This is the fourth story in the Undone series.
This is Jung Hoseok's time to shine.
He is taking control of a new project at Stellar Design, and he has decided it's time to take control of his love life as well. He is weary of being alone, and he...
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She trailed her fingers along the low table in the hall. It appeared to be a piece from the collection of a designer that was famous for being reclusive and very selective about who he allowed to purchase his pieces.
The question formed on her lips, but died when she saw what was displayed there. She picked up the plaque and held it, almost reverently tracing the words with her fingertips. It was indeed one of the awards Hobi had won that night.
The night.
Suddenly she was thousands of miles and a lifetime away, no longer in the modern house with the neat yard behind the high gate. She was back in that tiny apartment, dressed in a new white party dress waiting for Hoseok to notice she was a woman, not just his best friend who happened to be a girl.
Her heart ached at the memory of what came after.
Hobi finished in the kitchen, rounded the corner and stopped.
He stood and stared at Izzy standing in the soft light. He stared for a moment, convincing himself that she was really here, in his home, just a few strides away from him.
This time it was not his imagination nor a dream. He felt the warmth of that begin to spread throughout his body.
And then he noticed the plaque she held in her hands and the warmth died like a splash of cold water. It was from that night.
He cursed. Was that damn mistake going to stand between them forever? He shook his head and started toward her. As devastating as it might be they had to face it.
" Izzy," he called her softly and she turned to him with a start. It took her a minute to shift between that time and now.
She was here with him He was real and this was the closest she had been to him both physically and emotionally since that night.
She felt an old fear rise in her. Maybe it was time to leave.
He saw it in her face and he reached for her. They owed it to each other to talk about this, no matter which way it went.
"Izzy," he said again, taking the plaque and putting it on the table. He captured both her hands in his and pulled her closer. She looked so small, so vulnerable. She had his heart in a riot.
"I'm sorry, " he said, " about that night. I am sorry "
The tears began to flow as soon as he spoke, she tried to pull away. Izabelle felt a panic rise in her chest. She could not do this. She could not hear him apologize for that night, to hear him admit it was a mistake. The memory of that night was the only thing that held her together sometimes.
" I have to go," she said, trying to get her bearings enough to leave.
"Izzy," he whispered, " please."
She looked at him, his face so very dear to her, one perfect tear clinging to his long lashes. She reached to brush it away and he caught her wrist and held her hand to his face. He closed his eyes and nuzzled into her touch and she was lost. She brushed his hair away from his forehead and sighed.
"Please don't, " she whispered and his eyes opened and found hers. She could see the hurt and confusion there and knew he was seeing the same mirrored in her.
"Please don't apologize. Please......," she hated the break in her voice and the tears that splashed her face. She ignored them and pushed on, telling him what she had longed to tell him since she walked out his door that night.
" Please Hobi, don't say you regret it, regret me. I couldn't bear it. Let's just....." she broke off, trying to control the emotions rioting in her.
Hoseok's heart crumbled as he heard the words, tried to understand what she was saying.
" Regret?" he whispered, pulling her into his arms and lifting her face to his. " Regret? I have many regrets about that night," he said, pulling her tighter when she began to sob.
"But you?" he whispered, " I will never, ever, regret you "
"I regret not loving you over and over that night. I regret answering that damn door. I regret not leaving with you. Most of all I regret not forcing you to talk to me that next day or hell, the next week or the week after." He stopped, overwhelmed by the force of his emotions as he confessed to her.
"Izzy, I have to ask. The doubt haunts me. Do you? Do you regret me? Regret what happened that night? I know we were, are, from such different places and I know folks thought...."
He stumbled then, having too much pride to repeat the slurs and reasons he had been given as he was turned down for dates, for relationships, for jobs.
Just then Olivia's face, her voice, thoughts of her parents intruded into what should have been an intimate moment with Izabelle. He shook her image away and cursed at those old wounds.
Izzy just stared at him. She hated herself in that moment. She had never considered that he would have felt insecure about that night or that he had taken her avoidance as rejection.
Then she remembered all the slights she had heard whispered about him, the hateful comments from Olivia's mom when she found out they were dating. Her face burned in shame.
Hobi sighed as he watched her face, noted the flush of shame and swallowed hard. Her silence in itself was an answer. His worse fears were true then.
He had just been an experience for her, a novelty fuck. Like others had, she collected him as an exotic with no intention of it lasting past the deed.
He thought he had buried all that in the past, but God, he was wrong. He felt a vice tighten in his chest creating physical pain. He never truly believed until this instant that Izabelle Walker could be this cruel. But here he stood, the truth ringing in the silence around him.
Izzy watched as he seemed to crumple before her. She felt panic start.
How did she tell him that she still dreamed about that night, that she had measured every man since that experience against him and they had all fallen short? She watched him pulling away from her and she acted on instinct.
She pulled him closer and stood on tip toe and wrapped her arms around his neck and stopped her lips a breath away from his.
"I will never regret you," she whispered, "I love you."
Before either of them could react, she pressed her lips to his and kissed him, soft and sweet, a taste she had never forgotten.
Hobi was shocked at her confession and was left reeling at her kiss.
As she drew back he could see the truth of it in her eyes.
He blinked and blinked again and seeing her still standing there, her face upturned to his, her lips slightly parted, he bent his head and kissed her.
