Prestige

| 26 |

I woke up to the sounds of heavy footsteps moving around me, while the feeling of someone's body was maintained behind mine. Opening my eyes slowly, I looked directly into the mirror that hung on the wall beside my window, only seeing a masculine arm around my waist while watching Zero leave me in the room with the stranger. Trying my very best to breathe in a consistent rhythm, I turned to face my other side and found Jae staring at me. I froze at the sight before me as I tried to figure out what to say to him.

"Okay, wake up sleepy head." He casually said before climbing out of my bed. I noticed that he was fully dressed, which comforted me a little. He turned and stared at me, before smiling, "Nothing happened, I climbed in to give you a heart attack that will bring you out of your deep sleep." He chuckled, "It was your brother's idea."

I groaned at his words before sluggishly climbing out of my bed and staring down at the bare skin of my thighs; I was dressed in a pair of pyjama shorts that came with a matching camisole. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked him.

He turned to look at me, "Long enough for me to pester our best friends into becoming an official couple." He smirked as he spoke, proud of his work. I smiled a little at his words, in all honesty, I have no idea why I was ever against Luna and Zero being a couple. All that is meant was that we became closer. And don't tell my brother this, but I trust him not to hurt her or break her heart.

"Is she still here?" I asked him.

He nodded, "She's been here all day. Luna wanted to talk to you about it before she left. She wouldn't tell us why or the exact details, that's all we know." He watched me move from my bed and wrap myself in an oversized, grey, woolly cardigan. Buttoning up the jacket, I looked at him and nodded before leading him out of my room and all the way downstairs. Luna was sat on a high chair by the kitchen worktop, watching my brother put together what was meant to be lunch.

"You're finally up." Zero maturely stated, pushing Luna's attention to me. I smiled and nodded in response, "Yup."

"Umm... Zero and I are official." Luna slightly stuttered, anticipating the worst case scenario for my response. Instead, I surprised her by smiling, "About time." I winked to her before smirking at my brother who was fighting the urge to look immature and chase me around the house.

"What changed your mind?" Luna asked.

I looked at Jae and reminded myself of the few times I kissed him, before finally answering, "Because then I'd be a hypocrite and I would want you guys to accept me with Jae." My brother and best friend both froze in response as both Jae and I laughed together.

"When did this happen?" Luna excitedly asked.

"A while back. After the basket ball game." I calmly replied.

"So that's what you were talking about?" Zero smirked.

"What's for lunch?" Jae ignored my brother's remark with a smirk, before sitting on a high stool beside me. "Risotto." Zero replied and I gawked, "Where on Earth did you learn to make such exotic foods?" Jae ended up being the one to answer the question, "My mom owned a restaurant and when we needed money to pay rent and to continue to lead a slightly more luxurious life, we would help by at the kitchen. My mom taught us to cook several dishes."

"Wait, what do you mean needed money?" I asked, looking at them both.

"Even though our families paid the fees and bills and rent, we didn't have much money left to buy anything beyond food and water, so we had to work. Honestly, that's how we got close. Jae gave the idea and we both hid the secret from pretty much everyone around us." Zero smiled, handing the plates to us before taking a seat beside Luna, on the edge of the L-shaped counter.

"Your mom owns a restaurant?" Luna questioned, seeming slightly shocked at the news.

Jae nodded, "My dad runs a business company and when my mom married him, she wasn't allowed to go into the fashion industry as the model she was. My grandparents forbade that since it wasn't considered acceptable then. After moving to the States, from South Korea, my dad was establishing a larger branch here and my mom wanted to financially help but since she couldn't get back into the fashion industry and neither did she have any business qualifications, she decided to open a restaurant. The money went into the family business, allowing the branch to become the headquarters while the one in Busan became a branch. My mom's business was doing great so she decided to keep the restaurant, but that was all before she died of cancer."

"I'm so sorry." Luna empathetically responded.

Jae shook his head, "Don't be. She's in a better place. Their marriage broke ages ago even if it still existed on paper, their love faded and it made her an emotional wreck."

Zero sighed as I held Jae's hand, "I bet she's happy in the heaven that she lives in." I smiled a little as I looked at him, making him smile back too.

"So all we have to do now is break the news to Talia?" Luna changed the subject, trying to fix the atmospheric vibe.

Zero nodded, "How do you think she'd react?"

I chuckled with Luna for a bit before finally answering, "Yeah, she'll be relieved. She's probably going to have the happiest reaction of us all." I wasn't wrong, Talia ships people and then gets extremely happy to find out that she's right. She can pretty much predict couples before they even become one. I am betting that she already shipped us all to each other and knew I'd come around before I even thought of it.