Dani and Jae's Ballistic Adventure

Chapter 5

(A few weeks after the Astana World Taekwondo Championships)

***JAE POV***

"Kang Jae-hoon!" Eomma's voice cut through the house like a blade. Uh oh. She only ever used my full name when something was seriously wrong—or when she was mad at me. I froze, my mind racing through every possible thing I could've done wrong lately.

Before I could even stand up, Eomma stormed into the room, holding her phone out in front of her like it was a weapon.

"What is this?" Her voice was sharp as she shoved the screen in my face. I blinked, trying to make sense of the picture—a still frame of me hugging Dani after her medal win, but the headline below made my stomach drop.

"SOUTH KOREAN STAR ATHLETE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH AMERICAN ATHLETE?"

"I-uh," I nervously began, scratching the back of my head.

"Is this true?" Eomma barked at me. "Are you dating an American?"

"No, Eomma," I immediately shot back. "Dani's not my girlfriend at all. We're just friends."

Friends who made out for an hour...

"Your face is red, idiot," Eomma remarked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You are dating her."

"I—" I stammered, but the words wouldn't come. Eomma knew me too well. Lying would be pointless. With a deep breath, I finally admitted, "Yes. I do like her, Eomma."

Eomma closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. My stomach tightened. Uh oh.

"Jaehoon-ah, you are the most eligible bachelor in all of South Korea. Tens of thousands of pretty girls would fall face first for you in a heartbeat. And you choose... some random girl from America?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but she didn't stop.

"What about Hyeri? You two were so good together."

"Eomma," I said firmly, "Jang Hyeri and I are over."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why did you throw such a good relationship away? You've been together since high school."

I sighed, the words slipping out before I could stop them. "We got bored of each other."

Eomma's face tightened. "Bored? That's what children say when they're tired of their toys. You're acting like a child. You should be acting like an adult man."

"I am an adult," I replied through gritted teeth, trying to keep calm, but my patience was wearing thin.

She scoffed, her voice sharp. "I expect you to marry a respectable East Asian woman. I can tolerate Southeast Asians or maybe whites. But Indians? Blacks? Never."

The anger surged inside me like a tidal wave. "Eomma, you're a racist."

With that, I turned on my heel and stormed off to my room, slamming the door behind me.

I flopped on my bed, feeling like garbage.

I want Dani.

Am I selfish for thinking that? My chest feels tight and full at the same time, like there's not enough room for the way she makes me feel. Every thought drifts back to her—her casual way of being around me. It wasn't like with other girls who seemed to carefully choose every word, every move they made around me. With Dani, everything just... flowed. It was easy, like we'd been friends forever. There wasn't that formal, tiptoeing dance most people did when they liked each other. She and I had that organic chemistry. We were just us.

And God, she was beautiful.

She had light brown skin. Her eyes—so nicely shaped, framed by long, dark lashes that seemed to go on forever. Thick eyebrows that gave her expressions so much depth, so much intensity. And then there was that little mole just above her eye, the one that somehow made her look even more striking, more unique. Her black hair was wavy and coarse. Her pink lips... they were all I could think about sometimes.