c h a p t e r 18
"Wow. You really dive into your work." Gyeoul was appalled at the drenched Areum who was trudging her way across the sand.
Gyeoul wondered what happened as the younger had only said that she was going to draw. Areum was still in her sundress and her sketchbook was the only thing that was left dry.
As Areum passed her without saying anything, Gyeoul wondered whether she was ignored or the younger was simply too deep in thought. Gyeoul was sure that she was muttering something about murdering a.. quokka?
It was actually concerning.
"Isn't that illegal?" Gyeoul muttered under her breath.
Someone dropped next to her in the sand. "She didn't mean an actual quokka." Jeongin crossed his legs over each other.
It hasn't been long since the volleyball game but Hyunjin immediately disappeared. The girls too since the lack of attention that Minho gave them seemed to be too mentally exhausting. With Hyunjin gone, Minho's indifference, and Jeongin's inability to talk to strangers, they went off to who knows where.
Gyeoul raised a questioning brow to which Jeongin replied by jerking his head to the direction behind them. She craned her neck to see another boy drenched from head to toe.
The new face was obviously young as well. He was smiling boyishly, striding across the sand as he shook the water from his hair. Another handsome boy.
Should Gyeoul still be surprised?
"What did you do this time, Jisung?" Minho who still sat to her other side asked exasperatedly.
Jisung? Areum's little crush?
The so-called Jisung halted from his steps, seeing the big brother. "She.." He trailed off. "..tripped?" He finished, looking just as confused as the rest of us.
Minho was unimpressed. "She's not a fucking kangaroo, Jisung." He said flatly. "Go apologise."
He smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Will do." He saluted before jogging towards Areum's direction.
From afar, Gyeoul saw how Jisung was desperately trying to block Areum's way. She was taking none of it and kicked the boy in the shin.
Gyeoul laughed, seeing Jisung hop around on one foot. "That's cute." She commented.
Minho scoffed beside her.
Ah, young love.
•••
"Why is there a flower here?" Yeji asked, lifting the red tulip.
Gyeoul's ear perked up at the mention of the flower. She quickly got to her feet from the couch as she raised a hand. "Oh, that's mine." She said casually before plucking it from the other's hand. "Souvenir." She shrugged trying to seem impassive.
"You do know there's a souvenir shop by the resort, right?" Areum asked.
"I like this one." She raised the flower before going into her room to tuck it inside a book.
What an odd bookmark.
The first day wasn't anything eventful. It was a rather chill day. Each of the guests had done their own activities in their leisure time. The resort had a lot of guests but by some reason, she found out that most of them were guests for the wedding. She wondered just how many people were attending.
In Gyeoul's case, she spent it by drowning herself in the jacuzzi inside their villa with her nose buried inside a book. She actually found it ridiculous that she chose to stay indoors when the ocean was literally in front of her.
Can you blame her, though? She was ecstatic for some peace and quiet yet the beachside was packed with people. Definitely not peaceful. No matter though. The jacuzzi was just as serene. She was quite satisfied with having the sea as a view.
Areum had joined her when the sun began setting and was finally able to continue with her artwork.
As Areum was brushing up on the details, Gyeoul was already awed at the piece. She thought back to Areum's realistic drawings on the worksheets when she refused to answer them a few weeks back.
Gyeoul complimented Areum endlessly. Something that the younger was actually insecure about and therefore shutting the sketchbook in a matter of seconds.
When night fell, all of them were gathered to have dinner.
Her earlier question of guest count was soon answered when she caught sight of the dining area. The dining area was actually too small to accommodate the wedding guests that the resort employees had to set up tables by the beachside.
The answer? A lot.
It seemed as if it was already the wedding reception.
The dinner wasn't anything eventful as well. The soon to be married couple merely welcomed and thanked everyone before letting the people get on with the feast.
Formality.
Being a few minutes late –thanks to Yeji who had dolled up for dinner–, they were sat at the end of a long table next to guests of their age who Gyeoul decided wasn't worth her time to find out the names of.
Yeji sat to her right and a stranger to her left since Areum had decided to skip dinner.
Gyeoul actively ignored the not-so innocent question of the asswipe next to her.
Halfway through dinner, she had seen Minho laughing with Miso from down the table.
To be specific, Minho was laughing at Miso. It looked as if he was showing something on his phone and as Miso tried to grab it, Minho held it higher and out of her reach. The girl was left blushing in her seat.
That hot kid was was next to her laughing as well.
Gyeoul felt a pinch in her heart but she was sure that it was because she was shoving food down her throat. Nothing else.
Minho's eyes flickered to her direction. She was quick enough to tear her eyes and blink at the asparagus on her plate. She took a sip of her drink since there was a feeling of something stuck in her throat.
"How about let's go have some fun at mine's after this?" The pufferfish next to her whispered sensually–idiotically.
Gyeoul let out a smile, sparing him a glance. "Sure."
Pufferboy was pleased. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Let me put my kids to sleep and I'll head straight to yours." She smiled sickeningly sweet.
Pufferboy was horrified. "Y-you have kids?" He asked incredulously.
Gyeoul raised her left hand that had a ₩7,000 silver ring. "I'm 46." She said instead.
Pufferboy was gone.
Yeji who was witnessing all of it snickered. "I can't believe he bought that." She rolled her eyes, watching the retreating figure of the pufferfish.
Gyeoul clicked her tongue, admiring the band on her finger. "Who would've known that knock off rings repel rich assholes?" She feigned interest.
The abandoned chair on her left was once again occupied.
"Apparently, not this asshole." She muttered dejectedly, avoiding Minho's eyes.
"What did he want?" Minho asked straightforwardly.
"A playmate." Gyeoul said shortly before rising to her feet, abandoning her own seat and asparagus.
The mattress was as soft as a pile of feathers –not that she knew what that felt considering that her dorm bed was as hard as a rock–, but Gyeoul still struggled to fall asleep that night.
It was probably because of the fact that her stomach was full.
Definitely not her head.
Nothing else.
No thoughts, head empty.
She turned to her side, her eyes falling to the book by her bedside table. The red tulip lied there innocently.
Okay, maybe her head wasn't 100% empty.
She kicked the comforters off as she swung her legs off the bed. She headed straight for the door, slowly pulling it open, afraid to wake her two villa mates as it was already two hours past midnight.
She poured herself a glass of -complimentary- milk before walking outside. Milk was the universal medicine. It solves everything.
As soon as she slid the door open, a gush of cold wind greeted her. She shuddered at the sudden drop in temperature but proceeded anyway.
She propped her arms on the bamboo railings as she admired the night ocean view. The sound of the waves crashing against each other seemed so therapeutic. The moon glowing was also enough to hypnotise anyone.
As she raised the glass to her lips, she felt her phone vibrate from inside the robe she was wearing. She took it out, reading the text from the lock screen.
From: Minho
Are you awake?
Gyeoul pursed her lips as she debated whether to reply. As her phone dimmed back to black, she decided to ignore the text and just rest it on the railing.
She jumped when her phone began blaring that anxiety inducing ringtone. Afraid of waking the entire Atlantic City, she immediately answered the call. "What?" She hissed in a hushed tone.
"Why are you ignoring me?"
Gyeoul's grip on the glass had tightened. "You lunatic. It's two in the morning, I was sleeping." She denied.
"You're one hell of a sleepwalker." Minho sneered.
At that comment, Gyeoul's head whipped to the left, seeing Minho outside their villa, staring right at her. He had his back resting on the rails, looking offended.
"In my defence, I'm not always conscious." She tried to reason. She saw how Minho frowned.
"Why are you ignoring me?" He repeated.
"I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I were."
"You had no choice."
"I could have pressed 'decline'."
"You panicked."
True.
"What do you want, Minho?" Gyeoul sighed.
"You."
Her knees weakened. From the cold, she presumed. Gyeoul was afraid that her death grip would break the glass. "Very cheesy." She attempted to seem unaffected.
"And very true."
Their gazes met. This time, Gyeoul was afraid that the erratic beating of her heart would break her lungs. She suddenly wished that her eyesight wasn't as clear as day so that she wouldn't be able to see the seriousness in Minho's eyes that's causing her a migraine.
She found herself ending the call. She didn't tear her eyes away. They stood there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. She kept her gaze until her heart finally eased. When she was confident that she could finally walk again, she headed back inside without a second look.
The damn milk did her no favour.
•••
"Sometimes I wonder whether I'm good in makeup or I'm just so fucking ugly that the difference with it is massive." Gyeoul wondered out loud as she applied lipstick.
Areum chuckled as she helped Yeji who was strapping on her beach sandals. "Honey, are you kidding me?"
Gyeoul stood up from in front of the mirror before fetching her own sandals. "You're right. I'm hot either way." She deadpanned.
Gyeoul felt -and looked- like death when she awoke that morning. She was sleep deprived and was in dire need of a damn fairy godmother.
She hated how the lack of sleep made her skin look. It was the wedding day and the thought of getting ready in her state made her nauseous. Not that it was an important event but it still annoyed her that her skin wasn't cooperating at a rare time she needed to doll up.
Ah, first world problems.
She made everything work though. Through the magic of makeup, it made it seem like she had acquired her eight hours of sleep when in reality it was half that.
The dress code wasn't anything strict. She was dressed in a thin strap black dress that ended just below her knees. It was formal enough and it hugged her body perfectly, giving off a more elegant look. The straps for some reason kept falling over her shoulder but Gyeoul found no trouble in it and just continuously put it back in its place.
Yeji chose a red, off shoulder, waterfall dress. It showcased her fair legs, making her seem taller.
Areum on the other hand, chose a navy blue, sleeveless, cocktail dress. She put her short hair in a low bun, exuding the charm of a high school student.
In short, the three looked beautiful.
It didn't occur to Gyeoul that some of the guests might have skipped dinner the previous night. And so, when they reached the location where the ceremony would be held, she wondered whether she was attending the fucking olympics.
Gyeoul saw Seoyun across them who was making conversation with other adults of her age.
Not really keen on making conversation with strangers, she decided to stick close to the two girls. Yeji seemed to know most of the guests—maybe she was actually making friends on the spot, who knows?
Areum shared Gyeoul's distaste on making small talk and so they had an unspoken agreement to never leave one's side.
Gyeoul would be lying if she said that she wasn't looking for a particular person. Her head couldn't seem to stop craning from left to right in search for that person.
Just a glimpse.
Unfortunately, the wedding ceremony began and ended without the success of meeting those particular set of eyes.
Then reception came and she finally saw the person her eyes have been craving for.
Much to her dismay, said person was busy talking to his girlfriend.
It didn't matter. She simply wanted to admire him from afar. She was good at that. Admiring beautiful things from afar.
Minho stood confidently with a hand inside one of the pockets of his charcoal slacks. The first three buttons of his white dress shirt was left undone. And his hair.. damn hair. It was brushed up.
For some reason, Gyeoul knew that he felt her stare, so when he was about to turn to her direction, she disappeared into the crowd.
She spent the rest of the night steering clear from his sight.
She knew her boundaries.
The afterparty came and the adults disappeared. Well, not literally. The afterparty for the oldies were moved to the bar inside the resort whilst the younger ones were left inside the tent.
Parties like these are one of the rare times that she was thankful for being of legal age. She took advantage of the alcohol that they were serving and drank to wash all of her sinful thoughts away.
She was so glad that Yeji indulged her. The two older—like any other, enjoyed the after party more than the actual reception. They didn't notice that Areum was swept away and continued to have the time of their lives.
As Gyeoul was reaching her peak, she excused herself to get some fresh air.
She walked out of the tent, slightly wobbling towards the sun loungers by the beach. She immediately let herself collapse on it. She took a deep breath to steady herself.
It was one of those moments were people began to pointlessly swear to never drink again.
As she was attempting to sober up, she saw that hot kid, Hyunjin exit the tent as well. Her eyes followed his figure who approached a girl who was sat on the sand. Even intoxicated, she recognised the girl to be Miso due to the dress and hair.
Gyeoul was absolutely mind fucked when she saw Miso and Hyunjin kiss.
It was almost enough to knock the alcohol out of her. She found herself staring slack-jawed.
"Don't you think it's a little creepy, watching high school kids make out?" Minho appeared next to her, following her line of sight.
"I don't see you looking away." Gyeoul grumbled.
Minho said nothing. He stood closer before lifting both her feet, sat on the lower part of the sun lounger, and let her feet rest on his thighs. "Haven't seen you all night." He said, offering a water bottle.
She took it, ignoring their close proximity. "I wonder why." She said flatly before emptying the content of the bottle.
"You look beautiful."
Gyeoul was sure she laughed. If he had made that comment at an earlier time she might have believed him. She wasn't totally thick skinned. She knew she looked hammered.
Her mind was racing. So is her heart. Adrenaline, maybe?
"I thought Miso was your girlfriend." Gyeoul confessed. It was liberating to finally let it out. It felt like a weight was being lifted off her.
"Didn't I tell you back at the restaurant that she was Hyunjin's girlfriend?" His brows furrowed.
Gyeoul shrugged. The nonchalance strangely irked Minho. "Told you I was bad with names. Plus! There were certain circumstances that made my conclusion for me." She was rambling. Obviously drunk.
Minho was visibly confused. He almost looked frightened, even. "Pray tell."
She shrugged once more. "Overheard phone call. Assumed. Concluded." She explained shortly, wanting to brush the matter off.
He was silent for a while as he began making sense of Gyeoul's less than useless answer. Not long after, he was able to recall back to the time he was on the phone with Miso. He might have said a few intimate words but to him, it was all platonic.
It was oh so ironic that the phone call was actually about Hyunjin, her boyfriend.
And then he remembered his interactions with Miso.
"Is that why you turned me down?" He shot a look at Miso and Hyunjin who was now walking along the shore hand in hand. "Why you've been avoiding me?" He added.
"Maybe."
Minho let out a breath once. A sharp abrupt sound. Almost like a scoff. He seemed to find the situation both amusing, enlightening, and frustrating all at once. "You're jealous." He said as he shot an accusing look at the girl. He leaned back on both arms, waiting for whatever excuse she was about to shoot.
Gyeoul frowned. "'Maybe' does not mean 'yes'."
"Doesn't really mean 'no' either."
"Yeah, it's actually French for 'shut the fuck up'." She grit her teeth, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. She began regretting letting herself drink more than she should have. There was no other reason as to why she was feeling so hot. Of course not.
Go, girl. Admit everything but the truth.
And then silence again. Gyeoul not at all noticed Minho hands that were lazily drawing patterns on her legs. Not at all. The goosebumps were merely because of the cold. She was damn lucky that the wind blew just as goosebumps began to appear on her skin. It covered the fact that Minho's hands on her body was the cause and not the cold.
"You need to rest. Big day tomorrow." Minho said, taking notice. He stood up as he carefully placed her legs back on the lounger.
Gyeoul tried not to let the disappointment show.
"Big day? Aren't we just driving back to the city?" Gyeoul asked.
Much to her confusion, Minho smirked. "No. I'm taking you out."
There was that abnormal beating of her heart again.
"'Take out' as in annihilate me?" She drawled out.
Minho's smirk remained. "Well, that will depend entirely on you."
Gyeoul's eyes narrowed in a suspicious manner.
He chuckled lowly before bending to her height. "Don't worry.." He trailed off as his fingers slowly grazed from her shoulder to her neck to fix the fallen strap. "I'll be gentle."
(a/n: damn that was like three chapters worth. ive never written a chapter that long! this was not proofread so my apologies. anyway i would like to address a few things..
1. i know that some of you -maybe most- may have come from skirt lifter and i have just noticed that some of you leave comments—actually borderline spoilers regarding this book and vice versa. i and other readers would highly appreciate it if you refrain from doing so.
2. i would appreciate it as well if people would stop asking/begging for updates. :( authors literally publish a new chapter and then get comments/dms like update pls. a chapter u read in 5 minutes is not written in 5 minutes.
im not mad tho just dont want to ruin stuff for other people sjdknsjwjsjsjs tHATLL BE ALL THANK U STAY SAFE N HEALTHY)