talking?" he teased. "I mean, lying here, looking at you, I have to say, I'm pretty damn inspired to do something utterly sinful," he whispered against her neck.

Luna giggled. "Tell me again about that kiss we had during the summer after 5th grade," she requested.

"Oh, well, I was a dorky kid with no experience with women," he began to tell his story as he ran his hands over her back. "I mean, I got my dating information from K-dramas, and you got yours from telenovelas," he explained. "Way different information," he added. He began to kiss her neck and continued his narrative between kisses. "So, I --- remember we were --- by the pool. And we were --- both soaking wet --- from swimming," he clarified with an impish grin.

"Uh-huh," Luna encouraged. "And then, what?"

"Well, you kept looking at me really funny. And I was thinking, 'Why is she staring at me?'," he continued. "And then you just --- leaned in --- and went for it," he said, stopping to lick the hollow of her throat. "I remember that --- my eyes were open --- and my mouth was shut," he recalled with a low chuckle. "Again, remember --- I was totally naïve," he emphasized.

"Oh, I see," Luna played along. "Let me see if we can recreate it," she suggested as she brushed her lips against his.

"No, it was more like this," he said as his mouth covered hers and he pulled her hips closer to his. He rubbed against her slowly, and she could feel his erection against her leg.

"Damn," she whispered. "I'm pretty sure it was nothing like this."

"Okay, let's just say, this is the way I remembered it in the years that followed, but there may have been some embellishment on my part," he teased. He returned to her lips and parted them with his tongue as he continued to press against her. He touched her breasts over her T-shirt, and he felt her nipples harden.

"Oh, fucking hell, Luna," he whispered, purposefully using her new name. An adult name for adult activities, he thought to himself. He began to tug one side of her sweatpants, just above her hip bone. To his surprise, she stopped his hand with her own. He pulled back slightly.

"I'm sorry. I must have misread something," he apologized.

"No, you didn't really misread it," Luna admitted. "It's just that I'm having cold feet, I guess," she explained.

"About having sex or about me?" he asked.

"About the sex," she lied. How could she tell him that she was afraid of blowing up his life? If he were a less high-profile person, perhaps her past would stay precisely there --- in the past, but with legions of fans tracking his every move, there was no chance that her secrets would stay hidden.

Luna rolled over, her back to him, and reached back to wrap his arms around her. Maybe it was selfish of her to want to sleep in his arms without actually solidifying their relationship, but his presence was, as it always had been, a comfort to her.