Zayvier King wins first match of the season! Here's what's ahead for this young superstar!
Senator James Hwang serves as intermediary between America and Korea.
Zay had taken a shower after his match, but he still felt gross as he tapped the code into Pandi's door and let himself into the apartment.
Pandi was sitting on the couch, a book in his hands that he actually appeared to be reading. He looked up when Zay dropped his bag on the floor, his face creasing into the gentlest of smiles. "Hey. Welcome back."
Zay wanted to shower, but he wanted a hug more. So he collapsed onto the couch next to Pandi and curled into him. He buried his head in Pandi's lap and practically purred like a cat when Pandi ran his fingers through his hair. "You can take it out," he murmured. "I just had to get it out of the way to drive."
Pandi pulled the elastic at the end of the braid out and unraveled Zay's damp hair. His touch was soothing, and he made it better by setting his book aside and giving Zay a full-on scalp massage.
Zay closed his eyes and snuggled into an even more comfortable position. "That's nice."
Pandi chuckled, the sound vibrating against Zay's head. "Of course. You deserve something nice after all your hard work today."
Zay smiled, perhaps a bit smugly, and tipped his head so Pandi's fingers went to another part of his head. "Can I have another something nice later?" he asked, his tone mischievous enough for Pandi to catch his meaning. He opened an eye in time to see Pandi blush a little.
But Pandi quickly bent down and kissed his cheek. "Whatever you want, meri jaan. Just ask me, and I'll give it to you if it's within my power." He raked his fingers through Zay's hair again, his nails scratching pleasantly along Zay's scalp.
Zay closed his eye again and sighed happily. "Thank you, darling." He lay there for a couple minutes and then sat up. "I really need to wash up."
Pandi frowned. "But you already showered?"
"I still feel gross," Zay complained.
"Then take a bath. I've got a nice tub, and I'm pretty sure there's still a bag of bath bombs under the sink. And," Pandi added. "I'll even get it ready for you."
Zay smiled at Pandi's eagerness to serve him. "Sure."
Pandi jumped up and headed to the bathroom, from which the sound of running water came after several moments.
How had Zay gotten so lucky with such a wonderful boyfriend?
After another minute, Pandi poked his head out. "The water's hot."
Zay got up, his muscles starting to get sore, and walked over. He decided Pandi could use a little more teasing and held up his arms with a smirk. "I'm tired," he said, adding a little whine to his voice.
Pandi promptly flushed crimson. But he grabbed the hem of Zay's shirt and pulled it off over his head. He dropped it on the floor and started to turn away.
But Zay locked his arms around Pandi's neck and held him still. "I'm tired," he repeated, unable to keep the smallest of smirks off his face.
Pandi raised an eyebrow, probably having noticed what Zay was doing, but he slid his thumbs beneath Zay's pants and underwear and pulled them both down to his ankles in one swift motion. Then he crouched down and lifted each of Zay's feet to help him step out of the pant legs. He pushed the pants and underwear over to where the shirt lay on the floor and, without warning, picked Zay up bridal style and deposited him in the bathtub. He folded his arms. "Are you so tired that I need to stay here to make sure you don't drown?"
Zay smiled, even though his heart was still quaking pleasantly from being carried. "I don't think I'll drown, but you could stay. Just in case."
Pandi rolled his eyes but settled against the counter, pulling out his phone.
Zay wondered to himself why Pandi did not seem to want to watch him. Was he just trying to be respectful? That had to be it. Zay knew Pandi adored him with all his heart; there was no way Pandi was not interested in Zay anymore.
Pandi grabbed a towel when Zay got out after a half hour of soaking and wrapped him in its warm softness. He even grabbed another towel for Zay's hair and helped him dry it before scurrying to grab a comfortable set of clothes for Zay to put on. That was the thing about Pandi, he just went and did thoughtful things without any prompting.
Normally, Zay would have said Pandi was simply an attentive boyfriend, but he could sense the small fear that hid beneath Pandi's actions. He knew Pandi was just as afraid as he was of messing this up.
Pandi set the clothes down on the counter and helped Zay get dressed as well, offering his arm and shoulder for Zay to steady himself. Then he pulled Zay back out to the couch and held him so close it was like he could not breathe without Zay near. He turned on the show they used as background noise and tucked his chin over Zay's head in a gently possessive gesture.
Zay wrapped his arms around Pandi's waist, settling his wrists over each other on the other side and sighing happily. He could get used to comfortable clothes and a comforting boyfriend. Even though Pandi was a beta, he still had this scent that calmed Zay's nerves, a scent Zay would roll around in like a kitten in catnip if he could. Peace. That was the best word to describe what he and Pandi saw in each other, and Zay was going to enjoy every moment of it.
After several minutes, Pandi pulled out his phone and opened Instagram. He scrolled for a little while, liking random posts and laughing quietly at others. But his finger paused when he came across a post by a news company.
Zay had not really been paying attention to Pandi's screen, but when he saw the picture of Pandi standing boyfriend-close to a woman, he started paying very close attention. "Is that…?"
Pandi swiped to the next picture. Him and the same woman again, wearing different clothes and standing in a different place. The blood drained from his face with each new picture, and then came the videos. Fairly innocuous at first: just records of hugs and chaste kisses at what looked like a private beach or at a lavish place Zay assumed was Aimee's house. Pandi looked so young in those videos, his eyes and smile bright and not yet disillusioned. But then there was a shift. In the next video, Pandi was still physically young, but his eyes were afraid and his smile was worn like a mask to hide his pain. He let Aimee pull him down onto the couch with her, let her kiss him on the lips, let her start undressing him. The video blurred, but the content was obvious.
Zay slapped his hand over the phone screen, hating the way Pandi's expression had frozen into the sharp edges of what could only be PTSD. "Why would she record that?" he asked in a whisper, more of a rhetorical question than anything.
But Pandi answered, his voice limp and dead, "She said that it was her right. That I had taken her money, so I belonged to her and she could film me if she wanted."
Zay was seething. "I want to see this bitch face to face and punch her right in that arrogant nose. She deserves to go to hell."
Pandi made no reaction to Zay's swearing. He just sat and stared at Zay's hand covering his phone screen. "We're divorced," he said like he still could not believe it. "Why would she do this?"
Zay turned off Pandi's phone, slid it out of his hand, and set it aside. "I don't know, darling. But she's vile and cruel, and if you don't sue her for this, I'll do it for you."
Finally a faint smile curved a corner of Pandi's lips. He wrapped his arms tightly around Zay and pressed a kiss to his temple. "Thank you, meri jaan." After a moment, he added softly, "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Zay snuggled into Pandi's lap. His boyfriend needed comfort right now, not a lecture on why his ex was so toxic. Comforting was his role, after all. He was the omega. He was supposed to be the one attuned to his partner's emotions so he could provide the support Pandi needed in moments like this. "You're the best thing that's happened to me too," he replied, and he meant it. After the briefest hesitation, he added, "I love you." He waited for Pandi's reaction, barely daring to breathe.
Pandi pulled him impossibly closer and planted a kiss in between his eyebrows. "I love you, too." His voice was husky with the tears Zay felt plunk into his hair. "I can't imagine living without you. I know I said I wouldn't compare you to Aimee, but you're everything she wasn't. You're kind and compassionate, and you respect my emotions and boundaries."
"Because that's what someone who loves you does." Zay shivered when Pandi pressed his nose to the back of Zay's neck, scenting him like an alpha would. He dropped his head forward to give Pandi better access and felt his body wind up with every breath Pandi took.
"You said you wanted–"
Zay did not even let him finish. "Yes. Please."
Pandi frowned. "But you just–"
"I don't care." Zay made the first move this time, pressing his kiss to Pandi's lips. "You want to and I want to, so what's the problem?"
Pandi got up, bringing Zay with him. He slid his arms under Zay's knees and carried him back to the bedroom. "You sure?" he asked once Zay's back hit the mattress.
"Very sure," Zay replied, wrapping his arms around Pandi's neck. "We can't say we love each other and then not do anything."
Pandi chuckled. "That's some interesting reasoning. But I agree."
"You always agree with me."
"Because I love you, merijaan," Pandi whispered in his ear as he pulled Zay's pants off for the second time in two hours.
Zay worked Pandi's shirt off as he kicked his pants past his ankles. He tipped his chin up in invitation and sighed when Pandi's lips settled on his throat in a burning kiss. "You can bite me," he murmured. "I like it."
Pandi said nothing in reply, but the scrape of his teeth on Zay's skin provided his answer.
Zay blew out a long breath through pursed lips and closed his eyes when he felt Pandi's teeth settle into place.
But Pandi just nipped him gently, just enough to make him flinch, and then pulled Zay's shirt over his head. "Let me make you feel good before I make you feel pain."
Zay did not argue. He could care less which order Pandi did it in, so he let Pandi take the lead. He would be as bossy and snarky as Pandi allowed him to be, but he would never argue when Pandi laid down the law. His breath punched from his lungs when Pandi pressed two fingers into him without warning, but he loved the breathlessness and burn. Maybe it made him a masochist, but he would do anything to hold onto this feeling for the rest of his life or at least for the rest of tonight. He pressed his head back into the mattress, hoping he could lure Pandi into biting him.
But Pandi seemed determined to do things his way. He ignored Zay's neck except to kiss down it almost reverently as he lifted Zay's hips and pushed in. "How's that?" he asked, his voice stretched thinly across the words.
Zay dug his nails into Pandi's shoulders. If Pandi asked, Zay was going to answer honestly. "More. I want it to hurt."
Pandi's face contorted as he hesitated for one painful moment, and then he lowered his mouth to Zay's collarbone and bit down.
Zay sighed, happy that Pandi had given in. Just to be a brat, he gave a porn-worthy moan when one of Pandi's thrusts hit just right.
Pandi promptly went crimson, the blush reaching down his neck and even touching his chest. He clamped his teeth around Zay's ear in revenge, but that just turned Zay on more.
Zay purposefully continued to trigger Pandi's embarrassment, teasing him with moans and dirty comments, until the pleasure-pain loop euphorically robbed him of the last remnants of his consciousness. He floated, high on it like it was the best drug in the world.
When he came down, Pandi was blanketed over him, still breathing hard. Finally, he braced himself on his forearms and gazed down at Zay with enough adoration for the entire world in his eyes. "I love you, meri jaan," he whispered, his voice wavering dangerously close to its breaking point. "I love you so much."
Zay was too exhausted to even lift his head, but he whispered the words back, his voice barely there, "I love you. So much."