𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟒 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬

{Chapter 26: Near the Shore}

"I think it's time to head home for the night." Soobin calls out from the kitchen, drying his hands.

"It's nice meeting you again," I smile at his grandpa. "We'll be going now."

"I hope to see you soon!"

We're inside the car once again, a calm and peaceful atmosphere surrounding us. I'm glad I'm able to free of the weight. Soobin seems pretty happy as well, judging from the smile plastered on his face right now. He drives with a barely visible smile, eyes focused on front.

However, the car skids to a halt, pulling over on the side of the road. Now that I notice it, the road has gone dark. Okay, this is bad. I speak up. "What happened?"

"I-I don't... know." He stammers, pressing on a button repeatedly. "The headlights just stopped working."

Then there's the uncomfortable silence.

I pursed my lips into a straight line. I turn to Soobin, but I couldn't see much of him. I can only see the faint outline of where he is, from the soft glow of the streetlight. "What are we going to do now?"

"It's not safe to drive at night without headlights, that's for sure." He chuckles, the sound of his voice calming me down. "I think it's better that we stay here for the night."

My eyes widened. We? What did he mean by we? Does he mean together? I take a deep breath to steady my mind. Phew. At least it's dark in here. He can't see how I turned into a tomato.

"A-Are there any inns or hotel around here?" At least that way we can avail separate rooms, right?

"This is just a small neighborhood, so I'm afraid there aren't any." And just like that, my heart sinks. Are we going to be stuck here forever? "Fortunately, we haven't gone that far. We could head back to my house."

He starts the engine, flicking on the car's dome light. "I'll keep this on so other drivers can see us."

I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. I'm always impressed by his ability to stay calm at moments like this. If I'm stuck alone in this situation, I would have panicked and called NASA... Well, not really, but I definitely would've panicked.

I can see why he's TXT's leader.

"Is something wrong?"

The sound of his voice snaps me out of my daze. "Huh? What?"

He keeps his eyes focused on the road, but the corners of his mouth curves to a small smile as he speaks. "You've been staring at me for the past five minutes."

I quickly turn away, preventing him from seeing the redness of my cheeks. Quickly, come up with an excuse. "There was, um, something... on your face."

"Handsomeness?"

I turn to face him once again as I scowl at his remark. I punch him lightly on the arm, but he doesn't stop laughing. His jokes (does it even count as a joke if it's true?) doesn't stop there though. He adds. "It's been there for a long time, you know?"

"Ha. Shut up before I feed you to the dragons." I roll my eyes. With the windows open, my ears pick up a familiar sound. My gaze lands outside the window, and in an instant, my annoyance is replaced by amusement. "Wow."

Soobin also turns to see what caught my interest. "Oh. Yeah, there's a beach nearby. You want to stop by?"

"Can we?"

"Of course."

By the time he parks the car, my heart is practically beating with giddying excitement. I haven't been to a beach for a looooong time. There were a few nice ones near Paris, but with the internship and school going on back then, I never really had the time. Huh, come to think of it, I never really had the chance to take Mom to nice places in Paris. I'll make sure to do so once I go back.

Once I go back...

My eyes follow Soobin, who just left the driver's seat. I don't realize what he's doing, until he opens the door for me. He holds out his hand, with a goofy smile on his face. I couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, kind sir."

He chuckles. "My pleasure, m'lady."

I step out of the car and a yelp escapes my mouth as my heels sink in the sand. I shut my eyes and latch on to whatever is near, however, the nearest happens to be Soobin.

I regret (not really) opening my eyes as soon as I see our situation.

His hand held the small of back, the other snakes around my waist. I have my arms wrapped over his shoulder, around his neck. I hold my breath as I realize our faces are only inches apart and I'm pretty sure you can already imagine this cliché scenario. Curse my heels.

"You okay?" He asks. I can feel his warm breath on the tip of my nose.

I do a small nod, fearing that our faces might touch if I move a lot. I squeak. "You can let go of me now."

I can see the realization hit him right in the head. He pulls me right up as his cheeks blare into a shade of red. Not wanting to make the setting any more awkward, I choose to ignore it. I tear my shoes off my feet and feel the cool sand on my toes.

"Let's go near the shore." He offers, and I nod in agreement.

We sit by the beach, close enough for the water to touch our forelegs. I end up struggling to find a comfortable position because of my tiny white skirt. Why won't the universe let me be classy?

Soobin must have notice. He takes off his black button-up shirt and lays it across my lap. I beam a small smile. "Thanks."

We sit there in calm silence. I gaze at the stars and the brightly lit moon. I wonder what the beach looks like by day. I'm sure it's even better.

"When are you returning?"

I flinch, surprised by his voice as wells as his question. He knows? "How did you..."

"We're your clients, of course we know." He slumps back into the soft sand. He heaves a sigh. "I hope you won't leave without telling us this time."

Of course I'll tell them, but professionally. I mean, is there any other reason besides that? He's right after all. They're just my clients. Friends, maybe, but nothing else... right?

"We'll be leaving next month." I lay down. Copying him, I place my arms under my head creating a makeshift pillow. "What is this? A game of 11 questions?"

From my peripheral vision, I can make out the smile on his face, but it fades when he notices that I'm beside him. "You shouldn't be doing that."

My eyebrows furrow. "What? Why?"

"You're letting your guard down." He answers, the tone in his voice growing serious. "You really shouldn't do that, especially with other guys."

"Psh." I appreciate his concern though. "I'm with you, so I'm okay with it."

"What makes you so sure you can trust me?"

What? I try to face him, but he beat me to it. I hear him moving, shifting his weight to turn. My body freezes. He does something I never expected him doing.

He plants his elbows down on both sides of my body, caging me and at the same time keeping the small space between us. His eyes turn piercing and dangerous. And the ever-present smile on his lips is nowhere to be found and is replaced with a serious pout. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

He's right on top of me, pinning me down on the sand.