My Secret Lover

Chapter 13

Pov. Park Sunghoon*

I don't know how much time had passed since I stood alone, leaning against the wall, watching the dancing students in front of me. The more nervous I got, the faster I finished my drink, hoping I didn't look nearly as lost on the outside as I felt on the inside. Eventually, I decided to get moving in search of my figure skating partner, since no one in the pack was known to me. Before I set off in search, I made a quick detour to the drinks section, where I refilled my cup with beer before weaving my way through the hopping crowd. It was art not to be permanently bumped by drunken party guests while I tried to keep the cup. But I made it to the restroom without further complications. I quickly noticed that it was empty and headed for the other rooms in the house.

Of course, I also wrote Namra a message, but she had better things to do than look at her cell phone.

Shortly thereafter, I found the elderly sitting in a circle of people who were on the balcony. One of them held an empty bottle in her hand. Somewhat pissed off, I opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the terrace before joining Namra on the floor behind her.

Although it was autumn, the temperature outside was still quite pleasantly cool. Also, the fresh air did good, because inside it was getting too hot.

Surprised, Namra turned around, the smell of whiskey and other spirit drinks hitting me. "So much for 'I'm not getting drunk today,'" I grumbled at Namra. The older one noticed my bad mood and gave me an apologetic look.

Oh God, you could even tell she was drunk off her ass.

I couldn't stare holes in the back of her head for long, though, as I was interrupted in this important and productive activity.

"Hey, do you want to play with us? Spin the bottle!" someone from the seating circle asked me. Upon closer inspection, probably the one who had started this game. "Ah...", I started, and my first instinct was to decline her invitation, but the several looks that were now resting on me, waiting and impatient, put me under enormous pressure and before I realized it, I had already nodded.

Damn it...

"Hey, don't start yet! We want to play too!", I looked back and could see the typical Ice Hockey clique consisting of Heeseung, Jake, Jungwon, and Jay. Unconsciously, a confident grin flitted across my face. Unsuspecting that my cheeks were turning red.

At the sight of Jake, my heart had a short suspension, his big grin made me feel good. His outfit was of course fantastic, very simple but stylish! Again... his smile, the tingling in my stomach.... shit, why do I feel like this? Was I sick? Did I have a fever?

Noticing my sudden reaction, I shook my head and focused on my drink, which was suddenly much more exciting.
"Yeah sure!" the girl laughed and waved them in. The newcomers sat down across from us. Jake and I glanced at each other briefly, and I nodded at him in greeting. He waved but got a puzzled face from Hee when he noticed that the nice gesture was directed at me.
"Let's start!", the girl opened the game and thus turned the bottle.

(...)

I don't know how long we were playing, but it was extremely fun, and I wasn't that mad anymore. It turned out that Namra was completely drunk, but she still had some self-control, and you could see how hard Namra was trying to hide the fact that she couldn't even count to three.

"Jake! Truth or dare?" a Korean-Australian girl next to me named Lily asked demandingly, to which Jake answered the question with truth. Lily seemed to ponder for a while. Suddenly, a grin flitted across her face, and full of anticipation, she folded her arms in front of her chest. "Are you in love?"
"Ohhhh~" Sounded from all around the circle.
"In love?" Jake raised an eyebrow, probably trying to keep us all on tenterhooks.

Even I wondered at his answer and listened intently.

Jake glanced around until his gaze stopped on me. "So do you want to know if I'm in love?" again he fetched the question. "Jakey! Don't make it so exciting!", Lily cried, and the others also fully agreed with her.
Jake still had his eyes on me. Inwardly, I was hoping for a very specific answer. Undefined, I returned his gaze, still unsure of what exactly was going on inside me. "Hey, why are you looking at me like that! Answer me already!", Lily misunderstood the whole thing, but laughed and leaned back casually. Jake now turned back to her and said flatly, "Yes, I'm in love."
"What? You never told me you were in love with anyone!" hissed Hee indignantly.
"Oh, who is it?" asked Jay excitedly, the round began to discuss wildly, wondering who the lucky person was. But the Australian just shrugged his shoulders and said, "My dear Lily just asked if I was in love, not who."
Our eyes brushed again, and I could feel a warm twinge in my stomach area.

I wonder who he was in love with...? Was... was I the person? Oh, what am I imagining? Why should he? We haven't been friends for that long and have only talked intensively once!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wondering what name was now buzzing around in Jake's head. But quickly the focus on him was gone again and Jake turned the bottle to distract from the subject. The neck of the bottle pointed at Beomgyu, who chose dare and had to finish his beers as quickly as possible. Next, he spun the bottle, whereupon the neck of the bottle pointed to Sora.

Namra's best friend.

"Sora! Truth or dare?" asked Beomgyu, moving his arms as if he was about to conjure something. "Truth!"
"How long have you ever gone without showering at a stretch?"
"I can say for sure that the guy next to me hadn't showered for a whole week. And that's even though he had training and uni!" retorted Sora, pointing her finger at Heeseung, who threw his hands up in defense. "I lost a bet, ok? Do you have to tell everyone while leaving out the bet, everyone will think I did it on purpose!" snapped Hee angrily, giving Sora a flick against her forehead.
"Let's just move on and forget about it! Come on Sora, I'll spin for you!", Hee said hastily, spinning the bottle in the middle of the circle as he was visibly embarrassed by the whole thing. The neck of the bottle now stopped at me, and a big grin appeared on Sora's face. "Hoonie~! Truth or dare?"
"Dare," I said curtly since the previous questions were absurd. "Kiss Namra."

Wait what?

"Can't I do anything else?", I asked, glancing unconsciously at Jake. "Come on Lily had to drink alcohol from Jungwon's shoe not even ten minutes ago, so a little smack is nothing big!" grumbled Sora, whereupon loud laughter broke out.
"We wait...", announced one gleefully, since he had probably noticed that I discreetly felt like kissing Namra. "Well, I don't mind!", Namra returned visibly amused, and turned to me, her eyes already closed and eagerly waiting for the lip contact.
Shortly I hesitated, before she reduced the distance. Since all eyes were now waiting on me, I bent over to her not wanting. Our lips brushed only briefly, I wanted to pull back, but Namra came towards me and kissed me. She put her hands on my shoulders to pull me even closer to her, while she rhythmically pressed her lips against mine.

Although I returned the kiss, it felt wrong. It didn't feel right. The whole thing is a big mistake. I admitted she was a very good kisser and had soft delicate lips, but the whole situation was completely wrong and her whiskey taste in my mouth gave me the last kick, so I wanted nothing more than to finally break away from her.

Namra had probably not enough of my lips and wanted to deliver probably a giant smooch show, but I turned away after a few seconds because with a kiss the dare was finished.

No one said how long we had to kiss, and I knew for sure that I had had enough.

"Ey come on, what kind of kiss was that! Where's the show?" asked Sora, winking demandingly at her best friend. "We've kissed now, and the dare is over with that," I said, slightly irritated, and could hardly keep my eyes off Jake. He looked at me. Directly in the eyes, as if he was looking for an answer to a question that neither I nor he knew. I swallowed hard.

It was just a bet; the kiss didn't mean anything! Damn, why did I even care? Was I afraid that Jake thought I wanted something from Namra? Or was it more about the fact that I sincerely hoped not to have hurt him with it...?