She slapped her cheeks, stepping into the store.
The convenience store was bright. It gleamed in a myriad of colours from the thousands of shiny mass-produced products. It was blinding to her tired eyes and it took a moment for them to adjust from the soft yellow glow of the hotel to the bright fluorescent light of the store. The happy tune that played didn't help the transition and Amber felt as if she had stepped into another dimension.
Ambience—the key to a store's success.
She stalked past the dry food aisle, heading straight to the stretch of refrigerators. She clamped her teeth together as wafts of cold air ghosted up her skin. Goose bumps were popping over her peach coloured flesh and her nipples were hardening from the dropping temperature. Amber sighed, darting her gaze quickly down to her chest.
She was not exactly properly clothed.
She was dressed comfortably—a green long-sleeved cotton shirt and jogger pants that hung low on her hips. At first glance, she was generously covered. There was no cleavage, no ass, and no tummy.
But, Amber was not one to wear her bra to sleep. It was just uncomfortable as hell and the wires dug into her skin leaving behind itchy red lines, which explained her current very obvious problem.
Shit.
Amber cursed on seeing pebbled nipples poking against her shirt. It was dreadfully obvious in the light of the store, and she could even make out the darker shades of her areola. Damn it. She should have just flung on a jacket or maybe the hotel robe to conceal her braless state.
She made a face, looking around to see if anyone had caught her staring at her boobs. Thankfully, it was late and the only other person in the store was the cashier who looked ready to pass out into her bed. She thanked God that the salesperson was female and she hurried to make her purchase.
Amber grabbed a bottle of strawberry flavoured milk from the shelf. She handed the product with the money to the cashier, subconsciously hunching her back in an attempt to hide her nipples. The middle-aged lady didn't even notice, struggling to keep her own eyes open as she scanned her item.
The second the woman handed her the drink, Amber was spinning on her heels heading out of the store in rapid strides. As she stepped out of the shop, entering into the safety of the darkly lit hotel lobby, Amber faked nonchalance to her state of undress. She peeled open the aluminium covering of the drink to take a quick, hasty swig.
The milk was sweet, swirling down her throat in an icy cold spiral that doused some of the heat in her belly. While the drink tasted nothing like actual strawberries and was definitely just flavoured chemicals; the sweet, flowery taste was a personal favourite.
Her legs settled into a slower pace as she took another huge gulp, tilting her head back for another mouthful.
A stupid move for the queen of disasters.
Her shoulder collided into a wall of flesh, sending a cascade of milk dripping from her lips. It went all over her shirt and the sudden flood of icy cold liquid on her breasts made her baulk. Amber spluttered, spewing more of the drink from her lips like a fountain. She swayed forward dangerously, her drink threatening to spill even further.
"Aw fuck!" The reason for her disaster proceeded to curse fluently in multiple languages. "I'm so sorry!" He held her in place, steadying her with his large hands. They spanned across her hips, warm and deliciously hot against the coldness of soaked fabric. He let go quickly, too quickly, and the loss of that heat was somehow painful. She inhaled sharply at her need for his touch.
Amber swallowed the rest of the milk in her mouth. The liquid swerved, nearly going down the wrong pipe, and her throat constricted painfully, tears blurring her vision.
She blinked rapidly, her eyes dazed from the sudden impact. Her brain was struggling to register what the hell had just happened. She glanced up to the sight of extravagant bright orange-tinted glasses. She had to squint to even make out the shape of his eyes.
The guy standing before her was covered from head to toe. His hair was hidden by a bucket hat, lips covered by a black mask and eyes concealed behind those flamboyant orange sunglasses. Her eyes drifted down to his attire and Amber stifled a bark of laughter.
There was nothing wrong with the individual pieces of clothing. The green camo jacket. The blue striped pyjamas. The rainbow socks. However, when put together, the entire getup was just hilarious. She struggled to stop herself from laughing out loud, biting her lip so hard that she drew blood.
On a closer look, she noticed the wisps of curly orange locks. Some strands of his unruly hair even mirrored the colour of his sunglasses and it just made his get-up look even worse.
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry. I'll get you another cup of milk?" The guy spluttered muffled Korean words that tumbled out of a covered mouth.
"It's okay." Amber let out awkward barks of laughter, shaking her head. "No need to feed my fat ass with even more carbs. I do not need the extra calories." She swallowed thickly. "But thanks for the offer."
"You're kidding, right?"
The guy stepped forward and suddenly she was hit by his amazing scent. Tangerines and the woody burn of cedar. Holy fuck. Her mouth went dry at the smell. She inhaled deeply, getting a lungful of his refreshing masculinity in her haze of lust and then she remembered exactly where she was.
"N-No?" She stammered out, licking her lips.
"Fat?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "Where did you get that idea from?"
Amber could see the peaks of a raised brow from the shadows of his bucket hat. She gave him a breathy laugh, feeling a little shaken by his smell. Amber mentally groaned. Was her body just that compatible with people from the general Korea population? Was she lacking some gene?
"My food baby?" Amber replied, tilting her head. "Maybe the fact that my waist isn't exactly the size of an A4 paper?"
"A4?" He tilted his head to the side, his brows furrowing together at her words. "Is that a trend?"
Amber wasn't one to worry about the flaws in her appearance, and she had grown to be a woman who didn't care much about following societal trends in terms of her weight and size. She had a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) for her height and that was good enough for her.
But, sometimes those thoughts did get to her, like that stupid trend on social media. She knew that she shouldn't have even bothered placing that piece of paper over her waist. But the difference in size had hurt her more than she had expected, and the thought did trouble her mind when she was at her weakest.
"Well, yeah," she gestured to her body, to her generous curves and thick waist. "I've, clearly, failed the test." She dropped her hand, propping it at her hips. "It would do me some good to lose a few pounds."
He was quiet for a moment and she had to squint a little to try to read his facial expression. Then he opened his mouth to speak. "Why degrade yourself to that piece of paper?" He hummed lowly. "From top to bottom, you are perfect the way you are~"
There was a cheeky tone to his voice as he sang the song by a famous British singer. His voice was cute. It was sweet and light-hearted, goofy and comedic. A pleasurable shiver ran across her skin as she stared at the man before her.
His voice was smooth and creamy in tone, but also tart and tangy in the way he expressed himself. It was a little like a cup of yoghurt. The initial sweetness was followed by the sour tang of citrus. It was refreshing and somehow really, really familiar.
So very, very familiar.
Her mouth opened before she could stop it.
"Does that mean you're an ass man?" Amber teased. She cleared her throat to softly sing the tunes of another line in the original song. "I like to hold your ass in my hands, run my fingers along your curves~"