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  ONYX:

  Love

  Onyx, Book 3

  An Atlantis Entertainment Novel

  J. S. Lee

  Axellia Publishing

  Onyx: Heart

  Copyright © 2019 J. S. Lee

  All rights reserved.

  First edition, May 2019

  Published by Axellia Publishing

  Print ISBN: 978-1-912644-20-9

  eBook AISN: B07PX978T9

  Cover design by Natasha Snow Designs;

  www.natashasnowdesigns.com

  Onyx logo by Shezna Love

  Edited by C. Lesley

  Proofread by S. Harvell

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval systems, in any forms or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, unless for the purpose of a review which may quote brief passages for a review purpose.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locations are used fictitiously. Other characters, names, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, or persons – living or dead – is entirely coincidental.

  CONTENTS

  CONTENTS

  DEDICATION

  THE ATLANTIS ENTERTAINMENT UNIVERSE

  K-101

  제 1 장

  제 2 장

  제 3 장

  제 4 장

  제 5 장

  제 6 장

  제 7 장

  제 8 장

  제 9 장

  제 10 장

  제 11 장

  제 12 장

  제 13 장

  제 14 장

  제 15 장

  제 16 장

  제 17 장

  제 18 장

  제 19 장

  제 20 장

  제 21 장

  제 22 장

  제 23 장

  CHAPTER TITLES

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES

  ATLANTIS ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  WAYS TO CONNECT

  DEDICATION

  For all the Black Gems out there

  You guys who love Onyx for who they are

  You’re amazing!

  THE ATLANTIS ENTERTAINMENT UNIVERSE

  New Adult Reverse Harem

  (As J. S. Lee)

  H3RO

  Idol Thoughts

  Idol Worship

  Idol Gossip

  Onyx

  Onyx: Truth

  Onyx: Heart

  Onyx: Love

  Coming Soon

  Onyx: Unity

  Young Adult Contemporary Romance

  (As Ji Soo Lee)

  Zodiac

  The Idol Who Became Her World

  The Girl Who Gave Him The Moon

  Coming Soon

  The Dancer Who Saved Her Soul

  K-101

  For those of you unfamiliar with K-Pop / K-Dramas / Korean culture, here’s a short handy guide:

  Names in Korean are written family name then given name. It’s not uncommon to use the full name when addressing a person – even one you’re close to.

  김영빈 is the Korean way of writing Kim Youngbin.

  윤지원 is the Korean way of writing Yoon Jiwon – pronounced like Gee-one

  임종섭 is the Korean way of writing Im Jongsub (JongB)

  공민혁 is the Korean way of writing Gong Minhyuk (MinMin)

  렌용식 is the Korean way of writing Ren Yongsik. However, as Yongsik goes by his stage name, CX, it would be written 시엑스.

  Xiao is a little different he is Chinese. It would therefore be spelled out phonetically in Korean. (For those curious, it would be 샤오 which is really hard to write phonetically but would be pronounced she-yaow – run it all together to make one syllable.)

  Surnames (Family names)

  As the western worlds combined, we ended up with a lot of variation in surnames. In Korea, although there is variation, you will find a lot Kims, Lees, and Parks. To try to keep things as easy to follow as possible, I have tried to make sure that all characters don’t have the same surname unless they’re in the same family – like Holly. However, in reality, this is most often not the case.

  BTS, for example have Kim Namjoon (RM), Kim Seokjin (Jin), and Kim Taehyung (V). They all share the same family name, but they are not related.

  Oppa (오빠), hyung (형), noona (누나), and oennie (언니)

  This one gets a little confusing at first. The first thing you need to know, in Korea, age is a very important thing. It’s not uncommon for you to be asked your age before your name because you need to be spoken to with the correct level of respect (known as honorifics). To show this, there’s actually several ways to speak to address a person and it usually depends on your age (an exception to this might be in a place of work where someone younger than you is more senior to you). But I’ll keep this simple and limit myself to terms used in the book.

  Traditionally, oppa, hyung, noona, and unnie are terms used to describe your older sibling – depending on what sex you are and what sex they are. If you are male, your older brother is hyung and your older sister is noona. If you are female, your older brother is your oppa, and your older sister is unnie (technically, 언니 when Romanized is oennie, but unnie has become a more standard way of writing this). However, this can often be transferred to people you are close to. A girl will call her older boyfriend oppa. An idol will call his older groupmates hyung.

  Sunbae (선배) and Hoobae (후배)

  Along the same vein, sunbae (senior) and hoobae (junior) may be used as an alternative when using experience as a basis, rather than age.

  Other

  Comeback: this is an odd one for most people. Your next single isn’t just your next single. It’s a comeback – and it doesn’t matter if you’ve waited two months or two years.

  Kakao: Kakao is a messaging app similar to Whatsapp or WeChat.

  SNS: What we would call Social Media, Koreans use the term Social Networking Service. Included in this would be V Live, an app which allows Korean idols to communicate with their fans (a bit like Instagram Live)

  화이팅: Fighting, or ‘hwaiting’ is a word commonly used as encouragement, like ‘good luck’ or ‘let’s do this’.

  Maknae: a term used for the youngest member of a group.

  ‘Ya!’: The Korean equivalent to ‘Hey!’

  제 X 장: Chapter (pronounced jae X jang)

  AAA Pass: Access All Areas Pass. Usually reserved for artists and key members of staff – this is the pass that will let you backstage and in areas like the green room.

  Character Bios are also available at the back of this book

  More terms and information is available on Ji Soo’s website:

  www.jislooleeauthor.com/k101

  제 1 장

  Aquaman

  Europe. We were finally in Europe.

  While the UK was still considered part of Europe, anyway…

  Either way, the plane had landed in London, Heathrow, two hours ago, and after a slight delay with the suitcases being unloaded from the plane, most of us were in a shuttle bus to the apartment we had been booked into. Sungmin was waiting at the arrivals lounge for his assistant, Byeon Taeyoon, and MinMin.

  The doctor in Toronto had finally given MinMin the all-clear and allowed him to fly and resume the tour. His flight was due to get in not long after ours and despite the jetlag, Sungmin had opted to wait at the airport for them.

  Honestly, I thought he was avoiding us.

  Holly h
ad kept her promise and spoken to Sungmin. She’d reported back that although Sungmin had seemed ‘reasonable’ about it, that maybe we shouldn’t make it quite so obvious in front of him.

  I couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t the easiest of things to understand; six people in one relationship. I frequently had moments of disbelief, but mainly because I couldn’t get over how damn lucky I was.

  For Sungmin, he had the added trouble of trying to work out how to help us keep it hidden from the public. There was an unwritten rule in K-Pop that idols shouldn’t date. In a lot of contracts, companies had actually written it in, meaning if an idol broke that contract, they could face being thrown out of the group and the company.

  Onyx had that clause.

  Fortunately, Onyx had Holly as their company’s Vice Chairwoman.

  OK, so it didn’t completely negate the ability to go and have a relationship, but it did mean, as someone who was in a very similar relationship situation, (I mean, seriously, how the fuck did that happen to Holly?! I had more trouble with that one than with my own. Good, sweet, Holly?) she was more sympathetic.

  But what went on behind the scenes and what the fans saw would have to be completely different. I understood that. Onyx’s fandom were amazing and loyal, and while I was sure a huge chunk of them would be happy to see their favorite idols dating and happy, a lot of them, especially in Korea where the fans had the power, wouldn’t. Trying to get them to accept this? It would never happen. Hell, it was still a conservative country, and while same-sex sexual activities weren’t illegal, they weren’t exactly looked upon favorably by a lot of the population.

  Something I found ironic when fans would get excited and start “shipping” members of groups together the moment they started showing friendliness to each other. I had no objection to the shipping, so much as the hypocriticalness of it with some fans – you couldn’t have it one way and not the other, just to suit your tastes.

  “You are lost in thought,” Jiwon muttered in my ear. I was sitting beside him on the private shuttle bus. As the rest of the staff – who didn’t know about us – were at the front, I was using his muscular arms as a cushion. Albeit a firm one, but he was comfortable. “I hope you’re thinking of me.”

  Jiwon had a deep voice and a thick Busan accent which meant I sometimes had trouble understanding him, especially as I still wasn’t fluent in Korean. I was getting much better, and I had noticed that the guys would all speak slower and clearer around me, which I loved them for. I glanced up at him. “Sungmin, actually.”

  Jiwon’s lips set in a thin line. “That’s two.”

  “Two what?” I asked, suspiciously. “What was one?”

  My body lifted slightly as he shrugged beneath me. “I’m keeping count.”

  “Of what?”

  My body lifted again. “What about Sungmin are you thinking about?”

  Seeing as I wasn’t going to get an answer, I sat up and stretched. “I think we broke him.”

  “Mmmm,” Jiwon agreed.

  JongB’s head appeared between the seats. “Manager Sungmin will be fine. He does this with me all the time.”

  “There’s a good reason for that,” Jiwon informed him, dryly. He leaned forward, pushing JongB’s head back through the gap. Then he looked at me. “Do you know what I’m thinking about?”

  No, but just the look in his eyes had heat pooling in my sensitive areas. I licked my lips. “No.”

  His thumb pressed against my lips. “These, open, moaning my name as you ride my dick.” Without breaking my gaze, I opened my mouth, capturing the tip of his thumb in my mouth, swirling my tongue around it. Jiwon muttered a stream of curses as the bulge between his legs grew.

  With a grunt, but still keeping his thumb in my mouth, Jiwon leaned forward. “I know you are listening right now, so get your ass further down this bus.”

  “Mean!” JongB grumbled, getting up and relocating a few seats away from us. With no one sitting in the immediate vicinity, Jiwon looked at me his fingers gently gripping the bottom of my jaw as he angled my face at his erection. “You did that.”

  My reaction wasn’t as obvious as his, but I was just as turned on right now. I gave his thumb a gentle suck before pushing it from my mouth. “You want me to do something about it?”

  “Only if you plan on riding it right now.” His eyes met mine, challenging me.

  “I thought you didn’t like people watching?” I said, nodding my head towards the window. A bus had pulled up beside us. A young guy was busy peering in. I wasn’t sure he could see, considering this bus had tinted windows, but it had Jiwon scowling.

  “When we get to our hotel, you will come to my room wearing nothing but some sexy underwear,” he informed me. He paused, tilting his head.

  “I can’t,” I said, genuinely disappointed. “I promised Youngbin I’d go to him.”

  Jiwon’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Three.”

  “What are you counting?” I asked, my curiosity piqued once more.

  “How many times I’m going to spank your ass.”

  So help me, I whimpered. As Jiwon gave me a smirk, the bus beside us drove off. He reached for me, bringing my face to his as he kissed me hard, his tongue assaulting my mouth in a way that had me groaning into his.

  “You have about four seconds before the staff turn around,” Youngbin hissed in my ear.

  I pulled back, only just avoiding headbutting him.

  “Subtle.” I glanced up and ducked just as Youngbin’s duffle coat went soaring over my head and landed on Jiwon’s lap. “Wear that before you offend someone.”

  Although Jiwon had his own coat – they all did – they were all slightly different. Jiwon’s was more like one of those puffer jackets, sitting just below his hips, whereas Youngbin’s fell midway down his thighs. Yes, that would be useful to cover certain… things…

  “It’s her fault.” Jiwon’s attitude said he didn’t care, but he did pull the coat on as Youngbin continued to give him a pointed look.

  We shuffled off the bus. Jiwon had killed all the jetlag I was feeling, despite the fact it was just after 9 am, it felt like 3 am, and I hadn’t slept since… I had lost track, but I was coming up on forty hours of no sleep. The rest of the staff, and Onyx, for that matter, were definitely suffering with the time zone differences.

  After everything that had happened in America, Holly and Sungmin had completely changed the accommodation arrangements. Part of it was due to our security, but part of it was, according to Holly, for our relationship. They had retained the booking at the hotel, so that, should any information have become public record, people would gravitate there.

  The real accommodation was a house in an area close to the venue in the South East of the city. It was similar to the layout of the one we had used in Los Angeles, only the bedrooms were spread out over four floors. The staff (myself included), were to take the first two floors, with Onyx at the top.

  Youngbin claimed the one in the attic, politely informing Jiwon that he was going to have to room elsewhere. While I went to my room to wait for the people who didn’t need to know room swapping was happening to go to sleep, I pulled my luggage onto my bed and took stock of the contents. Specifically, my carry-on.

  When Damien had found me in New York, I had reacted instinctively. He’d blocked my exit, and I’d thrown my backpack at him. While he had batted that to the side, I had managed to get some distance between the two of us. It might sound melodramatic, but I was sure that had probably saved my life.

  However, I’d not opened the bag until I had gotten to airport security. That was when I’d noticed things weren’t right with all of my electronics. I hadn’t wanted to cause a scene there. The lines at JFK were already long, and there were enough people around who had recognized Onyx that I figured examining them, and probably bursting into tears because I was still feeling emotional, was not a good idea.

  I set the backpack on the small table in the room and sucked in a deep breath before gently
emptying the contents.

  My camera, thank fuck, was intact. It lived in a protective shell within the bag. Both of the zooms were fine, as was one of my flashes. The second flash was fucked. I set the first one charging. Depending on the lighting at the venue, I might be OK, but really, I needed a second one, just for my own sanity. I pulled out my laptop, figuring I would Google where the nearest store was which would have what I needed… but the laptop didn’t boot up.

  Even as I plugged in the cable, I knew it wasn’t going to turn on.

  It didn’t.

  “Fuck.” I sank onto the chair and ran a hand through my scraggly hair. I also needed a shower. The flash could maybe wait – the laptop couldn’t. I needed to finish editing the photographs. I hadn’t even touched Toronto’s yet!

  Using my phone, I sent an email to Sungmin and Holly to let them know what had happened and that there would be a delay in getting the photos to them. I didn’t expect an email from Holly; it was the middle of the night back in Seoul.

  I did get a response from Sungmin. It was brief, telling me not to worry and we would see if we could get it repaired later this afternoon. In the meantime, I was to stay at the apartment and get some rest.

  That surprised me a little. Although, Holly was copied in, so maybe there was motivation there. But overall, it didn’t do much to lighten my mood. Whether it was fixable or needed replacing, I was still going to have to pony up my hard-earned cash because of that dickhead.

  “Kate, no more. Damien stays in America,” I told myself firmly.

  Maybe I could wash it all away with a shower I needed anyway. I sent a text to Youngbin telling him I was going to grab a shower.

  Youngbin: Let me give you a reason to need a shower.

  I didn’t need telling twice. Bundling some clean clothes in my arms, I hurried up to the attic. My hand hovered above the door when I heard the singing. It took me a moment to realize I recognized the melody. I’d briefly heard a sample of it in Los Angeles. I couldn’t make out the lyrics, and as soon as I knocked on the door, the singing stopped.