Shy and nerdy seem to describe this new student Peyton is tutoring. She's never been so wrong...
She's running away from memories of an abusive boyfriend, pretending to be strong.
He's running away from being heir to a billionaire empire, pretendi...
Peyton and I are dressed again and as put together as we can make ourselves. She decided to take a quick shower with me and redo her makeup. She's panicking that my father will know what we've been doing for the past hour. I doubt he'd give me enough credit to imagine what we did. But, the room smells like sex. I hope the air freshener and the exhaust fan in the bathroom take care of it. I don't want to share my last memories of Peyton with anyone.
My sweet girl is curled up on the bed - the remade bed - and I'm snuggled against her back. It's been almost two hours since I called. The bodyguards should be here by now. I wonder how much time I'll have to say goodbye to her. I want to pretend until the very last second that everything is ok.
Despite the fact we were waiting on it, the hard knock on the door startles us both. I motion for her to get up but stay quiet. I walk to the door and speak. "Yes?"
"The sky is green," comes the reply.
The signal. It's the bodyguards. I hold my hand out to Peyton and force a smile. "We're safe."
She grabs her purse and comes to stands beside me. I open the door and can't believe what I see. My father is standing in the doorway.
Then it's his turn to be shocked speechless. Peyton launches herself at my father, hugging him around the neck.
"Oh, Mr. Kim. You rescued us."
My father's stunned face is priceless. The bodyguards flanking my father turn towards him, clearly conflicted. She's not really posing a threat, except to his dignity. I've never seen anyone hug my father.
His eyes meet mine, bewildered. I shrug and smile. "She's a hugger."
He awkwardly raises a hand to pat her back as his ears go from pink to red. She disentangles herself and smiles up at him. "I'm Peyton. I'm not lying when I say it's wonderful to meet you. This is the scariest thing ever to happen in my whole life." Then she laughs. "I mean, it would always be wonderful to meet you because you're Tae's dad, but now you're my hero too."
He's making "the face." Jimin says we both do it. His eyebrow quirks up at me. "Tae's dad?!"
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He blinks down at her and nods.
"I'm sorry I'm hogging you. I know you'd rather hug your son than listen to me chatter." Peyton tugs me toward my dad, clearly expecting a heartwarming father son hug. It's about to get real awkward. So, fuck it...
I wrap my arms around my stiff father and squeeze, "Thanks, Appa, for coming to get us." It's the first time in years I can remember hugging my father. And then, he hugs me back.
Just for a second. Then he pats my back and lets go.
Peyton cuts through the tension. "Where's Cassie and Jimin? Have we found them yet?" Her relieved grin is contagious. I think one of the bodyguard's lip twitched. She's looking from them to my father. "I can't wait to see them."
